10:22 a.m. - May 09, 2006
The Good Weekend!
As I said, this past weekend was almost perfect until around 5:00 on Sunday.
It just seemed nice and relaxed for the most part. Sure there were things to do. (There are always things to do, aren�t there?) But most of the things were fun things to do!
Friday, I received the package from Lando, and I put that on my iPod in order to give it a proper review. It was a quiet night, as the family knew what tomorrow would bring.
Saturday, I woke up too early, but I had a multi-pronged agenda.
First, I had to write the review of Lando�s CD, which I did. I posted it, and got the next victim recipient of the chain, which was, on the judges� scorecard, the great Warcrygirl.
Of course, my new friend Willowfox put up a valiant effort, and we are going to be trading mixes soon. Because it�s free music for everyone!
Then, I went on my main mission of the day. Last year, in one of the first entries I wrote , I talked about the inanity of buying tickets for the annual dance recital.
Well, this year was no different.
The tickets went on sale at 10:00. Katie�s recital practice was at 10:45. The odds were that I�d still be in line when Katie had to go dance, so I was charged with going first and getting the tickets, then Liz would bring the girls for Katie�s dance recital.
So I leave home at 9:30, and find a place to park. I walk over to the dance studio, and start counting.
One half hour before tickets were put on sale, I was 45th in line.
Yes, it looked like people had been there all night, again. Also, it looked like families had this coordinated, where people would take shifts in the line.
So, I break out the iPod and start to rockin�! I was approving a mix for some brassy chick from Long Island, and commenced to start on the more alternative one.
I was in line next to another veteran of the stand-in-line-for-the-ticket process, and we both agreed:
1. This is stupid.
2. People need to get a life.
3. If we don�t do this, we�ll regret having bad seats.
Her daughter is 10 years old, and she is in both jazz and tap, and has performances on all three nights of the recital.
(Oh, did I tell you that there are THREE nights of recitals? Katie is only in one, thank goodness. Otherwise, I�d probably need a lobotomy! I do see my future, though and it will be three nights of dance, dance, dance, no doubt, if Katie keeps this up!)
As I was waiting in line, looking super cool with my shades and iPod, trying not to sing stuff out loud (but it was so hard, you know, when Jenny Lewis or the Pixies came on), when another mother got in line behind me.
I recognized her from high school and beyond, when I lived in this burg. She was someone who always kind of looked down on me, as I was a nerdlinger and she thought she was cool (though she was younger than me, the nerve!) and all that and a bucket o�chicken.
Well, she wasn�t really all that, and she�s still not, but her kids are cute. And I know she recognizes me but hasn�t said a word to me. (Well, I do think she recognizes me � I�m pretty memorable, right?)
OK, I haven�t really said a word to her, but what would I say?
�Hey, it�s me. I have the fabulous life with the best wife ever and two adorable kids and live in my dream house back in this burgh�how are you doing?�
See, I don�t think that would play.
Finally, the doors open and we move. On the initial movement of the line, I actually got INSIDE the studio this time. That�s an improvement!
So once in a while I exchange some mindless banter with the person in front of me as we now move up slowly as people get their tickets, their t-shirts, their ribbons, their extra tights, etc. etc. etc.
On the wall of the studio are all of the pictures from last year, and right there is Katie.
I remember seeing those pictures for the first time last year, and that�s when I realized that she�s growing up, and growing up fast. She didn�t look like a little baby girl anymore, she was getting to be a big kid.
The line was moving and moving, and now I was on the �heavy metal� mix for Becks. OK, so I got a bit carried away at times, and was actually lip-synching �Bringing On The Heartbreak�, complete with some over-emotive hand movements.
Ah, they all think I�m a freak anyway.
So I get two good aisle seats for the recital, pay the money and leave. It�s almost time for Katie�s practice, but Liz and the girls aren�t in the studio. However, I see them parking the car outside, so I go over, give Liz the booty, and give the girls a hug.
That was a full morning, and Saturday wasn�t done yet.
I had a baseball game to cover Saturday afternoon, and it was glorious weather for that.
I attacked my lawn again, and this time the lawn mowing went smooth.
Liz and I decided to have an �adult� dinner Saturday night, away from the kids. However, we can�t seem to follow our rule. The rule is that we try not to talk about the kids or work when having these adult dinners, but that never works. They consume so much of our lives, it�s just hard.
Sunday was another full day. I volunteered to be the liturgist at church and it was Communion Sunday.
I had some trepidation about being the server at communion. Normally, the liturgist serves the cup, and the pastor doles out the bread.
Well, there are stairs involved, and with full trays, it could be dangerous.
You see, Smed is congruent to klutz.
So when Pastor Phil asked if I wanted to do the bread, I jumped at it. Yeah, you can�t spill bread, can you?
The service went off without a hitch, as the readings were all read, the bread and cup consumed, and all went well.
Then we went back home, and I made grilled cheese sandwiches as Liz prepared to go to Indianapolis. First she had to go to a friends� house to get her Avon (ding-dong!) stuff that she ordered, then to Target and Costco, spending way too much money on Conehead-esque mass quantities.
My mission was to keep the girls entertained, and it was another glorious day. So what�s better than going outside and playing in the sandbox?
Well, that was a lot of fun. Katie and Kristin both love the sandbox.
Katie loves building castles and moving the sand around.
Kristin likes to�eat�the sand.
Yeah, it�s true. And of course, me being Dad, I was a bit worried.
I called Liz on her cell. �Kristin�s eating the sand!�
�Oh, it�ll be OK. Just be sure she doesn�t eat too much.�
I guess it IS non-toxic. And Kristin didn�t really eat THAT much of it. Besides, her daily poop is outside of my window of diaper changing, so Liz would have to deal with it. Heh.
So after about 45 minutes or so of good outside time, as Katie played all around the back yard and Kristin motored about (she�s THIS CLOSE to standing up on her own), it was time to get the girls inside and think about starting dinner.
So I brushed off the sand, as best I could, and went about the business of getting stuff ready. I put a couple of CDs on for Katie and was upstairs, watching Kristin crawl while answering email, when the phone rang.
And the weekend changed, and that�s what I wrote about yesterday.
However, there is good news. Instead of keeping her at home, my SILs have decided to move my MIL back to the hospital and start the IV drug treatment.
Liz will be out there tomorrow, to give aid and comfort, and bring Kristin. Because a girl like that will always brighten the room.
