Quick Catch-Up

Hello all,


Wow!  Yesterday seemed to get away from me rather quickly.  As I have mentioned, this is my super-busy time at work:  one fiscal year ending and another starting, bonus calculations for everyone in the field, out of town meetings, etc.  Plus vacation days!  Yesterday I got to work before 7:30 and worked till 4:30 just about non-stop (well, I did visit the bathroom twice, but that was it).  Rushed home, changed and then went to yoga and got home just before 9 pm.  So far, today is a little lighter, but still a bit frantic.  And, I will be out again tonight.


So, a quick catch up post on the weekend.  Fletch and I went into town (Philly) with Colin & Mailing on Saturday.  Luckily Mailing drove.  I HATE the Schuylkill Expressway (also known as the Sure Kill Expressway).  An old road in desperate need of repairs and widening.  Accidents both going into town and coming out later.  Plus I hate parking in the city.  Anyhoo, we arrived and parked at the Kimmel Center and walked over to Bud & Marilyn's for brunch/lunch.  I had the smoked beet reuben which was AMAZING.  And big!!

Me expressing surprise at the size of my meal!  I couldn't eat all of it.  And, the Bloody Mary's are wonderful - very smoky and flavorful.  Mailing had Shakshukah which looked delicious.  Fletch and Colin just did burgers.  There are 3 (unisex) bathrooms in the restaurant.  I used the middle one which was just plain (but pretty wall paper).  Colin used the one on the end which had a reading collection and this needlework on the wall:

Needlepoint - and gorgeous.  And BIG!!


After that we walked over to The Barnes Foundation.  It was a perfectly beautiful day in town and great for walking around.  I wasn't sure what I would think of the Barnes' new (several years old now) home.  It was originally housed in the suburbs in a fabulous house.  The new location is a modern building, but they have done a wonderful job of replicating what the rooms in the house looked like.  There are 23 or 24 rooms/galleries to walk through.  No photographs are allowed (except non-flash in Gallery #1), so no pictures, but trust me the collection is amazing!  So many paintings!  So many pieces of hardware (keys, hinges, door knockers, kitchen implements, scissors, etc. - some from the 1200's and earlier), sculptures, jewelry, etc., etc.  It is a lot to look at.


After several hours in there, we walked back to the car stopping for gelato on the way.  SO GOOD!


Traffic was horrible leaving the city, but we got home by 6:30 or so (picking up Chinese take out on the way home because I was too tired to cook - lol).


Sunday was filled with chores - laundry (which is not completely done yet), grocery shopping, scrubbing bathrooms and also the kitchen floor, cooking, etc.  Not too much knitting was done, or reading.  I was exhausted when my body finally hit the bed.


OK, e-mails are coming in fast and furious, so I need to get back to work.  Hope you all had wonderful weekends and that your week is going well so far.