Well, there were some bright spots, but over all the weekend was kind of "meh." I say meh because there was too much work and not enough play, and we all know what that does. I shouldn't be surprised that it shook out that way. After two weekends in grant-writing mode, Neel needed to be out and about and working around the house. We both did. But the work/play balance was not what I hoped. But. Enough whining. I had a great hike with my friend Tracy Friday morning. We basically solve all of our own problems, our friends' problems and achieve world peace on these hikes so it's a great way to kick off the weekend. Dinner Friday night was with that baby bug you see in the upper right corner, even though his mom deliberately kept him asleep so I couldn't hold him. These guys used to be our across the street neighbors, and we don't see them enough since they moved one neighborhood over. It was nice to gather for dinner, and I clearly need to figure out a way to see them more.

Saturday was a bit of a blur. We knew Cal had a track meet in the morning (it was homecoming at his school), but his coach was unclear as to when exactly he needed to be there for the meet. So Neel emailed the coach Friday night, and at 7:15 Saturday morning, we got an email back saying he needed to be at school at 7:45. Um, yeah, we were all still in our jammies and Callum was still asleep!

We were only a little late. (Wink. Wink.)

The races are so fun to watch. For some reason (Don't tell Cal.), I like the girls the best. Something about watching those girls stream past the finish line just thrills me. Fun. But a harried and rushed morning. Thank God, I wasn't the one who was running.

Oh, then we had to buy a dryer. There are some appliances that are fun to buy (buying my new stove a few years back comes to mind), but dryers don't rise to the top of the list. Had to be done though, which was a huge bummer. Not having a dryer is a bigger bummer though, and the new one will be here today.

We're keeping up our Saturday night dinner tradition, only this week's dinner was a celebration. Neel made an amazing salad for us. There's been a lot to celebrate around here. Neel finishing the grant, obvs. Isn't it a bummer that he won't find out about it for months? Callum got some great news at school on Friday. Like I said, it may have taken six weeks but it seems like we've finally settled in. We're pretty proud of him. And I got some good news too. A possible dream come true, and some projects coming up that are really going to push me but that I'm so very excited about. I'm feeling quite breathless, actually.

And then a beagle fell asleep on my lap. She loves to sleep under the covers, and she got a special treat Saturday night while we cuddled up for a The West Wing marathon. Callum is really into the upcoming U.S. election, so how could we resist? Except, said beagle hurt her paw some time later that night. She seems much better now, but she's so pathetic when she gets hurt (drama queen).

Sunday was a work day. Neel, as you can see, disassembled our air hockey table. More on that in a bit. Our guys were here to work on the bathroom, so the walls are done and will be ready to prime and paint by next weekend. Randy, our contractor, admits that Butch, the guy who's been doing the work, is not the neatest. Ahem. After Butch left, Neel was helping Randy fold up some tarps, and Randy said, "Butch is like that guy in Peanuts, what's he called, Mud Pen?" Uh, Pig Pen? Yeah, that's the one.

Neel got a much needed yard day in, which helped him immeasurably I think. And I made soup. We used to eat salads during the week, but the weather really is turning cooler, so I've decided to make us soup on Sunday to see us through weektime lunches. Not to brag or anything, but that up there might be the best corn and bacon chowder ever. Just sayin'. If I get my act together, I'll pop up a post about it this week. And because we had to borrow our neighbor's dryer for a load, bringing the clothes back and forth, I ended up with a lot of ironing to do. Not my fave.

But for me, the best part of the weekend was the amazing work my wonderful husband did clearing out a studio space for me. He's pretty special, isn't he? The dogs, who sleep there too, are a little freaked out. I left for the grocery store and he was still pulling the air hockey table apart (it pretty much didn't work anymore), and by the time I got back the table was gone, the room cleared out and the floors mopped. There's more work to be done, but I think he was as excited as I was to set up the saw horses.

My lovelies, how was your weekend? What wonderful things are on tap for you this week? For me, it's nothing but blue skies ahead.