Of Harry Potter, Anniversary Parties, and Chocolate-Covered Cherries (and so much more....)
Before embarking upon the weekend recap, here's a meme that I gakked from juno_magic:
Describe me in one word - just one.
Comment to me, then post this entry to your Live Journal and see how many strange things people think about you.
What can I say? I find this one intriguing!
And now for the weekend....
I saw this weekend coming a month away and knew that it would be crazy-busy. It did not disappoint.
Bobby and I kicked things off on Friday with an old-fashioned dinner-and-a-movie date. These always remind me of our days as poor students when this was all we mostly did because it was all we could afford. Then, it was a big treat to share an appetizer at the Red Brick Station because it might bump the bill over $30. We had dinner at The Crab Shanty, though, where short of ordering nothing but side orders, I don't think it's possible to have dinner for under $30. Or $50. The food there is excellent, though, and it's more than worth it.
(What does a vegetarian eat at a place called "The Crab Shanty," you ask? Well, I get the shrimp scampi and give the shrimp to Bobby, despite the temptation that they present. Bobby always tells me that he won't tell anyone if I eat them. I say that they might make me sick. Bobby expresses doubt that just one would make me sick. I say that my ethics won't allow it, sick or not. That is the point where he gives up because ten years have taught him that this is not a can of worms that is opened lightly.)
And we saw the new Harry Potter movie. tarion_anarore and allie_meril already did wonderful movie reviews and so I am going to forgo any excessive detail at the moment; suffice to say that we both loved it. It is my favorite so far, without a doubt.
Saturday was the crux of the busy weekend. First on our schedule was my father-in-law's induction into the Dundalk Athletic Hall of Fame for soccer. Mostly laundry lists of people's accomplishments and bland speeches, but father-in-law spoke very well for his acceptance. (He was the goalie for the University of Baltimore the year they won the NCAA Championship in soccer. Division Two, I think, but still impressive.) They served snacks and punch afterward, so Bobby and I stayed for a little while, then it was off to the next event.
My aunt Debbie and uncle Brian's surprise 30th anniversary party was that night. My cousin Trish rented one of the nicer halls in their area and rented a limo to bring them there under the pretense of having an anniversary dinner. It was a formal affair, so Felak got to put on a pretty dress and makeup and was actually required to comb her hair. We ended up at a table with aunt Lois and uncle Jim and my cousin Jenny and her husband Steve...a rockin' combination to begin with. Dad dragged me straightaway up to the snack table, so it was more fruit and cheese on crackers. Two false alarms were issued before my aunt and uncle finally did arrive, so we all hauled ourselves to our feet a total of three times, got quiet (well, all except our rockin' table), and jumped every time the door would open.
Finally, around seven o'clock--an hour after our arrival--they got there. As it turned out, the limo driver got lost. There is both a Long Green Pike and Long Green Road in the area. The limo driver had them all up and down Long Green Pike--which is a very long road--when the hall is on Long Green Road. (Is this commonplace, for limo drivers to get lost? I remember at our high school Senior Ball, our limo driver had no clue how to get to Towson University for the After-Ball Party.)
When they opened the door and we all yelled, "Surprise!" aunt Debbie started crying, of course.
Now that I'm older and my parents and relatives no longer feel the need to behave and be proper and parental, they are a lot of fun to be around. My uncle Jim and dad are the best of friends, and they manage to twist everything to be dirty. Uncle Jim kept trying to pass off foil-wrapped butter pats as chocolate, and dad said, "Remember what we use the butter for, Jim?" Poor cousin Jenny nearly died of laughter. She's not used to them, apparently.
(On Friday, I called dad to ask what I should get my aunt and uncle in the way of a gift. He told me to hold on for a second because he was being nailed by uncle Jim. Meaning that uncle Jim was helping him to nail on a new doorframe or something like that. If y'all ever stop to wonder, "Why's Dawn Felagund so weird?" you need look no further than dad.)
Bobby, though, had to leave the party early as his hockey league decided to change the time of his game last-minute from 10:30 to 8:30. *seethes* As though we all sit around and keep our schedules entirely free in case they decide to change the game time less than a week before the game. So before the good music even kicked up for dancing, Bobby had to leave.
Aunt Debbie and uncle Brian had an honorary first dance together right after Bobby left. Felak was settling in with the expectation of sitting out all the slow songs for the rest of the night when dad grabbed hold of my arm and said, "C'mon, Dawn, let's dance."
Pardon me while I fall over.
Dad is not a dancing type. I've danced with dad once before and that was at my cousin Barbie's wedding (incidentally, at the same hall) during the father-daughter dance. Because my reception was held in a restaurant, there were no dances. (Rats. This is the only regrettable thing about my reception, as Felak loves to dance.) When mom--who was outside smoking during said dance--came back, she was quite shocked to hear that dad and I had danced on dad's invitation. "He won't even dance with me when I ask," she said. Actually, I don't think she asks. The next slow song, she got this beseeching look and said nothing. I nudged dad and said, "Your wife wants to dance with you," and he obliged. And dragged me along then too, bragging to uncle Jim, "Look, I've got two!" So I got to dance two slow dances, which is two more than I expected.
And lots of fast dances. Mom wouldn't go up with me, but aunt Lois obliged. Aunt Lois is wild and crazy. When they played "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, she said, "Pity we don't have white gloves," and I said, "I've got black gloves," and so--dorks that we are--we danced with one glove apiece.
Eventually, we coaxed cousins Jenny and Barbie up there too, and then things really started to heat up. Jenny is seriously beautiful enough to be a supermodel (and built like one too!) and she's formally trained in dance, but she took a lot of cajoling. But once she cut loose...Felak was no longer center stage.
I was a bit surprised that nearly everyone was wearing black. I felt like I missed a memo. I wore red. Anyone surprised? And I was glad I wore red!
Dad was convinced that we were going to leave early, but when eleven o'clock rolled around, we were some of the last ones out the door. It was a wonderfully fun evening. I wish that Bobby could have been there, but at least I wasn't bored. Far from it.
Then: home to my parents' house, where we were staying the night, and collapse.
The next morning, I had skating lessons. Skating lessons are increasing in difficulty. Yesterday, we did all varieties of camel spins. A camel spin--or nearly any spin--can be done on either foot, on either the inside or outside edges, rolling either forward or backward. The main three that we do, though, are inner-back, outer-back, and outer-forward. Miss Jackie, my teacher, decided that it'd be cool to do a combination of all three. I was like, "Yeah right." (I am okay on the inner-back but the other two I did not attempt much before yesterday.) But I did it! Sort of.... If you count a half- to one revolution as a spin. Miss Jackie was pleased. She did the skating teacher's equivalent of a SQUEE.
Then, jumps, we have begun one-and-a-half revolution jumps, namely bocalls and axles. (Hope I spelled the first one right! Any skaters out there?) Bocalls are meh. Axles, though, I like. Not that I land them properly, but there are three steps to learning a proper axle, and I am very solid on step one, after just one week. They feel really cool, like real jumps. I know this sounds weird, but most of the jumps don't feel very impressive to me. It's like, eh...mapes...split. Eh.
We met up with Harry Potter and my sister for lunch at Q'Doba. (Does anyone else have a Q'Doba in their area? Bobby is thoroughly addicted to it.) We had to go Sunday since I don't have club skating on Wednesday, and Bobby had to have his fix.
Then home, at last, and candy time! Chocolate-covered cherries were on the agenda yesterday, a.k.a. Teh Pain-in-the-Ass Candy. (They also, incidentally, look like chocolate nipples, to me anyway.) The molds have to be thickly coated with chocolate and refrigerated. Molds must then be checked for holes and thin places lest the cordial leak out and make a mess. Molds have to be fixed and refrigerated again (because there's always a thin spot). Cordial fondant has to be made. Cherries and fondant have to be place in the molds, covered with chocolate, and refrigerated again. Coverings have to be checked for holes and repaired lest the cordial leak out. After each repair, they must be refigerated for another ten minutes.
So I ended up with a batch of twenty-four cherries and got two trays of mints done in between waiting. The good thing is that I don't think any of the cherries will leak. They better not, as I checked the first coating three times and the covering three times as well. But at least one will end up leaking; they always do.
During this, the football game was on, and:
WTF!! The Ravens actually won! Against the Steelers!
The Steelers are our number one rival and much better than we are. In our first match up, they beat us by one point in a late field goal. This time, we beat them with a field goal in overtime.
I'm happy but not as much as I feel I should be. Prior to the game, whilst driving between parents' house and skating and Q'Doba and home, we heard some interviews on the radio, and everyone was saying they had a chance because Rothlisberger (the Steelers' QB) was out. Okay, I don't take much pride in beating a team missing a key player.
Although, in our defense, we are missing both Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, who are two of our key defensive players. (And anyone who knows football knows that the Ravens are--and always have been--a defensive team.)
So I guess I can't declare the Ravens Teh Suck anymore. They are (temporarily, at least) advanced to Teh Mylde Suck, pending return to Teh Suck or even Teh Uber Suck, depending on how the season plays out.
Oh! And guess who's back in first in the fantasy football league??
Woo! Mandos Ravens! *does happy dance*
And I'm not sure how. I lost two of my best players in Terrell Owens (who, for the record, is an asshole) and Priest Holmes last week. But, as of last night, I had 140 points for the week (the next in line was, I believe, 104), which gave me more than enough to overtake my friend Jeff, who was only ten points ahead of me last week.
Last time I enjoyed a comfortable lead, father-in-law (who's in our league) came over and said, "Do you believe the guy who's in first place?"
"The guy in first place?" I asked. "Who? The Mandos Ravens?"
"Yeah. That guy."
*laughs* "I am that guy!"
Well, "that guy" is back in first place. Maybe I'll get first and my sister will get second, and we can scoff at all the men.
Would you believe that, after candy-making, I did nothing? Well, I answered my LJ comments and emails from the weekend, took a nap, and did some writing. I had all intentions of doing a couple batches of caramels, then said, "Screw it. I'm tired."
I am really looking forward to three days with absolutely nowhere to be and nothing to do. I'm not sure what I'll do with myself.
(Actually, yes I am: Write. Make candy. Do laundry. Clean apartment. It never ends!)
Describe me in one word - just one.
Comment to me, then post this entry to your Live Journal and see how many strange things people think about you.
What can I say? I find this one intriguing!
And now for the weekend....
I saw this weekend coming a month away and knew that it would be crazy-busy. It did not disappoint.
Bobby and I kicked things off on Friday with an old-fashioned dinner-and-a-movie date. These always remind me of our days as poor students when this was all we mostly did because it was all we could afford. Then, it was a big treat to share an appetizer at the Red Brick Station because it might bump the bill over $30. We had dinner at The Crab Shanty, though, where short of ordering nothing but side orders, I don't think it's possible to have dinner for under $30. Or $50. The food there is excellent, though, and it's more than worth it.
(What does a vegetarian eat at a place called "The Crab Shanty," you ask? Well, I get the shrimp scampi and give the shrimp to Bobby, despite the temptation that they present. Bobby always tells me that he won't tell anyone if I eat them. I say that they might make me sick. Bobby expresses doubt that just one would make me sick. I say that my ethics won't allow it, sick or not. That is the point where he gives up because ten years have taught him that this is not a can of worms that is opened lightly.)
And we saw the new Harry Potter movie. tarion_anarore and allie_meril already did wonderful movie reviews and so I am going to forgo any excessive detail at the moment; suffice to say that we both loved it. It is my favorite so far, without a doubt.
Saturday was the crux of the busy weekend. First on our schedule was my father-in-law's induction into the Dundalk Athletic Hall of Fame for soccer. Mostly laundry lists of people's accomplishments and bland speeches, but father-in-law spoke very well for his acceptance. (He was the goalie for the University of Baltimore the year they won the NCAA Championship in soccer. Division Two, I think, but still impressive.) They served snacks and punch afterward, so Bobby and I stayed for a little while, then it was off to the next event.
My aunt Debbie and uncle Brian's surprise 30th anniversary party was that night. My cousin Trish rented one of the nicer halls in their area and rented a limo to bring them there under the pretense of having an anniversary dinner. It was a formal affair, so Felak got to put on a pretty dress and makeup and was actually required to comb her hair. We ended up at a table with aunt Lois and uncle Jim and my cousin Jenny and her husband Steve...a rockin' combination to begin with. Dad dragged me straightaway up to the snack table, so it was more fruit and cheese on crackers. Two false alarms were issued before my aunt and uncle finally did arrive, so we all hauled ourselves to our feet a total of three times, got quiet (well, all except our rockin' table), and jumped every time the door would open.
Finally, around seven o'clock--an hour after our arrival--they got there. As it turned out, the limo driver got lost. There is both a Long Green Pike and Long Green Road in the area. The limo driver had them all up and down Long Green Pike--which is a very long road--when the hall is on Long Green Road. (Is this commonplace, for limo drivers to get lost? I remember at our high school Senior Ball, our limo driver had no clue how to get to Towson University for the After-Ball Party.)
When they opened the door and we all yelled, "Surprise!" aunt Debbie started crying, of course.
Now that I'm older and my parents and relatives no longer feel the need to behave and be proper and parental, they are a lot of fun to be around. My uncle Jim and dad are the best of friends, and they manage to twist everything to be dirty. Uncle Jim kept trying to pass off foil-wrapped butter pats as chocolate, and dad said, "Remember what we use the butter for, Jim?" Poor cousin Jenny nearly died of laughter. She's not used to them, apparently.
(On Friday, I called dad to ask what I should get my aunt and uncle in the way of a gift. He told me to hold on for a second because he was being nailed by uncle Jim. Meaning that uncle Jim was helping him to nail on a new doorframe or something like that. If y'all ever stop to wonder, "Why's Dawn Felagund so weird?" you need look no further than dad.)
Bobby, though, had to leave the party early as his hockey league decided to change the time of his game last-minute from 10:30 to 8:30. *seethes* As though we all sit around and keep our schedules entirely free in case they decide to change the game time less than a week before the game. So before the good music even kicked up for dancing, Bobby had to leave.
Aunt Debbie and uncle Brian had an honorary first dance together right after Bobby left. Felak was settling in with the expectation of sitting out all the slow songs for the rest of the night when dad grabbed hold of my arm and said, "C'mon, Dawn, let's dance."
Pardon me while I fall over.
Dad is not a dancing type. I've danced with dad once before and that was at my cousin Barbie's wedding (incidentally, at the same hall) during the father-daughter dance. Because my reception was held in a restaurant, there were no dances. (Rats. This is the only regrettable thing about my reception, as Felak loves to dance.) When mom--who was outside smoking during said dance--came back, she was quite shocked to hear that dad and I had danced on dad's invitation. "He won't even dance with me when I ask," she said. Actually, I don't think she asks. The next slow song, she got this beseeching look and said nothing. I nudged dad and said, "Your wife wants to dance with you," and he obliged. And dragged me along then too, bragging to uncle Jim, "Look, I've got two!" So I got to dance two slow dances, which is two more than I expected.
And lots of fast dances. Mom wouldn't go up with me, but aunt Lois obliged. Aunt Lois is wild and crazy. When they played "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, she said, "Pity we don't have white gloves," and I said, "I've got black gloves," and so--dorks that we are--we danced with one glove apiece.
Eventually, we coaxed cousins Jenny and Barbie up there too, and then things really started to heat up. Jenny is seriously beautiful enough to be a supermodel (and built like one too!) and she's formally trained in dance, but she took a lot of cajoling. But once she cut loose...Felak was no longer center stage.
I was a bit surprised that nearly everyone was wearing black. I felt like I missed a memo. I wore red. Anyone surprised? And I was glad I wore red!
Dad was convinced that we were going to leave early, but when eleven o'clock rolled around, we were some of the last ones out the door. It was a wonderfully fun evening. I wish that Bobby could have been there, but at least I wasn't bored. Far from it.
Then: home to my parents' house, where we were staying the night, and collapse.
The next morning, I had skating lessons. Skating lessons are increasing in difficulty. Yesterday, we did all varieties of camel spins. A camel spin--or nearly any spin--can be done on either foot, on either the inside or outside edges, rolling either forward or backward. The main three that we do, though, are inner-back, outer-back, and outer-forward. Miss Jackie, my teacher, decided that it'd be cool to do a combination of all three. I was like, "Yeah right." (I am okay on the inner-back but the other two I did not attempt much before yesterday.) But I did it! Sort of.... If you count a half- to one revolution as a spin. Miss Jackie was pleased. She did the skating teacher's equivalent of a SQUEE.
Then, jumps, we have begun one-and-a-half revolution jumps, namely bocalls and axles. (Hope I spelled the first one right! Any skaters out there?) Bocalls are meh. Axles, though, I like. Not that I land them properly, but there are three steps to learning a proper axle, and I am very solid on step one, after just one week. They feel really cool, like real jumps. I know this sounds weird, but most of the jumps don't feel very impressive to me. It's like, eh...mapes...split. Eh.
We met up with Harry Potter and my sister for lunch at Q'Doba. (Does anyone else have a Q'Doba in their area? Bobby is thoroughly addicted to it.) We had to go Sunday since I don't have club skating on Wednesday, and Bobby had to have his fix.
Then home, at last, and candy time! Chocolate-covered cherries were on the agenda yesterday, a.k.a. Teh Pain-in-the-Ass Candy. (They also, incidentally, look like chocolate nipples, to me anyway.) The molds have to be thickly coated with chocolate and refrigerated. Molds must then be checked for holes and thin places lest the cordial leak out and make a mess. Molds have to be fixed and refrigerated again (because there's always a thin spot). Cordial fondant has to be made. Cherries and fondant have to be place in the molds, covered with chocolate, and refrigerated again. Coverings have to be checked for holes and repaired lest the cordial leak out. After each repair, they must be refigerated for another ten minutes.
So I ended up with a batch of twenty-four cherries and got two trays of mints done in between waiting. The good thing is that I don't think any of the cherries will leak. They better not, as I checked the first coating three times and the covering three times as well. But at least one will end up leaking; they always do.
During this, the football game was on, and:
WTF!! The Ravens actually won! Against the Steelers!
The Steelers are our number one rival and much better than we are. In our first match up, they beat us by one point in a late field goal. This time, we beat them with a field goal in overtime.
I'm happy but not as much as I feel I should be. Prior to the game, whilst driving between parents' house and skating and Q'Doba and home, we heard some interviews on the radio, and everyone was saying they had a chance because Rothlisberger (the Steelers' QB) was out. Okay, I don't take much pride in beating a team missing a key player.
Although, in our defense, we are missing both Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, who are two of our key defensive players. (And anyone who knows football knows that the Ravens are--and always have been--a defensive team.)
So I guess I can't declare the Ravens Teh Suck anymore. They are (temporarily, at least) advanced to Teh Mylde Suck, pending return to Teh Suck or even Teh Uber Suck, depending on how the season plays out.
Oh! And guess who's back in first in the fantasy football league??
Woo! Mandos Ravens! *does happy dance*
And I'm not sure how. I lost two of my best players in Terrell Owens (who, for the record, is an asshole) and Priest Holmes last week. But, as of last night, I had 140 points for the week (the next in line was, I believe, 104), which gave me more than enough to overtake my friend Jeff, who was only ten points ahead of me last week.
Last time I enjoyed a comfortable lead, father-in-law (who's in our league) came over and said, "Do you believe the guy who's in first place?"
"The guy in first place?" I asked. "Who? The Mandos Ravens?"
"Yeah. That guy."
*laughs* "I am that guy!"
Well, "that guy" is back in first place. Maybe I'll get first and my sister will get second, and we can scoff at all the men.
Would you believe that, after candy-making, I did nothing? Well, I answered my LJ comments and emails from the weekend, took a nap, and did some writing. I had all intentions of doing a couple batches of caramels, then said, "Screw it. I'm tired."
I am really looking forward to three days with absolutely nowhere to be and nothing to do. I'm not sure what I'll do with myself.
(Actually, yes I am: Write. Make candy. Do laundry. Clean apartment. It never ends!)