Catching up

I feel like there is the chance that I have a handful of "dedicated" readers of my blog and I have been letting that small group down. Let's see what I can do to feel better about it. :-)

Last friday, a CMU friend, Larry, came over for dinner. He was in town to recruit and I had been planning to finish cooking the brisket that evening, so a small dinner party was born. We ate at the dining room table and everything - *gasp*. The brisket turned out well - the only snag was that we had stubborn potatoes that refused to cook quickly. I had meant to throw them in the microwave for a bit to get them going and I forgot. I'll remember next time...probably.

Early saturday was too busy. We drove out to the Mt. Pleasant area to see the progress on Janice's cabin. We knew the time would be tight, but an accident on the road slowed us down even more and we probably should have headed out earlier. But we had sufficient time to walk through the cabin and talk about issues that Janice wanted to review. We will find another time to go when we can hang out a bit more...but we both really wanted me to see the place before too much more is done.

We had to rush back to town so I could go downtown to see "Joseph..." and Rudy had an appointment to give blood. I got there five minutes before curtain and he didn't have enough to eat, but it worked out well enough. The show was good, although very much over the top. But given that the plot really isn't all that extensive and the music is good, I'm not complaining. It was certainly a lot better than 80% of the Broadway Series shows from last year and the "over the top" aspect gave it a broadway feel. The funniest part was the finale - a change into sparkly costumes, remix versions of the shows songs and lots of changing lots and fog - "Joseph..." meets the club scene! :-) The next show is the Rockettes. I'm intrigued, but it is probably the show in the series that I am anticipating the least. Maybe it will help get me in the holiday spirit in time for Thanksgiving.

Saturday night we watched "Team America" on DVD. Very enjoyable - and I got the bear knitted except for the eyes and nose! I also started another knitted xmas present. Sunday I got to sleep in a little and take a walk with Rudy, but the rest of the morning and early afternoon was devoted to preparing for my work trip. I met my coworkers downtown at 3:30 and we drove to Bradford, PA. They took us out for a lovely dinner at Glendorn ($$$$) and I had a little time to watch the end of Crossing Jordan and watch the 11pm news from buffalo before settling into my king bed at one of the only two hotels in town.

Monday was a long day of meetings and driving back to Pgh, but during the two car rides I got quite a bit of knitting done on two xmazs presents. I think this entry is going to get more and more boring if I keep updating my week like this. So to wrap up - tuesday night was the house tour wrap up meeting and wednesday night we went out to shogun with a bunch of friends.

Walking hasn't happened this week, unfortunately. Monday I was in Bradford, Tuesday I was in Greensburg, Wednesday i got to work too late and today I should have gotten here earlier (technically I could have gone, but I hate getting home less than an hour before the HPCC meeting). I think tomorrow night is free, so I will force myself to work tomorrow and I should probably bring a heavier coat with me. :-)

Lastly, I finished Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince this week. I made the mistake of reading the last few chapters on the bus and at work. I managed not to cry, but it wasn't easy. Good book. That's the closest together I've read any two HP books. I think I'm glad I have a little break until the next one. I've also been thinking about going back to read the others, now that I have the perspective of the later ones. (Kind of like going back to watch Star Wars 4, 5 and 6 after seeing #3.)

I think I'm still convinced that somehow Snape is going to turn out to be on the good side, but it is not as easy to believe as it was before. And part of that could just be my attraction to Alan Rickman (damn movies!). Either way, I am looking forward to the fourth movie (so far, #4 is my favorite book) and I'm glad the books have gone in the direction they have. Like "Serenity", there is an increased urgency and emotional commitment when you feel like *anyone* could be lost at any time.

Enough rambling. I'll try to be a little more on top of this in the coming week.