My Father's Day Weekend

Friday

After an odd Thursday after and evening, Friday was a return to normalcy.

I met up with Teacher Dave and we had breakfast at Duncan's Dairy Bar.

Poached Eggs, Homemade Corned Beef Hash, Rye Toast. Delicious.

Then we started our Habitat for Humanity. It was a weird day. The weather was variable, and while it was not difficult, there was too much driving. The driving did give me time to insist that every New Yorker deserves the ability to have a bologna sandwich.

After Habitat, instead of going out for Happy Hour, which I normally do, I headed home. I was hot, sweaty, gross, and tired. Then Ashley texted me and asked if I was up for "light fare and beer". I am always up for light fare and beer. It is what I live for. I suggested Brown's Brewing Company and we decided to meet up.

We decided to sit outside and enjoy the evening, and I decided that I wanted to try something.

Now, I love onion rings. I think that they are one of the perfect foods. Crunchy and salty and sweet while being finger food. I had never had the beer battered onion rings at Brown's before and Ashley thought they sounded like a good idea.

Oh, they are battered!

Yep, those are the onion rings. They are battered. Almost cake like in their battering. They are...unique. They get rid of the Deviled Eggs but keep these. Interesting choice.

The rest of the meal was fine, and Ashley and I had great conversations, including why I am not interested in certain social activities any longer (which comes out of a conversation from Thursday night...call me if you want to know more.) and Ashley convincing me to go on some hiking trips with her. We debated dessert for a bit, and discovering that nothing was appealing, as well as the deck becoming chilly, we decided to head to The Daily Grind for coffee and something to soothe Ashley's sweet tooth.

Of course, they are only open past 6 on Troy Night Out.

However, we had passed a new Greek restaurant that had opened earlier in the week.

So, we ended up at The Greek House.

It was an unmitigated success. The space is cozy, they made coffee fresh for us, and Ashley said that the baklava was quite possibly the best she has ever had. The host was charming and it is a place that I am going to head to again to try things that I have never had before. (Greek food is something that I have had, but...not explored.)

Saturday

Saturday morning started early, with some reading and MSNBC. Then I headed downtown to the Troy Waterfront Farmers' Market, which is becoming a thing for me. I stopped by the Troy Bike Rescue table and picked up a new t-shirt. If you are not familiar with them, they are a great organization and worthy of your support.

After wandering around the Farmers' Market, I checked out what was going on at the River Street Arts' Festival. Mostly, I wanted to see the All Over Albany entry in the Chalk Art Contest.

While downtown, I saw a sign that made me smile and laugh.

And there was sun all weekend long

After tooling around Downtown Troy, I headed to Albany for TEA's Little League Championship Game. TEA's team, sponsored by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, won their game 5-0 and with that, their league championship. TEA was nonchalant about it but...on any level, championships are rare. Really rare. I told him this, and I think it may be one of those things that he will understand when he is older.

After the game, and after TEA changed, TEA, Uncle Dan, and I went to do what I wanted to do for Father's Day (TEA had a social function on Sunday, so we changed our plans to Saturday afternoon, which was fortuitous.) which was to see The Green Lantern. Now, I am sure that you have read the reviews and such, or you have opinions regarding comic book movies, and this isn't the film for you. That's fine. I get it. It was a fun movie. It was a good way to waste time with an eight year old. There were some great character moments (including the one thing that I have always wanted to see in a superhero movie). No, it was not a great film, which makes the film theory snobs hate it, and it was not canon or in continuity, which makes the comic book geeks hate it, but...even though I share some of personality defects of both groups, I was abe to appreciate this for the mind candy that it was supposed to be.

After I light dinner, dropping TEA off, and having a beer, I was in bed and reading. It was a great day.

Sunday

After waking up early, and enjoying my breakfast, I decided to call my dad. I did not wake him, but I did catch him before his first cup of coffee. I called and texted my other friend celebrating the day, including a honorary father because he is the baddest "mo-fo" that I know, and ran some errands.

Talking with friends, including the awesome HJ (or should it be HP now) who shared some hilarious pictures from her weekend, made the errands go quickly and then I was able to start my Father's Day with what I wanted to do...

Sit in the sun, read speculative fiction, and drink copious amounts of cheap (yet ice cold) beer.

The sun was provided for me.

The book was Illium by Dan Simmons.

The beer was Pabst Blue Ribbon. (How many beers that you are drinking have a blue ribbon? Remember third grade? A blue ribbon is a sign of excellence. QED.)

I had a great day, and my skin is gently "sun kissed" (or burned) and I was smart enough to put a shirt back on before I ended up being red instead of pink.

I was in bed early, and up early, and I had an amazing dream (that I am still processing, and I do not know what it means) and I still have a smile on my face.

It was the best weekend I have had in a long time, and I am grateful for it: for my family, for my friends, and for being able to spend time with them.