Monsoon!

It's been a strange morning. It was the worst running morning I've had in a while, weatherwise. At 5:30am it was 80 degrees and over 75% humidity. I could tell my muscles were not getting enough oxygen and breathing was tough. I made it back though and watered our flowers on the balcony just in time for the huge morning thunderstorm to come through. Jake and Dublin barely made it back from their morning walk without getting soaked. I waited out the rain and then left for work. No sense in walking through the monsoon if I don't have to!

Tonight I'm having dinner with my friend M in Clarendon. I'm looking forward to some girl chat time and some yummy food.

As you all well know (or don't) after Monday I am finished with my masters degree work. Thank goodness. I've already started to wrap my brain around some of the cooking and home improvement projects I have planned. Last night I made a really yummy dinner including chicken, whole grain pasta, mini asparagus and red peppers sauteed in grapeseed and olive oil infused with red chili pepper. I topped it off with some crumbled feta and it was fantastic and very colorful. I took photos, but they're still on the camera, because, well, I was full and lazy after dinner. I'll post them this weekend. I also ordered an Aqua Mix grout colorant kit. For whatever reason, despite many scrubbing efforts, the white grout between the white tile in both of our bathrooms is now lovely shades of brown. My guess? The stupid contractors didn't seal it. My plan, to recolor and seal it so that it will be nice a white for a long time. Apparently this stuff works great and I'm hopeful for good results. Our new light fixture and shower curtain(s)* are on their way from Restoration Hardware. All that this will leave is choosing a paint color for the walls. My goal is to finish the bathroom in September as well as recolor the grout in the small bathroom as well. Lofty goals with a half marathon coming up but I think it can be done.

*I ordered the same shower curtain in two color varieties from Restoration Hardware after our visit to the Alexandria store was a nearly epic failure. They are remodeling and had hardly any non-clearance, non-floor item stock to look at including shower curtains. We'll be deciding between 'silver sage' or 'celery' once they arrive.