The week in review

I'm convinced that life will never slow down.  In fact, I think that I will never let it slow down because every time I find myself with one project wrapped up I volunteer myself for another one.  I should just admit to myself that I like to be busy even to the point of being stressed.

I have to work on the stress part.

My immune system hasn't been as strong this year as it has in the past so when Shem was sick last weekend I started to feel a little sick at the beginning of the week.  That always makes it hard to get out in the 50 degree rain and go for a run...so I didn't.  I can take 5 steps forward and 3 back for running 8 miles last Saturday and not even 30 minutes this week.  Oh well.  I'll just tell myself that I haven't lost anything that I can't get back after a good workout on Monday. :)

Teacher appreciation week is also to blame for me feeling like a slacker.  We had a dessert day...there were brownies and other sweets that I ate.  I had doughnuts on three different occasions too.  Did I mention the greasy pizza hut pizza that I ate too?  There was grease dripping down my pointer finger as I ate it.  Shem and I threw away that pizza hut coupons that we got in the mail because of my greasy finger.  Aside from the food it was nice to feel appreciated.  One of my students brought me a flower with a cute note attached.

Anyway.  Shem and I both love food and we try to make good food even when we're really busy.  I spent 3 hours at Winco on Monday night just to get some good food for the week.  The lines were insanely long and why do people bring their whole family grocery shopping with them anyway???  Why can't Dad/boyfriend stay home with the kids?  I tried to pass the time on the phone with my brother, but my call was dropped which meant utter boredom.

Part of the reason why we did all of that shopping was for Dawn's surprise 60th birthday party on Friday night.  We made appetizers and they were amazing!  We modified this crab won ton recipe to be Dawn and Rochelle friendly by replacing the won tons with fried rice cups that Shem created.  With the fresh buttery crab it tasted really good!  We also made these skewers with feta, cucumber, fresh mint, and a green olive.  It was so yummy!  Dawn was incredibly surprised and Q's new house was amazing looking!  We went all out to have a special dinner with stem ware, linen napkins, and matching platters.  We served everything on white dishes so that the food would look amazing...it did.  The food was incredibly good considering the limitations in food that Dawn can have now.  She loved it!

After we surprised Dawn.  She gives the best reactions.

Janea and Wendy also worked on a book of memories for Dawn.  Everyone wrote about their favorite memories of Dawn and then some of us read our entries.  It was so special and fun for me to hear about those memories. 

Dawn's book of memories.

In a way it was also sad for me because I didn't get my entry done in time to put it in.  I felt sheepish about it the whole time, but I told myself over and over that I can still hand her a letter with my memories in it.  Feeling bad about not getting that letter done made me wish that I hadn't spent so much time working on my photo blog (which looks amazing thanks to Emily Norton @ http://www.emilyjune.com/) or worked late hours last week in order to get caught up at work, or spent so much time editing and taking pictures, and I even wished that I hadn't gone running.  Oh well, it's helping me to prioritize my life.  Family is really important to me and I need to put everything aside when it comes to family.  Shem and I both wish that our jobs weren't so all consuming during the school year. It takes away from our quality of life and we get so run down that when we do have free time all we can manage to do is sit and do nothing or sleep.  And most of the time sleep is the best thing so that we can do it all over again the next day or week. :)  One of the flaws of our job. 

Well that was our week minus all of the interesting conversations Shem and I had.  Happy Mother's Day!  I can't wait to call my Mom today!

    Huntington Park, Kirkland, Wa.  After eating out at Wing Dome on Saturday night.  I love hot wings, well hot chicken tenders.  The sunset was beautiful and Shem took this picture.