Nuthin’ but an H thang, Baybay…

OK, by the sound of the title of this particular blog entry, I am either:
A. Trying to play Dr. Seuss en francais,
B. Too bloody tired to make any sense,
C. Describing the painstaking process of creating an art section on my site, or
D. All of the above.

Today, I corralled Adam in my office for some iTunes activities. We installed new software on it, updated my playlists and cleaned up my iTunes library. It was quite an ordeal but I’m so excited to use my iPod next week now! Thanks Adam!!

After we put the iPod to bed, I coerced Adam to install another Gallery on my site with a very specific purpose. I wanted a separate place to display my artwork, in all of its forms. Adam had the new Gallery available to me in a flash and I went to town on it. I created separate albums for: my paintings in acrylic and watercolor, a pencil drawing, and some of my more “creative” photos. I’m so happy with how it turned out…for years my stuff has sat in my portfolio or in a box and I drag it out only on occasion. This way it’s much more accessible. And, I’m able to view it as a progression. Especially as I make new paintings, it’s nice to look back at what I’ve done to get inspired.

Please don’t expect to see anything wonderful from my artwork though! I’m the last one to claim that it’s good by any stretch. I have posted it here mostly for myself to enjoy. But feel free to browse it…I think it’s kinda fun…

*Sigh*

I’m obsessed with this website…is that so wrong??

We started celebrating Valentine’s on Friday this year. The agreement was not to buy each other anything extravagant. Instead, we decided to put money into our wedding account. We still had a lot of fun though: Adam brought me home a dozen red long-stemmed roses from Bachman’s. The funny thing was, when I opened the box, one of the roses was chopped off underneath the bud! So I put 11 roses in a vase & floated the 12th rose in a glass of water. Then I gave Adam my gift to him, which was a box of Godiva chocolates. He was pretty excited about that. Adam made mostaciolli for dinner & we relaxed from our hard day.

Unfortunately, Adam had to work almost all day on Saturday. I got up with him & went to the club to work out. After that, I finished all of my laundry & get some things done around the house. I also completed another huge report for my boss & worked on my painting. Adam was pretty tired when he returned home, so we had a quiet dinner & watched the movie Dark City. I actually liked it.

Sunday was rainy & cold. I had several plans laid out for Sunday but we only ended up attending one event. The Hopkins Community Center had free classes on home improvement going on most of the day, and I had my heart set on the ceramic tiling class. The host was your typical subcontractor dude, who reminded me a bit of Al Borland from the sitcom Home Improvement. He was pretty mellow, and funny in a hokey-kinda-way. He also kept the dialogue of his presentation in very basic terms for those of us who were newbies. We digested a lot of info. There was an older couple sitting in front of us, and the class stopped momentarily because the older man in front of us dropped his chin to his chest & promptly fell asleep. I was scared he was having a stroke or something! His wife snapped him out of it after a few seconds of trying & the class resumed. When it was over, we cruised home & laid around the house. I had wanted to go over to Casey & John’s but we were too wiped out.

Valentine’s Day itself was a majorly stressful day at work. In fact, I was relieved when the day was finally over. To compound the stress, late that afternoon I had to go to the dentist–again–to have my permanent crown put on my tooth. Grrr…I hate my teeth. After that, I went to my Mom’s to pick up Valentine’s cookies she made for us & a Valentine’s present (2 really cute coffee mugs) she bought us. And she gave us a check towards the wedding! Thanks Mom!!

For Valentine’s Day dinner, Adam had purchased a huge steak, a pound of King Crab, some Asiago bread & fresh green beans for us to share on Monday night. This was the meal of meals. He actually created a holder for the butter (to be served with the crab) out of wire he took from an old hanger and then placed a tealight candle underneath to keep it warm. How’s that for resourceful! He also bought a superb bottle of wine to complement everything. The food was delicious, the candles were lit, jazz was playing in the background & the bad day at work melted away.

I’m so glad we decided to stay in. Thanks Adam.

Travelling back from Sioux Falls again, I snapped some drive-by shots of the beautiful countryside. The snow had melted, but the ground didn’t look dead. The soft rolling golden hills smiled upon me as I flew past them at 75MPH. Yes, I was driving & taking photos at the same time. And yes, I am crazy.

I have sometimes fantasized about living in the country, even if for just a moment. While among these surroundings, I even enjoyed some sappy old country songs on the radio. I almost never listen to country while in the city. I flipped around the stations & found the song “Fields of Gold” by Sting. How fitting it was.

For some reason (that I won’t pretend to know), I get giddy everytime I spot cows from the roadside…guess I’m still truly a city kid at heart.

For those who’ve been asking, here’s what I’ve been up to:

Saturday morning, I went to a Curves location about 10 blocks away from my house to join up. It was a brief medical-history-goal-setting-paperwork-filling-out session. I cancelled my Lifetime membership last month and I’m very excited about this new club.

Here’s why:
–their machines are targeted for women’s bodies,
–they have a circuit you follow to be sure you’re getting the workout you need. They also personally teach you how to use each machine on the circuit,
–they weigh you and take your measurements on a monthly basis to track your results,
–there are no obnoxious dudes checking me out,
–it’s $11 less monthly than Lifetime.

I completed my first workout session on Wednesday. Yep–I’ve been sore since, but it was a quality workout and it didn’t totally kick my butt. I will be toned for my wedding, you just watch me. The rest of Saturday was relaxing for Adam and me. We spent quality time together doing a little wedding planning.

Later on Sunday, we did some shopping. Adam bought me the most beautiful easel (it has inspired me to paint more often–in fact, I’ve been at it three times this week alone). After picking up the easel, we went ring shopping. We tried on rings at ShaneCo. in Minnetonka and found a couple that we liked, but none that we loooved. However, we did get some sound ideas on what we’re looking for: I want the bling and Adam does not. He wants a plain platinum band to match the band on my engagement ring, which is okaaay…but I kept trying to talk him into something more creative. He wasn’t havin’ it.

The remainder of this past week has been severely eventful…

Monday: I finished out January with 12 less deals than December, which, considering the dastardly weather and slow dealership business, wasn’t a bad month. Adam’s dad stayed overnight and gave me birthday presents (from Linda, he said) which were totally me: a pink plaid tote with matching handbag, pink socks and a leather pink cap! Adorable as can be.

Tuesday: We interviewed and hired a wedding photographer. Get this–her name is Heather Matson–no kidding!

Wednesday: I turned in about a million reports to my boss in the morning & took the afternoon off due to my stooopid toothache. I felt better later that night and worked out.

Today has been busy as well but now I’m gearing up for the weekend. Friday night is Girls’ Night at my place so I’m looking forward to hanging out with my girls. Saturday afternoon, I’m attempting to attend the Wedding Fair with Deb B and Gwen–should be fun and I’m hoping to get some more ideas. Saturday night, my good friend Deb M is having a monster party that I’m dragging Adam to. It’s also Adam’s friend Ben’s birthday party that night, so we’ll probably end up over there at some point in the evening…whew-deep breath…Sunday I’m getting my hair done, thank god! While I know my brunette roots are really attractive to most people, I’m parting ways with them again. Afterward, I will watch the Eagles win the Superbowl (cross-my-fingers!).

If this isn’t motivated, I don’t know what is.