the 56th week

Monday. I went to The Anchor for coffee and scripture and spent the afternoon reorganizing and cleaning the Hobbit Hole. I took all those milk crates from the Tazza Mia Days and constructed them into a TV stand. I headed up to West Chester to see Ashley, and after spending the evening with the girls, we went for a twenty-minute run through her neighborhood. Running in the cold sure beats running in the heat, and the Christmas lights along the way were great eye-candy. "Can I just tell you how happy I am that this is something you want to do with me?" she said. We're both big on making some lifestyle changes (I gained some weight when we started dating, the whole "reformation" going by the wayside), and it's awesome that we can support one another as we acclimate to eating right and exercising on a daily basis. She wants to lose 45 pounds and I want to lose thirty, and so long as we're consistent, those goals will be met!

Tuesday. I woke at 5 AM after some disturbing dreams, and upon waking I was hit with a barrage of Wisconsin memories. I hate how this still happens. It put a damper on the entire morning. Ashley and Zoey came by to see me, and we took our "Before" pics for when we reach our weight loss goals. We're reading through Matt Chandler's Recovering Redemption as our bible study; there's so much good stuff in there, I can't wait to talk through it all with her. We've stepped up how often we're praying together, 2-3 times a day, and we're spending time in scripture together, too, when we're able (read: when Zoey isn't climbing over us like a monkey). I headed to Blue Ash to work 2-8:00, and when I got home I did a nice little workout, topped it off with Pilates, and rounded out the night with N.T. Wright's The New Testament and the People of God. 

Chloe's 8th Birthday. When I went out to my car to hit up The Anchor, I found out that I'd left my lights on overnight. Ashley came down to give me a jump, and on our way back to her place, we swung by The Anchor for coffee (and breakfast for Zoey). Zoey went down for her nap when we got to West Chester, and Ashley and I did an aerobics workout in her living room. I worked 3-7:00 with Jason and then headed back to Ashley's for Chloe's 8th Birthday Party: homemade meatloaf, a three-level cookies-&-cream pie, and celebrating eight years on this planet. Last week Chloe pulled a prank on me, trying to convince me that she'd broken her arm after Zoey pushed her down the stairs. I was so concerned that I didn't even pause to think about her claims logically. Once the light-bulb went off and she gloated in a prank well-played, I swore I'd have payback. She and Zoey have a 12 Days of Christmas candy-book; each night, they pop open a square and get a piece of candy. Chloe was super excited about eating the candy on the 10th (her birthday), so after she went to bed Monday night, Ashley and I managed to take apart the box, retrieve the candy from the 10th, and I ate it. So when she went to get her candy today, and popped open the tab, and looked inside... Priceless. She's sworn to get revenge, and I feel this may end up being an ongoing tit-for-tat thing. "Chloe likes to pull pranks on people," Ashley said, "but she gets upset when pranks are pulled on her. She needs to know that if she can't take it, she shouldn't dish it. So I fully support you pranking her!" Don't worry: I bought her a King-Sized Kit-Kat bar as a replacement for the Christmas chocolate. I'm not that cruel.

Thursday. I went to The Anchor for coffee and journaling before my 8:30-4:00 with Ben and Jason. I took them hiking at the Overlook at Gorman Heritage Farms. Ben kept complaining because his shoes were getting muddy, and he insisted on using his binoculars to watch the path as he was walking and kept blaming me whenever he slipped. My post-work evening was spent in the Hobbit Hole watching Arrested Development and playing GTA5. 

Friday. After coffee and reading at The Anchor, I headed up to West Chester to spend the afternoon with Ashley: I kept Zoey company as Ashley cleaned a church, we went to see Chloe's counselor and get the scoop on how she's been doing, and we picked up sushi for lunch and ate it at her place while watching House. I headed home to relax with some N.T. Wright, and Ashley came over once dark fell. We drank moonshine, ate popcorn, and hung out late into the night with the candles and oil lanterns glowing. 

Saturday. Ashley and I grabbed coffee at The Anchor before she headed back to West Chester. I took a nap and had Subway while watching Arrested Development. I went to see Ashley before work, and we ate homemade cornbread drizzled in honey and watched American Horror Story. When I went to leave, Zoey clambered into my car and begged to leave with me. I worked my Overnight in Blue Ash. Jason didn't watch Galaxy Quest, which was a nice break; tonight's movie was Jungle-2-Jungle. He's a big Tim Allen fan. 

Sunday. My replacement in Blue Ash was an hour late due to partying too hard with some women last night and having to shoo them out of his house. I missed being able to serve coffee at U.C.C., so I perked up with coffee at The Anchor and met up with Blake & Traci, and John & Brandy, for lunch and ice cream at Dairy Queen; we were going to go to Chipotle, but they were out of wraps. WTF?! My afternoon was spent hanging out with Tyler: we watched a Denzel Washington movie, played Call of Duty, made cookies, and watched Arrested Development. I swung by Ashley's before heading to my 8-Midnight (I'm working it every two weeks for a month or two); she made banana bread, and Chloe dyed part of my hair blue. Jason's mom was so thrown off-balance by it. I headed home at midnight, lit some oil lanterns, and read The New Testament & the People of God.