blame the real world.

Oops.

I apologize for the hiatus. I'd put the blame on the new almost full-time job, but it would be unwarranted. Our faulty internet is in fact the more guilty culprit, but we're thinking the glitch has either been fixed or will be in the very near future, so hopefully I'll be able to maintain connection for longer than 2 minutes at a time from here on out. That would be welcomed, since starting next Monday evening I'll be knee-deep in an online class. Yeah, the internet is pretty vital to make that one happen.

I know it's already Tuesday, but I still want to recap our weekend! We had a pretty busy couple of days leading up to its start, so we chose to stay in Friday night, make a yummy dinner, and breeze through our recently purchased Season 1 of White Collar. And guess what? I took a picture of the food...imagine that. Teriyaki salmon with jasmine rice and green beans. A meal I've made before, inspired by a lunch I once enjoyed at Cinderella's Royal Table in the happiest place on earth:

Had to throw in some biscuits too. The plate looked way too healthy for a Friday night dinner otherwise. Hefty amounts of calories are a must.

Saturday morning I was up bright and early (well, not really, but for a Saturday maybe) to head off to work. The center is open on Saturdays, so I'll probably be working a couple mornings a month on the weekends. It's not for very long, though, and it gives Benjamin the opportunity to go off and wreck his mountain bike, breaking the seat, and getting big nasty bloody welts all over his knees and elbows. Good job, baby. Way to be rugged.  :)

Saturday night we went with Ariel and Brian to see Harry Potter! I was so excited...maybe a little too excited in fact, because we arrived more than 2 hours early. It might have been a little unnecessary, but we got great seats in the IMAX theater and thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was only my second IMAX experience, and I had forgotten how straight up huge and awesome it is. Great stuff. There were times I got frustrated with the differences between the film and book, but overall I thought it was a great ending to the series. We got free posters and decided to take pics while we waited...

Those glasses are so unattractive.

Sunday we had a somewhat unsuccessful trip to an outlet mall about 30 minutes away from our home. Great potential, though, so I will definitely return. Ya know it gets pretty hot in Houston, so we were sweaty and worn out by the end of our excursion. We thought it would be a good idea to get some ice cream on our way home...and we stumbled upon a gem. Behold the beautifully-colored, deliciously-concocted gelato trifecta from Gelato Blu:

That would be pistachio, hazelnut, and vanilla bean gelato sitting side by side in a perfectly gigantic serving bowl. We devoured the whole thing and are already planning our next trip. Sooo good. I guess it's okay this town doesn't have a Sweet Cece's...

I'm working a lot of hours at work this week, but I'm really starting to love it! I'm getting to know the kids better and learning the ins and outs of therapy and data-taking. My biggest hurdle is over-thinking it, so I'm working on that, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. Each child is so unique and has his or her own set of likes, dislikes, and needs. I still have a long way to go, but right now I am so thankful for the other therapists who are just so helpful and encouraging. Now I just have to figure out the balance between work and my class...hopefully it won't overwhelm me too much.

Ok, the husband has been listening to an incredibly monotonous online presentation about crude oil for far too long now...best be off to entertain him!