Friday the little man had an impromptu overnight with his grandmother, which left me free to head out…to our regional NaNoWriMo kickoff event. A couple dozen folks showed up, including a few familiar faces, but there was one in particular. Figuring out how I knew him nearly drove me mad. While mentally ticking off the list (did we: work together? go to the same school? see each other at shows? have a one night stand?) I found myself staring more than once. Eventually he took off his jacket and put on a name tag and then everything clicked. He is a juggler I’d met years ago, in another lifetime, through the little man’s bio-dad. So I approached him and jarred his memory. He then introduced me to his lovely girlfriend. It turns out the lot of us have a number of shared acquaintances, and more than a few common interests. I spent the evening talking their ears off. Hopefully I didn’t overwhelm them too much. Also in attendance, the store clerk who assisted us at Wild Rumpus last Wednesday, who happens to be a friend of theirs. Such a small town.
Saturday morning we set out bright and early to retrieve the little man, then headed directly to a four year-old’s birthday party. It was lovely. So many small children, many in adorable costumes. The little man started out dressed as Batman (courtesy of his grandma) but wound up swapping with the birthday boy, to become a super-deluxe Buzz Lightyear. And our gracious hosts had gone above and beyond the call of duty, by baking a vegan birthday cake for us. All in all a brilliant way to start the day, but a draining one. Upon returning home our little trio was too wiped out to do anything remarkable for the rest of the day. A friend’s Halloween party was straight out, as was leaving the house for any reason at all. Hopefully we’ll make better use of today.
