***Weekend words***

Words
Finally found and started the historical mystery, The Temple of the Muses by John Maddox Roberts. I had read the rest of the series except this book and was quite excited.

Weights
I'm definitely on my way to recovering from my cold. Yeah!

Whatever
R. suggested we take a break from our relentless work on the house and drive down to San Diego on Saturday. I agreed; it had been months since we paid a visit. So after lunch at the Spectrum and a visit to Barnes and Nobel (where we found a copy of a Pulitzer prize winner!) we headed out. I suggested and drove R.'s car, the hybrid Accord.

Weather was beautiful: cloudless and sunny with the latter lasting well into 7 PM. However, the chilly air behind the Orange Curtain prompted us to bring warmer clothing for the inevitable cooler San Diego weather. R. brought a jacket and I, of course, a sweatshirt.

First stop was, of course, Mysterious Galaxy. After starting our pile, I checked out the nearby role-playing game store for the latest and greatest. It had been a while since I indulged in any major, purely-pleasure, purchases. I found a couple of items and rejoined R. back at MG.

There were two author signings in the bookstore, neither whom we attended. We only racked up a couple of hundred in this trip, finding less than expected after such an absence. We had a good time getting reacquainted with the staff.

After a quick recharge of caffeine at the nearby Starbucks, we headed down into Hillcrest and its menagerie of used bookstores. Little had changed thankfully though we were a bit put off at the Jesus freaks at one corner.

We checked out a couple of stores before indulging at one of our usual haunt, La Vache, for dinner. We chatted amiable with one of our regular waiters, K., between bites of the early evening special. Sad note: the car of one of the servers was stolen.

We walked off the satisfying meal by visiting the remaining bookstores. Our haul wasn't as impressive as in the past. We ended our trip with some downtime at David's before heading home.

Sunday morning I woke early to await the arrival of my friend, CS. He had accepted our offer to keep an eye on our house when the floor contractors started on Monday. He arrived around 10 AM and we showed him our house. We explained some of the visits: floor guys starting on Monday, window folks on Tuesday, etc. We apologized that he wouldn't have access to the refridgerator which would be unplugged. Also, he would be confined to the master bedroom and my office (which I would later set up an Internet account) since the other rooms would either be torn apart or used as storage.

After he left (to go to Disneyland, the lucky guy!) R. and I went out to grab breakfast down at PJ Abbeys. It had been a while since we had eaten there and we thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance.
We walked off our meal by checking out the antique shops around the area. R. suggested we also check out the Carfaire down at Irvine Valley College. Always wanting to see cars (and delay the inevitable work back at home), I agreed. The visit, though, wasn't as much of a pleasure as in the past. There had been little turnover in cars since last weekend.

Back at home, we both indulged in a little R&R. I finally started to do the final cleanup of the first floor mid-afternoon. R. joined me later. Five hours later, we gazed, drenched in sweat and dust, at the empty kitchen, dining room, and family room. Whew! We treated ourselves to dinner after a couple of quick showers. Thankfully the restaurant wasn't busy.

We ended the evening with a little bit of reading.

(Image found on the Internet and all rights belong to its owner.)