Mike was traveling all week.

Yesterday, I noticed that my dishwasher looked like this. Full of spoons & bowls. It's always a sad thing when Mike is traveling because my meals always seem to involve milk + carbs. I was lucky that friend Erin took me in & fed me a hot meal on Wednesday night before our hip hop class. And friend Jill & I made Strawberry Lemonade Bars yesterday afternoon, just for fun. I ate two, & regretfully didn't take any more with me before heading out for a meeting. I'm going to the grocery store this afternoon to pick up some ingredients so that I can make them again. Immediately. Because they're really that good, & they make me think of springtime & vacation & picnics. All happy things. 

Speaking of food - I've made Kelsey's Stir Fry twice in the past week (prior to Mike leaving, anyway). Once with shrimp, once with chicken. I think it's the perfect stir fry recipe, especially with the mandarin oranges. Plus, it makes me feel like a good person for eating a lot of vegetables (I've struggled with vegetables lately). 

I signed a contract yesterday for a brief consulting gig at a large private equity firm in the city (!!). I'm sort of excited to get paid to do what I'm good at again - having somewhat forgotten that that's who I used to be / what I used to do. A professional who was pretty good at something. But still - slightly intimidating, especially considering what they want me to accomplish. So off I go, at least for a few weeks. It's a good opportunity, working with someone that I know well, but a few weeks was all I wanted to commit to for now. We have big spring plans! But they're flexible with my inflexibility, so it's a win-win. We'll see if I do it for any longer than this stint. Being in a giant building in midtown from 9-5(ish) every day... should be interesting. It's been a while. 

And Mike - he's finally home, as of 2am last night! Thank goodness. I'm going to make a proper dinner tonight, & we have plans for movie watching & relaxing. Tomorrow, a temple / dinner date on the west side. And sleep! My precious sleep. I've been teaching seminary all week which means I've been thoroughly deprived (6 more weeks, not that I'm counting). Must get 8 hours tonight.