Twice The Flags. Half the Office.

There's this great new invention I just learned about called a "holiday." The way it works is that every time one of them comes around (usually on a Friday or Monday) you don't go to work. Pretty simple. Instead you're supposed to leg it to the grocery store, buy a whole bunch of food (we thank thee Germans for thy bratwurst!), and eat it. (I tried explaining it to a Frenchy once, and while he grasped the eating right away I had a dickens of a time explaining the basics. The whole "work" predicate seemed to offend.) Usually when these "holidays" would come around it meant I had to work twice as much. This is nice.

April and I are had our own personal Memorial Day celebration, the one where it's just us, yesterday. We picked up some brats, corn-on-the-cob, baked beans (Boston style) and wedge cut french fries, skins on. She prepared the corn, beans and fries while I bravely cooked up the brats. Then we watched a lot of tv. The latest Doctor Who special, a Mythbusters, and So You Think You Can Dance---I don't think I can, in case anyone was wondering. We also ate ice cream. Since the really good stuff was on sale we each got our own carton. She got mudpie and I got cake batter. It's not as good as Coldstone's cake batter ice cream but it works.

Today we're going to see a Gwinnett Braves game with a beer and a hot dog. And the boss and his wife and kid are apparently going to show up too and then have us over to their place where I'm told an X-Box 360 resides along with a copy of Portal. Oh yes. Portal. Btw, did you know that there's a flash version?

April's lying down enjoying a much deserved rest after making a whole ton of freezer jam, one of her methods of taking advantage of the low in-season prices of strawberries and blackberries. She's also taken to making yogurt at home. We use whole milk so it doesn't have that Greek-style creaminess but it does taste so much better than the stuff you get at the store. You feel a lot better after eating it too.

Though I love working with my wife I'm kinda curious to see what will happen once she's spending more of her time at home with the baby. She's terribly creative, likes to try new things and generally doesn't stop moving unless she's tired. I wouldn't be surprised to come home to a newly painted apartment every other Thursday complete with hand-carved furniture and hardwood floors, cut, treated, installed, stained and urethaned all on her own. "Oh, just a new project I was trying out. I don't think I like carving though so I'm going to try my hand at that build-it-yourself nuclear reactor I saw in the back of Popular Science."

Oh, do pray for us if you get the chance. We think we've finally found the next place we want to live. It's not a house with a yard and all that, but it's a great little apartment complex that's surprisingly cozy and just might be in our budget. The place actually cleans their pool and takes care of the garbage. How novel. It felt good and "healthy" to both of us, if that makes any sense. We think we're in love.

Cheers!

P.S. Forgive the lack of pictures. I hope the various links will suffice in their stead.