Under the Dogpile

Bleh.  That is how this week has felt.  The engineer at the parks department said yesterday, that she was "just staying ahead of the nipping dog," when it came to her projects, and I told her I felt like I was under the dogpile.  I wasn't really ready for school to start, I passed a kidney stone, and my kids were gone for most of the week.  I think the really great weekend made the week seem worse than it was, though.

In fact, Friday and Saturday couldn't have been any better.  The Hermit turned 40 on Friday, and I was able to throw together a great dinner and a cake in the matter of two days.  Wednesday, I was completely incapacitated by the kidney stone, so I decided to completely change the menu.  We went from bbq ribs and chicken to brats, hamburgers and turkey burgers.  I spiced up the Americana bbq with some easy antipasto salad with all fresh herbs, cheeses and garlic, a variety of cheeses, crackers and bread, and a mean bruschetta that was a hit with the adults and the kids.  All of the herbs and most of the veggies were from the garden, which should have about 40 ears of sweet corn ready for harvest really soon. 

After the bbq, we hit the casino with his family, and managed to stay up until 3:30 am somehow.  His brother and wife, and cousins had driven up from the Seattle area to meet the rest of us, and we managed not to lose too much money.  We had reserved a room at the resort, which was really nice, and it was great that we didn't have to drive anywhere, but hotels really need to warn people when they have all feather down bedding.  That way those of us who are allergic to it can bring our allergy medicine and sleep better, hint, hint.

On Saturday, I manned the parks table at the Centennial Trail expansion opening in Arlington, while the family hit the Bite of Arlington downtown.  Both events had a pretty good turn out, though I hope the Bite is bigger next year.  The weather was supposed to be rainy, but we had 70 degrees of sunshine instead.  Of course, the county executive canceled at the last minute, big surprise, and the parks director was on vacation, but the head planner did well handling all the PR, and the mayor and our county councilman stepped in, too.

Unfortunately on Sunday, I had to work, and that's how the rest of the week has gone.  I will top off this week with an 8 hour Biostats lab in Poulsbo on Saturday.  Exciting, right?  Like I said, I wasn't ready for school this week, so, bleh.