Fireworks (On Field and Off)

Since I last stopped by, my other half and I (and my sister and her boyfriend) spent Sunday at my parents' house in New Jersey for an backyard day filled with kicking back, grilling and celebration of my mom's belated birthday.

We brought bags of good pre-eats -- champagne, dips, breads, chips, and other delectables, as well as a dozen peach roses for the "birthday girl" -- and hung out all afternoon. I ended up prepping a kickin' yellow/red tomato/onion/basil/mozarella salad while my dad manned the grill -- loaded up with steak, chicken, veggie kabobs, corn on the cob (albeit largely cooked on the range inside) and a variety of extra salads, spreads, toppings, tapenades and an endless array of extra goodies. My dad, Kaia and I shared a funny moment when, in front of my other half, I asked my dad if he wanted Kaia to set the table. He said "I don't know, do you think she can handle it?" And I responded "I'm not sure, but we've been practicing, and we've been looking in the windows of real fancy-like restaurants so she's got some good background..." The reason why we all had a laugh is because, about a year and change ago, my parents invited my ex-fiancee and I to the house for a BBQ not unlike Saturday's, and one of my mom or dad had asked her to set the table, and she had a bit of trouble doing it. I'm not sure if the pressure clouded her judgement or she was merely unable to complete the task, and at this point I'm glad I don't know why she couldn't do it. But my dad and I chuckle about it, and the three of us had a nice laugh about it. Just in case, though, I got my other half a study guide. Salad fork on the left...then dinner fork...

We wound up eating on and off all afternoon; I had made some bruschetta and we had been enjoying some cheeses and salsa and dips throughout the afternoon, so by the time night arrived, we had the grilled stuff to enjoy, and we didn't end up digging into the birthday cake we'd gotten until at least 11. So by the time midnight rolled around we were on the road -- stuffed, drained, sapped by the sun and the heat, and ready for sleep.

We finally ended up getting into my place around 1/1:30, and into bed around 2:30, and we didn't wake up until late yesterday morning. Between the two of us, we were in and out of sleep and wound up a mass of arms, legs, hair, lips and giggles. Then the fun started ;-)

The air conditioner seemed to stop producing cold air, so between attending to mah woman's needs and checking the fuse panel, I was running half-clothed through the apartment trying to fix the problem like a full-fledged OCD freak, between the A/C unit and the fuse box, then the A/C unit and back to the fuse box again. By the time I got back into bed, it was clear that the A/C was becoming problematic. Then, in a moment of weird clarity, my other half went to the bathroom as I continued trying to determine the problem, and it became clear -- when small, pebble-sized chunks of ice began popping into the room through the A/C vent -- that it was merely producing so much cool air that it was freezing up. Hearing the sound of chunks flying into the room, she asked from inside "What was that noise?" I answered "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She came back in and saw what was happening and we both had a laugh, and we were torn between covering that part of the bedroom with a towel and going to get some tall glasses and some vodka :-)

Yesterday afternoon we putzed around the house and watched the Yankee game, which they won. As I'm wont to do herein, I'm still incredibly frustrated by the fact the Yankees, a $200+ million baseball juggernaut, can't seem to consistently beat shitty teams, and has to work hard at winning in a semi-consistent manner. Having said that, they wound up winning yesterday by a score of 13-6 over the Baltimore Orioles, and by next week, the Yankees could be close to being back in first place in the AL East. But the way they've played and the up-and-down-type season it's been, leads me to believe that the more I hope, the less likely it will be. So I'm just going along with the shitty pitching, the lousy defense and the incredible offensive fireworks they are capable of showing, not only on July 4th but every game.

After the game ended (finally), we both got showered and dressed and headed over to spend some time with friends of ours on the Upper West Side. Since they're (all three) from out of town (Detroit and London) they haven't yet learned of the great sacrifice of crossing from the East Side to the West. But we dared, and made it to their duplex without much difficulty. We grabbed some alcohol -- a bottle of red, a bottle of Clicquot and a bottle of Absolut Mandarin -- as well as some Diet Coke and Tonic Water, and climbed up their staircase to the second floor and the roof deck, where they were grilling chicken, steak, corn and anything else we wanted. All kinds of salads, edibles, comestibles, guacamole -- everything was awesome. Between the food and the alcohol and the sunshine and, most importantly, the company, we were so relaxed and comfortable that we wound up hanging out all night on the roof and really enjoyed the hell out of the holiday and the people with whom it was spent. We missed -- or, rather, didn't see -- the fireworks, but we managed to have a good time despite.

We finally realized we'd overstayed our welcome, despite our hosts' gracious indications to the contrary, and we made it back to the East Side well after 1 but a little buzzed, a lot tired, and extremely happy. By the time we finally brushed our teeth, rolled into bed and turned out the lights and blew out the candles, it was well into this morning, and we both paid the price when we woke up. But being thoroughly exhausted, both mentally and physically, is what holiday weekends are about -- so we both had a wonderful time and we'll do more thereof. She's here for awhile longer, and while spending a day doing nothing alone feels -- and is --wasteful, doing so with her, no matter what it is we do or do not accomplish, is hardly wasteful.

And I think we're finally getting somewhere :-)