quinquine

Thursday evening, Amy and I had planned on attending a sushi class, so Lillian spent the night with the grandparents. The class itself was fun - there was some fun fruit-infused honey, a ton of Japanese Kit-Kat varieties, and some sake.

The instructor was very insistent that we remember that sushi, at its most essential level, is cooked rice with vinegar. We learned how to create some rolls and nigiri, which was fun. It was a little sad that we learned little to nothing about sashimi; I think most of the people in class (including me) were hoping to learn more about how to prepare fish.

Friday morning, we went on a quick jaunt down to Galveston to explore potential wedding venues. The Moody Mansion has several rooms that would be awesome... but are not for rent. Gah. Victory of the day: we found some Stewart's Key Lime at the Galveston Spec's!

Saturday morning was for egg sandwiches. The weather was delightfully cool (in comparison to the last 3 months), so we went to the park and had a blast throwing the frisbee and playing on the playground. We cleaned up and then headed into town - Lillian was dropped off with her aunt and uncle, and Amy and I went to a fun party with Mo & Er; much pork was consumed, adult libations were poured, and I got to play Cards Against Humanity for the first time (verdict: fun!).

Amy was feeling under the weather (as was I, to a lesser degree) - I think all of us have a bug. We had a pretty lazy Sunday, watching some TV and catching up on our reading.

All in all, a great weekend. :)

Another weekend of fun (and work)! 

We started the fun early, with sushi and a Peter Murphy concert on Thursday evening. It's been a long time since I've been to a concert, and I've never been to one in a small venue; it was nice to be close to the musicians as they performed. There were some technical issues with one of the opening acts, but Peter Murphy's set didn't seem to have any problems. I can't wait to attend some more concerts!

Friday was for a small amount of laziness; Amy made some great oatmeal with blueberries and lemon curd (try it!!), and we did a small amount of cleaning, along with plenty of fun, talk, and snuggling.

After some delicious crock pot steel-cut oatmeal, Saturday was for cleaning, and we did a lot of it! Since we're having everyone over for the first time for Lillian's birthday party, it was the perfect time to do a good cleaning for several areas that will see a lot of traffic.

We downshifted (slightly) on Sunday, starting with cornmeal mush for breakfast. Maple syrup and butter were liberally applied, and I was very happy with it. :)  We also ran over to Red River Barbeque & Grill and had some really excellent BBQ - if you go, make sure to grab some Texas hush puppies! Since I'm starting CrossFit this week, our schedule in the evenings will be pretty hectic, so we did a huge grocery shop and cooked for several hours in the evening. We also made time for a walk with Ang, Stu, and Ay; as we reached the turnaround point at the bridge, we were amazed to see well in excess of 30 turtles (aka a bale of turtles - yay, terms of venery!).

We finished the evening with an exhausted young lady falling asleep at the table - Lillian has been a dynamo of flailing and questioning and pouting, and she just couldn't sustain it. We're looking at some methods of curbing some of those behaviors, which will be nice. 

All in all, another great weekend. :)

Oh! There was ice cream. Ice cream is always nice.

Father's Day (and the weekend as a whole) was great!

I received a last-minute babysitting offer for Saturday, so I was able to help Amy (she had plumbers and drywallers in, so the house needed some cleaning and painting). I was only able to do a little sanding and cleanup of the drywall, but every little bit helps! By the end of the day, I looked like someone had emptied a can of flocking on my head. And my body. And my clothes. :)

Sunday morning, we had some early fun and snuggling, and then I got some super cool presents - a set of easy-on/easy-off clamps for my Olympic bar (these are amazing!) and a Bee House teapot!!!

We then went to The Cheesecake Factory, and made it in early enough to avoid long lines or a wait of any sort; I had a very coffee-flavored cheesecake, which was nice (I am a sucker for ganache, every time), and Amy had Chris's Outrageous Cheesecake (I might have to get this one next time). There was a bit of a snafu on our food, but we finally received our Monte Cristos, which were delicious. We had a ton of  leftovers, as we were stuffed with cheesecake. The rest of the day was spent in wonderful laziness.

The rest of this week is going to be focused on packing - I've made a lot of headway in my room, and Lillian's stuff is next up. After that, the kitchen!

 Friday, I took the day off for Lillian's parent-teacher conference; her teachers were happy with her progress, with the exception of toilet training, which is now a primary focus at home - I have her on a regular schedule now, and I'm already having some success.

I drove down to Amy's afterward to help with a couple of home repair tasks and to have some _amazing_ barbacoa tacos; we had a fantastic afternoon and then drove into town to attend the Menil after hours (note to self: the provided food seems to disappear in moments, so get there early).  We viewed quite a few paintings by Magritte (one of my favorite Surrealists) and some very interesting pieces by an artist I'm unfamiliar with (Lee Bontecou). 

We then went to Numbers; I haven't been to a club in 12 years or so! It was a lot of fun - there were enough songs that I was familiar with that it was nice, and my general awkwardness on the dance floor was not a problem. Plus, I got some good tips. :)

Saturday, we collected Lillian and headed to the Art Car Parade; I got to meet a couple of Amy's friends (Mo & Er) and their parents. There was some confusion about the actual start time of the parade, but we arrived with plenty of time to spare and had some delicious gelato. Next year we might pick a spot further away from the start of the parade, though; there was no real need to hear the announcers, and there were plenty of shady spots along the route that would have been nice. I'm already thinking about good picnicking dishes and beverages to bring. We returned home for a quick nap and then headed to dinner; my earlier craving for fried onions took us to Outback and a ridiculous wait time (I had forgotten that the Saturday before Mother's Day might be problematic. EEP!). 

Sunday was mainly for being lazy, but we did head over to Baba Yega's for brunch; I had been before, but never for this meal.  WOW. This was the sort of meal that makes me wish for an extra stomach. Or two. Even though it was Mother's Day and the place was packed, Amy and I were able to get in quickly; not many two-tops were coming in. We headed out for a short round of frisbee golf (Amy's first!) and she acquitted herself quite nicely. Later, we picked up Lillian and everyone had a nice nap. 

This was a beautiful weekend - there were some cranky toddler issues, and Amy was fighting a nasty cough, and we got tired and sunburned, but I wouldn't trade it for anything; sometimes it's nice to know that even when things aren't perfect, they are.

 Amy flew in on Monday, and I was able to hightail it to the airport to meet her (hooray for slight flight delays and flexibility at work!); it was so awesome to see her again!  Spent a wonderful night at her place, and then went to work with her for a lot of fun with simulators (I only futzed up once) and I got to see some of the amazing technology she is working on/responsible for - if I was impressed by her before, now I'm _extremely_ impressed! We then zipped up to my job for a quick tour of the library; nowhere near as exciting, but still a lot of fun.

Next up, a camping trip! It's been ages since I've gone camping, and this will be Lillian's first time. I'll try to remember to take lots of photos. 

I also got some great news, but I'll keep that in my pocket. :)

Work was a bit more hectic than normal; finals are here, and the library was crammed with last-minute study groups. I'm also training a new supervisor; once she's fully trained, I'll assign some of my current duties to her and be able to pick up some more projects and committee work (yay?).