Life or Something Like It

Once again I am finding myself slipping into lollybloggerdom. I keep trying to post here, I know I have stuff to say, but when I get at the computer, I just stare blankly at the monitor for a while before walking away.

Anyways, I'll start with a week update, if I can remember what has happened.

Moustapha is still working with the new company in Red Deer. Every morning he gets up at a God awful early hour, and drives to the south side of the city where he meets up with his co-workers. Then they all pile into a truck and drive the hour and a half to Red Deer. The best part is that he is usually home between 5:30 and 6 every night. We still (!!!) don't know how much they are paying him, but hopefully he will talk to the owner of the company (who hired him, and then went on vacation) soon. If they are willing to pay him what he was making working out of town, then he will be staying with these guys. It's wonderful to have him home, and equally wonderful to have him out of the house during the day.

We had a very busy weekend with lots of social interaction. On Friday evening we went over to Anne R. Key and the Dauntless Janets place to play Texas Hold'em. It was great fun, and I managed to consume an entire bottle of white wine all by myself. We tired of poker after a while and decided to try out Rumoli, and eventually moved on to a game called "Would You Rather?" By that time Emmett had come over and he joined in on the games. I think that he ended up winning Would You Rather, but the details are a little fuzzy.

Saturday a good friend of ours got married in an incredibly Catholic ceremony. As we were going to the Basillica downtown to attend the wedding, we saw that the main drag downtown on which the church resided was closed off. We had no idea what for, but there were people lined up on the sidewalk, so we asked. It turned out that the Carribian festival was starting that day with a parade. Half way through the ceremony the very loud (deafening) music started outside and echoed through the church. Mary and I headed outside to watch the parade, and she was extremely concerned by the brightly coloured wierdo's dancing down the street. Her brow was furrowed, and she refused to smile no matter how hard the scantily clad women gyrated in an attempt to please her.

We headed home for a nap after the ceremony and parade, and then went to the reception at around 6 that evening. Mary spent the entire two hours that we were there running around the hall. Running and running and running. Occasionally she would climb up into an empty chair, pound the table and babble at the people seated there, before climbing down and running some more. It was incredible, and exhausting. We left the reception when the speaches started and wandered over to Emmets for a birthday pie party. I was confident that Mary would pass out the minute we put her in her playpen, but I did not count on the fact that I had forgotten to bring her bottle. We put her down and she proceded to scream bloody murder and jump wildly up and down in her playpen for about an hour and a half. Finally I decided to let her out for a while. She spent the entire rest of the evening charming the pants off the resolutely childless that were gathered there. She organized the remote controls and cat toys, she picked stuff up off the floor and put it on the table, she babbled and coo'd at the kitten, and was all in all a delight to have around. I was pretty worried about setting her free in that crowd, I know that they are not baby people, and I didn't want to ruin their fun, but I think it went pretty well. We left at 11:30 and Mary had not slept a wink. I would have liked to stay later, but we all needed sleep, and I wanted to leave before Marys attitude went down the drain.

Sunday we did nothing. We wandered around a mall, rented a movie, and relaxed.

Monday Ian went back to work, and Mary and I hung out. I had grand plans to do stuff around the house, but I discovered that my keys were missing. I spent 3 hours searching high and low for the keys, and eventually had to call I & V and beg them for a ride to my babysitting gig. Last night I went over to Raven's place to roleplay. It was great fun as always, and I caused all sorts of problems between the characters, including moving in on one girls fiancee, and having a member of the crew lashed within an inch of his life for daring to slap me. Raven was exhausted, they had returned from Gen Con that day, and she didn't last very long, but it was nice to see her anyways. Oh! And she brought back the pinkest, girliest dice I've ever seen! Yay!

Tonight is D&D, and tomorrow I babysit late, though I should be home in time to watch the finale of So You Think You Can Dance.