It was a great and busy weekend, and it started one day early, because I took Friday off from work. Instead of a day answering telephones and being bored at my desk, I went to Ocean City with
afterknowledge and wowbagger to visit ragnartheviking. It was pouring when I woke up, and for most of our drive, but it had mostly stopped by the time we arrived at Ann's family's place, and we got to spend plenty of time outside, even if it wasn't sunny enough for swimming. We ate a hefty lunch, said hello to the Atlantic, walked along the boardwalk, and just generally visited. It was a lovely day, and I'm very glad I went.Saturday,
psychephage and I went to my company's Employee Appreciation Day at Camden Yards. There was a party in the Warehouse ahead of time, which meant that we were in the city before the traffic picked up, so there was much less stress than last weekend. Free food and free beer and free baseball caps later, we headed out into the beating sun to watch the Orioles beat up the Red Sox. Stupid sunblock-free Joanna got incredibly sunburned from the shoulders down to the backs of the hands- thus the pain. The sun was really and truly brutal. Even Mr. I'm-Part-Hawaiian-And-Have-Never-Been-SuLater was PLOJ at Perk, which is essentially a whole bunch of musicians coming together with food and instruments and playing whatever they feel like playing for hours and hours. My contribution was basically just carrying the cotton candy (an accompaniment to Sharif's trashbag full of popcorn), after which I sat and ate and listened. It was good fun. Hanging out with so many talented people really makes me wish, though, that I was musical. Someday I'll have that fiddle. Or a harmonica. Or . . . um . . . banjo. (I don't know why my making-music desires lean so strongly toward the extreme country. It meshes not at all with my listening habits.) Highlights of the night included ramekins (instead of shots) of caramel vodka,
mightcould's macaroni & cheese, Rocky Horror songs performed extremely enthusiastically, Sharif playing bass and piano simultaneously, and of course lots and lots of music. I really enjoyed myself. At the end of it (after 2am), I was exhausted. And I didn't even do anything.Sunday I slept until very late morning, so I started my day with half of a burrito left over from Friday's dinner. I cleaned for a while, took a short walk, and then played Ratchet & Clank on the Playstation for a good while. After dinner, Sharif and Erica and the Tim came by to play Trivial Pursuit and watch Iron Chef America. I was the ultimate loser at Trivial Pursuit, but I think I won the "Most Amusing Question Reading" contest when I sang the question "How many days do physiologists say it takes to recover from a strenuous workout?" to the tune of "Blowing in the Wind". I don't know why it was so funny, but it seemed to make an impression. (The answer, my friend, is two. Sharif said three. Sharif fails.)
Today, Monday. Work. Full week. Sigh.
