Sunny Saturday

I'm getting used to this restful night of sleep thing. I woke up this morning about 8:30am, being a Saturday I had no scheduled commitments. I don't precisely remember what I did after I woke, but I probably played with the dogs, checked mail, returned mail, and read for comments on my short story.

My wife left for work before 9am and I looked for something to do today. Her computer had busted down a month or so ago, and as it was out of warranty support, I had setup an old laptop for her to use until I figured out what to replace it with.Since my son recently built his own new computer, he generously offered his old computer, which is the same exact model as hers was. I'd been sitting on this about a week, and she reminded me before she left that she'd like it set up.

I plugged it in and booted it up to find that it had an unregistered version of Windows on it.... I got it on the network and decided to head out to the library to return two audio books I had just finished, the last being Clive Cussler's The Sea Hunters. I wanted get some new audio books for the next couple of weeks too.

On route to the library my wife called and told me about a kite event being held just south of the library. She was watching a giant octopus kite undulate in the blue sky from her window. I thanked her and proceeded to the event.

It turns out it was the Naperville Vision event with numerous exhibits and demonstrations. I took some snaps of the kites, watched a couple of Fire Department demonstrations and did a quick walkthrough of the exhibits. Cool stuff.

I then went to the library, returned my books and checked out more (and found out my library card needed to be renewed). On the way home I decided I'd pick up some Popeye's chicken for the kids and my lunch.

So, I picked the food up and upon arriving home found that my 2 boys were up and about (it was about 12:45pm) while there was no movement from my daughter yet. I suspect she stayed up pretty late...

I asked my 13 year old son if he wanted to go to the Vision festival... he declined... he said he's seen kites and fire before. I asked if he'd like to go to a college football game... no.

My 20 year old was grazing around the kitchen and I learned he was planning to see a movie with his girlfriend, then go to a play at College of DuPage. He's a good man.

About 1:30pm I decided to go to the game by myself. As I got near the college I discovered it was homecoming weekend, so there were many more people than I'd anticipated.... a photographers joy! I found a spot to park and walked to the stadium. I arrived just as the 2nd half was getting underway and found a spot to park my carcass and take some shots.

I know for a fact, I enjoy watching the people attending the game almost as much as watching the game itself. At events like this, people are happy... having fun... enjoying the company of friends and family.

Yet in the midst of all the celebrating and comradery, there's a gnawing in the pit of my stomach... a yearning for something missing.

Naperville Central won the game by the way...

I returned home about 4:15 and spent some time in the yard pruning back the perenials and watched the dogs bounce around the yard, barking at anything that moved outside of the yard.

I pruned for about 45 minutes then came back inside and began to reload my wife's computer's operating system.

My wife returned home from work in a good mood and the kids came up from the catacombs to ask "what's for supper?". My 20 year old returned about this time too. I ran through the menu of options, finally settling on quesadilla's, which I began to prepare post haste. They were gobbled up and I dined on a couple of pieces of cold chicken left over from lunch.

My daughter had been dropping hints for the last day that she wanted to see the movie "The Grudge 2" and after eating, when we'd retired to the family room she asked if we were going to see a movie. Not thinking I'd enjoy it I groaned, then said we'd look to see what the show times were. I looked them up on yahoo movies and discovered a show started at 7:40... about 20 minutes from that time. I told her to get ready, asked if anyone else wanted to come with and we set out shortly thereafter.

I have to admit, I really enjoyed the movie, not because it was a good movie, but because of the company of my daughter. She and I giggled and mad fun of the show (quietly) for an hour and a half. I only jolted twice, and had goose bumps once.

It was a good day. The sun was shining, even after sunset.