September 07, 2003 10:56 pm
Weekend of rest and productivity
Nicest part of my day today? Getting that call from Mark in Holland. We haven't talked since he left Monday afternoon and I told him I wouldn't expect to talk to him since it was only a week-long trip. But, it was very nice to hear his voice. It has only a week, but I have missed him more than I do on his month-long trips.... maybe I didn't prepare myself correctly this time.
The tile men finally finished their jobs here on Thursday. So Friday I slept late late and it was wonderful to catch up a bit and go to work feeling good Friday afternoon. I hope I can stay caught up this week and not fall into that sleepwalking zombie mode I've become so accustomed to.
My good friend Perfect C that lives in California now more than here is "home" for the weekend. She brought her Mr. Wonderful home with her. He is a very nice guy but I don't see in him what she sees in him. I'm sure many people felt this way when I met Mark, so I'll certainly just let her enjoy this honeymoon phase they are in. I'm glad she's happy. They've been together close to a year now and all seems to be going quite well. We got together last night and did some touristy things for his benefit. He had not seen the Austin bats (talking the real deal here, not the hockey team) so we went to the Congress bridge to wait. Lord, wait we did. The damn things are not very punctual. We waited over an hour and they finally made their exit well after sundown so you could hardly seem them at all. Not the spectacular night flight you see in August. Ho-hum, let's get some dinner.
We had a great dinner sitting outside at El Arroyo. Such a great dinner place. I hadn't been there in ages. It made me wish Mark and I would go out with friends sometime. We so rarely go out to dinner ourselves, and never with friends. We drank margaritas and had guac and shrimp tacos. Yum. Great meal and great fun.
Then we really got touristy and went to 6th Street. I felt very old there. And I felt like a teetotaler since the cries of "Two dollars. Everything in the place, two dollars," did nothing to entice me to go into these pulsating, wall-to-wall mosh pits. We cruised both sides of the street and did step into Joe's Generic Bar, probably my favorite of the whole street, but the band was on a break so we didn't stay. We cruised on to B.D. Riley's where Mark's old band with Seth was playing. I only knew Seth himself and the keyboard player Kevin. They played some of the songs I knew from the old days, but they didn't swing anymore and I missed that style. They were okay, but lacking, I felt. It was nice to see him, though. We wouldn't be in Austin if Mark hadn't been playing with him and Cory back in 1999.
Today was a very pleasant day, even with work in the middle. I went to a party at the Texicalli, but didn't get to stay. Went on to the boat show for a remote. It was a pretty good remote, Kramer came by taking pics of bass boats, and then we went to Jo's for coffee with the journal writers. Nice small bunch this time.
My bitch of the day (which the journal writers had to hear)... as I was going to my remote, my friend/co-worker (insert psuedonym here when created) called to give me some information. I had just pulled into Sandy's to get some lunch because I was hungry. Her call made it sound like she needed me to come straight on over to the Palmer so I asked if there was food there. She wasn't sure, but she said she needed to leave to run an errand and she would pick me up some lunch while she was out. Now, why I didn't just get me something anyway, I don't know. Next time I will. So I get into the Palmer and she goes to run her errand. She asks what I want for lunch. I say, "Just a hamburger, no onions." She leaves. I'm starving. Forty-five minutes later she comes back from her errand and hands me a McDonald's sack with a McDonald's hamburger. Honestly, what adult in today's society considers a McDonald's hamburger a HAMBURGER???? It is a cheap somewhat-edible not-quite-food item we lie to children about and tell them that it IS a hamburger to save ourselves from having to spend another $2 on a real hamburger for a kid that will eat two bites and leave the rest hardening on the tray. So, anyway, mind over matter, I just stayed hungry through the remote and then had a really good pulled-pork sandwich at Jo's (why is it pulled? can't they just call it pork and leave the adjectives out? glad they don't call it "slaughtered, drained, roasted, pulled pork")
Left the journalers and bought some plants at the nursery and came home and gardened. It was nice. Nice to see my neighbors out and visit with them some. Nice to let the dogs into the front yard to see a different vista. Nice to have a project.
Continued being productive tonight. I cooked up two different kinds of casseroles and froze one and have the other ready in case Mark is hungry tomorrow night or Tuesday. It is tamale pie that always tastes better on the second day anyway.
Tomorrow, I hope the productivity continues because I would like to get a cherry pie cooked before Mark is home.
Sweet Willie is still sacked out under the desklamp. I can hear him breathing. He is such a big kitten now and getting bigger every day. I will cuddle him up and take him to the big bed. He'll be conked out until, oh, about the time that I'm good and asleep and then he'll decide it is playtime.