We did it all this weekend, dinner in the back yard, swimming, visiting friends, exhausting the kid and all things fun and great.
Saturday we zipped to the mall in the morning to check out the "amazing sale" at Eddie Bauer and decided to swing by the container store for storage items for the new storage bins in our loft. I kind of went crazy with the selection and will likely be returning some of the haul. There's form vs. function and the little discussed dimension of financial. Yes, the new bins are pretty and they will function nicely, but are they necessary? It remains to be seen.
Saturday night was our date with the boat pick up people. During the back and forth emails I wasn't nervous about our decision to have dinner with these people whom we spoke with for about 30 minutes at the mall. The 20% introvert side of me was worried that it would be awkward but from the moment we arrived it was relaxed and the conversation flowed fast and furious. There was some pre-planning where the question was asked "any food or conversation topics we should avoid?" This is a great question. In this day and age people's food issues are so complex that cooking for others can be quite the challenge. But, since we had tentatively landed on beef as a protein I didn't think it was necessary to bring up Jason's aversion to salmon. And, the walnut thing with me is not a fatal allergy and I am perfectly capable of picking them out of my food. Also, I didn't mention that I'm still rather ruined on chardonnay after all - we were bringing wine. On the conversation front, I figured I could hold my over opinionated tongue if we started to get into a squishy area.
I giggled when I got the email that read "change of plans, A wants to cook salmon, so bring an oaky chardonnay." Truth be told, the salmon was amazing and Jason even inquired as to how it was cooked. He told me in the car that he'd like to maybe try it sometime at home. (On the grill - cooking salmon in the house is a no no.) We didn't bring chardonnay and shared why. Most people have a beverage (tequila, rum?) that the smell is so overpowering that it takes them back to a bad decision from their youth. Hey, I was 42... stop judging me!
Alas, by the end of the evening the 'salmon' story was known by all and I don't get the feeling our new friends were insulted. Honestly, it was some good fish. Oh, and that kid. She was served up a plate with cheese quesadilla, green beans, corn on the cob and eventually a cup cake. What did she eat? two bites of corn and about 6 of the crunchy fresh green beans from my plate. The cup cake... nope. ODD BIRD.
Sometimes the kids don't leave a party with the clothes they brought. We were able to donate a too small swimsuit to the far more petite (not quite the TALL child that we have) Noel and Lucy left with some sassy black boots that were too small for our hostess. I couldn't get pants on Lucy so we walked to our car in a shorty shirt, a diaper and knee high black boots. If she wasn't two it would have been an unfortunate wardrobe selection.
Sunday we worked hard to get to church early. Pastor Kirby, the pastor who married us, has been elected as Bishop of the Northwest Washington Synod (that's a big churchy word.) What does this mean? Well, after 30 years, he will no longer be the senior pastor at our church. We are happy for him and think he's going to be great, but we are so sad to no have him to ourselves anymore. Sunday was his last day with SMLC and there was a big party.
Church was so packed (bigger than Christmas or Easter) that they filled the entry way with folding chairs and those folks watched the service on monitors. It was an emotional service and I'm so glad we went - even though it was about 300 degrees in the chapel. (Chapel isn't the right word because we aren't Catholic but I don't know the official Lutheran term. Perhaps, 'worship space'.) The service started at 10, and Kirby opened his welcome to us by announcing that his mother, who has been ill, passed away at 8:00 am that morning. WHOA. I hope that he and his family were comforted by the waves of love rolling at them all day.
After church we headed home to set up the pool. The projected temperature for the day was supposed to be around 88 (turned out to be 93). Getting that pool up and running was a priority. Of course, on a day that we were going to be hanging out in the back yard all day, the neighbors across the way were bringing down two very large trees on their property. The sound of the chainsaws was loud and not relaxing and it was sad to see the trees come down. The process is interesting, but I hope they had a good reason for doing it.
In the high heat of the day, we retired inside to watch a movie. We only watch movies with Lucy on the weekends and after hours in the sun, it seemed like a smart idea. She happily ate her bowl of popcorn and drank her juice while enjoying the "bovie".
This morning she was bathed in a layer of sunscreen before heading to school and looked cute as a button in her red, white and blue t-shirt. She's letting me put her hair up now and again and as you can see, I'm out of practice, but will do it any chance I get.
Tonight we start swim lessons. Wish us luck!
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| dinner on the patio |
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| cupcake lollipop |
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| The doomed tree |
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| Lake TP |
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| relaxing in the late afternoon |
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| ready for Monday |
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| the aftermath |
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