Busman’s Friday Evening

Dearest Rachel –

The girls came over last night (well, as Meatloaf once put it, “two out of three ain’t bad”), in emulation of those days gone by when we would get together to play games and the like. Those days, unfortunately, have been much fewer and further between – and also decidedly much shorter. It can’t really be helped; Ellen’s job is such a drive that she can’t get home, see to her kitty and get over to join us until seven o’clock at best. Back when she worked within mere blocks of her home, we’d be an hour or two into the evening by then.

Meanwhile, Kerstin’s commute is even more insane, as she only drives home once a week from her posting in the Beloit area. The pay is good (and the cost of living there during the week is negligible, as the company puts her up in an extended stay place), but she only gets to come home over the weekend – which admittedly starts on Friday afternoon, but the distance means that it’s move of a race as to see who gets here last.

But for all that, please don’t think this is a complaint. Sure, it would be nice to have more time together – and, for reasons I’ll get into shortly, I had everyone cut that much further into game time (but it was a different kind of fun in its own right) – but the fact that we are still able and willing to get together like this is something to be grateful for. Just because you were the linchpin of our group doesn’t mean that we cease to be a group now that you’re gone, and I’m sure you’d be pleased to know that. It’s just that we aren’t always doing the same things we used to back in the day.

***

Or maybe we are, and I just don’t remember it. I do, for whatever reason, have footage from one of your old iPod cameras when we were at Ellen’s old workplace late at night, putting the final touches to a model of a building Daniel had designed in the style of a certain famous architect (who’s not famous enough that I can remember his name, however) for a class assignment. Ellen, of course, was there, as well as a very sleepy Erin (again, two out of three); there were no games played that night, but we got something done, and it looked like we were having a certain amount of fun, even bearing in mind the class deadline we were most likely up against.

Well, yesterday evening didn’t have an assignment, per se, to take care of, but we did find ourselves using a little elbow grease nonetheless. Since we needed to clear the dining room table, I asked Ellen to bring a tool that apparently she and Daniel would use on his collection of Ramune bottles (which has gotten into the dozens since your departure) to get at the marbles within them, thereby allowing us to finally set the bottles out for recycling (along with a pile of stuff Ellen had brought to put in our bin, as her complex doesn’t do much in the way of recycling, as you know). So it was a bit of a busman’s holiday (or at least, a busman’s Friday evening) for her in this regard – which is a bit ironic, as it’s Kerstin who drives a bus for a living.

By the time we were done with all this, it was getting along toward nine o’clock. But we made a point to play a few rounds of Rack-O, at least, just to let it be said that we actually managed to do what we had intended to from the outset of the evening. It was a moment that, despite the limited time spent actually playing games, you would probably have enjoyed – which is why I figure I should let you know about it.

Anyway, I’ll be in touch again soon enough. Until then, keep an eye on me, and wish me luck. I’m going to need it.