Lovely spring weather finally arrived this weekend! My weekend ended up being a mixed bag of fun, work, some sad news and a feeling of wanting the nice weekend to last a little longer.
Friday I had a fantastic swim after more than a week off from the pool. It was relaxing and energizing. Then I got word that my Great Aunt Margie passed away from stomach cancer. While I wasn’t close to her, I remember her and her husband fondly and I felt really sad for her family and for my Grandma (her sister). It was nice to hear that she was surrounded by her whole family at home when it happened. The whole thing touched me deeper than I was expecting (even though we’d known it was coming since February). I think the whole thing brought up old feelings and memories about when my Grandpa died when I was 17. I think that was the last time I saw Margie, and her son Tommy sang at my Grandpa’s funeral, so all of those things were kind of intertwined in my brain on Friday night. It also brought up memories of the tough times last summer. Stuff like this really does remind you that the important things in life are family and friends.
On Saturday I worked out in the gym and hit the weights hard. It felt awesome. I woke up Sunday and could barely move! I even increased the weight on the free weights to two 20 pounders. I think I’m ready to take some progress pictures soon.
After lunch, Michael and I went shopping for the first items for our vegetable garden. We got lettuce, spinach, kale and sweet yellow onions. I helped Michael plant as much as I could before I had to jet to meet a friend.
Saturday afternoon, I met my friend for pedicures and dinner together. The pedicure was long overdue and felt fantastic. After the pedicures we went out to dinner at Old Wives’ Tale on Burnside. I’d driven by it for years but never went inside. There were so many things on the menu that looked fantastic. I almost ordered waffles…I’ve been craving waffles or pancakes for weeks now.
I ended up ordering the salmon cakes. It came with a cup of soup on the side and I chose minestrone and it also came with a sesame yam puree. The yams were really interesting in flavor. I loved the salmon cakes! They came with a lemon mayo sauce that was fantastic. My friend got the Indian Burrito. It was interesting–like a bean burrito with curry and an apple chutney on top.
After a lovely dinner I went home and finally relaxed. When I woke up Sunday morning, everything hurt! In a good way. Now for the giveaway winner of a copy of The Swing! Randomly chosen from random.org:
#9 – Barb Mitchell!
Yay! Email me asap with your mailing information and I will pass it on to the publicist. Thanks!
QUESTION: Are you planting a garden this year? What have you planted so far?
Carbzilla
That’s so funny – we just walked past OWT last weekend and couldn’t really tell much about it from a quick perusal of the menu. There were a few folks in there of all ages, but I’d thought I’d heard good things. Sometimes I love those restaurants where you can get any kinda of dish, as long as they’re all good.
Glad you hear you’re having a good weekend. We’re hoping to get in a quick bike ride and then I’m meeting a friend for new workout shoe shopping and a walk around Greenlake.
I’m so sorry to hear about your Great Aunt. I know all about old feelings coming up. My Grandmother’s funeral when I was in high school was just the saddest thing ever, and I feel it again every time something like this happens in my family. Fortunately, my family’s pretty small.
Lisa Eirene
It looks like a good breakfast place. I’d like to go back there for that some day.
We had gorgeous weather today! I hope Seattle got some of it. I bet Greenlake was crazy busy. All the hikes in the Gorge was packed today.
I’m sorry about your Grandmother–sounds like the situation I had with my grandpa. And high school is a young age to deal with death. You’re old enough to really feel the impact and mourn, but young enough to not know how to grieve properly or get over it easily. At least in my experience.
Deb
I am so jealous that you can have a garden! We have this monster in our house. Her name is Sashi, she has reddish brown fur, a long tail, weighs about 70 pounds, and has a crazy eye. She digs up and actually eats any plant we have in the back yard. An old roommate had a container garden. She ate all of her plants- that’s how we found out she really loves broccoli. This is one thing I’m not sure if she’s going to grow out of. And I so want pretty flowers lining the edges of the porch! And blackberries and tomatoes too!
Lisa Eirene
Oh no! That little monster!!! We are talking about getting a dog here soon, sometime this year. And one of the concerns is the garden. I don’t know the first thing about training a dog, so we’ll see.
Blackberries and raspberries are my favorite summer fruit and I rarely buy them in a store because it’s so expensive. I loved picking the wild berries as a kid. So fun and delicious.
Lori
I love gardening, but I only do flowers because that is my passion and we just don’t have the space for the gardens I would like. I have taken up the front of the house and part of the side. We don’t have a back yard. Otherwise I would have a few veggies.
I have seedlings inside of sunflowers, snapdragons and I am trying flowering tobacco *again*. Hoping I do better with the seedlings this year.
Those salmon cakes look yummy!
Lisa Eirene
Your garden is gorgeous! The flowers you grow are always beautiful. But there is something very rewarding about having a vegetable garden; eating the food you grow is such a cool feeling. What are you doing with the flowing tobacco?
Diane, fit to the finish
Gardening is fun for me, but I’m still not great at it. I hope that this year we will get even more vegetables!
Lisa Eirene
I bet it’s a great thing to do with kids.
Jodi @ Jodi, Fat or Not
I can’t wait to see progress pictures! I can barely lift 10 pound weights right now…so excited to get stronger 🙂
Lisa Eirene
I’m not quite ready for progress pics but soon. You’ll get there too!