Weekend Win

Last week I really, really wanted to post some pictures of how well my plants are doing, particularly the ones at work. But my camera battery died and I haven't charged it up yet. I have several more peas growing, a few beans, and flowers on my regular sized tomatoes. I even have the first three cherry tomatoes starting! My plants at home, which I started much later, aren't nearly as far along of course. But they seem to be doing very well too. I fertilized them all (with organic fertilizer) for the first time and that seems to have helped.
This was such an epic weekend I didn't want it to end. The only reason Monday is bearable is because I have softball tonight. :)
Friday afternoon I got a call from Shane saying, "Beg, borrow, or steal a car, or find a ride out to SilverGulch. I'll be there." Being out in Fox, it's closer and easier for him to get there for an evening than to come all the way back to Fairbanks. The reason for the surprise was because one of his coworkers, the other new hire who mirrors Shane's position, was getting pretty camp crazy. Two days before getting to go home he started saying, "I can't do it. I'm done. I don't want to be here any more." So Shane suggested SilverGulch for dinner as a way to get out of the camp. As they were getting ready to leave one of the other guys saw them and said, "Take me with you!" So I frantically started calling friends, trying to see who would be able to give me a ride out there. Everyone was busy, but J was going to his parents' house, which is not too far away from SilverGulch, so he gave me a ride. I'm an idiot, because the one person I should have called I didn't even think to. Our friend Eric's dad works in Livengood, and he was the third person who came to dinner with Shane. We ended up calling him after we'd been seated and he drove out too (and ended up giving me a ride home later). It was a fantastic evening. Jason, the one who had been going camp crazy, apparently missed "seeing girls worth seeing" so we spent half the evening girl watching. He has a girlfriend in Anchorage, so he wasn't going to do anything but look, but it was funny. I don't think I need to describe how wonderful it was to see Shane again, to hold his hand, to make him throw his head back laughing. I'm sure we'll be doing this again often.
Saturday I got all of the seeds I want to set out right now (including the potatoes) planted and all of the cold hardy plants planted. In less than a week we went from chilly and windy to summer weather. I think it's still getting a little chilly at night for my warm weather plants, so I've still been bringing them inside. But I did leave a window in my bedroom open last night and didn't feel chilly, so perhaps I don't need to be as careful now.
Saturday night was Roller Derby night, and I went with a friend to cheer on some other friends for their last game of the season. It was a double-header, against teams from Yukon and Juneau. Of our two Fairbanks teams, one of them won their game and the other lost. But it was fun to watch. We saw a bunch of other friends in the crowd and said hi. I got home at around ten and, not ready to go to bed yet, I watched a couple episodes of "Mad Men" (just season one), which I got on DVD as a birthday present last year but didn't get around to watching until now. All in all, a great evening.
Sunday started off with biking (to the store) and running (with the dog) and the afternoon was spent at the Pump House with friends for a late lunch/early dinner to watch the eclipse. It's really handy to know a welder. He brought some super dark welding lenses to view the eclipse through. Up here, about 60% of the sun was covered, which you'd never know if you couldn't see it. This is the only time I've ever gotten to actually see an eclipse, and it was spectacular.
When I biked home from that, I immediately set about making cake. Two cakes, actually, since they were each only one layer and I wasn't sure how many people would show up. It was J's birthday on Saturday, and since L and Baby are both out of town I put myself in charge of making sure he had a cake to celebrate. There ended up being only four of us, but we watched "Rango" and ate cake and chatted and a good time was had by all. I once again made that coconut cake, and tried a chocolate orange cake as well. (Instead of frozen orange juice concentrate like it says to use, I just used freshly squeezed juice and zested some of the peel in. Oranges aren't on the 'always buy organic list' because the rind is so thick, but if you're zesting it I would suggest going organic.) The coconut was a bigger hit, I think because the chocolate orange cake is supposed to be vegan so it wasn't as rich. Don't worry, I put real butter in the frosting. :) I sent a little bit of cake home with everyone so I don't have to eat it all.
And now it's Monday. One day closer to Shane coming home, at the very worst.
I'm so ready for a vacation. :)