Ups and Downs, but mostly Ups

[autographedcat]

• Our housewarming party was a great success! Thanks to Alice, thatcrazycajun, hilfy, anaisdjuna, joyeuse13, and abovenyquist for coming over!
  
  
• kitanzi and I met up with Alice and thatcrazycajun to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I thought it was a fine film, and the gal playing Luna Lovegood is just spot-perfect. Thumbs up!
  
  
• hilfy came over for dinner Friday night. We had good food, good wine, and good conversation. A very enjoyable evening.
  
  
• We went to see Ben Wakeman play on Saturday. I've been a big fan of Ben's for years, and have even covered a few of his songs in filk circles. He gave his usual great show, and I got chat with him briefly to let him know he has a fan in the UK (bardling: he says hi and thanks!). One funny moment came when he forgot the first line to one of the songs on his new album. After two false starts, he said "Does anyone know the words to this song?" I carefully called out the first line for him, and he said "Thank you!" and launched into it. Later, by request, he did "White Male Folk Singer" and forgot the words to that too. *grin*
  
  
• The check engine light (also known on some models of car as the "set aside $400" light) came on while we were driving back from the concert, and I noticed it was idling funny. We got home OK, but i made plans to put it in the shop on Monday.
  
  
• Our 3rd wedding anniversary was Sunday! We celebrated by going out for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings Cafe, and then went shopping for stuff for the cats. What glamorous lives we lead! Sunday night, we watched the premiere of "Masters of Science Fiction", an anthology series that ABC has already canceled. Which is a pity, because the debut episode was brilliant. I recommend picking up the 3 remaining episodes if you have a chance, and keep a look out for an eventual DVD release.
  
  
• The auto place called me back this morning, after I dropped the car off yesterday afternoon. The actual thing I took it in for was pretty minor, but there's about $2600 worth of maintenance that need to be done. Fluid changes, full tune up with new spark plugs and cables, radiator hose, and, most expensively, new struts. We discussed the need and urgency of the various items, and I ended up authorizing them for about $1200 of the repairs. The remaining part will have to be budgeted out over the next few months.
  
  
• Shortly after the car people called, I got a half-hour warning call from the delivery service that was bringing us our anniversary present to each other. We got a king-sized bed from The Original Mattress Factory. This is something we'd wanted for quite some time, because while there was nothing structurally wrong with our queen-sized bed, it had become to small. When I started sleeping with the CPAP, I started sleeping on my back, and suddenly was taking up a lot more bed than I used to. The queen bed will now be the guest room bed, and has already been moved into place. Who wants to come visit?
  
  
• Speaking of visiting, I am going to be in San Francisco on Labor Day weekend! The reason for my trip is to visit cadhla, so I have no idea what sort of availability I may have otherwise, but, hey, y'know, I'm gonna be there all weekend, including Monday. (My return flight leaves at 10:30pm Monday and will land me back in Atlanta at 6am, just in time to go to work on Tuesday morning.) I now proceed to do the bouncy I-get-to-see-Seanan chair dance, which I'm told is very cute in a demented sort of way.
  
  
• kitanzi just e-mailed me to let me know she'd won a pair of tickets to see Peter Paul and Mary at Chastain Park Amphitheatre on Friday! Wheee!
  
  
• My friend Dina, who I have not seen in far too long, is coming down the last weekend of September with her two children, and we're going to go to the zoo and the aquarium and the pool and who knows what else?
  

And that's most of the news that's fit to print. On the whole, it's mostly positive, and what isn't positive isn't really more than annoying. So I declare it, on the whole, good.

Comments

[melissanmn.livejournal.com]

Happy Anniversary! :)

[grey-lady.livejournal.com]

which I'm told is very cute in a demented sort of way.
Much like you, my dear. :)

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

OMF does good work; they made the first bed jenkitty and I bought together. I envy you getting to visit The Blonde; I do NOT envy you the redeye back.

PP&M in Chastain? Ooooooers, envy. You guys are in for a *treat*. Consider it a belated anniversary thingy... hey, do they still make up the picnics with wine and such to go to the Park with? That'd be a really cool thing to do for her ladyship....

Funny thing, the Luna Lovegood role seemed so perfect *because* it's so *familiar* around here... the airy, crunchy-granola type with her feet firmly on the ground...

*/babble*

[wheezinggirl.livejournal.com]

And I had emailed kitanzi about getting together this weekend. Sounds like you're tied up on Friday...would you guys like to do dinner on Saturday?

[otherdeb.livejournal.com]

a: Happy Anniversary to both of you!

b: Would love to come visit - perhaps later in the fall or maybe on Winter Break (not sure when that is yet), since Atlanta in summer is hot, and NY in winter is too damned cold.

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Cool! Let me know the details of the trip west when you can.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

This is my third bed from OMF. I will likely continue to buy from them for as long as I need bedding. (The queen we're replacing is an OMF, and is going into the guest room. My ex kept the king we had bought from them a couple of years before we split up.)

Very much looking forward to the concert. I can't recall if the last show I saw there was Suzanne Vega & The Chieftains, or Brian Wilson, but I know it was before 2000. I actually had tickets to see Steely Dan there, and then got sick and couldn't go. :/

I'm not especially looking forward to the redeye, though I should see if the seat is upgradeable using skymiles. I've got a few piled up, and it might make the trip home more worthwhile. Ponder.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Landing on Friday, leaving on Monday. Everything in between is up in the air. :) I'm a Zen Tourist, which makes it hard to plan things with me, but we'll see what we can manage. (You were sick the last time I came out that way, alas.)

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

Um...hate to break this to ya, guy, but the concert's been cancelled. From this morning's AJC:

>>Folk legends Peter, Paul and Mary meanwhile, have had to cancel their appearance at the venue this Friday. Member Mary Travers recently had back surgery and her recovery is taking longer than expected. Ticket-holders are asked to contact their place of purchase by Thursday for refunds.<<

Sorry about that...I saw them at Chastain with the Songbird a coupla years back and I know what you're missing.

[eiblyn.livejournal.com]

So glad to hear that everything in your world seems to be running smoothly. And congrats to you and kitanzi on the anniversary!!

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Happy Anniversary!

I now proceed to do the bouncy I-get-to-see-Seanan chair dance, which I'm told is very cute in a demented sort of way.

Okay, there needs to be video of this. Because dementedly cute is just so you.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

The bed became too small. Uhuh. They shrink *g*...

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Bugger.

[(Anonymous)]

Have you gotten either of my emails about that? Looks like the concert is cancelled, so Friday is good for us if it's good for you. Let me know!

[(Anonymous)]

erk - that was me, Kitanzi. :)

[danea.livejournal.com]

Happy Anniversary to you both! Hopefully I'll at least see you long enough to collect a hug while you're here. :)

Wow, I'm in Rob's LJ!

[(Anonymous)]

We're looking forward to the trip :)

Re: logistics, though: can we actually reasonably fit the aquarium and the zoo into one weekend, with Saturday being our only full day there?

If we only have time for one, that's fine. We're coming to visit YOU, so whatever else is in Atlanta is peripheral :)