Where have you been?

Gosh, it seems like I haven't been posting much lately. It also seems like I haven't been home much lately. The household is out of whack, Hoot's schedule is out of whack, my Quicken account is out of whack (nothing dangerous, just behind on entries), and therefore, I am out of whack. I hate it when someone shakes the snow globe. Well, someone other than me, that is.

In the last three weeks, I've taken two overnight trips for work. Actually, you could say I've worked two overnights for work, as both involved late night inventories. I love getting away, even for a quick night. I also love shaking the work snow globe just to keep it all interesting. But, late April and May were probably not the best times for me to be shaking anything. With Mother's Day, our 15th anniversary and DH's birthday, it's just a crazy month. Usually it's like December, but with less time at work. This month, with it's overnights, it has seemed even more like December.

I did have a fun trip to Houston. Dinner was a great treat at Pappadeaux, followed by a glorious breakfast at la Madeleine. I adore their French Country breakfast with its eggs, potato galette, crisp thick bacon and croissant. But, really, I lavished myself with cup after cup of the French Roast coffee. This cafe/bistro is definitely a happy place for me. I spent a little more than the covered amount for my expense reimbursement, but what the heck. I don't get here often.

However, such indulgences are dangerous to the budget. While I am still going to be "up" monetary wise in the budget once the expense checks roll in, I am still wanting to be in spend mode. I'm definitely an all or nothing kind of gal, and taking trips and eating in nice places makes we want to be in "all" mode.

It was also my 15th wedding anniversary, so before I left Houston, I stopped into The Cheesecake Factory for a small cake to celebrate once I got home. We also had a great dinner at a local steakhouse, which was blissfully empty as the college students have all left for the summer.

To complicate matters even more, we still have DH's birthday this week and the weekend off for the combined Mother's Day/Anniversary/Birthday/Family Fun celebration. There has been much talk of going to the beach, or possibly just to Austin or such for the weekend. I will confess that with Memorial Day being early this year, I didn't realize it was the weekend I had requested off for this little celebration. That means everyone will be on the road and hotels will be a bit higher. I may poke around on Hotwire for a bit before we decide. Maybe we'll just stay home and clean house. But, really how celebratory is that? It's certainly not what I would classify as "Family Fun."