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Last year: Stupid idiot things are setting off red flags in my brain, and I'm holding onto control with fingernails that are slowly ripping away from my fingers. |
Oh, yeah. We met my parents and Uncle John and Aunt Laura for dinner at the Backfin. I don't really like seafood, but I love eating at the Backfin. For one thing, their cornbread and hushpuppies are fantastic - slightly sweet, with finely-ground cornmeal. They're almost more like cake than bread. Fresh and hot, slathered with butter, they're simply to die for. And for a seafood restaurant, the Backfin makes very good steak and chicken.
John was teasing my mom about the fact that she'll turn 60 next year, and Mom commented that she could never remember how old she was - that she had to figure out my age and add thirty. John did the math and immediately started teasing me for being almost 30. I laughed at him - I'm still almost a month away from being 29, much less 29 again!
Later, when we were all at our house, John started pestering Matt and I about having children. His natural daughter and his adopted daughters have all given him at least one grandchild, and he simply adores being a grandfather. I find it funny that he's the one who so far has pushed the hardest in that direction. I know my parents want us to have children, and I'm certain my grandparents are eagerly anticipating great-grandchildren. I don't know how Matt's family feels, but it's probably not far from my family's feelings. But they've all managed to keep their mouths shut - at least around us, which is really all we ask.
John asked us when we were going to have kids, and I'm grateful Matt is just a little quicker than I am. "When we're given one for Christmas," he answered smoothly, when I felt like delivering an objurgation.
My aunt Laura misunderstood, perhaps deliberately. "Well," she said to my mother, "now you know what to ask for, for Christmas!"
Sunday we went to the Fall Festival at the Newport News Park. Matt and I had gone a couple of years ago, and had a lot of fun. This time we went with Braz and Kris, splitting up - as might be expected into the Boys and the Girls.
The first order of the day was food. Ah, fair food! Kris wanted hot apple cider - Sunday was the first really cool day we've had so far this autumn - and I succumbed to a funnel cake. (Alas, Kris did not get her cider; most of the food tents had come prepared for warmer weather, and the few that had cider had already sold out by the time we got there.) Then we moved on to the crafts.
The Fall Festival is enormous - there were literally hundreds of exhibitors and tents. There was no way we could see it all. But I was on a dual mission. First, I wanted to find an autumn decoration for my front door - something that wasn't holiday specific, so I could put it up in September and leave it up until it was time for Christmas decorations. My second mission was to find the Kettle Korn tent. When Matt and I had come to the festival two years ago, we'd stumbled across a tent of popcorn makers who were making their popcorn in an enormous iron kettle, popping it with oil and salt and sugar, which resulted in a simply fantastic popcorn. I hoped to find them again.
I found an autumn decoration that was almost - but not quite - what I was looking for, and while I was thinking about it, I saw in the same tent the most adorable Hallowe'en decoration. It had a bat, a pumpkin, and a ghost all attached to stiff, springy wire. I think what nailed it for me was the bat's wide eyes. Anyway, I had to have it. I left the inadequate autumn decoration on the wall, and walked out with a Hallowe'en decoration instead.
Coming around the corner, I saw it: The KettleKorn booth! The line was long, but I was content to wait in line and watch them pop batch after batch of this fantastic popcorn. Kris waited with me with tolerance, but when we got to the front of the line and she had a taste, she was sold, too. I bought two bags, just as the Boys wandered up themselves. We all stood around munching popcorn for a few minutes, then separated again.
A little further on, Kris and I were sucked in to the same booth. She was drawn to a winter decoration that was almost a collage. I liked the winter decoration, too, but what really grabbed me was the advent calendar. I love advent calendars. Last year, I stumbled across one I really liked, but didn't buy it because I'd just been laid off. Later, after I'd agreed to take this job, I went back for it and it was gone. I told the story to Kris, who told me that if I didn't buy this one, I'd regret it, too. (Besides, if I bought the advent calendar, she could use me as an excuse to buy the winter decoration.)
A few stalls later, just as everything was beginning to blur, I found it - exactly the autumn decorations I'd been hoping to find. One was a long trail of autumn-covered leaves, decorated with raffia, perfect for hanging on the front door. The other was a pumpkin surrounded squash and leaves and acorns. I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do with that one, but I think it will be going in the kitchen.
By then, all the stalls and tents had blurred. Woodcrafts, flags, jewelery, and wreaths. They all looked the same. Not long afterwards, we met back up with the Boys and headed home, well-pleased with the afternoon's work. (Though next time, we must remember to pick a meeting place with seats.)
Monday, I had the day off for Columbus Day. Everyone else I know had to work, though. I spent the morning shopping - a few household things, some craft things for myself... I thought about going to the mall to see if I could possibly find any stretch jeans, but by then it was noon, I was tired, and my feet hurt. So I went home to start my little crafty projects I'd picked up, and to watch Much Ado About Nothing on the VCR. It was a good day.
While we were standing in line waiting for the Kettle Korn, Kris and I saw this sign outside a booth held by the U.S. Post Office:
Word of the Day: objurgation - a harsh rebuke
- nothing
Current Projects:
- little crafty things
- crocheted Christmas stockings
Diet Progress: 14 lbs lost
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