You must be lost

We had an amazingly wonderful weekend in Asheville, NC a couple of weeks ago about a month ago (9/17-9/20). We went for the Brewgrass festival, but since it was a three night rental for weekends on the cabin, we made it a long weekend. As soon as we arrived at the cabin on Friday evening, I kind of didn't care if we went into Asheville at all. I seriously did not want to leave that place! We will definitely be back. This place is well worth the extra 30 minute drive up windy mountain roads. It slept the 5 of us very comfortably (and economically) but would sleep up to 8, I think (2 queens, a double, plus a sofa sleeper).

( Pics and a recap. )

Fri: Spent much of the day cleaning followed by a whirlwind packing session shortly before Chris got off work. Drove down to Huntsville (or rather New Hope) to stay in a tent in a guy's back yard. Stayed up waaaay too late drinking beer. Celebrated ingenuity, heh.

Sat: Awoke waaaaay too early to the sound of a rooster realizing we really need a new Thermarest. Fun-filled day of illegal homebrewing in Alabama. First brewer (that didn't spend Friday night) already there and set up at 6:30am. Could finally bring myself to have a beer around noon. Drank about a gallon of water that morning. Tongue felt like sandpaper. Feeling a bit comatose around 3pm or so. Hot sun and beer drains a person. Got my fix of Surin coconut soup for dinner. Was good to see Matt and Chris even if it was cut short with Jonah being fussy from lack of sleep (no nap, stayed up 'til ten the night before, woke up at 6 something that morning). Longest drive home from Huntsville ever (ok, maybe not, but still).

Sun: Woke up early-ish, finished the cleaning I didn't get done on Friday (mostly just floors) and prepared to host a sour beer tasting. Jonathan came over and cooked pork tenderloins on the grill and made some yeast rolls. We did grilled spice rubbed sweet potatoes with green onion vinaigrette, grilled squash and grilled corn on the cob, plus some stinky cheeses to go with our stinky beers. All the food was fantastic, even though I burned the veggies on the grill (mostly). The beers were superb! Mmm, sour beers. Once you get a taste for feet, cheese and horse blanket odors plus a sourness that will make you pucker worse than taking a bite out of a lemon, you can't get enough! It was a lot of fun, too. Everyone had a good time I think and Jonah had a little girl to play with, though they didn't really warm up to each other until about an hour before it was over. When everyone got here, Jonah was still asleep and she had just woken up so they were both a little clingy and Jonah even quite whiny. Subjected Doug to Yo Gabba Gabba (the one with Elijah Wood doing a "Dancey Dance" and also the "Party in my Tummy" song, see if you can find it on YouTube, it's disturbing). We proceeded to completely collapse and pretty much followed Jonah to bed that night.

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Something that's not helping on the recovery from last weekend: I've been getting up with Jonah in the middle of the night the past couple of nights. One night, I'm pretty sure it was an uncomfortable diaper rash that made him restless. He and I had several talks about how learning to use the potty would eliminate such issues. I'm pretty sure it must be something he's eaten over the weekend or something that's causing it because we just don't usually have problems with diaper rash at all. Only when he's sick has it been a problem before. He's also got either a bunch of mosquito bites or some poison ivy on his legs and of course you can't keep a toddler from scratching an itch, so they're all big welts now. I think that might have been the issue last night. I might slather him in Benedryl cream tonight and see if that helps. C'mon, I didn't want to have another kid so I wouldn't have to go through this infantesque nightly waking stuff anymore (well, that's not the only reason).

Tomorrow, Steffany and Lilly arrive to spend the next four days with us. The weekend is full already. Pickin' Party at Warner Parks Friday night, zoo on Saturday, ice cream festival on Sunday. Things I'm going to miss in this already jam packed weekend: Smial discussion of the first 5 chapters of The Two Towers and Ellie's Run for Africa.

How is it that the weekends as they come up appear to be empty but by Thursday are completely full?

We're in Huntsville tonight for Flying Monktoberfest at Flying Monkey. If you like good beer or even just appreciate the freedom to brew it in the privacy of your own garage, you should come out and support the guys trying to make homebrewing legal in Alabama. We're bringing 4 kegs and a cask from our personal stash. It's a free event but donations are strongly requested.

Of course, the week I have a lot to get done, I wake up the second day of it and feel like I've been hit by a bus. My head is killing me, I'm achy all over, I might have a slight fever, my throat feels just raw and my sinuses are throbbing and occasionally bleeding. I've taken some Ibuprophen and a decongestant which will both hopefully kick in soon. The worst part is, being home with Jonah, I just know I'm going to pass it to him and we're going to play another round of sickness musical chairs. We all just got over this maybe two or three weeks ago. When we got back from Atlanta this weekend, Jonah had little bit of a runny nose and a kind of nasty cough. In all fairness, it could be him that gave it to me, whatever it is. Could have something to do with staying up until 1:30am last night, too.

( Enough complaining, on to our weekend at the Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting. )