Being unemployed means I can basically do whatever I want to do whenever I want. (Okay, that’s not entirely true because I still need to take care of Eli/Dave/Ollie, but it’s mostly true.) If I want to nap, I nap. If I want to craft, I craft. If I want to read, I read. And if I want to travel, I travel (within cost parameters of course.)
I’d really been feeling in a rut lately. Getting my office back helps. But I also decided a change of scenery would do me some good, so I decided to head up to Pittsburgh for a week to hang out with my oldest friend (40 years in September!!! 😱)
I realized I might be tempted to post on FB every day about the daily about the goings on for that day – but not all of you give a shit, lol. So rather than inundating you with daily posts, I figured I’d stick the bulk of my ramblings here in a post I’ll add to throughout the week then post once I get home.
Day One, Saturday, April 13: We arrived in town around 3:00 (it’s almost a 5 hour drive and we didn’t feel like getting up TOO early.) We spent about 4 hours hanging out and catching up. Family drama, kid drama, that sort of thing. Then we went to dinner at our favorite restaurant for Pittsburgh-style sandwiches (not Primanti’s, a local joint.) More kabitzing thereafter and then to bed – where I basically didn’t sleep.
Day Two, Sunday April 14: The others slept in and I caught an hour nap in the morning, with us all rising and shining around 10:00. A tasty bagel breakfast was followed by, you guessed it, more chit chat. Eli was dying of boredom. Dave made it up to him by stopping at the giant candy store in Beaver, and Starbucks, on their way out of town around 3:00. Rachel and I spent the rest of the evening listening to you tube videos of STUPID people arguing with cops and judges, then more chit chat about my old job and her current job, and the wackiness and frustrations thereof. We decided on a dinner in of leftover pizza because it was HECKIN’ WINDY outside. After a little playing around on my phone I finally fell asleep around 1:30.
Day Three, Monday April 15: A slightly better night’s sleep (only moderate tossing and turning until 6:30.) Then, more bagels and delicious garlicky cream cheese! After screwing around on my phone for a bit I decided to break out the pot holder loom! Blast from the past!!!!
Then my new gel pens arrived! They did not come color sorted – of course – so I spent some time doing that, which is both annoying and satisfying.
Dinner was delicious Irish pub food sitting outside by the river. Then came the craziness.
There’s no way I can hope to describe this to do it justice. But after dinner we were sitting in the living room chatting away, when suddenly we were plunged into complete darkness. First thought – power went out. Nope. Breaker? Nope. So we turned on the overhead light and began the investigation. We checked the outlets, we checked the lamps, we checked the bulbs (all of this through a hilarious series of increasingly unlikely outcomes.) In the end – EVERYTHING WORKS. There is no logical reason why the lights – two at the same exact time – went out. EXCEPT one lamp was a highly questionable thrift store lamp. So we’re pretty sure that lamp is possessed by “Dead Grandma” and it is exiting the premises. I haven’t laughed so hard in a really long time.
Day Four, Tuesday April 16: A pretty quiet day. We listened to Rachel’s favorite “scamming the scammers” YouTuber all day while I played on my phone and colored with my new gel pens.
Then we headed over to see her parents who I haven’t seen in years. We hung out, played games, drank some wine, and had an all around good quiet evening.
The most exciting thing was getting texts from back home about our brand new kitty Eli and Dave went and picked up! Welcome Chester!
Day Five, Wednesday April 17: After sleeping in a bit we had some McDs delivered for breakfast. Can’t remember the last time I had breakfast from there but the hash browns are as disgusting and delicious as I remember.
Another chill day listening to YouTubers and coloring. I decided to break out my Jenny Lawson coloring book and my PLETHORA of colored pencils for this one. Took me all afternoon but I love the results.
Then Rachel’s boyfriend picked us up for dinner, followed by a night of games, including some cribbage, which Rachel and I love, and Eric hates, lol.
Day Six, Thursday April 18: I woke up really early again, but rolled over and did the stay-in-bed-toss-and-turn sleep until about 9:30, then didn’t roll out of bed until life 10:30. Totally lazy morning!
It was another quiet day of crafting and chilling. Today’s craft – friendship bracelets. It’s clear I need more practice with this. I used to be good at it, but now, not so much, lol.
We had a lovely dinner out then came back and listened to silly music mashups before we headed off to bed around midnight.
Day Seven, Friday April 19: Another wake up early but stay in bed for a while morning. Some Starbucks for breakfast – I got the shock of my life when I realized I accidentally had a venti COFFEE latte instead of a CHAI TEA latte. I don’t normally drink coffee anymore so it was unexpected, lol. Then I needed to decide what craft to tackle. Maybe more coloring, maybe brave another friendship bracelet…
Friendship bracelets it is! I’m getting better at them thankfully.
For dinner we decided to pick up Italian food from the local joint. Her teenage son was working at the firehouse so we swung by to drop off his dinner. At his request we rolled up, windows down, BLARING some super base-heavy Usher. His chief was apparently like “WTF??” Totally worth it, lol.
Her boyfriend dropped by again and we hung out, had a few drinks, and chatted the night away over some tasty pasta. 😋
Day Eight, Saturday April 20: An actual sleep-in (not just lay in bed awake) morning – I mean it is a Saturday! Try #2 at Starbucks yielded my beloved chai tea latte this time, along with a super tasty breakfast sandwich – all delivered straight to our beds by her lovely and accommodating son.
When we finally rolled out of bed I got to work on a friendship ankle bracelet as requested by a friend back home:
Her boyfriend swung back over to spend the night, and Dave arrived around 4:00. We had the most delicious chicken wings for dinner and then stayed up way too late playing Abducktion, Push, and Ransom Notes.
Day Nine, Sunday April 21: Another sleep-in morning. By the time we got up there was basically only enough time for lunch (more Starbucks! And delicious bagel sandwiches) before it was time to get in the car and head home. I honestly can’t believe the week is over with already… it went by so quickly. I had a great time and while I’m looking forward to some parts of being home, I’m going to miss hanging out and chilling with the bestie.
So that’s it in a nutshell. I lovely, relaxing week, punctuated by some hilarity. It was perfect and just what I was looking for. ❤️