Weekend sum-up

Friday
I was supposed to go to a sweet invitation-only Knit Night in Berkeley, but couldn't get a sitter. So I called up Alameda Park & Rec and made a reservation for 2 at the outdoor movie that night, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. I really think we just saw this like 4 months ago. Anyway, G had a ball with all the pre-movie festivities (they start letting you in at 6:30PM but don't start the movie till 8:15 because it is only barely dark enough then), which included several of his counselors at "World of Wonder" that past week. The high point was seeing one of the guys take this big, somewhat sqooshy "Earth Ball" and throw it up over G, and see it just whap him into the ground. (He was just fine. Hush.) They also had some competitions before the movie, done by the guys who put the movie on (from a little laptop projecting on a big screen supported by big blow-up columns and connected to powerful speakers), but G wasn't interested and kept doing the other things, which included balloon animals made by his WOW director. (Which popped as he got back to his seat. Of course.)

We ate our dinner and cuddled up in the blankets I brought, then G predictably wanted to sit on my lap. I just couldn't stay warm and after maybe 1/2 hour, we left. We have enjoyed the movies in the past but that was one night to just leave.

Saturday
Saturdays are always a bit slow till 9:15, when I realize we have 15 minutes before we have to leave for his martial arts class, so we run around like screaming meemies getting everything ready, which for me included snipping Lucy's duck treats into small pieces and packing them in a baggie. Dropped G off at the studio and went on to the local bayside dog park, which I'd visited on the spur of the moment the previous week and loved it, well, Lucy and me both! Lucy swam again--so impressed with her courage; I would have bet last week that she'd never swum before! She did less splashing of herself in the face, so didn't get into the vicious cycle of holding her head higher which made her paws higher which made her splash more.... I did realize she's been biting her paws more this past week, so tried to get in to the dog wash queue for after, but they were booked. There wasn't the Great Dane group this week (that was fun last week--blue Merle Great Danes are gorgeous! And lazy!), but there was a pug group, so that was fun, with a blonde French Bulldog pretending to be a pug, running around with them.

Lucy again did great, none of the gruff menacing stuff she periodically does on leash. I did notice that she is as socially inept as Max was--running on the periphery of playing dogs but not knowing how to join the play herself. I don't know how to teach that. She did have fun chasing (but not retrieving) balls in the water and on land. And I got to see lots of breeds of dogs and ask about them. There was a sleek, feathered, tall white dog near the water stop before the bridge. I asked the guy what her name was, and he repeated it for me: Luka. "Luka the Saluki?" I smirked. Um, no, she was a Borzoi. Well, my way was funnier.

Went to pick G up after class and found out the studio will do a demo at the Solano Stroll, breaking boards among other things. Sounded way fun to me, but G just could not get interested, and since they require some meetings beforehand, we passed. Too bad! But I hope we can manage to catch them at some point there.

For the afternoon, G had had a pool playdate with a friend from his special camp earlier in the summer, but the mom had to cancel because of a funeral for a friend (a mother of small ones, dead at 50). We tried to reschedule with another friend, but she wasn't interested. So we pretty much lay around the house till about 4:30, when I decided we should just go anyway. We got there and I realized we didn't have sunscreen (agh) so we borrowed a bottle that was in the lost & found (and will probably be thrown away). We stayed till the pool closed at 5:30, not because we had to leave (I could stay on as a keyholder), but because I was getting cold. Showers for both (these have been great, as the pool has no baths and G is so much faster and more willing to wash his hair in the pool showers!) and home for us.

For dinner, I got out a bag of fresh Chow Mein noodles I'd bought at Berkeley Bowl... and then realized I had no idea what to do with them. I tasted one and decided they weren't cooked yet, so I boiled them in some broth I had left over and some water (to cover them). They got huge (whoops!), but I dumped all of them in my skillet with some tofu and some broccoli flowerets, and some oyster sauce. It tasted good when we ate it, but I have to agree with G, it sucks as leftovers. Too bad.

Oh, and on Saturday I tried to register for fall hockey, after berating myself for missing the Friday-night deadline of discounted early registration. I got caught up by this beauty in the signup regs:

4. Ready to Play?
All players must be ready to play before they register. You cannot sign up if you are injured.

Crud. I was hoping to sign up and join maybe 1 game into the season. My elbow is getting better, but it is certainly still injured (and I've even noticed my arm is weaker). Stupid freaking tendons! OK, more icing.

Sunday
About 9AM, we got a call from the woman who coordinates the Sunday School teachers, apologizing for not calling earlier to remind me that I was teaching. I'm sure she was relieved and a little surprised that I had not only remembered, but was running right on time (I don't do any prep during the week, so I try to get there early to read the lesson plan and gather materials). We walked to church, G reading his new Indiana Jones book he got at Border's last week with my 30% off coupon and keeping up with my pace. He also helped me cut out paper hearts for the kids to write on and decorate. The lesson was the story of baby Moses being pulled from the rushes and his sister slyly offering to the Egyptian princess to offer to find "a woman" (Moses' mother) to take care of the baby. It spoke of Courageous Women (and emphasized that one should de-emphasize the Pharoah-killing-babies part with younger kids). The hearts were used to write "God" on (the biggest heart) and then the names of courageous people who love you on (the smaller hearts). This pretty much became the names of people who love you, period.

We had a mixed class, preteens down to maybe 4 yr olds, so the older kids helped the younger, and the younger kids did a good job listening to the story as read by the older kids. And one of the older kids came up with the idea of stapling together corners of pieces of paper to make open boxes to hold the strings of glitter-glue-glopped hearts for each kid. Fun.

After church, the church sexton pointed out that they had a volunteer dill bush that was hosting 9 Monarch butterfly caterpillars and that we could consider taking one home to raise. We couldn't do it that day, as we were walking home and then doing errands, but I hope to go by there on Friday to get one. They are fat and colorful and loading up on the dill weed!

After church, we walked by the local Episcopal church, which was having the last day of their rummage sale, at $2 a paper bag. They were smart as anything: You buy the bag for $2 (which I did after we had a few things picked out that we for-sure wanted), and then you fill it, and walk away. G found 3 t-shirts he liked, and a piece of smooth knit material he wanted to use for a "shawl" like I use my knitted ones. Hey, fine with me. We added a few books on our way out, walking past the book tables, but didn't get many, which was good. We have so many books.

I'd also looked at the dresses they had for sale, since it was just after 12 and we had to leave by 2 for my friends' wedding in Lafayette. I didn't find anything that worked, so just went home and looked through my closet. I found my "wedding dress" that I'd worn to my uncle's wedding, which I could pair with the scarf/shawl and shoes I'd worn--done! That gave me enough time to use my steam curlers on my hair and get some makeup on. We left at 2:05 and got there on time (yessssss). G was bored in the ceremony, but read his book (which I was glad he'd brought) and then really danced after the dinner, having a great time. We both did. It was a beautiful wedding of two friends who have been together 22 years. The setting was lovely and it cooled off after a bit. We ended up closing down the party, and taking home a lovely table decoration (flowers and greenery, and artichokes, I kid you not). Fun.

Now that was a pretty good weekend.