Some weeks just suck. Nothing goes the way you plan, life kicks you in the shin, and simple things just get you down. But it’s those weeks that make you appreciate the better ones.

This has been a great one.

Saturday, Donald and I had a barbecue at our house with our friends and family. It was the first time our parents had met each other, and I was nervous. As it turned out, I had nothing to be nervous about. Everyone appeared to have a great time, the burgers and hot dogs were delicious (even the first round of hot dogs that Donald sorta burned because he got distracted), and several livers were further damaged by copious amounts of alcohol. The last guest left at 2am, after many hours of Beans being played in the backyard.

(Let me take this moment to abandon all modesty and point out that I am the reigning queen of Beans. Donald and I beat Pitter and Jen 4 games in a row, and then Jen and I beat Donald and Pitter 2 out of 3 games. For the math challenged, that means my team won 6 of 7 games. I’m posting this here for historical purposes, because it’s not likely to ever happen again, and dammit I want it noted that it happened at least once.)

(Also, my apologies to my neighbors for the noise level until 2am. They were drunk, and I can only muzzle them so much.)

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Monday was Donald’s birthday, and many of our friends joined us at Claim Jumper for happy hour (which ended up being a happy 4 hours for us, and likely a LONG 4 hours for our server). I don’t think there’s been a time when we’ve all come together that I haven’t end up laughing to tears at one point or another. Monday was no exception. The first time was thanks to JAMEY (who would like to be mentioned in this blog so she can be famous. Here you go, Jamey. Now you’re famous among the 6 people who read it. Congrats!) who made a joke that whizzed right over my head and literally took me a full minute to figure out. Of course, once I got it I laughed. But man, did I feel dumb for a moment. We spent what felt like forever just hanging out, and once again I was reminded of what great friends I have.

Thanks to JAMEY (look Jamey! Twice!), Jeff, Jaden, Joshua, Jen K., Jen S., Katie, Owen, Vinne, Kaleena, Jason, Kathy, Bryana, Kyla, Byron, Johnny, and Sheri for coming by to celebrate. I know Donald had a great time and loved that you could all be there.

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Last night I went with a group of friends to see the 1am showing of Eclipse. No, I’m not a Twi-hard. I would have been completely content seeing it today, tomorrow, or even on DVD in a few months. But it sounded like fun, so I decided to take advantage of my open schedule and hang out with the ladies. We made plans to meet at the nearby restaurant/pub first, but that turned out to be a bust. Not one of us knew that the Irish pub turned into a 18+ dance club on Tuesday nights. Since we had 4 kids with us (two 13, and two 12), we had to find another plan. We ended up sitting in the theater for over an hour before the movie started. That wasn’t bad since I’d seen a line around the building at a different theater at 2pm! There’s no movie on the planet that I’d wait 10+ hours in line for. There’s pretty much nothing I’d wait in line that long for. The previews started at 1, and I was happy to see the trailer for the last Harry Potter movies. Eclipse finally started 2o minutes later, and I really enjoyed it. I mean, Taylor Lautner’s abs alone were worth going for, as evidenced by the theater-wide female gasp when he appeared on the screen. (I was right there with them, for the record.) I thought the movie was a little slow, but certainly better than New Moon. I think the people I went with (Jamey! Kathy! Tawny!) made the evening worth the staying up late, coming home at 3:45am, and not being able to fall asleep until after 5. Thanks for the fun, ladies!

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Friday we head for the river for a full week of laying around doing absolutely nothing. It’s my favorite week of the year, and I am chomping at the bit to get going. I plan on reading a lot of books, spending a lot of time in the sun, and hanging out with my peoples. When we get back, I will be rested, tanned, and ready to bust my ass to find a new job. I’m going to stop dwelling on all the “we’ve decided on someone else” phone calls, and start focusing on how to make myself an irresistible candidate. Because I am, dammit.