This
past weekend was our first post-finals, Summer of George weekend, and
it was absolutely wonderful. Seriously, I could not have asked for a
better one. Friday afternoon I had a lovely walk home and then headed
right back out the door with D for a short 4-mile run, my first since
the half marathon. We had delicious homemade pizza for dinner and then
went to Hofbrauhaus on the south side for beer with the Physics guys,
who were all reveling in their newfound summer freedom.
Saturday morning it was up and at ‘em pretty early so we could on the road to the outlet mall in Grove City, which is about an hour north of Pittsburgh. We only go to the outlet mall twice a year, and I was under strict instructions to spend my birthday money on fun things only, so I did some major damage in the 5 or so hours we were there. Now my summer work wardrobe is in much better shape, and I got a few things for fun too. After the shopping extravaganza, we regrouped at Elephant & Castle with refreshing summer beers in the shade on their porch. Saturday night was a cookout with good friends and good food. Is there anything better than grilling in the summertime? Grilled food, perhaps.
Sunday we got up early again (what’s up with that?) to hit the road for a good long run, part of it through the lovely Frick Park trails, which I’m now an expert on after all that half marathon training. Poor D was a bit less enthusiastic about the run, but I’m glad he was there, especially when we came across a huge black snake and I almost jumped out of my skin and into his arms in surprise. I’m not a fan of snakes. Where I grew up, any snake you see is going to try to kill you. We spent the afternoon on a blanket under some trees in another park, reading, talking, and playing the guitar. I took a few photos but they didn’t capture the perfectness that was the weather on Sunday afternoon, so I gave up and turned back to my book and my boy. We finally packed up and headed home in the late afternoon, but mostly because of a hankering for milkshakes. They were procured and enjoyed on the back porch in the gathering dusk, and then we headed inside to catch up on Netflix and get back to the task of relaxing.
All weekend D was remarking that he felt like he had homework hanging over his head, or something he should be working on nagging at him, and all weekend I kept gleefully exclaiming that he was done! and we were supposed to be having fun! Luckily that was the only assignment for the weekend, and I can say with firm conviction that we both earned an A.
Saturday morning it was up and at ‘em pretty early so we could on the road to the outlet mall in Grove City, which is about an hour north of Pittsburgh. We only go to the outlet mall twice a year, and I was under strict instructions to spend my birthday money on fun things only, so I did some major damage in the 5 or so hours we were there. Now my summer work wardrobe is in much better shape, and I got a few things for fun too. After the shopping extravaganza, we regrouped at Elephant & Castle with refreshing summer beers in the shade on their porch. Saturday night was a cookout with good friends and good food. Is there anything better than grilling in the summertime? Grilled food, perhaps.
Sunday we got up early again (what’s up with that?) to hit the road for a good long run, part of it through the lovely Frick Park trails, which I’m now an expert on after all that half marathon training. Poor D was a bit less enthusiastic about the run, but I’m glad he was there, especially when we came across a huge black snake and I almost jumped out of my skin and into his arms in surprise. I’m not a fan of snakes. Where I grew up, any snake you see is going to try to kill you. We spent the afternoon on a blanket under some trees in another park, reading, talking, and playing the guitar. I took a few photos but they didn’t capture the perfectness that was the weather on Sunday afternoon, so I gave up and turned back to my book and my boy. We finally packed up and headed home in the late afternoon, but mostly because of a hankering for milkshakes. They were procured and enjoyed on the back porch in the gathering dusk, and then we headed inside to catch up on Netflix and get back to the task of relaxing.
All weekend D was remarking that he felt like he had homework hanging over his head, or something he should be working on nagging at him, and all weekend I kept gleefully exclaiming that he was done! and we were supposed to be having fun! Luckily that was the only assignment for the weekend, and I can say with firm conviction that we both earned an A.
