Uncork me

Do you ever see those wine commercials that feature witty and beautiful young couples all spending their weekends on their yachts/country houses/Pottery Barn couches and feel resentful of your real life? Yes? Well, this is sort of how I’m starting to feel about the weekend.

Every week I look forward to Friday night with a sort of pre-pubescent longing. I make elaborate plans about my 2 days off that involve lots of a.) sex, b.) reading, and c.) good food and good times. And somewhere in there I also expect to get the closets cleaned. The problem, of course, is that I’m always disappointed by what I don’t get done, or if I am productive I feel like I haven’t given my self a chance to relax and thus have “wasted” the weekend. Nobody should have to work that hard at just passing through two days, people! What is wrong with me?

The good points of this weekend included: kitten time, Indian food with Adele and my brother-in-law, Stephen. Watched “The Four Seasons” – an old Alan Alda and Carol Burnett flick - and ate an enormous Belgian chocolate bar. Got a few pages of the story that will not be finished done, though I’m scared to look at them again. Ran 2.5 uninterrupted miles last night in the rain, which made me feel very official. Took one long delicious nap during a thunderstorm on Sunday afternoon. Found a miracle product that keeps cat box odors completely away.

The not-as-good points of the weekend: The tragic outcome of my attempt to make sesame chicken strips. Did not get the closets cleaned or the house cleaned. Did not finish the story (despite looming deadline). Ate bar of chocolate that was approx. size of houseboat. Did not go grocery shopping. Did not cook (edible) food for the week. Did not balance checkbook or pay bills. Did not return library books (are you sensing a theme?) Did not send cards to the legion friends who have not heard from me in ages. Did not buy stamps. Did not put boxes of children’s books in the attic shelves. Did not discover cure for cancer.

And since this is a health blog I will give a shout out to running again here. I ate like a pig this weekend – naan bread (loads), chocolate (2 bars!), Mediterranean food, entire curry buffet, etc, and I still lost a pound this morning. Amazing. I might actually be under 200 by next week if I manage to cut down the sugar consumption. This will be just in time, as my cousin’s wedding is the 10th. Come to think of it, it’s probably the coming weekends that are making this past weekend feel so unmanageable. This coming weekend I’m traveling to Chicago to see the Body Worlds exhibit with A. (who has to cover it for her dissertation). It’s a quick trip – one night only – but that will effectively wipe out my weekend. Then on the following Friday I’m going to Philadelphia with the whole family. That’s a LONG trip from here, and I know that’s just when I’ll need to be home to finish my work for my editor, but I just can’t skip a family wedding. For one thing, this is the first cousin’s wedding on my Dad’s side of the family that I will have been able to make. When 2 of my other cousins got married I was living in London (a good excuse) and when the third got married a few years ago I had mono. So this one is a must. Still, I’m so dead by the end of the work day that I have no idea how to get everything accomplished between 5 and 11 p.m.

Anyway, this whole pointless post is just my way of saying that this Autumn I’d like to be sipping wine with the beautiful people from our cabin in Vermont.

And if you’d like to join me, please wear your tweed skirt or cable knit sweater.