"Plans are useless, but planning is invaluable"

Dwight D. Eisenhower said that.

I've been winding activities down, getting the house cleaned and reorganized for the return of my son, etc.

I had a plan for Saturday. It was a good one. I got up early and started working on the stacks of things I had moved to the living room (where I space to spread it out). I needed to organize stuff, file stuff, and throw a lot of stuff out. Around midday I went to pick up my son's school supplies. Surprisingly, no issues there. Around 2pm I made it to an end of summer party at a good friend's house (previous co-worker). That is where it all started to change. The plan was to just hang out, have some drinks, and not worry about going anywhere else the rest of the evening. One group of people there had a designated driver and obviously had other plans. Somehow I got roped in with them. We left that party after an hour or so and went to another co-worker's house where they had a band. We didn't really stay long. The band was punk rockish or industrial metal or some harsh combo of the two. Just not our style, so we went back to the first party.

I don't normally carry my phone with me when I'm sitting with friends. I like to "be here now" and not waiting on some other call or text. When I got back to the first party I wandered out to my truck to look at my phone. I had a couple of texts that I answered back and then one of them called me. They asked me if I wanted to go see Billy Idol. He was playing on the beach that night. I said yes, but I couldn't drive so I wasn't going to make it. They said, "We have a limo, we'll come get you." I couldn't refuse this invitation. :-) I said my goodbyes at the party, Jim understood, and was happy I was leaving the rum.

If you haven't been to a concert in a limo, you should do it. At least once. I'm lucky that my friends KNOW people and I've been a couple of times now. Think about no traffic worries, being rowdy with your friends, having a few drinks (though I was done drinking at this point), and being dropped off and picked up at the entrance to the concert. Totally stress free. In this case there were just five of us including me (two couples and then me). I knew three of the people from meetin, but the fourth one I knew from volleyball and somewhere else, but couldn't place her.

The concert was fantastic. All the old favorites. Some new, or newer stuff, but all classic Idol.

After the concert we went back to Jamie's house to hang out for a bit. We were up late talking, and the one girl I couldn't place started talking about one of her first jobs out of college. It turns out that we used to work for the same company. She was in Richmond and I was in Va Beach, but I used to go to Richmond all the time. That is where I knew her from. We reminisced about our friends in Richmond and how we both missed working with them. I talk with them all the time and I let them know who I ran into.

Being the only sober one at 1:30am, and needing to get up early to get more work done, I borrowed someone's vehicle and went home.

Sunday morning I finished up just about everything. I brought the vehicle back to my friends and they took me to mine. I hung out at Jim's (since my truck was at his house for the first party) and just talked for a bit. I hit some softballs, then came back home.

I picked up my son at 3:30 Sunday afternoon. We got some crabs on a whim and steamed them when we got home. Now the house smells like crabs and old bay, but we both like it. :-)

Later in the evening we watched a movie, and that wrapped up his first evening home.

Now it is Monday morning and we have a lot to do. He just got up, so we are off and running.

Happy Labor Day!

-Mike