1) There are two versions of last weekend, the complaining version and the non-complaining version:
- Complaining Version: After planning my entire weekend schedule around an early Saturday afternoon haircut, the barber shop calls a mere 90 minutes before cut time to cancel because the barber was overbooked. Scheduled a Sunday morning appointment with the other barber I know at that shop, and showed up promptly only to find out he was "significantly delayed" and be fobbed off on a total stranger who thinned almost my entire head with a straight razor (I hate that). And did I mention that this barber shop makes you confirm by email, text, and phone and hammers over your head that you have to pay the full cost if you cancel less than four hours yourself? This cut so substantially into my writing time that I got nothing done and left me in a foul mood for hours each day.
- Non-Complaining Version: Glorious sparkling weather for two days officially began the three weeks of the year my house looks its prettiest; the star magnolia in the front burst into flower. After spending midday Saturday in town, a heavy one-hour nap led to rearranging and reshelving four or five shelves of books before dinner with my best friend and a lot of heartfelt talk on a wide range of subjects. Sunday I went with the flow and enjoyed both the housewarming brunch of my new (childless) second-floor neighbors (lots of soccer-playing young people, mimosas, bacon biscuits, and the very rare opportunity to see our star magnolia from above), and especially a fund-raiser musicale in a beautiful private home in Cambridge in the afternoon. Champagne, sunlight, old friends rarely seen, music that was both beautiful and new to me, and lemon poppyseed cake. What's not to love? Continued domesticity at home left no more dishes to wash but more floors to scrub. They'll have to wait, as the pages of Edward VII: The Prince of Wales and the Women He Loved was too compelling to put down.
1a) Frankly, I like the second version better.
2) A bit atwitter about a creative opportunity a friend alerted me to this morning.
3) Co-hosting a webinar with my boss tonight for next year's volunteers. Looking forward to some good questions.