The Week - In a Giant Nutshell

Some weeks are busier than others.  While I used to be of the notion that I would spend one night out a week doing something social.  Because if I got beyond that my fragile little self gets run down real fast causing fainting spells, yadda yadda yadda.  So this week, was not a good example of me taking care of myself. In fact, quite the opposite. Let's recap:

Monday: Meeting up with old coworkers, I headed back into the old downtown stopping grounds for some happy hour action with SB and EN.  Let me just say, Palomino gorgonzola smothered waffle potato slices must be from the heavens. You're going to want to order a plate (or 2) next time you're there.  We ate and chatted about current conditions of our lives and had a perfectly lovely time catching up.  While headed out I ran (literally, she was running) into an old friend who I hadn't seen in months.  We ended up standing on the corner of 4^th and Union in the cold for 45 minutes catching up on life before we decided to make plans to sit down and have a real good catch up (see Thursday).  It's in those moments when I believe in serendipity.

Tuesday:  Institute classes started up again with a new quarter studying Luke.  The one and only Sister M is teaching, as it should be.  I am quite excited to attend class with a  teacher who has a seemingly innate ability to teach with reverence yet make the subject matter interesting, intellectually challenging and allows me to explore idea of a higher purpose, meaning and power.  It's gonna be good, I can feel it.

Wednesday: Dinner at McDonalds with the man-friend.  We sat inside. He keeps me classy.  Nuff said.

Thursday: There is a new Latin food restaurant, Casa Patron, near Greenlake that I’ve been inching to try. So after running into said friend (see Monday) I took advantage of the opportunity to try somewhere new.  A great atmosphere, food and service, you know I'm comin' back for more.  The Vegetarian fajitas and with the obligatory chips and salsa were remarkably delicious. Great food with a great friend.  Pretty much the best.

Friday: Friday couldn't have come soon enough after a crazy week at work.  I picked up the man-friend after work and set out on a mission to  banish the polo ridden wardrobe and bring him into the young professional look.  Little known fact, I love shopping for men’s clothes with other people’s money.  Maybe more than I love shopping for clothes for myself.  So we shopped and shopped and shopped until the stores closed (they actually had to unlock us out of the Gap).  We picked up a few items but made plans to hit up downtown the next day to really polish things off. 

Saturday (the longest day of my life): After 4 hours of sleep, I ran a few early morning errands of grocery shopping and personal maintenance appointments before heading downtown to do some more shopping with the man-friend. Now again its no secret that I have taste in expensive things so when we started shopping I asked for a budget just so I could be aware of my boundaries. “Ehhh, whatever,” he shrugged.  Swoon.  As I walked in to Banana Republic – Men, I said, “I’m just going to pick a few things and you just don’t look at the price tag.”  He says, “Go wild.”  Music to my ears…so I did, and in the process fell in love with Banana’s Men fall collection.   Maybe I couldn’t convince him to buy the $130 button down sweater that was beyond slammin’ (it still makes my heart pitter-patter), but we did walk out of there with a hefty bag of new finds. Lucky we only had 2.5 hours to do our damage otherwise it could have been much worse.  

Still Saturday: Gemutlichkeit Oktoberfest Munich Style Dinner, or Alles Gute zum Geburtstag Tristan. "Gemütlichkeit"- the closest English equivalent is the word "coziness"; however, rather than merely describing a place that is cozy, Gemütlichkeit connotes the notion of belonging, social acceptance, cheerfulness, the absence of anything hectic and the opportunity to spend quality time. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag Tristan means "Happy Birthday Tristan" which is their dog who celebrates his birthday on a more than annual basis.  The combination of these two meant one thing: Dinner with the crew.  Joe made killer Schweinbraten mit Knodel, und Sauerkraut (pork sholder goodness and slaw – but way better) and a appetizer plate with pickles, radishes, dill and beets. Plus he made the potato dumpling goodness drizzled with gravy which he wasn't too impressed with but I could have eaten every last one. Julie and Steve brought Kartoffelsalat, fresh bretzel (fresh pretzels) with killer honey mustard sauce. Sam made a rockin’ potato salad that would put anything you find at a summer picnic to shame. I made Obatzda (Bavarian Cheese Dip).  

Yes, the lactose intolerant one made the cheese dip.  Accompanied with veggies and rocking rosemary bread from Essential Bakery. The cap it all off, Heather made traditional French Croquembouche.  It was all too delicious for words.

Besides their ridiculous mad cooking skills this group of friends have got to be the funniest people on the planet. Oh man do we laugh. And they's smart. And honest. And some of the most real people I know.  What a great way to spend a Saturday evening.

Now after a dinner party like that, you’d think you’d call the day a wrap and head on home to snuggle up for the evening.   But no, I defy convention.   The man-friend and I left early because our plans continued into the evening.

Still Saturday - 10/10/10 10k:  Some genius thought it a good idea a few weeks ago to run a 10k at midnight on 10/10/10.  Well, turns out it's October in Seattle and it absolutely POURED rain.  We're not talking a traditional Seattle drizzle we're talking Amazonian monsoon.  I've been drier in the shower.  But a dozen brave souls ran 10k along Alki beach in the pitch black night and pouring rain.  It was about as fun as it sounds.  We made the most of it, eventually just succumbing to the reality that there wasn't going to be a dry inch anywhere.  Every runner finished which was quite impressive given the circumstances.  Drenched to the bone,  I literally poured water out of my shoe and wrung a stream of water out of my socks.  E's earphones I borrowed were drowned and no longer operational.  I cannot emphasize enough how wet we were.  All in all it was unforgettable to say the least.

Finally Sunday:  The day of rest,  or so they say.  After yet again only another 4 hours of sleep I was up again off to church and woefully underprepared to teach. I was going to be relying on the Holy Spirit and divine inspiration a lot for this one.  After getting through the lesson I knew I need to get home asap before I was going to fall asleep standing up. I raced home, fell into bed for a few hours before waking up refreshed just in time to head to Family Jam session at the Lyman/Howard House.   With musically inclined friends we spent the evening circled up campfire style jammin out some tunes on the guitar and piano.  Maybe a harmonica was involved.  Maybe a little Cat Stevens, the Beatles, Brandi Carlile, Peter Paul and Mary, Allison Krauss, and Billy Joel was involved.  Good music, good friends, good laughs...perfect wrap to a crazy week.

So, that was the week.  In a giant nutshell.