Weekend
That weekend went fast! Was it the lovely, mostly un-November-like weather? Was it the fun things to do? Maybe it will remain a mystery!
Friday night after work I drove down to the D.C./MD border to attend a Mass in honor of all the deacons and deacons' wives in the Archdiocese of Washington who have died in the last year (from last Nov. 1 through Oct. 31 of this year). My mother and brother and I attended, and a man from my parents' parish who just joined the diaconate was there as well - my father was a bit of a mentor for him. It was very nice. It was short and not crowded, just family & vested deacons mainly, plus members of the current class. The archbishop and bishops did the Mass and the archbishop gave a very nice homily. Afterward there was a pretty tasty dinner provided. It gave Jeff and Mom and I a chance to catch up and then we all headed home. It was nearly 8:30 and I was tired. I drove straight home, watched a little TV when I got there and was in bed by 10:30. I was turning off the light, unable to keep my eyes open, by 10:45.
Slept until 9:30! Man, I love it when I don't have to get up for anything in particular on Saturday mornings. I let myself wake up in a slow, natural way and I always feel better for it. Once I was up I got breakfast, watched a little Dirty Jobs, and generally got ready to face the world. First task: shower. Second task: deposit check I received in the amount of my whole security deposit from my old apartment plus interest! SCORE! Third task: Coordinate stuff with msteleute and p_sunshine to meet up at the craft fair where zarobi was showing her stuff. It was such a lovely day that I walked. On my way there, with my LLBean bag and vest, with my iPod touch plugged into my ears, my eerily-coordinated-with-my-vest Converse, and my tall skinny caramel latte, I was suddenly struck to the core what a ridiculous yuppie I've become. But it was a lovely day and I had good tunes and coffee so I quickly drowned THAT out! MsT had a contractor over so P_S and I had a good wander through the craft fair. Actually I had a good solo wander first. That was one well-wandered craft fair. I did start inching into "wanna buy everything!" mode but took a deep breath and just took business cards. Most people are doing business online in some way, either a site they set up themselves, or eBay or Etsy or something similar. zarobi's booth looked awesome, and I got some earrings for my Mom and sister-in-law and a birthday gift for a friend. Eventually MsT and necrocannibal joined us for a last wander, none of us won the raffle, and we all went over to Touche Touchet for their holiday sampler open house. This basically consisted of free samples of rum cake and pumpkin cheesecake. Verdict: Yum! (My own pumpkin cheesecake is actually just as good, I think. But that rum cake! Sweet mercy!) We decided to have a small meal and got savory croissant sandwiches and desserts. I tried a "XXX Triple Chocolate" cookie. OH so good. As if I thought it wouldn't be! After our meal we all went our separate ways.
My ways took me to Target to pick up prescriptions and a few other essentials. Then I drove up to Ellicott City to go to the jeweler who was going to help me with turning Dad's ha'pennies into jewelry. I realize now that I should have taken a picture of them "before." They were all grotty and you could not read most of the text on them, you could barely make out the picture of the Queen. Essentially they'd been in my Dad's little jewelry box (cufflinks, fraternity pin, the odd tie tack and coins from various lands) for nearly 38 years. Anyway, when I got there it was maybe 5:30, and the place closes at 6:00. It was empty, so when I walked in the jeweler wasn't even out. When he came out, he remembered the pennies and the whole story from my rather loquacious last visit. I put down my bag and coat and he got out polish and we took a penny each and got down to cleaning 'em up. Quicker than I thought, they were shining brightly (and I realized I missed my chance at those "before/after" pictures that suddenly seemed like a good idea). Basically, I left one penny to be turned into a simple pendant. I have the other one, to keep as a back-up, or to display in some way, or to keep in reserve in case I have a different idea in the future, etc. After an hour and a quarter, well after the shop closed, and I was on my way. It was a great experience, but I'd stayed so long that I was now running to get things done! Before I'd gotten to the jeweler's P_S had called to invite me over for dinner. How could I refuse? Dinner was at 8:00 but it was now 6:45! I had to return a purse to Kohl's, which fortunately didn't take long. I'd also promised to bring bread, but I still had stuff from Target to take out of the trunk of my car, cat boxes to scoop, etc. All thoughts of seeking fancy bread flew as I scooted home from Kohl's, put stuff away, cleaned up the cat boxes, and zipped over to Food Lion for french bread. Good enough! MsT, NC and I had a delightful dinner with P_S and simple_simon. There was lots of food and some coffee and Rock Band. All in all, I stayed too late!
Because I didn't get home until nearly 12:30 a.m., when I had to be up at 7:30 the next morning. Oops! I got to bed by around 1:00 but I was dragging a bit the next day. I drove to Bowie to meet up with my Mom and drive (in her new RAV-4!) to Mass. We met my brother and sister-in-law there and then we had take-out Grace's Fortune for lunch. Yum! Of course it was really early and none of us ate all that much, but it was still good. After my bro and SIL left, I washed my car. When's the next 70 degree, sunny day that I'd be over there? Maybe not until March or April! Then Mom and I chatted a little and I headed for home by 2:00. It was kind of nice, having the afternoon like that. I did grocery shopping then took the stuff home. There was cleaning to do, but I had all the windows open and it was so delightful, I called MsT and NC and they were up for an early supper. So we ate at like 5:00 at Coal Fire Pizza, sitting at one of the outside tables (again, when's the next time we could do it?), then went to Starbucks, then home. When I got home I cleaned a bunch, including scrubbing the cat boxes out with vinegar. I am still getting a lot of satisfaction out of cleaning my new home; I hope this attitude keeps up! Of course I still have yet to put away my books; now I have more incentive because Mom is coming over to my place for lunch next Sunday.
I won't get started tonight, of course - tonight is book club. I'm not finished the book but I feel comfortable that I've got the gist of it. And whoa hey, now my workday is almost through! Hurrah for quick-moving Mondays!
Friday night after work I drove down to the D.C./MD border to attend a Mass in honor of all the deacons and deacons' wives in the Archdiocese of Washington who have died in the last year (from last Nov. 1 through Oct. 31 of this year). My mother and brother and I attended, and a man from my parents' parish who just joined the diaconate was there as well - my father was a bit of a mentor for him. It was very nice. It was short and not crowded, just family & vested deacons mainly, plus members of the current class. The archbishop and bishops did the Mass and the archbishop gave a very nice homily. Afterward there was a pretty tasty dinner provided. It gave Jeff and Mom and I a chance to catch up and then we all headed home. It was nearly 8:30 and I was tired. I drove straight home, watched a little TV when I got there and was in bed by 10:30. I was turning off the light, unable to keep my eyes open, by 10:45.
Slept until 9:30! Man, I love it when I don't have to get up for anything in particular on Saturday mornings. I let myself wake up in a slow, natural way and I always feel better for it. Once I was up I got breakfast, watched a little Dirty Jobs, and generally got ready to face the world. First task: shower. Second task: deposit check I received in the amount of my whole security deposit from my old apartment plus interest! SCORE! Third task: Coordinate stuff with msteleute and p_sunshine to meet up at the craft fair where zarobi was showing her stuff. It was such a lovely day that I walked. On my way there, with my LLBean bag and vest, with my iPod touch plugged into my ears, my eerily-coordinated-with-my-vest Converse, and my tall skinny caramel latte, I was suddenly struck to the core what a ridiculous yuppie I've become. But it was a lovely day and I had good tunes and coffee so I quickly drowned THAT out! MsT had a contractor over so P_S and I had a good wander through the craft fair. Actually I had a good solo wander first. That was one well-wandered craft fair. I did start inching into "wanna buy everything!" mode but took a deep breath and just took business cards. Most people are doing business online in some way, either a site they set up themselves, or eBay or Etsy or something similar. zarobi's booth looked awesome, and I got some earrings for my Mom and sister-in-law and a birthday gift for a friend. Eventually MsT and necrocannibal joined us for a last wander, none of us won the raffle, and we all went over to Touche Touchet for their holiday sampler open house. This basically consisted of free samples of rum cake and pumpkin cheesecake. Verdict: Yum! (My own pumpkin cheesecake is actually just as good, I think. But that rum cake! Sweet mercy!) We decided to have a small meal and got savory croissant sandwiches and desserts. I tried a "XXX Triple Chocolate" cookie. OH so good. As if I thought it wouldn't be! After our meal we all went our separate ways.
My ways took me to Target to pick up prescriptions and a few other essentials. Then I drove up to Ellicott City to go to the jeweler who was going to help me with turning Dad's ha'pennies into jewelry. I realize now that I should have taken a picture of them "before." They were all grotty and you could not read most of the text on them, you could barely make out the picture of the Queen. Essentially they'd been in my Dad's little jewelry box (cufflinks, fraternity pin, the odd tie tack and coins from various lands) for nearly 38 years. Anyway, when I got there it was maybe 5:30, and the place closes at 6:00. It was empty, so when I walked in the jeweler wasn't even out. When he came out, he remembered the pennies and the whole story from my rather loquacious last visit. I put down my bag and coat and he got out polish and we took a penny each and got down to cleaning 'em up. Quicker than I thought, they were shining brightly (and I realized I missed my chance at those "before/after" pictures that suddenly seemed like a good idea). Basically, I left one penny to be turned into a simple pendant. I have the other one, to keep as a back-up, or to display in some way, or to keep in reserve in case I have a different idea in the future, etc. After an hour and a quarter, well after the shop closed, and I was on my way. It was a great experience, but I'd stayed so long that I was now running to get things done! Before I'd gotten to the jeweler's P_S had called to invite me over for dinner. How could I refuse? Dinner was at 8:00 but it was now 6:45! I had to return a purse to Kohl's, which fortunately didn't take long. I'd also promised to bring bread, but I still had stuff from Target to take out of the trunk of my car, cat boxes to scoop, etc. All thoughts of seeking fancy bread flew as I scooted home from Kohl's, put stuff away, cleaned up the cat boxes, and zipped over to Food Lion for french bread. Good enough! MsT, NC and I had a delightful dinner with P_S and simple_simon. There was lots of food and some coffee and Rock Band. All in all, I stayed too late!
Because I didn't get home until nearly 12:30 a.m., when I had to be up at 7:30 the next morning. Oops! I got to bed by around 1:00 but I was dragging a bit the next day. I drove to Bowie to meet up with my Mom and drive (in her new RAV-4!) to Mass. We met my brother and sister-in-law there and then we had take-out Grace's Fortune for lunch. Yum! Of course it was really early and none of us ate all that much, but it was still good. After my bro and SIL left, I washed my car. When's the next 70 degree, sunny day that I'd be over there? Maybe not until March or April! Then Mom and I chatted a little and I headed for home by 2:00. It was kind of nice, having the afternoon like that. I did grocery shopping then took the stuff home. There was cleaning to do, but I had all the windows open and it was so delightful, I called MsT and NC and they were up for an early supper. So we ate at like 5:00 at Coal Fire Pizza, sitting at one of the outside tables (again, when's the next time we could do it?), then went to Starbucks, then home. When I got home I cleaned a bunch, including scrubbing the cat boxes out with vinegar. I am still getting a lot of satisfaction out of cleaning my new home; I hope this attitude keeps up! Of course I still have yet to put away my books; now I have more incentive because Mom is coming over to my place for lunch next Sunday.
I won't get started tonight, of course - tonight is book club. I'm not finished the book but I feel comfortable that I've got the gist of it. And whoa hey, now my workday is almost through! Hurrah for quick-moving Mondays!