I would have preferred the late nights not immediately precede the early mornings, but whatever!
I have caffeine.
Friday night, The Kid had her friend Carly stay over, which was fun. Carly really loves my cooking, even when it's lame spaghetti and Italian sausage, so she's always welcome in my house!
Saturday morning, after Carly got picked up by her dad (who waited patiently while she finished her breakfast of home-made hash browns and spray can pancakes**), we headed up to Fabulous Greeley to help set up Nova's Mom's surprise birthday party!
That was the super-secret thing I mentioned on Friday's post. I know you were just about drooling on yourself in suspense.
** Have you heard of Batter Blaster? (Or as I keep mispronouncing it - much to The Kid's delight - "Bladder Blaster", although that just doesn't sound as appealing.) It's pancake mix in a spray can, and it's an awesome concept but not as fluffy as one might hope. They're organic, though, and they weren't too pricey, so they were worth trying, but I think I'll stick to the powder mixes.
We got up there at about 10AM and got preparations going thanks to notes left by Nova. Truthfully, "we" consisted of The Kid and a friend of Nova's mom, as I had to run out and grab one of the guests who was arriving by shuttle from the airport, but I did manage to chop some veg before I left.
Nancy was totally surprised, I got to play with a dog with whom I successfully played Dog Yodeling (if I get the video, I'll post it!), and everyone ate ridiculous amounts of Chicken Molé. Success!
We didn't stay long, as there was packing to be done for the trip! Home again, we got everything put together and sacked out at about 5. The Kid fell asleep but I...
I lay there and worried about getting up late.
We had to be at the school by 3:45 AM. This meant getting up at least as early as 2:30 so that food and clothing could be applied as necessary and still get out of the house by 3:15 (it can take awhile to get across town). My usual body-clock wake-up seems to be about 4:30. You can see the potential for disaster here, can't you?
Chaos and panic loomed large, and so (conveniently forgetting that I'm deeply ancient and can no longer even make it through a whole movie) I figured "Hey I'll just make some coffee and stay up!"
I did end up falling asleep, but thankfully my paranoia was strong enough to wake me every 45 minutes or so, and between my phone alarm and my friend Chris's phone alarm (she vowed to call me and make sure I was up), all was well, and we got to the school a good 10 minutes before everyone else, which I don't think actually won us any prizes, but I felt vindicated.
The Kid wanted me to stick around until the buses took off, and though it was pretty chilly (and I was poorly dressed for the weather), I vowed to do so. This lasted until her friend Devin showed up, then I was told I could leave now, thanks...
I hugged and kissed her in... well, let's just call it "joyful retaliation" and leave it at that shall we? It amused me greatly, and the "I love u" text I received about 10 minutes after I left told me that, secretly, she loved being snuggled on by her mom.
I spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and hanging with TR, which included but was not limited to:
- Playing with my new french press. This is definitely the way to go when you only want a couple of cups of coffee. Tasty and fast, especially if you have an electric kettle with which to boil the water!
- Fielding phone call updates from The Kid. She's having a great time, though they are trying to cram an awful lot in to just a few days. There was an issue with the toilet in their room, but as far as I know it was resolved. Once can only hope. I counseled her to make sure she was keeping her stuff in order (so as not to lose anything) and she assured me that all was well, and that she was resisting organizing everyone else's stuff. I admired her restraint, and that she is truly her mother's daughter.
- Eating yummy Thai at Thai Basil. TR had some lovely sesame chicken, I had pad thai (I was craving garlic and limes), and we shared some chicken satay, which really is one of their best items! I also had Thai iced tea which isn't for everyone but which I love and never get. It tastes like sweetened peanut skins, which as a description sounds nasty, but trust me it's good! You'll be pleased to know I did *not* have the soup of doom. I wanted it though... I'm a masochist.
- Trying a new spot for breakfast goodies at Denver Biscuit Co. We met the guy who makes the goods, and he told us about the "Jack Lee" which was named for his father (for whom biscuits with grape jelly and bacon were, apparently, a favorite). I had that, much to the fascination of a couple of staff members, and TR tried the chicken pot pie, which was amazing. Then the chef treated us to some non-menu-item garlic fries while TR waited for fresh biscuits and gravy... and OH GOD, THE GRAVY. It was perfection on a plate.
- Twice trying to get through 1941. I failed once due to exhaustion at 11:00 PM the night before the trip, and the second time due to further exhaustion ensuing from carbohydrate overload. I'm going to watch the rest tonight (thank you, Netflix!), but so far it's really funny, fairly dirty, and full of movie references and WWII airplanes and is so full of potential GWD trivia answers. Why have I never seen this movie before?!
- Annoying some cats, to their merriment and delight. One got beaten with a dusting wand (she loves it, how can we deny her?), one got carted around like a baby calf every time he jumped up and wanted attention, one got taken for a walk outside on a leash (although I think he likes this more than he's letting on), and one... well nothing really annoys her, now that I think of it. Dea is very zen like that.
I sure did.
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