I can't tell you

I can't tell you what a good time I had on my day off Friday. I'd like to share the details and describe what we did, but really, I just can't tell you.

I will say that Gven and I went on a nice little day-trip, but I can't tell you where we went. I had already scheduled the day off to start a nice, long fall weekend, and it just happened to work out that I needed to drop something off to meet a deadline, hence the short trip out of town.

Don't you hate it when you know ahead of time that something has to be finished, but you still end up scrambling at the last minute to complete the final touches? I hate that. The added tension doesn't do anything for my peace of mind or the thought-out, polished quality of the final product that was due on a certain date that I can't tell you about. In the end, alas, it is what it is, and I will have to live with it.

So we got in the car and delivered the unnamed item at the appointed mysterious place, and lo and behold, we had some time to kill. It was a beautiful sunny October day to walk around the little anonymous Swingstate town, so we took our time finding a place to eat lunch. This is something Gven and I have worked hard to perfect in our 32-year relationship - taking our time finding a place to eat.

The restaurant where we ended up had changed significantly since I was last there a few years ago, with an expanded menu, improved service, more seating space, and - to our great surprise - an actual bar, something I never thought I would see in this small town, which shall no nameless. Lunch was delicious. Have you ever had a smoked salmon BLT? Mwah!

After lunch we took a short walk to see what else had changed in the neighborhood. There was a newish bookstore and a craft store/gallery with lots of eye-pleasing textures and a cute little natural food store. Eventually we found ourselves up by the library where our friend Pauline (not her real name) works, but Pauline wasn't working that day, so we couldn't surprise her by popping in. So we kept walking and decided to pop in at the place two blocks away where her husband Chris works, but he wasn't in either.

The drive home was uneventful, but with a little help from Starbuck's we had plenty to talk about, what with the above-mentioned endeavor that I'm not at liberty to discuss. Back at home, I still had some other, unrelated work at my desk, which I can't really talk about, except to say that once again deadlines loom and it couldn't be put off.

I got quite a bit of work done that night while Gven went to a movie with her friends, then we had a long tumultuous discussion about something I would rather not discuss. I did a little more work Saturday in the midst of regular weekend chores around the house, then a big chunk Sunday afternoon and evening.

Except for a little yard work, I spent the whole weekend finishing that project, but, as I'm sure you will understand, I can't tell you what it was. Finally, late Sunday night I attached the documents in question and sent the e-mail notifying the recipient that my part of the project was completed at last. What a relief that was! And it feels pretty good to get all this pent-up information off my chest.