FlipSide:Starting May 7th, 2001

A journal of the trials, tribulations, and triumphs in the life of a woman in the 21st century.

(ed - for those looking for John, his server (spaceports uses multiple servers) seems to have fallen victim to the duct-tape bandit. Figures. His wit and wisdom might return tomorrow - then again, I wouldn't hold your breath. Not a good day - his e-mail provider is doing scheduled maintenance, his site host is doing unscheduled maintenance, and he's nearing a nervous breakdown. MEDIC! Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming... -- jd.)

Well, it was the normal, hectic Monday in the Dominik household. Translated that mean: (1) Everyone got up late (2) One of the kids had trouble finding clothes or shoes or something that they couldn't possibly leave home without (3) I drove to St. Paul, justified by the fact that it is swimming lesson night so if I drive, I can leave at my normal time, 4:30, as opposed to 4:00 if I had taken a bus. In reality, I knew I was going to miss the bus anyway.

Then there would be my little reality check for the day. I needed to get gas. Gas prices here are in the range of $1.79 - $1.89 a gallon. My normal station had gas at $1.81 (and they have really good decaf hazelnut coffee and real half and half) so I stopped there. Now, it really doesn't register to you just how much gas costs until you actually start putting it in your tank. I put $32 of gas in my tank, and it wasn't even empty!!! I probably had about 1/3 tank left. Good God!

Work was busy, but nothing especially interesting. Then I rush home. I reach the door in time to hear the typical father/son banter "J A C K! PUT YOUR PANTS ON OR YOU'RE STAYING HOME!!!" Have I mentioned before that Dad and Jack tend to get on each other's nerves?

Been watching a little of VH1's Top 100 Music Videos. Pretty interesting. Especially since I almost never see rock videos anymore, since VH1 is all programs. One of my favorite songs of the recent past With Arms Wide Open by Creed was about number 94. I love that song. That CD Human Clay is well worth a listen. A lot of this is nostalgic to me, I am a child of the 80's, a Gen-Xer (unlike my husband, the "aging baby boomer", so called on the news last night, he was NOT pleased.)

Well, I have started up my cross-stitch project again, so I should get back to it and enjoy the videos. Ooooh, Prince!!!

John and I were carrying on an email conversation today as to where to go out to eat for Mother's Day. (Hey, I ain't cookin' that day and I am NOT eating his cooking. It is supposed to be a celebration.) One of my thoughts was Red Lobster, which is definitely NOT on John's list of favorite places. As a matter of fact, I do believe I saw him write somewhere of the joy he experienced by missing a Red Lobster Friday during Lent. Anyway, I told him I was open to suggestions. He responded this way.

Hmmm . . .Methinks I detect a little paranoia here. The man could at least suggest something. I didn't hand over my veto power or anything. What does he think, that I am going to blithely go wherever he chooses? Hello! How long has he known me? Going on 15 years now, does he think someone snuck in in the middle of the night and replaced his wife with a dumb blonde bimbo who only knows how to say "Yes dear"? Not to mention, there are still the children to consider (since it is "Mother's Day, doing without them seems a trifle, well, I don't know . . .inconsiderate perhaps, ungrateful definitely, yet oh so peaceful . . .) and they do not "blithely" go along with anything either. Perhaps I should have him consult with She Who Must Be Obeyed in Training and He of the Demanding Demeanor regarding this. . .

Maybe some of those paranoid feelings come from the fact that we are going up to his family's place on Saturday and he thinks some sucking up will be in order on Sunday . . . Sorry, dear, jewelry does much better for sucking up than does mere restaurant choice.

Of course, I should give him some credit. At least he doesn't go running off up north for fishing opener on Mother's Day weekend. I would like to know what idiot in the Legislature decided "nothing important goes on the 2nd weekend in May, let's have fishing opener then." Hey there buddy, we don't have "Make-over Sunday" or "Ladies Spa Day" or "The Official Shoe Shopping Extravaganza" the second weekend of June (Father's Day weekend, for those of you who are calendar challenged).

When I worked in a jewelry store, honest to God, some of our biggest nights were the nights before fishing opener and hunting opener, when the guys who had gone out and dropped hundreds or thousands of dollars on fishing rods or guns and ammo or whatever accoutrements they needed for their "sport" came in to buy their wives something nice to appease them for dropping all that dough on their equipment and essentially making them widows for the next few weeks. As for my loose usage of the term "sport", sorry, anything where the human is armed in some way and the hunted animal is not, doesn't qualify as a "sport" in my book. Pastime, yes, Leisure time Pursuit, certainly, Sport, No. Now, give Bambi a 12 gauge and the ability to use it, you just might have a sport there.

Now, keep in mind, Minnesota is the state the adopted an amendment to the state Constitution, naming hunting and fishing as constitutionally protected activities, so my opinions on this are in a definite minority around here. Don't get me wrong, if you want to go out and hunt or fish, go right ahead, I have absolutely no objection to it being done in a controlled fashion. The problem is that by adopting this not-particularly-well-thought-out amendment to the state Constitution, it could, in the future, make difficult to control these activities to the detriment of the environment. Not to mention, it is protecting a particular economic activity (and, make no mistake, hunting and fishing are BIG business in Minnesota) at the expense of others. And they are treading on Mother's Day to do it. Go visit your mother on Mother's Day, for chrissake, there will still be plenty of fish there next weekend. (Plus, it will probably be easier and cheaper to get a reservation at the resort.)

(ed - Of course, if Bambi had opposable thumbs and a full-auto M16, I think we could get past the elbow-joint bending the wrong way, and Bambi might be able to hit a few of those fellows in blaze orange. Then again, when you take a brigade-sized bunch of men, scatter them through a couple of hundred acres, add in alcohol, and ammunition, and I think you've got a fair number of hunting accidents just waiting to happen. -- jd)

It has not been a good day for me. It started out promising enough. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the high was forecast for almost 80 degrees. The kids were good natured and cooperative. And I even made my bus!!! I should have taken my cue for the day from the weatherman, who forecast turbulent storms for later in the day. But, when it is so beautiful out, you forget that things can turn on you so quickly.

The first omen of the way things were going to go came at daycare. The preschool teacher, who has been with the center 17 years, came to tell me that she was taking an extended leave starting June 1. During that time, she was going to decide if she was returning to the Center in the fall or if she was going to move on. She cited the turbulent year at the center (2 turn overs in directors and countless teachers have come and gone). Although she didn't say as much, it came through that she wasn't sure she was happy with the direction things were going at the Center. Jack moves up into her room next week. Patti is wonderful at preparing kids for Kindergarten. Rhiannon just loved her. Lately the "teachers" they have been finding to fill their openings seem to be more like glorified babysitters than actual teachers. I know it is a function of the economy, but I have a hard time justifying the kind of money I am paying for a Center if the most recent hires are any indication of the educational direction things are going. I called John and told him we were going to need to decide what we wanted to do if Patti does leave. Maybe an in-home daycare. We have been talking about me cutting my hours so Rhiannon doesn't need to be in daycare during the school year, but had been putting off a decision on that until John's work stabilizes and perhaps a house. Now, that decision may be moved up. Sigh.

My day at work was fairly typical. Very busy, especially since I am going to be out of the office at a seminar tomorrow, but nothing bad. Then we got home and a friend of ours called to let us know that one couple's divorce should be final by the end of the week and another couple just announced they are divorcing. Both couples have 3 kids. The first couple, not surprising, in fact, he was charged with beating the oldest daughter. I hope, with therapy, he can come to grips with his anger and take responsibility for the damage he had done, but I am not optimistic. (He used to blame his bad temper (like punching holes through walls) on being Irish. EXCUSE ME?!! My family is as Irish as they come and not a single one of them has ever punched a hole through a wall because they locked their keys in their car.)

The second couple came as more of a surprise. There had been some rumors of a pending divorce years ago, before they ever had kids, but they seemed to patch things up and went on and had three kids. Last year they moved into a HUGE house they built up in Lino Lakes. (4 bedrooms upstairs, one bedroom/office with a separate entrance on the main floor, and space for 2 more bedrooms in the basement. I want I want.) I can't help but wonder what is going to happen there. When people you know start breaking up, you almost start to think it is inevitable, that everyone breaks up eventually. However, John and I don't seem to have any fundamental problems. Sure, we argue occasionally, but, we resolve them, talk them out. In fact, sometimes I drive him nuts, analyzing things to death. And we never fight about money. We always used to say it's hard to argue about something you don't have! Now there is a little more of it around, but that actually makes it harder sometimes. But, we never seem to argue about that, when we have money troubles, they are never one person's fault. Usually a combination of some poor choices and some unexpected expense.

We had some very nasty storms in southern Minnesota tonight. Several tornados touched down near Northfield and Owatonna. From what I hear, most of the damage was near Northfield, but no injuries that they have reported as yet. The storms seem to be over and it should be decent out, about 70 degrees. Sunday seems to be the nicer day of the weekend. Go ahead and rain on those fishermen, they should be visiting their mothers, anyway!!! So there.

You know, sitting in a seminar all day is not at all conducive to inspiration for posting. I did hear at least one good story, though. Micki, one of the presenters, was telling how when she was a little girl, what she really wanted to be when she grew up was Miss America. But she never told anyone 'cause she didn't think she was pretty enough, or skinny enough, or talented enough. One day, she went to a supper club that had performing a former Miss Michigan, in fact, a first runner up for Miss America. So Micki was all excited and went over to talk to her when she was done singing. She told her that she had always wanted to be Miss America when she was a little girl and wanted to know what the pageant was like. After telling her a little about the pageant and how much fun it was, she asked Micki if she had ever tried to live her dream. "No, " said Micki. "Why?" "Well, because I didn't think I was pretty enough or skinny enough or talented enough." "Nonsense," replied Miss Michigan, "You should have seen Miss Tennessee!"

As you can probably tell from that story, the seminar definitely had some motivational properties to it. I enjoyed it, although I wouldn't say I necessarily learned anything new, it just helped motivate me to use the knowledge I have more fully, both at work and in my personal life. At work, I am motivated to use my organizational techniques to better manage my time and get to those low priorities items I never seem to get to. In my personal life, it motivated me to get back on track with my weight loss and exercise routines (I have already made great strides in that this week, so maybe I was just in a receptive mood) and perhaps, housework. Since we live an apartment, I can't just tell the kids to go out and play. I have to take them somewhere to play. Which means I can't be doing housework while they are out playing, so chores just pile up. Not to mention, it is awfully hard to clean when a lot of stuff has no "away" to be put in. A two bedroom apartment doesn't have much for storage space. I have a grand total of 4 closets, one of which is used as a pantry and one is my linen closet, stacked with laundry detergent, sheets, towels, and basic storage.. Think about that for a moment, that leaves 2 closets for all the clothes for 4 people, winter coats, various things that you don't want out in the open, etc. Man, there wouldn't even be room for Marcia's shoes!!! You wouldn't think these things would be the revelation to me that they are, would you?

You know, I begin to think our current presidential administration is not too bright. (I know, I know, many have come to this conclusion far earlier than this, but I wanted to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. How dumb can he be, he can speak Spanish, which is more than I can say for myself.) Yesterday morning, the news was all full of hand wringing by the Bush administration. It seems that they are just stunned and appalled that the United States was not re-elected two a couple of UN standing commissions, one of which being the Commission on Human Rights. "But we had commitments in writing from our allies, stating they would vote for us." Why so puzzled, bozos? When you chose to pull the United States out of two signed treaties (so far) when they didn't suit your aims, what do you expect?. So why would other countries (1) honor their word to us and (2) trust us to represent their interests when we are blowing off most of the world when it comes to the environment and ICBMs. Sheese, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see a little payback here guys, now does it?

Got more news on the relationship front today. The 12 year old daughter of the couple who's divorce will be final soon was admitted into the psyche ward tonight. Seems she has become physically aggressive and is sexually active. Sigh. Like my friend Alicia said today, "if you got any bad news, just save it for Monday, I've coped with about as much of that as I can this week."

Got a busy weekend coming up. Saturday we are going up to my mother-in-law's in St. Cloud for mother's day with her. I plan to make one of those make-ahead breakfast casseroles for breakfast (or, if I don't get around to that, there is always smoothies and pancakes!). Then, after ~~I have had as much as I can take of my in-laws~~, oops, did I say that out loud, I meant, after we have completed our visit, I am calling Alicia and she is giving me one of two answers (1) "come on over", which means, grab a couple of 4 packs of wine coolers and a case of beer and head over here (she is cooking food and decorating for a small intimate bridal shower of 50 for her brother-in-law's wife to be) or (2) "go way", which mean either she is fighting with her husband for his poor choice in family members or some other heinous crime he has committed or they are too pooped to pop.

Sunday, we are having brunch at home (Eggs Benedict, my favorite) then going out to eat later at a restaurant of my choice. Now they are saying the weather will be lovely, so perhaps a family bike ride or some other physical activity. There were also some possible rumblings of a barbeque at a friend's house, but we will see . . .Sunday is also Girl Scout Sunday, which means Girl Scouts everywhere are encouraged to attend services in their uniforms. At our church, they also will be helping out at "Doughnut Sunday". (My kids absolute LOVE doughnut Sunday. What a reward for sitting through Mass.)

When I was a little girl, I remember going places with my daddy was a treat. I always went places with my mom. But to go somewhere with my daddy, just him and me, now that was a treat. When I was about 2, my mother attempted taking me to Mass. Or maybe she had been taking me all along and I suddenly became more rambunctious. Anyway, apparently one Sunday I started calling the dog. During the consecration (for your non-Catholics, that is the really quiet moment when the priest is praying over the hosts). The next Sunday, I started up the aisle toward the altar (my mother contends I was heading up to lend the priest a hand). Due to those, and most likely other performances, my mother started leaving me with my Dad on Sunday mornings. So, I got to be a part of Daddy's Sunday morning ritual.

My father worked for the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) as a project coordinator. Translated, he did hard physical labor building roads and he was the onsite boss (which means I sold ALOT of girl scout cookies). Since road construction essentially starts at sun up, my father was up every morning around 5 am. I can remember him coming into my room very early in the morning to get his shirt. My bedroom was right beside the kitchen, so I would hear my mother get him his coffee, fill his water jug, and send him on his way. Even on weekends my dad got up really really early. 6 am was late for him. But Sundays, he slept in until about 7:30 or 8:00. Then he would head down to Hayes Cafe (where I think he stopped on more than one morning through the week as well). When my mother started leaving me behind on Sunday mornings, I got to go along. Hayes Cafe was a Maid Rite restaurant. So they had the red and white decor shared by all Maid Rite establishments. I remember walking in with my dad and everyone saying "Hi ya Kenny" and the red vinyl booths and the red and white checked table clothes. Dad would get coffee and I would get a coke. And my Dad would visit with everyone in the place. And I was Daddy's little princess.

These are the kind of childhood memories I want my kids to have. Memories of roughhousing with Dad. Memories of making cookies with Mom. Memories of the whole family bowling or biking or playing in the park on Sunday afternoon. So many kids these days aren't going to have memories like that. They will have memories of the baby sitter who took them places, or being shuffled from daycare to some other sitter while Mom or Dad goes to work out after work. When I drop the kids off at daycare in the morning, most of the time I stop for a while and talk to them, their friends, their teachers. I let them show me their projects. Their friends tend to come running over to talk to me too. I guess they are the kids who's parents just drop them and run. Every morning. And pick them up just before the center closes at night. What is going to happen to these kids?

I suppose hearing about the break-up of two families I know this week prompts thoughts like these. Then John found out at work today that his boss, the guy who founded the company, sold it to a bigger company and has been running the local office, is leaving the company. So, the big question is, will this office remain open? Even if they leave it open in the short term (which they probably will, the lease on the office doesn't run out until February), it is time for John to warm up the old resume again. So, it obviously has us all worried, especially John. I suspect he is worried about being out of work again, like he was last time. I don't think that will happen. But, if you know of someone looking for an IT Manager (oops, sorry, now he's a Software Engineer), check out his resume.

Well, I would like to work a little more on Rhiannon's quilt, so I am going to go, plus I can't sleep in too much, gotta go to St. Cloud tomorrow, visit the in-laws and get Alicia drunk. She's having a bad week too, plus she is feeding 50 of her in-laws nearest and dearest at the wedding shower she let herself get talked into doing. And her in-laws are, well, let's just say they're a challenge and leave it at that. Hmmm . . .how much booze am I going to need? I think I'll get some strawberry daiquiri wine coolers. YUM. The guys can just drink beer. They like that stuff. See ya! Probably no post tomorrow, as it will be late when we get home.

Well, I survived my day. It was a beautiful sunny day, with the high about 71 degrees or so. We had a nice leisurely breakfast, then we all piled into the car about 11:30 to head up to St. Cloud. Made a stop at Bo Diddley's sub shop for salad and subs for lunch. Grandma was delighted with her Chocolate Mystery Puzzle and Rhiannon's magnet she made at school (and the monastery caramels from my mom).

Since it was so nice out, we spent alot of time outside. (And the wood ticks are out, let me tell you. I found one on me, but none on the kids, so far.) We hadn't been up there since March, so the Easter Bunny hid eggs and presents outside for the kids to find. The Easter Bunny brought both kids and Dad marbles. So, grandma drew 2 circles on the ground and attempted to teach my 7 year old and 4 year old to play marbles. In yet another physical activity, my 4 year old proved himself more adept than his older sibling. She gets frustrated easily when stuff doesn't immediately work the way she wants, so, especially in physical activities she doesn't tend to do real well. The only sport she does well in is swimming. After she got frustrated with marbles, she went for a walk with mommy, refusing to allow her brother to come. So, after I wore the 7 year old out, I took the Moose-boy out for a run. And run he did. He should be tuckered out tonight. We took some pictures, if any of them are good, I will post them tomorrow.

My mother-in-law gave me some more material scraps for Rhiannon's quilt. We also discussed it. She thought the little pillows I have done up looked really nice and would make a very cute quilt. Some of the material has frogs on it, and Jack has decided he wants a frog quilt. I could see the gears turning in my mother-in-law's head. Either she or my sister-in-law Julie is going to make one, or I am going to get alot of froggy material as a gift at some point.

Hmmm. . . apparently my son has sadly misjudged his mother. He attempting to cajole me into going into the bathroom, where he is currently taking a very late, but very very needed bath. He chose to use the phrase "and make is snappy!" First, I want to know where he learned that phrase and second, why would he think that would work on his mother. Aaah, he is learning, now we are trying the pathetic voice. Soon, we will resort to whining.

Didn't end up getting Alicia drunk after all. She was sooooo worked up after this shower, she couldn't cope with company. She was "volunteered" by her mother-in-law to prepare all the food for this shower for 50 (which in that family's language means, not only will you make it, you pay for it as well). So, Alicia buys $500 worth of food and spends a great deal of time preparing it (she doesn't do anything by halves, she hosted a baby shower for me when I was pregnant with Rhiannon and gave me a car seat as a shower gift!). Then, one of her sisters-in-law, who's only contribution was supposed to be a fruit pizza, bars, and the little stupid shower game prizes, shows up only minutes before the guests are due to arrive, sans everything but the little gifts. So, not only did she not bring her food contribution, she didn't help set up either. After the shower, she couldn't be bothered to clean up. But, Alicia's mother-in-law was busily sending food home with her! Now, who paid for this??? This is one screwed up family. At least the bride-to-be was appreciative. Her in-laws certainly make mine look like gems. Man, if I were her, I would be either rethinking my marrying into this family, or trying to get my fiancé to move far far away from his family.

Wow, is this state strange or what. For 2 days, the top news story has been the fishing opener. It's damn near a holiday here. The governor goes up every year with his entire press entourage in tow and everyone waits with baited breath to see if he catches anything. Our last governor, who served for 8 years, never did catch a fish on fishing opener. Jesse, of course, always manages to catch fish.

Well, tomorrow is Eggs Benedict for breakfast/brunch, the lunch/lupper will be eaten out. A friend of ours sounds like she is feeling down, so we have invited her over after work for some dessert. Maybe Baker's Square's Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm. . .

I just heard on CNN that Shannon Doherty is leaving Charmed. How sad, I guess that is what they were hinting at in their promos for next week's season ending episode. How can they be the Charmed Ones with one of them gone? I really like that show, I hope her leaving doesn't spell the end of that show. Sigh, I hate it when shows I really like have something like that happen. Well, hopefully they can survive without Prue.

What a lovely day in Minnesota today. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the mosquitoes aren't out yet! (Although John keeps saying it will be a very bad mosquito season due to all the flooding. Mosquitoes breed in still water. I hope the mosquito control district managed to get their spraying in, despite the wet weather. There were already mosquitoes out in St. Cloud yesterday. YUCK!) Aaah, spring.

We slept in until about 10, then John and the kids made Eggs Benedict and Smoothies (Strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, orange smoothies, to be exact.) [Well, actually, John made the Hollandaise sauce (from a mix) the eggs, and toasted the English Muffins. Rhiannon made the smoothies, and Jack got to put the sauce over each serving. A good time was had by all.]

After a lovely leisurely brunch, the kids and I went out and potted the rest of the plants I bought about two weeks ago. All my plants are doing very well, thank you very much. (According to Donna, my birth mother, I didn't get a green thumb from her. She said her Dad used to say that all she had to do was walk past the garden and the plants would wilt. I think I got my skill with plants from my grandmother. She had a HUGE garden, in fact, it was her entire back yard. When I was a kid, she maintained not only that garden, and flower beds all around her house, she also had big gardens at our house and at my aunt's house. I don't know how the woman had time to do anything but garden.) There are now 26 pots of plants on my deck. And I still have empty pots!!! We have tomatoes, peppers, carrots, peas, lettuce, cosmos, dahlias, impatiens, petunias, violas, and pansies. I think that covers everything. Oh, oops, forgot the strawberries, got some of those too. And we already have some almost ripe strawberries. Do they produce all through the season if you keep picking them?

After puttering with my plants, we headed out for the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. I love to look at plants, and it was a good idea for everyone to get some exercise. (Actually, my first choice of activity was biking, but John didn't feel energetic enough for that.)

	Here is a view over the parking lot towards the Minnesota River. If you look carefully, you can see that the river is still quite high. As you can see, it was a beautiful day.
	Daffodils were in bloom everywhere. They had several varieties, but these were some of the most beautiful Actually, Jack was initially in this picture, but he was making funny faces, so fine, I'll only put in the flowers. So there.
	They also had lots of Bleeding Hearts, both in white and pink. My grandmother always had these flowers, but I didn't think I could grow them in pots. However, my sister-in-law in St. Cloud has one in a pot in St. Cloud that is doing quite well, so maybe I will have to give it a try. they also had a large display of my other favorite flower, lilacs, but I had run out of pictures on the camera before I got to them. When we get a house, I want a large hedge of different kinds of lilacs, with peonies in front.
	Dad and Jack were up to their usual tricks. Ahh, the father/son bond. At least he wasn't strangling him.
	Jack loves to look at flowers. John and Rhiannon got tired of looking around and went to the car, while Jack and I went through the lilac exhibit. They must have had 50 lilac bushes. It smelled wonderful.
	Of course, Rhiannon likes flowers too. Although she was kinda pouty today, not that you can tell from the pictures. She perks up for pictures. Ham.
	Besides the flowers, they have some great landscaping out there. There are several waterfalls and fountains around the grounds. We only wandered around for about 2 hours. There is a three mile trail to hike that we didn't even begin to get on. For two hours, we just wandered around the grounds of the main building.
	There were also lots of tulips around. My grandma also had lots of tulips and iris. I sent my mom some flowers this weekend, with iris and tulips. Mom said the tulips were a deep pink, to complement the purple iris. With a big red ribbon around the vase. Red is her favorite color.

	I think this is a really pretty picture of my daughter. Consider it gratuitous if you must. But hey, it is Mother's Day.
	More gratitous shots, this time including the parental units. Not the best picture of me, I know, but the best we got today. So, please, try to ignore my thighs.
	All tuckered out.

Damn. The computer crashed, taking with it my extraordinarily witty and charming comments regarding our dinner at TGIFridays. Well, I will try to recreate them, but bear in mind, my first draft was much better before the jealous gods smote my computer and ate my words.

After the arboretum, we went to dinner at TGIFridays. I had the Jack Daniels pork chop and shrimp. Their Jack Daniels grill items have this wonderful glaze on them. They also serve it on the side to dip it in. YUM! Then, of course, I had to have a raspberry daiquiri and the Oreo dessert. Now, this in not your run of the mill, pick 'em up in the grocery store oreo. Oh no. It is 2 large oreos, filled with vanilla bean ice cream, drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauce. Oooohhhh, so very good. We don't go to Fridays very often, for obvious reasons.

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