I did take a couple breaks from reading this weekend. On Saturday night, Jeri and I went to the Grove to see Erasure. My friend Greg hooked us up with free passes and we were right up front. It was a great show. They played a ton of songs both new and old. Vince was rocking the MacBook Pro and a small synth while Andy was accompanied by three backup singers. It was a great time.

Sunday afternoon I went to a screening of The Monster Squad at the Aero in Santa Monica. I hadn't seen the movie since it was in theaters back in '87 and didn't remember it to well. It's basically about these kids who have to fight off Dracula and his minions. It's a really fun movie and I'm glad it's finally coming to DVD. The director, some of the cast, and some of the special effects guys were there and did a Q&A afterwards. It was great. Also, for those wondering about the Aero, it's where they filmed the Evil Dead screening scene in Donnie Darko. That alone made it worth checking out the theater.

Between that stuff and reading I was pretty well occupied this weekend. I have another big job interview tomorrow for a temp position at Yamaha doing some work on their website. It sounds like a perfect fit for me. The pay is great and it is right up the street from here, so it would be great. Hope you all had a good weekend out there in blog land.

I finished Harry Potter last night. It was fantastic. I put the book down a couple times to do some other stuff, but read the last 400 pages or so straight through. Great read. I'll definitely miss having a new book to look forward to, but it's also nice to have closure. Read more for a few spoilers.

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Hey there! The weekend is through and we are mostly moved!

Friday afternoon I threw responsibility to the wind. I went to lunch with a bunch of the ladies to celebrate Ruth's birthday. We had a great time at Cafe Veronese with a beautiful lunch in the garden. Afterwards, I went shopping with my sister and got a sweet pair of Pumas at the Nordstrom anniversary sale. I'm so glad I did, because they helped me get through the rest of the weekend comfortably. That night, Ric and I took over a couple more loads and finished painting the bedroom. I say finished, but really, we have to go do some touch-ups soon. We got Colin to promise to help us out on Saturday, which was a big relief since we scheduled the big stuff move pretty last-minute.

Saturday morning rolled around and we got up early to go pick up the truck. No problems there. We had a quick breakfast and started loading up. It took a long time to accomplish this because a) most of our load had to be brought from upstairs to downstairs, and b) everything had to be taken out the door, through the carports, down the driveway, and down the street a bit to the truck. Multiply by 12, and it gets tedious and hot, and a truck filled with a bed frame, mattress, and four bookshelves. That was our first load, which was simple to unload once we got it to the new place. Then, when Colin and Liz showed up, the boys went back for the couches, dresser, and another bookcase while I started unpacking the kitchen. (Emily enjoyed the sink for a while.) It's amazing how fast it is to take everything OUT of boxes and find a place for them. The cable guy also came and discovered that there was no wiring leading to the house, so he had to bring it in from outside down under the house and through the crawl space underneath the house. He was there for about 4-5 hours. We wanted dinner with the Andersons, but since this took so long, we ended up with a reincheck and ordered pizza delivery for ourselves. The cable guy finished just in time for me to head out to meet Brendan at the Grove, where we saw Erasure in concert, for free! Let me tell you, for two guys and a Mac, they put on a pretty entertaining show. I came home and tried to sleep, which didn't go so well since it was Pip's first night in the new place and he cried in our bedroom the entire night.

Sunday we didn't go to church. We went to Ric's parents' place to do some laundry, then went to the old place to sell our fridge to some guys, packed up more stuff, ate dinner at Ric's parents', went to Target to buy some necessities, and came home to do more settling in. My kitchen is pretty much finished. I need to buy a lazy susan, since the one I use for spices was old and didn't last through the move. Let me just say, it's a kitchen with a lot of storage! I'm so glad not to have everything so crammed. Wendy, that giant lazy susan in the corner cabinet is amazing! The bathrooms are filled up, but I still need to buy some odds and ends for them, like a shower curtain, and maybe another curtain for the windows. I'm paranoid about privacy. We also need to buy curtains for the bedrooms and kitchen, so I've got a lot to get done. The bedroom is looking pretty nice, though, if I do say so myself. When I'm all done I'll post some photos.

Meanwhile, we have to get the final bits and pieces out of our old place and get it cleaned. If there's one thing I learned from this move, it's that I need to keep better house. I'm going to try and make a schedule for myself at the new place so that I will clean things on a more regular basis. Anyway, the piano will be the last piece to get moved, which will happen on Saturday. It's a two-week process, which sounds funny, but it's been just right for our busy schedules. I can't imagine having to do all of this over just one weekend!

And, on top of all of that - CONGRATULATIONS to Becky and her husband Greg! She's officially a mother to baby Zoe, born on Sunday. I can't wait to hear the whole story and eventually meet your baby girl!