In Lieu of Love & Loathe…

… I offer a Memorial Weekend.

On Friday I went to lunch with my work friend. It’s been awhile since we’ve gone to lunch together. Part of our routine after lunch is to walk over to Golden Spoon. During that walk, we always joke about “that loser jewelry store” right there, because they were unable to find my warranty information that one time. We always say, “Oh, I’d really love to buy some jewelry, but not from that store.” And then we giggle immaturely.

Except that day, a little girl ran up to the window with her arms stretching upward to touch and trace the name of the store engraved on the glass. She was inside the store, so by running to the window, she was facing us. Her younger sister was three or four steps behind her and she, too, wanted to touch the engraved glass, but could barely reach it. Both girls had blonde hair flaring out behind them and eyes the color of a clear blue sunny spring day. The most darling sundresses graced their perfect miniature bodies and their smiles told me they were giggling, the sound of which I couldn’t hear because of the glass.

What I heard in my head was set to the song of How much is that doggy in the window, except mine said, “How much is that little girl in the window, because I’ll take two just like her, please…”

My friend and I looked at each other and wistfully continued our walk and eventually returned to work.

Tony and I went up to the mountains this weekend. A time of rest that we desperately needed, him more than me. Since he started working his second job, he’s not had a Saturday or Sunday off. Sadly, he worked Monday, so he didn’t get a three-day weekend, the two days off that he did take were good for his soul.

People in the mountain town that we visited were reveling in the glorious weather. Riding their bicycles, walking, hiking, boating, fishing — every type of sunny outdoor activity you can imagine. Creating their little bubbles of happiness by spending time with those they love. There were yard sales galore — an annual event in the mountain town, apparently. Nearly everybody was having one, there were signs on every street corner advertising HUGE YARD SALE and then an arrow pointing to the address listed. We didn’t visit any of them, but we saw many, many signs encouraging us to do so.

Sunday morning we visited our favorite cafe, The Grizzly Manor. Charlie, the owner and cook, churns out pancakes the size of which overflow the plate. Everything on the menu is good and with my penchant for leftovers, one dish can feed me breakfast for a week. Oh, yes, and they only serve breakfast — until 3 PM. The place is tiny, around 24 people fit inside and that’s seating people nearly back-to-back. I asked Charlie how many eggs they go through each day. He said on a normal day around 13 flats (2 1/2 dozen eggs per flat), although he’d surpassed that number for that day and around 5-6 cases of hash browns (there are five 2-lb. bags in each case)…. “and that in a restaurant the size of Denny’s bathrooms.” He chuckled appreciatively at his joke and said, “Yep, Denny’s is where we send the people we don’t like!”

Loaded with good food, we hiked to the top of Castle Rock, which is where Tony proposed to me in October of 2004 and where we married each other in August of 2005. A special place to us, indeed. It’s still so very beautiful with the unending views it offers. Although I have to say, the hike didn’t seem so very difficult as it has in years past. I guess after hiking to top of Half Dome in 2007 my perspective has changed. I felt somewhat humbled, given all the endurance swimming I do, that during the first part of the hike I had trouble catching my breath. I’m gonna go ahead and blame that on the elevation and having a full stomach, because once I found my rhythm, it was all good.

After our hike, we decided to take the sky chair at one of the ski resorts to the top of another part of the mountain and walk around for a bit. The only time I’ve ever been on a lift chair is with 15 pound ski boots and skis dangling off my feet and freezing air nipping at my face. This was much more comfortable and felt somewhat decadent to only have my 5 pound hiking boots weighing my feet and legs. Like nothing at all. It was fun… still a bit chilly, but not freezing.

The other event that marks this weekend is Tony’s grandpa’s 90th birthday (on 5/26). We spent some quality time with family on Monday afternoon to celebrate… it was lovely to see parts of the family which we normally don’t. Ninety years old is certainly an occasion to mark… and to hear the words “Happy Birthday” coming from our nearly three year old nephew, well, it was just plain touching to see an aged face light up, showing the youthful heart within, in response to the exuberant little face who offered the wishes.

And our youngest nephew is at the Wobbler Toddler stage. He’s walking now, wobbly, but he’s got the hang of it. I can’t believe he’ll be a year old next month.

… and so, the weekend is done, we’re back to work already and would you look at that? We’re one day closer to the next weekend already!

Pictures from our weekend can be viewed here, if you wish.