Cleveland, Day 1 con't

After our flight to Cleveland yesterday, Kent and I had lunch at a small diner near host Nick's house, Dimitri's. Cheap food in a cheap atmosphere, but quite adequate. If you like diners, this is a great place; if you're looking for haute cuisine, try another state. :-)

After a brief nap (hefty jet lag flying in from Baltimore, ya know), I transcribed some square dance calling from tape and caught up on e-mail while Kent read. Nick and his mother Barb --quite the wacky woman herself-- arrived home early, catching me unawares and butt-naked. Oops. I grabbed a towel and nonchalantly as possible made my way upstairs to get dressed.

We collected apparentparadox from Brian & Mark's (sadly, hubby Mark couldn't make it this year... sigh), then the bunch of us (and a dozen more) arrived at the dance hall at close to 7 PM, working feverishly until a little past ten. The life-sized tissue paper critters look great, the ark is faaaaabulous and the rainbow draping suspended from the ceiling the length of the hall was a pain in the ass, but worth it. Ask me later about the inflatable elephant.

I took photos of the work as it progressed and will have many more to show when I get home and can post the lot to my website.

Not having had dinner yet, the bunch of us carpooled over to a 24hr restaurant in the gay area of town (yes, Cleveland has both 24hr restaurants and a gay neighbourhood). Almost every one of us ordered a chocolate milkshake. Our hostess was a blast, jabbing back with a sharp wit for all of the trouble we were giving her. Needless to say, she got a whopping huge tip for her efforts.

By 1 AM, we were home and approaching sleep.

Cleveland, Day 1 con't

After our flight to Cleveland yesterday, Kent and I had lunch at a small diner near host Nick's house, Dimitri's. Cheap food in a cheap atmosphere, but quite adequate. If you like diners, this is a great place; if you're looking for haute cuisine, try another state. :-)

After a brief nap (hefty jet lag flying in from Baltimore, ya know), I transcribed some square dance calling from tape and caught up on e-mail while Kent read. Nick and his mother Barb --quite the wacky woman herself-- arrived home early, catching me unawares and butt-naked. Oops. I grabbed a towel and nonchalantly as possible made my way upstairs to get dressed.

We collected apparentparadox from Brian & Mark's (sadly, hubby Mark couldn't make it this year... sigh), then the bunch of us (and a dozen more) arrived at the dance hall at close to 7 PM, working feverishly until a little past ten. The life-sized tissue paper critters look great, the ark is faaaaabulous and the rainbow draping suspended from the ceiling the length of the hall was a pain in the ass, but worth it. Ask me later about the inflatable elephant.

I took photos of the work as it progressed and will have many more to show when I get home and can post the lot to my website.

Not having had dinner yet, the bunch of us carpooled over to a 24hr restaurant in the gay area of town (yes, Cleveland has both 24hr restaurants and a gay neighbourhood). Almost every one of us ordered a chocolate milkshake. Our hostess was a blast, jabbing back with a sharp wit for all of the trouble we were giving her. Needless to say, she got a whopping huge tip for her efforts.

By 1 AM, we were home and approaching sleep.