Well it only took 5 days of busting my hump, but I finally managed a day off from my days off!!! I've been pretty busy since Saturday, and while I haven't managed to check off a whole lot of items on my "To do" list for this vacation, I have accomplished a lot of things on my long-term goal list.
My vacation ramped up into high gear first thing on Friday night. Cody and I had the pleasure of attending a local independent theater's production of "Rent: School Edition". The cast was comprised of teenagers, and their were a few minor tweaks to content and language, but for all intents and purposes, it was the same show I've come to know and love.
The only drawback (other than some sound issues that I hope were corrected after opening night) was the heat! The theater company rents a space on the third floor of an old brick building (part of a church complex), which means no A/C. Those of you who know me know that I don't like air conditioning all that much, but Friday was certainly an exception.
We were sweating our asses off, and I felt so bad for the actors, as the play is set mostly in winter in NYC, so their wardrobe consisted of winter clothes - including coats and scarves! Not to mention the musicians and techs were sitting up near the ceiling... Those poor people were soaking in their own sweat all night!
Saturday went well. I mentioned in my previous post that I was working on a big surprise project and was planning to attend a birthday celebration. I got the necessary work done on the choir project in order to hand out music and have mp3s to play for practice on Sunday, thankfully.
The birthday celebration was a hoot. Great food, awesome friends, and learning a lot about the people I've grown to love as well as a few exciting bits of our denomination's history.
Sunday was started with church and choir practice, and by the time I got home, I was whooped. I had stayed up later than usual to finish up choir music, and unfortunately woke up way too early without being able to fall back asleep. I think that I was in the house, stripped to my skivvies, and in bed asleep within 10 minutes of pulling in the driveway.
My nap lasted a bit longer than I had intended, but I felt so much better when I woke up. Of course I had to hit the ground running and get some shopping done that afternoon. By the time I got back home from running errands and had dinner, the day was pretty well over.
We had a bit of a false start getting out of the house on Monday morning, but we eventually made it to the zoo sometime around 11am. A friend of ours met us there, and overall we had a pretty good time. Unfortunately, I was going on day three of a mid-grade headache, which made the day difficult at times, but I was determined not to let it ruin the day for Cody and Rick.
After the zoo, we went to Edgewater Park and walked the beach for a while. Talk about nasty. Our lake is filthy, people. We seriously need to work on that. And for all the exposes on the news about that park being a gay cruising area, the only questionable behavior we saw involved a man and a woman. Luckily what we saw was far enough away from any children, as the beach wasn't too heavily populated on this particular evening. While this "gentleman" may have enjoyed being serviced with a view of the waves rolling on shore, I was a little put off by the fact that they didn't bother to go behind anything. They were tucked back into the tree line, but there was nothing to block the dead-on view. Options for freaking them out were discussed amongst the three of us, but we decided to play it safe and not approach or say anything.
We then moved on to a restaurant in the area that is quite popular, and therefore had to wait over an hour and a half for a table. Talk about frustrating. It was after 9pm by the time we got our food. We won't be going back there that late anytime soon! The food was really good, but I don't know that it's so good I'd be willing to wait that long to go back.
Tuesday was just freakin' awesome. We went to visit Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, and even though it took a lot out of both Cody and I physically, it was well worth it. It is quite a beautiful place to visit!!!
Wednesday was a bit odd. I managed to get a little work done around the house before we headed off to have lunch with our Pastor. After lunch, I shut myself in the Pastor's conference room and sorted through a file drawer of old choir music. After having gotten about as far as I wanted for the day, I was ready to go, but Cody and one of the other guys had started a big labor-intensive project, and they wanted to get a bit further before calling it a day, so I was "stuck" there for a while.
I had been planning for a couple of months to try and make time to sort through several boxes of old music that were stored up in the seldom-used gym balcony. Since I was going to have to wait around for who knows how long, I decided to dive into that. Suffice it to say that the project ended up being a bit more involved than I thought, and I spent several hours working on it again yesterday.
I had to run out and pick a few things up before heading to the church to work, and while I was out I finally got the Starbuck's I have been craving since the beginning of my vacation.
By the time I got home and let the dogs out and mowed the lawn, I had just enough time to have a few PB&J sandwiches and then head right back out the door. Cody and I were at the foodbank last night for a couple of hours sorting through food with our couples group. We were both so exhausted when we got home that even though we wanted to sit and watch a movie together, we were having trouble staying awake and decided to hit the sack.
Which brings us to today! I kind of want to head back over to the church so that I can try to finish the project I started, but Cody and I have decided we need a day to be home before this vacation is over. Granted, I've got a lot of house and yard work to get done, but at least I'll be at home.
Other than heading out to pick up a friend's truck later this evening, we have no need or desire to leave our property today. I'm hoping to be able to get some tangible work done around here, but I also want to be able to relax a bit too. I guess we'll hust have to wait and see...
