My Weekend

Not a whole lot of interesting stuff to report this weekend.

I think the highlight was a Saturday morning yard sale, if that says anything. The seller was an acquaintance of ours from the university and we wanted to get there early because there are semi-pro yard sale shoppers who descend on these things like vultures.

So I rearranged my Saturday long run. I got up extra-early and ran to the George R. Brown convention center, which was on the way to the yard sale. Beyond this point, it’s not safe for a woman to be alone on foot, so Dan picked me up. He brought a towel and t-shirt so I could clean up, and off we went! I found a few cool little things for myself, bought a few things for my Romanian friends, and got to see some really great furniture that I just couldn’t think how to fit in my apartment and therefore had to pass up. I also picked up a combo printer/fax/scanner for $10 that matches the color of my new computer. This allowed me to give my old printer to the Romanians. So we are all happy now.

After we finished up at the yard sale, Dan dropped me back at the convention center to finish my run, while he took the Romanians shopping for school stuff for the kids and new shoes for himself. (The errand was really all about him needing new shoes. And pants. And underwear. He invited the Romanians to tag along, since they won’t be getting their car until sometime this week.)

I did some editing on my story last night, stayed up late and today I got up early for a run to Memorial Park and back. At the park, I ran into my friend Linnie and her husband, who is my ex-landlord. Linnie and I ran together for a couple miles, chatting about stuff. Her son and his wife had a fight and now Linnie is caring for their kid for awhile, so we talked about the seemingly endless capacity early twentysomethings have for drama. (I sure was glad to grow out of that phase!) And I mentioned the Romanian kids and she told me that there’s a lot of Romanians at the school where she teaches, which is the one we’re trying to get the little girl into. Apparently a lot of the rich families in the area adopt from Romania and Russia, so this particular school has a lot of experience with them.

After my run, I did a little grocery shopping and picked up some treats for my Romanian friends—gourmet coffee for the grownups, cookies for the kids. And then I went to OfficeMax and bought paper for the printer I was giving them, as well as an extra print cartridge and stuff like that.

I also priced digital cameras. Ours is broken and although I think I can fix it, I suspect I can get a new and better one for a price that makes the hassle of repairing the old one not worth it. I’m going to ponder this for a few days.

Then I took Catalin to the gym, and he shot baskets while I worked out in the weight room. He had been up late babysitting for a neighbor and I was feeling a little asthmatic, so neither of us was really in much of a mood for swimming or anything like that. I had my manuscript and red pen with me, just in case he wanted to do something that gym rules said required my supervision. But I was glad not to need it. I dropped him off at home, ran a few more errands and settled in for the rest of the afternoon.

Tonight Dan is trying to re-learn how to play the guitar. He bought an inexpensive starter guitar and instruction DVD this afternoon, and he figures if this new hobby sticks, he’ll upgrade to a nicer guitar once he gets his skills back. Many years ago when Dan lived on an ashram in Espanola, he met former Animals guitarist Vic Briggs, who gave him lessons. I’ve always found this sort of amazing. But that was nearly thirty years ago. I hope Dan continues with this new hobby. He's a creative sort, and it would be such a good outlet for him.

Weekend Workouts
Saturday: 13 mile run
Sunday: 6 mile run, weights