Weekend Report

Friday- Played soccer with a new team I joined, Snakes on a Pitch. Isn't the name great? We won handily and went out for food and beers to celebrate. After that, I stopped by a friend's party for a bit. Remember in college how I used to go out all the time all sweaty and gross in my soccer gear instead of going home and showering first? Well, if you didn't go to college with me, you probably don't remember. Anyways, apparently I have started doing that again.

Saturday- Worked all day. October is a busy month, work wise. I have my annual departmental seminar, a thesis committee meeting (the last one was a train wreck; I am hoping that this one will be an improvement), and a regional biodefense conference in which I planning to present some data on experiments that I haven't even done yet. Basically, this is my way of announcing that I might not be posting as much for the next couple of weeks. Oh, Saturday night I went to a party at my friend Meg's place and had a fun time, especially watching the antics of my drunk coworkers.

Sunday- Slept in and did some boring chores, then I went to my parents' house for my family birthday dinner (my birthday's on Wednesday). My mother even had a little surprise in store for me. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my mom is crazy. She called me to find out what time I was arriving, and then dropped this into the end of the conversation:

Mom: You can drive people home after dinner, right?
Me: People? You mean Grampy and Mommom, right?
Mom: Someone else is coming.
Me: foolishly thinking that it's one of my cousins Who?
Mom: Balan Frummond!

Let me fill you in. Balan Frummond (a pseudonym) is the son of a family friend with whom I suspect my mother is plotting to set me up. Last time he was in town, my parents were meeting him for dinner in the city and asked me to join them, then they cancelled at the last minute and were all like "well, why don't you two go?" Real smooth, parents. And now all of the sudden he's at my family birthday party? Groan.

Now, let me tell you about the other times my mother has tried to play matchmaker.

1. She went through this phase where she kept insisting that I take the family dog to the veterinarian. Or, she would invent reasons for me to stop by the vet's office. My suspicions were confirmed when she unsubtly mentioned "that Dr. Millsky is very cute!" My sister Eri, who knew someone who worked in his office, told her that Dr. Millsky is not only cute, but also very, very gay. My mom refused to believe her, until he got married. To a man. Legalize Gay Marriage: It's the only thing that will get your mother off your case about attractive gay male professionals.

2. Here is the most legendary of all of my mother's schemes: I was at a party, and I ran into my friend Kevin's brother, who informs me that several months prior, my mother saw him at church and passed him a note with my email address written on it. Can we talk about how ridiculous that it? She passed him a note? DURING CHURCH? With my email address on it? Um, ridiculous!