My weekend was really good; no fireworks but a solidly good time.  Friday I left work late morning and headed to the airport to have lunch with my friend Dave who had a 4-hour layover.  (As a reference, it was Dave’s wedding I went to this past July.)  We had a nice chat over mediocre food at one of the airport eateries.  I had 1.5 glasses of wine which was enough to make me all tipsy.  When I got home I ran 3 miles which was, surprisingly, made easier by the fact that I was tipsy.  Until I got home and took a shower, that is, when I actually felt hungover.  Heh.  Then I worked from home for a bit before heading down to M’s to pick up Pixie; M and I had a glass of wine and a nice chat, too.  Neighbors are awesome!  When Dice got home he announced that he wanted to go to Brick Store, so since we hadn’t been out to eat in a week we went.  I had the special, which were Salisbury steak sliders with a mushroom gravy.  So good!  Haven’t had Salisbury steak in, oh, probably a good decade.  So retro and yet so tasty!  The place was crowded but not insanely so.

Saturday I got up early and ran 5 miles around Grant Park.  Then the entire Commune packed into two cars and we went to the library to see Dice’s exhibits.  Dice curated two exhibits this fall, and both of them happen to be up right now, so it was a good chance to see both exhibits at once.  One is an exhibit of yellowbacks which are most notable for their insane titles and kitschy cover art.  The other exhibit is on association copies, where books that may or may not be significant of themselves were owned by someone famous/important or given by someone famous/important to someone else.  The provenance is the focal point of this exhibit, and the stories behidn them are really interesting.  After we got our culture learn on we went to Taqueria del Sol for lunch where I had a carnita taco and a fried chicken taco, both solid as usual.  Although I’ve noticed that the pork in the carnita taco has been different the last two times I’ve gone, and it’s different for the better. The meat is slightly saltier and in smaller chunks which makes it easier to eat.  I love it!  After our return to the Commune Dice and I walked Pixie into the village to buy dogfood at the pet store and cookies from the bakery.  Then we went over to the Canadians and played Rock Band on the Wii for a couple of hours.  By this time it was still only 5:00 pm but I was EXHAUSTED so I went home and layed on the couch for a few hours and then went to bed.

Sunday was the most satisfying day of sloth you could imagine.  We lounged all day long.  Dice didn’t even get dressed!  Plus we ate junk food all day.  I made a dinner of brats with rice and veggies which was delightful comfort food.  Then I went to bed soon after 9:00 pm.  Heh.  So it was one day of productive activity and one day of satisfying sloth.  Perfect!

I had a nice weekend, although I officially hate myself for all the eating and drinking I did.  Actually, Friday night I was a good girl, made crockpot chili for dinner and ate that and didn’t really drink, then went to bed at a reasonable hour.  As such, Saturday was a great day for me.  I got up early and relaxed on the couch while I woke up.  Went for a nice 5 mile run and took Pixie for a walk/run.  Then I took Pixie to the UJoint in Oakhurst where I enjoyed a delightful lunch while reading my book.  It was 75 degrees out and sunny, and the UJoint allows dogs on their patio, so we had a grand time.  After that I did various errands before going home again to relax before dinner.  We went to Fritti with the Canadians for dinner.  We were seated up in the upper balcony area which, on a busy Saturday night, I much preferred because it was a little quieter, although the service was also a little subpar.  After dinner we walked around the new specialty market that opened right next to Fritti on Elizabeth Street (the name of which escapes me).  They have quite a selection of tasty-looking things there, including some gourmet ice cream that I’m going back to get.

Sunday morning I got up extra early because I couldn’t sleep, which meant I was tired all day.  Since the weather was so beautiful, I took Pixie on a long walk while Dice did yard work.  After that we went to our jewelers and ordered our wedding bands. I was bummed because I had assumed they would have them in stock because when we bought them the first time we were able to take them away with us.  Perhaps the recession is why, but they no longer keep stock and it’ll be up to two weeks before ours come in.  So I’m stuck wearing my $19 Target ring for a few more days.  Then we did some errands including grocery shopping before heading to the Midway with Pixie for a delightful afternoon drink.  We won’t walk around at night anymore so we didn’t stay too long.  On the way home we stopped in Park Pet for a new bone for Pixie and then went to the Canadians’ house to let Jack out for a whiz since they were at a hockey game all afternoon.  Then home where we ate leftover chili for dinner and ate cake while watching the Biggest Loser.  Heh.

Didn’t get as much stuff done as I had wanted, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless.  Except for the dream I had Saturday night where my mother shows up and starts lecturing me on how dirty and messy my house is.  THANKS.

There are two kinds of people in this world.  Those who are completely focused on their PDA of choice, and those who realize that in-person interaction trumps a text message.  I will never understand why some people, in the middle of a conversation, will get a text/email and immediately focus 100% of their attention on their PDA instead of just finishing the conversation.  When I get a text/email, even a phone call, I wait until I can see that it  wouldn’t be rude to check it out.  It makes me wonder if I sent the person I’m currently talking to a text, maybe they would listen to what I’m saying more intently?  What is it about the method of conveyance, text versus actual in-person speaking, that makes one piece of information more important than another?  More importantly, why is it okay for people to be rude simply because they have a gadget?  I’m not the most polite person on the planet, and neither am I generally a person who prefers face to face talking over email.  In fact, I greatly prefer email and texts to all other forms of communication.  But even I understand that when I am talking to someone, it’s rude to break off that conversation without a word in order to focus on my PDA.

Yes, I’m sensitive about this subject, as I generally am when people are thoughtless and rude for absolutely no reason.  Then again, I have ample reasons to be sensitive.

Moving on.  So last night Dice and I went to the Shed for their $3 slider night.  I blame it on the female half of the Canadians who emailed us earlier in the day asking if we wanted to go.  She and R were going at 6:30, which is way too early for us to make it without prior warning, so we grudgingly declined. But of course when we got in the car after going to the gym we were both like, “I’ve been thinking about sliders all day!” so we went home, showered, and headed down there (in the car, of course, instead of a 10 minute walk *grumble*), arriving just past 8:00 pm.  When we walked in we found commune dweller M having a girls slider night with ML at the bar, and the female half of the Canadians and R at a 4-person table.  The place was totally packed, so after chatting with M and ML for a few minutes we joined the others at their table.  I had the meatloaf slider and the pork schnitzel slider, both very good, as well as a glass of Craggy Range sauvingnon blanc.  Very nice!  M and ML came over to say bye when they were leaving, right around when the male half of the Canadians showed up and pulled up another chair.  Thus is the life of the Commune, folks, when you put out a general invitation to dinner and people show up in fits and spurts.  Anyway, I was very proud of myself because although I could have eaten another 3 sliders, I didn’t and thus kept the bad eating to a minimum.  Go me!