Sarcasm with a side of optimism.

Rambling Recap

The week takes off regardless of whether or not I'm onboard. I'm already most of the way through Monday and already have a death grip on the reins. The most ironic part of all this is that I don't plan anything anymore, yet somehow I'm still very busy.

I was feeling under the weather last week and that was definitely worsened by my allergies. I've been having a lot of allergic reactions for some reason, so I've been trying to be careful with what I've been eating. Last week, I discovered that I'm most definitely allergic to walnuts. What's worse is that food allergies extend into product lines, so I also discovered that I'm allergic to pretty much everything at Bath and Body Works too. They graciously accepted my returns in accordance with their 100% satisfaction guarantee policy. Hooray for Craig for taking care of me. Hooray for Benadryl and related generics.

The highlight of the work week was getting last minute tickets to see Vienna Teng at Wolftrap. The space was very small and intimate. Think of a session of Unplugged, and that was our evening. Vienna was onstage for almost 2 hours and played a beautiful set. She's often compared to Tori Amos and Sarah McLaughlin and I can see why, but there's something different. I'd say she's more Sarah than Tori. After we left the show, we stopped by Wendy's and Taco Bell for the best dinner ever. Fries, frosties (with mix ins), tacos, quesadilla, YUM!

By the time the weekend made it here, we were cloaked again in constant rain. It started early Friday morning which raised a question about soccer later that night. It was on and off all day and became a constant mist/drizzle by rush hour. I was excited because it was the first time Craig was playing with us. We decided to show up and by some miracle, we had enough people to play. The other team scrounged up a few somehow, and it was an interesting game sloshing around in the mud. I've never played in the rain before on a grassy field (wet turf in college doesn't really count I don't think) so it was interesting. Before the game, the refs are talking to the captains and our captain is like, "Hey, can I see your ball?" As in the pink soccer ball that Craig got me. Before I could scoop it up and run it to the car like we never brought it, we surrender it. They're squeezing it, and I hear, "Yeah, I think this will do."

Do what? Panic sets in. They're going to lose my soccer ball in the woods! I'm keeping an eye on it while we're playing and entering a mini panic anytime it's cleared out. Luckily, it didn't get lost. Not only that, but our team won! Craig did well (as usual) and it was fun to be out there together. I had a couple of embarrassing moments but at least people got a laugh out of it. We've got one more game coming up next week, then I think we get a couple of weeks off before indoor starts up.

We were completely filthy and drenched by the end of the game. A quick shower later, we found ourselves at Dailey's place for Vegas Matt's going away party. It was nice to see all of my former coworkers. Everyone is pretty much the same. Kara was there too so it was cool. Even though we really didn't hang out with Vegas Matt much, he's a pretty cool guy and it was nice to know that he was around. We stuck around for a little over an hour, then hit up the Silver Diner for a late night bite.

And that's when Craig ate half of a tuna melt thinking it was turkey. We ordered turkey, but the waitress heard tuna unfortunately. I took a bite and thought, "This is the most rancid turkey I've ever had." And it looked nothing like the turkey slices that were in the club sandwich we were also sharing. Sniffing confirmed that the offending meat was indeed tuna, and I pushed it away. Bleh!

Saturday was gray and rainy, so we snuck in a trip to the Mall to check out a couple of museums. It was fairly crowded, so we spent a couple of hours downtown before we headed back. Ran some random errands then got dinner at a hole in the wall mexican place that turned out to be REALLY good! We watched Old School later that night and it was hilarious. "I'm here for the gang bang."

Sunday was beautiful though the wind was a little chilly. We went out to Great Falls and biked a little on the C&O trail. I was surprised that the trees lining the path were so green still! We were very careful to avoid holes, tree meatballs, snakes, and any other naturally occurring obstruction that you might find. I really enjoyed biking with Craig even though we weren't out for that long. It's fun to be on a bike, and even more important to get some biking time in on the weekends now that it's too dark after work to do it. The path we ride on is mostly gravel and shared with joggers and walkers. A lot of people bring their dogs because there are parks and trails connecting to this path. The most noteworthy thing about this path is that it's adjacent to a canal with gates (dams) that's no longer used for transporting goods. On the way back, we witnessed a rescue effort with a dog who couldn't get out of the water. He was hanging on to the bottom portion of a dock and for some reason just couldn't pull himself out. His owner shimmied across the gate and pulled the dog out. There was a scary moment when we though the dog had given up because he let himself slip into the water. I don't know what we would've done to help, but I'm sure it would have involved getting wet.

After the bike ride, we tried to play tennis, but all the courts in the neighborhood were occupied. Instead, we went to the elementary school field around the corner from the house and kicked the soccer ball around a little. Craig can be very entertaining (and patient!) with these things. It's fun to run around and be silly, but what's not cool is when Craig resorts to trickery. How am I supposed to know that you can't be offsides by yourself? Need to add that to my list of soccer rules from several entries ago.

Later that evening I cooked a simple dinner, and Tina stopped by to hang out too. After dinner, a ping pong tournament and dessert, it was time to call it quits on the weekend. I have been officially booted off the ping-pong champion contender list. Tina kicked some serious ping-pong butt last night.

Not sure what this week brings, but I have no doubt that it will be interesting.

posted by v @ 2:07 PM