It’s nice to finally be in the mid-70’s after a lot of ups and downs this past month. Today was a glorious 78° or so, which made working outside that much better. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Friday Jen and I hired a babysitter so that we could go see the movie everybody said was amazing and incredible and fantastic: The Hunger Games. We left, two and a half hours later, underwhelmed. The story was handled pretty well, but the director used puke-inducing shakycam for 4/5 of the movie. He also could not direct action sequences for a can of beans. I never knew where anything was, where anybody was going, or what was happening because the camera was MOVING ALL THE GODDAMN TIME.
Saturday started out with a birthday party for one of Finn’s oldest friends. It started at a branch of the Howard County Public Library, which in its sheer size makes our local branch look like a broom closet. They were holding a Children’s Discovery Fair, which was pretty awesome in its size and scope: dozens and dozens of exhibits, displays, and craft tables. Finn made fast friends with the rock lady, then wowed the fur and bones women with her knowledge of fossils and dinosaurs, and then we made a butterfly from a coffee filter, a clothespin, a pipe cleaner, and some food dye. That’s some MacGuyver shit right there. After meeting up with some of the other partygoers, we took in some more exhibits (including balloons, guessing games, and a stuffed porcupine) and then ran a few errands before arriving at the party.
As can be expected, there was food, there were games, there were kids, and then CUPCAKES. Need I say more?
After getting her home and in bed to wind down, I did some futzing around the house and in notime we were walking down the street to meet some friends for dinner at El Nayar, which sadly hasn’t improved in its quality since the last time we were there. Luckily the company was great and we brought in beer. After dinner we walked up and got ice cream, then sat outside and caught up in the evening breeze.
Sunday after service across the street, I busted out the ladders and commenced to painting replacement siding on the east wall of the house, as well as caulking, scraping and priming as many windows as I could reach. After a quick visit from a new friend on the Binder Planet, I got all the siding covered, some repair carpentry installed, and then mowed the back lawn.
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This evening: a warm breeze through the open window. A peaceful dinner with my girls. An evening stroll into town for ice cream. Stopping to look both ways before crossing. A chance encounter with friends. Walking hand in hand back home with the girl. Asking to pet the dog we met along the way. Spotting the moon and some stars overhead, and trying to blow them out with one breath. A quiet bath before bedtime. “I’m thankful for walking into town with Mommy and Daddy for ice cream.” A big hug before the lights went out.
I’ll try to keep up appearances here, seeing as I’m averaging at least one full post a week. Our weekend started off with a fantastic Friday surprise from Jen: a strange car in the driveway, owned by a babysitter, who watched Finn while she took me out to dinner. We hit the new fancy Chinese restaurant by the H-Mart and chose from the traditional menu, which meant I was served something very close to chicken stir-fry and she was served a fish the size of an ironing board. It was all very tasty (except for our appetizer, which looked pretty when our waiter pointed at the picture but turned out to be slices of beef tendon with some kind of pain-inducing hot sauce). I think we’ll consult some experts before returning to try again.
From there we went to the Pure Wine Cafe in Ellicott City and enjoyed an evening of uninterrupted adult conversation with each other over drinks and dessert. Do you know what it’s like to have a three-year-old breaking in every 30 seconds? I’ll try to simulate it in the next paragraph.
Saturday I had to sleep off a wicked hangover, missing Finn’s dance
DADDY, CAN YOU FIX THIS? My mouses broke it.
practice, but I rallied at lunchtime and
It’s STILL BROKEN!
went to buy mulch at the Middle School, making two trips totaling 60 cubic yards. Finn followed me around the yard as I raked,
My Ox is playing a game. It’s called… Boobly-doobly. Do you want to play?
bagged, mulched, and straightened the front hedge, while Jen
Mama! Daddy! Bubbleguppies!
concentrated on the back beds. We spent
BUBBLEGUPPIES, MAMA!
a little time at the neighbors’ after the sun went
BUUUUUUUBBBBLLLLE GUUUUUPPPIIIES!
down, watching the kids play and standing around the firepit. Then Christi and Glenn stopped over to drop off corned beef and
*sigh* My mouses are mad at you, Daddy.
cabbage (it’s a long story), and we caught up with them before putting Finn to bed.
Sunday started out with church. After we got home, we straightened up the house and got Finn ready for her dance recital. She did really well for the tap portion of the program; she stood in her spot and danced to her own beat while the other girls either ignored the teacher, followed her direction, or stared out into the crowd with blank expressions. At the end of the song, she realized her tap shoe was untied and became upset; I tied it for her and sent her backstage to get changed, but the cumulative lack of naps had finally caught up with her. When she came out for the ballet portion, she was crying. She stood rooted to one spot, tears streaming down her face, and refused to dance at all; when the song was over I walked up, gave her a hug, and sent her backstage again, my heart breaking. Jen went backstage to calm her down, and we cut out quickly after the program ended. She seemed to recover pretty well and ten minutes later had forgotten all about the episode. However, I don’t think we’ll be going back to dance class anytime soon.
After a meal of corned beef and cabbage, Jen surprised me again with a wonderful chocolate cake from the baker down the street. Apart from Finn’s distress, I couldn’t imagine a better birthday weekend.
