You can sheep when ewe're dead

The weekend was packed with library-going (uneventful), grocery-shopping, driving around, movie-watching (too depressing to write about, "The Pianist"), and regular shopping, and a birth (I'm kind of an aunt now -- how exciting!).

And then there was:

1. Wine and cheese-apalooza.
Because the whole "-apalooza" thing isn't overdone enough ... Some friends came over Friday night, and we tried to act all mature with our wine and cheese party. On the table: Brie, gouda, colby jack and ... string cheese. Ha, ha. Yum. The wine offerings weren't much more diverse. For a first-time go, it was totally successful. And late. I haven't stayed up 'til 5 since college. We all felt cool again, even if we did have those tell-tale purple mustaches.
(Photo: http://www.wilshirerestaurant.com/img/wine.jpg)

2. Finally checked out the lake.
We live literally a stone's throw from Lake Winnebago. Really. I can sit in my living room, and if someone holds my feet, I can lean outside and throw a stone to the park. And we've been there, like, twice.

Yesterday, we finally shut the computer off and went outside, and walked around, sat by the lake, and then realized we're just not used to all that nature. We were attacked by those strange, never-seen-before-in-my-life-and-hate-with-a-passion lake flies. What the heck are those things??? They swarm, they get in your hair, they congregate on your car ... But the park is nice. Just keep your mouth shut.


3. I went down the big-kid slide.
Once. Of the three slides at the new water park, two get my seal of approval. Meaning the third has a big drop that makes you want to die mid-air rather than hit the cold water. But it was fun. Go. Now.

4. I was part of a fund-raiser that didn't involve bowling, math or riding a bike.
This is a big step in my life. Yeah, a real fund-raiser, for Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Services Center. Sixty-some men cooked up delicious food and we got to taste them all. And we got smart, too. We picked out our favorite cooks, and sent our friends back to get seconds. I had five servings of the scalloped corn; I'm pretty sure my friend ate 43 scoops of strawberry sorbet. OK, maybe it was like, four.

5. Congrats to Xiku

Chimp tries to kick the habit. "Xiku the chain-smoking chimpanzee has almost kicked his deadly habit thanks to the efforts of zoo keepers in China, but it has taken a beer or two to help get him through detox." Well, that's a relief. If Xiku can do it, so can you.