I spent a lot of time outdoors this weekend. The weather was nice and I’m glad I did but I ended up with a mild case of sunburn.
Saturday I went to the spring version of the Virginia Wine Festival. My sister Dee works for one of the major sponsors so I called her up and asked if she was getting tickets. Turns out she was going to be out of town but hooked me up with a pair of tickets for the event.
So I asked G-Lady to see if she wanted to go. She’s not a wine drinker but I don’t really have any close friends that are wine drinkers. Usually the festival is in Town Point Park in downtown Norfolk but, since the park is being renovated, they had it on the pier behind Nauticus (I kept wanting to say Nautilus).
Saturday was a bright, clear day but it was windy down on the water – and I mean RIGHT on the water. Being on the pier meant the water was about 4 feet from the edge with no fencing. Things and people were being blown all around. G-Lady took in all the sights, as she had never been to a wine festival. I had been to several of them so there was not much for me to see.
So we left there after a few hours and went to lunch, then did some light shopping (more like browsing). I get a call from Superman saying he’s “all alone” – I put that in quotes for a reason that I’ll explain in a second.
So I drop G-Lady back home and she’s bought the indoor-outdoor carpet she wants to put on her back patio (as an apartment renter – not sure why). Anyhow, she has me spread this thing out on the grass so she can see if it will fit in with her décor. The thing is huge. It’s at least twice as big as she needs it.
In my estimation, it was also ugly but I didn’t have to live with it. It looks like it’s made out of recycled soda straws. It was terrible and she keeps asking me what I think. “This is your deal, not mine. YOU are the one who’s going to have to live with it, not me,” I tell her. She ended up having me pack it back in the box so she can ship it back. It was just too big.
So I head to Superman’s place so we can just hang out. When I pull up to his place there’s barely a place to park. I ring the bell and Lois, his wife, answers the door. She and a friend of hers are floating around the kitchen. I’m thinking to myself “what is he talking about… he’s not alone”.
I find him in the living room playing RockBand (or Guitar Hero… one of those games) with his son. His daughter is about 6 feet behind him playing on the computer. This is not what I consider alone.
As it turns out, Lois and her friend were only there a few minutes before they left. His son would rather have the Xbox to himself so he can play one of those ‘commando’ type games where you can talk to your friends through the headset as you go (which he did the rest of the night). His daughter was lost on some online community of her own, so he and I sat on the back deck with the dogs and talked.
After the sun had gone down and it was a little too chilly to sit outside, we came in and watched a movie. By the time the movie was just about over, Lois and her friend returned from some kind of party they had been to.
At some point on Saturday I got invited back over to his house for Mother’s Day. Superman’s mother, brother, and other assorted in-laws were headed over for a cookout. My arms, legs and the back of my neck were already a good shade of pink after sitting outside most of Saturday and now I was headed right back out into the sun.
It was cool. We sat out on the back deck, talked, ate food and made sure the dogs were properly hydrated. He’s not really in love with some of his in-laws but, fortunately, they stayed inside while we sat outside. Superman, his brother and I sat out on the deck and mostly talked about the good ol' days.
All in all, not a bad weekend. Now I just need the sunburn to fade away.
Saturday I went to the spring version of the Virginia Wine Festival. My sister Dee works for one of the major sponsors so I called her up and asked if she was getting tickets. Turns out she was going to be out of town but hooked me up with a pair of tickets for the event.
So I asked G-Lady to see if she wanted to go. She’s not a wine drinker but I don’t really have any close friends that are wine drinkers. Usually the festival is in Town Point Park in downtown Norfolk but, since the park is being renovated, they had it on the pier behind Nauticus (I kept wanting to say Nautilus).
Saturday was a bright, clear day but it was windy down on the water – and I mean RIGHT on the water. Being on the pier meant the water was about 4 feet from the edge with no fencing. Things and people were being blown all around. G-Lady took in all the sights, as she had never been to a wine festival. I had been to several of them so there was not much for me to see.
So we left there after a few hours and went to lunch, then did some light shopping (more like browsing). I get a call from Superman saying he’s “all alone” – I put that in quotes for a reason that I’ll explain in a second.
So I drop G-Lady back home and she’s bought the indoor-outdoor carpet she wants to put on her back patio (as an apartment renter – not sure why). Anyhow, she has me spread this thing out on the grass so she can see if it will fit in with her décor. The thing is huge. It’s at least twice as big as she needs it.
In my estimation, it was also ugly but I didn’t have to live with it. It looks like it’s made out of recycled soda straws. It was terrible and she keeps asking me what I think. “This is your deal, not mine. YOU are the one who’s going to have to live with it, not me,” I tell her. She ended up having me pack it back in the box so she can ship it back. It was just too big.
So I head to Superman’s place so we can just hang out. When I pull up to his place there’s barely a place to park. I ring the bell and Lois, his wife, answers the door. She and a friend of hers are floating around the kitchen. I’m thinking to myself “what is he talking about… he’s not alone”.
I find him in the living room playing RockBand (or Guitar Hero… one of those games) with his son. His daughter is about 6 feet behind him playing on the computer. This is not what I consider alone.
As it turns out, Lois and her friend were only there a few minutes before they left. His son would rather have the Xbox to himself so he can play one of those ‘commando’ type games where you can talk to your friends through the headset as you go (which he did the rest of the night). His daughter was lost on some online community of her own, so he and I sat on the back deck with the dogs and talked.
After the sun had gone down and it was a little too chilly to sit outside, we came in and watched a movie. By the time the movie was just about over, Lois and her friend returned from some kind of party they had been to.
At some point on Saturday I got invited back over to his house for Mother’s Day. Superman’s mother, brother, and other assorted in-laws were headed over for a cookout. My arms, legs and the back of my neck were already a good shade of pink after sitting outside most of Saturday and now I was headed right back out into the sun.
It was cool. We sat out on the back deck, talked, ate food and made sure the dogs were properly hydrated. He’s not really in love with some of his in-laws but, fortunately, they stayed inside while we sat outside. Superman, his brother and I sat out on the deck and mostly talked about the good ol' days.
All in all, not a bad weekend. Now I just need the sunburn to fade away.