Birthday weekend and neck sprain

Friday I got home around 7. We didn’t have any dinner plans, and I wanted to go see Hem at the State Theater, since I’d recently found out (from my mom – what kind of music lover am I) that Steve Curtis is in the band. Steve and Chris and I used to hang out together from kindergarten to sixth grade; we’d all switched elementary schools along the way from Wakefield Forest to Pine Ridge to join the GT program. He moved to Pennsylvania after that with his family and my family had visited them once (for some reason leaving me at their house most of the day to watch MTV for the first time), and I’d lost track of him.

We ended up going to the Tortilla Factory for dinner (yes, the one that catered our wedding). I had a salad and a chimichanga, and Jill had chicken enchiladas. We ate quickly and headed straight to the State Theater, getting there earlier than I’d thought we could, and catching the end of Ollabelle‘s set. I went down to get drinks and did something to my back, because I got a nasty case of neck sprain that would haunt me for the next couple days.

Hem was good. Only bad thing was we were seated in comfy seats in the dark balcony and it was warm, and both of us hadn’t gotten much sleep. The iced tea I had with dinner ulitmately combined with the neck pain to keep me awake, but Jill was out for at least a third of their set, but she’d had a midterm and I didn’t want to wake her. The show was good, though, but I was psyched to meet the band. Afterwards, we chatted with the singer, Sally, and Dan, the main songwriter, while we waited for Steve to make an appearance. I said “Steve, you grew up around here, right?” and he agreed. “You lived in Truro?” I asked and he agreed, then looked at me closely. “Kerry?” he queried, and I confirmed. I’d brought some of our elementary school yearbooks just in case, but he remembered just fine. We caught up and I got him to sign a CD for me and for Chris.

Saturday I didn’t get the chance to sleep in as Illa had a vet appointment at 11. I barely made it out the door in time to walk with him and Jill and make it to the vet by 11 (we might have been just a little late). No problems reported, he got his shots, and the vet told us he was just the right size (and he’s 62 pounds). We walked back and I had some cereal for breakfast, then Jill headed out to study, and I followed around 1. I stopped at Clarendon Day at 1 to see Marwood (they made my artists to watch CD last year, but I hadn’t seen them live before), then wandered the vendors and had some lunch (a pupusa from Mexicali Blues and a mini gorgonzola burger from Eleventh Street Lounge before checking out Everyone But Pete whom I’d heard some buzz about. I guess they do play originals after checking out their website, but all I heard was covers so I headed over to the Clarendon CD Cellar to do my usual scouring of their clearance bin – plus I snagged a copy of the new Dream Theater DVD for cheap.

My friend Chris was in town coincidentally enough, but it wasn’t for the best of reasons. His grandmother had passed away, and his mother was holding a memorial service at her place in Alexandria. I got there around 3:30, just missing my mom. His wife wasn’t there, but his brother, Tim, and his wife, Debbie were there, as well as Chris #2, who used to live with him in Boston (Jill was bummed she couldn’t make it). They had a nice spread, and I stayed a long time chatting, helping to clean up at the end. I gave Chris the CD I’d got and his mom a postcard I’d had Steve sign as well.

I got home around 8 and Illa was upstairs. Which was odd as I’d left him in the basement with the baby gate up, our usual situation. I went downstairs and the gate was still up, so we don’t know how he got past it, and he hasn’t done it again yet. I played with him a while and watched “Arrested Development” and “Smallville” (interesting World’s Finest take on the season so far, with Green Arrow replacing Batman in the partnership). I had a frozen dinner (Hungry-Man beer battered chicken and cheese fries is very filling) while I caught up to Friday’s paper. Jill got home around 11 and we were both wiped, so we hit the hay.

Sunday was my birthday (I’m old), and I had a good long sleep in followed by some eggs benedict. I read Saturday’s paper, then watched SNL, “Star Trek:Enterprise”, and the beginning of the Skins game before Jill got home a little after 5 and we headed over to my mom’s. I’d asked for moo shu pork for dinner (birthday person always gets to request the meal), and she’d made that plus heer eggrolls. That was good, then she topped that by serving a delicious pistachio cake for dessert. I installed her new phones and did a little tech support while Jill did some studying, then we headed home.

Dad joined us as he was heading out west today to check on the status of his car restoration – happily he declined to comment on the state of our messy house. He’d listened to the score of the Redskins game and didn’t want to watch it, so we watched the fourth and fifth inning of the series and watched the Tigers cement their lead over the Cards before he went to bed. Then I sped through the Redskins game and saw a good contest in the first half degenerate into the Colts walking all over them in the second (it was easier to take when I could fast forward through the commercials and the Colts’ possessions). I watched the Tigers put away the Cards in the ninth before I started watching “Dr. Who”, but it was late and I headed for bed.

Early day today for me as I got up at 7 (thought not as early as Jill, who got up at 4 to prep for her midterm, or Dad who left at 5). I had to get an early start to get to my massage on time, which finally seems to have erased any lingering signs of neck pain. I went with a quick but filling dinner – canned lobster bisque and frozen crabcakes, plus fried eggplant and potatoes. Hopefully I’ll watch “Heroes” and “Studio 60” tonight, as I’ll be out the next two (and maybe three) nights.

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