To the Full

We had a very full weekend.  Full of friends, good food, much laughter, lots of sunshine, and many, many memories.  It reminds me of Christ's words to His disciples: "I came that you might have life and have it to the full."  Truly the joy in Christ has animated our lives always, and especially when we can spend time with our fabulous companions on the way.

On Thursday night, since one really can't get an early enough start to any three-day weekend, T and I, plus Viv and Matt and Jen all went to see Toy Story 3.  [Great movie, by the way. Pixar has done it again... Pixar and that cute hopping lamp-guy.]  Matt got off work late so we went to the 9:45 showing.  We drove to the theatre and Viv and I (oh so sneakily) brought our own popcorn!  Y'know those huge, over-sized, ziploc bags? We filled one of those with popcorn.. and it was delicious (even though we didn't finish it).

Though, really, I guess theatres don't really care anymore.  I remember going to the theatre when I was a kid and they'd search your bag!  So it was a total stealth operation if you wanted to "smuggle" in your own candy, rather than paying (a whole $2!) for their candy.  And popcorn? C'mon, people--movie theatres could give away seats for free if everyone bought popcorn.  Such a racket..

Um, anyway :)

On Friday, we went over to Matt's house for a terribly delicious BBQ get-together.  I think there was a sporting event on in the living room, but I mostly stayed outside.  Friday was my idea of a perfect summer's day.  It was cool in the morning, delightful in the afternoon, and cool again in the evening--but not too cool.  Not the kind of cool where you want a long-sleeve shirt or a lightweight jacket, but the kind of cool that's the perfect relief from the heat of the day.  Though even the sunshine was great that day--there was a fresh breeze dissipating the heat, but the sunlight was plentiful enough to warm buildings and sidewalks, which residual heat balanced the cool of the evening.

We had fresh burgers, home made salmon burgers (so tasty!), with enough crisp vegetables to satisfy even the largest mouthed burger eaters! There was avocado salad, strawberry salad, grilled corn on the cob (with an entire stick of butter for rolling the corn in), and delicious, creamy, coffee-y ice cream for dessert (from my favorite creamery, too).  Tim was good enough to go get me brownie mix for my intense and un-reasoned craving.  What a guy :)

And there was music, and gin and tonics, and good beer, and lots of smiles.  I always love gathering to eat with friends and family.  What better way to nourish your body than along with your soul?  Our life is blessed.

M@'s BBQ

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Saturday was mostly spent out.  At a friend's house and at the mall.  I gathered up the ingredients for oatmeal pancakes (my breakfast favorite, definitely) and some spicy Italian sausage, and we headed over to help him move his gigantic new TV.  All things considered (y'know, forgoing a breakfast en suite with my Love, lazing away the morning together..), it was a great morning.  While we ate, we watched part of Baraka, which was a stunning film.  It has led T and me to the conclusion that we definitely prefer the pace of life in "undeveloped" regions rather than life in the city :)

Big news for me is, while we were in the mall (outfitting Burke's new kitchen, etc), I got a sushi-making kit!  Now all I have to do is figure out how to make sushi rice and we're in business :D  Stay tuned for updates--I plan on attempting said feat tomorrow.. we'll see how it goes!

In the evening we made popcorn and watched MOON on Burke's new TV. Another good movie--thought provoking.

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Ok--Sunday!  The whole purpose of the weekend, right? since it's the reason we had Monday off.  What did we do?  Well.. did you know that Boston's fireworks are the ones that are televised nationwide for the 4th?  So next year, if you want to join us in our revelry, tune it to "the hub's" fireworks :)

our view for the fireworks

We went to Mass in the morning, all our picnic gear in tow, and ate lunch at Pavement (best chicken salad ever).  It was hot on Sunday, and we only had salami from home, so we also stopped by the store for fruit and bread and hummus and cheese and water.  What more could you ask for, sitting on a blanket in the sunshine (with an umbrella)?  We also brought books--my pick was a book about my new camera.  Dorky? Yes. Do I care? Not particularly :)

A summary of our Sunday would go like this: Mass, Lunch, find a spot, sit (sit sit sit sit), cool off, sit some more, wait for the fireworks to start, take pictures, watch fireworks, more pictures, shuffle to the T with thousands of other watchers, decide to walk the whole way home (4 miles), crash into bed (which I thankfully thought to clear off before we left in the morning!).

That sounds worse that it really was--it really was a looong day--but we had a lot of fun and it was good to be down there, "in the throng" as it were.  We had a good time chatting with friends and it was nice to much on goodies all day, with nothing else to do.

And the fireworks--once they started--were really awesome.  I didn't bring my tripod, because I didn't want to carry it around the whole day, but I will definitely have it next time I watch fireworks. I learned a lot, and even got some decent shots. Hope your 4th was just as fun :)

4th on the Esplanade