I Heart Long Weekends

So you know how I've had a really busy & stressful May? All month, I kept telling myself, "Just get through to Memorial Day, just get through to Memorial Day." Well, I made it. And what a treat it was! :)
I took Friday off & headed up to the Lake House on Thursday night. One of the first things I did upon arrival was lie on the deck with my sister's dog, staring up at the stars. It helped me begin the "de-stressing" process.
On Friday, my best friend R., her puppy Vixen, my sister, my brother-in-law, and my baby nephew joined us at the lake. It was great to have everyone there and my best friend finally got to meet my nephew. They got along well. :)
On Saturday, High School Ex came up. I was nervous about him coming, but things worked out well. We dated 10 years ago, during our freshman year of high school, so my family already knew him. So that was a relief - not having that "new man meeting the family" stress.
On Sunday, we threw a joint birthday party for my dad and my brother-in-law. Despite having three of us (mother, sister & I) at work, it's not easy to mind a 3-month old baby, keep an eye on the dog, assist the elderly grandparents, and host a party for 30 people (aged 3 months to 79 years)! Things went off without a hitch, though.
Now, I'm back at work. Still feeling a little residual relaxation from the weekend, luckily. Despite the busy schedule, I got to spend hours relaxing on the deck, cuddling Thing 1, joking around with R., sister & bro-in-law, and kayaking/canoing with High School Ex. Check out the rest of the pictures here.

More Scottish Daftness

I found more pictures of my friends at play (both Scots & pseudo-Scots). This batch is from mine, S., and M's trip to Edinburgh for Hogmanay 2005. We know how to have a good time. (Thanks to M., who supplied me with the pictures last spring!)

This group is trouble . . .

D. showing off S's mittens

D. & I. grew a connected beard!

Awww . . .

An Exact Likeness!

Oh my gosh, I love it! Thank you for drawing what's in my head, Married to the Sea!

Going, Going, Back, Back to Scotland, Scotland

Not just yet. But I can definitively tell you that I will be going back to Edinburgh within the next year or so. I received an email from my mate Iain last week, letting me know the great news that he is engaged to a girl from the Butler study abroad program, Sarah! She will be moving back to Edinburgh (lucky girl!) at the end of the summer and they are planning the wedding for next spring.

I've been thinking of how much fun this wedding will be if a number of us (Scots and honorary Scots) are able to attend. The last time we were all together was two years ago, in June of 2004. So here are some pics from that silly evening, so you can all get a sense of how this event might degenerate. ;) This is me with Iain on that night:

This is Kate with Iain's fiancee, Sarah:

This is some of the drunken silliness that occurred (David & Iain):

More drunken Scottish nonsense (Stevie & David):

If Kate, Monica and I all attend the wedding, this, too, could happen:

Maybe, if everyone is really lucky, I will break out this "I'm a silly drunk in Edinburgh" face:

That's just the merest taste of some of the nonsense that could occur if everyone attends this wedding. No matter what happens, it will be men in kilts, and whiskey toasts, and time spent in my beloved ancient town. I can't wait. :)

The King Lives . . .

And for today's sign of the Apocalypse, click here to read all about the new Cirque de Soleil show.

The picture above is me trying to zip my suitcase, a.k.a. my very own Cirque show. (And, yes, that is a sports-bra shaped sunburn on my back. I went on a long bike ride. Without sunscreen. You're not so perfect yourself!)

Gobble-Gobble

Well, my company had a brush with nature today. Not the same kind as everyone else has been having with massive flooding - much tamer, in fact. When I arrived at work, this is the sight that greeted me:

That's right - we had a large wild turkey (the bird, not the bourbon, unfortunately) hanging out in our parking lot for much of the day. At one point, we also had two police cruisers, a few policemen, and a fire engine out front watching the turkey:

(That's my Jeep he's hanging out next to, by the way.) After they left, things calmed down and I went outside to get a better picture of Mr. Tom Turkey. I think he's a male, based on this website.

I only had my camera phone, so the picture quality isn't the best. But at least you all got to meet our wild turkey.