I had a busy weekend. I wanted to write at home so that I could put in a picture or two, but when I get home I put my feet up and put an ice pack on my new knee, so I can't sit at the computer desk comfortably. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Saturday my older son came over with the PlayStation3 and Rock Band. If you've missed out on this, Rock Band is a very popular video game where you can perform, sort of. We made up a group of the three of us. I got to create my character - a rocker chick singer named Summer. Older son "played" the guitar - really just striking keys in a particular rhythm and sequence. Younger son played the drums. That's a little more realistic; there's a four-headed drum set with a bass pedal. I tried it, and my ankle was soon aching from the pedal. I like my microphone a lot better.
Anyway, we wasted hours as we gained in skill and scored more points, visiting more locales, earning a tour bus, then a jet, and touring the world. Singing in this game is my favorite part, of course - I always wanted to be a rock singer. It's a very forgiving program; I could slur words and approximate pitches, and it'd still say "Awesome!" at me. We were performing on the Medium level, mostly. Next time we're going to do Hard. The game's addictive. I'm glad it's not in my house all the time, or I'd get hooked on it. I'd start a solo tour.
Sunday we played handbells in church. The choir was very short of sopranos, so they asked the handbell director and me to fill in. Finally, I was asked to sing in the choir! I've been holding out for an invitation. The soloist with the heavy voice seems to have dropped out. She was a nice person, but I didn't like to sing with her, one reason I was staying away from the choir. The director and the other sopranos encouraged me to keep coming. They rehearse on Thursdays. Maybe I will. I don't know; it's so hard to get me out of the house once I get home from work. Also, if I join the choir, I have to be in church every Sunday. I have mixed feelings about that. I miss being in a Unitarian-Universalist church, and I don't really want to commit to this UCC (Congregational) church. But I miss singing, too. I stay there because most UU churches don't have handbell choirs.
In the afternoon, the boys and I decided to go to the Topsfield Fair. I was expecting a large-scale country fair. All I ever hear about it is the competition for the largest pumpkin - some of them go over 1,000 lb. Well, we hit traffic as soon as we left Route 95, and it took us over an hour to get to the fairgrounds. Once we got there, the closely-packed and brightly lit food places took over our senses. We eventually got to the cow barn, the sheep barn, and the poultry barn (we avoided the pig barn). But I was expecting something along the lines of the 4H Fair that we used to go to in Westford. What we got was a vastly commercial carnival. We never saw the huge pumpkins; I have no idea where they were hiding them. How do you hide a 1,000-lb. pumpkin, anyway? We weren't interested in going on the rides (and there were many). There's a limit to how much anybody can eat. I did get some blueberry crisp which was especially good; that didn't disappoint me. We don't think we'll ever go back.
Monday I took the day off. I had an appointment with the surgeon who did my knee surgery. Everything seems to be healing well. I can walk almost normally. My biggest limitation now is a muscle I pulled in my good leg.
I'm going to take a vacation next week. An actual vacation! I decided to spend a few days on Cape Cod, in an inn which is right on the same strip of beach where my family and I have been going since I was a baby. I'm going alone, and I'm so excited! I'll be walking on the beach every day, even if it rains. I'm going to go shopping and eat in nice restaurants (but sparingly! I don't want to pig out.). I'm going to bring my laptop and try to do some writing. They don't appear to have internet connections in the rooms; I guess they figure that people are there to do things outside, not hang around online. I'm sure there will be some place with WiFi, though. I'm going down on Tuesday and coming back on Friday, so I should avoid the weekend traffic. One of the best things about taking a vacation alone is that I don't have to worry about what anybody else thinks about what I want to do. I can just do it, without any explanations. The boys would be bored with shopping. But I plan to buy several pairs of earrings, if I can find any I like. My earring collection needs updating badly. I might try on clothes (always an iffy thing; I'm in the size range on the line between Misses and Women). I might hang out in bookstores. I don't have to worry about boring my sons! I probably ought to worry about how I'm going to pay for all this, but it's going onto my credit card. Who knows when I'll get a chance to go away again? Life is too short to keep putting off the things I want to do.
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