my weekend continued....

so after an eventful Friday and a late bedtime, we awoke bright and early to the sounds of our girls ("Wake up Daddy, the Sun is up!"). I'm afraid they get their early morning sunny dispositions from my side of the family.

Saturday was workday. You know its a hard workday by the number of outfits you go through.

My first project was to clean out a portion of our gutters. I didn't just remove a few leaves, rather I flushed the line out with the garden hose. Lots of muck and water. Shirt #1 was soaked and filthy.

The next project was to pickup a load of mulch. So after a quick change, Taylor (my 4 year old) and I hopped in my Dad's pickup and headed to the nursery. Taylor loved the ride in the pickup. She normally doesn't get to sit up front or ride so high up. She's been begging to take another ride in "papa's truck" ever since. There was a Nissan commercial years ago that used the phrase, "Dogs Love Trucks." I think that applies to little girls too.

The nursery is really more of a landscaping wholesale outfit (no plants - lots of tractors, lawnmowers, etc....). They have a fiberglass statue of Marilyn Monroe (the famous skirt pose). Taylor took one look and commented, "Look daddy, it's an angel!" She also enjoyed watching the guy dump the mulch into the back of the truck with a front end loader. We then cruised back to the house with the windows down and the radio playing ("There She Goes" by Sixpence NTR) .

Our wheelbarrow was stored on top of a compost pile the previous owner started (I don't really know the first thing about serious gardening). When I removed the wheelbarrow, to my surprise, one of the several stray cats in the neighborhood leaped out and ran away - leaving behind two kittens (probably no more than a couple of days old). The cat had dug out a nest in the compost (mostly leaves). We've had problems with strays and this was the third pair of kittens we have discovered on the property over the past two years. As cute and cuddly as they might appear, to me and my neighbors they represented more nuisance and the threat of a spreading stray population. I confiscated the kittens and placed them in a cat carrier. I would have to make a trip to the county animal shelter.

Well, the remainder of the morning was spent pulling weeds, cleaning out the flower beds, and spreading mulch around our landscaping. Lots of sweat and dirt. Shirt #2 was down for the count. After another quick change, I was off to deliver the kittens and return some videos to the library. On a previous trip to the shelter, I had merely handed off the kittens to an employee and left. This time I had to fill out paperwork. The woman behind the counter, then asked me to sign off on the "final disposition" of the kittens. So I signed their death warrents and proceeded home. You wish that every animal could have a home and be cared for, but the reality is much different.

That afternoon, I graded some papers from my American History I class. Janell was able to make babysitting arrangements so we had a date scheduled for the evening. I was feeling stressed. I had ten papers to grade and wanted to get them done over the weekend. I didn't want to leave too many for Sunday, so I worked down to the wire. There was just enough time for a quick change (#3) before we were off.

We had dinner at O'Charleys. The restaurant was having an off night. First the waitress brought us our rolls (our friends the Rushings dubbed them "crack rolls" because they're so delicious and somewhat addictive), but the bottom of the dish had ketchup on it - making a mess of the table. Then when our meals came, Janell's steak was overcooked (that got us a free dessert). Finally, my plate was apparently at the end of its lifespan. It had a good size crack running through it allowing the steak juice to run out - making a second mess of the table. All was forbourn with a pretty good sense of humor on our part and the staff gave us above par service in spite of the mishaps. And the food was very good.

After dinner, we walked over to the theatre to watch a dozen movie trailers.... a feature presentation made its appearence eventually. After much debate over which film to see (Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins, War of the Worlds, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Janell settled on Batman.

Neither of us was disappointed. We thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it far exceeded the previous Batman incarnations. Lots of fun. One of my top three favorite super hero movies (up there with the Spiderman and X-men frachises).

I think we'll go see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on our next date. The trailer looked much more impressive on the big screen.

Well this is my biggest post yet. Gotta run now.