This past weekend went nothing like I had planned. The big event of the weekend was to take my nephews Alex (8) and Sammy (almost 6) to the Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival with my friend Kelly (one of my oldest and dearest friends) and her family. YEAH RIGHT. When the weather reports started predicting a major storm system coming through the area, we cancelled the trip. Neither of us wanted to drive 2 hours just to get rained out.
In hindsight, I’m glad I kept the boys in the dark about what I had planned. I don’t think I could have faced two very disappointed little boys! As it was, the only people that were disappointed by the canceling of our trip were Kelly and myself. She, being a veteran, and I, being a first-timer, were both very excited about going in this little adventure. Alas, t’was not to be. Mayhap on a fortnight or so, we will attempt our pilgrimage to Scarborough Faire again.
I picked the guys up at about 7:45PM and off we went. Our first objective was to find food because none of us had yet to have dinner. We agreed on going to the truck stop, (about 12 miles away) on the condition that we sit at the counter rather than a table or booth. Fair enough.
On our way to the restaurant, we jammed to Bryan Adams’ “There Will Never be Another Tonight” and bounced around in our seats like maniacs. (always one of my favorite activities, especially in rush hour traffic) After three rewinds of the ole tape player and a whole lot of LOUD singing, we arrived at our destination. Dinner was pleasant. Chicken and French fries were in abundance and we all had our fill!
The next phase of the outing consisted of taking the boys to Braum's (another 10 miles) for ice cream and an impromptu visit to their Granny at her work. (NOTE: By this point it’s almost 10:00PM and well past their bedtime. One of the reasons they like spending the weekend with me is because I let them stay up WWWAAAAYYY late! No school. No problem. ) Since Granny was due to leave work at 10:30 away, we waited around and then followed her home to see the 3 week old kittens that were finally old enough to play with! Just before midnight the kiddos crashed. Rather than wake them up to go 2 blocks back to my apartment, I decided to leave them alone and we all spent the night at Granny’s. Just as I was settling in on the couch to watch a little TV before bed, my cellphone started ringing.
It’s not unusual for me to get calls that late (or early depending on your point of view) but I was fairly certain that I’d told everyone that needed to know, I would be busy with my nephews all weekend. I checked the Caller ID and realized that no, I hadn’t told EVERYONE. It was Michael calling. I hadn’t talked to him since the Friday before when he had called and then came by my office to have lunch with me. He’d been drinking at a friend’s house all evening and was about to call it a night, so he thought he’d call and talk to me for a minute. You would think he misses me or something. Michael and I talked for about 10 minutes or so then I wished him sweet dreams and hung up and went to bed. The boys tend to be early risers like their Dad. UGH!
At 8:00AM I’m awakened by the sound of a Gameboy in my ear. The boyzees are up! Saturday was pretty much just hanging out at Granny playing with and naming the kittens: Shadow, Shade and Jade. I did take the guys to an indoor playground for a couple of hours. They had a ball running amok while I sat on the sidelines and fumed about spending $13 to get in and they don’t even get refreshments! I could have taken them to MickyD’s to play and had a full lunch for all of us too! Oh well, I guess I can chalk that one up to experience. I dropped Alex and Sammy off at home at around 4:30 and headed home to catch a nap before going to the club
I love to sing karaoke and I’m pretty good at it. For several years I’ve helped out my friend Betty with her local shows. Saturday night we were at The Lonesome Dove in Melissa, TX. It was a typical night except for a weird feeling that seemed to hover the entire night. Nothing unusual happened but still that heavy strangeness permeated everything. At the end of the show, I think we set a new personal record for breaking down and packing up the equipment.
We finally left the club and went back to Betty’s house. I stayed there for a little while talking to Betty while she surfed the net. You would, think after spending four hours doing a show together, we would have talked ourselves out, but that’s not the case. During a show, there really isn’t a lot of time for conversation. On average one song only lasts 3 to 4 minutes. During that 3 to 4 minute span you have to update your singer rotation, program the next song and more often than not, help someone pick out a song and get signed up. On the few occasions when there is time to talk, the music is so loud that you can’t hear most of what’s being said. That’s why we save most of our conversing until after the show has ended.
Sunday was spent watching TV and just generally being lazy. All in all it was a pretty good weekend. It was a little slower than the norm but still good.
