We Braved the Weather

On the twentieth of December I wrote that I was busy writing and typing when my friend came home.  I thought she was at the salon but she had actually gone to meet old coworkers at the old job site to get a fancy coat.  I let her in and her roommate was in the hallway.  My friend thought I was gone but I wanted to dine with her.  We braved the weather to have linguini at Woodbridge.  My friend’s old roommate was there working and she helped us out.  She was ecstatic when she heard about our event.

The meal was delicious.  I said bye and caught and N to the house.  The train had to turn back so I looked into the 7 at Stanyan but was barely able to catch an N to Ninth instead.  I took the bus from there.  I texted my buddy to see if he would be at the event.  At home the room was a mess and I didn’t know what to do about it.

I found the parents upstairs when I came in.  I had been short with them but settled into talking about my friend’s roommates.  I also talked a bit about the coming event.  I noted that mom didn’t really understood what was happening the next day.  They had gone to bed by the time that I sat down for TV watching.  I was in bed at around 12.

The next morning I had trouble waking up so I sent a text message from my dream and my friend called me.  She was off to get flowers.  I got a message from my sister saying that it was really nice out and that the event would do alright.  I went up and had cornflakes and no coffee and returned to the room to make a printout for the celebrant and don my only suit.

I was wearing my black coat and top hat was I walked down 44th with my large umbrella.  Everyone at Andytown commented on my hat but my friend’s old coworker was not there so I got on the N and had coffee at 9th.  I read the Beacon there and then passed by the Shamrock but they were closed.  I sat down for a few ryes and got into a conversation with a man who had moved to SF from Oregon fifty years before.

I texted mom, dad and little sister that I was meeting the celebrant at the Pavilion then.  This tipped my sister off and she let the family know that something was afoot.  On the way I stopped some guy that was driving too fast and honking and told him to calm down.  I got lost after crossing the stone bridge but it turned out fine.

The celebrant was already at the Pavilion and we sat talking for a while.  I had typed up the script and gave it to him.  We chose a spot and discovered later that it was a bit dark.  My friend’s buddy approached a bit later and let us know that my friend was a short distance away with her family.  Shaun said he was only a short distance away.  They walked up later and my family came in only a few minutes later.  I had glimpsed them across the water.  My brother and brother-in-law had gotten lost.

We only had to wait for my nephew and his father who were at a school basketball game.  I noted that things were hard to recall at that point since my friend was intent upon descending and my sister thought we would want to forget about her husband.  However, it turned out fine since they both walked up at the same time.  We began the event then.

My friend’s boss took photos and there were cupcakes.  We ate and drank sparkling wine then.  One of my brothers-in-law to get into family photos then but we kicked him out.  After the photos were done we wrapped up and agreed to meet at various locations.  I told my older brother to meet me at the Shamrock.  My friend and I walked through the park then and saw her family pass us in their different cars.

My friend agreed to meet me and her family at Chow then and my brother bought me a drink.  I forgot my umbrella at the bar on the way to the restaurant.  There I sampled the pizza and the beer and then we again set off to the brewery to meet mom and dad and the rest of the family for her birthday dinner.

I noted early on that my friend’s mom’s table was separate but I complained.  Mom wasn’t happy about that but later the manager moved our table for us.  There were more than enough seats.  I hung out at the bar with my brothers-in-law and later went upstairs and sat with my older brother.  My friend’s family sat nearby but she sat with me too.

One of my cousins showed up then and I only talked to her for a bit but later I talked to her about the reunion and old classmates.  After that we sang mom happy birthday and I ate too much of mom’s ice cream.  I wished my friend’s mom a happy birthday (I stayed away from her ice cream).  Later We went down and had a beer until I realized that I had left my umbrella at the Shamrock.  Everyone had gone at that point so my friend and I took a cab to get the umbrella.

I got up super late the next morning and after initially getting oriented decided to brave the weather and head over to Palmer’s to have brunch with my friend.  However, we went to Whole Foods first and had coffee because we knew we would have to chase a 22 before riding up Fillmore to Washington.  We started to feel a lot better after having food and then we walked around the shops on FIllmore before hopping a bus with a well known man from North Beach.

Later, back at home, I was going through my things when my brother came down.  I went upstairs with him and helped him with Google Voice.  Later mom and dad came back from church and I helped mom make dinner.  We talked about the bypass in Willits then and I tried calling a college classmate.  Another classmate had messaged me and some others had also checked in.  I started writing.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.