long weekend

I love a long weekend! I also love that they usually let us go from work by 3:00 p.m. on the day before a long weekend. And, I loved that we got to leave at 3:00 p.m. yesterday because of the water main break. I mean, I'm sorry that a bunch of peeps had to deal with the fall-out from the water main break, but this guy? This guy was loving the early leave.

Last night I stopped by Aunt Marge's 'cause I was in the 'hood (l-ville). I was planning for it to just be a quick hello, but then Kramer came over, too, and we all ate Chinese food (broccoli and bean curd with garlic sauce which Mags assured me was 'a little greasy, but not really', but which ended up completely soaking a paper bag with grease. but tasted good. of course.), and watched three consecutive episodes of QAF (which Mags kept pronouncing as "quaff" and cracking me up). I'd watched a few snippets of "Queer As Folk" a few times over the years, but had never really gotten involved personally, as in making it a show I was obsessed with. But, after those three episodes, I am hungry for more! (I learned this morning that those two stayed up until all hours of the night watching another three episodes after I left!) I love watching the TV shows on the DVD player and indulging in a huge chunk of it at once. I updated my netflix queue this morning, and now the first two discs of the first season are speeding through the mailways in my general direction right now. I can't wait. That's perfect for a spare day off on Monday, right? Seriously. My big plans for my big day off are to watch "Ellen" in the morning, and many episodes of QAF at some point in the day. Good times. In fact, I hope it's rainy so I don't feel compelled to Get Out and Do Something and such.

But, I am going to do something this weekend! My niece Savanah is turning five years old on Sunday, and they're having a cowgirl-themed birthday party on Saturday. I can't wait! I hear that there will be prizes for the best-dressed cowgirls. Watch out, young'uns, I am busting out some fancy duds! Now, where's my spurs at, n'at?

The party, and most of my family, is located in southern West-bygod-Virginia. It's about a four-hour drive. I'm not necessarily looking forward to the drive up and back (although I do have some good tunes lined up), I cannot wait to see my favorite gal. The last time I saw her was July 4th, and prior to that she called me and said that she was glad we were meeting up because "I haven't seen you in so long I done forgot what your face looks like." Love it.

I don't need any food right now, but I still strongly want to go to both the farmer's market (N.Side today) and the Greek Food Festival after work. But, I have stuff that I need to do, but dang. I have a hard time passing up a good festival.

You know what is sad about this weekend, though? Pools are closing. Farewell, summer...

Anyhow, you peeps have a real nice Labor Day weekend, and I hope the weather holds, and you don't hit traffic, and you remembered to buy charcoal, and filled up the tank, and went potty before you got in the car.

too.freaking.hot

It's hot. Too hot. Roasting hot. And, I even have a little window AC unit in my living room (but, I think it may be running out of juice or something), and I guess that takes the edge off a little, but still. Hot. I moved the fan in from my bedroom night before last upon Hurd's suggestion, and that helps a little. But, still. Hot! I had a big plan to do some cooking last night since I did a huge (payday-inspired) grocery shopping trip and got my CSA yesterday (sweet corn!, potatoes, green beans, onion, cucumber, parsley, dill, zucchini). But, I started sweating even putting my groceries away, so I ate leftovers and just pouted on the couch. That is, until Ellen texted me with a plan to go get some Rita's Italian Ice (complete with door-to-door pick-up service!). I've actually only had Rita's a few times (I know, that's like saying I don't care about the Steelers), and the last time had been several years ago. But, it was perfect and spot-hitting and awesome. I got a wild black cherry ice with chocolate custard (a Gelati). Oh, dang. Not only was it delicious (little bits of real cherries floating about), but it really acted as an instant internal air conditioner. Ellen even got goosebumps!

Oh my god. I just went to Rita's site to get the url to link it on the blog, and they have a hilariously cheesy theme song. Get thee to Rita's website now!

Okay, since I didn't do any cooking, here's something completely different. Since I cut off my cable a few months ago I've been leaning heavily on netflix (if you're a netflixer, too, let's be netflix friends!). And, then I just started requesting lots of dvds through the library, too. I've been renting all sorts of stuff, but my very favorites have been nature programs. Especially all the BBC ones that David Attenborough narrates (I want that job!). If you haven't seen the Planet Earth series, I urge you to see it asap. It's so, so, so amazing! As is The Blue Planet (all water stuff)--I'm working my way through that series now. And, last night I watched the first episode of Life In the Undergrowth--all about bugs. Such fascinating stuff! And, then I had a little moment of serendipity this morning when I stopped by the Uni-Mart (for cigarettes...ugh...), and saw this amazingly weird and beautiful moth. You can't tell in this picture (sorry for the quality, I took it on my cell phone), but it's huge--like, at least six inches across. I wanted to put something next to it for scale, but was afraid I'd scare it off. You also can't see how both fluffy and vibrant it was, but wow. Amazing. Probably the coolest bug I've ever seen in real life.


Okay, and back to food stuff, 'cause I'm starting to get hungry. I just bought a cheap little grill yesterday at Family Dollar for $9.99. I'm going to attempt to put it together tonight so I can grill some veggies, and maybe try a grilled pizza. My friend Schwatts has been all about the grilled pizzas, and I love this idea. And, Heidi has some tips here, too. I don't know if I'll get to it tonight or not (I have plans to visit one of my dog-sit dogs, Zeke!), but soon-soon-soon!