Two entries in one.

Man, talk about a nice weekend that we just had. Heidi and Mark came into town together with some friends from Bismarck. Actually, it’s Heidi’s wedding party from their wedding three years ago. They have all known one another since elementary school. It was most definitely a reunion weekend for all of them. Everyone kind of arrived at different times, but that was totally fine. I was working at the restaurant so by the time I got back, most of them had arrived except for a friend who was arriving on Saturday. Everyone pretty much stayed up till 12:45AM just catching up with one another. Talk about fun times.

On Saturday, those of us who were in town headed to the Farmer’s Market. Gretchen, Anna and Heidi’s dear friend actually fainted while waiting for Heidi to get a smoothie. Thank goodness she fainted into her husband, Bob’s arms. Phew. After a couple of minutes, she told us that she’s pregnant with twins! They’ve been trying for some time and are so happy that they are pregnant. Needless to say her fainting spell must had something to do with the pregnancy. We ended up having lunch at an air-conditioned restaurant nearby where everyone got to sit in a cool and relaxed atmosphere. Suzy, their friend from Omaha met up with us there and once again, everyone was just happy chatting with one another. The weather was a little iffy so we decided to head back to Anna’s place and just hang out. On the way home, it poured like cats and dogs and we were all glad that we made that decision. Sitting around and just having everyone reminisce the old times were so much fun. Bob and I were the only outsiders because the rest have known each other for years.

For dinner that night, we went to Happy Joes for Pizza. It was Heidi’s choice since she loves the taco pizza from there. Most definitely not a place I would have picked especially since I work at a pizza place. Oh well. The food was fine and everyone had a good time. When we got back after dinner, we all played the Wii and it was hilarious. There were just different games that we all tried. It was all around fun for everyone especially those of us who were just watching.

I had to leave for Mass earlier than the rest of them because I had to do a couple of things at church. We all set together which was nice and I introduced Kevin to Heidi and vice versa since both of them are in the wedding party. All of them went back to the house for brunch, but I went to the restaurant. Speaking of restaurants, we were packed for brunch and also for dinner. It was really crazy. I’m by no means complaining and it’s definitely good for business, but you just never know why some days are busier than others. Actually, this whole week, it was plain busy every evening including the week nights.

Oh, I forgot to mention that single tickets to the Chicago Symphony went on sale on Friday. If you remember, Anna got me a gift certificate to the CSO and I’ve been waiting to use them. We ended up getting tickets to Yo Yo Ma for next May and I can guarantee you it’ll be a once in a lifetime concert. We are only talking about one of the most amazing cellist EVER! We’re both very excited for the concert.

That was what took place last week/weekend. Drake students will start returning to campus this week and classes start next Monday. Isn’t it amazing where the summer has gone?!

Let me start by saying the weather this weekend was just out of this world. August is usually the hottest and most humid month of the year, but this past weekend, it was in the high sixties to the mid seventies with very low humidity. It was plain gorgeous to say the least which really helped because on Saturday, a group of Drake students and I together with my colleague did a bunch of yard work for my colleague’s client. The house was declared a public nuisance and would soon be condemned by the city, but right now it’s tied up in a legal battle. The agency has been trying its best to help the client salvage the house so that’s where I came in with the students. I got in touch with our campus minister and asked if they had any service project planned and they informed me that they indeed were looking for a project. There were a total of twelve students who helped and we needed all the help we could get for sure. All of us did as much work as possible and the outside of the house is looking much better and my goal is to get another group to help with more outside work. We’ll definitely be doing a lot in phases. The weather could have very easily been in the nineties with high humidity and that would have been terrible.

Later that evening, Anna’s band played at a block party and by far, it was definitely one of the best performances. There was a very good turnout and people young and old were literally dancing in the street and having a grand time. I mentioned to Anna later that evening the fact that they sounded really good and she commented that everyone in very many ways were feeding off the energy from the crowd. All of us just had a wonderful time. I’m sure the weather had a major role to play also.

Oh, this past week was Des Moines’s restaurant week. You could get two lunches for $25 or a three course meals for $25 per person. A listing of restaurant participated in the promotion and Anna, Joel, Kathy and I went to a restaurant all of had never been to on Wednesday. We were familiar with the chef since he had closed his amazing restaurant to move to this place just so he could focus on the cooking and not the business aspect of it. The food was very good and the ambience in the restaurant was one of a kind. We all thought that it was an overall wonderful evening. The Iowa Cubs were playing, but it rained all day and the game was pretty much rained out so we ended up back at Joel and Kathy’s for some after dinner drinks. Talk about a fun evening!

I had to get some dental work done on Thursday so after that was taken care off, I took the rest of the day off. The last time I went to the dentist a couple of weeks back, they worked on one side of my mouth and this time they completed the other side. It was not the most pleasing experience so I figured I might as well just take the day off. My next appointment will be in three months just to make sure everything is looking good.

Anna and I have our last meeting with our sponsor couple this evening. They pretty much came to an agreement that meeting three times would suffice for us. At the end of our meeting we’ll probably have some dessert to go around. I need to figure out what I’ll bring. They have been such a fun and easy couple to work with.

Well, that’s the news from me for this week. Next weekend is Labor Day and Anna will be going up to the Twin Cities, but I’ll be in DM. That’s OK. I’ll have more than enough to keep me occupied. I most probably will end up catching a ton of movies that I’ve not been able to.