still (weirdly) awesome, after all these years

What a weird weekend. Parts of it were weirdly awesome, but all of it was weird. It all started on Thursday afternoon when the lights went out. They came right back on, so I just went about my business. The phones were being weird, I had the kids at work with me and neither my boy nor I could make a cell phone call to look for my husband, who was expected to come and pick them up any minute. It was hot as all hell at the tail end of a weird(ly awesome) heat wave, so I had packed the pool bag that morning thinking that the three of them could take a dip if they were so inclined before heading off to the next adventure while I worked late. When Bill texted me a little while later to see if our power was out, I began to realize that the little electrical blip we’d experienced was maybe something bigger.

The hours that followed can only be described as weirdly awesome. I mean, come on. To be on a university campus with 18 hours of generated power during a heat waving black out? To have a pool bag packed? The pool and pub open? Happy Hour? The announcement during said happy hour that campus would be closed the following day? And no school for the kids or husband? We weren’t in any danger, all of our basic and superfluous needs were being met, and we were all together. Blackout Par-TAY.

We had an eerie drive home in complete darkness, but not before a balls-out golf cart joyride and a spontaneous drenching in some overtly aggressive sprinklers. We got home, got all set up for a big time westy party, and about 10 minutes later, the lights came back on!

My only regret is that I wasted my free day off trying not to perish from the after affects of such a weirdly awesome night. But it was still better than working.

I won’t bore you with a play by play of the entire weekend, all you really need to know is that my chest is sore from the safety harness and I didn’t even win the coconut tree climbing race.

On September 11, I wept the morning away quietly in my bed, watching and remembering. Then I got up and made blueberry banana pancakes and coffee, and asked my kids to make it a peaceful day. We did our neighborhood hike in full I <3 NY regalia, the Chargers won, and I remembered the little jar of balsamic vinegar that I brought home from Italy in time to drizzle it over the garden fresh tomatoes that we had with dinner.

Life? She is good. Awesome. And weird.