Three days off. Here's what I have to show for it (hint: not much).

I am coming down off of a 3 day weekend and its always hard to come back to work but I shall persevere. 

Friday after a doctor's appointment I had lunch and went shopping with my mom. The kittens were the big winners from that trip as I got them lots of toys.

Cuddles with his new squishy.

A little high off the catnip mice.

Being off also meant I got to wear comfy clothes and indulge my new found passion for leggings.

Saturday we slept late and did a short hike to a local little waterfall.

The shirt I got him in Hawai'i.

B took me to Famous Dave's for dinner since I love BBQ but have never been there. Let me tell you, it was worth it. I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich WITH COLESLAW ON IT (I am big on food mixing) and broccoli that I chose because I felt like it was the healthy option but it was really, really good so I'm pretty sure it must've been smothered in butter but oh well.

This weekend also marked the return of the Mickey Mouse antennae topper.

Also this:

                                                        

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What weekends are for.

This weekend was absolutely fabulous. Saturday after I got my beauty sleep (this is key to weekend happiness) we took a stroll down a winding mile or so trail that leads to an old mill town by the river.

Just last month two girls were killed when a train overturned as they sat on the edge of this trestle bridge (not a recommended activity, btw. Best to stay away from train tracks in general, as a rule) and its load of coal was dumped on top of them. Today there is barely any trace of the accident. How quickly we move on, though those girls' families lives were changed forever.

Up the hill from the bridge is a little cafe called Bean Hollow. When we take the trail B and I like to grab a table and a coffee and just people watch for a little while. It's always an eclectic group: older couples, new, teenage couples, parents with their kids decked out in soccer gear, a couple of motorcycle riders. It feels comforting that we all partake in this little ritual together, though our lives are so different. Maybe the world would be a better place if we all had time to sat down and had coffee together...



Spiced Caramel Apple Latte



B and a Maple Bar Mocha.

B opened a small drawer in the table we were sitting at and found an awesome cache of napkins on which people had written notes. Kind of like a local Post Secret. Napkin Secret. Some were sweet, some were silly, and some were heartrendingly sad. It was such a fun little find (though I declined to add my own napkin. I don't need strangers reading my secrets).

Saturday night was a rare date night. B picked the restaurant, the only qualification being that it have outdoor seating, since it was absolutely gorgeous here in Baltimore this weekend (high 70s, no humidity, a rarefied event). It was an Irish pub in Harbor Place, a mall/open air plaza right on the water, and the best part about it was the view (since, to be honest, the food was so/so and the service not so great).

View of the Constellation from our table.

There was a band down below us and people were dancing. It was another moment where I felt in connection with everyone around me, all of us enjoying the simple pleasures of a warm night and free music down by the harbor. After dinner we got Rita's, for which we had a coupon for buy one get one free, which made it even more delicious than usual, if that is possible. I know they're going to close soon and I am sorely disappointed. I do believe that they should let the indoor locations remain open year-round. I'd eat that business in the dead of winter.

B's Blue Moon and my Dark and Stormy

Watchin'

Dancin'

Sunday was for church, a loooong nap, and a skating session that was sorely needed after a couple of weeks off. I'm determined that this will be the week I finally defeat the last of the fleas hanging on to Truman and Tesla. You are on notice, fleas. Beware. Oh, also, my shows start coming back! Bones and Big Bang Theory I know start this week. Especially excited for Big Bang.

Now I'm just trying to start the week off on a good foot with some hot tea and a link up with these fine folks:

                                         

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Kitten stool samples and other weekend activities.

So some things were nice this weekend, such as this note from B that I woke up to on Saturday morning:

And my first pumpkin spice latte of the season before church on Sunday:

Even having the windows open again and watching the kittens enjoy the breeze.

What was not great? Having to take a stool sample from the kittens to the vet. Actually, that part wasn't that bad. Tesla complied with our schedule and went before we left. Truman did not. What Truman did do was take a nice big one in his carrier as we transferred him from the car to the vet. 

B: "He's going right now. I'm watching him do it. Damnit."

Because they like to share a carrier, both the kittens got it on their paws. B pulled out the shirt that he had lined the carrier with...that now reeked so badly of cat feces he immediately shoved it in the plastic bag we were carrying Tesla's sample in. The nice vet tech took them back and washed them off, though we still had to bathe them when we got them home. 

When we told the vet (who seems to be some sort of veterinarian Doogie Howser. I think she's 12). She laughed and said "I will take the sample though. Is it in the garbage?" She was going to go through the garbage for my cats s&*t. Seriously. That's dedication. I like her.

Instead, we handed her the grocery bag and the advice that "Tesla's is labeled in the Ziploc. Truman's is...in the t-shirt. And possibly all over the side of the bag." And she took it. Thank you, Veterinarian Doogie Howser.

They're lucky I love them. Real lucky.

Linking up with these lovely ladies:

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This is my nightmare.

When I was little, my grandmother would babysit me when my daycare was closed. One of my distinct memories of those times (besides my grandmother letting me do her hair while we watched soap operas and used a fan to blow her hair back like the ladies in the soap opera openers) is when her house got infested with fleas. I was so scared and disgusted by the jumping little insects and the prospect that they might touch me that I spent an entire afternoon sitting on top of the back of her couch (the actual back; it was as far from the carpet full of death that I could get).

Fleas are a scourge. I mean, they are responsible for the Black Death.

And now they are on my kittens. My adorable kittens have betrayed me and for the last four weeks have apparently been playing host to little flea eggs just biding their time until they could hatch in my clean apartment and terrorize me.

We launched a four prong attack last night when we discovered the beasts. To the vet for flea meds, combed out the kitties, doused them in flea bath, vacuumed the apartment and sprayed all the fabrics with some kill-everything-alive spray. We also banned the kitties from the bedroom, which I felt bad about but I WILL NOT HAVE FLEAS IN MY BED. As of this morning the kittens only showed one or two fleas each when I combed them out, which is a vast improvement. Still unacceptable.

Hopefully we caught it early enough that it won't become a big problem. But honestly, that's pretty much all I remember from my Labor Day weekend. Any good memories were apparently negated by the Flea Crisis of 2012.

Well, that, and I got new shoes.

Also I tried the new Autumn Apple Chicken Salad at Cosi and loved it. Highly recommend.

Link up and share your weekend, which hopefully did not involve fleas!

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Sesquicentennial. Say it three times fast.

Were you aware that it is currently the 150th anniversary of the Civil War? Also known as the sesquicentennial, which I just like to say over and over. Well if you were a history nerd, you would know that. Being the epitome of history nerds, my family and a bunch of my coworkers went down to Manassas, Virginia on Saturday where they were having a big to-do to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Second Battle of Bull Run/Manassas (depending on whether you are a Yankee or Reb, respectively).

Actually, first my parents stopped at the apartment so my mom could meet the kitties and take our family portrait.

Anyway, now on to Manassas.

We checked out the Civil War encampment for a bit. When I was younger, re-enactors creeped me out. Now that I am an historian and understand their impulse to remember, we have come to a truce. I ignore them and they ignore me.

Actually, I don't understand their impulse to re-enact. You know why? Because living in the past actually sucked. It was dirty and there was no electricity, indoor plumbing, or internet. So while I love to study it, I am quite happy here in the second millennium with my cable and air conditioning.

But I digress. It unfortunately began to rain. Being hearty types, we took the shuttle (read: wagon) to Liberia House Plantation, a local historic home that had been used as a headquarters by both the Confederates and the Union during the First and Second battles, respectively. It is known as "the death house" because when the Confederates fled the first battle, they left four dead bodies in the house. Lovely.



These are my people. Also note my fashionable blue plastic poncho from Niagara Falls.



Liberia House

Unfortunately, once we got inside the house it began to pour. As in driving rain. Also unfortunately there wasn't much to see in the house, so it wasn't somewhere you wanted to be stuck. We hung out on the portico and watched the re-enactors be miserable and wet.

Rain, rain, go away.

Once it became clear that the rain wasn't going to stop any time soon, the people running the event decided, thankfully, to bring vans to shuttle us back to our cars instead of making us ride back in the tractor wagon, exposed to the elements. They moved us back into the house, where we encountered an historically inaccurate Abraham Lincoln:

Also creepy. To quote the woman to his left "Don't touch me, Fake Lincoln!"

I say historically inaccurate because at this time, theoretically 1862 according to the people manning the house, Lincoln didn't have the famous beard. Nor would he have worn gray pants with a black coat. I'm just saying. 

Of course, by the time they got all of us shuttled back, the rain was stopping. So my parents and I went back out to the actual battlefield, where we took a bit of a hike and then went to Don Pablo's for dinner, where I ate fried ice cream and didn't feel one bit bad about it. So there.

 

Check out what a bunch of other bloggers did this weekend at the link-up these lovely ladies hold!

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My weekend was great, thanks for asking!

Had an awesome awesome weekend. We FINALLY got a bit of a break in the heat (which is not to say it was cool. There is a difference) and took the chance to go down to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, where my parents happened to be camping for the weekend.

Harper's Ferry, in case you didn't know, is a National Park, the site of quite a lot of history, including three Civil War battles and John Brown's raid. Also, the town itself is adorable.

We hiked the Maryland Heights Trail. Let me tell you, it made me feel really out of shape. It's only 2.8 miles, but it is up the side of a mountain, and there were several points where I thought I might die. The view from the lookout, however, is pretty fantastic.

Harper's Ferry from Maryland Heights. Looks like a little model train town.

Much, much needed rest.



The river looked so very inviting and I was drenched in sweat and felt disgusting so I did something I don't know that I've done before: stripped down to my sports bra and waded in.

The water was warm and it felt delicious. I did, however, jump in the chlorinated pool at the campground when we got back to kill whatever I had picked up from the river.

Speaking of the river, it is very popular with tubers. See below:

Can you see the tubers? They're there.

And I was very seriously thinking I would like to go tubing there sometime until I got to work this morning and my coworker informed me that several years ago she was tubing in that very spot and ran into something with her tube. That something was A DEAD COW.



Via



I mean, I'd still go tubing. But seriously. I'll be much more wary of dead cows now.

Still, we got to spend the rest of the evening eating, sitting by the campfire, making s'mores and watching a man try to park his tractor-trailer sized RV in a compact car sized spot. Ah, the joys of recreational campgrounds.

Sunday we ran errands and got ready for the week. I'd say that the weekend was the perfect combination of relaxation, working out, family and productivity. Rare in a weekend, don't you think?

Plus, the week is off to a great start as I got to begin my Monday by helping open up an exhibit case to remove an object for photography. Always a fun time, at least for me ;)

Happy Monday! Also, if you're posting about your weekend, why not link up?

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