The Life and Times of a Navy Husband

Aside from a couple of political flare-ups, the weekend went well. My parents arrived late Thursday night after driving all day from Michigan. We ate peach upside-down cake—one of Danielle’s new specialities—and then sipped glasses of Scotch (one rock) while everyone wound down.

Friday, we had a good breakfast at home and then relaxed and played with the baby. Sean was putting on a really good Sean Show. We ran errands in the afternoon, which included a stop to pick up my copy of Anathem. Danielle made lasagna for dinner, and then we watched The Bourne Ultimatum.

Saturday, Kate and Matt arrived early, and then Nancy arrived a little bit later. The birthday festivities were low-key. Danielle put out a spread of cheese, crackers, hummus, sausage, veggies, and chips, and I grilled sausages while the rain from Tropical Storm Hanna held off, somehow. We drank some excellent wine, and ate the most delicious chocolate cake ever, which was of course made from scratch by my sweet wife. That night, after I opened cards/presents, we played a game of ‘Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?’ It’s a DVD game modeled after the TV gameshow. We all wanted to punch Jeff Foxworthy in the face after one game, so we didn’t play another. It was close, but the boys won.

Sunday, we recovered. Very little was accomplished. The storm had roared through in the early hours of the morning, though Danielle and I were oblivious, for the most part. My father was awakened by a siren during the storm. It sounded for about 10 minutes, during which time he cranked the window closed. Then it stopped, and he cranked it open. Five minutes later, it started again, and he cranked it closed again. Etcetera. At one point he had to get up and make sure it wasn’t the alarm on his new car. It wasn’t.

Meanwhile, Matt thought he heard a ghost speak to him down at the Admiral Fitzroy Inn.

If we all could have avoided talking about Sarah Palin, the weekend would have been an unqualified success.