Words written:
Saturday: CSF 2140
Sunday: CSF 932

23,545 / 30,000 (78.0%)

I felt so much better this weekend. Friday night I had one of those deep, hard sleeps that you almost can’t get out of. I still got up earlier than perhaps I wanted to on Saturday, but I didn’t want to oversleep.

Christine came by to pick up our extra dryer, since hers had bit the big one. She’s such a sweetie—she brought a zucchini and some onions and apples from her garden, and a bottle of champagne (which has been earmarked for the We Finished CSF! celebration). She brought her husband and two boys, so I finally got to meet them. I gave her the quickie house tour, and some lemons.

While she was here, the doorbell rang. I assumed it was one of her kids, who’d been outside (our original antique doorknob doesn’t work properly, so we have to deadbolt the front door to keep in closed). No, it was some complete strangers. They explained that the live nearby and always walk past our lemon tree, and might they pick some lemons? Since we have far, far more lemons than we could ever use, I happily told them to go ahead. Hell, at least they asked! So it was a bit of mayhem for about 15 minutes.

Christine and Co. headed home, and Ken, Dave, and I got ready to go to brunch. That’s when I saw Christine’s purse sitting on the sofa. Crap! I promptly grabbed my cell and called her cell. Just before it connected, Ken said, “Um, that’s not going to work,” and held up her cell phone, which was connected to her purse. Thinking quickly, we used her cell phone to call her husband’s cell, and as they were still in Camarillo, headed out to meet up with them.

Purse safely delivered, we altered our plans from Roxsbury Deli to the Mongolian BBQ in Camarillo, and had the place to ourselves because there was a street fair and farmer’s market going on down the street, and nobody was wandering in to the restaurant. Afterwards, we wandered through one end of the market, and picked up some lemon cake for dessert after supper.

The menfolk went off to the French Festival in Santa Barbara, and I got down to work, after throwing in a load of laundry and copying over some music to Afalwen. I gave myself a break every hour or so to stretch out, and did slow down a bit when I had to write a fake newspaper article (it’s been a long time since I’ve been a reporter!). But I finished Chapter 16, and that was a very happy thing.

I got hold of Morgana & Brian to see if they wanted to do dinner and watch the first ep of the new season of “Battlestar Galactica,” but they’d watched it the night before. They came over for dinner anyway, along with Tomi, who’d been at their place. Ken and Dave got home about 15 minutes before M&B and T were due, so Ken and I dashed out to do a power shopping, and pulled together Pandemonium Tacos before everyone else arrived. (I chopped up the onions from Christine to brown with the meat—yum!) After dinner, we sat around talking, playing Fluxx, looking weird stuff up on the Internet, browsing our library…you know, the usual silliness you get up to with friends. After they left, Dave crashed, but Ken and I watched “Monk” before going to bed.

Cat showed up in the early a.m., so after I got up today, I sat and chatted with her and ate a leftover taco for breakfast. Eventually she left for church, and I showered, and we grilled hamburgers and made patty melts for brunch while we watched “Battlestar Galactica” (whoah!). Ken headed out to run a couple of errands. Dave did computer work and read, and I got some more writing done, adding on to a later scene in the book and figuring out what I needed to do for the next chapter.

At 3:30 we dashed off to the movie theatre, meeting up with M&B and Tomi, to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, and Danny Elfman…a combination that just can’t go wrong. And indeed, it didn’t. It succeeded wildly. Amazing, hilarious movie. We howled. I was also amused to find one of my bosses sitting almost directly in front of us, with his wife (whom I’ve met). He and Ken threw popcorn at each other.

We went out for Chinese food afterwards, stuffed ourselves silly, and then went home to our respective houses. I called Teresa for our weekly writing update, and then the three of us here watched the “Smile Time” episode of “Angel,” because Dave hadn’t seen it. Since I’ve seen it multiple times (which is okay, because I love it), I worked on Pennsic largesse, pausing when I knew the best parts were coming up.

All in all, an excellent weekend. A proper balance of rest, writing, and time with Ken and friends. If only my week could be like this! But I’m working on it. I’m happy to be starting this week feeling both refreshed and accomplished.

I hope everyone else had a great weekend, too!

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Currently Reading: Time Management from the Inside Out, Julie Morgenstern; Tickled Pink, Christina Jones
Lately Listened To: CSF playlist; Big Bang Theory, Styx; If I Was: The Very Best of Midge Ure and Ultravox
Recently Watched: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!