Summer Hours

This last week went by in a blur. It was Commencement Week at work, which meant I spent Monday-Wednesday in preparations, Thursday in rehearsal, and Friday doing my part to make sure the event itself went off smoothly as possible. In that regard, I hauled a lot of ice in coolers to various points around campus. I also recall saying I would talk more about last weekend, and since I never got around to it, I think now’s as good a time as any.

Krystal and I had a mini date weekend last weekend that started Saturday night and went to Sunday evening.

We’d wanted to see Sinners since it first came out, but due to scheduling – and the fact that our local theaters don’t show movies on Mondays or Tuesdays?? – we hadn’t had the opportunity.

Simply put: the movie is a work of art. It may be the best film I have ever seen. It is only one of two movies I have seen in the theater that I immediately knew I wanted to own on video; the other (so far) is Pan’s Labyrinth. It has so much to say and other people have offered commentary far better than I could, but maybe one day I’ll get it down in writing. The use of music alone is worthy of several masters-or-doctorate-level theses. If you haven’t seen it, you should – but be warned: like many movies that have something to say and say it well, it may also be disturbing for some viewers. I would recommend using you preferred site to look for triggers before watching.

The next day we went to the World Oddities Expo. Getting to the grounds was easy enough, but it turned out there were three or four other events at the complex that day, and none of them was clearly marked. We made a guess as it the best place to park and chose a direction in which to walk.

It turned out to be the wrong direction, but we chose our parking spot well: the actual building we needed was two rows in the opposite direction from which we walked – and a good thing, too, as the day was threatening to rain.

We had a grand time walking the aisles looking at plants and fungi and moss, vintage clothing and antique medical equipment, art and artifacts, bones and taxidermy.

Along the way we picked up various trinkets, such as this brass frog and art print.

I’m not sure where the little brass frog came from, but I do know I walked up to a table full of trinkets, reached into a bowl, and pulled this little guy out right away. Of course he had to come home with us.

The art print is from artist Stacey Pilkington-Smith and is called The Hare and The Moon. And now I’m finding myself struggling to find a frame to fit it, but I think I may just purchase a slightly more “common size” frame and have it matted.

I also found a book by the host of a podcast I follow and of course Krystal found some blind bags and small art prints of her own to purchase:

We left the expo and tried to get something to eat, but we’d forgotten it was Mother’s Day: my own mom lives several states away and Krystal’s mom was out of town so it had entirely slipped our minds until we tried to get something more than fast food and were met with “do you have a reservation?”

So we drove home and found the Mother’s Day crowd had largely died down and we treated ourselves to a good dinner at a waterfront restaurant that’s been here in town for fifteen years but which we’d never eaten at, because money.

I had:

• A “Mockingjay” Cocktail: Conniption Kinship gin, lemon, St. Germaine, sparkling wine
• An appetizer (that we split) of fried green tomatoes w/ pork belly, grilled pineapple, bourbon teriyaki
• The “Carolina chicken sandwich” with crispy pork belly, gouda, fried onions, garlic aioli, and fries
• Dessert (that we also split) of chocolate lava cake

Then we came home to rest, recover, and get ready to start our week. I’ve already told you how mine went, but Krystal’s said it’s okay to tell you that she started taking classes at a local aerial fitness club!

I guess I should say that this week had its own high points.

A coworker was really watching out for me and noticed that I was having what I would call a “bad brain day” on Tuesday even before I did, and encouraged me to get water and take walks outside, and generally helped me to have a really good day.

On Friday I got several compliments along the lines of “you look sharp” – which I suppose is related more to the fact that I wore a tie. When I taught high school I wore a tie every school day for eleven years; since my current job doesn’t require one, I don’t – – I’ve done my time in that regard, I think.

I came home from Commencement on Friday, had half a large chef’s salad, and then rested until supper, when we ordered pizza. I probably didn’t drink enough water, to be honest. But I felt okay on Saturday and did some shopping and light housework and then we took Krystal’s parents out to Olive Garden for supper and a belated Mother’s Day. I had a peach iced tea, rigatoni with mushroom sauce and crispy chicken, and tiramisu for dessert.

Sorry I don’t have any pictures from that!

Today, I’m straightening up in the living room, doing a load or two of dishes, and getting ready for our World of Darkness campaign this evening.

Then work tomorrow begins our summer hours, which means I’ll be working ten hour days instead of nine hour days but I’ll have Fridays off through the first or second week of August, and I can’t say I’m upset. Hopefully the switch (physically and mentally) this year is just as smooth as last year.

What have you been up to?