Lord I was born a ramblin' man.....

Busy fun weekend!!!

JJ and his van came to visit yesterday. I took half a day off work and we hung out in the afternoon with Sophie. Raya's folks took Sophie to dinner. Meantime, we went with JJ and Shira out to dinner (Rogue Tavern, excellent) and then to WorkPlay to see a couple of bands, Carbon Leaf and Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers.

Great show! I love WorkPlay as a venue, and both bands really put on a great, high energy, very entertaining show. SK & the Sixers did a "Time of My Life" tribute to Patrick Swayze, and in the final encore, both bands (along with the first opening act, whose set we missed) did a great cover of "Ramblin' Man." We had a blast, lots of jaw-hurting laughter. The night of course wasn't complete without a visit to our neighborhood pub, Crestwood Tavern. :)

This morning, we saw JJ off to Florida, and after a yummy Pancake House breakfast, we headed to Emanu-El for a special Shabbat morning service featuring Rick Recht. Rick is a great Jewish singer-songwriter. Raya and I saw him for the first time several years back in Washington DC, and this was his second trip to Birmingham. Lots of fun! Afterwards, we hung out with pizza and milkshakes in TEE's sukkah and on the playground!!

While Sophie took her nap, Raya and I finished constructing our own sukkah, as we're having people (15 of them!) over for a Sukkot cookout tomorrow. Sophie helped us finish the decorating after she woke from her nap.

Watching a little football now -- Auburn vs. Tennessee, one of the few times I'd ever root for Auburn! Early bedtime tonight, I imagine, as we only got about 5 hours sleep last night.

Raya's amusing Facebook stati from last night:

• Raya wants JJ to go take a shower!!!!
• Raya is glad that JJ is brushing his teeth!
• Raya is going out tonight! Woohoo! Look out, Birmingham!!!!!!
• Raya is not getting in JJ's hot tub...
• Raya regrets to inform you that JJ doesn't actually have a hot tub...but he does have a van which I am not going to sleep in!
• Raya is letting my troubles roll by!
• Raya thanks Leslie for the Carbon Leaf CD! Awesome!
• Raya will bring the cup if you bring the moonshine...
• Raya is @ my 3rd bar of the night!
• Raya is going to be in a band called Flashlights & Beers!