End of Week 6 - "A Fast and Busy Weekend"

“We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves.”
Alice Bloch

This past weekend, I did not waste myself. Time moved fast as I held on to make the most out of the weekend.

Saturday started with volunteering for Grace’s upcoming play, “The Wizard of Oz”. The build started at 9AM. Arriving at Lambert HS, Mrs. Reynolds (the director and Middle School Music Teacher) had sketched out 5 set builds she wanted completed. There were 4 builders, me and 3 other fathers. One of the builds was a 12 foot by 10 foot replicate of Dorothy’s Kansas house with a side section that was 10 feet by 8 feet. The house was to have depth giving the illusion that when Dorothy walked out it appeared as she was walking out of a real house. Two of the fathers started the frame work on the 10 X 8 section as the other dad and I started on the second build. This one was not as elaborate. We needed to build a frame for the Tin Man’s house. The house was painted on a canvas cloth. The house was 12 X 9 feet. We started the build and completed it within an hour. The canvas was attached and we build support beams to allow the Wicked Witch to climb up the back of the house and pop out of the chimney. When we completed this task, we moved over to help the other two father’s finish the 10 X 8 section. We installed a real window that slid up and down. After that we started on the main section of the house that had a porch, a swinging porch door, a window at the top, along with a slanted roof. This whole build took about 4.5 hours to complete. After the completion of the house two dads had to leave and the third dad had to run home for an hour. This left me to build a revolving stage. The stage was to be 3 feet high and 6 feet long. In the middle was the doors to OZ and on the opposite side was the doors to the Witch’s Castle. The stage was on rollers and was to be attached to a set of stairs. After about an hour one of the dad’s returned to assist as we completed the build. By this time it was hovering near 4PM as we cleaned up, helped with the other 2 builds in securing them in place. By 5PM, we had completed our jobs and Mrs. Reynolds released us. I can't wait for the play next weekend. With all the time put into this rehearsals and set building, it should be something special for all.

After 8 hours, cuts and splinters that I am still picking out, the show will go on as scheduled on Thursday night. Grace went over to the HS on Sunday afternoon to help put finishing touches on the builds. She was amazed as the size and appearance of the props on stage.

Upon arriving home around 5:15PM, I headed upstairs to get some rest. The day was far from over at this point. We had a Dinner Date scheduled with a bunch of friends down in Dunwoody at 8PM this evening. I decided to prop the feet up on the bed, relax and gather some energy for an exciting night.

Sarah and I left the house around 7PM and left Grace in charge. Grace had completed a Baby Sitting course a couple of weeks ago and we thought this would be a good test for her. We planned on being home late, so she was in charge of their dinner and putting her sister, Ellie to bed.

Arriving at the restaurant, Maggiano’s at the Perimeter Mall, the place was packed. We ended up parking almost a quarter mile from the restaurant. Inside we were greeted by Ken, Amy & Susan. They were waiting for Susan’s husband, Mike to park the car. When Mike headed in we all made our way upstairs to the dining area. Everyone else was already upstairs when we arrived.

We chatted, took some pictures, got a few drinks and then sat down to a feast!

Couples Night Out

There were 8 couples and we had enough food to feed a platoon of soldiers. Instead of writing out the whole dinner here is a snap shot of the menu.

The food was outstanding topped off by a group of great people. We all had a good time as all 16 of us left the table stuffed to the gills.

Sunday’s time went fast. Waking up to a time deficit from Day Light Savings, I had decided to work on the shoe box that I have been building, yes for over a month. With all the activities and training in our lives the time I have to spend on the box is limited.

I was able to sand the inside, and varnish it in order for the homeless shoes that have been shuffled all over the house to finally have a home. The staining should be dry by this afternoon for the shoes to start to occupy the inside. This will only leave the cosmetic outside of the box to complete. I plan on finishing this project once and for all in the next 2 weeks.

After breakfast, Sarah and I decided we would knock out the taxes Sunday afternoon. We gathered all of the information and spent the next 3 hours preparing and eFiling our 2009 taxes. The best thing about this process was we are getting a few bucks back to possibly put towards a vacation.

Dinner was a treat last night as well. We revisited Maggiano’s with the left over’s we pigged out on the night before. As Dan stated Saturday night, “Italian Food is better the next day”, and it was.

This ended the weekend of only 47 hours.

Monday morning was a difficult morning. I planned on running a tempo run prior to heading off to work. The alarm went off at 5:22AM as I did the Zombie shuffle to the closet to get dressed and head out the door. After arriving at the Johns Creek LTF (going here gave me 20 minutes extra of sleep) I realized I had mistakenly forgot my running shoes in the Jeep and I had driven the Honda. This means I either go home and get my shoes or bag it and go to work at 6:15AM. With having 4 runs scheduled this week, I need to run, so I headed home picked up my shoes and made my way back to JC-LTF.

The run was 1 Mile EZ @ 8:34’s and 5 at marathon pace. I finished this run with very little struggle and headed to work.

The weekends continue to go by at a blink of an eye as I attempt to complete as many tasks as I can and not waste the time I have.