weekend choices (lyn)

It being New York and it being the fall, there are many things to do on the weekend, and you can’t do them all.  So to use an SNL expression, here’s my weekend update:

Friday 

I Could:

• ·      Go see the new Houdini exhibit at The Jewish Museum with Penny.
• ·      See a free screening of a movie I don’t care about in the evening.
• ·      Watch a Netflix movie that I’ve had since November 3.

I Should:

• ·      Exercise.

I Do:

• ·      Buy Alexander a couple of T-shirts at Bloomingdales because they are on sale from $38 to $9 (I think they may have been marked wrong).
• ·      Finish up the zero calorie squash soup that isn’t horrible but not something I would ever make again.
• ·      Give advice to a friend whose docile cat hisses at her for no reason (internet research suggests that the cat may be harboring a grudge).
• ·      Have coffee with Penny in late afternoon and catch up on life, hers more than mine, as she recently has so much drama in it.
• ·      Celebrate Alexander’s birthday again when Karen and the kids stop over with a creative handmade card and extraordinary Beats by Dr. Dre high resolution head phones; Alexander loves this gift; the kids eat cookies and cake and Karen and I make the mistake of joining them.
• ·      Eat only a small leftover dinner of lobster salad on a 100-calorie sandwich thin.

Saturday

I Could:

• ·      Go with Robyn to an auction of Bernie Madoff’s household items, from a magnificent 10.5-carat diamond engagement ring (that goes for $550,000) to used cuticle scissors.
• ·      See a free screening of a movie I do care about in the afternoon with a friend I haven’t seen in too long.
• ·      Join Zelia for a movie at night.

I Should:

·      Exercise.

·      Watch the Netflix movie I still have, American History X.

I Do:

• ·      Go watch the Horace Mann Lion’s play the last game off the season.  Despite a 1-6 season, they miraculously make it into the playoffs where they loose to a rival team.  The boys play well and the parents are exuberant in their cheers.  I eat two pieces of Costco apple pie after the game but manage to avoid both pasta entrees and the bread and the cookies and the brownie bites.
• ·      Receive a letter from the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board; it was issued two days after the hearing, much quicker than I thought.  Another miracle.  The judge agrees with my arguments and I win the case.  This won’t result in much money, but it does make me feel good.
• ·      Have dinner alone while Alexander has a birthday dinner with Eric’s parents.  Settle on a veal chop from Agata’s.
• ·      Read some Harlan Coben, one of my favorite writers. 

 Sunday

 I Could:

• ·      Go to a Brooklyn Pie Bake-Off Benefit where for only $10, I can have three slices of competing pies (obviously not a weight-watcher-friendly event).

I Should:

• ·      Watch the Netflix movie I still have, American History X.

I Do:

• ·      Exercise, by effortlessly walking with Penny to an off-Broadway play on 8^th Street (about 3.5 miles).
• ·      Meet Robyn at The Public and see That Hopey Changey Thing, a well-acted, sometimes interesting (but mostly not) one-act play.
• ·      Have swordfish, roasted tomatoes and mashed potatoes for dinner, but then have a piece of Alexander’s birthday cake of about a million calories.  Glad it’s now finished.
• ·      Decide not to argue with Alexander when he tells me at 11, “I’ll be up very late tonight studying for a Stat test.  Don’t say a word.”  I don’t.