Catching Up

 Two days off...quelle horreur.  Saturday I woke up at the crack of dawn, was at the gym slightly after 7, had breakfast with a friend at 8 (Chick-Fil-A; not quite the sandwich, but a breakfast biscuit...it was simply heavenly).  Then, after the dispensing of the Easter baskets to the kids... a bunch of errands and such.  I barely made it home for 1, had a late lunch, nodded off in the chair a bit... and mainly hung around.  Watched "Casablanca" on TCM, caught up on some stuff, and read -- Killers of the Flower Moon, about a series of murders among the Osage Indians in Oklahoma in the 20s.  Didn't realize they were making a movie out of it...but the book is good.  I guess I do like the mysteries and the page turners.  Quite sad, actually, to read about what was done to these people in a mixture of racism and greed.

Sunday was...well, wonderful.  Beautiful day for Easter -- perfect weather, maybe a tad bit cool, but no complaints.  Mass was quite wonderful as well; not too long, music just right, a good crowd -- even if I had reserved my pew with a hoodie and a pyx and came back to discover it had been occupied.  Oi!  Course, I had to run to choir loft to get a Communion count, confer with the ushers to see if anyone else needed Communion, and see who was saying Mass.  Anyways, aside from that indignity... I have to admit, I felt as if the line to receive the Eucharist would never end; we had plenty of hosts, but it was a bit jarring (albeit in a good way) to disseminate so many.

One place equally packed was the gym; I went after Mass, and I was impressed with the crowd.  Several joked about getting a workout in to offset the honeybaked ham, which seemed quite right.  I did some extra cardio on my own and then it was home for a bit and then to my cousin's for brunch, which was quite nice... calm before the storm because later that evening I attended yet another metal concert.  One of my best friends from the last job, his favorite band -- Insomnium, from Finland -- was playing at the Foundry in Lakewood, and he asked me to join him (he had not realized the date when he asked, which, as you can imagine, amused me immensely).  So there I was... the place was slightly nicer than No Brass -- more like AAA baseball, if you will -- but still a decidely cozy atmosphere.  The music itself was...ok?  Not quite my scene, but they were a bit more orchestral, if you will, so one could enjoy that.  I really couldn't make out the lyrics, and that was most probably fine, especially with it being Easter and such.  

Today was quite different; plenty of work -- finished a minor project, started another, got the working assignments for the week, that sort of thing.  Listened to a series of podcasts about the Havana Syndrome, which was interesting and at times shocking; seems hard to believe that we don't know what caused it or why, and yet...I suspect we have a good idea but for some reason, we choose not to reveal it.  Hmm.  Went to a wake today; I get a little uncomfortable at these things, yet... well, it seemed so normal, people hanging out and talking and remembering the good times.  I guess it is the best way to remember the deceased but it still seems odd.  Coming, of course, from the man who wants the fun in funeral at his...