The long, long weekend
This is of course, one of the big summer holidays; and in the news business, that means it’s time to work!
My 4th of July festivities actually started on Thursday when I was sent down the shore to report on the start of the weekend. Not a bad gig, but I wasn’t playing, I was editing sound and writing. I did take a few minutes though to kick off my shoes and ask some nice passerby snap a photo of me.
The next day, I was going to chill out and catch up on stuff I wanted to do at home — organize my closet, go through old papers, work out and relax. However, my mom left me a message that everyone was getting together and hanging out for a BBQ. Isaac was even there, home from London, so I didn’t want to miss it — and Courtney was even there, too. I rushed to catch the train to the burbs right after work. It was a lot of fun hanging out, although I have to admit, my family is so silly. We do crazy things like when everyone decides they all want to get in the jacuzzi together, even though my parents have a big pool right behind it. (It’s not heated or anything, but at least there’s more space.) But oh well, we do what we wish. This video kind of cracks me up:
All was fun and good until it was discovered that one of the kids had a poop in his pants. Then it was a mad rush to get out. Poor mom and dad have to drain the jacuzzi, now.
We all hung out in the backyard until it got dark.
The next day was Saturday, the actual 4th of July. I worked, then worked out, then met up with Mike, who had brought his bicycle over earlier in the week. We rode our bikes out to Gretchen and Laura’s condo complex where they held their annual 4th of July neighbors party. Here’s Laura, me and Gretchen:
We had some good conversation, ate some chips, and topped it off with Rich and Aaron showing us dirty videos on Laura’s computer. I guess that was our cue to go check out the fireworks.
So Mike and I biked down to the Parkway and somehow maneuvered our way though the throngs of people there to see the free Sheryl Crow concert and fireworks. We pulled off to the side and settled into a baseball field where lots of people were hanging out. We laid out our blanket and picnic and even though we couldn’t see the stage, we could still hear it. Hey, at least we’d see the fireworks, right?
Wrong. We were all comfortable when we realized the trees to our right would block the entire view. There was a mad stampede to get a good view, but we didn’t want to deal with the crowd so we stayed. Mike made a joke about the obstructed view, and we saw the colorful smoke that billowed above the trees.
I didn’t take photos, but it was dark and we didn’t see much, anyway. It was fun, though. The company was great.
Sunday was a day to sort of get back into my groove. My afternoon dance class was cancelled, but I still had a weights class to teach in the morning. I would’ve skipped it, but I didn’t arrange for a sub and I had been out a couple of weeks in a row. When I got there at 9:30 am, bright and early, I was told the time had been changed — to 10:30!!!!! Thanks for the notification, PSC.
Later, Mike, Marlo, Heather and I spend the afternoon lounging on Marlo’s fabulous poolside roofdeck. We swam, we joked, we ate snacks, and I got terribly sunburned. The sun sure got the best of me that day, because Mike and I were planning on taking the excursion to Chestnut Hill… but ended up falling asleep at 9pm.
That excursion was pushed to Monday, and we made a pit-stop at Tamir and Jen’s house to drop off a gift for Leo’s 2nd birthday. Isaac was there too, his last day before returning to London to pack up his flat.
It was a beautiful day. We rode out on Mike’s motorcycle. I had my ipod playing in my ears under my helmet. It was warm out, and the trees smelled so good.
A little later Mike and I left to go get changed and go out to dinner in Chestnut Hill.
We went to Cin Cin and I have to say, it was one of those meals that was soooo good! I love those, you know, the kind you still remember after it’s done. Especially the coffee ice cream cake at the end. Yum! What a perfectly sweet ending to a really fun holiday weekend.
