This really hasn’t been the summer I imagined it would be. I imagined a lot more cycling. I imagined a lot more pool time. I imagined a lot more grilling. I imagined working on my deck, and actually being done by now. I imagined a lot less emotional turmoil. I also imagined being employed. Of those, I’ve cycled some. I’ve had a little pool time. I’ve even done a little grilling on my new Brinkman smoker, with some quality time spent on new folding camping chairs with good friends. However, I’ve not been employed, and thus, have not even started on the deck. It simply costs too much right now.
The interviews are going well, though I’ve not landed an offer yet. My interview on Tuesday holds a lot of promise for me. It really sounds like a good position, with good fit now while still presenting a lot of opportunity for personal growth, and a lot of upward mobility.
What I am doing, however, is keeping myself busy. Last week, between visiting one friend on Saturday, Margaritas at another friend’s house on Sunday, the Def Leppard concert on Tuesday, 4th of July on Wednesday, visiting family Thursday night, helping the same friend move on Friday (happy happy pool time!), and yet another friend’s 40th birthday on Saturday, it was a very full, and very fullfilling week. The next few months look to be much of the same. There are trips to the Ozarks, wine tasting weekends, weddings, bridal showers, a few long rides and all the shorter training rides I will enjoy. We’re already planning a year in advance as well… trips to Colorado, Oregon, the Virgin Islands and perhaps Jamaica are all in the works for later this year and next. In all honesty, I’m purposely keeping the docket full on account of the emotional Turmoil I mentioned earlier. Keeping oneself busy is a good way to slowly replace painful thoughts and memories with new and exciting thoughts and memories.
In fact, keeping my calendar full has become something of an obsession.
On to the week in review…
Visiting my friend on Saturday, was very nice. It was a a little bit catching up, a little bit recapturing old habits and attitudes of years gone by. We hung out a lot more during a period of my life that hindsight reveals to have been a very happy period. We had lots and lots of fun back then… Seeing her again is a pleasant reminder of that. Later that night, margaritas at another friend’s house, with her best friend, and her Mom was a blast. Try as I might, however, I just couldn’t get even a little bit “relaxed” with the Margaritas. Still, given that I was the only guy amongst all that estrogen, I kinda needed to keep my wits about me.
Monday was quiet, b/c on Tuesday we went to Def Leppard/Styx/Foreigner at Sandstone Amphitheater (actually, it’s called Verizon, but it’ll always be Sandstone to me). While I knew all of the Foreigner songs, and most of the Styx songs, I’ve never really been big fans of either. Def Leppard was why I was there. They put on a hell of a show… I was not disappointed. In fact, all the bands did a fine job, and sounded pretty good, though we were about as far away in the lawn seating as we could get, and waaay off to one side. Still, the most entertaining part was actually watching all the drunkards, pot smokers, and people humping against the fence.
On the 4th, we had a group of friends over and had lots of chicken and brats. We did the cooking on the new smoker we bought earlier that day. Assembled it during the heat of the day just in time to start cooking in the rain (which cooled things down VERY nicely). Again with the margaritas, daiquiris, and black russians, and everyone had a great time. I think we scared one of my friends a little… she’s not used to that sort of gathering… being much more into movies, book stores, and coffee shops. I am too, but I’m also a pool player, so I’m used to the bar scene and everything that entails.
Thursday I helped prepare some posters for another friend’s 40th birthday party on Saturday. I got out of there when I was done and made my way to where yet more friends were house sitting. We played Scattergories, which though fun, wasn’t as fun as Taboo. Turns out I’m not that good at word games, in spite of having been told I have a decent vocabulary. Huh. Go figure. We were up waaaay to late, b/c…
On Friday, we got up stupid early. Remember my friend who came over on the 4th? Yeah, we helped her move. We had the truck all packed up by about 11 when she and her Mom brought food. Since we couldn’t get into the new place until after five, we spent the afternoon at the pool… That was absolutely fantastic. I’m a little burned, but I cannot overstate the therapeutic value of quality time at the pool in the sun. It was a highlight of the week. We unloaded the truck, had pizza and then made it *back* to the pool for a nightcap.
I should point out at this point that this particular friend is one of mine from high school. She moved away after our sophomore year, and we lost touch. 19 years later, she e’mails me, and we’ve rekindled our friendship… 19 years. That’s a loooong time.
Saturday was the 40th birthday party at a local bar and grill (recall my helping with signage on Thursday). It was supposed to be a surprise, but he knew. Oh well… fun was had by all, and the birthday boy and family came by my house for the first time. They were very impressed by the work we did on the house.
Today… quiet. The most exciting part was firing up the smoker again for some steaks and brats. You know what? After last week, that’s plenty.