Weekend Schmeekend...

This weekend was both great, and poopy at the same time. The good did outweigh the bad, but all in all I would have to say it was good.
It all started Thursday. The boy was off of work and was such a sweetheart and mowed my front and back yards for me. He also started sanding my one and only pilar on my front porch. The paint was starting to flake, so I am going to repaint it. He did some handywork around the house, which was much appreciated! On Friday he even did the dishes AND laundry. Wait, who are you, and what have you done with my boyfriend? Ha ha, just kidding. :)
Friday after work, I went by the house, picked him up, and we went to go get Zoie from my parent's house. The weather was amazing on Thursday and Friday, in the lower 70's, however the forecast for the weekend was awful. Saturday we were to expect the temp to be in the lower-mid 20's and 6-8 inches of snow!!
Since my fridge and pantry have been bare for weeks, I decided it was time to go to the grocery store. Me, and about a hundred other people, had the same idea to stock up before the weather got bad. After planning a couple of meals and gathering those ingredients, along with about $200 more in groceries, we were ready to check out (2 hours later). The line was wrapped back to the produce section. Ugh. We finally made it to check out, after I had flipped through an entire People Magazine. I paid for the food and as we were going out to the car, as soon as we rounded the corner we could feel the cold, sharp, stinging wind. It almost blew me over. It was obvious the front had come in.
We were hurrying to my car, when I looked and saw 2 rows of carts behind my car. Literally, they had all rolled out of the cart return and smashed into the back of my car! There was probably 12 of them or so. I was livid! I didn't realize the extent of the damage until I got Z into her carseat and was able to look. They had busted out my driver's side tail light and dented the back of my car!! I was LIVID. I ran inside to talk to the manager, who was a young man about my age. I told him that the carts had hit my car, and his response was, "Yeah, that sucks man. My car got hit a couple weeks ago. There's nothing we can do." I knew that it was private property, but I still expected a little sympathy. And not to mention, the cart boy that was collecting the carts about the same time I noticed my car had been hit, saw us, took the 4 carts he had and rushed inside. He KNEW my car had been hit and ran off. Losers.
So I helped Stephen finish loading the groceries into the back of my car. I could feel the tears running down my cheeks as the cold air made them freezing. I took my empty cart and shoved it across the parking lot (there were no cars around--I made sure of it). So at least the cart boy would have to walk all the way across the parking lot to get it. Humph.
So I cried a little bit more on the way home... ok, a lot of bit more. I was so angry. My parents have always taught me to take care of my things. I am so OCD when it comes to that. I feel like I take pride in things of my own (and others) and others don't feel the same. It really stinks when your things get damaged, too. I am already going to be out $200+ because I have to purchase a new windshield since a semi so graciously threw a rock up and cracked it all the way across. I wanted to take all of the groceries back and make a scene, and say something like, "Well I have to return this stuff now because I am going to have to use the money to pay for a new TAIL LIGHT!" but I didn't. Besides, I had no food and Zoie wouldn't have understood. So instead, I just cried.
After I got it out of my system, we put on a stew for Saturday lunch. It was my first stew to ever make (the first time I have actually bought meat at the grocery store, too!) and it turned out YUMM-MEE! I put in stew meat that we had browned, a can of green beans, frozen corn, baby carrots and half an onion, along with a can of V8. I let it cook in the crockpot overnight, and we woke up to a yummy smell throughout the house. It was so good. Yah for me!
That afternoon, Stephen installed my new light fixtures I had bought. I got my income taxes back, and I decided to use some of the money to buy new lights for the house, replacing all of the hideous gold brass. He installed 5 lights in the house and 2 on the porch. (Kudos to him for doing it in 25 degree weather while it was snowing!)
After we (well, HE) finished the lights, Zoie and I made some strawberry cupcakes. They turned out yummy. We even put icing and sprinkles on them. She had fun, but by the end of it all there were sprinkles bouncing all over the floor! It was fun though.
I was in the kitchen cleaning up when I looked at my pet lizard. (I had 2 lizards and a fish, but about a month ago one of the lizards died and then a couple days later the fish died too.) His back legs weren't working, and then he started going into convulsions. I started crying. I told Stephen I couldn't watch him die, and he was going to have to take care of it. I figured he would go bury it in the backyard like the other one (I put him in a valentine's candy box), but I guess since there was snow outside he couldn't. Next thing I know, the toilet is flushing. Poor guy. I was so sad. I know I didn't really interact with him since he was smaller than my pinkie finger, but I rescued them both from our building and just thought I could take care of him. I don't know how long they live, but it was really sad that he died. No more pets for us for awhile, that's for sure. It is too hard on me when I lose one.
Then I cleaned the house and swept the floors, vacuumed, dusted and cleaned some things. I finally hung pictures on my wall in my room (I've lived there over a year and they still weren't up), and I love them.
Later on, we decided to cook dinner. I made some pasta roll-ups. They are basically like homemade lasagna, but rolled up so you can eat them easier. They were really good. He made some stuffed poblano peppers, but we were so stuffed that he had to take them to work the next day.
The next morning I made some Miracle Soup. My grandma and mom used to make it a lot when I was younger, and I really liked it, even if it was a "diet" soup. It has celery, onions, cabbage, green peppers, cans of whole tomatoes and onion mix in it. It is really good, especially on a cold day. Plus it is good for you, so that's always a bonus!
Zoie and I took a much-needed nap on Sunday afternoon. It was delightful.
That night I cleaned up a little of my craft room. It is getting harder and harder to craft with Zoie now, since she wants to be right there in the middle of it all. I try and give her scraps to cut, stencils to trace, pencils to draw and stickers to stick, but it's never enough for her. Gotta love her.
So that was pretty much our eventful, cooped up weekend. Not too much excitement, but I feel accomplished. What did YOU do over the weekend?
Here's to a better week!
-Lindsay