Building the Perfect Bookshelf

I spent most of this morning putting my new bookshelf together. The instructions weren't all that great and it took me a while to figure out what went where...but I did get it together. However, it took me so long to do, I just barely had enough time to put the remaining Effanbee dolls on one shelf, have a very quick lunch of leftovers, and pack a snack and gym clothes for after work before I hurried out the door.

Work was quite busy for most of the day. We'll be getting into the beginning of the month next week, and some people may already have gotten their government money. Thankfully, most people seemed to be in a good mood. The weather held out, too. It was cloudy this morning, but by the time I headed out around 6PM, the skies were blue and the weather was in the lower 60s, though it remained very windy.

The gym was surprisingly quiet when I arrived. It's usually wall-to-wall people at 6PM, but even with classes going on, I had no problems getting a good work-out in on the elliptical machine. I timed it well; a personal training class started using the elliptical machines just as I was finishing my arm weight machine session and starting to stretch.

I hadn't really eaten much all day. I decided it would be worth it to splurge on the Golden Corral Buffet for dinner. I was so hungry by the time I made it there, I probably could have eaten their entire buffet. I settled on a spinach salad, pot roast with celery and potatoes, and my favorite Brussels sprouts and sweet potato casserole. The pot roast was so tender and flaky, I went back for seconds. (And I think I finally discovered the secret to their sweet potato casserole. I know I saw some oats in the bit of brown sugar I scraped out along with sweet potato. They must add oats and brown sugar to the marshmallow topping. Yum!) Had half of a chocolate cupcake and their "Chocolate Waterfall" for dessert. You dip cookies and mini-whoopie-pies on sticks into a fountain that flows with melted chocolate and have your own dipped desserts. Very decadent...and very messy.

Went back to work to do my own grocery shopping. I mainly needed fruit and vegetables. Strawberries are on sale, and I had to restock pears, grapefruit, bananas, celery, and oranges. I saw a woman buying a small bundle of red Swiss chard earlier and thought I'd try some this week. I ran out of the Emerald Trail Mix bags, and I needed to replace the chicken broth I used on the poached chicken legs on Wednesday. And I still forgot eggs. I'll get them at work tomorrow.

My schedule for next week is a mixed bag. On one hand, I have three days off in a row late next week, from Wednesday to Friday. That means I'll finally be able to get back to Jodie and Cassandra and really start spring cleaning before Lauren visits in mid-May. Unfortuantly, it also means I only have 21 hours next week, which also means my paycheck leading into vacation will be lousy. On the other hand, I got an excellent paycheck this week and should be getting another good one next week, and I get two paychecks for vacation. Not to mention, I did just get birthday money. I'm hoping that I have enough in the bank, even after I pay my rent this week, too offset a bad week or two.