Busy Weekend -- and Some Peace and Quiet!!

We had a busy weekend this weekend! It was our fourth wedding anniversary on Friday, and we celebrated by going out to a fancy dinner! It was actually interesting what happened, because I ended up having a meeting on Friday night at work (yeah I know; sucky time, eh?) and I didn't leave work until 7pm. By the time we arrived at the restaurant we wanted to go to, it was 7:40pm, and there was a 45 minute wait. Forty-five minutes! For the love of peanut butter, that's absolutely ridiculous! We were s-t-a-r-v-i-n-g by then. We decided to go by this relatively new place that is all fancy-schmancy, and they had no line. But it's a beautiful place in a relatively new hotel they renovated a couple of years ago. Cloth napkins and table clothes and everything!

Unfortunately, our waiter was at the end of his shift, and he was very anxious to go home, and we were his last table. So he could have cared less whether or not we had good service. It was marginal at best. But oh well, we had a great time and some yummy food.

We didn't get to bed until 10:30 (fine for me, but late for Bill!) and we were planning on going to my folks's house the next day. We got up, packed and left the house about 9:15 or so to make the 3-1/2 hour drive up to Etna. It was a nice day and a beautiful drive up there. We stopped in Yreka for some lunch at the Black Bear Diner. The county fair was in town, so even at 1:30 in the afternoon, the restaurant was crowded!! We had to stand in line for the bathrooms (well, I did; for some reason the women's room always has a line. What's that about?!? It never fails to amaze me that restaurants will have a single-toilet bathroom for the women. I mean, gimme a break). LOL

Anyway, we rolled into Etna about 2:30 or so and spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with my parents. They are doing well, and very active and healthy despite being on the cusp of their 80s. I hope I'm like that when I'm their age! We got to watch the deer that come into their yard on a regular basis. Etna is a little town in a mountain valley, and they have a deer family that "live" on their property. I guess you could say the deer let my parents live on their property! LOL It was a lot of fun to watch them, and I kicked myself all weekend for forgetting my camera.

There was a mama deer, two "teenage" bucks with little furry antlers forming on their foreheads. Also there were two fawns, just under a year old. They looked like Bambi. Fortunately, there is no hunter around to kill Bambi's mother! LOL They are tame enough that you can walk past them without making them run off; however if you head in their direction, they take off as fast as they can! But if you ignore them and walk past them without making any sudden movements, they will just lie in the grass and watch you very carefully.

That evening, after dinner, my Aunt Wanda, Uncle Al and cousin Dan came over for dessert, since they also live in Etna. We had a really nice visit. Both my parents and my aunt and uncle gave us anniversary gifts and cards. It was really nice!

We went to bed about 10:30 that evening, and the guest bed at my parents house is REALLY hard! But we were tired and went right to sleep. We both woke up a lot, but that probably had more to do with being in a strange place than anything else. Okay, yeah, the bed is extremely uncomfortable! (Sorry, Mom!). But it was worth it.

The next morning, we got up when we felt like it, and ate a leisurely breakfast. We had fruit slush, which is a wonderful concoction that my mom makes, and it is a tradition. Somehow it wouldn't be coming home without having fruit slush for breakfast! Dad watched golf on TV and Bill read the paper. I read my book after Mom and I cleaned up the kitchen. We just kind of relaxed the rest of the morning. We met the Kieps (my aunt and uncle and cousin) down at the local restaurant and we all had lunch together before Bill and I took off for home. We probably didn't leave Etna until about 1:30, and since we had had a lot of soda with lunch, and we stopped in Yreka at McDonald's for some soda on the way home, which meant I needed several potty stops! Ah, the joys of getting older . . . . NOT LOL

Anyway, it was a pleasant, uneventful drive home. We got home about 5:00 or so, we unpacked, did some laundry, and relaxed. We got hungry but there wasn't any food in the house, so I went to Raley's and got some chef's salads and fresh baked french bread, which was a yummy, refreshing meal. We fell into bed exhausted, but glad that we had such a fun and busy weekend.

Oh, and the peace and quiet that I referred to above? Well, remember my last post, when our upstairs neighbors came back on August 1st? They were here a few days, just enough to wreck havoc, and they're off again! I don't think the local university starts for a week or two, so they must be off on some partying adventure until it's time to buckle down. Actually, I don't give a flying monkey what they're doing; all I know is that it is very peaceful and quiet upstairs again!!! I know it won't last, so I am trying to enjoy it all I can. I loooooooove it right now. The TV is off, the dishwasher is done with its cycle, and it is q-u-i-e-t. Ahhhhhhhhh. I know it won't last, but I am savoring it for all its worth.

They're baaaaack!

Yesterday was August 1st. The local university starts real soon. And guess who is back from their summer break. Yup. You got it. The wild monkeys/elephants neighbors are back upstairs. And last night? They were in FINE form!!

It sounded like they were picking up and dropping boxes. And since they were moving back in, that may have been what they were doing. Either that or they were wrestling alligators!!

We had such a wonderful, peaceful summer. It was absolutely fabulous. Not a footstep up there. Not a single party. Not a single episode of running up and down the hallway, screaming at the top of their lungs. No Guitar Hero with bass drum set (which involves pounding as hard as you can on the floor with your foot (their floor = our ceiling). Yeah. Greeeeeeeat.

Please tell me: Why do college age girls scream like banshees at the top of their lungs?!? Why?!? I was a college age girl once, and I don't remember doing that. I so don't get it.

And my cranky nearly-50 year old self is really, really not liking it at. all.

*sigh*

Quick update

Sorry I haven't gotten to Part 2 of our trip to SF to see the Giants play. I've been super busy at work, and with the smoke and all in the air from the fires, I haven't been feeling too well. In fact, I stayed home today with a migraine. No fun!

I'll get to it later. We're still alive; just tired. Having poor air quality really begins to take its toll after awhile. I may just post the rest of our pics if I don't have time to write a full post. I wish I had a great memory for details the way Jake does in Tales of a Dysfunctional Family blog (see link on the right). Must be because he's still young! :-) And they have a great group of families on their block. They all play together, hang out together -- it's really awesome. It's the way neighborhoods are supposed to be. That's the same neighborhood where my SIL and her family live. They are very lucky to have such great neighbors. Jake, you have no idea how convenient it is for a parent to have such a reliable babysitter just across the street! :-)

Anyway, I'm tired and still fuzzy from the Vicodin. Have a good one, everybody!