Hey, you.

Ah, what a tough weekend for you.  Yucky weather and sad memories, all at once.  I hope your time with the family was nice, at the very least.

I know what you mean about nice weather putting a spring in your step, though. We had a couple of relatively nice days this week, meaning that it was partly sunny and not raining.  On those days, I felt so motivated I could hardly stand it.  They kind of made the other, gross days even less tolerable for some reason.  But I think we're headed out of the woods...maybe.  No more snow, anyway.

Speaking of motivation, I just got off the phone with some woman at the Cross Fit gym that I recently joined. Actually, I bought the membership at the auction this past weekend for a song, compared to the price I was ready to pay. I bid on it before I could even think about it because I knew I might not do it otherwise.  Surprisingly, no one else bid -- on a fitness program that has the highest injury rate in the country? Huh! Weird! -- so it was all mine.  Now, of course, I'm freaking out about starting on Monday.  Spring, summer, here I come.

Things have settled a little since the auction went off without a hitch on Saturday night, but my schedule and J's are still off balance so we haven't seen much of each other. JJ  started football on Monday, but then has no school today, and half days tomorrow and Friday, so this week is all messed up.  Still, it's nice to be done with the auction and to have a break for awhile.  This weekend, I am meeting up with my old friend SJ for lunch.  I am so excited to see her and catch up on all the years behind us.

And speaking of old friends...I put in for the week of August 8-16th for my vacation to CT.  There is a flight that has a 3-hour layover at Midway which I might try to catch in order to meet my friend LC for a drink while there.  Or, I am also kicking around the idea of spending a night or two there on my way home.  I have no idea what the cost of that would be; I may be just dreaming, but it's not out of the way. I am hoping to spend six nights with you, at any rate, if that's not too long?  Let me know what you think. Unfortunately, it takes my boss forever to respond to PTO requests, so it might be awhile before we can solidify plans.  I'll keep you posted.

I'm attempting a Cooking Light Mac 'n Cheese recipe tonight, made with Gruyere and butternut squash...doesn't that sound awesome?  Miraculously, we are all home, so I thought I'd put a little effort into this mom thing.

Hope your week is going well ~

 Love you,

A