Party packed

For some reason, October is an insanely popular month for celebrations. In addition to the usual Halloween and fall-related fun, there are about a hundred birthdays crammed into the tenth month, along with a wedding or two just for good measure.

I took Vivian out to Summer Kitchen on Thursday for a random breakfast date. Then on Friday, we decided to drop by JNO for an evening of dancing and then crashing at Village Inn afterward, just like old times. After we become parents, staying out until two in the morning will likely be a rare occurrence. Eric and Kevin were kind enough to keep us company over breakfast and OneUpMe.com before heading home.

On Saturday, Vivian and I had several different events to juggle. We had lunch at Five Guys with the Hunters to celebrate Lisa's birthday. Five Guys is about the closest thing we have to In-n-Out burger this side of the Sierra Nevadas, and I had a little fun cutting in line via cell phone to order a burger online from my table. Viva technology!

That afternoon, we dropped in at Twin Valley Church to attend Steve and Krista's wedding with several of our church friends. (We also got to see Deena wearing a dress — gasp and shock!) We left shortly thereafter to attend a birthday party for Vivian's co-worker Anthony. He held it at Gerda's on Leavenworth, so I got to tell him, "alles gute zum geburtstag" while eating bratwurst and spaetzle (a kind of German pasta). He wanted to play Young Frankenstein for us to watch, but eventually settled for showing the Cornhusker / Ohio State game instead. Several people were so disheartened to see Nebraska get pummeled during the first half that they didn't bother to stick around to see what happened in the second.

The next day, our church gave Lisa a birthday party in our church basement. Vivian brought peanut butter cookies to go along with the popcorn and cupcakes, and Lisa opened her presents as a dozen kids ran around in circles screaming in the next room. Lexi brought her baby Samantha and Rachel got to be all kids of cute for everyone with a camera handy. (Of course, I drew a caricature of Mark and Lisa on their card, which I suppose is tradition for now.)

It was a fun, busy weekend overall. Now to get back outside and enjoy some more of the unseasonably beautiful weather while it lasts.