I had a truly wonderful time the rest of Thursday, because the reason I took the day off in the first place was that the Yarn Harlot‘s only California stop was in Petaluma, at Copperfield Books, and I didn’t want to miss it. It helps that I have all this vacation time I never get around to taking. So after lunch I picked up my knitting mom and she and I drove off to Petaluma. I find great amusement in the fact that of the four book signings I have now attended in the past year, three of them (the Yarn Harlot, Terry Pratchett, and Christopher Moore) have been at Copperfields in Petaluma.

There was talk of going to a Faire this weekend, but by the time we both dragged ourselves out of bed Saturday morning, it was far too late to be heading off to Tahoe, so instead Richard went off to his writer’s group and I drove all over Vacaville shopping for a birthday and Father’s Day present for my dad. The birthday present was easy to find since I knew exactly where to look, but the Father’s Day present is apparently far less available than I would have guessed, so I am still searching. Otherwise I spent Saturday lounging about, reading ineffectual mysteries where the point of view tends to jump between far too many characters, and whose common thread (a tenuous one at best) is that they’re all centered around a woman who runs a needlework store, but they are quick to read and require not thought whatsoever and sometimes that is the sort of reading I prefer. Sunday was more of the same, but included baking a low-sodium chocolate cake for my dad for his birthday party, meeting a bunch of knitters for lunch, and starting an experimental batch of yogurt that involved soy milk instead of regular milk and would have probably had a far greater chance of success if I had remembered to turn the yogurt maker *on* once I plugged it in last night. Ah well. Oh, and it also included watching the latest episode of Dr. Who and wow but this season is amazing and intense and proving just how outstanding an actor David Tennant really is. I may never look at big stone statues the same way again (and also it made me love gargoyles just that little big more.

This morning we met our realtor over at the house in Sacramento and took copious measurements of the entire lower floor so we can then calculate out total square footage of alternative floor covering that is needed to replace the rather shaggy carpet that is currently in place. We also walked around the house for a little bit and added a few more things to the rapidly expanding list of ‘we should’ and ‘we could’ for this new house, because purchasing a house is basically buying into a design/renovation project of epic proportions that will never end. I was going to take some pictures of the unfortunate kitchen and the turqouise bedroom, but I left my camera at home, so you will all just have to keep on using your imagination on those rooms, likely until we move in.

My dad turned 60 today, which seems somehow very difficult to believe, because I am not sure I am ready for that (I suspect neither is he). All family members living within driving distance gathered at my parents’ house this evening for dinner and presents and experimental low-sodium chocolate cake (which was…interesting. Not bad. But…interesting), and my little sister and my niece called in from Seattle so we all sang him Happy Birthday together over the phone lines as one big connected family and it was cute and fun.