Unexpected weekend

Here’s what we had planned for this past weekend:

• Fri evening drive to Springfield, drop off the dog at Joe’s mom’s, drive to Takoma Park for our friend John’s 40th birthday, drive back to Springfield
• Sat morning take Evelyn with us to Kerry & Hugh’s in Manassas for breakfast, followed by watching the St. Patrick’s Day parade, then drive back to Springfield
• Sat evening/night have dinner and visit with Joe’s family
• Sun morning meet Michael & Jamie for breakfast
• Sun afternoon meet Greg & Gerry for lunch

However, things didn’t go as planned. The weather in the DC area and here was crazy. In DC they had rain, sleet, and snow which crippled rush hour traffic. There was a dense fog warning for the Bay Bridge, and a reported 10-mile back-up on the eastbound side. Here in Lewes it had been raining all day and was extremely windy. So we decided not to put ourselves out there in all that mess. We stayed in and planned to leave Sat morning.

After showers, breakfast, etc we left bright and sunny Lewes in the Suburban. About 10 miles up the road we began noticing an unusual sound coming from the engine. About 5 miles later it seemed to be getting louder. After a short discussion we decided to return home. The noise got louder as we drove back to Lewes, so we felt justified (instead of like sissies) for returning home. We thought about switching to one of the other cars, but realized Joe’s car has an expired Jan VA state inspection sticker on it. (We’ve not yet switched our driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations over to DE.) The passenger side door of my car needs to be fixed and can not be opened at this time. So despite having 3 vehicles, none of them were in suitable condition for the trip. So we called everyone with whom we had plans and cancelled.

Determined not to waste the weekend, we decided to do a little shopping. We returned a small product at Lowes and did some price comparing. Then we bought a new shower curtain for our bathroom at Springmaid Wamsutta (I love that store), had lunch at Mr. P’s, and then went grocery shopping.

After putting away the groceries Joe watched a little TV and I started hanging pictures. I hung 3 prints in the TV room, 3 pieces of original art in one of the guest bedrooms, and 3 more in the hallway outside of our bedroom.

Then I ironed the pillow cases and the lace top of the sheet for the top floor bedroom, and Joe helped me put the new bed skirt on, and make the bed with the new, freshly washed and ironed sheets. The guest bedroom looks great!

Sun morning we decided to hang the large mirror and 4 pictures in the living room. Due to the size and weight of these, we needed to drill pilot holes, sink plastic anchors, and screw in screws in order to hand them. Of course, all of that was after lots of careful measuring to ensure the mirror and pictures on the same wall were exactly the same height and distance from each other. Next we moved another mirror onto the mantel and accessorized with candles and framed photos. Then we hung 2 small pictures in the powder room; piece of cake. Then we hung 2 pictures and a clock in the breakfast room. Then I hung a key ring holder on the wall near the front door. Then to wrap up our day of productivity, we took the ‘extra’ TV and TV stand (previously used at the beach house) up to the attic along with 2 boxes of stuff, and put away some recent paperwork, mail and CDs.

It may seem repetitious that I keep documenting all of our unpacking, organizing, and decorating, but it makes me feel good to write and review all that we are accomplishing, and lessened some of the disappointment about our foiled weekend plans. Although I love organizing and decorating, most of the time I would prefer to be with family and friends... or watch a movie or surf the internet!)

Drag Queen name of the day: Sharon Aride