Perfect (and Less Than Perfect) Saturdays

Last Saturday was wonderful. Chuk made me brunch.

It was a beautiful day, a rarity during a Virginia summer.

Because it wasn't too hot or humid, Chuk suggested we go down to the river and feed the birds.

There were a lot of birds: geese, ducks, and songbirds.

It was a lovely, peaceful afternoon. Then, in the evening, we met a friend and his parents for dinner and a walk through Old Town, and we ended up, once again, down by the river. It was an idyllic Saturday.

This Saturday is less than perfect. My poor Chuk has to work today and tomorrow, so I'll be spending the day catching up with my DVR and the laundry that needs to be folded. If it can't be perfect, at least it can be productive.

A Glimpse of My Future...

...hopefully.

I did a lot of babysitting last week. I watched the little girl pictured above for three days while her daddy, who normally stays home with her, was out of state on business. Remember when she was born? What a difference four months makes!

I only watched this little guy for an afternoon, but he was none too pleased about it. He is nine months and going through that "I only want my mama" phase. Although, to be fair, I was his first babysitter.

His parents were best friends with my husband when they were all undergrads. Sadly, they are moving from our neighborhood to Baltimore. I took him on a walk and to the park so his mom could pack without him unpacking behind her.

Even though I had to deal with a diaper explosion on the former and a lot of crying with the latter, both babies were a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll have my own little one to play with soon.

Are You Freaking Kidding Me: Old Lady Edition

Wednesday is my favorite day to go to Costco because Wednesday is the best free sample day. Apparently, word has gotten out about the samples because it was super crowded this afternoon.

I was waiting patiently in the checkout line for what felt like three hours when an old lady, pictured above in the bathrobe, sun hat, and tights, sauntered right up and stood in front of the next person in line right next to the conveyor belt. Clearly, we were all standing in line, but she didn't care. She just started putting her items on the belt. The gentleman in front of me was much nicer than I am and said "You can go ahead of me" even though she had already decided to go ahead of him.

Thus, my wait got a little longer. I rolled my eyes and thought, "Are you freaking kidding me, lady?! You're too old to be a cutter."

Turning 34 Two Ways, Part II

A week after his birthday, we had a fun little party for Chuk at a local park on the banks of the Potomac. There was a shady baby play area and a hammock.

Babies weren't the only drooling guests, some dogs came too. They were so cute and well behaved. (The dogs and the babies.)

I labeled the cups with the names of rivers so it would be easy to keep track of. It worked really well and it was fun to see which rivers people picked. My husband, a returned Peace Corps volunteer from Ukraine, chose the Dnieper, of course. I knew he would.

There was lots of food. (Sadly I didn't get a picture of the cake. It was homemade, from scratch, carrot cake.) We provided cake, cheeseburgers and veggie burgers, and potato salad. Some guests asked if they could bring something, so we asked them to bring sodas or side dishes.

Everything was delicious and summery. It was my first time trying quinoa and I'm it's newest convert.

It was a lovely afternoon. We're so lucky to have such awesome friends.

Turning 34 Two Ways, Part I

Two weeks ago, my love turned 34. Normally, I would make a big fuss, but I had hardly been home in more than three weeks, so the celebration had to be low key. Fortunately, the birthday man didn't mind.

The day started with breakfast in bed. Sadly, I messed up his eggs, but fortunately he was to sleepy to notice (or too kind to bring it up.)

Chuk had to work that day, but when he got home he decided he wanted to go out for traditional Irish fish and chips. This is not a fancy guy; he just likes good food.

He also treated himself to a deep fried snickers. He had been wanting to try one for at least five years.

Once back home, we did presents and had store-bought cheesecake. It was simple, but perfect.

Fish on Friday

Costco has Copper River salmon for a meager $8.99 per pound. I bought seven pounds and divided it into half pound meal-sized portions using my kitchen scale. Usually my budget doesn't allow for such an expensive food purchase, but for the highest quality, healthiest fish, I decided the splurge was worth it. At $2.25 a serving, it's cheaper than a Big Mac and more delicious than almost anything I can imagine in a healthier restaurant. I can hardly wait to get some of it on the grill.

Do you have a special splurge food or would you rather just go out to eat?

Not Yet in the Swing of Things

I've been back from vacation for nearly a week but I'm having trouble getting back to reality. I'm still on Alaska time. It was 104 on Monday. After ten days of 24-hour buffets, I no longer know how to feed myself. My attempts at productivity result in massive failure. Just yesterday, I tried patching a pair of my husband's pants and sewed one of the legs together, then I cut myself with a serrated knife while attempting to slice an apple, finally I got a paper cut while opening the mail, then I just gave up and watched TV.

Despite now being slightly useless at real life, vacation was heavenly. We really had the best time. Someday, I'll download my photos and tell you all about it, but now I'm getting out my suitcase again because we're heading to my father-in-law's this weekend to beat the heat in his community's pool. He also lets us do our laundry for free at his place, so I guess I'll have to start getting back into the swing of things soon enough.