beaming

An entire weekend without doing any substantial work. Damn. This is rare for me. I'm so proud of myself. Here's what I did instead.

Saturday
Got up early and went to the dog park with the girl. Did four loads of laundry, vacuumed, swept, talked on the phone to Keita, whose little boy Trevor, age 3, is also very much enthralled with cleaning. At one point while we were talking, Alexis, age 7, comes upstairs and tells Keita, "I have to get the vacuum for Trevor." Fifteen minutes later, I hear a small boy crying. Funniest line of our entire conversation is when Keita says, "Trevor's crying because Damon won't let him vacuum anymore. After a while the sound starts to get on your nerves." Five minutes go by. Trevor comes up and says to Keita, "I need the broom so I can go downstairs and broom." Love him.

Wrote a letter of recommendation (I know, this does qualify as work, but it's the only thing that does). Went to the grocery store. Ironed two pairs of pants (IRONED TWO PAIRS OF PANTS ON A SATURDAY! that's what I call proactive). Took an hour-and-a-half walk with Belly, Julia, and Tucker. Made taco salad for dinner. Watched Conviction. Talked to Hillary for an hour. Went to bed at 10.

Sunday
Got up early and went to the dog park with the girl after playing a couple games of online Scrabble. Came home. Had lunch. Went to the first softball practice of the season. Did pretty well until I started getting tired and then I sucked it big. Sat on the porch with Belly, a beer, and the Atlantic Monthly. Cleaned the yard. Took a nap. Walked the girl. Grilled chicken for dinner. Played a couple games of Scrabble. Praised myself for not doing any work.

Next up: Grey's Anatomy.

Oh, and lest I forget to mention this: on Friday night I got together with grad students to workshop essays for The Violence of Class. One of the ones we workshopped was mine. HOLY SHIT. These people are good. I could write an entire essay just about the workshopping of the essays. They saw connections I NEVER WOULD HAVE SEEN MYSELF and for that, I thank them.