I got home extremely late last night as my connecting flight in Detroit was delayed by over an hour. Up this morning at 6:30, and here I am, ready to bring some order back into my house. Things were a little...disarrayed.
For instance:
I'm doing the dishes from what appears to be yesterday, and cleaning up the kitchen at the same time. Craig hasn't learned where anything goes yet, but rather than go looking for it, his response is to just leave everything out on the counter. His rationale is that it's just going to get used again anyway and if it doesn't, he doesn't want me to get annoyed because something's out of place.
So, I'm clearing the counter and I notice the pile of post I'd left for him to handle---things that only he could do.
Me: So, was there any post from the past few days that I need to deal with?
Silence. He doesn't even look up from where he's sitting on the couch in the adjoining room.
Me: Did you even check the post while I was gone?
A long beat. Still not looking at me.
Craig: The kids are clean, aren't they?
Oi.
So, I have a ton of work facing me, including the ironing he said he was going to do while I was gone. It's going to be a long day.
So, I land on Tuesday in Allentown after a fairly uneventful flight. I say fairly because, though the flight itself was quite nice, I managed to have another interesting people encounter. The man seated in the window seat next to me talked throughout the entire flight, whether anybody was listening or not, about anything and everything. I tried to ignore him, but when my laptop battery died, I had a few moments where I was shifting everything around to get my book where he managed to get my attention. Turns out he's a British history teacher and I made the mistake of saying I'd just moved back. Huge mistake. All of a sudden, he thinks I'm his best friend, and that I'm the only one who'll understand how wrong the US is about everything, and culturally background, and how the UK does everything right, and blah blah blah. I listened politely as long as I could and then deliberately opened my book and started reading because he just...wouldn't...shut...up.
psubrat picked me up and we went back to her house to wait for the Canadian contingent to arrive. They made it a few hours after I did, and I got the chance to finally meet redeem147, elizard100, and pann_da_bear for the first time. What wonderful people! I'd known of redeem147 and elizard from seeing them around online, and of course I'd read redeem's "Q&A," so getting the chance to meet them for real was a blast. So funny, and so genuine, and they made this socially awkward gal feel right at home.And of course, there's the wonderful
rockgoddes. I'd had the opportunity to meet her---ever so briefly---before the London JM Audience, and though we'd had a few exchanges on LJ, prior to the past few days our communications had been limited to that. *Definitely* not going to let that happen in the future. This woman friggin' amazes me. So articulate, so got her head on straight, and just so damn interesting that I feel like I just sat in awe the entire time I was there. I was scurrying to get my blurb assignment done, so I was mildly antisocial on Tuesday night so that I could join them going out on Wednesday. I didn't get them done then, but got far enough that I could go into Philly with them to do some touristy stuff. We'd hoped to have lunch with
xionin and I'm still bummed that didn't work out. Next time, hon, most definitely. Our plan had also been to try to do the Duck Tour of Philly---because we just were tickled by the idea of a group of Spuffies going on a duck tour---but that didn't work out timewise. We ended up doing the open bus tour instead, and then not getting back to psubrat's house until 5:30.sadbhyl was there when we got back, but we were all running around, trying to get everything finished before others and the band arrived, and getting changed after a long, hot day in the city. There were a lot of people there, including the fantabulous soulmate815 who proves that this indeed a small world by having been in Ann Arbor up until the year before I moved there, rusty_halo who I still need to have time to sit and talk with properly(Oakland! Woo hoo!), dettiot who I've admired online for "What Is Choice?" for ages and was glad to finally meet in person, and others. And sadbhyl, of course, who I'd been dying to talk to for ages and who I desperately tried to get around to time and time again, only to end up running out of time at the end of the evening.The band showed up around 7:30, and were ready to play at 8pm. They actually started a little bit after, with everyone seated around Brat's living room. I was just off to the side in front of the entertainment center, about a foot away from Eric for most of the night. Nice view. :) Only drawback was that these guys bounce around so much when they perform that the entertainment center was vibrating behind me. I ended up darting across to the other side of the room about 2/3's of the way through because I was beginning to fear something was going to topple over and fall on my head. ;)
The set itself was amazing. Brat has the playlist so I'm not sure what the order of songs were. I *can* tell you that they opened with a song they had *just* written and had been practicing upstairs while they were getting around. But the guys were right on, and the crowd loved them. One woman brought her early teenaged daughter (I'd say she was probably 11 or 12), who was on the floor in the front. Very often, Eric or Adam would sing just to her. It was absolutely adorable.
Jordan sold some merchandise after they were done (just under an hour of playing), and then he and Eric mingled some while they ate. I got the chance to talk some to Jordan, but I was trying to be so good about not playing fangirl in front of Eric that I completely missed him. Turns out I probably should've as the common consensus afterward was that he was looking for a bit of attention and didn't really get it (nobody asked for autographs or anything like that). Silly me!
We did manage to get a group picture done. Adam never came down and socialized, so he's not in the shot. And there's about half the people who were there that are missing from it, but I figure the important people are there (except for
pann_da_bear who was the one who took the picture). In case you're wondering, I'm the redhead on the couch next to Jordan. We were kind of mushed in there, and I thought at one point Jordan was copping a feel, but I found out later it was sadbhyl! :) (She's in the sleeveless blue ensemble right beside and behind me.)And I'm saving the best for last. The incomparable
psubrat. Let me tell you, this woman worked her butt off to make this a success, and it showed. Jordan came up to her afterward and was just astonished at how great the turnout was. She had 27 people there to listen to them play, and the party was in full swing with food and drink when the band arrived. Jordan said it was the best living room gig they'd done, exactly as how they'd always wanted them to be, with a turnout they'd never gotten before (he said they usually play to groups of about 10). He took the time to heap the praise on her, and boy, does she deserve it. This woman is a star, through and through, and I have to say I'm proud to be able to call her my friend. :)The only bad thing about the night (other than
xionin not being able to make it, but I did get to chat with her at least for a little while online that night) was that it was too short. I want another one, damn it! These are just amazing people to hang with, and I haven't felt so relaxed and at home in absolute yonks. So, thanks to all of you for just being wonderful. :)I still haven't done my catch-up on my e-mails, but that's going to be later in the day, along with my Legions update. Hugs to all, and I hope you have a great day! :D
