Friday was planned to be busy: Pamela had been working on the Edina Family Center's presence for the Edina HS Homecoming Parade. 40 custom T-Shirts had been made. Huge signs. Hundreds of hand cut-outs. Our day was meticulously scheduled - I was to pick Bella up at 3:40, we'd hustle to the parade start, I'd drop the kids off and race back, park the car at the end of the parade route, run back and march in the parade, then post parade party.
Of course, after 10 days of near drought, Friday was the day the rain decided to visit. All morning, the moms were wondering if they should pull the kids out of the parade, just have a mom-presence in the float... but that decision was pulled, because the whole parade was canceled due to rain basically coming over the horizon sideways at people. Of course right at parade time, there was a brief clearing... and everyone slapped their foreheads... but then the rain was all "naw, just messin with you" and started back up.
But that was an emotional rollercoaster, and the only thing for it was some early birthday celebrating for Pamela with some Maggiano's and some Cheesecake Factory takeout. After packing the kids to bed, it was "decompress time". Naturally I took the opportunity to watch Fringe and Dollhouse, which make life good. Oh, and Friday AM is also when Zinsser got his cone off and was the happiest dog alive.
(BTW - it's Monday night. Heroes is just finishing up, according to the clock. But am I watching? No. They're DEAD TO ME.)
Saturday was a full on sprint day: Started with Isaac swimming (he really is the best in his class), and I ran into the drummer for my old high school band PG13 who threatened/promised to finally bring me a box of our albums (which I haven't had a copy of for at least 15 years) for next week's class.
Then it was a birthday brunch... Isaac and Bella got hippity-hops which they spent the weekend bouncing around on. Later in the day it was off to Bella's Birth Family for her cousin Clayton's birthday (and they also celebrated Isaac's, since he was born just a week before Clayton.) we got home and it was another collapse-in-a-heap evening.
Sunday we had people over for a joint Isaac and Bella birthday party with Cupcakes. Just 90 action packed minutes that felt like 4 hours, but seemed over in 15 minutes in retrospect. I'd like to formally apologize to all the parents in the neighborhood for injecting that much sugar into their kids... they were screaming and running around like maniacs, with frosting smudged on their faces. Spontaneous hog piles, climbing up high on the swingset... it was pure energy in motion. And the weather decided to visit again - high winds, and a drop of at least 20 degrees over the course of the 90 min with a little spitting rain... but that didn't keep the kids from playing.
With everyone gone, Tara showed up and took possession of the kids for the evening so that I could take Pamela out to Oceanaire to celebrate her birthday (which is actually today). It was one of those perfect nights where it wasn't too busy, the pacing was great, and the server was on our wavelength. And the food was as always incredible. It is a true pleasure when the "fine restaurant experience" is actually in full effect.
Oh, and of course there was work to be done as well: One of those fun things where one of my consultants took off on a 2 week tour of Italy, and one week in, the client freaked out that something hadn't been done, and it's up to me to try to get them connected RIGHT NOW. I think it all worked out, but it's still reverberating today.
Then it was up at 4:30 and off to my airplane. I now have an airport buddy: Dana who worked at my old place, but now works at my new place takes the same flight as I do (though we part ways in Philly), so we have a little time before boarding to catch up on the week, which is good since I'm the overall Project Manager of her project! The poor dear is only Gold Elite, not Platinum, so we'll never share breakfast up in First... I giggle nefariously. How odd that stale raisin bran is something I covet on an airplane but nowhere else on earth.
In Philly, it was GO time on one of the project phases: I finally got extract files from two vendors, and spent part of the afternoon loading them up into Access and doing comparisons... while also working with HR and Medical Records to get a temp to help fix all the problems I'll be finding. AND the info I filled my brain with last week has finally slotted into place and I'm busy typing to get all that down onto a less organic storage medium.
When I hit the ground later this week, I'll be Doctor Solo DaddyKins, while Pamela takes a little trip for the weekend... So keep holding onto your hats, it just keeps being busy.
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5 comments:
Go Dog Go! Sorry to have missed the big tree party but you know there was a pretty good reason. Mostly wish the parade could have gone on as scheduled, but no arguing with that much needed rain. It sure sounds like this is your community!
PG13 - oh my. And by the way, drove past 5040 and it is now a WHITE house and looks quite lovely.
Do you go back to work to relax?
Re: PG13 - I hope you have finally got over the indignity of having our drummer's hamster thanked in the credits ABOVE you. That was not my decision, by the way. "Mrs R" did great things for us.
Re: Go dog Go: Yes, I do come to Philly to relax. Yes I do. And years on, that dog party on the second-to-last page of Go Dog Go still looks like the most fun possible in the universe. I still want to go to that party.
Re: PG13 - did I ever know the hamster was acknowledged ahead of me? I do know that one early afternoon cleaning up the Java Jack's venue after the Mad Ripple's party the night before I had a "deja vu all over again" moment: "I am still cleaning up basements in South Minneapolis. This is not progress."
Re: GDG - I still want to go to that dog party too. I am using Eastman's book in a story I am developing about my dad's alzheimer's. First draft made me cry when I read it aloud to myself but it made my group laugh when they heard it (without tears). It's still one of my favorite books of all time.
Oh, it's indelibly burned in my mind: The record arrives, you're looking at it, your finger runs across the acknowledgements, you ask "what is Chigger?", I tell you it was our drummer's hamster.
Your finger keeps running down the list and you get to "Mrs R".
"You thanked the hamster before me."
Mike and I hang our heads in shame.
Well, then I must say I am sorry for causing you shame and it is time to laugh and let it go. Poof!
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