Getting Out

After doing so many loads of laundry and scrubbing all the walls this week, it was definitely time to get out of the house. After Crispy's Kindergarten and Michael's Band at school, we drove out to our favorite mall in Burnsville. One of the things that has been tough about adjusting to living in Waconia is being so far away from a shopping center....not that I enjoy shopping, but there always seems to be something that someone needs, and we can't just run out and get it like we used to do. We have to gather up our list over time and actually plan a trip since all the malls are roughly 35-45 minutes from our house.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Panera Bread.....another thing we miss is getting good food! We then spent the next 2 hours "power shopping", getting everything we needed. We accomplished getting new shoulder pads for Michael(he has been asking since December), new soccer shoes and shin guards for Melissa, Valentine's gifts for the kids, MN Gophers apparel, Cinnabons to bring home, and nice clothes for Alex to wear to his semi-formal dance tomorrow...the real motivation that brought us to the mall today. Though it seemed like we were spending money like water (and it usually does since we have to stock up on one trip), I was really impressed with myself to stick with the list....no impulse purchases, and nothing extra today!

I had the pleasure to complete my day by going to the Steven Curtis Chapman concert with Pam. It was her birthday present to me, and what a wonderful gift it was! It was a fantastic concert, full of great music and worship...the perfect way to spend any evening. Since we did not have time to go to dinner beforehand, we stopped at Biaggi's (one of my favorites) for dessert after the concert. Upon walking in at 10:30pm, we both suddenly realized how starving we were and ended up getting dinner instead. Pam retained self control and only ate half of her meal to save room for dessert. I couldn't stop from eating my entire plate of butternut squash ravioli...who needs dessert after something that wonderful?

It was so nice to have the night out. When I arrived home at the stroke of midnight, I found daddy and Thomas snuggled sweetly on the couch. Thomas just loves his daddy and is always such a good boy for him. That is a good thing for me too, cuz then I get to leave him more often without the usual "mommy guilt"!