weekend

This weekend I had a surprise for my husband: a boys' weekend. A month ago, he headed to Green Bay with hopes of spending some time with his family but also seeing some of his guy friends--I was not allowed to come along, as he intended to wander out to the bars with Jeff and Danno, play pool, drink beer, tell stories. It didn't work out--something about going to Milwaukee for a baseball game that he didn't go along on--so I immediately emailed his nearby guy friends and proposed a surprise boys' weekend. They tell me what they want to do, and I would arrange it. So last night, they went on a tour of Schell's brewery and camped at a nearby state park.

I let him know by writing a cryptic card (of port2port's card society) and giving him a bag of camping groceries. I had the night to myself, thunderstorm and all.


(Note: those strawberries were rotten, though they look a bit fresh in the photograph!)

Last weekend I started my first small compost heap. I've grown frustrated from all the food waste; this is essentially why I stopped being a vegetarian. Love him as I might, my husband does not eat leftovers, which means there is a great deal of wasted food in our house. I have since stopped eating red meat again, a part of this strange health plan I'm implementing (each week I take on a new healthy habit: week one is no alcohol until I lose 10% of my body weight, week two is subtracting red meat, and week three, which started today, is to rid myself of fried food for a while--I'll also gradually add things with movement and adding healthier foods, etc.--I'm figuring by doing it one bit at a time, I have a better chance of sticking with it). I won't compost meat just yet, since it's a bit trickier, but I've learned about mixing greens and browns and water balance. What throws me, though, is just how much we waste food--not taking leftovers home, the weight loss trick of not finishing everything on our plate--when there is simultaneously this push for more environmental awareness and an economic clinch. I plan to begin bringing tupperware with me when I go out to eat; thus far, I've been pretty good about only eating at local restaurants too (it's so easy in a small town--I'm so glad we're not in the suburbs).

Today has been fairly quiet: the return of a sleepy Ryan from his weekend, grading weeks old essays (next week is the last week--I cannot procrastinate any longer), taking an afternoon nap, reading books I plan to purge from the bookshelves, writing letters to girl friends. I love quiet weekends, especially in stressful times (end of school year).

Oddities:
- Recent finds on Etsy: Yesterday. Forest Necklace.
- I'm Not There is a fun, quirky film. Seen it yet? Cate Blanchett is my hero.

And I must point out: less than a week before I move to the new blog.