You Win Some. You Lose Some.

It's been a bad week on the workout front, but overall it was a good week on a lot of other fronts.  I guess you win some, you lose some.

Monday, February 25: Today was my 33rd birthday.  While I would have loved to take the day off of work, that wasn't in the cards.  However, I did have a fantastic birthday dinner with Mr. R&R.  My initial plan for the day was to make a simple dinner and then hit the bike trainer.  By the time I got home from work, I was willing to let Ronald McDonald make me dinner if it meant not having to cook (and it's Shamrock Shake season).  Fortunately, Mr. R&R had a better idea: Ristorante Bartolotta.  This is one of those restaurants we've always meant to try, but somehow never have...until tonight.  We started with the Mozzarella di Pizzaiola as an appetizer.  The green olives in the dish were a pleasant surprise. The entrees were out of this world.  I chose the Papparelle al Ragu d'Anatra (duck ragu over pappardelle pasta) and Mr. R&R had the Gemelli con Funghi Porcini, Fegatini di Pollo e Tartufo Nero (gemelli with porcini mushrooms, chicken livers and black truffles).

My entree: Pappardelle al Ragu d'Anatra (duck ragu over pappardelle pasta)

Mr R&R's Entree (I'm not retyping all that Italian!)

For dessert, he had the flourless chocolate cake and I had a sampler of house-made sorbets (lemon, raspberry, and red wine).  It was a wonderful meal and I can't say enough good things about Ristorante Bartolotta.  If you're ever in Milwaukee, you really need to eat there!

Tuesday, February 26: Snow storm.  It started snowing heavily around 2pm. By 4pm, our office made the decision to close early so that people could try to get home before the roads got even worse.  I live less than 3 miles from work and it still took me over an hour to get home because of a nasty combination of road construction, heavy traffic, snow-covered roads, and nearly non-existent visibility.  (All pictures were taken when I was either completely stopped in traffic or pulled over on the side of the road.  I'm not willing to get in a car wreck for the sake of taking pictures!)

Main road with heavy traffic

Snow-covered side street

Wednesday, February 27: It was another long, crazy day at the office since we'd closed early on Tuesday, but I did manage to jump on the trainer for 30 minutes and managed to have another good ride. My average speed is still improving...slowly.

Thursday, February 28: I honestly don't remember what the hell happened.  I'm guessing it was a flimsy excuse at best!

Friday, March 1: I originally planned to hit the track or the gym. Instead I ended up grocery shopping and getting a good jump on my weekend cleaning projects. Don't ask me how, but every Sunday night, my house is reasonable in order and by Friday, it looks like a small tornado went through the place.

Saturday, March 2: How many people can say that they look forward to getting their taxes done? I know my mom can since not only do I do her taxes for her every year, but I also make her lunch on that day! After mom's taxes were done (and the bunnies were thoroughly spoiled with attention and carrots from their Grandma Naner), Mr. R&R headed out for Board Game Night with his buddies and I tackled some of those annoying little projects that always get pushed to the back burner because I run out of time.  I think I'm going to count the mental exercise of tax preparation and the physical exercise of dashing up and down the stairs between the second floor and the basement about a thousand times as a work out!

Sunday, March 3: I haven't slept past 8AM on a weekend in a very long time, but today I didn't even open my eyes until 10AM!  Today was a nice mix of fun stuff (watching episodes of The Amazing Race on Netflix, drinking half a pot of coffee, browsing pretty summer dresses online) and necessary stuff (making sure I have enough clothes ironed for the week, cleaning Walter and Spot's house, doing Walter and Spot's laundry).  I swear that those rabbits make more laundry than we do!  I don't really mind though since Walter loves fresh towels in his house and I get a kick out of Spot "helping" us fold their towels and then climbing the stacks when they're done.

It's clean...for now.

Laundry Assistant

Housekeeping Supervisor

I also had dinner with Dad, Little Brother, Little Sister and the rest of the clan tonight. I'm currently stuffed with pizza and garlic bread, my clothes for tomorrow are laid out, my lunch is made, and I'm headed to bed since I think I'm looking at another crazy week!