I told Berta that I was pleased with the business of the weekend, but I’m not sure she understood what I was talking about. After all, we’ve been busy every weekend almost nonstop since Spring, so why would being busy this weekend please me? Because it wasn’t all work.
Saturday, out of the blue, Bob called. He says they’ve found a buyer for his house, and he’s got to move out by Tuesday. He had called Dave and Jenn a month ago about taking his roleplaying stuff so he wouldn’t have to haul it to Idaho or Utah or some sadly distant and obscure mountain state. Of course, Jenn grabbed the miniatures and then they were never heard from about the books. So he called me.
I had a ton of boxes left over from our move, and was glad to pass them on to someone who could use them. Bob and I packed up the roleplaying books into some filing boxes I brought, and tossed them into the van with the long table that we used to play on in Bob’s basement.
The best part, apart from talking to Bob again after so long, was that he found my Warhammer Quest set! All of the tiles and books and miniatures were in the case, all labeled and ready to play. I was pretty upset about having lost that thing, and was equally glad to have recovered it. Seriously, that box represents a $200-$300 investment in cash, and the painting job that Berta and I did on those minis isn’t something I would want to have to do over again. I’ll have to take pictures of them to post, because they’re awesome.
So, I wasted a good bit of Saturday afternoon over at Bob’s, stranding Berta and the kids by taking the van. When I got back, Berta helped unload the books and we set out in search of dinner.
The elusive dinner out has escaped us for a few weeks. It’s hard to take the kids out. If they’re not properly rested, or the restaurant isn’t properly interesting, or the food isn’t properly satisfying, then the experience isn’t pleasant for anyone. Getting everything perfect is very hard, and we usually come home broken, tired, and commited to dinners at home in perpetuity.
Saturday night we arrived at Cheeseburger Paradise and were given the news of the hour-and-fifteen-minutes wait. We got a beeper and wandered off into the shopping center.
The only store within walking distance was the Game Stop. We puttered around in there. Riley pulled boxes off the shelf and hended them to me, “Here you go, Daddy.”
Abby seemed uncharacteristically interested in the StarFox game on the GameCube. When Berta was first pregnant, it was one of my dreams that Abby would liek to play video games with me, since Berta, while she enjoys doing things with me, just (sorry, Bert) isn’t that good at them. I had completely forgotten about this desire through Abby’s toddler years, since, well, she couldn’t hold the controller, much less pull off a fatality. But this at least fleeting interest in StarFox was neat to watch, and I wonder if she’d play it if we had the game for our GameCube at home.
We ended up waiting a bit longer in the car until dinner, but it wasn’t too long. We sat near the bar, at a “first available” table, but it wasn’t so bad. Riley had a great time pretending to be a giant monster, eating the little boats in the photo that was laminated to our tabletop.
The food was ok. Burgers, you know? Riley got two little mini-burgers, which he disassembled and ate. Abby didn’t like her chicken fingers. I suppose they sound good when she hears them on the menu, but she just doesn’t like them. I think maybe we should order for her so that she gets something we know she likes.
But the best part of the evening– No crying. No screaming. No flinging food. It was the perfect dinner out. When the waiter arrived to ask about dessert, we told him “no”, not wanting to press our luck.
From there, we headed to Barnes and Noble to pick out a couple of videos. Berta’s been tired of having to use Abby’s ballet DVDs as exercise on rainy days, so she picked up a Tai Chi video and some Pilates Cardio workout DVD.
Sunday.
Sunday afternoon, we met Ken, Kate, and Bella in West Chester for the chili cookout. The turnout this year was smaller than last year, but the chili was generally improved. There were only a couple of bad samples, and you could tell by looking at them that they weren’t going to be good, yet you couldn’t politely stand in front of a booth and refuse the chili when it was offered.
From there, we all came back to the house to watch the Eagles and Cowboys play. Bella and the kids crawled around the house and had a good time, while Ken and I watched the game.
The Eagles defense literally won that game. It wasn’t as though the Eagles’ offense was misfiring, but the Cowboy defense wasn’t so powerful as to cause the Eagles to fail. It’s not that the Eagles offense isn’t talented. I find myself unable to describe what’s going on there. There’s no good reason that the offense isn’t walking over their opponents, but they’re just not. They struggle to keep the ball on some posessions. No idea why.
Still, it was a good game right up until the end. We were convinced we were going into overtime up until the turnover, and then, obviously, it was all over.
Next week’s game against New Orleans should be good, too. The Saints have a good playing team.
And that’s pretty much it for the weekend. I guess there’s some kind of wedding this coming weekend. Another cousin of Berta’s that I’ve never met. Next weekend, WordPress meetup - New York?
