What We Did This Weekend: Back to Normal

This weekend we did what you might have expected us to do on a weekend in mid-May: Date night on Friday. Some random stuff on Saturday. And church stuff on Sunday.

Friday night we went out to eat and to continue the Wardrobe Replacement Project. We're trying something new for our date nights. There really aren't too many places where we can cut back our monthly budget, but once place where there was a little wiggle room was in the dining out category. Our new plan employs the envelope method. At the beginning of the month, we'll withdraw an even $100 to be divided between five date nights*. So, when we go out to eat we know we have $20, unless there's some leftover change from a prior week. This week we had some change after eating at Chick-fil-a.

*I wish I knew where I 'learned' that there were four weeks to a month. It seems like that's about right. Four weeks is 28 days, so, yeah. That's basically a month. But, if that's correct, then why is it that we always seem to go to the grocery store five times a month? And why is it that every time it's our ward's turn to clean the church building there are five Saturday's that month?

We loved Chick-fil-a. Not only was the food good, but their website has this great meal calorie counter, so we knew exactly how many calories we consumed and how long we would need to walk them off at the nearby Independence Mall. But maybe someone can help us out with a pair of Chick-fil-a mysteries: How did said chain go from semi-sleazy-food-court-teenage-sweat-shop to trendy-suburban-soccer-mom-fast-food-central? And another thing, How are their chicken sandwiches sooooo good? It's just a chicken breast, a pickle, and a bun?

After dinner, we really did tour the neighboring Independence Mall. Last weekend was successful for my Wardrobe Replacement, but not so much for Brookie's. Lucky for us, we ran into Brookie's new-found-favorite store, New York & Company. Where other stores had failed last week, New York and Company excelled. They had tons of options that she liked, and that were actually affordable. By the time we left, Brookie had found two complete outfits and a new belt. Needless to say, we'll be back.

After leaving the mall, we checked out a few more stores up that way, before heading home. Although I don't think about it much while we're out, when we get close to home and it's dark outside, I still get a little queasy hoping that everything is still okay when we get there. But overall, things are starting to get back to normal.

Saturday was kind of interesting, especially from my point of view. The morning and afternoon were pretty routine. Ran some errands, cleaned the house (and the bathrooms at the church), did some work out in the yard. You know. Normal stuff. But by the late afternoon, we were getting ready for an invasion of a swarm of locusts, eating everything in their paths, also known as the young women. Brookie, our ward's Young Womens President, was having her girls over for treats and games. She and I made Pizza Fries, which are basically strips of sauce-less cheese pizza cut into strips and seasoned with some basil. We made four batches, and each was consumed before you could say, "Hey look, more Pizza Fries!" And, I've never seen a bigger bag of Doritos disappear faster than it did that night. The girls sat and talked, then they played some games together, which was good, because they rarely have time to do just that.

Sunday was our typical sabbath. Church. Church callings and responsibilities. Dinner and a movie. This week was the Lohan version of Parent Trap.

And that's what we did this weekend.