PLEASE give me something better to do!

i've been feeling a bit unfulfilled lately. like life is the droning pace of steady nothingness. oh, who am i kidding. it's not LIKE that, it IS that. it's this grind of work, tv, internet, sleep. literally. it can get quite depressing! so i guess in an effort to boost things up, i have been trying to make better use of my time. i refuse to let weeks and weeks just go by without having accomplised one single fulfilling thing. i have raised the bar. and these are the "fruits" of my labor...

party hosting
we enjoyed two great "parties" this month. the first was a progressive dinner with 4 other couples. we actually went to all 5 houses starting with appetizers and then moving to a bread/cheese course, salad, mains, and dessert (at our house). it was tons of fun. i thought that 5 places would be overwhelming, but it kind of kept the party alive. anyways, it was "fulfilling" enough to inspire us to host a superbowl party. which.....was a blast! we had a lot of rsvps, but we kept saying right up until the first guest arrived, "what if no one shows up???" come on, everyone has their insecurities. they were short lived though. we had a great turnout. everyone split their time between the main floor and the basement...or should i say, those watching the game and those not :) i think every superbowl party ends up that way. our guests were fantastic fun and left us excited to plan the next big event at our house. i wonder if presidents' day is too soon....

baking
everyone knows this is the obvious go-to for me. but the superbowl gave me just enough inspiration and excuse to spend an entire day doing it. my favorite production: sugar cookie football helmets decorated the match the opposing teams. i was in heaven mixing colors and piping on little face masks. the best thing about royal icing is that it stays put once it sets. which results in decoration perfection. the worst thing about royal icing is that it sets best when left out overnight. which results in stale cookies. the party guests were polite enough not to mention this, but there is no mistaking that they looked a lot better than they tasted. consistency-wise at least. i'll have to figure out a way to remedy that situation next time. i'm sure there's something online to help out in that department. come to think of it....maybe presidents' day isn't the best idea after all. i'm not sure i could replicate george washington's face in sugar.

reading
yes. that's right. reading. not listening to a book on tape. not getting 6 books at the library and letting them just sit on my table for 3 weeks. actual reading. i picked up a copy of the color purple at the library and opened it up the first night. because i knew i was actually going to make the full effort with this one, i looked at every page. the copyright page. the title page. the dedication page. i wanted to do it right. it was on the title page that i noticed a library stamp i have never seen before. perhaps it is always on books, but the point is, i actually noticed it this time. it said something along the lines of , "if you ruin this book, you'll pay extra, so beware." i pondered this for a minute. the cost of the book plus $5 for processing or replacement or whatever. it seemed like a smart disclaimer to me. so...i dove in and proceeded to read several chapters two nights in a row. the third night, i was freezing in our antarctic house and decided that a hot bath with my new companion book would be the remedy. water running. bubbles going. book delicately perched on the edge of the tub, ready to be enjoyed......or ruined. i nimbly knocked it into the water and gasped. i mean, come on! i was actually trying to be proactive in the reading department. i had just gained an awareness of the price you have to pay if you do not treat books appropriately. why now?? all in all, i guess it's not the worst situation ever. it's a great book. one that i wouldn't mind owning. but i guess i don't really get a say in that now. clumsy molly wins the prize again.

running
yep. i'm back at it again. this time around, it's a 5 miler right around st. patty's day. i printed off a new training program and am having the time of my life trying to keep up with it. it has you working out 6 days a week to prepare. i'm sliding by with 4-5, but it has done wonders for my energy levels and confidence in completing the race. only 32 days to go before the big day!

overall, my big (ha) changes have turned out nicely. we'll see what other trouble i can get into over the next several weeks...