Two weeks from tomorrow

I get to see Zac two weeks from tomorrow. Not that I'm counting down the days or anything. 15 days . . .

Labor Day weekend has come and gone. It was a long one. I took Friday off so I could enjoy a second day of pure joy at the Great MN Get Together. It turned out to be a lot hotter that day than I had expected. It wasn't so bad if you were sitting in the shade and the breeze was blowing. But once you started walking around the streets of the fair, on the blacktop, with all those people and the sun beating down on you -- then it got a little warm. It can really wipe you out.

I ran into a friend from college as I was wrapping up Fair Day #2. It was fantastic to see her, but a little strange. It's always weird to run into people who knew you when you were 18. We lived on the same floor when we lived in the dorms. She was always one of the more level-headed people I knew. It was funny to run into her and do a 20-minute catch-up. Like it's even possible to cram 10 years worth of history into a short meeting. Perhaps my favorite part was the obligatory, "So what are you up to?" She said, "I'm a chiropractor." I said, "Wow! I'm an attorney." Then there was a slight pause where I thought to myself, "Wow. We actually sound like adults with jobs."

I kind of laugh at the absurdity of it. She and I are "professionals" but all I could think about was us living in Sorin, ordering pizza, staying up late studying and dealing with the ever-present drama that always accompanies living in a dorm with 50-60 girls. It was great to see her, if only to remind myself of some of the really good times I had in college. Sometimes I look back at Hamline with a certain amount of regret, but without even trying she reminded me of the good stuff that I experienced too. Thanks, Amy. I hope we stay in touch.

Saturday morning I went up to the Dome and stayed there until Sunday afternoon. I helped clear paths and even had the distinct pleasure (?) of crawling under the deck to do some repair work. Our deck is about 18-24" high. It was starting to sag in a couple of places where the deck was segmented. After trying a few above-deck options that didn't quite work, I volunteered to get the car jack out of my trunk and crawl under the deck to jack up the sagging pieces. Once I got them up I was to put boards under the legs that had sunk into the ground.

Now under the deck isn't exactly the place you'd want to hang out. Besides being confined to wiggling around on your belly, there are cobwebs and leaves, dirt, critters and the occasional snake. But the deck had to be elevated and no one else in my family was going to volunteer. (Or could volunteer for the assignment. Paul and Dad are too big to fit under there. Come to think of it, Megan's pregnant belly makes her too big to fit under there too. Lol.)

I jacked up the deck, fixed the legs, lowered the jack and then scooted my way out, feet first. It's really hard to be elegant when you're doing that. I was pretty grody when I got out, but I felt like I had earned my keep for the weekend. On Sunday I cleared more paths with Dad and split firewood with Paul. Yes, we used an axe. Apparently there are machines that will split firewood for you -- where's the fun in that? I enjoy attempting (and 52% of the time, failing) to hit the log with the axe.

When I got home on Sunday, I did some laundry. Monday I went shopping with Sara to find a dress for the Khaki Ball. (Which is in a little more than two weeks. Did I mention that I'm going to see Zac in two weeks? Yeah, I'm not counting.) I totally owe Sara because she found me my Kick-Ass Little Black Dress. It is phe-no-men-al. I luuuuuuuhhhhhhv it. As soon as I put it on I thought, "I don't care how much this costs. I'm buying it." Of course I got shoes to go with it. I think the endorphins from my reaction to the dress made me a little delirious. I may keep looking around to see if any other dresses catch my eye for the Ball, but at the very least I figure every woman needs a KALBD in her closet.

It took me a couple of days of being back at work to recover from my weekend. Too much fresh air, physical labor and shopping. But now I'm back at work, marking big red "X"s through the days til I can see Zac. Did I mention it is two weeks away?