Ups and Downs, but mostly Ups

• Our housewarming party was a great success! Thanks to Alice, thatcrazycajun, hilfy, anaisdjuna, joyeuse13, and abovenyquist for coming over!
• kitanzi and I met up with Alice and thatcrazycajun to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I thought it was a fine film, and the gal playing Luna Lovegood is just spot-perfect. Thumbs up!
• hilfy came over for dinner Friday night. We had good food, good wine, and good conversation. A very enjoyable evening.
• We went to see Ben Wakeman play on Saturday. I’ve been a big fan of Ben’s for years, and have even covered a few of his songs in filk circles. He gave his usual great show, and I got chat with him briefly to let him know he has a fan in the UK (bardling: he says hi and thanks!). One funny moment came when he forgot the first line to one of the songs on his new album. After two false starts, he said “Does anyone know the words to this song?” I carefully called out the first line for him, and he said “Thank you!” and launched into it. Later, by request, he did “White Male Folk Singer” and forgot the words to that too. *grin*
• The check engine light (also known on some models of car as the “set aside $400” light) came on while we were driving back from the concert, and I noticed it was idling funny. We got home OK, but i made plans to put it in the shop on Monday.
• Our 3rd wedding anniversary was Sunday! We celebrated by going out for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings Cafe, and then went shopping for stuff for the cats. What glamorous lives we lead! Sunday night, we watched the premiere of “Masters of Science Fiction”, an anthology series that ABC has already canceled. Which is a pity, because the debut episode was brilliant. I recommend picking up the 3 remaining episodes if you have a chance, and keep a look out for an eventual DVD release.
• The auto place called me back this morning, after I dropped the car off yesterday afternoon. The actual thing I took it in for was pretty minor, but there’s about $2600 worth of maintenance that need to be done. Fluid changes, full tune up with new spark plugs and cables, radiator hose, and, most expensively, new struts. We discussed the need and urgency of the various items, and I ended up authorizing them for about $1200 of the repairs. The remaining part will have to be budgeted out over the next few months.
• Shortly after the car people called, I got a half-hour warning call from the delivery service that was bringing us our anniversary present to each other. We got a king-sized bed from The Original Mattress Factory. This is something we’d wanted for quite some time, because while there was nothing structurally wrong with our queen-sized bed, it had become to small. When I started sleeping with the CPAP, I started sleeping on my back, and suddenly was taking up a lot more bed than I used to. The queen bed will now be the guest room bed, and has already been moved into place. Who wants to come visit?
• Speaking of visiting, I am going to be in San Francisco on Labor Day weekend! The reason for my trip is to visit cadhla, so I have no idea what sort of availability I may have otherwise, but, hey, y’know, I’m gonna be there all weekend, including Monday. (My return flight leaves at 10:30pm Monday and will land me back in Atlanta at 6am, just in time to go to work on Tuesday morning.) I now proceed to do the bouncy I-get-to-see-Seanan chair dance, which I’m told is very cute in a demented sort of way.
• kitanzi just e-mailed me to let me know she’d won a pair of tickets to see Peter Paul and Mary at Chastain Park Amphitheatre on Friday! Wheee!
• My friend Dina, who I have not seen in far too long, is coming down the last weekend of September with her two children, and we’re going to go to the zoo and the aquarium and the pool and who knows what else?

And that’s most of the news that’s fit to print. On the whole, it’s mostly positive, and what isn’t positive isn’t really more than annoying. So I declare it, on the whole, good.