roho, enveri and neowolf2 for lunch at BDs. I was hesitant at first because I had already shirked my responsibilities by going out last night and not attending class this morning. The way I saw it, if I wasn't in school I could at least stay home and break down boxes from the move or something equally productive. Eventually the call of stir-fry won me over and at 11:15 I was on the road to Wheeling. I met up with Roho and Genet at their apartment, got in the car and rode the rest of the way to BDs to meet up with Neowolf. Joe was working as one of the managers and Matt S. was our waiter, which was cool -- Matt is a really great guy, very outgoing and helpful. He's ... everything that a human being should be. I'm pretty much his polar opposite, yet he still manages to have a kind word for me and a strong handshake. It never ceases to amaze me how good some people are at being ... well, people.Two rounds of stirfry and a number of Diet Cokes later and I was stuffed -- yet somehow Neowolf found room for one of the miniature apple cobbler desserts. Wow, I was truly put to shame with how efficiently he managed to pack that meal away! Once we had settled the bill for the lunch we made our way down the street to Low Carb Chicago to wander around. I got to sample a few delicious cookies and picked up a few more snacks for me to keep around the house, mostly crackers although I did get some cookie mix. I'm going to enjoy baking a batch of chocolate-chocolate-chip cookies in my new oven, assuming I figure out how to work the thing. It's a lot more advanced than "Turn the dial and let it heat up."
After shopping we stopped at Best Buy to see if they were having a sale that would account for the utter chaos in the parking lot -- but they weren't, it was pretty average pricing. By 3:15 we were back at the apartment, where I was treated to some of Genet's latest sketches. I love looking at them because I feel like I get to see the creative process at work. I suppose I also liked looking at these because a number of them featured me in one way or another. It's one hell of an ego-stroke when somebody like
ashryn or Genet chooses to draw my character, or even sketch him. Genet and Roho at that point offered their company down at Z'ha'dum, since they wanted to see what the place looks like now that I've done a ton of work on it. So I accepted, and we drove down. The couple arrived at the house before I did (I had to stop for gas) so they let themselves in before I got home. When I arrived about five minutes later to find them browsing through the kitchen they looked apologetic and said they hope I didn't mind that they'd come in without me around. Did I mind? Hell no, I didn't mind! I trust them implicitly and love them both like family. I had given them keys to the front and garage doors as well as a combination to the security system right after I moved in. If I didn't trust them to come and go as they pleased without me around they never would have gotten a key or a code! So after I assured them it wasn't a problem I gave Roho a quick runthrough on how to arm and disarm the security system, then gave them both a tour of the more-decorated house. I think they liked the Blue Room of Death, and they both seemed to think I had achieved a nice layout with the family room. After the tour was complete Roho offered to help me hang art in the livingroom, and Genet did two heaping loads of dishes. I certainly wasn't expecting help with the art, and the dishes.... I couldn't say "Thank you" enough times to her for doing that. Dishes right now are one of those incredibly time-consuming chores that take away from my ability to do other things around the house like work on electrical wiring or finish prepping a bedroom for painting. When it was 6:30 and time for the pair to leave we had gotten quite a lot done, and I'm quite pleased with how things turned out. My livingroom is starting to look much more the way I envisioned it, very much like an art gallery with all the paintings hanging up on the wall. And better yet they all look really good because with Roho's help I figured out how to work the laser level I had (you might remember my kvetching about that earlier).So it wasn't a terribly busy day, but I think it was pretty productive. I'm very pleased with the results and thankful to my friends for their help. I promise I'll take pictures sometime next week, if I can just get the last of this unpacking done.
In Carolina, barefoot on the beaches
