So when he picked me up at 4:30 on Friday and I drive us into the Bank of America parking lot, he was pretty confused.

I said, “I think today is the day that we open a joint checking account.”

And he says, “At Bank of America?!?! I hate Bank of America. You know that I had an account with them before and I thought it was awful. What made you pick Bank of America?!? Did your financial panther tell you this was a good idea?”

And I say, “Look it is the right time for us. And we really need to start saving.”

Winemonkey: “Why aren’t we opening a joint saving account.”

Me: “We can discuss that once we are inside.”

Then we proceed to the second floor of the bank building, where the day spa is and he finally figures out that I am not making him open an account with me after all… but treating him to a super duper massage. =)

I love my little Winemonkey because is so much fun to surprise!

Later he told me that he thought I was taking us to the bank so that we could sign papers for a home loan. Maybe next time my love…. maybe next time.

The hosts had just bought an apartment in the city, right on the corner of Haight and Asbury. An apartment that is in the background of a lot of famous pictures, particularly of the Grateful Dead. (A band that one of the hosts really loves…)

Point of the story: Great night. I wish we could do it more often.

I am sure things will pick up this afternoon, once Winemonkey gets here. But until then, I think I will rouse my little puggie and take her for a leisurely walk.

But Winemonkey called to inform that he didn’t leave on time. And now he probably isn’t going to get here until after dinner. So all of those plans are thrown out the window. It is a shame really. It seems like I have been feeling let down a lot lately. I am sure that it is just a small downturn in our personal flux and that things will pick up again in a little while. It is just a weird scenario, what we are living now. And this weekend was supposed to be about us. And Saturday is traveling and Sunday… well I don’t think we are going to get out much since we are going to be getting Pebbles adjusted to her new surroundings.

Look out Annie’s box of Mac-n-cheese, there is no sushi in my future tonight so I am coming for you.

You know, I have spent my whole life living close by my sister. The only exception was the three years that I was away at college. And now that I live 1.75 hours away from her, you would think that one of us was back in PA. After our Easter guests left, I started crying and poor Winemonkey just gave me a hug and asked if I missed Sheeha. He knew. I do.

Oh my!

Please note the ample space between the two counters. Also, the full size gas stove. And full size dishwasher. This might be a cooks dream. in fact, if it was a) in a better neighborhood, b) not so damn expensive, and c) had more parking, we would be in business. But some of these things can be dealt with and maybe this is the kitchen for us. I mean, it is so expensive because of the double pane windows and the fact that it is has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. It is HUGE. But really nice.

Ummm, yeah. I am concerned that if I had taken the picture of me standing in the kitchen, you would have fallen over dead as I could simultaneously burned my hand on the stove top and pulled ice cream out of the freezer. This kitchen comes with no yard, a small storage shed, no laundry (as my washer and dryer wouldn’t fit in the small closet that has the washer and dryer hook ups) and only one bedroom… maybe we would have even gotten a landlord who likes to drink a lot and who runs through tenants like it was nobody’s business (not entirely her fault, but it is enough to make me suspicious). The advantage? It is on a cul de sac in a very wealthy neighborhood. Odds are she is going to rent to someone else. And I think that we are all okay with that.

And lastly. This beauty. No seriously. Yes, there is a mini dishwasher. But look at the countertops? And the heating for this place? Comes up through the floor, which means never walking on cold tiles. It also means that a puppy would have a whole kitchen/living room combo to have accidents without ruining the carpet. However, there is about 2 feet of usable counter space. Tell me where I am going to store my coffeepot, crockpot, kitchenaid mixer, and whatever other miscellaneous kitchen wares I have. Plus, the landlord is an lder gentleman who didn’t appear to be in the best health. And the second bedroom? Not even a bedroom. More like a large closet. Honestly. I have more pictures of this little gem, but I think we are going to keep looking.

No, seriously. It is only Tuesday and I feel like I have been following a well-laid plan. I wanted to post something slightly new on Etsy at least 3 days this week. I wanted to get through my presentation yesterday afternoon. I wanted to get my experiments set up and taken care of today. I have two more things on my checklist today and I think that I am moving along just fine. There was a minor set back when my sister and I watched two episodes of Sex in the City instead of me grading papers. And another minor set back when I decided I wanted to talk to my friends in other states instead of grading papers. But you know what? The papers will be graded tonight! GEEZ!

And this Thursday I have dinner plans with my “new” friends. And by “new friends” I mean people I know through Winemonkey and his roommates who I am trying to get to know better because soon I will be living in their town and I don’t know anyone there. And that makes me nervous. But knowing that I will be able to afford movers makes the move seem all that less stressful. Except for the no friends in town part.

So just to put it in perspective, my mom and dad and both of my grandmas sent me valentine’s day cards. My mom went as far to send my sister and I a gift basket containing a small amount of chocolate and nuts, which was from both her and my dad, but really, who are we kidding, I doubt my dad said, “Hey hon, let’s send the girls some chocolate.” Winemonkey and I aren’t planning on exchanging any sort of presents. I feel bad because I asked him to just write me a little note. I feel bad about this because he HATES when I tell him what to do for me on holidays. But this year he didn’t even get me a card for my birthday. Not because he isn’t considerate, but because we weren’t doing anything spectacular for my birthday and he was between jobs and there was just a whole lot of shit going down around my birthday. But anyway, he hates it when I say, “You know, it would be really nice if you would do ______ for [insert holiday here].” Mostly because I usually ruin the surprise. But this time when I said, “Could you please just get me card or something for Valentine’s day.” He said, “Is this like your birthday?” Because for my birthday I said, “Hey maybe next year, if we decide no presents, could you at least get me a card?” Anyway. I was sad because he didn’t think to.

But the truth is, that until I started writing this post, I totally forgot that I gave him shit about this “card or note” for Valentine’s Day and I am going to see him tomorrow and I don’t have anything to give to him. In my defense, on the actual day of Valentine’s day, I sent him and ecard. Not just any ecard, but one that had all kinds of personal jokes involved and one, that although free, was so personally specific for us that it was RIDICULOUS (thank you Sarcomical for sending me a card – if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have stumbled across the card that I sent Winemonkey).

I gotta get on the ball tomorrow morning. God!

p.s. It isn’t that my dad doesn’t come up with good presents. He just doesn’t come up with good present ideas regularly. Like the last great present I can remember getting from my dad was brackets for my coffee table because the legs were wobbly. I am not joking. I will have to think about it, but I think that was the last present he did all on his own without anyone’s help. And it was an awesome present. I will be able to pass that table down to my children and my children’s children.

The cabin is one of those places that you hate to leave. But you know you can’t stay there forever. Plus they have no internet connection and you would miss me. =)

Tell more about all of the good food and silliness later this week. Hope you all brought in the New Year the way you wanted to.