Ahh…Memorial Day Weekend. A time to kick-off summer, relax on the back of a boat, drink cold beer, eat barbecue, and enjoy the sun. That is…unless your me. In which case? Memorial Day Weekend is the three days you help your husband write an 18 page paper.
As I’ve mentioned before, my husband is in school finishing his B.A. He’s just finishing up the Spring Trimester, and all Spring this damn paper has been hanging over our heads. Now…let me be clear. I have already done the whole college thing. And because of that, I have also already done the whole big-fat-research-paper thing. In fact, I wrote a lovely 35 page paper on the IRA my senior year. It was fabulous and I got an A. After that I had hoped to never have to write (or research) another one of these big fat papers again.
Ahem.
The paper is due in two weeks and we knew that this would be the best weekend for it. We didn’t have the little girls, and we didn’t have plans (save for one barbecue we had hoped to get to…we didn’t…sorry T), so it only seemed logical. To be honest, all last week? I was dreading it. I mean…a week ago Saturday we were enjoying ourselves at a gala…a decidedly good weekend activity.
And this weekend we wanted to be tiling…using the long weekend to get a bit further in our bathroom remodel. But no. This weekend was paper weekend.
Friday night we went to Home Depot, to get materials we’d need if we had time to tile, and we went to the gym. We decided to go to bed early so we could start our research-paper-adventure early Saturday morning. No sleeping in THIS holiday weekend!
Saturday we got up early and were off to the races. We started at the Minnesota History Center Library, a first for both of us, and my husband picked his topic. We were able to get some great direction from the fabulous staff there which almost made me wish I was in law school and could hang out there all the time…almost.
From there we hustled to grab lunch and take some pictures that he needed around St. Paul. From there we hit the Minneapolis Central Library where we were able to find all of the books my husband would need for his research…and coincidentally I was also able to get a good workout.
But we both needed an actual workout. So next on our agenda (or…another way to put off actually starting the paper) was the gym. I was so not in the mood. Our gym has fabulous trails behind it around wetlands, a community garden, and woods. Sullivan had been traveling with us all day (in order to keep him out of the kennel) so I decided to walk him around the trails instead of heading inside. It was totally awesome.
By the time we got home we were ready to dive in. It was the day to research and figure out a plan for the paper. I was just along for the ride so I helped where I could, made dinner, provided moral support…and drank wine. Obviously.
Breaks were needed, for certain, and my husband often takes Sullivan rollerblading. It allows us to give him a run without us having to run with him. I decided to join them and we enjoyed a lovely ride around our neighborhood and those nearby. We went home, did some more work, headed back to the gym to soak in the hot tub and then went back home to bed. As we were drifting to sleep we realized that actually…it had been a really nice day.
Yesterday we woke up early (again) and went straight to the gym. I had an early-morning step class to get to and we wanted to get it out of the way so we could spend the day writing. We still had high hopes to make it to a barbecue yesterday afternoon so we were hustling.
As my husband started writing, we realized quick that a) there was no way we could make it to the barbecue (sigh), and b) we would likely not finish in one day. He wrote, I looked stuff up, we took breaks to rollerblade with the dog, and again made a fabulous dinner. There was more wine (obviously), another trip to the hot tub, and another early night.
This morning, admittedly, it was hard to get up. We were both feeling sore from our weekend workouts, we were tired from actually thinking all weekend, and damn it…it’s a holiday weekend…we really really wanted to sleep-in! By 9:30 we were back at the gym and once again I didn’t wanna. Sullivan and I took an even longer walk behind the gym…five miles this time…and by 11 we were home again and working on the paper.
He submitted it half an hour ago. Phew.
We both dreaded this weekend because…well…who wants to spend a three-day holiday weekend inside the house with noses in books and eyes crossing from looking at a computer screen for too long. But when all was said and done, this is what we actually did this weekend…
- We spent the entire weekend together,
- We got the gym each day and feel great,
- We made some of the best dinners we’ve had in a good long while,
- We got to sit in the hot tub more times than we have in ages,
- We laughed A LOT,
- We were able to spend time at two of the Twin Cities’ best libraries,
- We used less than a half tank of gas (a plus when gas is so damn expensive),
- We gave our dog more walks and runs than he’s had accumulatively in the past three weeks,
- We (he) finished a 20 page paper,
- We (I) drank a full bottle of wine,
- And…actually…we relaxed.
Tonight we’re able to sit back, relax, feel accomplished, and watch…wait for it…Dirty Dancing (this man can find Dirty Dancing any time of day, any day of the week). We’re going into this new week feeling well rested and accomplished. Who’d a thunk?
TODAY: What if I revel in the close-to-home weekend we’ve enjoyed. What if this is a Memorial Day Weekend for the books?
MAMACADABRA 