we all lose our charms
we all lose our charms in the end
I just had what was probably the best, most wonderful weekend I’ve had in… years. Since I can’t remember when. It all sort of happened by accident, but it was so, so fabulous and now I’m just sorry it’s over. (For SEVERAL reasons.)
Bill and I slept in really late… got up, lounged around, watched some of Grease on TV, and finally decided to go to Fred Meyer to get a long phone cord for the computer. On the way out to the car, Bill surprises me by saying that he thinks we should go to Red Robin for dinner and then rent a movie. (We don’t get to go out very often, so I was really excited about this.) It’s only recently that Bill and I have been able to spend our weekends together. He used to work Sunday - Thursday and then Saturday mornings, and I worked Monday-Friday. So, the fact that we get to spend our weekends together at ALL is still really novel and fun to me. This is only our third shared weekend that I can remember.
I’d never been to Red Robin before, and I’d never seen a drawbridge all the way UP before. (I still amaze myself at how enchanted I can be by the simplest things.) Then, instead of coming straight home, we proceeded to go on a drive around North Capitol Hill and Fremont for the next hour or so. We had the windows down and the radio up and the weather was beautiful. Eventually, we ran into Gasworks Park, by accident. We wandered around the park and looked at the city and were amazed that we LIVE here. Finally, we drove home and rented Strictly Ballroom, one of MY favorite movies, which Bill had never seen. After the whole day was over, I fell asleep on the living room floor watching (or rather, listening to) Paul Simon in concert on TV with Piper fast asleep on my chest with her muzzle resting against my cheek. It was probably the most calm, peaceful moment of my life. (Puppies are good that way.)
Sunday morning we woke up (comparatively) early because we couldn’t remember for sure if the GTO (Good Times Officiators? Officers? Overseers? Overlords?) brunch was that day or not. I called Gilly’s cell, and she sounded SO PERKY that I immediately woke up. (You can’t be half asleep and talking to someone who’s that awake, you’ll just make a total ass of yourself.) We dragged ourselves to the grocery store for some coffeecake, and then headed for Jaye and Rick and Stephen’s place… only half an hour late. Within half an hour of arriving, the house had become insane. Here is my vague remembrance of who all was there: Jaye, Stephen, Rick, Gillian, Heather, Tricia, Jason, Bret, Bruce Hall, Kevin, Jennifer Pratt and her sister Kris(tin), Sonya, Matt Fontaine, Tim Sanders, Megan Moloney, Ron Darling, and Zach. (If I missed anyone I am sincerely sorry.)
The food was SO good… Megan made egg casserole and potatoes, Gilly spent the whole morning (afternoon?) with the waffle iron, Jaye made bacon, Matty made strawberry sauce and real whipped cream for the waffles… everything was amazing. People were in and out and all over - I spent most of the time sitting on the front porch, talking to people. I kept thinking I was going to go inside, but then someone would come outside to smoke and I would want to talk to them, so I would stay. (I would pay for this chattiness later with my crispy hide.) The best part about that was, I got to spend time talking to Megan and Jennifer, whom I don’t normally get to talk to very much. After sitting around the house, screwing off and looking at pictures of people making out at a party (online), everyone decided to go to the quad of Seattle Prep (across the street) and play a very enthusiastic, very bad game of frisbee. It was SO much fun - normally I don’t like playing frisbee because I’m so embarassed about how much I stink at it, but yesterday it was okay. Everyone stank. It was great.
After we’d been playing for awhile, Jaye came out to announce that Zach had invited us to his parents’ house on Lake Washington. While she was talking, Tim tackled her - at which point she fell down and started whimpering. We all thought he’d really hurt her, and Tim freaked out. He bent down to see if she was okay, and she stood up, totally triumphant. She had gotten him, and she had gotten him GOOD. It was about the funniest damn thing I’ve ever seen. So, we all got into our million different cars and took off for Zach’s family’s house. It was beautiful… this colonial-type house with columns and its own little circle drive. The basement was enormous - with a pool table, a huge entertainment center, and every piece of exercise equipment imaginable. From the basement, if you looked out the sliding glass doors, you saw the lake - with Mt. Rainier looming huge above everything. As a midwestern girl who’s used to looking out over a sea of corn, the sight of water still shocks me.
We proceeded to swim in the FREEZING water and play fetch with the neighbor’s dog (who, by the way, stole my ball and then proceeded to forget where he had put it). Eventually, Zach decided he was going to take the boat out, and a bunch of us went along. During the first boat ride, two of the brave ladies in the boat went swimming topless, and one particularly dashing guy went swimming wearing nothing but Jaye’s bikini bottoms. (I’m not going to name any names, but I will say that he looked pretty damn cute.) We came back to shore, and almost immediately went out AGAIN - this time with Stephen driving. Let me just say now that he drives a boat in much the same fashion he drives a car. However, when you’re in the prow of a boat taking all that wind in your teeth, it somehow feels significantly faster than it does when you’re protected. (Gillian, Megan, Kris, Jaye, and I kicked that lake’s ASS from the front of the boat.) By the time we got back the second time, everyone was starving. Zach marinated and grilled some chicken breasts, Heather made her (understandably) famous guacamole, and we ate like a bunch of freaking HOGS. Zach’s family was so kind to us… we were kind of raucous and sloppy and his mother didn’t seem to mind at all.
After everyone had finished eating, Gilly brought us all out into the yard to play “Celebrity”, which I had never played. It was SUPER-fun, despite a certain dyslexic EMT-type who had a sick dream to watch one of us impersonating a deer getting shot. ( If you ever hear mention of “Babbi’s Mother” and then screaming, that would be why.) I was part of team “Ride the Lightning” with Tim, Sonya, and Gillian - and despite being the only team of four, we cleaned up. (As much as a three-point margin is “cleaning up”.) By this point, it was after ten o’clock… we had all been together for ten hours, and some of us were realizing that six-thirty a.m. was FAR too close at hand. I was exhausted as well as really sunburned, and it was time to go home. I don’t think my bed has ever felt so nice.
So…
And now, it’s time for lunch.