our weekend
In which Mark takes a nap at three o'clock and learns that too much info on the Internet can be dangerous and Neel CAN be pushed too far.
We had some very dear friends make the trek south for a visit this past weekend. (I won't say "old" friends, because I don't want to be reminded of how much older we all are. Although it's kinda fun to remind you how much older you are, Mark. Fred just manages to keep his girlish figure.) We've known each other for a long, long time, and it's such an amazing thing to pick up the threads of friendship over and over again. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Except we're all so much older. And we have kids. How weird is that?
These are, in essence, the people I grew up with. We all knew each other when Neel was in graduate school, and he and I lived in our first apartment together. How many bottles of wine did we drink over those five years? How many trips to Ikea? Mark, remember that time that we stopped in Pottery Barn on the way home from Ikea? Before Pottery Barn was big? And expensive? We each bought a bunch of stuff. I still have the lamps I bought. What did you get?
The drunkest I have ever been was at Mark's apartment (ahh Riverview, how I miss you) when a bunch of us had dinner together and managed to consume five or so bottles of wine. It wasn't until the next day that we realized that Mark, Neel and I were the only ones drinking. Three people + five bottles of wine = one helluva hangover. We started having dinner parties with those guys. It's when I started cooking, really. While Neel was at the lab, I could spend all day getting my apartment ready, going to the farmer's market to get food and flowers, choosing music and cleaning. At dinner we'd sit and talk and eat and drink for hours.
This weekend was a lot like that. More of the same. Mostly. More kids, less wine.
We went to a Chinese Friendship garden...
and a battleship.
We were oddly fascinated with an egg-drop contest. Look how serious those guys look! "And the egg survived!"
We went antiquing and made a great dinner. We compared notes on Project Runway and watched Top Chef. Fred and I talked about sewing (When is your final exam, Freddy?) and Mark and I talked about houses.
The kids played and played. No squabbles, no fights.
Like I said, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Thanks for a great weekend, guys. We'll get up there soon. Call me when it's warm.