Weekend Love

Things I love about the weekend:

1) My weekend runs. Since I don't have to get ready for work after, I can sleep in and actually do my run during the daylight! Which is so much nicer than running in the dark. And because it's light, I get to run through fields of diamonds. At least, it looks like diamonds as each blade of grass holds a drop of dew which reflects the sunlight in a rainbow of colors. I also love that my lack of time restraint means I can run longer than my 3 miles I do during the work week - although I'm going to try pushing that over the next couple of weeks.

2) Spending quality time with Thatboy. Sure, we spend almost every waking hour together during the week - between hitting up the gym after work, to eating dinner side by side on the couch as we watch our favorite shows, but on the weekends, we get to play. Literally. Friday night we spent playing Beatles Rockband - and let me tell you, after a margarita, it is VERY difficult to be in charge of both the vocals AND the guitar. But I think I held my own. And then on Saturday we went to see Avatar - which everyone raves about. My thoughts? Meh. First of all, I didn't realize it was live action, so after the first 20 minutes I turned to Thatboy and said "This is the longest promo ever." He thought I was kidding. I wasn't. I know everyone thinks it's groundbreaking, and maybe it is, but the entire storyline made no sense to me. And I do enjoy a good storyline. And we saw it in 3-d, which I told Thatboy seemed like a waste of 3-d technology. There was no reason to make this movie 3-d, I don't think it added to it at all. But it was his movie pick, wait till he sees what I have in store for him when it's my turn!

3) Spending time with friends. H and her husband moved into their brand new home late last year, and we've been dying to see it. But with all our traveling around, we couldn't match up schedules, so in December, H booked us for dinner this weekend. (Seriously, I book up way in advance. Just like a fancy restaurant. And I also require shoes and a jacket.) It was great to see their new home and spend time with H. As we stood in the kitchen trading stories back and forth, I thought about how lucky I am to have H in my life. When I first met her, I never would have guessed how important a role she would come to play in my life. On Saturday night we celebrated another year of health for H. I can still picture exactly where I was when H called 2 years ago to tell me she'd been diagnosed with cancer. Ironically, the place where I had to pull off the road because I was hysterically crying is a mere exit away from where we now live. And yet, here we are, 2 years (and 2 half marathons on H's part) later. Is it selfish to consider myself lucky that H is healthy?

4) Sofabed Saturday nights. Thatboy and I started a new tradition in December. See, we're still spending a majority of weekends with Thatmom, so our weekends at home have become almost like a vacation. When we're home on Saturday nights we pull out the sofa bed and watch tv before going to sleep. Then Sunday mornings we have breakfast in sofabed. This Sofabed Saturday night, rolled right into Sofabed Sunday since Thatboy is feeling a lot under the weather. So I hit up the gym without him, showered, and crawled back into bed beside him where we spent the day watching movies and our DVRd shows.

Since Thatboy wasn't feeling great he got put on the blech diet on Sunday (grilled chicken with brown rice - no oil, salt, or pepper...he wasn't thrilled). Which left me free to have something he wouldn't love at all. Fish sticks! Okay, that's a total lie. Thatboy loves fishsticks. I hate them. Mostly because they're made of fish. But tofu sticks - they look like fishsticks but taste a million times better. And even though Thatboy is more than happy to eat tofu I throw into dishes, eating them on their own isn't his favorite preparation. I love the crispiness and how they're perfect for dipping!

Not Fish Sticks

1 pkg extra firm tofu
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 cups panko
flour
canola oil

1. Slice tofu in half vertically, giving yourself two thin rectangles. Wrap these rectangles in paper towels and place under heavy plate for 30 minutes to drain of excess moisture.
2. Unwrap tofu and slice into sticks.
3. Take 3 shallow bowls, place egg in one, panko in one, and flour in one.
4. Coat tofu sticks in flour, then egg, then panko.
5. Heat canola oil over medium heat. Cook tofu on all sides until golden brown. Place on paper towels to drain.