Does it get better?

Another fun filled weekend... the highlights:

Friday evening Billy and Kalin came over for pizza and a movie. Earlier in the day, Billy had mentioned that The Goonies was his favorite movie when he was a kid. I told him that I had never seen it, and voila our evening planned itself! The movie was pretty fun, I could definitely see loving it as a kid...

Saturday morning we went out to breakfast with Micah and Karin. One of the standard things we’d do each time Kara and I would visit Portland was meet friends for breakfast at Elmer’s. Even though we’re no longer visitors, I’m pretty sure the Elmer’s breakfasts will continue. After breakfast we went back to our place and I talked Micah into trying a boardgame (he’s always been hesitant, though I really think I’ve got more than a few that he’d like). He wanted to play something simple and quick, so I pulled out The Ebay Game (it’s a stupid, fast-paced, little game that is surprisingly fun to play). I hadn’t played it in quite some time, so I only vaguely remembered the rules. We launched into the game with only a quick run-through of the rules and it was pretty rough at first. But, once Micah got the hang of it, he ended up liking it. (I think that's a safe assumption, since we played it 3 times in a row on his request!)

Once Micah and Karin left, Kara and I launched into hot tub prep mode. We went to a pool store and bought cleaning chemicals and got advice from a friendly salesperson named Victor. We went home, bailed out the rest of the water in the tub, and scrubbed it thoroughly (it needed it, ewww). Once cleaned, we stuck the hose in there and started filling it up! By then the cable guy showed up and reintroduced us to the 21st century. We signed up for HBO because the second season of Deadwood is currently airing. I’d already missed two episodes, but no worry because they were waiting for me on On Demand. Oh, and the cable box we got has a built-in two tuner DVR that can record high def programming. Heaven.

Saturday evening, Scott and Katie came over to try their hands at these German games I’m always spouting about. We, of course, pulled out the gateway drug/game that is Settlers of Catan. Kara reamed us; she got longest road and largest army while the rest of us were still just struggling to make ends meet!

Sunday was work on the hot tub day. We brought a water sample into the pool place and they told us what chemicals we’d need to use. Tons of junk needed to be added to balance the alkalinity, pH, calcium, and chlorine in the water. Because all of these chemicals need time to dissolve, I had to wait 30 minutes between small doses of chemicals. It took all day to get all of the chemicals in there, and it’s still not right. The pH is still pretty high, so I’ve been adding more and more acid (they call it “pH decreaser” which admittedly sounds more pleasant).

Sunday evening, Kara left to hang out with Lisa and Stacy but Tony, Micah, and Karin came over to keep me company. We’ve been going to Micah’s place every Sunday night lately to have Arrested Development viewing parties. But now that I can offer AD in high def with no commercials, the meeting place has been changed! Before Arrested came on (and even slightly after, to allow us to skip commercials) Micah and I played DOAU. It was so nice to see it running in high def again, and there was some pretty spectacular rumblings coming from the subwoofer as well. After DOAU and AD, I suggested we play a party videogame that we could all enjoy. I pulled out the Gamecube version of Wario Ware and we played it for quite some time. Karin was beside herself with joy over it! I’m not much into party games, but that one is tons of fun to play. A lot of the fun for me is seeing others’ reactions to this crazy game!

Eventually Micah and Karin left (Tony left earlier, but even when he was there it was like he wasn’t, since he was just playing on the computer the whole time!) Kara came home and we decided to try out the hot tub. The pH was still high but we determined that it shouldn’t be harmful to us (like, say, how low pH would be). The tub wasn’t fully heated yet either but it was still warm enough to enjoy. It was nice and relaxing, and a nice reward for all the work we put into it over the last few days!

Alright, Lynn, hold that elevator because I’m refreshed and ready for another week of work!