The last two date nights have been a little nontraditional, but in a good way. Two weeks ago we sent the kids over to a friend’s house and stayed home to do the things we can’t normally do with kids in the house: make a nice quiet dinner of food they don’t like (bacon-wrapped scallops, artichoke, and something else I forgot), watched a movie with the sound turned up, and slept in late. I had forgotten how much I miss simple things. Saturday we went out to a Padres game. This year they have the worst record in the majors but the ballpark is still beautiful. We got to see Dr. Cox from Scrubs throw out the first pitch and the Pads actually won the game, which was the 350th win for future hall-of-famer Greg Maddux, who I’ve always wanted to see pitch since he was traded to San Diego. And, of course, the company was the best part.

You’re probably getting tired of seeing photos of my thermometer, but I have to point out that the unacceptable heat has passed and it was actually cold yesterday. We went from using the air conditioning to using the heat in less than a week, probably a forty-degree swing. In most parts of the country that’s not such a big deal; in fact where we used to live that sort of variation occurred in opposite corners of the yard. Suffice it to say that I’m a little more sensitive to the weather now that I live in San Diego.

The Blackberry still rules, and Jennifer’s will arrive a the end of the week. That’s about all I need to say about that.

We’re now getting to the interesting part of May, which is to say, the part with Anna’s birthday, Mothers’ Day, our wedding anniversary, and various other birthdays within the span of about two weeks. A person with foresight and planning skills would have little to fret about, so it should go without saying that I’m completely frazzled.

Over the weekend I took Anna to the hardware store, which, as it always does, necessitates a trip to the nearby pet store. Luckily they weren’t open yet, but they did have a pen full of rabbits on the sidewalk set up for fondling. Three of them were of the mini rex breed which appears to be the cutest thing ever. Anna loved them, even though they were understandably skittish, and later, I insisted to Jennifer that she must go to the pet store and rub one about her nose and eyes so that we can see how allergic she is to them. I suspect we should notify the shopkeeper first.

Anna has been wanting a pet forever, but Jennifer is allergic to anything furrier than myself, and we suspect Anna isn’t quite up to the task of taking even partial care for a pet. She’ll be seven in a week, though, and she has been acting just a tiny bit more mature lately.