this week was good because of...

...a weekend with Faithful Blonde and her family.

...conversations that ranged from comparing our current TV show-watching to having serious heartfelt discussions about life (one of which was even better with a quiet glass of wine).

...a day of scrapbooking. (What's that? What do my completed pages look like? I'm so glad you asked! I'll post an update later this week!)

...lunch at Max and Erma's (which I miss having more locally!) - especially the chocolate chip cookie for dessert.
 

...participating in their family game night - which involved four different Wii games, one of which (archery) I was decent at.

...having my own Mii stored in their system.
 

...putting together puzzles and playing Quirkle with her son. (I won Quirkle on the very last play - thanks to the bonus points you get when you're the first player to play the last of their tiles.)

...coloring and reading with her daughter.

...successfully balancing the kids' increasingly individual demands for time...and realizing that, sometimes, all they want is to sit and tell me about life - whether it's real or made-up.

...this delicious dinner of french onion soup sandwiches and parmesan zucchini fries - that I will also say more about later this week, because the sandwiches were amazing.

...the dessert of sugared strawberries atop a slice of pound cake that followed this delicious dinner.

...booking my plane ticket to see Baker Blonde and her family during part of my spring break next month.

...an inexpensive, homemade version of floor cleaner (mixed in an old method bottle) that seemed successfully effective.

...this touching reminder to treasure the time we have, and not to let the negative little things become so important that we lose sight of the more important big things.

...finding a new possibility for a wedding venue (after the previous favorite exhausted every last ounce of my patience by not delivering a contract after six weeks of asking).

...lunch with Mom.

...Wildcat Guy cooking dinner on a night when my schedule was a bit crazy.

...art that provokes thought - whether it's a movie addressing racism and the poor societal decisions that resulted (to say the least!) or a play that calls out a culture's ignorance and fear.

...a beautiful almost-full moon behind some striated clouds.

...recognizing the ways in which my exercise practices (or lack thereof) and eating habits influence my energy, mood and overall well-being.

...this simple yet stunning recipe for sausage and pepper pizza. (Okay, so I cheated and used refrigerated whole wheat dough - focus on the toppings and how perfect a combination they made.)

...and her spot-on vignette about a visit to New Orleans (that makes me want to go - right. now.).

What made your week good?

Where I am: home
What I'm reading: the Academy Award issue of Entertainment Weekly (in which I'm "scoring" their picks for the Oscars according to what's happening on the show itself)