Well, Cass spent a week back home for our Spring Break, as I've mentioned previously. The purpose of her visit was to catch up with her parents, as they won't be around in our regular stay back home in the winter as they are embarking on a cruise for the duration She had planned to visit with them, possibly her sister for a day, and that was about it: she did make it to Newcastle once, but just for a wet and miserable Knights' game!
She had an excellent stay and was able to catch up on all and sundry. She quite enjoys being "little Cassy" for a while and doesn't mind being doted upon for a stint: she certainly doesn't get that sort of treatment here! Valerie (and Chris, with his signature slab of BBQ salmon) cooked up a storm and they enjoyed many meals together in C&V's newish extended outdoor room, which has become quite the social hub nowadays with the Taiwanese jade table, "Rocky", still doing sterling service.
They were able to get over to Kristin's property near Stroud one day during the week, when great commotion was stirred up by the arrival of a giant brown snake. All sorts of snake charmers were pressed into service to try to get rid of it. Chris was deftly moving logs from the woodpile with the tractor attachment, the local snake whisperer was jazzing around with his magician's helpers and Cass tried to stay right out of the way! Apparently, it was quite the sight! She enjoyed catching up with her sister, and they had a pleasant picnic after all the country style shenanigans.
Cass and Val even managed to make it to the Knights' Saturday night game against the Dragons. Despite the inclement weather, and the Knights losing their first game of the season, they found it fun to make the visit to the hallowed turf, as well as catch up with Caes, who had braved the rain sans Miho.
Cass got back home at 2 a.m. Monday morning and we have to get up at 5.30 a.m., so she was in a bit of a fog for the first day or two! The week was the usual flurry of activity, including Cass having Book Club on Tuesday night and a visit downtown after work to her bag shop on Wednesday, so we didn't really have a chance to reflect on being tired. There just wasn't any other option than to go, go, go. She celebrated her birthday in-flight during the day and night of April 5th, so we resolved to celebrate in style this weekend, booking a table at her new favourite restaurant in town, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.
Cass tends to avoid eating a lot of meat and although not strictly a vegetarian, she's pretty close to it. She does, however, really appreciate a superbly selected and cooked steak on odd occasions, and this is exactly what Ruth's Chris is renowned for. The service is slick and deferential (which we both find slightly unsettling!), but the decor is luxurious, the lighting low, the tables festooned with silverware and draped in linen, and the food is absolutely sublime! Despite the waiter's protestations, we pressed ahead and each ordered a dessert, despite knowing they were of behemoth proportions. We'd already had the bread, entree and main meal of the most perfectly cooked prime fillet steak with baked potato and other sides so it wasn't as if we needed it. We'd been intoxicated by the bread and butter pudding from our first visit, which we shared, and Cassy was determined to "get her own" this time. Suffice to say, we got through it, but we were fuller than the last bus by the time we finished!
We had a pretty quiet weekend after that, just enjoying each other's company again after a week apart and a quite hectic week of work wedged straight onto the back of it. Things are starting to ramp up both in the professional and social spheres as tests, reports, programs are given and written and the usual round of farewell BBQs, parties and club meetings vie for a space in the ever dwindling academic year's calendar. We're getting set for a big seven weeks....!
Photos: Cass and her parents and sister in various poses and guises, Virg was pleased to have Cassy back home, the meal at Ruth's Chris, and times have certainly changed:our down and dirty local supermarket has just reopened after a re-vamp, and good old 555 was on the shelves!
Stop Press: Now Tuesday morning, and I managed to do my birthday pushups again. One more year, one more pushup!