Mini-Vay-cay

Got back yesterday afternoon from a short mini-vacation, spending seventy-two hours at my parent’s house out in the sticks. It’s an hour-and-a-half drive, but the girls really love visiting. The wife had events all week long for work, so she basically ordered us to go. Truth be told, it was a fun weekend, albeit one of forced relaxation as it rained every single day we were there (with the exception of the day we left, of course).

I had a very productive time. How so? you ask. All right, I’ll elaborate:

Hit one of my used book stores (one I hadn’t visited since November of last year) and bought two books: The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg and Orbitsville by Bob Shaw. I think I’ll tackle the Silverberg book once I’m done with Lawrence’s. It looks genuinely creepy, more horror than SF, and that’s striking my fancy right now.

I was also able to put just under 12 hours into constructing my other website. I’ve got the home page built, a Tier 2 page built, and fourteen Tier 3 pages built. Still, that only brings my concept to about one-quarter completion. When I’m done, there’ll be lots of promotion for it here at The Hopper. This is just an enigmatic teaser.

Put away about 120 pages of Seven Pillars and I’m nearing the end. My favorite time was out on the covered deck, reading it sheltered while the rain poured down, listening to Maurice Jarre’s score on my headphones. I can almost hear the Harith and Howeitat, carbines raised in the air, firing at random, howling “Lolololololololololo!” in anticipation of their victories over Self and Turk.

Went to the arcades with the girls; they had a blast. Too rainy to play miniature golf or race around on the go-karts, so I made a promise to them (and myself) that we’ll be back first weekend in October to carry on where we left off. An ice cream fiesta made the lack of go-kartage easier to swallow. I had a hot fudge sundae.

Took the girls horseback riding Thursday morning. Well, actually they donned helmets and sat on “Buddy” and “Suds” and leisurely padded six laps around the perimeter of a stable, under control of the ranch hands. But the girls absolutely loved it! Little One drew a picture of the horses as soon as we got back home. And Patch was fascinated with all the farm life, especially the ponies and the llamas.

The ride home was uneventful, though once we did get back to the house I was rushed unloading the car, feeding the girls, getting Little One into her soccer gear and off to practice.

Back to the grind!