On Friday, Jon came over for a visit. We talked about his return from his whirlwind tour of New York City, ate dinner, and then played some cards in the living room. We took a tour of Warlord, Initial D, and L5R, and had a good time. The days of weekly cardboard-flopping seem to be behind me, but it was nice to pick up the cards and have some fun.
After he left, I acted on my notion that I might have close to a complete set of Initial D cards, and sorted through my collection. Sure enough, I'm only 14 rares and 1 uncommon away from that full set. Whoo-hoo!
On Saturday, Dina and I enjoyed a lazy morning. So lazy, in fact, that I was able to try my hand at both my new PS2 games: Prince of Persia and Champions of Norrath. Both are beautiful, in very different ways: I got stuck on the wall-jumps in Prince because it took me about an hour to figure out the correct timing for the rebound jumps (apparently, this is a common complaint in the game); and Champions looks far to addictive for my own good!
In the afternoon, we bundled Ben into the car and went to IKEA in search of an armoire for our bedroom and other Swedish furniture and accessories for the rest of the apartment. We found the right armoire for our needs (tall and narrow), two CD racks for the dining room, a light fixture for the foyer, a small cabinet for my desk, two bathroom cabinets, and two desk organizers. And, of course, Swedish meatballs! Yum!
Ben was alert and giggly for the whole visit. There were so many bright lights, colours, and other babies to stare at. Every so often, he'd laugh, just to let us know how much fun he was having!
In the evening, we settled in to watch the extended version of The Two Towers. Dina retired before the battle at Helm's Deep, while I stayed up until the end, and we both agreed that the additions made for more balanced film. Now, if they'd only add the Scouring of the Shire to the extended Return of the King, all will be right with the world.
On Sunday, we spent the morning going through boxes of old paperwork and magazines that we were storing in the office. We took out six boxes, and prepped five boxes' worth of stuff for the recycling truck. I'm sure our future biographers will be annoyed at not finding some of our high school papers, but, you know, those archival absences just add spice to the research.
In the afternoon, we went out grocery shopping. Again, Ben was in fine form, flirting with every girl he saw. It's those eyes and that smile. He's gonna be trouble when he gets older, I just know it!
After dinner, I was too tired to play games, too listless for television, so I read a good chunk of The Last Light of the Sun after getting Ben to sleep.
Posted by Stephen