If I, through myself, could set your spirit free I'd lead your heart away

As time goes on, my anticipation builds for the U2 concert in June. (Crap. I need to remember that date when scheduling my sister-in-law's many wedding showers.) I've been listening to a customized playlist on my ipod for the past couple of weeks with hits like Acrobat, Bad, The Ground Beneath Her Feet and The Unforgettable Fire. Ah, 1980's U2. Nothing like it.

I haven't updated in a coon's age and I can't figure out why. Maybe my life is boring right now?

To supplement this lackluster post, here's a picture of Albert Einstein on my desk this morning. He stands right by my computer speakers, so he can enjoy the aforementioned 1980's U2.

With temperatures steadily in the upper 30's, spring is on its way. This means our snow is melting, our ground is getting soggy and our sump pump is running. Basements, flooding basements and sump pumps are all very foreign to me. I tell Dan it makes me nervous when the pump runs, but it would make me even more nervous if it didn't. (For those who may not know, a sump pump is a pump that sits in a little water pit under the floor of the basement and can be seen if you lift off the lid. Like this. When the soil around the basement walls gets so inundated with water, the water starts to seep up the sump pump well. When it gets to a certain level, the pump kicks on, keeping the water outside and out of our basement!)

We spent the weekend finishing the exercise room. Huzzah! The trim is painted, the flooring's down. Either tonight or tomorrow our window treatment expert (aka my mother-in-law) will be over to install the wood blind...to ensure that pervs aren't watching me run at 5:00am. It looks AMAZING and I'm so grateful that Dan initiated this project and finished it in a timely manner, knowing how important it was for me. When we get the blind up I WILL post before and after pictures.

Dan's birthday is in two weeks. He's in for a few surprises. (He refuses to read my blog, so I know my secret is safe here.) Since his golden birthday (that's right) falls on a Sunday, he's requested eggs benedict for breakfast. Part of me is intimidated and part of me is glad for the challenge. Eggs benedict with delicious hollandaise sauce is something I've always wanted to be able to make. So here's hopin'...

Thanks to one of the worst "stomach aches" I've had pretty much since my symptoms started, I've been doing some home research. Ever since college I've been plagued with these "stomach ahces" for lack of a better term. It's a sharp, cramping pain right under my left ribcage. Saturday night it was so bad I couldn't even stand up straight. The only things that help are 1) laying down completely flat - no pillows and 2) heat on my stomach. My doctor once thought it might be muscle spasms (something in my digestive system) and gave me a muscle relaxer to take whenever I felt the "stomach ache" coming on. It didn't help at all. After looking around at charts of the human organs and reading some forums on symptoms, etc., I think I'm halfway self-diagnosing myself with Splenic Flexure Syndrome. The problem described sounds laughable, but let me assure you - the discomfort and pain is no laughing matter.

This Saturday I'm taking a trip to Novi with my mother-in-law and my cousin-in-law (and possibly sister-in-law?...Kitten, have you decided yet?). I'm hoping this trip will put an end to my small naggings of my unfinished house. A few pieces of art, a few little accents of decor...and all that will be left is furniture! (That'll be a beast to make a decision about.) I think a day away from home improvement projects, cleaning our 2 1/2 bathrooms and cleaning a notoriously dirty laminate kitchen floor will be just what the doctor ordered.

Speaking of just what the doctor ordered...apparently the doctor ordered a day off for Dan this Friday. He's taking a (much-needed, I know) day off of work to just chill. My guess is that I'll come home at 5:30 to find him on the couch with a fleece blanket on his lap playing video games.

To celebrate his day of freedom, we're finally hitting up our favorite Chinese restaurant...for the BUFFET! We get take out there semi-regularly (but haven't in about two months since it's so far away from where we live now) and always talk about going to the buffet, but never do. We're taking the plunge. Sesame chicken, here I come!