Where did July go? How did I miss an entire month of posting? Oh, right, I was off doing stuff. And I did a fair bit of offline journaling, allowing me to vent my political opinions without adding to the shouting match that social media has become, and which I'm finding increasingly distasteful.
So, let's see. Work is still crazy busy, although I had time to spend 3 days in project management training that didn't do much except show me that I learned a lot more about organizational efficacy (and buzzwords) at my previous job than I realized. Not Your Average Blogger has also been busy—freelancing, book research, plus a day job.
As for play time... The Nats game and subsequent fireworks on July 3 were fun, minus a downpour and the fact we were sitting on the wrong side of the park and had to move to see them.
The next day, we went to the Fourth celebration at Great Meadow, which was really cool. They had a polo exhibition, shot off a bunch of model rockets, did helicopter demonstrations, and had some fun kid activities, along with a really great show. I also got lot of reading done while waiting, which was nice. We also ran into NeighborGirl, which was a lovely surprise, especially when I got stung by a bee and she got to see if she had to dig the stinger out.
The following week, the Young Prince went to his second week of video game camp, right in his wheel house. He liked it enough that he wants to go again next year—and I'm willing to look into sending him for the whole summer, since it means he might actually be able to develop some useful working knowledge related to something he's genuinely interested in and doesn't have to be prodded into spending hours on.
However, he didn't get to finish that week, because we bailed and went to Illinois to visit my family for a quick visit while Not Your Average Blogger drove on to Nebraska for Fremont Days and gave a book talk. It was a nice visit, though my dad was flat out for a couple days and the kid was grumpy at having to pitch in and do some work. The only real disappointment was that it had been raining so much for so long that there was no way to go exploring on various back parts of the property without drowning or getting stuck. I did bring home my great-grandfather's rocking horse, which needs a little bit of TLC, so I need to find someone who can administer that kind of attention.
The following weekend, we went to another baseball game. It was Star Wars day, which kept the YP more interested and engaged than usual. We also had a run-in with an obnoxious fan that NYAB handled most brilliantly and ended with the obnoxious fan calling up a security guard to "deal with" NYAB—and then irritating the security guard so much that he got hauled off his own self, amid applause. It was a lovely story and an excellent teachable moment for the YP, along the lines of "when we tell you not to be an obnoxious jerk, it's so you don't end up like that guy, who obviously didn't realize he was being an obnoxious jerk." And the kid actually did seem to absorb the lesson, which was also satisfying.
The weekend after THAT, the kid was invited to a friend's house, so NYAB and I took advantage of our freedom and high-tailed it to Charles Town, where we spent a giddy evening gambling and eating a fantastic steak dinner, highlighted on my side with a surprisingly great booze drink that was vaguely reminiscent of the fizzy pink drinks my dad used to make for my mom (and me) when I was in high school. The evening was a rousing success, NYAB made an inadvertently large and risky play on an electronic roulette machine and it paid off magnificently. Even counting dinner, we left ahead of the game. So we went out the next day and blew the winnings on a new tablet/laptop that he can use for working on his next book.
Last Friday, NYAB and I went to a seminar on PTSD and one of the main guys in my book. The staff historian said the event was posted on Facebook and got all kinds of traffic, but as it turned out we were two of three people in attendance. Still, it was fun to just sit and gab with the guy; we are getting to know him rather well at this point.
The rest of the weekend was spent at the Quicken Loans National. It was a rough start; the YP was sick when we arrived, then made a miraculous recovery, but resented being hot and prodded to walk the course. He'd finally adjusted his attitude, and been excited to stand about three feet away from Tiger Woods when NYAB felt a twinge in his back and I called a halt to the proceedings while we could all still walk home—and upon arriving there, we all collapsed into TV comas and outright napping. Next day, NYAB and I went back and left the YP at home—and he did the laundry! and folded everything! and brought the baskets up to the bedrooms!
This weekend, we are going to an exhibit at the National Geographic Museum that's built around the Indiana Jones movies. Apparently it combines real artifacts with props and stuff from the movies. I'm curious to see how they make that work. Maybe I'll actually get back on track and go back to posting regularly, and you will get to read all about it next week. I suppose it all depends on how things shake out at work.
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