The good part of my weekend

This weekend actually went by really fast. I can't believe it's over!

Friday after work, I headed over to ER's to have dinner with her, her boyfriend and her parents. Her parents live insanely far away, and they were home for Christmas. ER fixed a delicious dinner, and we hung out and visited for a while, watching one of the bowl games that was on TV.

ER and I were finally able to exchange Christmas gifts. She got me some personalized stationery with my new name on it. I love it! When I opened it, I had to laugh. I had told her about a month ago about really wanting some personalized stationery. We had had a little bazaar at work, and several people had booths selling their arts & crafts and goodies. One girl had some adorable personalized stationery, and looking at it made me realize I had to have some. I did some searching and found a website that had some I really liked. I told ER I was thinking about ordering it.

"Is it from Amer!can Stat!onery?" she asked me. I told her I thought it was. "I've ordered some stuff from them before. They're good."

Well, I ordered the stationery, but the funny part is that the "stuff" ER had ordered from them was my Christmas present! When she relayed that story to me, I said, "You know me better than I do!"

I had stuffed myself from ER's delicious meal and some yummy cake that her boyfriend had brought back from Christmas with his family (his mom is a freelance baker!). I was looking forward to just going home and watching a movie and maybe even going to bed early. I made the mistake of calling Jeremy, who had called me while I was at ER's.

"Wanna go running tonight?" he asked me.

"No!" I said bluntly and without hesitation.

"OK. So I'll see you here at 9:30?"

I sighed. I had eaten a ton of food, but I hadn't worked out in over a week. "Fiiiiiiiiiiine," I groaned.

We ran 2 1/2 miles. Not bad, considering I'd only run one other time with him a couple weeks ago (not counting running on a treadmill as opposed to the elliptical a few times over the last month).

ER and I had made plans to get up early Saturday morning and go shopping. I was determined to find designer jeans I loved, and I was also determined to find them at an outlet mall. I wasn't in love with any I tried on, so I decided I'd just spend the extra $50 later on to buy them at full price with the help of a salesperson who knows everything about the jeans. I found three cute shirts instead and spent just under $35. I considered the trip a success anyway, since I needed some more shirts, and everything I bought was on sale!

Jeremy talked me into going to the gym again. I told him he was a sucky gym partner because he won't let me lay around like I want to. Once I got to the gym, though, I felt great. We did a full-body circuit since it had been over a week since either of us had set foot in the gym. It was an awesome workout. We made our usual trip to the sauna afterward.

As we sat in there waiting to start sweating, we chatted as usual. I told Jeremy I hadn't heard from K at all -- not even an email -- since Christmas. "You mean three days ago, plus today?" He asked. I was surprised. It felt like it had been a week. Thinking of it that way made it seem different.

"I bet he calls tonight," he said. I glanced up at the clock. It was after 4:30, which meant it was after 1:30 a.m. Sunday in Ir@q. K would surely be in bed. But maybe he'd call when he had free time that morning, which would be late at night or just after midnight here. Just a few minutes later, though, I saw my phone, which I always prop up outside just in case, light up. I was getting a call! I could tell by the weird number that it was K.

He had just gotten in from a patrol. We were able to talk for a while -- at least 45 minutes, I think. He sounded really good.

After we got off the phone, I rushed into the shower and off to run a couple errands before heading to ER's again. A group of us was meeting up for dinner there and to watch a couple movies. I was definitely in great spirits after my conversation with K. ER had noticed a difference when I'd called her before I headed over. When I told her I'd talked to him, she said, "I thought you sounded really upbeat!"

The group of us hung out for several hours, but I was back home by 10:45. I was looking forward to going to bed pretty early, but I wound up talking to CG, who just moved to Hawaii. We talked for over an hour. By the time I went to bed, it was after 12:30.

I got up early this morning and went to church. It was a nice, uplifting service -- the kind I really could have used a couple weeks ago. We sang cheerful Christmas music, and the sermon had to do with to-do lists, which are so up my alley!

I hate to make this a to-be-continued blog, but if I go on with the rest of my day, this entry might reach novel status (like I haven't had entries like that before!). Besides, what happened after church was a clear message from my body that it was time for me to slow down, relax and catch up on sleep. It's after 10, and I had intended to be asleep by then. Once you read about the rest of the day, you'll understand why. Or feel really sorry for me because it's pretty pathetic.

But you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out exactly how pathetic.