Kid and Caboodle

I’m enjoying an unexpected bit of free time this evening. My husband picked up our son from school and took him to McDonald’s for dinner (Friday is McDonald’s day). Right now, I’m sitting in the sunroom with all the windows open enjoying tea and cake while I wait for them to get home. What a nice way to start the weekend!

Today was my telecommuting day. I worked in the sunroom all day, enjoying the sounds of birds and feeling the warm breeze blowing through the windows.

At lunchtime I relaxed on my living room couch looking at catalogs while doing laundry.

I made two entrees for dinner — baked salmon with a mayonnaise-horseradish-dill sauce (recipe) and breaded chicken patties topped with marinara sauce and melted cheese.

I had a nice slice of chocolate cake with a whipped cream icing for dessert this evening.

I’m looking forward to going to bed early.

This afternoon my supervisor approved my request for two consecutive days off in May, no questions asked, despite my recent three-week trip to Taiwan. I wonder whether she is trying to boost my morale. She keeps asking me how I am adapting to my new work schedule and points out that it enables me to spend more time with my family. So far I definitely appreciate the benefits. I am very tired at 5 a.m. and at 9 p.m., though. This schedule is quite an adjustment for me; I have had the evening shift, which is in line with my natural sleep cycle, for over five years so it is hard to remember to go to bed early so I won’t feel miserable the next morning.

The weather was very nice this evening. I let my son, A.J., ride his bike and play with a neighbor for more than an hour after we got home.

Since A.J. was having so much fun outside, I delayed our evening meal until my husband got home from work so we had a family dinner for a change. The three of us had asparagus-and-gruyere ravioli with smoked salmon, which was a spur-of-the-moment but very tasty combination of ingredients. A.J. also had a bowl of chocolate ice cream for dessert.

One of A.J.’s classmates has invited him to play at his home on Saturday. The two of them seem to be good friends in school. I had a nice chat with this classmate’s mother and look forward to meeting her.
Tomorrow will be my teleworking day. I look forward to sleeping in an extra hour.

Ran into someone I last worked with about 13 years ago. I can’t believe it has been so long! We didn’t really have time to chat, but he gave me his business card and I plan to drop him a note soon.

I seem to have lost most of the extra weight from the Taiwan trip — yay! Had some chocolate “Hit” cookies tonight, though!

Had a good, if brief, visit with a friend from out of town.

Had a surprise visit from my parents this morning. My son was very happy to see them. They took away an old sliding glass door and a kitchen window left over from our sunroom project and a piece of glass from the screen door in the front of the house. Now we have room in the garage again!

Did some shopping at World Market, found a fruit wine I have been looking for and a nonalcoholic drink that is hard to find in regular stores.

Had dinner at a place I have never been to before — Noodles and Company — and enjoyed it. The food was good, and the server was very helpful.

I seem to have managed to avoid catching my husband’s cold.

Last night we got to socialize with some friends we haven’t seen since New Year’s. Usually they are very busy working or dancing. We gave them some things we had picked up for them in Taiwan and sat around with drinks in our sunroom chatting about the highlights of the trip and trying some Taiwanese snacks. It was very pleasant — we had all the windows open but didn’t have to deal with bugs. I think the sunroom is definitely our favorite room in our house these days!

This evening I’m supposed to get together with another friend. She moved to the other side of the country last year to pursue a new career. Now she is back in town for a few days making the rounds of her friends in the D.C. area. The plan is for me to pick her up from the Metro this evening after she is done visiting some friends in Maryland and for her to stay with me tonight. Tomorrow we had originally planned to go downtown to attend the Cherry Blossom Festival. We may revise our plans depending on the weather, though. Tomorrow evening she will be staying with yet another friend in Virginia.

Today I have been spending much of the day doing housework. Unearthed two important files that had been lost on my desk. Also washed dishes, did laundry, cleaned off the counters and the dining room table, and went grocery shopping. My husband did a lot of work outside the house — he purchased and planted some bushes in the front yard, took out a dead tree and a dead bush from the side of the house, and tied up another tree that was falling over. Hopefully this year we’ll finally have a nice yard.

Our son has spent most of the day playing a video game and riding his bike. But, then, he’s only 5.

Today is my teleworking day, and it has been a fantastic day for it. It’s about 75 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny; I’ve been sitting in the sunroom with all the windows open most of the day.

Since today is my teleworking day, I also got to sleep in an extra hour this morning and dash out at lunchtime to do an errand (with all the windows rolled down in the car to enjoy the weather!). Right now I’m done working for the day. I’m relaxing for a little while before I go pick up my son from school. I love Thursdays!

Had a productive day at work today. It was tough — Wednesdays generally are for me — but it was productive despite some miscommunications and network problems this morning.

Found one of my Mandarin textbooks and got through the first nine chapters without much trouble.

Treated myself to some Asian food for dinner — shrimp with a black bean sauce and vegetable pad thai.

We have a small ant infestation in our house right now, but the exterminator will be coming tomorrow morning.

I’ll be telecommuting tomorrow, which means I’ll get to sleep in an extra hour and have an extra hour at the end of the day before I have to pick up my son from school. Yay!

Getting up at 5 a.m. is tough, but I’m enjoying being able to choose where I park in the garage in the mornings. I also got window seats during my commutes to and from work today so actually was able to nap. And, of course, I am enjoying being able to just drop everything at 4:30 every afternoon and go home!

A friend of mine whom I haven’t seen in about half a year will be in town this weekend. I’m looking forward to sharing with her some of the special teas I got in Taiwan and showing her the sunroom. Hopefully it will be pleasant Sunday morning so she can really appreciate it. We also plan to attend the Cherry Blossom Festival downtown on Sunday and it would be nice to have good weather.