Good and bad on Mother’s Day

We started the weekend with Ember Swift at Jammin’ Java on Friday. Our friend Meg was sick, so she didn’t come, but we went, and were glad we did, as it was an excellent show. She had an opening act, Natalia Zukerman, who was good (Jill was taken with her), I especially liked when she got Ember and Lyndell to come up on a couple songs with her. Even better was when she returned the favor on “Ten Pin” and “Some Fine Day” (the latter was even better this time). I wasn’t feeling that great myself – Jill was hungry and had the tasty chili and a half sandwich and salad. I stopped at Charlie Chiang’s in Reston and picked up some egg drop soup on the way home – just in the mood for it.

Didn’t sleep in too much Saturday as we went to the CHAAMP Book and Bake Sale. We were asked to bring Illa as a goodwill ambassador. I wish I could say he behaved himself, but that would be a lie. Jumping, whining, trying to eat people’s food – not his best. Jill took him for a walk, and we let him meet the other dogs one at a time, and he calmed down some. We bought some dog treats and books, and helped to pack some of the books when rain threatened, but we headed home around 2.

Which was tougher than we thought, as Detective Armel’s funeral procession had shut down the westbound toll road, which we were fast approaching. We bailed out on 123 and tried 7, but it was at a standstill. We went on backroads to Beulah, but traffic was stopped before the bridge. Finally we backtracked through Vienna, and took Lawyers and Hunter Mill to Wiehle, by which time was clear.

Once home, I made some pork stir fry, then the great clean began. When I was walking Illa that morning, I saw a neighbor was selling a computer desk for $20. Jill liked the look, so we bought it. We were planning on getting one by August, so I can set up the second computer for Jill to do schoolwork on it. Only problem with buying one now is we’ve got a lot of cleaning to do in the office (that and the unfinished basement are projects that’ve been lying in wait for us). Jill started doing some cleaning, filing, and shredding while I read the paper (hey, I’d been cooking).

Later, she ran errands and started making pasta for dinner while I started working on my comics in the basement. We didn’t get finished with dinner ’til almost 11, then Jill kept cleaning while I was doing filing downstairs and watching Constantine (Keanu ain’t bad, but that’s a quintessiantially British character, and where’s the acknowledgement of the Garth Ennis stories the film’s based on?).

Sunday we finally got to sleep in. I slept ’til noon, then got up and walked the dog before coming back and getting ready. We actually made it out the door early and were at J. Gilbert’s before our 1:45 reservation. Too bad the rest of our party was late, my mom and dad by 10 minutes, and my sister outside on the phone ’til after 2. But the food was outstanding – if their usual Sunday brunch is that good, we may return at some point. The eggs benedict and thai wings were tasty, and we enjoyed having a chocolate fountain – we didn’t get to use the one at our wedding that much. It was good to see the whole family again but we all had to get going.

We got in the car and on the road before the rain finally started, and made it hime only to hear bad news – Jill’s mom was in the hospital again. It turned out to be diverticulitis, not as bad as they first thought, but not great, and learned they’d be keeping her overnight for observation. With phonecalls on and off during the afternoon as we found all this out, it was back to cleaning (might as well, eh?). My turn in the office, and I didn’t finish all my shredding, have to make a trip to the recycling center first. We watched Lost and Alias as I paid bills and made ribs and Jill did laundry, then watched 24 after dinner. We had some Korean candies my sister brought back from her trip for dessert, then Jill went to bed.