Busy Weekend
So much has happened already this weekend! On Friday, I left work at 5pm, after cleaning/redecorating the staff lounge and taking a free, circa 1960 microwave, and ate a quick dinner at home. Then Jessica, Amy, and I went to the Hexagon Club to see Thunder in the Valley. The club is a mix of hipsters and men in flannel shirts- maybe because the cowboy look is so "in" right now? We sat at the bar for about three hours and the band still hadn't gone on...at 1:00am! Jessica wanted to leave, so we all walked back to Amy's house. It's unbelieveably cold here at night, so it was horrible. (I was wearing long-underwear under my fancy black pants, which seems like an oxymoron, but at least my legs were toasty). When we got back, Amy and I both wanted to go back...since the point of ladies' night really is to meet guys. So we drove back and got to see the band...they were so good! They sound like a mix of 1920's music and contemporary pop music. We stopped to chat up the handsome keyboardist and it turned out their next gig in on the day before my birthday! So I'm definitely going to go.

I slept in until 11 on Saturday, which is the first time I've slept that late since college. I guess it takes staying up until 3am these days to get me exhausted enough! I felt kind of spacey all afternoon and the only things I got done were a bubble bath and pinning my hair up in curls. At 5, I decided I had to make myself do something fun, albeit outside, so I drove to Nicollet, which is called "Eat Street," and did some grocery shopping at ethnic stores. I found so much interesting noodle soup in a bowl for next week! I also bought hummus in a can, which turned out to taste like something that's come from Lebanon in a can, and a little Vietnamese doll for my collection. I love having dolls from all of the countries of my students; it lets them see themselves in our classroom. My Jordanian student was amazingly excited when I brought my Arabic doll back from Dearborn, because she was wearing a hijab (Muslim headscarf), just like her mother does. It must be strange to spend all day with people who dress so differently from your own family. My new little doll is so cute.

Then, yesterday night, I met Chris, Jess, and Mark at Bryant Lake Bowl, but it was way too crowded. It looks like so much fun though...I hope we go back sometime:) Mark and I were freezing, so we sprinted to Arby's, but it was already closed, so we all decided to go back to my apartment. There, they thought Oliver looked like Puss in Boots from Shrek- which is true- and we played "Scene It!" and watched British "Coupling" with Joe, Bri, and Ben when they arrived. I wish I had a bigger living room sometimes! It's quite small for entertaining.

I already missed church this morning. I think I'll stop doing things on Saturday night, so I can actually get up in time. This morning, I'm going to vacuum, do my dishes finally, and then try to get some lesson planning done. John's visiting at 2:30, and I think we'll probably walk around downtown, watch Happy Gilmore, and then have dinner with relatives.

I love three-day weekends! Although I'm not sure if anyone celebrates it, Happy Presidents' Day! Maybe acting diplomatic should be tradition...I'm not sure if there's a lot of other behavior worth emulating:)