January has seemed long, it really has. I’m not sure if it has been all of the wet weather we have had or that it has been more or less uneventful, what, without all of our ski trips and whatnot, and the studying, but it has dragged on. For the first time in forever I’m glad we are finally to February. Not that February has that much more exciting in store for us than January did…
This week was a good work week for both of us. Bryan is getting a lot of momentum moving forward with his big idea and what could be a huge project. He finally has the support he needs, the time to work on it, and the urgency to get it done. I, on the other hand, am finally wrapping up my two-year-long design project for E360. And I am so looking forward to having it off of my plate. It will still be there throughout construction, requiring answers to requests for information and to respond to submittals, but that is a much different capacity and scope than what it has been for two years…and certainly less of a full-time job. There are a few other things on my work plate to diversify so I don’t think it will feel too slow.
Aside from work we each had some of our own things going on after our one and only night of dinner at home on Monday. Monday I tried out a lower body workout on my ClassPass at Bassline Fitness in Capitol Hill. I regrettably followed that up with another cycle class at Riot Cycle, by the office, on Tuesday evening, which left me walking like a crab the rest of the week. Two classes in a week is fine…two classes back to back with both focusing on the same body part = ouch. Bryan was getting happy hour with Philipp Tuesday night so I got a mystery shopping dinner at McMenamin’s Six Arms in Capitol Hill on my way home. Delicious fish and chips while tuning into some of the State of the Union address. And Wednesday was solely a study night for me. I managed to study more or less from 4 pm until 9 pm when Bryan graciously picked me up from Veggie Grill. Aside from getting study fuel of BDubs wings and Veggie Grill tempura green beans, I was at it studying and felt accomplished but exhausted by the end of the night. Bryan was so kind as to do so much around the house to help out.
So by the time Thursday rolls around I feel like I am in the clear. Workouts and study nights are done for the mid week and I’m in a light-hearted mood. Thursday’s FareStart night was a good one with a chef whose restaurant we still need to hit with food flavored and focused around MiddleEastern cuisine. It was a great meal and we both had an easy night captaining. We spent Friday evening getting Chef Holly Smith’s amazing and unique lamb burger from Lil Woody’s before heading to finally see the latest Star Wars movie downtown. Good burger, good movie and good walk home rain-free.
The weekend was fairly busy with making a lot of headway getting ourselves and the house organized. I scheduled a Groupon-discounted housecleaning service to come on Monday so I wanted to make some progress with odds and ends around the house. And we did good with that, without spending our whole weekend on this task. After spending the morning studying and Bryan at Men’s Group at church we started to tackle a few projects. What we accomplished this weekend:
- Organize our mail bin
- Stabilize dining table
- Put away clothes
- Measured our “nursery closet” for a new storage unit
- Moved guest bed to wall to figure out space
- Moved side table from guest room to office for use as a filing cabinet
- Organized the “laundry room”
- Cleaned out our “miscellaneous” drawers in the kitchen
- Cleaned and organized bathroom cabinet downstairs
- Organized miscellaneous stuff in our bedroom
- All of this resulted in quite a bit of stuff that we have set away either for Goodwill or are dumping and I feel great about that
After a lot of progress was made we did an interval training set at home with the row machine and weights and then set forth for Everett to get dinner with Billy and Valerie before catching Valerie’s musical of The Newsies at the Village Theater. It was a great show with a ton of talent and of course the best violinist in town. It was also great to be able to see her, even for just a few minutes and we got to see the backstage scenes of the orchestra pit and stage.
Sunday morning at church we were back to normal without the table conversations and after church Bryan and I got a great brunch at the Macrina Bakery in upper Queen Anne, with Bryan getting the Italiano sandwich and I tried their Mediterranean benedict with artichokes, spinach and a tomato hollandaise on a pizza bread. After brunch we headed home, getting a few more things done around the house before settling into a lazy night watching the Super Bowl by ourselves. Nothing fancy for our solo party other than chips, salsa, guac and queso. We were both wanting the Patriots to win but in the end are more than fine that the Eagles got their ring.
Back to work and not too happy about it. Especially since I have been moved up to the Seattle Municipal Tower a few days a week to help finish out the Ship Canal Project with Seattle Public Utilities. Back to being a consultant in a rather unwelcoming government agency. Hoorah!
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 