Further Pleasantness

Friday, she was a nutty day. Big meetings at OldClient, then hustling across town to a full day of vendor demos for NewClient, complete with recap documentation sent out by 5pm. Grabbed some Thai at King and I, and met Pamela at home, where Uncle Ant was waiting. Yes, that means another Scotch Tasting was on offer. But Ant has become more than an evening pal - he loves Bella and Isaac and plays with them (while also making good conversation with us) for over an hour before we get to business... So the whole family actually looks forward to our Scotch nights.

The tasting was narrower this time (and Nick/Chicken was still in Seattle) - vertical tasting of 3 years of Highland Park, and a lateral tasting of two Dalwhinnies - one double matured. It was a highland Scotland party. but then we did a "pretasting" of a dram that will be formally tasted in 2 weeks when Nick rejoins us: A Laphroaig Quarter Cask. And shock and surprise, the Lap showed amazing character and overshadowed our Highland party.

The movie was X2, which still brought a tear to my eye... though even MORE so when I consider how badly they had screwed up X3 - such DRECK that movie.

In the night, I had more of those crazy hallucinations where I think Isaac has been left in bed with us and I need to get him out or we might roll over him accidentally (I'm very afraid of the "Family Bed" concept, I guess). And of course it was Pamela who woke me up demanding to know why I was trying to lift her knee out of bed (I had a pretty good grip and was pulling hard). An hour later, the dream returned, but in a strange moment of lucidity, I put aside the possible imminent danger of Isaac rolling out of bed, and crept into his room to see if he was really THERE. He was, and Pamela's body parts were safe again.

An early morning - Isaac woke at 6:15, Bella at 6:30. Bella played in the AM with Casey, then we all ran off to the Arboretum - the "Big Room". We were there for 4 hours, going through hedge mazes, looking at art, eating, and generally loving the world. It's amazing to watch Bella there: She was all rolleyes and bored in the car, until she figured out where we were going - then she perked up "I LOVE THIS PLACE!"

And she is truly at peace in the Arboretum - she meanders, looking at plants, at sculpture, doing activities - she has such a peaceful look on her face, true contentment. I had a flash of her as a botanist or some such thing in the future. Isaac, on the other hand, was experimenting to see just HOW MANY TIMES we would discourage him from eating bark chips: After a certain point, you just need to let him have a taste... he figured it out more or less.

That's that latest - Isaac is asleep, Bella is not far from bedtime... not sure what the night brings us, but I'm hoping that Father's Day brings me a nice crossword, a sudoku, a little sleeping in, and a cuddle or two from the family.