Last Friday January 27th

Wow! What a fun day Friday was. Yes, it was my 32^nd birthday the day before, but I was really looking forward to Friday.

To begin with, this was my half Friday at work. I woke up, put on my black jeans and a black t-shirt and a twill wool jacket and slipped into my Campers and was off to work. The morning went by quickly – the sun was out.

I left about 10 ‘till noon to meet with my friends in Westport at the office I used to work at. We walked over to the Westport Flea Market to eat lunch. Did I mention it was mid-60’s outside? After catching up, we walked back to the office and I chatted a while with some others who didn’t make it to lunch, but I didn’t stay too long. I didn’t want to overstay my welcome by chatting while the others should be working on billable time.

I then drove a couple of blocks over to the Barnes and Noble on the Plaza. I had this Best Buy gift certificate and list of CD’s that I was interested in. I did my research at B&N, by sampling all the music on my list of bands to check out. Some I liked and some I didn’t. (I know it’s not fair to judge an album by 30 second clips of each song.)

I then proceeded home to pick up Vernal and the boys. I wanted to go to Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. I want the boys to be exposed to museums and galleries at an early age. We parked free on a side street and walked over to the Kansas City Art Institute to check the construction progress of a building that I worked on – The Painting Building. Goose loves all things construction, mostly the trucks at the site. On the campus of the Art Institute, students were sitting and lying out on the lawn – playing frisbee and that sort of thing. Oh, how I miss those days – but my half-Fridays afford me the opportunity to be carefree.

We then walked over to the Nelson. It is free by the way. We walked through a couple of the halls. With Goose trying to touch everything, don’t think I didn’t notice that security guard following us at a safe distance. We didn’t stay long, but it was a good taste. We proceeded to the lawn of the Nelson, ran in the grass, chased down a shuttle cock, and yes I was lying in the grass as Turkey was tackling me. I can’t wait for the new addition to the Nelson to open up. It is designed by the architect Stephen Holl and is made of tubular glass panels. The buildings are stunning at night as they glow like jewels popping out of the ground.

Our next stop was Loose Park just south of the Plaza. The boys now got their turn to have fun and play.

My parents came over later to watch the kids and put them to be. Vernal and I went to the movies – something that we don’t do that often anymore. I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice and now I wanted to see the movie. Do you think Vernal would say no? I noticed I was but one of a few guys and probably the youngest in the crowd. I could tell that the audience was intimate with the book as they were ready to laugh at all the lines they love from the book. This book has a following or is a staple to many women as Lord of the Rings is for the men. After the film ended, I enjoyed listening to the banter about the movie. “Mr. Darcy is hot” said a woman my mom’s age. All women want to fall in love with Mr. Darcy. It was a good movie – now I’ll have to watch the BBC version.

That pretty much sums up my Friday. Good Day!