Dave and Gil just left.

And what a lovely 24 hours we just had.
They arrived around lunchtime yesterday.
We had lunch at Golden Skillet. At some point during the roommate reunion in August, Vance and I had mentioned that there were still a few Golden Skillets in Richmond, and Gil about fell out, so that was a needed first stop. I had trout. Dave got shrimp for the table, and nuggets and wings. Vance and Gil got chicken. Then we got an 8 piece box to take home, just in case.
There was some champagne before and after, and I was baking a loaf a bread, and then we finally got motivated and went to Carytown. We went to Mongrel, World of Mirth, One Thousand Villages, shopping like mad all the while, and a new Halloween Store that was just opening, which is where things got a bit rowdy, because they had a great wig section.
Gil got a mullet, Dave got a viscount, Vance got a chest wig, and I got a "ghost doll."



We went to Can Can and sat at the bar and got drinks and put the wigs on and we were the FINEST people in the place. Then the guys got more drinks (I was the driver and couldn’t! no limo this time). Then we became discontent with my wig and went back and got a geisha wig for me, which doesn’t fit my big head.
Went home after a quick stop at the liquor store. Wore wigs and played charades, and things went a bit downhill because of this other thing Vance bought at the Halloween store:



Yes, it is a skull shaped beer bong, which might not have been such a terrible thing, if CERTAIN PEOPLE hadn’t decided to shoot vodka tonics.

So the game of charades ended up like this:
The word Vance is going for is “angel.”

Nice halo effect.

Flapping little angel wings


More insistent with the angel wings


Dave and I are like “Gil, it won’t work if you don’t open your eyes.”

Gil: “Bitch! My eyes ARE open.”


"Fear me! I am the skull vodka-bong of doom!"


Gil goes down.

And the rest of us follow.

Today we slept in. We tried to go to the drag brunch at Godfrey’s but the place was full and the 1st show was almost over when we got there. Rather than wait until 2 for the next show, we went to Kuba Kuba. MMMMMMMM.
Then walked through Maymont Park, drove through the city and looked around, then came home. And then they left.
B'bye with a tear in m'eye.

B’Bye!

B’bye!
Come back soon!


Sigh.

In other news—roughly 12 gallons of tempranillo are starting to bubble away…

Catching up

So behind on updates… well, school started. What do you expect?

What has happened in the gap? —we went to a conference in NY. Sarita was very clever and looked on Craig’s list and found us an apartment half a block off Central Park which ended up being slightly less expensive than the conference hotel.

In no particular order, here’s Pat, Amy Gwyn, Sarita, Natasha, Vance, Tony, Britney, Susan, and Scott.












Vance in Central Park:

Then I went to a conference in Norwich at UEA. Very cool conference. Had about 3 hours to see London. Stayed half a block from Trafalgar square.



Saw Big Ben,

Buckingham Palace,
Westminster Abbey--didn't go in anywhere, mind you, just saw them--
etc etc ,
then took a train out of King’s Cross, but unfortunately not from Platform 9 3/4 but here’s a picture of it for you Harry Potter fans).


The campus at UEA is covered with giant bunnies, for some reason.


School started weeks ago. I finally got my office this past Wednesday. Things have been hectic, but the semester is going well.