Four gigs, three days, too tired, one oyster

The weekend started for me on Thursday this week. Three Button Deluxe was booked to play a gig in Boston. I still had (still have, actually) some vacation time to use up, so I decided to take Thursday and Friday off from the office. Paddy and I tooled down to Boston, and had a relatively easy trip. On the way down, there was one slight lane issue (I was trying to get into the same lane that someone else also wanted), and on the way out of town, I missed my on-ramp, which forced me to double back a block or three. The gig went well, no major issues, and I took some time to eat a raw oyster. I was home at 2:30am Friday–which in reality isn’t that late.

The boys were spending the weekend at Grandma’s and Granddaddy’s, so that meant–luxury of luxuries–I could sleep late! I slept until 9am, something I haven’t done since I don’t know when. It was nice! I ran a few errands for Susan, and took a little nap in the afternoon. Then, I drove to Bar Harbor for a gig at The Blues Authority. Again, I was home about 2:30am.

Saturday morning was an 8am wake up–a little more my norm. The boys were still away, so Susan, Julia, and I went to The Brass Compass for breakfast. My bacon/mushroom/swiss omellette was pretty good, and Susan’s “Granny Apple” pancakes looked really yummy. Then I think I just hung out at home until I needed to leave to play the matinee of Annie Get Your Gun at Medomak High School. That lasted ’til about 4:30pm. A bunch of us from the pit (all rhythm section players and the music director) went to Waldoboro to have supper. And then it was back to school for the 7:30pm show.I was home by 11, in bed by midnight.

Sunday, and everything was back to normal. The boys were back home, and ready to go with the sun. Church in the AM, then lunch at Mom’s. I took a one hour nap Sunday afternoon, then got up and washed some dishes before heading back to church. After church, it was straight home. Susan was very tired, and wanted to go straight to bed. I nuked some Spaghetti-Os for supper, and watched a documentary on Noah’s Ark. Then I went to bed, and the weekend came to its conclusion.

Weekend Wrapping

Well, I rather enjoyed my weekend. I can’t really remember what happened Friday evening. I know I ended up working a little late helping a web customer, but I don’t remember what happened after that. I remember being really excited, though, as I had the whole weekend off: no work, no gigs. I may have done some web work.

Saturday came ’round, and Susan wanted blueberry pancakes. Duly made, I then proceeded to get things ready for a dump run. After that, we did some furniture shopping, and stopped at the farm market again. By the time we got home, it was after 2pm, so we had a late lunch of pizza. By suppertime, we still weren’t very hungry, so we put the pork chops and corn on the “back burner” for another day. Then it was lazy time in the evening.

Sunday. Breakfast. Church. A brief outing to set up someone’s WIFI router. Ma’s birthday party. A trip to the cemetary to “remember” Dad. (Incidentally, I’ve been “remembering” him a lot these last few days.)  Just a short time at home, and it was time to head back to church for the monthly supper. Evening services, then home.

Hmm. Although it’s only three short paragraphs, this weekend seemed abundantly filled with things to do. Maybe my memory two days later isn’t so hot.

Labor Day Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday night, and I didn’t have a gig. That felt really strange!I don’t thing anything spectacular went on; I just spent an evening home with the family! Susan didn’t feel like cooking, so we had Chinese. I think after that, it was some “Spiderman and his Amazing Friends.”

Saturday morning, and I was up at about 6:30. Susan implored me to sleep later, but I couldn’t. I left the house at 9am to get some errands done, then I was off to my 11am gig. That gig got over at 2pm, and afterwards, I headed to Blind Al’s house to pick him up for my second gig. Gig one was in Waldoboro, and gig two was in Portland. It didn’t really make sense to head home, only to leave again in three hours time, so I picked up the Blind Man. We went to P-Town, hit The Drum Shop, Buckdancer’s Choice, and Guitar Center. The Drum Shop had all kinds of stuff I wanted. Guitar Center had nothing but teens beating on the electric drums, making noise just to hear themselves make noise, I guess. I bought nothing at either place. Buckdancer’s is a guitar shop, so there wasn’t much for me there. My gig that night was at Brian Boru. It was hot and humid, even in the evening, and I played like dog meat during the first set. By the time the third set rolled around, there was a breeze, and I was plenty hydrated, so my playing improved. I think I had four pints of water! On the drive home, we complied with the sheriff’s road block “safety check,” and I crawled into bed at 3:15 Sunday morning.

It seemed like only moments until I opened my eyes at 7:30 Sunday morning. Coffee! Church had a really light turnout, as many people were out of town. Pastor Dave and I provided music for Sunday School on guitar and bass respectively. Having had so little sleep, I had a little trouble putting together cohesive sentences. We all had a good laugh about it. After morning services, we had leftover Chinese for lunch. My Mom was away on vacation (thus the need for me to provide church music instead of her usual piano), so we didn’t have lunch at her house.  Then, NAPS! Yeah! Church in the evening, then home again.

This morning, I slept late: 7:30. I made some raspberry/chocolate chip pancakes for everyone. I worked on a website for a little bit in the AM, and made lunch for the kids. In the afternoon, we went to Beth’s and went crazy! We picked up a flat of blueberries, some strawberries, leeks, corn, and beet greens. Oh, and cider. And beans. They had so much good stuff, we’re planning on going back again this Saturday! On the way back to the house, we stopped in a local antique shop I like to frequent. Once back in Rockland, we walked to the grocery store for a few more things. Supper was steak, grilled/braised leeks, corn on the cob (super sweet and yummy!), and mashed taters. The boys, dutifully washed and teeth brushed, are up in bed now. Julia and Susan are bagging blueberries for the freezer. I just finished some more web work, and took some time to post.

Weekend Wrap Up

My weekend started rather early. I left the office at noon on Friday. My Friday night gig started at 4pm, and I needed time to get my drums out of my car, and get them into Quick’s van. (We all car-pooled down to save gas.) The Jazz gig went until 7pm, and the crowd seemed to appreciate us. Hans, the German drummer who sat in last time we played this venue, was there again, as well as some other “regulars” I remembered from the last time we played there. After the gig, we stopped at Moody’s for supper. Hot turkey sandwich for me! Unfortunately for Susan, the cream puffs were sold out, so I wasn’t able to snag her one.

Saturday morning came along, and I whipped up some blueberry pancakes for everyone. Then we took a walk downtown; the boys and I went to Pirate Days, and Julia and Susan did some shopping on Main Street. In the afternoon, I took a nap before my gig. Here’s where things get funky. I was supposed to play Saturday night in Bar Harbor. (For those of you in Canada or California, Bar Harbor is 2 or 3 hours away, depending on traffic.) Blind Albert wasn’t able to make it, so he found a substitute. I figured “Hey, maybe I should get a sub too!” It was ok with the bass player, so I made arrangements to have the drummer who played Friday night at that club play Saturday too. So instead of playing in Bar Harbor, I played right here in Rockland, and I was all done at 8pm. I went to the grocery store to secure some flowers. As I pulled in the driveway, I shut the car off, and coasted in. I figured I really surprise Susan. Well, what a surprise it was, since she’d already gone to bed! Rather than just walk into the bedroom, possibly inciting a heart attack, I called softly from the bottom of the stairs. She was, of course, happy to see me, and mentioned that she thought perhaps I had something up my sleeve. Apparently, I’d been acting a little strange.

On Sunday morning, I made breakfast for everyone again: sausage, eggs, toast. Then off to church. We had lunch at Mom’s as usual. In the afternoon, I took a quick 1/2 hour nap or so, and hung out with Susan a little. Then back to church in the evening, and to Subaway to purchase a sandwich for Susan and Julia afterwards. Then off to bed, after a little Olympic volleyball action.