Saturday we did some errands and had our first neighborhood game night with Shannon and Ryan and Stacie and Eric. Stacie and Eric wound up hosting (much to our relief) and we had a nice meal and then played Pop Culture Trivial Pursuit, which Jenelle and I are terrible at. We lost, but it was fun.

Sunday was going to be school/work time, but instead we deferred those activities in favoure of Pennsylvania's Renaissance Faire. Whoa. Accolades for this, Queen's tidings for that... it was, as Jenelle put it, like mid-15th century Disney. We enjoyed our time in the shire, though, with a falconry exhibition, middle-aged archery, and a joustless joust. Oh oh oh and a turkey leg. (We opted out of the appealing but culturally incorrect "Cafe Cortez".)

Labor Day is as good a time as any to begin laboring on the house, so we opened the 'home improvement' chapter of our lives with a simple task: stain/seal the deck. We chose a redwood tint, rounded up supplies, and dove in. Four hours later, the deck is redish and (apparently) protected from water-related maladies.

And yes, something else happened this weekend. And no, I am not ready to talk about it. Please don't send gleeful emails (you Spartans!) or even consolatory emails (you sympathizers) for at least another until-M-wins.