smacky and bucky

We had some relatively new friends down to the river over Memorial Day weekend. It was... interesting. (No tedious details in case they somehow find this. Let's just say they were a little high maintenance).

Now to the interesting part: Sunday afternoon our neighbor came over and said he was having a party and we were invited. This guy owns a construction company and throws big outdoor parties on the major outdoor holidays. You may recall that he also does the fireworks show for the county in his backyard on the 4th of July! He said, "The band starts at 6, and an Elvis impersonator is coming on at 7:30." Wait... what?

Well, our evening was planned! We got the kids fed early (the friends have a two-year-old daughter) and we walked over just before 7:30. We sat on the grass in front of the stage and waited. The familiar strains of Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 by Strauss began (Elvis began his show with this piece from the late '60s through his tours in the '70s). At the climax, colored smoke grenades (for lack of a proper term) shot into the sky and the guy ran out of the house and to the stage. 

 He sounded pretty darn close to the real deal! Laura said she didn't know some of the songs he played (she's not the fan of his music I am) and I explained that this guy included songs that were hits of the time period he was supposed to represent (between 1972 and 1974, I'd say)--songs that were part of Elvis's show then.

The Eagle on the Back

He performed for 1.5 hours (until it got dark) and even wandered into the audience and kissed women and handed out scarves! Laura forbade me from getting his attention and pointing at her. Oh well, no kiss for her!

"Elvis" sings to an adoring female fan.

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Today's agenda includes getting a motor boat into the water, finishing straightening up before friends arrive late morning, find a big action figure Henry can play with (he wanted the Marvel Legends build-a-figure Galactus, but at the risk of sounding like a big(ger than usual) geek, I doubt the planet eater would survive an encounter with toddler boy!) and then trying to relax and enjoy the weekend...

The construction next door to my office is getting noisy, so I put on headphones this morning and put the iPod on shuffle. I'm editing away, song after song coming and going generally unnoticed.

Then a live version of Nine Inch Nail's Sin came on. Hot damn! I had to stop and bounce in my chair a while. It's a band I don't actively seek out very often anymore, but when one of their songs comes on I remember how much I do like them.

Memorial Day weekend. We're taking Friday off to make it four days long. Because that's how it's done!

So, things have been a bit nutty. Henry is finishing up the last of his doctor's appointments and getting the "all clear" on his heart (yippee,) and Laura? Oh yeah, she's pregnant! 14 weeks. Due date is November 20. And it's a little brother for our resident redhead! Can you believe it?

I think the med I take for anxiety might be turning me into an asshole.

I feel like I should update. I haven't really been any busier than usual. Not really. I had to play "catch up" a little after missing a week for H's surgery, but it wasn't awful. Playoff hockey kept me occupied through the first two rounds. Darn it, the Caps lost in game 7 to the Rangers. Sigh. Still, they beat the defending champs (Bye, Bruins!) and came darn close to beating the #2 ranked team in the division. Not bad for a team that almost didn't make the playoffs at all!!! Henry is doing amazing. His scar (or his "boo boo" as he calls it) is a thin pink line. Since all the scabbing is gone, he's cleared for swimming in the pool over Memorial Day weekend! He points to the TV or my jersey and says "ockey!" We have fun watching it together. As usual, other things are also going on (aren't they always?) that I can't go into yet, but overall things are going really well. Looking forward to the weekend. L's sister from NYC is coming down for the weekend to see the boy.

I've never read Where the Wild Things Are, nor was it read to me as a child. I was a Dr. Seuss and A.A. Milne kid (Winnie the Pooh).

Tonight Henry picked up his stick and said "Hockey!" when he saw me. His mommy told him there was a Caps game tonight!

Taking a little while to get used to the new Blogger look. And I refuse to connect it to Google +. Why can't they understand you need to keep things separate sometimes? If I wanted everything joined, I would just send my blog link directly to my family and coworkers. Sheesh.

The kid continues to do amazingly. His scar is a small pink line now, with no scabbing. He's not taking ANY pain meds. He's sleeping through the night. He's playing and singing and dancing all over the place just like before. His spirit hasn't been dimmed one iota.

Oh, and I was a Very Good Husband (VGH) this week. On Wednesday, Laura said she wanted to go to the river place a day early, but didn't want to deal with two cars on Sunday. I called her sister and asked what her weekend plans were (dead end). Then I said "what the heck, might as well try," and asked her mother (who lives down there) if she or her husband would be coming up to our area on Thursday, by chance. Long shot, right?

Well, it turned out that at the very moment I asked, her husband (my father-in-law) was on the phone. They were asking him to come up where we are for a meeting Thursday morning. This was the first time he had to come up here in over two months! Fate! I quickly asked and confirmed that he could swing by in the afternoon, pick up Laura, Henry, and our two dogs and take them back with him. She got a free ride down a day early thanks to me, her VGH.

I'm heading down there after work. Weekend plans are: Game 4 of Caps vs. Rangers at noon Saturday, cutting brush after that (think GW Bush on his ranch), then jumping in the pool to cool off before dinner (L's parents--our next door neighbors down there--have a pool!).

Yeah, traffic on the way down this afternoon will most likely suck. But it's worth it to escape the city.