Month: May 2007

Memorial Day Weekend – Lazy Day

So Friday & Saturday were actually pretty busy for me for a Memorial Day Weekend. But I made up for it today.

elsaf and I were once again the first ones up. And we booted judiang out of bed so that Elsa could leave at a decent hour. She made us pancakes again (yay!) and there were even some sugared sliced strawberries left over. But after breakfast, Elsa had to pack up her things and head north. Awwww. And she didn’t even get to see my hardwood floors or new bookshelves. I guess there’s always next year!

Judi and I geeked for a bit, then I finally showered & dressed and headed out to start the fire for lunch. Without our resident gourmet chef, we resorted to burned hot dogs and nuked baked beans. (There was only a jumbo can of baked beans, but Judi and I managed to eat them all!) ‘Twas a good lunch.

Afterwards, I read some of Special Topics in Calamity Physics and slept. Judi read & slept as well. It was a very laid back afternoon.

As it neared suppertime, I checked the weather radar and was afraid a storm might pop through later, so I’d best start supper. I made a wonderful fire and grilled us some steaks (with a sample rub that I’d gotten last year at Taste of Chicago) and veggies/fruit (onions, portabello mushrooms, and pineapple). Along with Elsa’s potato & bean salads, we had a wonderful supper.

The storm never came, so Judi and I sat outside awhile chatting and I made a couple of s’mores. But eventually the fire burned out and the mosquitoes realized it wasn’t going to rain after all and came out to have supper on us. So we went inside and geeked for awhile.

We finished the evening playing Rumikub and watching videos on Judi’s laptop. Judi was hoping to distract me with the videos (which finished off with a repeat of last night’s Doctor Who) so that I’d lose, but I won the first two matches with Judi finally winning the third. (The first match took almost an hour to complete – sheesh!)

Tomorrow will start out laid back, but around 2:30 we shall leave the comfort of the Lake and work our way to the Columbus airport (with a veering off to Fairborn for some shopping). And then, alas, our short vacation will be over. It’s been a lovely weekend and once again, I thank the girls for making it so!

Memorial Day 2007 day 2

Ah, what fun it is to have elsaf and judiang over for Memorial Day weekend. We got to bed late last night (I, for one, was wired on caffeine), but Elsa and I still managed to be up before 9am. Judi, meanwhile, was enjoying the Lake Effect and sleeping soundly.

So Elsa and I nipped off to Wagners for groceries. And an hour later, returned with Judi oblivious to our departure. In fact, I woke her up & she thought I was saying we were *going* to the grocery. I think she was impressed with how quickly we returned. Heh heh.

Elsa made some Hungry Jack pancakes and sugared up some sliced strawberries, so we had a wonderful breakfast. Then Judi snoozed while Elsa & I geeked. And suddenly, it was almost 1pm! I started a fire and then grilled hot dogs for the Judester and me, and grilled a chicken booby for Elsa. Elsa had also brought some potato salad and some bean salad, so we had that with our lunch. Everything was tasty.

I then drove down to pick up Papa so we could go to my cousin’s graduation party. We found the park just fine, but missed the cabin where the party was being held. A second drive through the park and we saw my cousin Deanna’s (very distinctive) car. Chris was there, ready to accept hugs and gifts. (He probably preferred the gifts, heh. Especially the flat ones that were green & papery.) It turns out his first cousin (no relation to me) is also graduating, so they were doing the party for both of them. We had cake & ice cream and chatting with Becky & Deanna. And then we returned home.

Once I’d picked up some things from home which I’d either forgotten or didn’t realize I needed, I returned to the girls at the Lake. After we vegged for a bit, dad showed up (I’d invited him to supper) and shortly after that, I started the fire for supper. First we grilled some veggies and pineapple. Then we grilled the pork tenderloin that Elsa had been marinating for a week. (I’ll let her tell the story if she’s interested in doing so.) She sliced the pork & then added a lime/orange/garlic sauce to the slices. Dinner was very tasty and we supplemented the meal with potato salad and bean salad. Well done Elsa! We topped the meal off with more of her pineapple upside-down cake (with me & Judi augmenting ours with ice cream).

Papa headed home and Judi and I cleaned the kitchen (with Judi doing the brunt of the work – you go gurl!) We then settled down to watch the new Doctor Who episode (Human Nature) and discovered that the sound was funky on the copy we, um, obtained. Still, despite the sound, we watched the ep and all enjoyed it. Here’s hoping the second ep is as good (or even better) than the first.

Once we watch Confidential tonight, we’ll probably head for bed. Poor Elsa has to head home tomorrow. Wah! But at least Judi and I have another full day at the Lake.

Memorial Day Weekend 2007

Well, it wasn’t as planned in advance as some of our other weekends at the Lake, and I completely forgot about setting up a card playing night for judiang (but with Granny passed on & mom off being a Bad Gurl with Amy & Rachel, that only leaves 3 card players), but the Weekend at the Lake is here. Yay!

I didn’t wind up getting on the road to the Lake on time as I’d hoped, and when I was 15 minutes away, I got a call from Judi telling me they were “kicking me off.” (At least, I think that’s what she said.) Apparently, there were bugs eating at them and elsaf had to use the ladies. They headed off to the local Grocery while I finished my trek to the Lake.

Eventually, we were all in the cottage and ready for a nice relaxing evening by the fire. But the rain had another idea. A real frog strangler of a storm came through and we began to discuss the evening plans. Well, Elsa and I discussed the plans while Judi got all confused thinking each idea was the finalized plan.

The finalized plan? Go out to eat at El Sombrero and then go see Pirates of the Caribbean 3. I was going to order online tix when Judi decided maybe she didn’t want to see it tonight. So then I stopped ordering. Then she decided maybe we should see it tonight. So we hopped in the car and then I remembered – oh yeah, pre-ordering tix. The girls sat in the car while I bought the tickets online. (Let’s hear it for online movie tickets!)

As we headed south down I-75, we found out that it hadn’t been raining in Miami County. And when we got to the new El Sombrero location, we found out they didn’t have as much seating as they once had. After waiting 15 minutes with no one looking like they were planning on vacating their tables anytime soon, we decided to hop down the strip mall to W.G. Grinders for sandwiches. (Yes, Amy, there is now a W.G. Grinders in Piqua!) Ah, a good change in plans.

W.G. Grinders, a regional chain, serves hot sandwiches and deli sides. I ordered the “white pizza” which is an open sandwich with artichoke hearts, Italian dressing, and several types of cheese melted on top. I also got the broccoli salad as a side, and it was very nice. Judi got ham&turkey, Elsa got a turkey Reuben (AKA a Rachel). Supper was good, fast, and required no tip. We got to the theater at 8pm, half an hour before the flick.

The movie, as I suspected, was sold out, so pre-ordering = good idea. (Let’s hear it again for online movie tickets!) Judi got in line to order popcorn & pop, and I suggested she up the size on the popcorn. (If someone in my party gets popcorn for a movie, I wind up eating some too.) I ordered a Coke for myself, so I know I won’t be sleeping tonight!

We found seats on the right side of the theater (it was already mostly full) and still had 20 minutes to go before the previews. The commercials they showed were very quiet and the movie wasn’t that much louder IMO. Still I heard most of the dialog. Judi wasn’t so lucky, but in the car afterward, we got her sorted out.

So what did I think? Fun movie! Wonderfully convoluted plot that actually stands up to scrutiny afterward. And stick around for after the credits if you can. 🙂

When we got back to the cabin, we all hopped on our laptops and then Elsa cut slices of her pineapple upside down cake. Yum! I made Judi a margarita (the first I’ve ever made and I guess it wasn’t that good), too. (Blech, margarita AND pineapple upside down cake!) So now we’re vegging out for the remainder of the evening. Yay for vacation!

Finished Bookshelves

I promised pictures of my finished bookshelves, and here they are. I’m still in the process of putting books on the shelves (though my Doctor Who books are on their shelves now), and will post the final photos when I get that done. Yay for books! Yay for kitties who love people who love books!



Books in Waiting
Books in Waiting

My books, patiently waiting for my bookshelves to be built.
Mapped Out Shelves 1
Mapped Out Shelves 1

Blue masking tape helped me to map out where I wanted my shelves. This set actually was flipped when built – the X marked where I wanted to put the sound system.

Completed Shelves 1
Completed Shelves 1

The first set of shelves is done!
Completed Shelves 2
Completed Shelves 2

And the second set – woohoo!
Completed Shelves 3
Completed Shelves 3

Two more sets are done…
Completed Shelves 4
Completed Shelves 4

And the final set of shelves – with room for kitty potty & all…
Linus & Lucy Explore the New Shelves
Linus & Lucy Explore the New Shelves

As soon as the dust settled, Linus (top) and Lucy (bottom) had to check out their new bookshelves.


Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy (nearly belated) Mother’s Day to all you mom’s (or wannabes) on my flist! I got my mom a t-shirt which says “Ask me about my grandcats” and has a couple of paw prints on it. I also got her a gift certificate to a wine store in Troy. We also (her, dad and I) went to see a few homes in Troy just for grins (the last day of a Home Builder’s Association home show). Tomorrow, I hope to post some pictures of my new Floor to Ceiling bookshelves built by my dad (with help from me & mom). Yay!

In other news, Happy Birthday felicityk!

JSoR – the Art & Steve Show

Tonight the folks and I are, once again, at the Hilton in Fort Wayne. And once again, we are here for a Jesus Seminar on the Road. The two Scholars who are lecturing during this JSoR are Art Dewey and Steve Patterson, neither of whom I’d met before tonight. They used tonight’s session to introduce the audience to the Jesus Seminar and associated seminars. Although most of the information I’d heard before, the evening was informative and, more importantly, entertaining.

The hotel is just a few blocks from the UCC church where the JSoR is being held, so we decided to walk. The last time we stayed at the Hilton, it was November, cold, and windy. This time it’s May, warm, and breezy. So we had a pleasant walk to King Gyros for (funnily enough) gyros and fries (and I had Pepsi for beverage – 2 glasses full! Guess I won’t be sleeping tonight!) Good and messy, just the way I like my gyros!

We then walked to the church, which is near Trinity Lutheran Church (and English Lutheran at that, whatever that means). And turns out is home to the secondary parking lot of the Lutheran Church. I wonder if that means more UCC folk walk or if the congregation of the Lutheran Church is just so much bigger.

Anyhoo, we had half an hour to kill before the evening session started, so we wandered around the church some and one of the volunteers led mom and I into the “Pretty Room” which is a nice room in the church for meditation, reading, counseling, whatever. It was a nice place to wait for a JSoR to begin as well.

I bought a book from Polebridge Press (the Jesus Seminar’s publishing company) called Profiles of Jesus. It’s a look at 14 different scholars views of who Jesus might have been. Sounds like an interesting read.

Anyhoo, after the session, we walked back to the hotel (another very pleasant walk) and met the two Fellows in the bar. Neither of them had supper, so they ate (and Steve let me have his fries) and we all drank and had a very fun evening chatting about odds & ends. I like dad’s little Internet friends!

Tomorrow we have 4 one-hour workshops with the two Fellows, so we’ll have to get up at a decent hour. Ah well, should be worth it. And I hope the kitties are having a fun evening tonight!

Cinco De Free Comic Book Day!

The first Saturday in May is, apparently, Free Comic Book Day. And today is also Cinco de Mayo. So let the celebrations ensue!

I had quite a few things on my running list o’ stuff, so planned my route in advance. (I hate to drive somewhere for one thing, so I keep a list going of what I need/want and when it gets full or I know I really need to get out of the house, I grab the running list and hit everything that needs hitting.)

  1. Post Office: a Saturday tradition. A Monday through Friday tradition, now that I mention it…

  2. AAA: I needed some passport photos and my local post office (which doesn’t do ’em) recommended AAA or the Troy Post Office. I figured I’d get a deal at AAA – and they were only $8. The photos do focus on my chins rather well, however…

  3. Bookery Fantasy: Yay for Free Comic Book Day. They gave us each a small Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer poster as we entered the store. Inside, there was a line of folks waiting for their free books & stuff. I stood in line and got a sack full of free comics, 4 of which we picked out ourselves. Wound up with a total of 15 free comics and 1 Batman Hero Clix figurine. Cool. Got my DWM and Astonishing X-Men and headed on to the next place on my list.

  4. Jeet India: Indian Fud! ’nuff said.

  5. Hot Fuzz: I’ve been a fan of Simon Pegg since the TV series Spaced was on, so of course I saw Shaun of the Dead and really enjoyed it (and I don’t go for zombie flicks normally). So I had to see Hot Fuzz. I’d’ve gone out the first weekend it was out, but the weather was so nice, I couldn’t sit in a film all that time. But today was nice and rainy, a great day for shopping & a movie. And the movie? Most entertaining. A wonderful blend of humor and cartoon violence. But Bill Bailey with short hair is a crime and let’s hope that never happens again!

  6. Andy’s Garden: The cheerleaders were selling discounted flats from Andy’s Garden again this year, so I bought two certificates from them. On the way back from the Fairborn area, I stopped at Andy’s to pick up two flats of Vinca. Last year I had picked up two flats of assorted annuals and discovered that the one type which survived my benign neglect were the Vinca. Here’s hoping they can survive another year with me!

  7. Other Shopping: Finished my excursion at a few shops in Troy to finish up my running list. One thing I decided to get was a George Foreman personal grill. Earlier this week I was frying a chicken boobie and was getting oil spattered everywhere. I got to thinking, a personal grill should help prevent lots of spattering and assist in cooking my ChickNSteaks and Ranch Steaks from Market Day. Tonight won’t be the night to try it out, however – I’m still stuffed from lunch.

My timing worked out just fine today. My main concern was getting to the movie in time, which I did. There were 15 minutes worth of previews, of which I was interested in one movie. (Another Simon Pegg movie, actually.)

So, today has been a good day. 🙂