Speeding Up to Slow

Once again, I've been a bad blogger.  This is due to many things: work has gotten REALLY busy, which totally negates my desire to get on the computer again once I'm finally home; we've had a house guest; general fatigue/exhaustion from life; and just a general need for a break from a lot of things.  But I'm back, and I have a new challenge for anyone who reads this: enjoy your life.  Stop getting caught up in what other people in your life are doing that you do or don't like, stop gossipping, and find something great to do with your own time instead.  Be someone trustworthy that your friends can count on not only in good times and in bad, but also someone who your friends can trust with secrets and private information.  Don't be the middle man passing information along; seriously- even if it seems harmless, stop and ask yourself if you should be the one sharing the information or story.  I say, get over your grudges or issues with other people and accept the choices they've made.  You don't have to like those choices, so realize that they weren't your choices to make and it doesn't matter if you like them or not.  I've challenged myself to these same things many times before (most recently about 2 weeks ago), and while I may not always get a gold star at everything on the list, I usually feel better about myself and happier in general when I'm consciously thinking about living my life this way.  That's always a good thing. 

Moving on to items of more interest.  So much to share, not enough pictures to go along with the stories.  It's really been almost a month since I last gave a real update on what L and I have been doing.  I'll see if I can adequately recap...

It's been a month of trying new things.  New recipes, new restaurants, new friends, new experiences.  We ended February by heading into the city to see the Mavs take on the Wizards.  L grew up as a Lakers fan, but 15-ish years of living in Texas converted him into a kind-of Mavs fan, and I'm definitely a Mavs fan.  So off we went!  We had great seats that were right at half-court and apparently there was a big group of Mavs fans somewhere behind us.  They were quite vocal.  We also had a die-hard Wizards fan sitting one row behind us and one seat to my left.  He was loud.  And angry that the Mavs fans were sitting so close to him and yelling in unison.  Any time the Mavs fans yelled, "Let's go Mavericks," the Wiz fan would stand up and scream, "Who shot J.R.?"  Yes, THAT was his awesome come-back: referencing a TV show that ended 25-ish years ago and specifically an episode that aired 30 years, 4 months, and 9 days ago.  (If you're wondering why I know the exact date, it's because the "Who shot J.R.?" episode aired the night I was born.)  Plus, it's not even really a burn.  J.R. Ewing was apparently not a nice man.  Here's the one pic I have of the game:

If you look at the jumbo-tron, that's a little kid dancing.  Of course, you can't tell he's dancing because photos don't capture movement like that very well, but rest assured that he was AWESOME.  He had some serious skills.

Hmmm... what else.  The following weekend, I had a girls' night with several high school friends at a fab little place in Del Ray called Evening Star Cafe.  If you ever find yourself in the Del Ray area of Alexandria around dinnertime, do yourself a favor and eat here if they have a table available.  Delicious.  It doesn't hurt that the owners also own a wine store that is next door to the cafe.  You can order a bottle from the store if the restaurant's list doesn't tickle your fancy.  We had a great evening away from our husbands.  This was actually the first time since we got married that I've had a girls' night on a weekend night and left L at home (he was at home having a heart attack due to watching Baylor/UT basketball).  It's not as weird as it sounds- with the amount he was traveling last all and spring (remember those months in NYC??) and the fact that we just don't have the plethora of friends here that we had in Austin and our general fondness for spending time together, it just hadn't happened.  Good thing we really do love each other and like each other's company.  But who knows- maybe this is the start of something new for us! 

So that's where I'll stop for now.  I'll promise I'll try to be better about posting (and making them funnier) in the next few weeks.