Long Weekend…28th Wedding Anniversay…Father’s Day

At the last minute last Thursday I decided I was going to take Friday off. It wasn’t like I had any plans, it just hit me that I needed to take a 3-day weekend. Not much going on at work, and my son and his girlfriend were leaving at 7am Friday morning for Tennessee for Bonnaroo. My wife would be working, so I’d have the whole day Friday to just, well, do whatever the hell I wanted to do.

I didn’t quite make it as productive as I’d hoped, but it was still nice. Friday morning I woke up at like 6:15, way too early for a day off. Got to see the kids off to Tennessee. The wife and I had breakfast(avocado toast), then after she left I got out for a 4 mile walk before the heat really kicked in. All the surrounding neighborhoods were having their annual garage sales, so I was being passed constantly by strange vehicles and gawkers looking for great deals in peoples driveways. I’m not a garage sale person, so I found this particularly annoying. Especially when the gawkers looked at me like I was in their way.

After I got cleaned up I set up my recorder and a couple keyboards in the living room to work on the songs I’d been recording over the last month. After about an hour I realized I was pretty hungry, so I shut that down and made a sandwich. The dog and I watched the first three episodes of the new season of The Boys. I’ve been a fan of the show since it dropped back in 2019, as well as a fan of the Garth Ennis comic. Very over the top on everything, but done with some heart and plenty of humor. Well worth watching if you aren’t grossed out or offended easily.

Saturday my best friend and I headed up to Michigan to our favorite spot, Three Rivers. It’s our usual trip we take every two or three months. We have a purpose for going up there, but it’s as much about the conversation as what we’re going up to pick up. Of course we stopped at Bullseye Market and I grabbed some anniversary donuts for my wife and I. Saturday was our 28th wedding anniversary.

After I got back and we enjoyed our pastries, we got around and headed north to Goshen to buy my wife some new tennis shoes. She’s been having pain in her heels and figured she needed some new kicks. Turns out the last two pair we bought for her up there were a whole size bigger than what her feet were measuring out to. Not sure how or why that happened, but we got her some shoes that were her actual size and they feel great. We decided some ice cream was in order(it was our anniversary, after all), so we headed to The Chief for a double scoop of key lime pie and lemon in a waffle cone.

This week our middle kid has her state final, both written and her practical(actually cutting someone’s hair) at school. My wife decided she wanted to grab her some things to make her week a little less stressful, so we went and picked up some things for her. Apartment supplies(paper towel, toilet paper, cleaning supplies), as well as some scented candles for the feng shui, body scrub, bubble bath, and gift cards to Ulta and Dunkin. We drove to her place to drop everything off. She was just pulling in when we got there as she worked in the garden center of Walmart that day staging and watering plants. She was hot and a little sunburnt, so the gifts were greatly appreciated, plus the grandpuppy Celeste was very happy to see everyone after a long day of napping on the couch.

That night we ordered pizza and breadsticks and watched a movie. Happy anniversary.

Sunday was Father’s Day. I slept till about 8am. My wife made us poached eggs and avocado toast for breakfast and I made some coffee. I spent the majority of the morning mixing and mastering the instrumental tracks I’d been working on the last month. 5 of the 6 are done. Just need to finish the last track as it needs a little work done to it. We headed into town for a few things at the store, then when we got back I prepped dinner which was Italian chicken breasts with fettuccine alfredo, roasted veggies, and garlic bread. We also grabbed two pints of strawberries for strawberry shortcake for after dinner.

Our oldest called me to wish me a happy Father’s Day and I talked to them for a bit. It was nice, and great to hear their voice. Our son and his girlfriend weren’t going to be home till late as they were driving back from their Tennessee trip. But our middle kid came over. She gave me a very nice card, along with some peanut M&Ms and a Diet Coke. My son’s girlfriend gave me an early Father’s Day card before they left early Friday morning, and when I woke up this morning he left me a hand written note on the kitchen counter.

I’ve got some pretty thoughtful children. Oh, and of course I called my dad early Sunday morning to wish him a happy Father’s Day. And Friday afternoon I dropped off a bag of coffee for him, too.

No matter how stressful and heavy life can get, I know in my heart of hearts that my wife and I raised three amazing kids. And that after 28 years of marriage my wife and I are as happy as ever. We’re happy because we even each other out. We both bring something to our relationship. We both have strengths and weaknesses, and step up for each other when the other needs some support. It wasn’t like that always, but if you’re right for each other you eventually find your way to that kind of relationship. There were plenty of learning curves, especially once we became parents. But I’d say by the looks of it we found our way.

This past weekend feels like proof of that.

Check out one of the tracks I’ve finished below if you like. It’s part of a larger project I’m working on. Little pieces that you’d might hear in a movie or something. I don’t know. It’s fun and I enjoy doing it, so that’s why I’m doing it. Hit play. You’ve got nothing to lose but like, two minutes and twenty one seconds of your time.