prev
archive
blog
next
Just in case anyone's curious, here's the playlist for "Mixyness 2004 - Hip Hoppy Goodness":
Jay-Z - 99 Problems
Black Eyed Peas - Hey Mama
Shawnna - Shake that Shit
Ludacris - Stand Up
G-Unit - Wanna Get to Know You
Chingy - One Call Away
Dilated Peoples - This Way
Nina Sky - Move Ya Body
Elephant Man - Jook Gal
Jadakiss - Time's Up
Young Gunz - Can't Stop, Won't Stop
T.I. - Rubberband Man
2Pac - California Love
Darude - Sandstorm
Usher - Confessions Part II
I'm grateful for Xenadrine, which is pushing me through a very tedious day.
I'm trying to cut down on the amount of food I stuff into my pie hole - so far, a bowl of cereal and a smoothie aren't cutting it. My kingdom for a high metabolism.
Last night's Driftwood "cocksucker" count was 38. If we had been playing the drinking game, we would have been in a coma.
99 Problems but a bitch ain't one
If you havin girl problems i feel bad for you son
I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one
Hit me
"99 Problems" by Jay-Z (my new favorite song)
2003 - Living in Suburbia
2002 - A story about a horse
2001 - Michael's high school graduation
Storyteller
Bio
People
Links
Recipes
Books
May 24, 2004
Simply Put
It seems like it's been a while since I wrote your basic "this is what we did this weekend" entry. Calvin likes to remind me of how important it is to write about the day-to-day things, that are such a joy to go back and read over months and years down the road. He says some of his favorite entries are the ones in which I write about the simple times we've spent together as a family at home.
It's nice to be able to say that we had a really nice weekend. Most of them are nice, to the point that we're starting to take them for granted. I'm trying to think of the exact recipe that creates a weekend from which I emerge refreshed, instead of resentful that it's Sunday night and I have to go back to the grind in a matter of hours. But I didn't feel that way this weekend - other than the fact that I didn't want our nice, homey time spent together to end. I guess there needs to be some relaxing, some sleeping in, some time spent in the yard, some alone time with Calvin, some sort of family-oriented activity, some good food, some good tunes, and some good TV. At least, that's what seemed to work for us this weekend.
Friday was a hellish day at work - so much so that when it came time to get ourselves together to go over to Archibael's for a party, we decided that staying home was more along the lines of what we were up for. (Sorry, Archibael! You're probably mad because we didn't call. We're bad, bad friends.) I spent close to two hours putting together a new mix CD ("Mixyness 2004 - Hip Hoppy Goodness"), while Calvin played DJ on the stereo and kept me supplied with fresh beverages. Marie's friends stopped by to whisk her away to get ice cream and hang out, and we called and chatted with Michael and Lilly for a while ("Quick, Michael, talk to your father! He's listening to Madonna!"). Anthony is starting to walk and has said his first words, Michael got a second job to supplement their income while he's off-duty, and Lilly had her first doc's appointment for the new baby - she's due in December.
I finally wrapped up the downloading and burned the CD, and Calvin and I hopped in the truck to test it out. We traced the route that is starting to become habit - up the road to Downtown Scottsdale, back down through Mill Avenue (we love driving the bridge at night when it's all lit up) and home again, all the while people-and-car watching. Last weekend we did this same thing, except that we "changed" the Avalanche so the back could accommodate a flock of teenagers (Marie and four or five of her friends). We removed the back window and rolled down all the windows, and the kids kept entreating us to "turn it up!" when a good song came on. And the Mill Avenue cops kept telling us to "turn it down!" as we stopped at a red light in front of the shops and restaurants along the street.
Darn buzzkill bicycle cops. Calvin cranked it back up as soon as the light turned green. I bet he would have run if the cops had started pedaling after us. Heh.
Anyway, we ran into no cops on Friday night, though there were plenty of them around. We stopped at McDonald's for a shake and meandered around before returning home and calling it a night.
Saturday morning we got up early and took yet another trip to the zoo. Calvin's company was throwing a summer event there, that included free admission and a barbecue lunch. The event forced Marie and her boyfriend (who we picked up at 9:30) to (gasp!) get up BEFORE NOON on a SATURDAY. It managed to stay below ninety degrees almost the whole time we were there - we scarfed the food as fast as we could and managed, I think, to get out of there before noon. Highlight of the trip - Marie shocked the hell out of some old woman walking by as she (Marie, not the old lady) ripped out a massive, Coke-induced burp. Ah, our classy daughter. We're so proud.
A lot of the animals were slumbering in the shade or hiding out in the non-viewable areas of their... uh, areas. And the poor lion was looking so sad - his mate died in December and the zoo keeper says they're not going to get another once since lions mate for life. The zoo really depresses me, sometimes. Take the mountain lion, for instance. Used to having, you know, mountains to roam in, but instead is confined to an area the size of a typical suburban house lot. And the tiger, who just paced back and forth, back and forth, bored out of his mind. A lot of the animals have no mates or friends of their own species to hang out with - they're the only one in the exhibit. And that just makes me sad. Even though I know the zoo does a good job taking care of these animals, and does a lot of rehabilitation work. I just hate to see wild animals all caged up.
Speaking of wild animals... we got a harness and leash for Oz. Heh. He's an indoor cat, due to his declawed state, and causes a HUGE fuss whenever we all bail into the back yard and leave him to sit behind the closed door and yowl his displeasure through the glass. Every now and then we'll carry him outside and hold him while we sit on the patio, but he always struggles to get down and explore. So, it is harnessy goodness for him. He didn't seem to flip out too badly - we put the harness on him and let him roam around the house to get used to it. He kept trying to run away from it, probably figuring that if he ran fast enough it would magically fly off or something. Then he'd flop on the floor and wrestle around, trying to bite at where it comes across his chest. Then he'd forget for a minute and go chase something. Then remember and flop on the floor again.
Anyway, I gave him a chance to mellow out, then hooked the leash on and carried him to the back yard. I set him down on the grass and stood there for a second. He just crouched there and didn't move - grass is an alien thing for him, I think. So I sat on the grass next to him and talked to Calvin (who was putting together a bird bath purchased earlier from The Crack Store... I mean, Home Depot), while he owl-ed his head around trying to see all the birds in the yard at once. Then Calvin let the dogs loose from the side yard, and they made a beeline over to the cat to see what the hell he was doing outside. Gypsy's tail was going a mile a minute, like she'd never seen the cat before. Weirdo. The cat was still crouching there on the grass, so I picked him up and carried him over to the patio so I could sit in a chair. Then he decided to flip out, darting back out into the yard and experiencing his first encounter with the end of the leash. Flip, flop flop, flippy flop. I chirped at him and got him to sit still long enough, then picked him up and brought him back inside to recover.
Then I put a blanket down on the grass and took a nap in the shade. Woke up, went inside, saw that Pretty Woman was just starting on HBO, and sat down to watch it. Lost Calvin about halfway through the movie, and as the credits were rolling, went off to hunt for him. Found him out on the patio, asleep on the lounge chair. One slipper on his foot, one about ten feet behind him on the ground. Apparently a bug landed on him as he snoozed, and his slipper came flying off when he kicked his leg to dislodge it.
We went to our friend's house after dinner to hang out and watch movies, and were back home by 12:30 - in time to watch a bit of TV with Marie, who was back home and watching some show about depression, drugs, and alcohol abuse in teenagers.
We slept in until the unheard of hour of 11:30 on Sunday, and I spent a solid hour in front of Spike TV clipping coupons and putting the grocery list together. Calvin tackled the yardwork in the back yard while I did the floors and the laundry, then we sat out on the patio sipping beer and watching for hummingbirds to come to the feeder. Gadget came over and sat next to Calvin, prompting Calvin to exclaim, "Jesus, Gadget, you smell like roadkill!" So we gave the dogs a bath. They always hate the actual bathing process, but then run around and roll in the grass in ecstasy when they're done.
Then we got cleaned up and went to the grocery store, searching out ingredients to make Gourmet Tacos ala Calvin for dinner. Among other necessities. $183 freakin' bucks worth of necessities.
Marie went to her boyfriend's for dinner, and Calvin and I spent an enjoyable hour in the kitchen preparing food, sipping Coronas, and listening to music. This is one of my favorite things to do with him - the two of us hanging out, chopping and stirring and whatnot, experimenting with spices and combinations, and taking frequent pauses in our passings to give hugs and kisses. The only way to describe the feeling is just... very, very nice. Peaceful. Loving. I just adore it.
Good heavens, though, the actual EATING experience was practically orgasmic. Can I say that here? Yes? Okay. I mean, REALLY. When Calvin starts messing around in the kitchen, the results are usually extraordinary. He did up these steak soft tacos - fillet, mind you - sauteed in some sort of lime sauce and a bunch of spices. And he made this sauce to pour over it - sour cream and green chilis and green sauce and ranch and spices and goodness knows what else. It was FANTASTIC. I made mine (two!) as double-decker tacos, with a small flour tortilla spread with black refried beans, wrapped over a white corn taco shell. I filled that with the steak, cheese, lettuce, tomato, salsa, and the sauce Calvin made.
I grabbed my food, a fresh beer, and a couple of napkins, and urged Calvin to hurryhurryhurry, so we could go sit out on the patio (hurry!) and enjoy our meal under the misters (misters - that always looks like it's spelled wrong, for some reason). He always takes forever to prepare his plate, while I just slap everything together and make a beeline for the table/couch/patio/meal resting place.
I like to eat.
We inhaled the tacos (have I mentioned? Incredible?) and relaxed, enjoying the quiet evening and cooling temperatures. We thought to look at the clock right at 7:00, and bailed back into the living room to watch "Deadwood". See today's "Grinning" on the sidebar. It's a good thing Deadwood is on on Sundays, otherwise we would play the drinking game. Neither one of us cherish the thought of a Monday morning hangover, though. We did... other things... for the next hour, and then Marie's arrival coincided with The Sopranos. I won't give it away in case anybody hasn't seen the episode yet, but let me just say, "I called it." I totally saw that coming. Well, and who didn't, really?
The end of The Sopranos marks "bedtime" in our house on Sunday night. Such a nice weekend.
Comments on this entry? Head on over to Colloquial!