Else what's a heaven for?

Last night I dreamt I was part of a group staging commercials? I worked on several productions, but the one that made me wake up was the one where we had a farm boy as one of the actors and he was covered in insects and he kept coming over to touch me and I kept freaking out about the decontamination I’d require before I could go home to my kids.

When I woke up I thought about all the dreams I’ve had about insects and my secret fear that I’ve observed a sign of infestation that hasn’t reached my conscious brain yet. I realized that it could also be the inter generational trauma of city dwellers in a Third World country.

Now that I’m writing about it, I know it’s a displaced disgust reaction *sigh*

I've decided to look at Friday night pronoically: I'd been wondering if I did the right thing not inviting so-and-so to my engagement party, even though 8 years ago, she would've been one of my bridesmaids. I'm not wondering any more. My handsome fiance came home, took care of me, and we went to bed.

Jon and I spent Sat morning finishing up our wedding registry, checking online for things that weren't available in store and making decisions about things that need to match, like our tablecloths and our inherited good dishes. Just as we'd declared it done... the FedEx guy brought the first present. Some of our relatives apparently guessed the right places where we were registered. I'm deeply touched by our friends' and families' generosity, even if they keep buying us things I'm not 100% sure about. I haven't gotten used to the idea that I'm old enough to use good silver and crystal, let alone own it. Also, after Jon explained what various items are for, I kinda want to throw a nice party. Which is good, bc we got all sorts of large party fixings.

Eventually my fiance chased me out the door and I had a hard-but-nice run around the park, coming in at 64.75mins for the full loop.

We got a slow start on Sun morning and there was a ride share snafu and then we waited half an hour for our food at the deli, but we had a great day climbing. ( Tipsy Trees, Finger locks, and Hyjek's Horror ), dirty, sore, and very happy.

Monday morning, I tried to keep all my female relatives from being annoyed with me about the flowers and the dress. I'm pretty sure I failed. Went to Sephora for primping and walked out with only a sample of Urban Decay's eye primer, a double win. Made my train to Boston, but spent most of the ride making calls related to the party. *sighs* iAE picked me up at South Station and we had a lovely dinner at Tango in Arlington. It's so nice to eat with people who know what I mean by "low carb", but even if she hadn't lived with a diabetic for years, I'm sure iAE would've understood. I love hanging out with her bc she just gets things and this week, she was on.

TRQ's wedding was very them. I arrived at City Hall where I was immediately button-holed by her father, who wanted to know everything I've been up to. When I wasn't looking, the couple slipped off, as if to do something very private; before I had time to clear my camera's memory card, they'd come back with a big envelope that said "Marriage Certificate". We took some pictures on the windy, cloudy day before walking to the Bell in Hand tavern. I'd forgotten how delicious clam chowdah can be: I think it had bacon in it. My lobster roll was fine, and would've been worth the carbs of the bun if I hadn't also snarfed down vast quantities of eggplant and sweet potato fries. Which itself would've been fine if her family hadn't Shanghai'd me to Mike's Pastry for macaroons (zomg those were so good) and then her mother insisted on buying me a box of cannolis. oops. Food is love and I'm honored to have shared this simcha with one of my oldest friends and that I got to meet both their families.

Fri night I rushed to Ct to see She Loves Me ( and it was ok )

Sat I drove to the Gunks for the first time. My mum made me a nice breakfast and packed a lovely lunch and the drive itself was fine: 1 hour over properly speed-limited highways and then 30mins on 55mph?? country roads through the town of Gardiner. I discovered a perfect parking spot in the lot: to the right of the outhouse is an area about 2.5 car widths, so I don't feel bad about my sucky parking skills. If I don't have plans the night before (or an offer of a ride), I might do this more often.

The lead instructor took me and a student to the far end of the Near Trapps, ( and pushed me to try leading ) We finished the route, walked to the bottom of the cliffs, and GMac lead the 5.6 again so he could set up a top rope on a 5.8 and a 5.10. I couldn't get the 5.8 - there was an overhangy move where I needed an extra 3" or the strength to push off a leg that was waist high. In the end, I'm glad that GMac pushed me, both bc he's a patient and encouraging instructor and bc otherwise the day would've been fairly disappointing.

I don't know what it was on Sat, but halfway through the day, I was already tired. I had plenty of food at that point - I ate a nice chicken salad sandwich and two clementines - but my pack felt heavier as we walked along the cliffs. It could've been the heat or maybe I was tired from Thursday's climbing lesson :-(

Dinner at the Gold Fox was awful - the bbq platter was three different kinds of meat, all in the same bottled sauce - but I sat with the long-time members (read: leaders) and got the inside skinny on club doings. Ride home was uneventful and I only did one dodgy thing; arrived home just before midnight.

I'm afraid my biggest accomplishment for Sunday was washing my hair and doing a face mask. I couldn't sleep past 9, had lunch with the 'rents, checked my email, took the aforementioned shower - and got a call from my sister that my mother was drinking margaritas, would I like to join them. oy. After my parents left for their show, my sister and I hung out at my place, which was our first QT since she left for Venice and we had so very much to talk about. Best line of the night was when she commented, "So all a guy has to say is, 'You're so smart. Can I cook you dinner?'" uh...

She left pretty early, but I slept very badly (partially bc my building hasn't switched to cooling yet) and was up every 2 hours or so :-( I dreamt that the guy I'm lusting after was showing me how to use his iPhone (really Subconscious? that's the best you could do??) and then I dreamt that my grandson had come back from the future and had edited my most recent quotes post, putting in stuff that shouldn't be public. (Really, Subconscious, wtf??)