He makes a sweet martini

We popped into Macaroni Grill for dinner last night to find M tending bar. He's been doing more and more of that lately, but it was the first time we'd been there when he wasn't waiting on tables.

In this action shot, he's delivering a Pomegranate martini to his mother. I had a beer. We ate at the bar and enjoyed watching him work. Lots of running around, that's for sure. He seems to have incorporated a bit of his drumming expertise into the job -- flipping beer glasses like they were drumsticks; bouncing them off the bar; etc.

As I reported via e-mail yesterday, Elizabeth is on the mend. Quite a tough thing to go through, that's for sure, but she looks good and is far more cheerful than I would be!

Check the Alumni blog for news of the dinner and the trophies that have been returned to town.

Ohio plans & patient news

My tentative schedule for the Ohio weekend:

- Arrive in Cleveland early Saturday morning. Take the "Rapid" into the city.
- Spend several hours at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
- Meet up with the Rochester/Geneseo crew either at the Hall or at Jacobs Field.
- See the Indians-Yankees game.
- Spend the night "near" Oberlin.
- Sunday, explore Oberlin & attend the memorial.
- Sunday evening, fly back to Dulles.

In other news, I just got off the phone with Tom. He reports continued, slow steady improvement on the patient's part. Swelling down a bit, appetite up a bit. Perhaps she'll be up for a visit by week's end.

We made a quick trip to Bethlehem yesterday. Four hours to get there. Four hours to be there. Four hours back. Good to see all of C's family and to enjoy lots and lots of food. M and E came along and their grandparents were thrilled to see them.

I expect work will be interesting again this week.

Finally, some good ski conditions

At least for this morning, the weather was good and the conditions were nice in the Canaan Valley. Bright sunshine, not much wind, temps in the 30s when the day began. I took this shot with my camera phone at the top of the Canaan Valley Resort mountain. I'm too serious looking, but it is what it is.

Should be another interesting week at work -- and another late night on Tuesday, I'm sure.