Mishaps and other haps

We are back home after a delightful weekend in Hastings visiting Josh and Betsy.  Matt L. and Liz were able to join us– Liz drove out with us and Matt flew from Chicago.  Maretta and Kyle drove from St. Paul for the day on Saturday.

Josh just finished installing a home theater system recently and a main goal of the weekend was to test this new system.  Wow, a 90″ screen and great acoustics (with the seat-rumbling sensation you experience in a regular movie theater) adds quite a bit to the movie viewing experience.  We watched Serenity, Across the Universe, and V For Vendetta on Saturday.

Betsy kept us supplied with great food– freshly baked banana bread, fresh fruit, bacon-wrapped barbecue chicken bites, spaghetti, and creme brulee (among other things) and Josh grilled hot dogs and burgers for us on Saturday afternoon.  We had the chance to enjoy the sunny weather on their wrap-around deck.

I think their house was a good choice and that they will enjoy living there for years to come.  They bought it last year, but it was my first trip out to see it.  Anyway, it seems to suit their needs pretty well and is very comfortable for guests.

We had a great time and I was a little sorry to come home (not too sorry, though, since I missed my cats).  It’s lovely to have an occasional excuse to get out of town for a few days.

Not too much new to report this week.

Michael is starting a couple of new games to alternate on Friday nights (playing in one, running one).  I’m pretty satisfied with our every-other-week Saturday game (except that we haven’t been having sessions that often this past month because everyone has been busy).  I am going to use Friday evenings as downtime instead of gaming, although if anyone wants to grab some dinner or hang out, let me know– that might be a good time to do it.

I decided (kind of spur-of-the-moment, when I received the email at the end of this week) to try out a Pilates class that meets at my workplace on Tuesday afternoons, starting next week.  It will allow me to still get home in time for movie night, so that works just fine.  I need more exercise in my life: my gym membership has expired, and the nearest yoga studio is stuck on sun salute reps, which I don’t really care for.  It’s probably just the style of yoga they teach.  I’ve had yoga classes in the past that I definitely DID like.

Hopefully we will also get out and take more walks now that the weather is nicer.  We’ve already had a couple, but we could use a walk pretty much every day.  We have a great park near us with a path that loops all the way around it and we use that as part of our 20-30 minute walking loop.

Our plans for this weekend include spending some time with the Dotzours this morning, going out to the Apple store to at least “visit” the new iPad Michael has been drooling over, and going to the Claddagh for Easter brunch tomorrow morning.  I’ll report back if brunch is particularly good.  Apparently they have a Sunday brunch every week.