I ate ants yesterday. I’ll get to that in a bit.
Well, we got through the storm just fine. There was a leak in the kitchen along some seam from the wall to the fan, which had us a little worried, but we put down some towels and a trashcan and that was that. There were some limbs down in the backyard and a tree that is on the fence between our yard and Vera Lee’s yard was splintered a little over halfway up and the top of it was leaning on another tree. I figure the rest of the top will fall at some point. It’s actually on her side of the fence, but since she died a few weeks ago, I don’t think she’ll be too worried about it.
We ended up watching some DVDs on the Xbox since the cable was out until about 9:30. We watched some Friends until Over There came on.
On a side note, I noticed that the air conditioner was left on in that house, but nobody’s been there in a while. Some time last week though, maybe the week before, we had a knock on the door one night and her grandson said they were having trouble getting a car out of the driveway and wanted to see if I could help. I thought it was a little odd, but I went to check it out anyway. The driveway is kind of steep and has concrete on either side of the slope, and so the kid’s mom had tried backing it out and scraped the side of the car all up. I asked why the guy couldn’t do it and he said he didn’t have his license yet. I got in and backed it out no problem, although I was a bit nervous since they’d done so much damage.
On Thursday we went out to Wrightsville to see if we could find any good shells. Well, that’s what Amanda went for; I went to take some pictures. There wasn’t much at the time, although Anna had found six full conchs earlier in the day. The water was as flat as a lake.
On Friday we had a big night out at Target. We had to get a few things, and we had thought about going to see a movie but there were so many DVDs on sale for under $10 that we just bought a few. Amanda finally got Pretty Woman on DVD (she needed to upgrade from VHS, since we don’t have a working VCR), we got Girl With A Pearl Earring (for like $5.50) and I picked up House of Flying Daggers. We got home and sat around a bit until Amanda put in Pretty Woman. It’s the 15th anniversary edition and there were a few minor changes in it, which bugged Amanda a little.
On Saturday, while Amanda was working her last day at Place to Bead, I got my camera and went to Wrightsville to help Hannah with a class project. For part of it she had to take some pictures of geometric shapes, and we got some cool pictures; the end of a conch, some glass circles, a window pane, the underneath of a pier, some shadows, etc. Before that she was working on another part of the project, where she had to make, serve and clean up a meal. She made spaghetti, salad and some of Anna’s great chocolate cake for Kirsten’s birthday party the next day. After all that, Anna, Hannah, Kirsten and I went out to look for pictures. Hannah and I were heading out to the beach when Barry saw us and said we should go out surfing since there were a few waves out. I went out with everyone else in the family, although Kirsten soon abandoned her board and she and Anna went in after a little while. There ended up not being much out there, but I got to work on my paddling technique.
I showered up and went out to pick Amanda up, then we went over to Todd and Laura’s to meet their baby, Nicholas. He’s a cute little thing, even though he looks like his dad. He’s got this hair in the back of his head that stands up like a fan. We left him with Laura’s mom, who’s still in the country from Columbia helping them out, and went to On the Border over at Mayfair. It was pretty good and we all split a dessert. Laura told me that George Jetson in Spanish was Super Sonico. Astro was Astro and Elroy was something like Cometo, but she couldn’t remember the other names.
We didn’t sleep well Saturday night. While we were up at one point, Amanda stubbed her toe on the way to the bathroom. I believe the ironing board, which tends to get left out in the hall. Was the culprit. It’s not there now- Amanda has vowed to put it up from now on. Her pinky toe has gotten progressively blacker and bluer over the last few days, so we think it’s broken. Of course there’s nothing you can do about that but wait it out. I’ve broken toes once or twice.
And she has such pretty feet.
On Sunday we went to church at 8:30 because I was directing. After that we came home and cleaned a little. Well, Amanda did some laundry and I took a nap. Karen came over and we all ate downtown at a place on the river. I forget the name of it, but I enjoyed it. It was a very old building. After that we all headed over to the Frazzelles for Kirsten’s party. Peggy and Earl were already there. Barry and I went to print the pictures from the day before then we went out with Hannah to check out the surf. There was a bit when we first got out, but it soon died down. I got up once, but the board sank right under me. Barry and I ended up paddling in because there was nothing to ride in.
Dinner was nice. We’d brought Bruce, thinking the fence around the house was narrow enough to keep him in; and it was, too, until he decided he wanted to go meet the neighbors and actually tried to get out. He never actually got out, but he got his body halfway through before we caught him once or twice. Scout barked at him constantly.
Amanda and I stayed until after dark. We sat up on the widow’s walk for a while, Barry and I drinking a beer. We had a really nice time out there, and I was a little depressed when we were leaving at the thought of how impossible it seems that we’ll ever have enough money to get a place at the beach.
The new season of TV is kicking into gear tonight. I’m looking forward to the new episodes of The Office and the new show My Name is Earl with Jason Lee.
Andra is taking Jackson and going with dad to Lexington at the end of the month. What sucks though is that I really badly want to go, but I’d already committed to help video a wedding that weekend. I could get out of it, I’m sure, but it wouldn’t be right to do. Of course, if something happens to Baba or Pap before I can see them again, I’m going to be pretty upset with myself for not going back on the help I offered.
There’s yet another hurricane out there now. (Lovely) Rita is skimming the Florida Keys and heading into the Gulf of Mexico. It’ll most likely hit Texas, but it may dump more rain on New Orleans.