The weekend, it was wild.

Friday:
The boys came over for another Scotch Night, since Nick was in town. This time we sampled two Glenlivets and three Taliskers. The key learning was about the effect of a "finishing cask" - one of each had a special cask - French Oak for the Glenlivet, something unspecified for the Talisker, and a secret taste of a Glemnorangie with a Madiera Cask revealed that putting that stuff in a different, wood barrel for a good year at the end really imparts a different flavor.

The Glenlivet 18 was a bit of a puzzle to us: A rather stern drink, it demanded a rather rigorous discovery period to get to it's truly happy flavor. In this case it was a splash of water AND at least 5 minutes to sit, and it became a tamed, delicious beast. I think that Rich (the Scientist) was quite proud of having "cracked the code" on that one. For me, the Glenlivet 15 in the oak cask was much more eager to please, so I let it into my heart.

The main movie of the evening was "Renaissance" - a black and white animated french sci-fi movie. So-so noir-ish story, but great visuals, including a beautiful multi-level Paris that retains its character amid the futuristic enhancements. We also watched a movie about Depeche Mode's making of Black Celebration, which was a glorious geek-fest. What was great was that this was an album that had a difficult gestation, and at the end led to a separation between the band and their longtime producer, and we got the real story... right from all of the participants. Very behind the music for the hard geek set.

Oh, Pamela, Bella, and Bam were out having fun at a church Mother-daughter dinner.

Saturday:
Rick, Kari, Bailey, and Ty blew into town late Friday, and Saturday we had 20 people over for Isaac's dedication. It was mostly a yard party, with a 20 minute ceremony in our dining room, with dedications from Kelli, a minister friend of ours (who also sang swing songs of love at our re-wedding 2 years ago), and the 4 godparents: chicken, Kari, MaeMae, and Sherry (who was absent but sent a note to be read). Isaac looked great in the "Reay Heritage" christening gown, and spent the event gnawing on a diamond bracelet.

The evening was grilling with the family, then games into the night.

Over the night, Isaac was a bit hard to settle... not so much crying as just uncomfortable. In the morning we learned why. One tooth broke through his gums, the second is right there about to break through. So he was TEETHING, and as bad as it got for us was a bit of unsettledness and a need for extra cuddles. No wailing, no screams. This kid is AWESOME. We'll see how the molars go, of course... ;)

Sunday:
Despite having been up 3 times with Isaac for extended periods, I treat Mother's day as sacred: Pamela gets to rest, and she gets pampering. She works SO hard every single day that for me to complain on this day just because I'm exhausted seemed a cheap move. So Isaac woke at 6, Bella at 7. Pamela at 9:30. With Bam and the K family in town, I had plenty of coverage, so I ran out and bought bagels: I made bagel/egg sandwiches to rival any store: Fresh made beats reheated egg-pucks any day.

Then it was off to church for Isaac's public dedication: He was wearing a fabulous seersucker "little man" suit, and was very well behaved. He did try to eat the Rose that was offered to him, but otherwise was a perfect gentleman. The rock band was playing fun songs (Come together, Imagine, Love Train), which Isaac loved and danced to. We were well supported - the Ks, my Mom, Sister, Dad, and Karen, Pamela's mom, Uncle Chicken, MaeMae Randy and Jenny, and the whole congregation. Father Ted did a way out sermon about synergy, about how how the higher (and further away) you place your god/gods, the less empowered your society is... it may have freaked out a few of our visitors, but it was a good rant.

In the afternoon, it was lazytime - eating, relaxing. There was even a little napping... but not much. "The Menfolk" were called upon to move a 400 pound stone bench from our yard over to Dad and Karen's: It's a memorial we commissioned to honor Karen's sister Susie who died of an Aneurysm two years ago. When we first made it, Karen wasn't ready to have a memorial... so we kept it. Now she's ready, and we gladly had it moved. And now it's at home in her garden, where it looks beautiful.

Summary:
So it was a VERY busy weekend, and it's nice to have a quiet house (Bam and Pamela are chilling with some telly, the kids are abed.... I'm doing this.) No other big plans are afoot for a while, which is a good thing!