BYOO-TUH-FULL is the word for this past weekend. It was a picture-perfect weekend in terms of weather, activities and enjoyment. Settle in and let me tell you ...
We finally pulled things together about 9 or so and got on the road. S suggested we find a Big Boy and get a Number #1 breakfast. I was hungry myself but wasn't optimistic we would find a Big Boy en route. Amazingly, we did -- off the Novi exit and to the left. We chowed down like truck drivers.
We got back on the road and headed home to the pine trees, now with it quite late. The last half hour of the trip, I was really fighting sleep, a combination of fatigue and all those carbs elevating and then dropping my blood sugar, I'm sure. I had the windows open, the radio cranked up and I was lightly slapping my face just to keep myself awake! Sheesh! Scary drive.
Saturday morning, I slept 'til past ten. I guess I was tired. I showered and headed out to do some errands. I picked up coffee at Horrocks. I also hit their garden center and bought ten little pots of different ornamental grasses -- blue fescue ('Elijah Blue'), some porcupine grass, some grass whose name escapes me now but the variety was 'Karl Forster' and one maiden grass meant to be a specimen in our pied-a-terre backyard. I had fun picking those out! I hit a MacDonalds for one of their new southwest salads (pretty good!) and then headed back to the east side of town.
At Tar-zhay, I bought myself a cute little straw purse on sale ($3.74!), some black trouser socks with bamboo(!) in them and the new Harry Potter book, on sale, for $17-something. I also bought mundane things like toothpaste, a couple of pens and some baby wipes (for us fifty-something babies).
Mid-afternoon, I headed to the hair salon and got my hair cut -- FINALLY! It had been over ten weeks since my last one, and the hair was looking very mop-like. Now, it looks and feels better!
From there, I joined S and we met up with Mark, Lindsey and toddler, Preston, at Reno's outdoor dining area for a late afternoon birthday celebration to mark Mark's 25th birthday. It had been literally months since I had seen them last, so we had a lot of catching up to do. In the five weeks since I started my new job, Mark had lost his. We talked about that, Lindsey's job, as well as all the new and exciting things that Preston is learning or discovered. For a two-and-a-half year old, Preston did amazingly well at the restaurant.
S and I took Preston home with us for the night, while Mark and Lindsey headed off to a party with their friends. Preston and Grandma toddled around the yard, watering the grass, checking out the aluminum fishing boat as well as the kayaks. Preston was very excited and interested in "Grandma's TRUCK!," "Grandma's camper," "Grandma's BOAT!," and "Grandma's kayak." The caps tell you the level of enthusiasm.
Preston finally crashed between 10 and 10:30. After multiple starts and stops, S and I finally got to watch our new copy of "The Big Chill" DVD. Amazingly, that was the first time that S had ever seen the movie in its entirety.
All three of us slept until 9 a.m. Sunday morning. Preston came toddling out of the guest bedroom, looking for the "grandmas" and ready for action. I jumped up and made coffee while S pulled Preston into bed with her for a few minutes of snuggling and then a diaper change. When I checked next, Preston and Grandma were both running around naked, Preston sitting on the potty (and using it!), Grandma pulling on her nylon shorts and a tank top for the day.
We hung out on the deck until Mark and Lindsey showed up. We ate grapes and clementines (I had bought them at Horrocks the day before for Preston -- I didn't know you could get Clementines in summer!), Little Debbie Pecan Pinwheels and some Bob Evans little sausages that Preston insisted on stuffing into his mouth in one bite.
After they left, S and I snoozed on the couch for awhile. It felt like a relaxing, lazy Sunday. Mid-afternoon, we pulled things together and headed over to our friends, J & J, to take our kayaks out on the lake. Like I said earlier, the weather, the temperature, the sky was picture-perfect!
Other than my slipping right into the water on their concrete boat launch (slippery with algae!), and the pleasures of kayaking with a 70-lb wet furball in my kayak, our time out on the water was fun and relaxing. We paddled here, we paddled there, around the lake at J & J's house. We watched people, we watched birds, we listened to the breeze on the water, we heard frogs. Cisco was in dog heaven out there, ears up and on full alert!
We got home shortly after six, I immediately headed for the shower and washed off lake and dog fur. I was on the road to the pied-a-terre before 7. Upon arrival down here, Jan and Tom invited me over for a glass of wine, which I appreciatively accepted. About 9:30, I climbed into bed for a 'date' with Harry P. and friends. Lights out before 10:30. I never heard S come in.
In a word, this weekend was "byoo-tuh-full."
