Another week past, many more to go. This past week was the busiest so far, but happily I’m not having to work on the weekends yet. That could all change soon though. We’re getting a lot of work done, and lots of clients are coming in. The hardest part by far is the monotony of my life. All the days seem the exact same, and basically function on the same schedule. However, the same might be said for many different aspects of grown up life. I basically spend all week looking forward to the weekend…which goes by way too fast. I’m still having problems getting my assistant to actually be here during the day, but I guess that’s just how it’s going to be. I also still resent the entire concept of smoke breaks…the fact that someone gets to take 10 minutes every hour to kill themselves slowly with cancer sticks while I struggle to find 10 minutes to eat lunch. But, I guess I can take comfort knowing that my healthy pink lungs will outlast theirs by at least 10 years.

This past weekend was pretty quiet. Friday night we just hung around and ate dinner. We woke up Saturday morning to get our fix of Juan in a Millions…which never disappoints. Something about those breakfast tacos make me happy for days. It’s the lard I’m sure, but I like to think it’s something more magical.

Saturday evening we had planned to go out to a nice dinner at Eddie V’s, but they didn’t have any reservations available, so we ended up going to the Alamo Draft House to see Vantage Point. Now, this movie is currently number one at the box office…but let me caution you: it is some kind of combination of Dave, Groundhog Day and Air Force One. Just be prepared. It’s mindless entertainment, with a pretty good car chase…I’ll give it a C+.

Sunday morning I had to go to Lois’ house for our normal morning of opening mail and writing checks. Then I went shopping at the Aboretum for a while. Crate and Barrel always makes me happy…as do Bath and Body Works and Francescas. Sunday evening we had Brad and Mike over for dinner. It was out first official dinner at the new table, and I must say it was money well spent. It’s nice to have everyone all gathered around together, with plenty of room for dishes and plates. We played dominoes after dinner and Mike and I won…even though I still don’t know if I fully understand the rules. I think I’m pretty good for someone who has to count on her fingers. It also doesn’t help that those guys make me laugh so hard I lose my concentration.

Anyway, it’s back to another week of taxes for me. I think this weekend we’re going to see the Violet Crown Radio Players, perhaps have another set of friends for dinner…hopefully there will be some good naps in there too…I could definitely use one about now.

Another week of tax season down, 58 more days to go. This week was rougher than the first. My boss is becoming increasingly more quirky with his micro-management styles (i.e. this week banishing the use of in-boxes) and my new assistant is becoming less and less reliable each day. She has now set the precedent of being absent more than present; a trend which needs to correct itself this week or she will not be working for us anymore. I’m struggling with the balance of getting the work done that has to be done, the extra projects given to me because apparently if I have time to take a 5 minute lunch break that means I don’t have enough to do in a 12 hour work day, and picking up the slack while my new pseudo-assistant smokes, cares for her ailments and those of her son, and generally keeping the rest of the office staff happy and functioning. Grr.

The part of my life that doesn’t involve work was actually quite wonderful this week. Our new kitchen table arrived today, and as week speak Josh is sitting at one side of it “working” while I sit on the other side blogging. We were able to have our Valentine’s fondue at our new table. Josh got me a new cutting board for the holiday, which has already proven to be a great new addition to our kitchen.

By the time Friday night rolled around, Josh and I managed to eat dinner, watch the episode of Lost that we recorded and went to bed around 930. Yes, 930. It was fabulous. Saturday our friends Elizabeth and Rob came into town for a weekend visit, and since the weather was so terrible we spent the afternoon playing dominoes, trying to find a bowling alley and just hanging out. It really was fun. There was great enthusiasm for a trip sometime this August. Vegas came to mind, so hopefully that will actually happen, because I’d love to go. I already have about 60 hours of vacation time logged….so I will certainly have time for more than a few long weekends this year.

Today I went to Lois’ house in the morning for about 3 hours and then came home and took a nap while Josh washed his car. Then we tried to go to Mozart’s, but couldn’t get a parking space…so we ended up at Austin Java instead. It was a really nice day out today, so I didn’t mind too much driving around and hanging out. By the time the weekend comes I really don’t want to be stuck indoors watching TV. In fact, I really can’t remember the last time I’ve watched TV. I watch No Reservations on Mondays, maybe Family Guy before bed, and now Lost on Thursdays…but with this writers strike there really hasn’t been anything at all worth watching. I’m not an American Idol fan. Don’t get me started on that.

Last week a cooked a few new things from my new Nigella Lawson cookbook: one was the fondue recipe and the other was hallumi with sausage and peppers. The fondue was good, but next time I would use less wine, and the hallumi was great as well, although Josh isn’t the biggest fan of Italian sausage, so I’d need to substitute something next time. I also made a roasted shrimp with orzo from Ina Garten’s book which turned out really well. The recipe said it served 6, and I cut mine in half and still got 4 servings out it. It was tasty though.

This week I’m back to some normal standards for dinner. Nothing too exciting planned, but at this time of the year I just need something I can throw together without too much fuss. Maybe I’ll try to make something nice for dinner next Sunday, but aside from that it’s the old standards (and a frozen pizza…just in case) that will get us through this week.

I realize I’m on the bad friend list this time of year, but I’ll do my best to email and call as much as possible. 58 days left…9 weeks…I can make it.

Well, I’ve just finished my first week of tax season, and it went off relatively easily. After my great assistant quit to move on to greener pastures I’ve spent this past week training her replacement. It will be a rougher road this time, but not one that can’t be traveled. Josh has been sick all this week, so I’ve been trying to quarantine myself away from him and his germs. The last thing in the world I need to do right now is get sick. I don’t have any extra time or energy to devote to illness. In fact, I barely have time or energy to devote to much of anything except work.

Luckily my parents were able to come up for a Saturday visit yesterday, and we had a nice time at lunch and shopping. Austin is a fun town, so I’m glad they’re getting to spend some time here. It was a short visit, but with my limited free time these days it’s nice just to be able to see them before May. I put the countdown clock back on my google home page, so right now it’s telling me 65 days until deadline day. Yuck.

In other news, Josh and I bought our new dining table today. It will be delivered on Wednesday, just in time for our romantic Valentine’s fondue dinner. We decided not to go out this year. It’s too hard to get reservations, and at the end of the day I just want to come home and get into comfortable clothes. Eating big pot of cheese sounds pretty delicious too. We’re also having chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting for dessert. Yum. I think this weekend we’ll go out for a romantic dinner that I don’t have to cook.

Right now Josh is kicking some serious butt at Tiger Woods Golf on the Wii. My parents gave us some Nerf sports adapters for the wiimotes, so now Josh is getting hole in ones and birdies like a pro. I think it’s time he increased the difficulty to give himself more of a challenge, but he disagrees. I really like the tennis racket so perhaps now I will be more of a match to Josh’s pro status.

In other news the weather is really pretty nice here. I’ve planted an herb garden, although sadly nothing has sprouted in the week since their planting. Come on photosynthesis! Last night we started to watch the movie Sunshine, but gave up about 3/4 of the way through. We watched American Gangster instead which was a great movie…good cast, good plot, good script. I don’t think it’s officially out on DVD yet, but I think it’s available if you know where to look. I think next weekend we want to see There Will Be Blood. Apparently this is not the next installment in the Saw series, but an actual movie with a plot…and no self-amputation.

I’ve been enjoying cooking some new recipes from the cookbooks I ordered with my UD Christmas money. We’re experimenting with some new foods in the Alfredson-Butts household, and so far I haven’t heard any complaints. Josh even liked the peas I made…progress! I think I must have spent $30 on cheese at HEB today, but I think that’s money well spent considering we’re not going out to eat for Valentine’s day. I’ve grown really tired of making the same things all the time, and I’m slowly trying to expand Josh’s palate to include more than cheeseburgers & french fries. Unfortunately since I’m working so late this time of year, I can’t making anything too complicated, but my new Nigella Express cookbook has plenty of delicious recipes I can make without too much fuss. Plus, a lot of her recipes involve wine, so anytime there’s an open bottle of wine around for me to nip at while cooking I’m in a pretty good mood.