Barring the apocalypse...

Over the weekend the weather was glorious, so like a true California girl I put on the shorts and flip flops and tank tops and got outside. In addition to a perilous and ultimately fruitless rooftop/antenna experience (story forthcoming), and a bold move of unpredictability (we built a small retaining wall for our flower bed out front without planning ahead for weeks), we also helped my parents transport their new deck furniture.

It's really a lovely patio set—Allen & Roth from Lowe's—that includes a Pottery Barn–like umbrella. We helped them set it up Friday afternoon and planned for Dad to cook out on his new grill (I relished telling him to "throw some shrimp on the barbie").

That's when Mom realized that the afternoon sun lights the front of their house, not the back. We wouldn't be needing the umbrella for evening meals.

"I had visions of us eating as the sun sets with the umbrella keeping it out of our eyes!" she lamented. And then: Gold. "Do you think it'll come back around?" she asked, hopefully.

"Yeah, it might," I told her, "...tomorrow morning." And we made fun of her for the rest of the night.