My Valentine

This year, Clint and I agreed to do nothing out of the ordinary this year for Valentine's Day.   I was supposed to be out of town for the weekend, plus he's supposedly not big on the holiday.  (Really? Cause I thought we had a smashing time at the ballet last year!?...oh yeah, that was just me.)

I ended up, last minute, flaking on my volunteer work, for reasons that are my own, which may or may not include my simple desire to lounge indefinitely with my cutey cute bf...

Amidst acknowledgment that we planned zero activities/gifts for the blessed holiday, my girlish nature got the best of me.  I had the following conversation in my head Saturday morning:

"Does Clint hate me and that's why he suggested we forgo the celebration of love?...

Or...
Could Clint's insistence that we do nothing actually be a ploy to get me to expect nothing, so when he actually DOES get me something I'll be surprised...even overjoyed?...

He knows I love surprises...

Could he...possibly....be planning to get me something super great and awesome....even...something that I've been wanting for months by now???...

...

Wait.  What if he really meant it though, and gets me nothing, like he said, and I'm getting my hopes up that he's going to surprise me, and I cry when he doesn't, and he's incredulous to why I'm disappointed, when we already established that we weren't going to do anything???

Why am I allowing myself to get worked up like this!?....

Tears...

What the freaking crap. I am crying?"

......

No.  It gets better....

So, Saturday, I began the day by confessing to Clint that I was having all these crazy thoughts, and he had to tell me right then if he planned to surprise me or not b/c I was going to cry from the stress of not knowing how to feel... (Let's just say Valentine's Day also happens to fall during a special time of the month for me)...

He was going to surprise me.

AWE. REALLY?

WEEEEEAK!!!!! Man, that boy has got to learn not to give in to evil PMS Jessica!  You cannot give in to her!  She is not real!  Because, at that moment, was I then happy to discover that Clint did, in fact, love me and want to celebrate it?  NOOOO. Oh no.  That was far from my mind.  I was furious at myself for ruining my surprise.

Loser!

OK so, somehow, we made it out of that moment and the rest of the weekend was filled with delicious food, beautiful flowers, movies, my fave chocolate fantasy truffles and these lil babies:

 

In case you're wondering, yes, this is the little surprise that I've been waiting for for months...yyyyyay!

most delicious chicken sandwhich ever. My creation.

 

Fried Chicken Sandwich.  Not low fat=literally most delicious sandwich EV.Errrr

chicken breast marinated in buttermilk for a day or two

covered in breadcrumbs, cumin, and curry and salt.

Fried in Olive Oil.

Extra extra sharp cheddar cheese 

spread=raspberry jelly + mayo

Lettuce

Hamburger Bun from Trader Joes....

Sounds kind of sick...but it ruled. Trust me. Try it.

kids stuff

These days, I'm finding myself a little baby hungry, and child fascinated.  For those of you who are blessed to be parents, take a gander here and here.

how I intend to spend my weekend

Not smarter than a 4 yr old.

As you know, I teach four year old ballet and tap classes.  Part of my job is undressing the kiddos from their school clothes into their ballet attire, before class, and then back again, after class.  It is a MAJOR chore. This is an age where they want to do EVERYTHING themselves, especially the things they do slowly, or can't do at all.  I can't tell you how many times a day, when I'm tying tap shoes that the child will yell out in protest, "I can do it by myself!!!" and I have to pause, let them give it a shot, wait for them to get frustrated and then have me do it after all.

It makes me stop and consider.  You know, I would seriously LOVE IT, if I had somebody to dress me....

In fact, I would love it if I had a personal life assistant to do everything for me... shop for me, run errands for me, pay bills for me.  Who wants to do things for themselves, anyway?

Yesterday, I REEEALLY wanted needed somebody to do something for me.  My car had had a burnt out headlight for like a week, and you know, it's annoying, plus against the law... it needed to be taken care of.  So, I asked the boyfriend if he could do it.  He was of no help.  (The man can give you anesthetic and maneuver a high speed dental drill in your mouth, but can't change a headlight on a Honda...  Oh well.  I guess you can't have everything. He's forgiven.)

So, I went to Autozone, bought the light, and asked them if they could pop it in for me.  No can do.  It's against their policy to work on cars.  They can only sell you parts....  Nice customer service though.

Can't they see I'm a damsel in distress here!?  It's a headlight, people, this isn't brain surgery!  It is both quick and simple...  You just go out there, open the hood... and do it.

It's just that it's dirty...and I don't want to do it.

So.

Well...

Guess, I'm on my own here.

Guess I hafta get my hands dirty; learn a new skill.

...

Freak yeah!

Look ma, I can change a head light! And I did it all by myself, without any help from anyone!...and I took pictures with my iphone. 

Look, don't tell anybody, but that was actually pretty exhilarating.  Maybe my four year olds are on to something... Learning something new everyday, and trying to do things on your own is satisfying business.

snowed in

I've discovered that the trend with Richmond is most of the winter is bone dry, pretty cold, but sometimes warm (last week, it was 65 degrees one day.)  If we're lucky we get snowed on ONCE.  Everything will shut down for a day, then go back to normal.  The snow will be melted within the week.

In December, the day after I flew to Idaho, Richmond got massively dumped on.  As predicted, businesses, schools, airports were all shut down for like a day or 2.  By the time I got back, in two weeks, it was gone for good.

Last week, the news reports were making a big deal about another supposed snow storm that was due to hit us Friday night.  I was totally skeptical.  As I said, it was 65 degrees one day.  I was like, "everybody is freaking out over nothing.  I'm gonna bet it's won't even rain."

Wrongo.

It started snowing around 7pmish Friday night and didn't stop for like 24 hours! 13 inches.  It was rad.  I stayed indoors for 3 days straight, including Monday, which turned out to be a snow day for schools and many businesses.  Luckily, in spite of my skepticism, I prepared for the weekend by loading up on comfort foods and starting the crock pot.  It was an awesome weekend full of lounging, naps,reading, watching movies/tv and eating nonstop.  Oh yeah.

So, the highways are pretty clear, but all the side streets are a menace to drive on.  As a result, some of my dance classes are being cancelled.  Yahoo!
AAaaand we're supposed to be hit again this weekend.  Love it!