My Weekend Recap, or Why My Co-Workers Are Far More Interesting

One of the more popular features in the Pulse during the past few years has been the Weekend Recap, where one of our staff members relates the wonderful events and activities they enjoyed from the end of the workday on Friday through Sunday evening.

More often than not, this feature has been the purview of our Arts & Entertainment editor, but other staff members have either contributed or filled-in in a pinch. Yet, through all the years I have been with the Pulse, and the several years that this feature has been in existence, the editors have never – not even once – asked if I would like to share my weekend activities with you, my dear readers.

Thus, I am taking it upon myself, for just this one issue, to relate my activities this past weekend. Let me warn you in advance of reading further: Barb was out of town, so I was absolutely free to do whatever came my way or crossed my mind.

Friday evening I got home and unloaded all the various items I carry with me during the course of my business day. I reviewed my email and approved a few ads that had come through from the Pulse’s graphic designer, Renee, and sent a few ads off to clients for approval.

I turned on the local news and opened a cold Coca-Cola, which I relished even though the news (including the national news at 5:30) is inherently depressing. Andrew popped in after completing his day of work to grab a shower before taking off for wherever he takes off to, but I was able to get him to gather his dirty clothes before departure. Scanning the filled laundry baskets I decided that I might as well get started, so I tossed a load in the washer before heading out for an evening walk.

Now that we are firmly established in our apartment, Barb and I have been trying to walk each night. These walks usually are about a mile to a mile and half in length and invariably include a stop at the Piggly Wiggly for one incidental or another. Friday’s walk was no exception.

With Endomundo up and running, (this is a free app on my phone that tracks my route, my mileage, etc. There is a professional version that costs some money, but I am not a professional) I set off on my walk.

Just before arriving at the Pig I crossed the one-mile threshold and my phone announced that I had completed the mile in 18 minutes 17 seconds – a personal best to this point. Feeling quite pleased with myself, I entered to pick up the few incidentals that were required on this evening.

At this point I should mention that when Barb leaves town her chief concern is my eating habits while she is away. So this past Friday, when I walked down the freezer aisle and paused in front of the Family Size Salisbury Steaks (something I had personally consumed on a previous evening when she was out of town) I remembered the leftover beefeater pie she left for me in our refrigerator at home and continued to the bakery section where I purchased a container of nine mini cinnamon rolls topped with cream cheese frosting.

Back home, after a 1.3 mile walk, I took my shoes off, put the first load of wash into the dryer, started a second load of wash, heated my beefeater pie in the microwave, sat down to eat, and turned on the television to watch a baseball game. After dinner, I put away the dishes from earlier in the day, washed the current dishes, and sat down in my recliner to go through the day’s limited mail.

As I digested, I picked up the new issue of The Week, which I read cover to cover with periodic glimpses at the ball game, then worked through their crossword puzzle (in ink, of course!).

By now the game was over, so I went to fold the clothes from the dryer then put them away. Returning to the living room area, the game was over, so I found a silly horror movie and picked up some of the reference materials I had pulled from my shelves during the course of the week to peruse in preparation for my article in the winter issue of Door County Living magazine.

By the time I looked at the clock, it was approaching 11:30 pm, so I put the book aside, turned off the television, and headed to bed.

As I review what I have written so far I realize two things: first, I am rapidly approaching my word limit for this column and I have only covered the excitement of Friday evening. Second, when I compare my personal weekend recap to those written by other staff members, I notice that our usual recaps have lots of pictures of activities and events and mine has lots words and absolutely no pictures of anything (unless the editors let me run a picture of my cool, front-loading, stacked washer and dryer in the closet at the end of the hall in my new apartment).

So, here – in brief – is the summation of my activities on Saturday and Sunday.

I walked an additional four miles; I wash, dried, folded and put away four more loads of wash; I cleaned the cat litter, emptied the garbage cans, and took out the recycling; I ate the remaining leftovers Barb had instructed me to eat; I watched another silly movie, two auto races, another baseball game, and a couple of anime programs; I read the current issue of World Literature Today and more material for my Door County Living article; I swapped out some lightbulbs in some ceiling fixtures for energy-efficient bulbs; I vacuumed the house; and swept out the garage.

Needless to say, my weekends are a bit different from my fellow staff members – but lest you think I am craving pity for my rather mundane life let me state, unequivocally, that – despite the absence of my wife – I had a very nice weekend.