one long weekend

Hi all - sorry about the lack of posting lately. It was one seriously packed weekend, with a short week ahead of me to get everything done that needs to be done before Rob and I take our first real vacation (i.e. not a long weekend within driving distance) since our honeymoon. We're hoping to do some blogging while in Santa Fe but who knows? So much we want to do - so few days there.

Our weekend was filled with things worth mentioning:

• Michael Ian Black performed at Guilford College - he was hilarious but in the interest of keeping my blog quasi-clean, I can't repeat a single word he said.
• Running into Jack Reynolds at the show - read about Jack's amazing work in Haiti here.
• My 10 year high school reunion... where to start with that one? Had a great pre-reunion meal with high school friends at Solaris, which is coincidentally owned by Jack's son, Christian Reynolds. I suppose reunions are always freaky for the way everyone looks vaguely familiar - adult versions of the people we once knew. People have since morphed into rockers, teachers, real estate agents, bankers, video game designers, and even a airforce man who is getting ready to ship out to Afghanistan, having already served in Iraq. He talked mostly about how the Iraqi people touched him but there was a depth to his eyes, a saddness...
  
• Sunday, we spent a good chunk of the day driving the Blue Ridge Parkway from Mount Airy to Roanoke - it's not a part of the parkway I've spent much time on and it was beautiful and relaxing. It's where Rob took this picture.
• In the afternoon, we went to Art in the Arboretum which has grown from a dozen booths with a few dozen patrons into a full-blow festival with great food from the likes of Zaytoon and Cheesecakes by Alex, art in mediums from glass to wood to oil paint, and one of those cool cardboard castles for the kids to paint.
  

We'll renew our political debates next week, but in the meantime, a little relaxation in the New Mexico sun. I hope you all have a good week, too.