It was a good weekend, with homemade quiche, and some handyman work. Friday afternoon was a team building exercise at a bowling alley, where I broke 100 in my last two games (I don't know if I ever bowled more than 100 before), then drinks at an expensive place that doesn't take care of their beer lines. Later, there was a conference call and work email, so it wasn't like I had a completely early day.

Saturday thirteen year old went to Porsche_girl's bday party, while eight year old eventually had preschool_girl over for a playdate. I had a few hours before she was due, so I was able to vacuum upstairs and downstairs, and get the dishes taken care of. Later, I went out to the 'burbs to buy a lot of stuff at Lowe's, and stopped by the gaming store as it was the monthly board game meet. Unusually, Mrs. Ha and I were able to sit down and watch a movie Saturday night, but more on that below.

In other gaming news, one night (Friday?) thirteen year old, eight year old, newspaper_girl and I got together to play Catan, I think an hour and half is a little long for that game, but at least it's better than Enchanted Forest, which I played with eight year old and preschool_girl. I lost, having sandwiched myself between eight year old and the older girls, and not having a lot of room to expand, and not settling on a red vertice. Thirteen year old won.

The bday party was out at a farmer's market in the exurbs, and thirteen year old was met a few suburbanite kids who had misconceptions about her city schools. The usual city kids skip school all day while taking drugs. I suppose I don't have a good picture of the average city school, since the charter school is a lot like an expensive private school, in demographics and attitude, while the middle/high school is very competitive to get in. Also, if we lived in a tract in the burbs we might be a little more lax in letting our girls ride their bikes a few blocks, it's only this year that we've let thirteen year old walk to her friends house, and she has to ask permission and plan a route with call ins, first.

Sunday I hit .500, replacing the light socket in my thirteen year old's sconce/outlet with a newer bottom knob socket and replacing the old woven fabric covered wire with new Romex, all without electrocuting myself. On the negative side, I made my storm window too short, I misread 29 inches as 26 inches, so more cutting to do. I was impressed by how sturdy the bracketed mitred frame was, it will be even stronger with plexiglass on it (I have to find out how to cut plexiglass, too).

In book news, I finished American Rifle, a story about the main weapon of the American infantry from the Revolutionary War to now, along with the theory that the American Army was the first major army to adopt rifles. It was good, with a few quibbles, I felt that it gave insufficient props to the Stg44 when discussing the AK-47 (because that led to the M-16), lots of discussion of the Pederson Device but no BAR, and little talk of the M-1/M-2 carbines.

In other book news, I finished Corcorran's Octopus Alibi. A few weeks back, at Mrs. Ha's co-worker's, her husband and I talked about Hiaiaiaiasen, and he mentioned Corcorran is another mystery type write based in South Florida, the Keys even, and he gave me the book to read, so I did. It's a mystery, set in Key West, with a few Key Westian type characters, as well as some Miami Vice type characters. Mysteries aren't my thing, so while I enjoyed reading it, it's not in my top 100 list, and for south Florida wackiness, give me Haiaiiaiaiasen.

What is it about the Ohio River valley? First there was Silence of the Lambs, now Bubble, a shortish depressing film about three workers at a Doll family in a decaying Ohio town. You first meet the protagonist Martha, a middle aged spinster who works and takes care of her elderly dad, as she picks up a shy young co-worker, who she declares to be her best friend. A few days later, a comely and pushy single mom shows up to work, the ensuing triangle creates the drama for the rest of the film. The actors aren't professional, though they do a good enough job.

Three biggies off my to do list yesterday, sending out a file fix, and making PHX plane tickets and hotel reservations. My sister is getting married at a Ren Faire in PHX in March, and my parents are helping us with the airfare, because I don't have $2000 sitting around doing nothing.

To prep the girls for that, I showed them "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" last night. They preferred Narnia. What costume should I get for a Ren Faire? Cheap, easily made and easily packable would be best.