big bad ugly

One of the greatest joys of an office stiff is to find that we have been granted the almost holy three day weekend. With all of our advancements in technology, why we haven't all moved to the four day work week, I cannot comprehend! But I digress.

Day 1 - big bad ugly, target, tour:

I was asked if I would be willing to video tape a surf contest on saturday that is called "the big bad ugly" it is called this because the weather usually really sucks this time of year, and the waves at this one spot do get pretty tall.

So I got my ass up at like 6am - which really is a crime on a weekend morning and dragged myself to get hot drinks before heading over to meet my friends and get to work filming. Although rediculously cold, it was a surprisingly clear and sunny sky, especially considering that the weather guesser said it would rain all day.

After filming for a few hours, the storm began blowing in around us, the clear sky gave way to thick dark clouds crowding in and we could actually see the rain falling out on the ocean horizon. When BAM, insane gusts of wind that were almost too much to stand safely in, huge raindrops that we realized were actually hail upon closer inspection, and just all manor of chaos seemed to just explode out of the sky.

Scrambling to get the electronic equipment out of the water and into a dry place while remaining upright, wrestling with my umbrella against the wind and trying not to fall into a puddle was probably quite a sight, however, it was when the wind brutally ripped the umbrella out of my hand, lifted it high over the spectating crowd and then into the ocean right where the surf competition was happening, that everyone is STILL talking about...

So, fully drenched, wind whipping my wet hair into my face, I made the executive decision to get the hell out of there and told my friend to meet me at my house. We tracked heavy, sandy mud everywhere while trying to get into the house, out of the weather, out of the wet clothes and into dry clothing!

It was at this point that we realized it was only 10:30 in the morning! So, we decided it was a good day for a shopping day at "tarjjjaaay" (Target) but on the way, it began to hail again and we noticed there was actual snow in our hills and we decided to stop at the local restaurant to get something to eat, take pictures of the rare snowy hillside and let the storm pass. It was there that we ran into one of the owners, who is also a friend, and is in the process of building a new business very near to the Target store (about 30 minutes away). We mentioned we were planning a trip out there as soon as we finsihed lunch and invited us to stop by the new place and take a tour of the progress they have made.

They are opening the new place on St. Patrick's Day - appropriate since it is an Irish Pub & Grill. After several hours in Target, a few hundred dollars lighter, and many cabinets heavier, we stuffed everything into the trunk and went to get some dinner. The restaurant we chose is right next to the new place, so we stopped in as soon as we finished eating.

The new place is very cool, it has an antique bar, sidewalk seating, a huge covered outdoor dancefloor and stage, a patio with fire pits and there is just a generally good vibe to place. Add that the owners have been good friends to me, good customers of my side business and have been working night and day to open on time, and it was hard not to be terribly excited for them.

Truthfully, I feel honored that they have shared so much of their dream with me. It was about a year ago that they told me how they have always wanted to own an Irish Pub and then in mid December that they told me that had purchased a new place and that they wanted me to help them. I did a walk through of the building when they closed escrow and here we are less than a month away from the grand opening.

That was day one of the three day weekend!

Day 2 - putter, build, build, build, organize

So, I spent Sautrday building the new shelves I had purchased the day before. My house is very old and the rooms are fairly small, my kitchen us an odd very narrow room with a tiny ancient stove, horribly dark and poorly designed cabinets, faded wood paneling walls, saved only barely by a beautiful bay window that has shelves built in for growing plants indoors at the end closest to the front of the house.

The shelves will serve multiple puposes, storage, decoration, hiding the hideous walls and lightening the room up a bit. It took me all day to put them all together and to get everything I had taken out of the kitchen back in, but I did manage to get it all done. I am quite pleased with the results so far, and very much looking forward to having more time to continue my early spring cleaning.

Day 3 - nada - tea, read a book - fabulous!

It is very rare that I allow myself to just "do nothing," it seems there is a never ending list of things I am always behind on at any given moment. But I decided to think of Monday as a "free" day. It was still pretty cold, but very clear and sunny. I drove into town and got a hot tea and then took out a new book and parked myself on the breaker wall on the beach and read for about 3 hours. It was just so lazy and lovely, and seemed so decadent. As always in a town so small, I ran into several firends and aquaintences along the way and ended up going in to our little bar to have an adult beverage and an appetizer with a couple of friends.

I was home by 5:30pm and decided to make a big batch of chicken tortellini soup, since it seemed like the perfect end to a slightly chilly day. When finished, I ate a big bowl and watched Sunday night TV and promptly fell asleep on the couch!

It was definately one of the nicest, most relaxing weekends I have had in a long time. Again, why can't we go to the four day workweek?

Ciao!