We Will Talk of a Great Many Things...

Rachel and I have had a very busy weekend which, for all intents and purposes, I would say ended today. Yes, I know that is not technically correct as per standard weekly structure, but the past five days or so have really felt like a long weekend so I will count them all as such.

It all started on Friday when my parents came down from Carlisle to visit us as our first ever guests in our newly established home. They said they were going to get here in the morning, which Rachel and assumed meant eight or nine o'clock. So, when we started to slowly wake up at about ten thirty without the sound of my father taunting us from the hall, we both were a little surprised and maybe the teensiest bit worried. So I called and found out that they were about half an hour from arriving. Just enough time for us to come about and take a shower.

I was just starting to heat up the pans for quesadillas when I heard a soft knock on the door (my mother) and a "Hey! Let us in!" (my father). And thus entered my parents, bearing luggage. My father sat down in the poppa chair, my mother kept offering to help me cook. Rachel held them in conversation while I fried up some chicken, cheese, and onions in a crispy tortilla.

We developed pictures at Wal-Mart, went shopping at Big Lots and the mall (Rachel got a pound of M&Ms) and then we started wondering where we should go for supper. I had planned to take them down Bardstown Road, a kind of artsy part of town with a whole bunch of outdoor cafes, art galleries, book & record stores and whatnot and just wander around until we found a place that looked good. However, the weather decided to foil my plans when it seared up to over ninety degrees. So, we went to Red Lobster instead. It was glorious, Rachel and I both ended up with lunch for the following day.

When we got home we decided to just get the air mattress set up so Rachel and I could watch a movie and my parents (my father, more like) could start thinking about going to bed. However, When I plugged in the pump, nothing happened. Come to find out, this particular air pump has to be charged for at least ten hours prior to initial use. I promptly tried to blow it up myself, figuring I could get it filled by the end of the movie at least. Rachel and my mother both objected.

Long story short, my father fell asleep in the chair during the movie (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone), my mother fell asleep on the floor, and Rachel and I were left to the bed.

It was then that we met our roommates for the first time.

I walked into the room and looked back toward the hamper to throw my shirt into it when I saw something dart across the floor toward my discarded pants. So I got down on my belly, looking for whatever it was. I looked under the dresser, I looked under the hamper. I looked on my pants and there, waving it's antennae amicably at me as if to say "Welcome Home!" was a cockroach.


Being the kind neighbor that I am, I smashed him under the heel of my mother's shoe (which was the closest at the time.) He crunched. Loudly.

Then, not five minutes after getting into bed, having a laugh over our poor friend's fate and my assurances that it was probably the last one we'd see in a while, I spotted another one crawl out from behind the window blinds. He, however, did not look amicable. He looked threatening. I don't know how he managed it. I think he might have been there to avenge his friend/wife/child/brother.



He also met the bottom of my mother's shoe. I do not tolerate large insects threatening my family. The only problem is, I think his family may have been larger. We're still waiting for retaliation, but took preventative measures.

Roach poison.

Heh-heh, that'll learn 'em.

Anyway, after that night's adventure, my parents woke us up at nine thirty threatening to leave unless we let them take us to breakfast. Not wanting them to leave, we agreed and filled up on Moons Over My Hammy at Denny's. They took us home, said goodbye, and left us with both full stomachs and social meters far above normal.

It wasn't long afterward that we entertained a rather unexpected guest. This beautiful fellow!

He landed on top of the pillar just outside our window.

Rachel and I enjoyed his company for about an hour when he left just about as quickly as he came.

We think that he might have been a Peregrin Falcon because he looks like Frightful from the cover of My Side of the Mountain. They're pretty rare in this area, so we were both pretty excited to see him (or her, really). If it is a peregrin, it's probably still a fledgling from the look of it. Pretty small, but very pretty.

On Sunday we had our own private Harry Potter party. We watched Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, and Goblet of Fire interspersed through the day. Rachel found that they aren't quite as repugnant as she thought. It helps, when watching a movie adaptation of a beloved book, to have forgotten many of the details.

Then Monday came, and with it, Andrew. One of my favorite people to be around, best friend through high school, and would-be best man (if I had had a best man at our wedding). We hung out for a few hours, showed each other some video game things, talked of serious relational issues, then decided that we should go find a stupid movie to watch. So naturally, we went to a to the Book & Movie Exchange.

The prices at the Exchange aren't too good. It's about ten dollars for a used movie. However, the deal is that if you buy five movies, it's only twenty-five dollars for the lot of them. We spent about a half and hour looking through the movies, finding nothing, when finally I came across the science fiction section and we hit gold.

The People That Time Forgot.
Then Andrew found Godzilla Vs. Mothra and Unbreakable, two movies that he wanted to buy. So, Rachel and were then tasked with finding movies of our own, so we could get the five for twenty-five deal. We probably spent another hour in the store. I finally decided to buy Jurassic Park and Rachel got K-Pax.

After that we wandered around town looking for a place to eat.

We found Lentini's.

It was an Italian place I'd always eyed on the way down Bardstown road, and the place I had expected we would eat when my parents took us out. So we walked through the doors, wondered where everyone was, and were greeted a moment later by our waiter who showed us two menus.

"This one will get you drunk," he said, holding up the liquor list.
"This one will get you full," he added, holding up the biggest menu I've ever seen.

"We want to get full," Rachel said quickly, and he led us to the back of the restaurant for a table.

They brought us bread and an olive oil dip. It was delicious. We perused the menu, ordered our food and generally had a good time of fine fellowship while we waited. Our glasses were never empty. We ate as much bread as we liked, they kept bringing more. Then, the food came.

First came Andrew's which was beautiful. Some kind of alfredo noodles with sun-dried tomatoes and strips of steak arranged around the top of it. Then came Rachel's and then mine, which were slightly less beautiful, but just as appetizing looking. Then realized that Rachel's was mine and mine was Rachel's and we switched.

And it was the most authentically Italian meal we've ever had in the states.

Anyone buying us a meal from now on will be buying us a meal at Lentini's. Sorry, but that's just the way it is.

After we were stuffed full of pasta we went back to the apartment and watched our stupid movie. Which was stupid. Rachel and I may be returning it for a better movie of our choice. Cause they do that there.

Andrew left this morning, so Rachel and I went and laid on the air mattress to test it out. Then I let the air out, and let it sink us to the floor. Which is a really cool feeling, by the way.

I went job hunting. Applied to be a custodian. I hope I get it, it's really the last thing I'm qualified to do that's open on campus.

After lunch Rachel and decided to go to the thrift store in the basement of our apartment complex. But before we did that, we decided to drop off some of the world's best chocolate chip cookie's to out neighbors who moved in yesterday. (Which I forgot to write about, but oh well. We helped them move in.) We were invited inside, I talked to the husband, Chris, about video games (he has a 360) while Rachel disappeared somewhere with his wife and came back with a sweater. After about fifteen minutes or so we left, both agreeing that we really like our new neighbors. We'll be having dinner soon.

So, we went into the catacombs looking for buried treasure. And we found it!

BEHOLD CAPSELA!

It was on the top of a built in bookshelf behind a couple of vases. The lady who ran the thrift shop (which is really thrift because it's all free) told me that it had been there for years and that no one had ever known what it was.

I knew what it was. I grew up with this toy! This was the precursor to my Erector set, the geeky science-store toy that teaches children about gears and electricity and stuff like that! I freaked out and took it home.

We also walked away with a food scale, a book I needed for class, a coffee mug, and some film negative folders. A good haul, all things considered.

Then we went to go see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I will spare you my complete thoughts on the movie to save space since there's already too much to read, suffice to say that we both thought it was very good.

Then we got Arby's.

After we ate I started messing around with my new Capsela set. What I finally ended up with was this.
I made a boat! And it worked! I was a happy camper, to say the least. So I let my childhood take a few laps around the bathtub.

Then I started writing this bog entry. It seems like ages ago (about an hour and a half to be precise). Rachel is currently coloring and I am about to hit the "publish post" button.

Rachel is starting work tomorrow. The weekend is over.