Rocking the Productivity

I accomplished more this weekend than I think I did in the entire week previous. I read like a madwoman for class. I cleaned-- and when I say cleaned, I mean pulling-out-the-furniture, scrubbing-floors-on-your-hands-and-knees,pulling-down-the-curtains-to-launder-them cleaning-- two of the rooms in my apartment, which has been a harrowing experience, seeing as I was gone for four months. The dust bunnies are rabid by this point.

Hulio and I drove out to H&M for a look-see. It was Hulio's first time in an H&M, so something of a religious experience for her. As usual for me, I felt a strange kind of cognitive dissonace. See, H&M is not supposed to have signs in English. They are supposed to be in German. Not Swedish, German. And the prices are not supposed to have "$" on them, they are supposed to have "DM". No, not "€". "DM". I love H&M and find it very sad that my finances have progressed to the point where I can't even afford to shop there. Perhaps I can get a gift certificate for one of my Christmas presents. The fall clothes are very cute, especially a forest green tweed skirt, narrow at the top, falling to about two inches below the knee, where it flares out ever so slightly. It comes with a hideous velvet belt, but that's detachable and the belt loops are just thin black threads, so those are also detachable. Perfect for the office when it gets cold, as it inevitably will.

I grocery shopped for the first time since I got back, which means I can stop eating canned soup and ramen at every meal. Milk in the refrigerator means yummy cereal for breakfast! I bought some fresh ingredients to go along with the 400 pounds of pasta currently in my cabinets, so one night this week, I'll have to whip up a big batch of pasta to portion out into tupperware and bring in for lunch.

I pulled out the clothes that I had packed into storage and tried them all on. The fact that almost everything fit was a huge thrill-- some of these pants hadn't seen the light of day since college. I am now in the process of culling the clothes in my closet, getting rid of the things I don't wear anymore and packing away the things that are too big. I'd love to just donate them, but am afraid that I won't be able to keep the weight off permanently. We'll see how things go. If next winter rolls around and I'm still triumphantly in my size 6s, Goodwill will get a huge donation of nice dress pants and button up shirts. Once I finish all that, I'll hang the things that still fit in my closet and take the bags of castoffs to Goodwill.

On a side note, I had an interview for a school-year job on Friday and wore my blue pinstripe suit with the pencil skirt. It was actually just a tiny bit too big. I looked like, you know, a real lawyer and stuff, too. Like playing dress-up.

Hulio and I walked several miles on Saturday and even squeezed in a mile and a quarter before dark last night. She made delicious enchiladas and cornbread for dinner and I went home and read for another hour. I didn't finish everything that I wanted to, readingwise, but really, expecting to read close to 600 pages was a bit ambitious. I've still got to read for Immigration Law this afternoon, but it's all review for me, so it won't be difficult to read. That is, unlike the reading for Sales, I won't need to reread every sentence four times before it sinks in, so it shouldn't take more than an hour or two.

And I actually had a social life this weekend for a change. Eep had a couple of us over for fondue, which was fun and yummy. Everyone brings a little something along-- bread or veggies or fruit or whatever-- and we throw it all together on plates, then eat until we're sick. After, we watched Fight Club. I may be the last person in the Western Hemisphere to see this movie. I really, really liked it, which surprised me a little, as I remember when it came out, I thought "Boy, that looks stupid". Turns out I was wrong. It was funny in a demented way and very clever and well-made. Also, I think I may have to add Ed Norton to my harem. Alton Brown is currently on probation, since he's starting to strike me as smug and obnoxious instead of comfortingly intellectual, so there's a potential opening. I also went out for indian food with a guy I know from classes. Very nice and interesting guy, and we had a good conversation. Turns out, he grew up in the same small town as one of my other law school friends and they used to play soccer against each other in high school. Neither one knew the other had come to the same law school until last year. Die Welt ist ein Dorf...

If I could manage to balance work, home, and social life this way all the time, I would be the Queen of the World.