ten second tom

I am slacker. Actually, updating this blog that maybe four people read is what I normally do to procrastinate from other things. I just haven't been doing a hot job of that lately, because I leave on FRIDAY for a cross-country road trip (imagine a slightly panicked expression on my face). 

Because of said road trip, I have been completely incapable of concentrating on much of anything for more than about ten seconds. In fact, I'm like "ten second Tom" from 50 First Dates, except instead of reintroducing myself every ten seconds, I think about the road trip.

I'll be standing at my closet trying to decide what to wear to work, and think to myself "what in the world am I going to wear in Vegas? why haven't I packed? we leave in THREE DAYS!" Or I'll find myself staring at the fridge, trying to plan dinner, and end up thinking "we have to get enough snacks for my obscene appetite...should we go to Costco? or maybe Trader Joe's? or..." And my absolute favorite is when I'm supposed to be sleeping at night, and instead toss and turn, thinking of things I need to remember to do before I go out of town for 10 days.

But I did take a small break from the fretting last week to go to Opera in the Outfield with Sophie. I think it's an annual event (I haven't heard of it being done more than once a year, although I could be totally wrong) in which the Kennedy Center broadcasts a live opera from their stage to the jumbo tron at the Nats stadium. You can literally sit in the outfield and watch, or you can sit in the grandstands, too.

When we got to the stadium, we were prepared to spread out on the grass (I had brought trash bags to buffer us from the wet ground, and a blanket to set on top), but it looked like it could rain. So we hemmed and hawed for ages (we're both terrible at making decisions), and finally decided to go for the grass. After all, we'd spent all day in office chairs. 

We claimed a patch of grass, and went in search of pricey, greasy stadium food. I had mistakenly assumed that especially because the event was free, we wouldn't be able to bring in our own snacks, but I was proven wrong by many people around us (we'll get our act together next year). We made the best of it with our $8 glasses of wine and our shared tray of chicken tenders and fries.

Despite the expensive food, and the chill in the air by the end, it was a great distraction from my road trip anxiety. There's something distinctly relaxing about stretching your legs out on the grass, laying down on a blanket, and watching an opera in such a relaxed environment.

ps-speaking of food, I haven't done hardly any cooking or baking in the LKTC lately, but I do have some ice cream disasters to detail. Stay tuned for those, and what I'm sure will be many little updates from the road as Allie and I make our way towards VEGAS in the coming week!