(no subject)

So, we found a contractor to fix our house finally. And he's doing amazingly fast work. Which actually is causing it's own, minor problem: he's faster than the insurance money . . . the check from the insurance company to pay the contractor is still in the mail. But that's a much smaller problem than not having a contractor at all.

We spent Saturday at a Lowe's Hardware looking at cabinets, and spent yesterday, Sunday, laying out the kitchen in a way that should be not that much more expensive than previously, but much, much less stupid.

Then we went for a drive. Lis wanted to show me where there was a Dairy Queen near the hotel that we're staying in, so we went that way. It was on the same road as the Lowe's. And we drove past the Dairy Queen, and there was Richardson's Dairy. The Richardson family has had cows in Middleton since about 1690 or so, and, in the twentieth century, switched over to specialize mainly in ice cream -- you can still buy milk, butter, and eggs there, too, but they're an ice cream shop. In fact, most of the small independent ice cream shops in the Boston area sell Richardson's ice cream. Anywhere that doesn't make their own, and isn't part of a chain, odds are, serves Richardson's.

Besides getting ice cream there, they've set aside land for a golf driving range, and a miniature golf course. So Lis and I played mini-golf. It's eighteen holes of mini-golf for $7 per person. They've got two 18 hole courses -- you can spend $12, and play both courses, but we decided to just do one.

Each course is par 42; I got 61, and Lis got 66.

There were a group of teenagers golfing behind us, who were having as much fun as we were, and we ended up joking around with them, as well. It was one of the first really nice days in a long time, and playing mini-golf on a Sunday afternoon is just nice.

We drove out to visit my father after that, because Mom's at a retreat for the weekend, and hanging out with Dad was fun, too.