Go get your weekends on. . .

February 13, 2010


This is one of those weekends where you come out of it at the end realizing that it was actually busier than the five days you spent at work.

I was out of the house by 10.15 am yesterday and didn't walk through my front door again until almost 9.00 pm.

The day was wonderful.

Don't misinterpret my analysis.

I started at the nursing home to visit Mum.

Knowing I wasn't going to be there for my usual supper time visit in no way means I won't be there at all.

I went for lunch.

I had also brought a copy of my book for my mother.

Giving it to her was one of those moments that you wish you could bottle and cherish forever.

She looked at it, and looked at it, and looked at it and then looked at me and said, with incredulity in her voice,

"This is your book."

I can imagine, at first glance, she was wondering why I had given her a book called "A Sociological Study of Scholarly Writing and Publishing" when I usually bring her crime novels.

She was just thrilled.

Simple as that.

It was wonderful.

She read the dedication and acknowledgements, perused a few pages.

And just smiled.

That is the best reward for the work I put into getting this book organized.

My parents, my kids, my husband all provided so much support and love, sacrificed so much, that, in all honesty, they all deserved their own PhDs.

A book seems like a very small thank you.

Now Stephen, he is getting his own PhD.

If I have to sit beside him while he writes every. frickin'. word.






After the nursing home it was the opera.

As predicted, it was wonderful.

An opera about Nixon's visit to China and his meetings with Chairman Mao.

Henry Kissinger.

Pat Nixon.

Mrs. Mao.

No doubt it was different than the more traditional operas I've seen, but I really liked it.

We're going again in two weeks.

In fact, we're experiencing a dilemma regarding which, of the six remaining operas of the season, we want to see.

All of them, but $50.00 for both of us to attend is a bit pricey for us right now.

So we've decided to see three more.

Which ones remain to be seen.






Dinner at McGinnis' Landing afterwards.

When we go out for dinner, the most elaborate we usually get is Swiss Chalet.

So this was a treat.

We both had the SFL approved meal of Cajun steak with either brown rice and broccoli or salad.

I had the rice and broccoli, Stephen the salad.

My steak: rare. I wanted blue, but I didn't think Stephen would be able to watch me eat it.

Stephen's steak: well done.

What a horrible thing to do to a beautiful steak.

Turning it into shoe leather.

I even had a glass of wine.

And then I did something I shouldn't have done.

A SFL-Neil prediction was proven to be true.

Apparently, once you change your eating habits, it's hard to revert back to your previous eating habits, even if your reversion is brief.

It was a peanut butter cheesecake.

Absolutely glorious on the way down.

But it's visit didn't sit well.

I never thought I would come rue eating peanut butter cheesecake.

I did though.

I rued alot.






The best part of yesterday, however, was walking into the theater and seeing Emily adorned with the new Empire Theater head wear.

In addition to wearing the standard baseball-like hat bearing the Empire Theater logo, each and every theater employee was wearing a gnome hat, in celebration of the release of Gnomeo and Juliet. 

Had it not been for the movie title at the bottom of the hat, these hats could have been misconstrued by dunce hats.

Red and blue dunce like caps dotted the Empire Theater landscape.

When the usher came in during the opera to do a theater check, all you could see across the bottom of the screen was a cone head.

Making me laugh during times of the opera that weren't necessarily funny.

But Em was the best.

In all her 17 years, I have never, ever seen her look so absolutely miserable.

And keep in mind she has Mer as a sister, so misery is as common as breathing.

I'm working on getting a picture.

But that may be as difficult as getting a picture of the Loch Ness monster.






Today is just as busy.

Quaker meeting.

Then right after meeting, no pot luck even, we're heading out to my brothers.

In the Fiesta.

Could be an interesting drive.

But easier than driving The Behemoth, which, for all its bells and whistles had the worst shocks of any vehicle I've ever been in.

And I've been in some doozies.

After Jerry's, back home and then off to the nursing home for my Sunday evening Antiques Roadshow/Creatures visit.

Weekends.

Go figure.


Title Lyric: Weekends by Down with Webster