Good Start

Well, it's been a good start to the weekend. It was quite a busy week, complete with taking a "Knife Skills" class through Arlington County. I thought the class would be teaching things like how to chop like an Iron Chef or something, but it was a lot more about safety, sharpening, etc. At the time I was disappointed, but looking back I really learned a lot and want to get a stone to sharpen my knives. The guy who taught it--aka "Meat Head" per an email he sent prior to class--was a retired Journeyman Meat Cutter, or butcher. So that was pretty interesting. This older, retired guy with tons of great stories including teaching women prisoners to butcher!

Last night Jeffro and I kicked off the weekend at our favorite sushi place, Matuba. Today I decided to get up early to get some stuff done before I went to visit my sister. I went to the car wash at 8 am(!) before the lines started, then got some muffins and coffee to take home. I got a much-needed pedicure, and then went to see my sister and have lunch with her then do some cleaning for her. Then I went by this pawn shop I'd been before and had seen this really pretty sapphire ring. I went today to see if it was still there and it was! I managed to talk the woman down $65 so I decided to buy it! So it's been a rather good day. Tonight we're going to see Honor by August, the Reserves, and Getaway Car at Iota. I'm actually psyched to see this show. But I'm thinking I might take a nap before I go, as I'm starting to lose steam.

8 Lbs of Blueberries!

How would you like to be the proud owner of 8 lbs. of blueberries? Well, today Jeffro and I made a trip to Butler's Orchard with NOAAgirl and her DH to go blueberry picking. I am so excited! The weather was just gorgeous and the blueberries were very plentiful and huge. A great crop! So now I have to dig up some easy recipes to get rid of said 8 lbs. of blueberries . . . today definitely made up for being inside yesterday doing some work. Tonight is my drum lesson, then Top Chef, then unfortunately getting ready for work tomorrow. The weekends go too fast.

Good News

I just got back from a doctor's appointment for my sister who has lymphoma. Good news! The scan showed that the cancer is gone for now . . . she still has a mass in her chest that needs radiation, but overall things are looking good for her. Of course, there's still a 50/50 chance of recurrence, but I guess we'll take it one step at a time. It would be nice if she were to acknowledge her good fortune with some new-found wisdom and stop smoking. Man, that just burns me that everyone has spent all this time and money to help cure her, and she won't stop. I can't even tell you how furious I am about it.

Ballet and Shopping

That's basically what my entire weekend consists of so far. My nieces are in various ballet recitals on Friday night, and two performances on Sunday. I love my nieces so I always go, but I can think of about a million better things to do with my time on the weekend. Like shopping. So that's what Jeffro and I did this morning. I have been wanting a glider for my patio forever, but have never been able to find one affordable enough or small enough for my tiny space. I found this cool glider at Home Depot, but unfortunately the box wouldn't fit in my car, so I decided to order it online. Check it out here. Then we went to Target and another garden place to get some cushions for it, some charcoal to barbecue, and some plants--including tomato plants. So we'll see if we can get any vegetables this year. I had already bought some basil, which is doing well, and cilantro, which isn't.

So tomorrow it's back to ballet, but hopefully first we'll make it to the Alexandria Red Cross Waterfront festival to see one of our favorite local bands, Catfish Honeymoon at 11:45 am.

Medical Condition of the Week

I feel like for the past two months I've had one health problem after another. I finally got rid of my contact dermatitis around my eyes (yeah, that was a fun, itchy time), and while I was at the dermatologist taking care of that, I had him look at this mole that was bleeding--never a good thing. He removed that and it turned out to be benign. Then I showed him this other problem I've had for a while, a lipoma, and he said "I can fix that." So since it's covered by insurance, I had it removed--excised to be precise--this week. It was an outpatient procedure and used only a local, so I was awake for the entire thing, which was really pretty gross as he dug this thing out of my leg. Considering its location, I thought it would be pretty painful, but it really hasn't been more than just a little bothersome, much to my relief. Ah, the wonders of modern medicine.

Speaking of medical conditions, my sister goes in for tests next week to determine how much her lymphoma has improved. She goes on Friday to get the results, and I think my whole family is going to lend her support. Say some prayers, everyone.

The Heat Is On

Well, today was certainly a lot nicer outside than yesterday, but I guess summer is really here to stay (yeah!). Jeffro and I are going to our first outdoor summer party at the Old Dominion Boat Club this evening, and I'm psyched to be spending the evening outdoors. Jeffro, on the other hand, not so much. I'm the kind of person that on a day like this I want to be outside all day and he doesn't so that's hard for me sometimes. So I basically just ran a bunch of much-needed errands today instead of going to do something great outdoors. Blah.

Tomorrow we're having brunch with MJ and Computerguy and then we have dinner at my sister's to celebrate my nieces' birthdays--two of them this past week. Last night we had dinner at Ravi Kabob on Glebe Road in Arlington, which was excellent. It was Pakistani food, but it was just about identical to Indian and absolutely delicious. Then we went to Springfield Mall to pick up gifts for previously mentioned nieces. I haven't been down there since they redid the mixing bowl, and boy was I shocked. To get to the mall, you don't even have to get on 95S at all anymore, you are immediately separated from all of the insanity that used to be a near collision course. I was very impressed and shocked, since I didn't like the change they made for the exit for 395N being a left-handed exit to a right-handed exit. I figured they just f*cked the whole thing up, but I guess not.

New Food Network Star

Everyone turn your tv on right now and watch the The Next Food Network Star! It will soon be going head to head with Bravo's Top Chef, which also starts this week. What a great summer of cooking!

I don't know about you all, but I had a very nice weekend, complete with a trip to Matuba (my favorite sushi place), my first visit to the pool, an unusual trip to the movie theater (I never get around to going) to see Knocked Up (just aiight, nothing to rush out and see), a trip to the Clarendon farmer's market on Saturday morning, and Music and Lyrics on DVD. A fun weekend, all in all!