Monday, April 7, 2008

What a weekend...

It's definitely spring! This weekend it was in the 50's and I got to spend a lot of time outside, with friends.

Friday night J and I had our friends Jayme and Kooze over for dinner. J made a stir-fryish meal with veggies and seitan and we played Taboo. We also bought the crunchy version of Biore strips and had a nose-cleaning party. Tons 'o' fun.


We spent Saturday afternoon in bed doing homework. It was an all-out snugglefest...both of my cats were thrilled to have so much people-time.


Doing homework early on in the day left us plenty of time to hang around outside. We spent much of the afternoon with our friends Alex and Christy sipping coffee, eating Thai food and watching the sun set over the lake. I got to see a pair of ducks gliding over the water and had one of those moments where everything else disappeared and I felt completely content. I've made a conscious decision to spend more time listening and watching nature...I think it's something I need.

Sunday was laundry day. I did some homework, as well, outside at the coffee shop. I spent the rest of the daylight hours on the porch, listening to the cardinal (the one bird besides the crow and pigeon that I can identify by sound) that lives in my 'hood, reading Mary Oliver's poetry and writing in a journal. The trees are still bare so I can see the lake and the sunset from my porch.

It was truly a lovely weekend. I hope I can let go of school enough to enjoy more...and still hold on to school enough to finish the semester with high grades.

8 comments:

Zach said...

Honey, let me tell you something about spring: IT DOESN'T EXIST. Oh, oh, I thought it did. The snow was melting. I could see grass on my lawn. The sides of the streets were wet with running meltwater.

But on Saturday and Sunday, God must have decided he didn't care for Alaska, because he dumped ANOTHER FOOT OF SNOW ON US. I had to brush and scrape my car this morning, and the sudden drop in temperature (from balmy 38 to freezing 24) screwed up the garage opener mechanism. I also shoveled. I shoveled at length.

So screw you and your "spring!" ;-)

Amanda said...

Damn, Zach :) I thought we had it bad up here (or should I say over here....or down here?)! I only have so much pity for you, though, seeing as you live in ALASKA!!!

I couldn't live where you live...hell no. I get depressed in the winter here...I can't imagine how I'd feel there. I just read that the July high temps in Alaska are in the 50's and 60's. How do you do it?

Anonymous said...

Kooze, huh? That's an interesting name...

Sounds like a fab weekend, and the scenery is terrif! Glad to hear you even got weather tolerable enough for porch & coffee shop sittings. For some reason, I just can't work effectively outdoors (except field work, of course!) -- I tend to get distracted by rocks, birds, insects, cloud patterns, etc. Same reason I can't work well at home: distracted by cats, TV, ready-at-hand snackage, books, magazines, etc. I'm trapped in my office!!! ***SIGH***

Amanda said...

Poor Kooze...we had no idea. Nick got his nickname last year at the local Mardis Gras festivities when he won a beer koozie and was totally unappropriately over-excited about it. We called him "Koozie" for a while...then it became "Kooze." I wonder if he knows what "Kooze" really means!

Oops.

Zach said...

Actually, July is usually pretty hot. It never gets above the mid 80's, though--even in August (our warmest month). May is when the snow really starts to go away, and by June it's completely gone and the temperature is starting to climb.

I'm not sure HOW I do it, but I can tell you this: The longer you (or I) live in Alaska, the harder each winter gets. This is something my wife (a Kansas transplant) does not understand. I've been here my whole life, and I really hate snow at this point. Where do you live, Amanda? East coast somewhere, right? New Jersey?

Amanda said...

Zach - East coast it is. You'll have to check your email for more details :) Not that I'm really all that anonymous or anything...but just in case my coworkers stumble across this...at least I can say, "well...someone else named Amanda must have the same boyfriend as me!"

Zach said...

It's snowing again.

*head in hands*

If you don't see any new posts from me in the next day or two, just assume I've jumped off a building or something!

dpecor3 said...

Not sure if you will read this now, but here in Korea it has been up to a whopping 68 degrees (or 20C). It has been wonderful and warm, but the yellow dust is still reeking havik on my body.