The Daily Grind

Well, life is definitely back to "normal" in the Larson household. Classes have started up again for Jordan, so it's been late nights and lots of studying for him. His CP2 (cardiopulmonary) midterm is next week Monday. He's also been spending time in the lab, working on Parkinson's research. (That's about all I know about that, so if you want more info, that's a question you'd have to ask the hubs!)

Like most all of you, work started back up on the 2nd for me and I'm still making the hour drive each way to work at the client's office on Wednesday. I've even managed to prioritize some time for the gym; my "excuse" since moving here: it was a heck of a lot easier when my commute was only 10-15mins, I got off work at 5pm, and employee benefits included a membership to a gym with complimentary fitness classes (love/miss the Avera Fitness Center!). At any rate, I was pretty sore last week, so I guess that meant I did something right.

We did manage to do a few fun things:

I ate Chick-fil-A  for the first time. I can't remember which sandwich I ate, but I know it was chicken. (har har) People always say it's outstanding; I thought it was alright, but maybe that's b/c I don't eat much fast food (aka, next to never), so I didn't have anything to compare it to. Either way, here's a pic commemorating my experience:

"Eat Mor Chikin"

Game Night. No, not board game night, like you might expect. Our friends Zach and Kody (okay, just Zach, his wife just indulges him) love football, so we went over to their apartment one evening for a bit of football-watching.

Date Night. You guessed it. Another Groupon night. We also went to Crossroads Art District First Fridays, which is FREE. You all know how much I like free. We got to wander through 5-10 different artist galleries and see their work. Some of them were amazing - like the guy that had super-intricate pencil drawings of landscapes like Chicago and KC and New York...and included the hours he spent on them, 20+, 30+, 40+...pretty cool.

These are not the pencil sketches...these were like...engravings.
Jordan loved them.

Trivia Night. We joined Steve and Allison for The Flying Saucer's Trivia Night again. We didn't win like the last time, but we did enjoy chips and cheesy salsa and some beers. I even found one I like! I think it was the St. Louis Framboise...but I can't remember for sure. Whatever it was, it was sweet and deliciously non-beer-like. My one claim to fame at this trivia night (I'm not very good at trivia...you probably don't want me on your team) was that I knew what book this opening line was from: "When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen." (Answer posted at the bottom of this blog post.)

Heroes. I'm ashamed to admit it, b/c this normally happens to Jordan and not to me...I'm hooked on a TV show. Any Heroes watchers out there? I know, I'm about 6 years behind. I'm almost done with the first season, which means I'm watching far too much of it. Little did I know, but I'm a sci-fi lover. Must have been all that Star Wars growing up. 

Pampered Chef. I went to a free PC training that the PC Home Office was putting on for Kansas City consultants. My business hasn't exactly been "rocking" since I moved out here, which is pretty much my fault (since I'm the only one that can get myself business, haha). I've had a difficult time finding contacts, and the people I do know don't want to do shows. I keep trying, though. My biggest take-away was this quote, "If you get overwhelmed and do nothing, you'll fail." - Alison Levine (the 1st woman to climb Mt. Everest). 

Domesticated. I've had a productive "homemaker" weekend of multiple loads of laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, washing the kitchen floor, cooking spaghetti and getting a roast w/ veggies in the crockpot for meals this week, doing lots of dishes, and making a "big" grocery run (including my fave: lots and lots of veggies...carrots, onions, potatoes, celery, zucchini, yellow squash, buttercup squash, garlic, green pepper, red pepper...I may have gotten carried away). 

That about does it for us. We've got another busy week coming up, especially with Jordan's midterm happening on the 21st. We miss you all and hope your life is filled with blessings and that you're blessing others!

***Trivia Answer: The Secret Garden. Thanks, mom, for all the Feature Films for Families we watched growing up!