long weekend

To be precise, my weekend was the standard-issue, two-day length. It began for me after work on Friday, when I shampooed my carpets in preparation for dinner guests on Sunday. My carpet cleaner doesn’t have its own heating element, and relies on hot tap water for its cleaning power. I thought that heating water in my electric tea kettle instead was a brilliant idea! I poured the recently-boiling water into the container, screwed the cap on tight, brought it out to the cleaner, and couldn’t get it back into place. Hmmm… hey! The buildup of steam had expanded the container. I unscrewed the cap, and set the container aside to cool.

Half an hour or so later, I upended the container back onto the cleaner… but forgot to tighten the cap first. Dammit! Well, the carpet was going to get wet anyway.

Scrub, scrub, scrub. Um, scrub. SCRUB! Damn, the “high-traffic” areas are filthy. I did the best job I could, but will soon hire a professional to do it right.

Saturday was moving day for my friends Megan & Joe. After hearing the panic in Megan’s voice during an early-morning phone call, I headed down to their townhome just after 8am. Sui joined us shortly thereafter, followed by a steady stream of friends. Megan and Joe were fabulously well organized, with boxes stacked and clearly labeled, so all we had to do was stack them in the truck. And stack, and stack… where were they storing all of this stuff? Then it was time to drive the truck to the new house, and unload… with the contents of their little townhouse, we filled four bedrooms, the office, the kitchen, the living room, and the basement! I threw in the towel around 7, but others stayed until the job was done a couple of hours later. Many congrats to M&J; the new house is beautiful and has terrific mountain views, to boot.

This End Up.

I spent Sunday preparing my annual Feaster Dinner. Apple cobbler made with apples donated by Alison, Mandy’s mother’s carrot soufflé and pineapple stuffing recipes, warm Irish soda bread from my mom, mashed potatoes with turnips from Jessi’s kitchen, a final opportunity to hang out with Jackson, Erin’s younger brother… it was truly a festive feast. With Dave & Jessi and Tim & Erin all moving out of state this summer, there will be fewer and fewer opportunities to gather together like this. I cherish every chance!

And then I was officially pooped. I was eager to get to bed, but accidentally forgot to feed the cats… Rocket tried to tell me ALL NIGHT LONG but I didn’t catch on to why she was being SO FRIGGIN’ ANNOYING until I stumbled into the kitchen this morning. Sorry, kids. It will probably happen again.