A couple weeks ago on Sunday I had Father’s Day dinner at Mary’s folks’ place. Probably came across as pretty quiet and reserved, which I tend to do when I haven’t yet figured out how to fit in the social dynamics of a group. Maybe in time I’ll let my witty side shine a bit more.

Monday was “small groups FHE” where the ward splits into two groups for games / activities / whatnot. I got to host a group at my place, and there ended up being enough people for three games to be going at once.

After FHE I gave Mary a quick-n-dirty introduction to programming, and she seemed to enjoy it. We (well, I) coded up a simple guess-my-number-between-1-and-100 game.

Tuesday I went with my work team to a little outing at a bowling alley / arcade. My back was still feeling a little twinged from some yard work the week before, so I gave the bowling a pass but got to spend a few rounds in this amazing 180-degree flight simulator.

Wednesday was a ward temple night. Did baptisms, as I’ve got a family name who hasn’t had any work done.

Friday Mary and I got invited to a dinner. There’s this woman in our stake boundaries who tends to invite a rotating array of people to weekly dinners, and we’d been invited by a friend in the ward.

Lots of returned missionaries, people we didn’t know at all, but it was good fun.

Didn’t do a single productive thing on Saturday, which was glorious.

On Sunday I taught a lesson on Naomi, Ruth, and Hannah, from the Old Testament. It was one of my really good lessons too. I’d been able to find heaps of neat little factoids about the Hebrew language and customs surrounding these women’s stories. Fearing the worst, I’d prepped another Living Scriptures episode, but turns out I didn’t need it, and in fact had to rush through Hanna’s story. Which was all well and good, Ruth’s was the more interesting one. And in fact the Living Scriptures episode on Ruth changes quite a bit of the story, westernizes it. I guess the writers didn’t think it was a good idea to teach kids that it’s appropriate to go proposition someone by sneaking into their room at night, taking off their shoes, and curling up and falling asleep, then spending the night after proposing that they do their duty and marry you since you’re a widow and they’re next-of-kin. *shrug*

That evening I went to a friend’s place for one-and-a-half rounds of the Harry Potter card game we’ve been trying to beat for some time. We’re on the ropes; after breezing through years five and six, half of us have been stunned twice in year seven. Crossing our fingers, but we may die here at the finish line.

After we had to disband I headed over to Mary’s place where a large group had gathered to watch Amazing Grace, an awesome film about abolition in Europe.

The next day was FHE at a bishopric member’s place, lawn games and s’mores. (These pics don’t do the event justice, there were a lot more there and it was a blast.)

Tuesday I participated in a work-sponsored volunteer project to help out at a cat rescue shelter. We cleaned cages, spiffed up storage units, and showed the kitties some love.

In general I’m playing it safe with my back. Missing out on a bike ride with Mary and some of our mutual wardie friends, don’t want to risk anything making me infirm for the Colorado trip.

It sure doesn’t feel like only two weeks have passed since I last wrote. To business.

Last week was a whirlwind of preparation for a good friend’s wedding. She’d been roommates with a couple other girls in the ward, all of whom have been very close friends. I’m also good friends with the groom, and was asked to be a groomsman, a definite first. Color-coordinated suspenders and bow ties, the works.

On Wednesday we went to the temple to accompany the bride and groom both getting their endowments, then rounded the outing off with a trip to nearby Dairy Queen, a tradition among temple-goers around here.

Thursday and Friday were spent helping set up for the reception in a stake center.

Those big round tables we have all set up, they came from a closet, and were stored on these metal roller thingers; simply a metal rectangle with guard rails on either side to hold up the tables, and casters to roll the whole thing about. I got the bright idea of rolling an empty one down the hallway, holding myself up on the guard rails. When my speed diminished I thought I’d use my feet to propel myself along by pushing off through the empty middle portion of the cart, not taking into account how little room there was to work with. Banged my heel against the back edge of the cart. Oh sure it hurt, but there wasn’t that much of a mark. Not until the next morning, that is.

Well, that wasn’t looking too nice. Still, it didn’t hurt or anything, so I just let it be. Until the next day:

Now I was getting a teensy bit concerned. But a quick text convo with Doctor Dan put me at ease. Apparently this is a very natural progression for a bone bruise, and it should clear up in a month or so. If I’d cared about the cosmetics of the thing, I could spread some fresh pineapple juice over the area, as it contains the enzyme bromelain, useful for breaking up the blood pooling under the skin. Eh, I’ll just let it run its course.

And so, the day of the wedding! I was able to sit in on the sealing room ceremony, which was very nice. The day had been scheduled for rain, and we did see some, but for the hour or so when we were taking pictures at the temple afterwards, it was bright and sunny, a nice little miracle.

I darted off with the two maids of honor (her two roommates) to go and grab the cake from Costco, then met up for the reception.

Fun day.

Now, if that pic with me and one of the bridesmaids at the reception looks a mite too friendly, well, that’s to be expected, as… we’re dating.

It kinda came out of nowhere. We’ve been friends for almost two years, the entirety of my stay here in Washington. The evening of the Memorial Day trip to Whidbey Island, we kinda both just clicked. It’s all very new, and very fun.

Her name’s Mary. Here’s a few more of us:

We’ve kind of been joined at the hip, going on walks, watching movies, old shows like Dick Van Dyke, etcetera. Although she works on Saturdays, so that’s when I have time to get things like this done :p

On Wednesday we went on a double-date with her last remaining roommate and a good friend of ours, to a cafe that caters to board games. Mox Boarding House, I’ve mentioned it a couple times here before. Her roommate’s date taught us all how to play Magic: The Gathering, a card game I remember my nerdy friends playing in high school :p Got the hang of it, at least when playing against another novice.

Thursday we went on another “double date” with Mary’s former roommate, now hitched and back from her honeymoon, which quickly expanded to include other close friends, to go see the new Incredibles 2 film. Hot dang, good stuff.

Last night was a ward activity at Golden Gardens Park, a beach in Seattle.

So, yeah, patterns of life are shifting, but it’s a fun adventure. Looking forward to seeing all y’all at the cabin in a few weeks!

Last week I spoke too soon. It is not the case that my phone’s charger simply died at an inopportune time. Rather, due to the water damage sustained on the Franklin Falls hike, my phone is no longer able to charge via high-powered chargers. Only low-powered USB chargers work now. That bites. I think I’m gonna take it in to get it looked at, ’cause that really cramps my style.

Anyways, when last I wrote, I was gearing up to receive company; we were gonna put the nail in the head of that Harry Potter game I described a couple posts ago. We’d played through the first three years, and had aspirations of playing through the next four in one more sitting. Ha. We barely got out of year four with our lives, and a healthy dose of “creative interpretation” of the rules. We’ll have to meet again to tackle year five. But while our enemies grow more sinister, our allies and spells grow more powerful as well. We’ll come off conqueror yet.

The game ran long enough on Sunday night that I didn’t get terribly much sleep – had to be up bright and early Monday morning to catch the Party Van out to Whidbey Island.

And you can bet I was taking notes on where to take y’all on your vacation here.

Wednesday evening I stopped by the chapel to check out the aftermath of a break-in that’d happened over the long weekend. Some hooligans had gotten in and smashed doors and windows, in search of valuables. Not sure yet what they made off with, but it seems that they made it into the library, so I’ll bet we’re TV-less for now.

The police came through and dusted for prints before—as I understand it—a veritable army of members came by with shop vacs and cleaning supplies to hoover up the mess and make the building usable again.

Thursday morning I had some pest control people come by, to rip out old-and-corroded insulation in the crawlspace and put in new stuff. Rats had infested the place, and I figured I may as well get around to getting it taken care of.

Later that day I had a friend over at work; he’s after some practice interviewing, so I reserved a room and ran through a mock interview, ’bout as real as you can make it.

That evening I was invited to a planning meeting for the upcoming WAYSAC conference. I’d gotten roped in when I helped fix a few website bugs in record time. I miss going to those meetings – stopped when I got released from the Service & Activities committee.

When I got back, I noticed my hydrangea plant that I’d so lovingly been caring for had been shorn clean in two, presumably by the pest control people.

Friday night was Mormon Night at the Mariner’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

We had to leave after the tenth inning when they were still tied 3-3. Glad we didn’t stick around; took them till the 13th inning to score a home run and win the game.

This morning I had someone come by to consult on my garden and landscaping, as I wasn’t confident on how to really take care of the place. Got some good tips.

Spent the rest of the day helping a friend move her stuff to her soon-to-be-husband’s place. The wedding’s next week, so that’ll be fun.

Aaaand that’s all for now. Can’t wait to see you guys in a couple months!