There and back again

Yesterday was a driving day. I got up really early - the alarm was set for 6:30 but I think I woke up before the alarm. If I really slept. I don't think I did sleep that much. I did sleep a little. Anyway, I got up and got out the door before 7, as was my plan and my desire. Where were you going so early, I hear you both saying? Excellent question. I was heading to CT. A friend wanted to come visit Geneva, and she couldn't get herself here easily, so I volunteered to pick her up. Heck, what is a 5 hour drive each way amongst friends?

The drive out was pleasant enough - sure the sun was in my face for much of it. But it is a pretty time of the year to be driving around this part of the country. And although it was a long-ish drive, it didn't seem that long. Yay for not seeming long. My GPS did an awesome job of getting me where I needed to go.

I got there, played with some beagles and packed my friend into the car. She was all packed and ready! Yay! We needed to make a stop at a Post Office - I had a letter that I had forgotten to mail in Geneva (too early in the morning). Kelly navigated us there. Then the GPS took us on a Scenic Route back to I-90 - yay! I do like scenic routes when I am not in a hurry! The whole drive back to Geneva was much more pleasant as I had a good conversationalist to keep me company! That always makes a drive go more betterly.

After getting back, we took some time to decompress. Ok, I needed time to decompress. Driving is enervating. I didn't really have any interest in cooking, so we went to Ling Ling Chinese Buffet. Much easier than cooking. Everyone can get what they like and eat as much or as little as they like. And it isn't too terribly expensive. All good things. My favorite part was having a cooking with a little bit of soft chocolate ice cream on top of it. Yum!

We got back to the house in time to watch the women dominate in Beach Volleyball. Then a night time walk and suddenly it was time to sleep! How did that happen? Where did the day go? Oh, right, 10 hours of driving will eat up a day! :)

The Post Office

Suddenly Sunday

Here we are, the beginning of the week. Or the end of the week. Or, if your week starts on Wednesday, I guess this would be the middle of the week. Does is really matter? It all seems so arbitrary sometimes. Often. In any case, it is Sunday. The Opera gets loaded into the theatre today so I will need to get out the door in the not too distant future. This post may take a long time to get finished. Or not. Maybe I will drill through it and get it done before I depart for the day.

First full day of the Olympics yesterday. If I had no life, I could easily see becoming absorbed in watching it. Oh, and if the coverage were a) more interesting and b) not so slanted and c) so sensational. Goodness, hype much? And I am minorly miffed that to be able to get streaming on NBC's website, you must be a cable subscriber. What the heck is that about? Oh, yeah, money. Sigh. The Olympics, like so much else, is more and more commercialized. And that is no fun for anyone... Ok, enough of that. It does keep my mom entertained a bit...

What else exciting happened? Oh, I got a call from the director of the Opera asking me to come help him pack up the rehearsal space in preparation for today's move into the theatre. That was fun. I do enjoy doing theatre related activities.

For dinner, more leftovers. I made a glop - a combination of a bunch of things tossed into a pan and heated up. And salad. I don't make a lot of salads for some reason. Too much work? Too boring? I don't know, I just don't make a lot of them.

After dinner, I headed out to Microclimate for a beer. I sat at the bar, as I usually do, and chatted with a bunch of people. Three nice couples from around the area. Very different and all pleasant. And another guy who popped in for a glass of wine. I don't know when next I will get there, as this week's schedule is unclear to me, but I hope to make it there at least once. They have a beer called Tusker from Nigeria that I would like to try. And I had Founder's Cerise last night - which was pretty good - a nice balance of sour and sweet. Yay beer!

Eeek, behind the sofa!

Packing up at Houghton House

Founder's Cerise

Happy Saturday

Here it is, really Saturday and it feels like Sunday. Whatever. It is just another day. And an overcast one at that, here in Beautiful Geneva. Karl and his cast of characters departed early yesterday and headed back to continue their lives in Connecticut. And left us to continue ours here.

Mom, exhausted from the kids and from her antipathy for Candace, went to bed. I had a hard time getting her up to do anything.

While she was recouping, I did some work on Flippety, adding a feedback option, so that people can send me email from within the application. Hopefully lots of raves, but I am sure if enough people play it, bugs will be found. And feature suggestions will come in. I love how other people think that their ideas are so great. If they are so great, why don't they write an app and publish it? Hmm?

I was feeling a bit enervated as well. I even took an hour long nap. Yay napping. I do enjoy napping. Sadly it has been seemingly forever since I had someone to nap with. Still naps are great, even alone.

After napping, I took a walk to the library. My Connecticut friend (yes, I only have one friend in Connecticut...) said that she and her family were listening to The Hobbit on their drive to the shore, which inspired me to go to the library to see if I could find The Lord of the Rings in Audiobook format. I did, a condensed version. But I am going to look online in the catalog and see if I can find an unabridged set. It was great to have a nice long walk.

Mom did eventually come downstairs for dinner. I made leftovers which turned out pretty well. We will have left overs for the next couple of days, in fact. Yay leftovers! Then we watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. I was miffed that they chose to run it with commercials. I know that NBC wants to make as much money as they possibly can (maximizing revenue seems to be almost mantra like in our society. Joy.). Still, some of it would have benefited from being seen straight through. Bits I liked especially were the transition into the industrial revolution and the forging of the Olympic rings - the health care stuff was good, I liked the flying doves/bicycles. I was underwhelmed by Paul McCartney at the end. I didn't like the June and Frankie thing all that well. I did like the way the Olympic Cauldron was created. Good thing there wasn't a technological glitch. And I liked the faux Glastonbury Tor with all of the flags of the various countries represented.

Candace and Jenna

Jacob and Skyelyn

Working on the porch

Leftovers take one!