What I was up to last week

Last week 50% of the administrative staff at the firm were on vacation. One day, we were down to only 33% of the staff being there. Obviously, the amount of work needing to be done held steady. It was very busy but for the most part not overwhelming. The hard part was not having time at work to get important non-job related things done--blog, read blogs, email correspondence, pay bills on line, write thank you notes, do on-line research, etc. This made my non-work hours seem much busier. Plus, I had fewer non-workers hours--last week I racked up seven (7) hours of overtime, putting me at a grand total of 42 hours worked all together! I don't know how you people do it! I love love love my 35 hour work week. And did I mention I got time and a half for those extra hours? My life is pretty stinkin' wonderful.

My after-hours life was pretty much the same as normal, but just so you all know what a typically week is like for me here in the big city, I will give you an outline.

Monday--straight from work to FHE where everyone shared their favorite book. Afterwards Alejandro accompanied me to the supermarket where they have 39 cents/pound watermelon. I went home and watched some 30 Rock with Ashley. I can't remember for sure, but I probably stayed up late watching my latest obsession Friday Night Lights (which I highly recommend to everyone). I can stay up crazy late because I don't have to be at work until 11:00 (allow me again to say how much I love my job). And I made cinnamon rolls (accidentally used baking soda instead of powdered, which decreased the quality substantially but they were ok. I think they'd be great with the right chemicals.)

Tuesday--after work I went to my new favorite place Trader Joe's (it is out of my way but I've been introduced to their very yummy, very affordable all-natural peanut butter and I made some other good discoveries while I was there. I laugh that I have become a person who shops at "all-natural" grocery stores.) I was planning on heading straight to Institute ("Teachings of the Living Prophets") when I got a phone call offering me a free ticket to a ballet if I could get to the Lincoln Center in 20 minutes. I was about 40 minutes away, but due to three separate public transportation miracles, I managed to arrive on time. this picture must be from the second act. so lovely!

Wednesday--had a friend over for breakfast. After work, I did laundry (keep in mind this involves carrying a month's worth of dirty clothes down three flights of stairs and a block to the laundromat. but mostly we are just thankful to have one so close. everyone doesn't have it that good.) I then made dinner (chickpea cutlets YUM!) for a friend who came over and we had a nice visit. (I didn't have a picture of my famous chickpea cutlets, so I'm including here a photo of some of my black bean burgers. I am getting awesome at make-your-own fake meat. Thank you wheat glutten!) After she left, I fell asleep on my bed with my contacts still in. I think. I know I did that at least once this week.

Thursday--woke up early to work in the temple before work. Worked until 9:00pm. After work I walked up to Chinatown to get on the subway (only about a mile) so I could spend more time on the phone with my sister. I got home at 11 and watched some 30 with Ashley and then some Friday Night Lights by myself. This might also have been the night that I made peanut butter cookies (my first time using a commercial egg substitute).

(goodness, is this post dragging? well the week SPED by, although it did leave me needing a nap which--spoiler alert--I never got)

Friday--went straight from work to the play 39 Steps which was very nice, especially for a long-time Alfred Hitchcock fan like me. A cast of four played about 150 different roles. It was funny and cute. (those of you who have seen the movie might recognize this scene from the chae on top of a moving train.)
I then walked up to the Columbus Circle to get on the train. I stopped at Whole Foods for some goodies and made the exciting discovery that they list all the ingredients for their bakery items!! Bagels really are vegan!! Yay!!! And I tried a type of pastry that I'd never heard of before but I can't remember what it's called now. Then I went home and watched 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights until early morning.

[editor's note: I normally don't watch nearly so much TV. This is a fluke. Ashley and I have the goal to watch every episode of 30 Rock this summer while we live together and I just discovered FNL and it's addictive (in a good way. it makes me very happy to watch such a good show)]

Saturday--after 4ish hours of sleep, I woke up and headed to Brooklyn for a regional Institute Retreat which was inspiring. For the sake of brevity I will skip over my two major subway misadventures of my trip to Brooklyn. After the meeting I wandered around Prospect Park for a bit (it's like the Central Park of Brooklyn). Then I went to the accordion festival which ROCKED MY WORLD. Then more of the standard (as of late) TV fare.

Sunday--After church I was able to squeeze in a 20 minute nap before Ashley and I biked to Central Park for a picnic. We biked back and I was super hungry so I made cornmeal waffles (amazing how eggy they were since there were no eggs involved). Then I made my standard Sunday night calls. I'm not sure what else I did, but I didn't get to bed until 11 so I must have been very busy.

Just a normal week in my life. Except extra time at work.

Things to look forward to this week:
Accompanying a friend going to the temple for the first time
Invasions of the Body Snatchers at the Brooklyn Bridge Park
Out-of-town friends for the weekend