Long Weekends and Other Miscellania

I will admit that, had it not been for the fact that a friend of mine is a teacher and she and her almost-six-year-old are gearing up for school tomorrow...I don't know I would have realized it was Labor Day. Well, that and Tim was home - but he's been managing to work from home now and again these days, so it's not completely unheard of for him to be home and, well, there you are.

Friday night we hit up the Olive Garden with some friends. From just about the minute we sat down, the couple at the table across the aisle was staring over at us. After a few minutes I asked the other members of our group, "Are we talking unnecessarily loud? Or do we smell? Are we inappropriately attired? Cause they just won't stop staring." It was really disconcerting. Anyway, after our orders were taken the manager comes over and says, "The music you're playing is disturbing some of the other guests, you need to turn it off." Well now. I will admit I bristled. Because there was no music playing other than the campy Olive Garden "No really, we're an Italian restaurant" music. And so I informed her. I also pointed out that our cell phones were on vibrate (they were) and that neither of the two kids had a toy with a battery (soft letter flash cards for Joshua and a stuffed bear for our friends' little girl.) She persisted. I asked if she heard anything. She desisted. I indicated that I expected to see her accost the other tables nearby as it could have been (and likely was) the group next to us who were dinking around with their new cell phones. She didn't. She just skulked off. The couple across the way, at least, stopped staring at us. Though I will admit to having said, perhaps a bit louder than really necessary, a few biting remarks about making sure that people were in fact being a pest before accusing them of same.

Saturday night Tim and I stayed in and watched The Bank Job. It was an interesting movie - certainly well done - though I wonder how much truth was represented in the "based on a true story" bit. Even without that though I would have enjoyed it -- it was a well put together heist movie. I'll warn you though (as we were caught unaware) there are quite a few female naughty bits to be seen, from the opening credits onward. Some of them, at least, were actually relevant to the plot and not gratuitous.

Sunday night we revisited a classic from the 80's, Summer School, with friends. We also ordered way too much Chinese food and followed it up with an ice cream cake. Not sure that that's really a winning combination, but no one got sick (well, that I know of, at least.) Their daughter watched Alvin and the Chipmunks upstairs and also spent her time organizing Joshua's toys. She'll be devastated (as she usually is) to know that he's already, in her words, "ruined it". She, like her father, is "Tall, dark, and tidy." A winning combination for sure.

Tonight my family came over (sister and brother-in-law and my folks) and we watched Wedding Crashers - also known as a complete waste of film. In my defense, it was only on our DVR because it's one of Tim's sister's favorite movies. Which honestly confirms quite a bit about her that we already knew. We then skimmed through several House Hunters International episodes (there was a marathon today), marveling at people who are willing to plunk down $500,000 USD for a 450 sq. ft. 1 bedroom apartment. Dinner was my sister's request of pot roast (done in the convection oven), sweet potato spears, and spinach salad with a peach cobbler for dessert. Quite tasty, if I say so myself. Which I do.

And now, it's off to bed with the intense hope that the insomnia that has been plauging me for the past three nights will finally go away. I'm tired now, as I have been the past three nights. My hope is that I stay tired when I crawl into bed.