ok folks, i have had a decent weekend, and my mood is back to the usual sunny one that you have come to expect. the carpet in the family room is almost completely dry now, but just smells unpleasant. hopefully it will smell better after it's been cleaned.

so, weekend in review: we started out by going to chite and banzai2326's house to help them paint their nursery for their baby who is due soon. i also helped build a sort of storage table and a baby changing table. it was a good excuse to get to see them, but hopefully we helped them get some things done that would have been more difficult without extra hands to help. i was also thrilled to observe that they both like to play settlers of cataan which i haven't been able to play in years. some time after the child is born, it's been agreed that we will get together to play.

saturday we had a bunch of contractors come and go. tallulah must have been extra hyper because she peed twice in the house, once in the sun room, once in the office next to a pile of books. most of the books were spared, but one that got doused was pattern recognition by william s. gibson. i was mortified. good thing it wasn't a signed edition, i'd have really been upset.

anyway, the cabinet doors to the library shelves are in, and it looks great. calico corners came by to get one of the mattresses for the day beds, and the landscaper came by on time this time and had some interesting ideas about the yard. not sure which way we'll wind up going, but i figure we'll have two good estimates, so that should help. either way, i think the landscaping of the yard will have to be redone as it currently slopes straight toward the house which is not a good thing when we get the kind of rain we've been getting.

at 3 we went to a party that was being thrown by a friend of mine from work. it was a really great party, and the first time i got to see his house. he lives pretty close to us. i brought over a bottle of duckhorn paraduxx wine. paraduxx is a vintage that is 76% cabernet, 24% zinfandel, and really really good. it was a 2003 release. everyone seemed to like it, and i found out that we had a few more wine lovers in the office. around 6, lkell went to another party, but i decided to remain at the first one, as i really wasn't up for going into virginia. i got a ride home, spent time with the dogs, watched some tv, played around on the computer and that was it.

sunday, i mostly just slept. i went out for a couple of errands, had lunch at mcginty's where the bartender turned out to be the nephew of two of my childhood friends. the harrigan family was huge (like 11 children i think), and one of the sisters got married when i was 5 i think. long story short, the last time i saw matt (the bartender) he probably wasn't more than 6 or 7 years old. we both shook our heads over this, and had a good laugh. i shall have to visit mcginty's for lunch more often.

so, i've gotten the batteries recharged. i feel better. we hopefully will not have any more emergencies.

and tomorrow is the 4th of july. i think for a change it will actually be independence day for me this year rather than 'the day dad died' as it has been for the last few years. in 2003, well, it was the day dad died, in 2004, we were supposed to visit cape cod to visit my aunt mary but couldn't because mom broke her shoulder and left it alone for 2 days before calling anyone, thus requiring shoulder replacement surgery. not a good time. last year i just wanted to get past the week between june 26 and july 4 as fast as possible because i'd come to regard it as the time that bad things happen.

and yeah, this year that week hasn't exactly been fun, but i don't feel quite as shell shocked as i did the previous ones. here's hoping that this is a continuing trend.