Dear Diary..

Sorry it’s been so long...

Thursday night, about a week or so back, Sam and I went to the grocery store to do last minute shopping for the upcoming weekend. It felt odd to be there on a Thursday evening. Saturday is usually our day, but we were not going to be around on Saturday.

When we got to the store, we were both surprised to see that they were giving out free samples-particularly on an off night like Thursday (of all things!). And while these were not his regular Saturday “Sample Ladies”, these strangers were offering free food- so, time to make new friends.

On Friday, Jake came back from his three weeks of floating somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. He had flown into Boston the day before but for some odd reason, needed to rest up before driving home. He sounded happy but looked worn out.

Friday evening, since it was what Sam calls “Monk Night”, Sam and I made popcorn and watched another episode of our “Monk” DVDs. This has become something both of us look forward to and though we’re only about half way through the third season, every week I wonder what we can replace it with once we’ve watched them all.

Saturday was our annual family reunion and celebration of Mom’s birthday. On the way to the picnic site, we picked up Rachael at the bus station. She had managed to get about a week off from work, which translated into a mini-vacation at home for her- and a mini vacation for me as well.

It felt odd heading to the picnic site in my car. We’ve been having this annual event for, I’m guessing, about twenty years or so, and this was the first year we were not going in a van. It still feels strange. There’s no sense in having a van anymore, but I miss it at times like that.

Like usual, we were the first of the families to arrive. Helaina met us at the site, having left from her boyfriend’s. Thankfully she was able to bring a good chunk of the supplies I had stuck her with the night before. That was another thing that felt strange- heading over separately to the picnic site. Still, the whole family was together. The first time since..when?

I always do the cooking and every year it feels like I’m starting the grill way too early. And by the time I’m done, it always feels like I didn’t start it up early enough.

The day seemed to go by faster than usual. Before I knew it, it was late afternoon- barely enough time to take Sam to feed the animals and to squeeze in a ride on the mini-train. I think Sam would have liked to play some mini-golf too, but we ran out of time, and I think for both of us- energy.

We unloaded the car when we got home and spent the rest of the night in various stages of zoning out. Jake hooked up with a few of his close friends- and was back shortly after nine- a testament of his energy level. (As I write this, I’m kind of wondering whether this happened Saturday night or on Friday night- it’s a little hazy, though I’m kind of amazed that I remember any of this stuff at all).

Whatever night that was, I know that Rachael headed up to bed early- something about having to get up around 3:30 in the morning to catch a bus for a four hour bus ride home to make it to an all day family reunion- seemed to be wearing her out. Sam spent the better part of the evening on the computer, like usual, and since it was Saturday night and Helaina was at home, we watched an episode of “Stargate SG-1”.

Watching something together with Helaina on Saturday nights has been a tradition longer than watching “Monk” with Sam on Friday nights. I can’t remember how it started, but we watched all of “Danger Man” together- and there were others mixed in there as well. And like “Monk Night”, I wonder what we’ll move onto next- not because I care a lot about what we’re watching, but rather, who I’m watching it with.

Sunday was more grocery shopping- this time for Jake. He was going to be heading back to school on the following day and I figured that since it would have been well over three weeks since he was “home” the last time, he was probably going to be needing some food. I would have been happy to do this even if it hadn’t been three weeks. The three weeks was really just an excuse. So we went grocery shopping and I spent the rest of the day grilling much of what we bought, and packing it up so he could freeze it when he got back.

I took Monday off from work so I could spend some time with Rachael. I hadn’t expected to be spending a significant portion of that time together at a tire store- but that was just fine. We were there to get new tires for Jake’s car while he was at the dentist- and before he had to head back to school. Rachael and I spent the time cracking jokes- about the constant news that was cycling on the TV, about the other customers, about ourselves- you name it. The car took a little longer than expected but I think it’s safe to say that it was the best time I’ve ever had at a tire shop.

Once back at home, Jake loaded up for his ride back- clothes, guinea pigs, food and supplies, and then he left. It always goes too fast.

It was back to work for me for the rest of the week- up until Friday. I had a doctor’s appointment on Friday morning, then I spent the day again with Rachael doing what we would normally do- running some errands together and going down to Grandma’s for a nice visit. Before long, it was time to head home and get some dinner for Sam- which in this case meant bringing him to the grocery store. And since it was Friday once again, it was also “Monk Night”.

On Saturday morning, Rachael and I went over to the Farmer’s Market. We passed a lot of nice looking vegetables, but since that’s all I would be doing with them at home- looking at them, I didn’t buy any. We ended up buying some bagels and I ended up buying some local maple syrup. It’s not that I’ll use it, but Helaina and Rachael seem to like it. Plus, the lady that was selling it seemed nice.

We got home in plenty of time for Sam and I to run our Saturday errands, but shortly it was time to take Rachael down to the bus station for her ride back to the city. We arrived at the bus station early, so Rachael and I walked around a comic book store before before heading back to wait for the bus. The bus, unfortunately, was on time and we said our goodbyes and I went back to the car and waited for the bus to pull away.

The day was one of those hot, humid days where the smell of diesel lingered in the air a certain way. I’ve written about this before, about how that certain smell, which has to be just right, takes me back to the joy and excitement of long ago summer days, waiting for the train to take us down to Biltmore, and to the excitement, but sadness, of when we would wait for the train when we would have to leave for home again. I wondered if the smell would someday hold the same meaning for Rachael. I waited until the bus pulled away.

By now, it was Saturday night and another night watching “SG-1”. By Sunday, it was Sam and I- like usual. Several days earlier, Sam had asked about seeing “Ant-man”, and this seemed as good a time as any. It had been a long time since we had gone to the movies together, and I don’t think it had ever been just the two of us.

I got a quick lunch for Sam and then we caught the mid-day showing at the local theater. The small theater was more crowded than usual for a mid-day showing. There must have been close to a dozen people there.

Most of the fun was sitting there listening to Sam. Before the movie started, the theater ran a number of commercials. They also mixed in some “fun facts’ and what they define as “trivia” clips. Sam would take it all in. When they would show a “trivia” blurb such as, “Chris Pratt was a fan of the original Jurassic Park…”, Sam would silently read it and then say, “Hmmm. That’s interesting! That guy liked the original Jurassic Park!”

It was pretty much that all the way up until the movie started. Once the movie started, it switched to the occasional, “Ha! That’s funny!” or my favorite, “I can’t believe he’s doing that to another sheep!” (you’ll have to see the movie for the context). In a lot of ways, it was like “Monk Night”- only with a few more people around.

In may ways, it was a busy week. But in may ways, it would have been considered an ordinary one week, years ago. But, busy or ordinary, it doesn't matter to me. I'll take it either way.