Friday evening arrived, and so did Gavin & Michelle to hang with the kids and have pizza movie (over)night. I packed a bag and headed to Raechelle's for her former co-worker/occasional roomie Jessica's going away bash. We walked down to King's Hardware, a bar in Ballard which was crowded and very loud. Very meat-market. I had fun hanging with Raechelle and her work friends, and we proceeded to drink like a couple of adults with no kid-responsibilities. I haven't been able to just go pub crawling since the night of the fire. It was good, although there were apparently some ghosts for Raechelle, and she made a couple declarations later about not visiting certain establishments or drinking certain cocktails anymore, which I fully support.
We went back to Rae's apartment and got some sleep. The girl was a bit delicate in the morning, but I did not have any kind of hangover (blessings counted). Said goodbye to Jessica and Sam as they departed for Bellingham, then headed out to Costco to get the pies for the birthday party. In and out of Costco in 20 minutes flat, back to the apartment to shower and get dressed. Turned out to be way too hot to be wearing my new black paisley tie, but hey - I tried.
We met Trish and Dan at the Ballard Oddfellows Hall at Noon, set up for the party, hosted somewhere around 30 or so folks for Dan's & my combo platter of a 40th birthday party. Trish got movie popcorn bags and Sharpies for folks to write personal abuse to us. Dan made some beautiful remarks that exemplified why I love having him as a creative collaborator. Gavin showed up with the kids, and Doug & Ann were in fine form. Natasha Sims from OA was there, and ended up making new friends in Raechelle and Ann. Apparently there is to be some sort of shopping trip. Shoes may be involved. I find it best to not ask too many questions - just stand aside.
After we cleaned up the party, we took the kids back to Raechelle's apartment so that I could pack up and she could throw a bag together for that night. Kayleigh rode with Raechelle and Tyler rode with me back to West Seattle. We met up with Trish, Dan & Raff, chatted and worked on finishing the keg, then went to dinner at West 5 at the Junction. Back home for a movie screening: Death at a Funeral - loved it. About halfway through, Caleb & Shandalla showed up. They watched the rest of the film with us, then when it was over, everyone cleared out, leaving a very exhausted couple to hit the sack.
Went out to coffee this morning at the B&N Starbucks (I remarked that I almost felt like I was cheating on Ron - "This was our place!"), then headed to Target so Raechelle could look at some summer wear to take to West Virginia on her trip. Then back home where we just... chilled. And it was soooo nice. We had lots of good downtime, hanging with the kids and the pets, making plans and cracking each other up. Later, Rae's friend Jamie (whom I'd met previously), came out to the house, and we all piled into my rig for dinner at the Elliott Bay pub to celebrate Independence Day (aka Raechelle's first anniversary of The Breakup).Raechelle finally left at 8:30PM. It's feeling more and more natural to have her here. We're planning dinner Tuesday night with one of her best friends (her "big brother"), whom I've heard tons about and can't wait to meet. Then Thursday night she'll stay over night so I can drive her to the airport bright and early Friday morning.
It'll be an interesting week with her out of state - I fully expect the absence will only cement things in a good way.
In the meantime, still waiting to hear back on the Duo pitch. Hold the good thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment