Monday, August 3, 2009

A Family Weekend

The family all got together this weekend. Daughter#2 and her husband arrived Friday evening about 6:30 traveling up from Harrisonburg. As everyone was hungry and Friday being our pizza night, we all went to the Roma restaurant to eat. Ann, The Son and I split a large Pepperoni, mushroom and onion pizza, while Daughter#2 got a baked salmon dish and The Son In Law got a sub. I think everyone pretty much enjoyed their dinners. After dinner, Daughter#2 and The Son In Law left to check on a drum set while Ann and I suffered through another Nationals loss. Daughter#1 and her husband rolled in Friday night around 11:00 after spending 8 hours on the road. Traffice was bad seeing as the trip normally talkes about 5 to 6 hours. Ann and I were already in bed because we lead an exciting life like that.

Saturday morning I had rowing practice. We have a new coach that is handling our transition to Head Race season. We're doing a lot of drill work as we have the time to do so seeing our next race isn't until mid September. The drills are good, but they are only good if the people (i.e., the rowers) take them to heart and actually correct what the drills are meant to correct. I have a feeling that we perform the drills ok but then go right back to rowing the same old mistake filled way when turned loose to row a piece. I guess it remains to be scene if our technique improves. After practice, I got home and cleaned up and we settled in for an early lunch. Daughter#1 and her husband had an evening wedding to attend in Richmond and needed to be on the road by 1:00 so we scheduled an early lunch. We had on the menu grilled Brats, BBQ, and some homemade pasta salad. It was a nice day so we ate out on the screened porch. Lo the family lunch:
(From the left: Daughter#1's Husband, Daughter#1, The Son, Ann, Daugher#2 and The Son In Law)



After lunch Daughter#1 and her Husband left for Richmond. They were followed by Daughter#2 and The Son In Law. The Son In Law plays in a band and had a gig in Stauton Saturday night and had to get back to the valley. With every one gone, Ann, I and The Son settled in front of the TV to watch Valkyrie with Tom Cruise. I wasn't sure how I would feel about his movie. I don't think anyone with an even basic knowledge of world history and WWII in particular, didn't know how the plot to assasinate Hitler turned out. However, it actually turned out to be pretty entertaining and it was able to build the suspense even knowing the ultimate outcome. As I told Ann, it was like watching the movie "Titanic", you know what happened, but somehow you were hoping that this time they didn't hit the iceburg. So we enjoyed it and I would recommend it.

Sunday was mostly spent waiting for Daughter#1 to return from Richmond. The original plan was for them to be back to the house at 9:30. Accordingly I didn't go for a row or a bike ride as there wouldn't be enough time (short of getting up at 5:30, which I tried and failed miserably). 9:30 came and went with no word. Daughter#1 finally called around 10:00 and sounded pretty rough (think bad hangover). They were still in bed and would be leaving shortly. They finally left Richmond at 11:30 and didn't get to the house until 1:00. They both looked like they had partied pretty hard the night before. They were also hungry so we had lunch at Red Robin. No Red Robin's in CT so that's where they wanted to go. During lunch they both downed large amounts of water although The Son and I did as well. I had my usual RR order of a Peppercorn Burger. I also got a Root Beer Float, something I haven't had probably since I was a kid. It was fantasic. A good lunch for sure. After lunch, Daughter#1 and The Husband came back to the house and crashed for a few hours. They finally left for home around 5:30. After they left, Ann, I and The Son had leftovers from the day before and called it a day. As always it was nice to be able to spend time with family. We don't get to spend enought time together and I always cherish the time we do have together. I expect that there will be changes afoot with everyone due to the job situations and hopefulyl that will all pan out for the good. So keeping my fingers crossed for all of them. As part of our conversation over lunch on Saturday, we were already making plans for the holidays. It's our year for Thanksgiving with the kids while the various In Laws have the Daughters and their husbands for Christmas. Looks like we might have two Christmases this year. One on Christmas Day and another the day after when the Daughters and their husbands can make it down after spending Christmas with their respective In Laws. Two Christmases doesn't sound like such a bad deal.

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