Friday night after work I drove over to the Store, hung out and laughed at everyone until they closed, and went with Forest's dad, Doug, and Forest out to dinner. Soon we were joined by Sean and Kristin, and it was rather a merry occasion, despite the snowiness. People who run an ice cream store aren't very happy when it snows, because business goes right down the drain. As I pointed out, if they want a slush, they can lick it off their bumper.
Forest and I ended up having a relaxing night at home. We popped some popcorn, and watched the video of the last time he was in Taming of the Shrew. It's strange to see someone you love when they were younger... in the video Forest is 17 years old, and has long, blond hair. He played Biondello, and even the way he moves looks different to me. Of course, maybe it was just my reaction to seeing him in tights. Heh heh.
Even so, I'm so besotted with the fellow that I can't help but think how adorable he was, even on a fuzzy videotape taken from the back of the auditorium. It's similar to the reason I love to look at his mom's pictures from when he was little. He's always had those eyes, and that smile!
We zonked fairly early that night, and had the luxury of sleeping in Saturday morning, too! It was very nice, I must say. We got up, however, to see that it had snowed like mad the night before, and knew that it wasn't going to be a good day for the Store. That was the only downer of it. Forest and his dad planned to cut costs by just not opening the Store at all, so we went in together for breakfast, played a few hands of cards, and were generally laid back.
Forest and I listened to Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead in the car. It was a lot of fun, but I would like to hear the unabridged version. Ah, well, someday. It's not terribly cheap to rent books on tape, so I have to wait until I have more spare change.
The sun came peeking out while we were at breakfast, and Forest and his dad decided that they'd try to open the Store and see if they could get any customers. The three of us went out there, and ended up watching the South Park movie while we waited. I think there were about 4 customers during the two hours we were there. Obviously, it was a lost cause, and the Store was closed as soon as the last lines of the movie were done. I was pleased, because I at least felt relatively useful while I was there. I counted out the drawer, and helped with some chili dogs, and basically worked about as much as everyone else, which wasn't much, but made me feel good. I like to feel like I contribute something, for all they feed me for free.
We were joined by Forest's cousin Ross, and the four of us went to Pockets to play pool for a while. I don't know what happened to me there. When I was a kid I used to be able to play pool. We had a big table in our basement, and my dad showed me how to do it. I used to understand the angles of it, and could even make more complicated shots. Now I'm lucky if I can get the cue ball to hit the one I'm aiming at! It's definitely not like riding a bike. Having me on the team these days is the equivalent of a handicap. It occured to me as we rode away that it might help if I wore my glasses when playing. Then again, it might also help if I didn't wait 12 years between games.
I felt like a bit of a moron after that. I just am not good at any of the things Forest's family does together. They play card games I don't know very well, and pool I haven't played since I was a kid (with the exception of one night in a bar with Andy, but we didn't use any rules, so it doesn't count.) Forest and his dad can both do math in their heads without wiggling their fingers, Sean can tell you anything about any car that ever existed, and they've all been in business for years, so they know a lot more about that than I do. Sometimes I have to remind myself when I'm around them that I'm not a complete ignoramus. I know a lot of things. I just don't know anything practical or useful. That's the difference.
After humiliating myself by playing pool (but being a good sport about it and enjoying it anyway) I joined Forest and his dad to meet Sean and Kristin at the movies. We saw Rules of Engagement, which was by far underrated in the newspaper. I thought the acting was really good, and I have always enjoyed Samuel L. Jackson's ability to use his eyes to get a point across.
If that wasn't enough excitement for one day, we planted ourselves in a nice warm coffee shop and read good books while sipping hot tea and munching a muffin for a while, until James and Vicki called us to invite us over.
At their house, we played a Cheapass Game called "Gimme the Brain" which was pretty fun! It was a simple card game, the object of which is to get all the cards out of your hand. The trick is, you are all zombies working in a fast food restaurant, and in order to play out the cards, you have to first use the brain. But there's only one brain, and you have to swipe it from the other players to use it! It's a silly game, but I liked it. We drank hard lemonade, which I hadn't tried before, and rather enjoyed.
Then we went downstairs, and watched Phantom Menace since James and Vic hadn't seen it before. It's a strange experience when you're a little buzzed and watching with people with zero attention span, but it was enjoyable. James has these huge speakers hooked up to his TV, so that we actually got to hear all the Dolby THX stuff. I like the music from that movie so much, I think I will have to get the soundtrack. Matter of fact, I think I'll go to Amazon today and order it. Why not? I filed my taxes like a responsible little American, and I deserve a reward for the level of BS that was involved. I can't believe how many different forms I had to turn in this year. Icky.
We went home very late at night, and stumbled into our bed. We got to talking about comfy things in bed, and how we're used to sleeping. I like three layers of blankets, and he's used to just a sheet and comforter. Thinking of things the way he's used to them made him sad. He misses his old bed, and misses his old life, very much. It causes him no small amount of despair, and he almost sounds homesick. I feel for him, but didn't know what I could say, so I just held him close, and tried to be soothing. We fell asleep like that.
Both Forest and I had hit the diphenhydramine before going to bed. He finally caught my cold, and I'm still not quite over it, though I feel a lot better. He claimed the drugs would have no effect on him, but man, is he ever a liar! Sunday morning when the alarm went off, I hit snooze on it for a solid hour. The most response out of Forest was in his sleep, when he mumbled something about receiving his Academy Award. I laughed, and then slept some more. We didn't make it out of bed until after 9.
We mumbled about how we really needed to do laundry... but instead we went to a judo tournament at MSU. There were people from all over the place competing, and it was great fun to watch. Little tiny kids were throwing each other all over the mat! It was inspirational, but made me wish I had started when I was little. After an enjoyable few hours, we went out to discover a nicer, sunshinier day. We went to the Store, and Forest opened, in hopes that despite the cold, the sunshine would bring people out. I stuck around for lunch, and then went out in search of the light.
Well, not The Light. A light. We broke our main halogen lamp a couple of months ago, and I smashed our chandelier not too long after that. The entire front half of our house has therefore been lit by a single incandescent bulb. It was awful. In order to read in the living room, one would have to tilt the book this way and that to get enough light to see the letters. I wasn't going to put up with it anymore.
It wasn't as easy as it sounds, though. I went to a ton of different stores, and didn't find one I liked for the longest time. It took me all afternoon! I was inspired, however, and ended up with three lights instead of just one. For the ninja room, I got this really cheap japanese paper lamp that is designed to hang from the ceiling. The idea there is that it should be up high enough that we won't break it or knock it over, and give just enough light so that we can consult our books in there when we need to. It was also so cheap that even if we smash it to a million pieces, we won't have to fret, because it's only $3.00 to replace the shade, and $2.00 to replace the rest of it. Cheap is a good thing in the ninja room. And it even looks sort of neat in there. I hung it in the corner where we store our equipment and books.
For the living room I finally decided to be brave, and got one of those new flourescent lamps. It's dimmable, which is nice, and is supposed to be more efficient than other lights, and put out less heat than a halogen. When you turn it up all the way, it's so bright that it turns the whole room an odd purplish color, but on dim it's just right.
I haven't installed the new fixture in the dining room yet. I couldn't believe how hard it was to find anything that I even remotely liked, and I tried all over town. Our house just plain isn't fancy enough for most of the chandeliers out there. I finally decided to skip it and just got a fixture with a little stained glass in it that will mount fairly close to the ceiling. At least no one will bonk their heads on it, and I didn't pay hundreds of dollars for a cut glass monstrosity I would have hated. I only hope I don't have to re-wire anything to install it!
By the time I got back from shopping all over kingdom come, it was almost time to close the Store. I made myself some dinner there, and then parked in a comfy chair to read my book a while. I also like to perch on a stool behind one of the big ice cream machines, where I can get a good view of the whole front of the store, and see what's going on all up and down the street. It can be mesmerizing to watch the few cars and pedestrians go by.
By the time we got home, it was nearly 9 PM. We assembled the lamps, took a hot shower together, and then snuggled up in bed to read until sleepytime. It was a very relaxing weekend, and strange for me to be so busy, and not get any work done! Forest says it's more important to him that I had fun, though, so I don't feel bad about it. I will just have a little more to do than usual this week while I catch it all up.
I made our reservations for our trip to Mackinac Island. We'll be going up there after closing the Store on a Tuesday. Then we will likely pitch a tent late at night on the mainland, and take the boat to the island Wednesday morning. We're staying at the B&B that night and Thursday night, too, and after the nice experience I had with the woman on the phone, I'm really looking forward to their hospitality. She seemed really nice, and actually cared about what we wanted to do while we were there, so she could get together some information for us. She even offered to store all our gear in their office while we were on the island before check-in and after check-out, and gave us coupons for the boat ride. Wow. Maybe my mom is right about this B&B kick of hers. I've never had service that good from a hotelier before.
We'll probably hang out in Mackinac that Friday, too, and drive back that evening. I'm really looking forward to the trip! We're planning to go horseback riding, which should fulfill some of our adventuresome cravings. Neither of us has ridden since we were kids, and we both look forward to it. We also want to do quite a bit of hiking, and some bicycling, too. The lady at the inn said that the flowers should be blooming, and most things will be open while people are preparing for the tourist season. She doesn't expect it will be very busy, though, which is fine by us! That's why I like to travel in May and September. The weather's still nice enough, but there aren't all those people everywhere.
I checked my voice mail every few hours all weekend, and had no word from the director of Taming of the Shrew. Since he said he would call by Wednesday, and this was several days after that, I decided to call him and get a feeling for what was going on. Of course I didn't *say* that was why I called. I said I was calling to give him my work number, so he could contact me more easily this week. (Which was the truth, but only a partial one.)
He informed me that he won't have a decision on things until Tuesday. I'm assuming this means he's had some late auditioners or something to affect his ability to decide before then, so I'm relieved, and waiting as patiently as I can. It's only one more day, I can do it. Yep.
Drum fingers.
Our schedules for the next week make me glad that I caught so much quality time with Forest this weekend, and got so much relaxation in. This Friday I'm playing a concert somewhere up north, and this Sunday I'm ringing bells in a church service. Forest and I had planned to spend the weekend with Wayne in Chicago, and take Kirstin to the IMAX there to see Fantasia2000, but that might just not work out. I just explained the mess to Forest, and suggested very disappointedly that he might have to go without me. He made me smile, by saying that he doesn't want to go without me.
Awwwww. I love my honey.
We'll figure something out. The weekend after that is Easter, and we'll be busy with family. The weekend after that I'm on tour in Ohio with my bell choir, and for two weekends after *that* I've got concerts. I also still have all the regular commitments, and hopefully will be rehearsing, too. So I don't have a lot of time for my sweety in the near future. Thankfully we had a very nice weekend this weekend, and the trip in mid-May to happily and eagerly anticipate. It will be strange for me to be the one leaving him behind, though, when I go on tour. He had forgotten I would be doing that, so when I told him today, he was actually half-flabberasted. I love having someone who will actually be personally affected when I leave town and when I come back.
Okay, I really ought to get some work done, not that I have anything pressing to do today. Amazingly, I got a ton done last week while I was so sick that everyone in the office avoided disturbing me. Gosh, I'd be so much more efficient if I telecommuted! Then no one would ever bother me.
