Trip and I were watching the Project Runway finale episode last night. Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham was the guest judge. I found her cheeks to look more round than I was expecting -- she always seems to sharp. Trip kept saying she looked reptilian and angular. Finally, he said she reminded him of the Geico gecko. "Cup of tea anyone?"

Other than weird gecko looking guest judges, it's been an uneventful week. Last weekend was great with the retreat. The highlight for me was s'mores. So tasty and delicious and I thought to hide the chocolate bits inside the toasted marshmallow so they would melt....yum! I love marshmallows and chocolate and graham crackers. So I have decided we will definitely need to go camping this summer. I will eat your s'mores up!

I did come out with a bit of a war injury. We ended up turned around a bit on our way home and so Trip wanted to turn around. While attempting to do a three point turn, we got stuck in the mud. So I got out and attempted to push the car unsuccessfully. The other girls helped and we did get turned around. But I think pushing the car really hurt my arm! I've had this weird pain in my wrist and bicep above my elbow. I am hoping it gets better soon, or else I'll have to see the doctor!

Tomorrow I am off, so the big plan for dinner is to make mini-burgers and sweet potato fries. It's kind of nice to have home-made snacky food for dinner on Friday nights. Plus we've got some beer and a copy of Ocean's Thirteen. It's great being married!

I started reading the funniest book at lunch today -- The Pirates! An Adventure with Scientists. (It's in a double book with The Pirates! An Adventure with Ahab on the flip-side. Can't wait for that one.) I'm a sucker for a pirate (arrrrr!) and it's proving to be a very silly adventure. I'm only a couple chapters in, but so far I have found out the best reason to be a pirate (the shanties) and that "I like ham" is an excellent pirate motto. The pirates are looking for a ship called the Beagle -- I wonder if they're going to run into a certain evolutionist? I imagine this book will be a super-fun read -- very entertaining! It also seems like something I would have either read when I was a middle- or high-schooler or something I would've attempted to write at that age.

I also read a very interesting book on Sunday called Love is a Mixtape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time by Rob Sheffield. It was a memoir by Sheffield set primarily in the early and mid-1990s when he met and married his wife Renee. But she dies five years after they marry -- which is where the loss comes in. The book was very moving. Although I knew Renee would die, I cried a lot after reading about her death and how Rob coped with the aftermath.

It was also very interesting to read about a young marriage -- Sheffield and Renee married at 25 -- and to hear about all their struggles with being married. I feel like so often you don't hear about what it is like to be married -- it's all about dating or having kids or planning the perfect marriage. But what about those years before you start having kids? Or right after the wedding? What's it like? As someone who is getting married soon and hadn't thought about some of these things -- especially his example of realizing that his wife would be the person that he would fail in front of -- it's both scary and reassuring. Scary because I hadn't realized that I would be in for such fears, but also reassuring to know that others have gone through them -- and put a name to these fears -- and survived.

Well, enough heavy stuff.

I am starting my marathon of "work every Saturday in May" this weekend. Should be fun! So tomorrow I am off and will be relaxing and not doing a whole lot. The big goal is to run -- I haven't gone since Monday, and I need to get in another one.

Sunday will be a busy day -- we're going to a friend's church, I have to work in the afternoon (program on getting a federal job -- bring the whole family!), and then Trip and I will be attending Doubt (the play) in the evening. Jam-packed!

Friday should be a pretty relaxing day though.