we passed friday night sans dude.  i think we got to the inlaws' place around 6-ish, walked in and within a minute my m-i-l was shoving us out the door.  the dude was cool.  his mommy was much better once we hit the liquor store and picked up a fantastic bottle of tempranillo from argentina.  we've found a grape that we dig.  we drank it with seared tuna steaks covered in mango vinagrette, aparagus and baked potatoes.  a fine meal served in relative silence.

we missed him a lot.

after dinner we fired up a netflix dvd that's been on the tv for about 4 months now: spider-man 3.  it broke us.  as in "brokeback mountain" - the only other movie to share the dubious honor of being shut off halfway through.  at the 1:15 mark of spider-man 3 we had yet to be impressed.  in fact, it was pretty bad.  so we did what i always do when i see a marginal comic book movie:  called my brother and bitched.  i took his advice and dug on the new incredible hulk trailer and was pleased.  it's gonna be a good summer.

and then we played lego star wars (the original trilogy) until about midnight.  why?  because it was there.

the dude was liberated from his grandparents at around 10-ish the next day after a fantastic breakfast of puffed pancake smothered in mixed berries, eggs and (turkey) bacon.  delicious.  while stacky went to get the dude, i worked around the house and in the garage a bit.  what i did without a bandsaw, i have no idea.  the world is new again!

i sanded the kerfed linings on my guitar, but didn't get very far.  stacky wanted to get the herb garden planted, so i took dude duty and we tried a nap.  he was exhausted.  i managed to get about 20 minutes myself.  not too shabby!  then we prepared for dinner with my dad and stepmother. 

that did not go well.

the dude has been goin' non-stop all week long.  he spent the night with his grandparents.  he was tired.  so we had to cut the visit short.  i feel bad that he wasn't 100% for my dad, but he understands.  the dude got his rest sunday and was much better by last night.

sunday was highly productive in all areas save the one i wanted to be most productive.  most of my day was spent in the garage.  while the dude napped, stacky took care of patrolling the yard for canine feces and weeds.  i tried to work on my guitar.  after a bit, she had to go in for the dude.  we were also out of dog food.  and the oil in her car needed to be changed.  and the back yard needed mowing.

i went to the pet store and the auto parts place.  then i went back to the auto parts place (never assume you have a filter...just buy it...you can always use an extra oil filter).  i mowed the back yard quickly.  then i set to changing the oil.  as it drained i was accosted by our "crazy neighbor" about the grass clippings (less than 4 ounces worth) in front of our curb.  this is our second or third interaction and he has never offered his name.  he simply adds vague threats about the neighborhood association (good f'n luck with that...like i give a flying rat's ass) and whines about the clippings.  this time he said he was the president of the association.  this will prompt a fantastic letter to said association about someone passing himself off as an officer of the group.  as it stood, i stared at him for an uncomfortable moment without a word and walked back to my garage.  the next time he tries to speak with me i will tell him that i'm from the midwest where people are friendly and civilized.  i will let him know that in my part of the world one offers a name and a hand before criticizing his neighbor.  and then i will tell him to kindly fuck off and stay away from my property lest i feel the urge to remove him forcibly.  or better yet, i'll just tie porschea up in the front yard and that will assure my solitude.  fucking moron.

so for those keeping score: i got the lawn done, the oil changed and dog food all in one day!  i got very little done on my project work but that's the way of things.  my new philosophy is that the best i can hope for on the weekends is about 2 hours a day.  i might start getting up at my usual time (5:15 am) on saturday to make sure i get some stuff done.  it'd be tough, but it might be worth it.  we'll see.

now all i have to do is make it through today and tomorrow and i can have 5 days off in a row.  nothing like a little quiet time in front of a campfire to improve one's attitude.