Fun weekend

This weekend was a fun one - but really busy!

Saturday morning was breakfast out at the coney, where we witnessed psychosis in action, in the form of one very distressed customer. Casey seemed to have the second sight about her, saying "uh-oh" as she was walking up, in her ultra-tight black spandex capris and chocolate brown silky halter top. I was more alarmed by the giant coke-bottle glasses, white face and slash of poorly applied scarlet lipgloss. This peach comes in for a carry out order, waits, then gets her food. Now the fun for all of us begins. She opens her order, and is obviously not pleased. For the next twenty minutes, she chews out the waitress, the cook, and the rest of the patrons, shouting that she wanted her eggs "Round and Hard! Round and Hard!!!" muttering darkly about "smashed eggs" and seeming to imply that this was the greatest culinary mistake since low-fat cheese. She approaches the cook several times to complain (open kitchen coney) and berates the waitress continually. Mind you, this coney is about 20x20, so we all get to enjoy this. Several customers actually tried to intercede, including Casey, who, while paying our bill, kept it to the point. "Shut UP!" Eventually, she got her new breakfast (round and hard is apparently psycho-speak for eggs over-hard, as compared with over-easy), and after several more complaints, finally left. At this point, all patrons applauded.

From there, I went to the fabric store to get supplies for Togas. After much persuasion, Casey has agreed to wear toga to the toga party. The black, skull-imprinted cloth helped. I have opted for white, but dispair that I won't have a lot of time to assemble something more classy - I have to go to Japan again this week, and I come home 3pm the day of the party. Oh well, it's not like I'll be trying to pick anyone up...I've got skull-boy for the duration.

Saturday afternoon was at the Britt family gathering (Casey's mom's husband's family). We all had a nice time, especially Ava, who loves playing with other kids. The Britts put out some big (tall & well muscled) kids - Ava was the same size as the two-year olds!

That evening, we had a nice time hanging out with Casey's sister Shannon & her husband Jeff. We played eucre on their exceptionally nice screened deck, and enjoyed the perfect weather.

Sunday, it was off to the club for golf. We figured it was Sunday, there is almost never an event on Sundays, but alas, it was the parent-child tournament. Lucky for us, they did slip us on in the back nine. This is one of the things I love the most about the country club. Ava is getting a bit better - although she doesn't want to listen to mom and dad when we show her how to hold the club, etc. Casey and I have sort of plateaued at "terrible," but we really enjoyed the afternoon out. Casey has some lessons lined up soon, and I'll probably follow suit. It would be nice to have a handicap that actually accomplished it's goal of putting me in contention for anything....maybe next summer!

Bad Livvy

Ok, I've been a very bad blogger.

As much as I enjoy reading the blogs of others, I've been terrible at updating my own, so apologies to anyone (left) who is irritated with my lack of dedication.

Many many things have happened since the last post. Mostly just the main stuff of life, like Ava's birthday party, a promotion, a couple of birthdays, but notably, I did lose my last grandma, Nana, who several of you will recognize more readily as "my crazy Nana," who passed away in March. Since she was well over 90, it wasn't a shock, and I know that she's happier now than she was in the home. (Nana felt medical care was a sign that you hadn't adequately cast that devil out of you). More shockingly, I also lost my Uncle John, in the same week, so Casey and I drove down to Arkansas to attend both funerals.

I now have serious misgivings about getting promoted, as it seems that each time I do, something really bad happens. Given the Michigan economy, though, I probably don't need to worry about it for a while!

We went to Ohiopyle PA with our friend (and outing organizer) in June. A full account of our trip is available on Sara's website, sarasjoberg.com. she's a far more faithful blogger than I, and accounts our felt-like-near-death experience very well. (Although she did minimize the pain of damp cigarettes, and the body thrashing that accounts for such a circumstance when said cigarettes are encased in a waterproof pelican case, supposedly waterproof up to 30m). The bruises are almost gone now, but next time we raft, I want a guide in the boat - no more winging it for me!

July, as always, is all about the birthdays in the Fox household. Every year, we talk about taking the week off to celebrate our birthdays and the anniversary of the day we met (the 16th, 17th and 18th, for those of you who could probably care less), but it never seems to happen. We did, however, take Casey's birthday off, and we went to Waterford Oaks, the local wave pool/water park with Ava. A good time was had by all, though it was so crowded, I thought the entire county must have shown up. Not a downside for Ava, of course, but a bit claustrophobic for Casey. I just had to fight of my more violent urges, and remind myself that smacking 15 year old hooligans is probably not the best idea in the world.

Now, I'm preparing to go to Japan again. Good news is that it's a great sign that things are going well in my career, as I'm invited to help determine Global HR policy for Jatco, but I'm really not looking forward to the sweltering heat that's been promised. (the 18 hour trek, including 14 hour non-stop flight is also not so palatable, but at least I get the frequent flier miles.)

I'm also looking forward to returning for another reason: TOGA!! My friend Jen is having a grown-up (is there such a thing) Toga party on the day I return from Japan. Casey and I are planning on going, although I do worry about a repeat of the last time I was up for 24 hours and decided to go out....for those of you who remember it, one minute I was up and talking, the next my head was on the table. At least this time, people will only need to shove me to the side - we're planning on spending the night there.

Finally, at the end of August, we're planning on going on a trip to the Outerbanks (NC). My cousin Brent is getting married there on the 31st, so we're dragging babysitters, in the form of Brett and Deanna down with us. Ava and their daughter Georgia are buddies, so we should all have a fantastic time. Just prey we don't get hurricaine weather!!