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I had a really nice weekend! Friday, bff brought her new dog Orso over for a second visit. He was even more hyper than he was during the first visit--despite bff having him pee before he entered the house, Orso still lightly sprinkled the loveseat before bff could stop him--but it's all loveable goofball as opposed to something more dangerous. Bff thinks, and I agree, that he's going to be a lovely, lovely dog...after a few years and at least one trip to obedience school (which he starts this week). And yes, he still went straight for Dad and was happiest when Dad was petting him 😁

Saturday, I went to one of the many, many local festivals the towns around me put on. This time, it was Fairport Harbor's "Mardi Gras". The festival seems to suffer from a serious identity crisis; it's the weekend of the 4th of July, so it has that patriotic thing going on, it's called "Mardi Gras" despite not being on Fat Tuesday (town officials said someone suggested the name all those many years ago when the festival started and it just stuck) and this year, the theme was "Christmas in July". I didn't see much in relation to that theme; there was a couple booths with garland and ornaments hung around, and supposedly the parade had Santa Claus. I left the festival feeling like it was maybe one of those things that the people who grew in there love but outsiders think "meh, it was a festival". I'd debated getting something to eat at the festival but balked when I saw my beloved (Swiss) cheese on a stick was up to $7. Only a few years ago, it only cost me $3. One nice thing...there's a lighthouse at Fairport Harbor that has a museum that seems to never be open. It was open Saturday, so I got to finally go through it and then climb to the top of the lighthouse and enjoy some spectacular views. The museum was reasonably interesting (though I wish there was some warning by a display that has incredibly disturbing content involving an animal), and I thought it was adorable that when you climb back down from the top of the lighthouse, you get a ribbon announcing you'd been to the top of the lighthouse. Honestly, there weren't all that many steps--69, and there's two platforms to rest on before you get to the top--but the steps are steep and narrow and curvy of course (which messed a little with my equilibrium), and there's a ridiculously narrow opening onto the top platform that required some twisting and bending to get to, so the ribbon was a nice reward.

Yesterday, I met bff, our two mutual friends from college, the one friend's husband, her daughter and that friend's bff for dinner at Yours Truly. I find I don't generally like going out in groups of more than four because you wind up with separate conversations going on, and I'm kind of indifferent to YT (and with a limited income these days, I don't like to "waste" my dining out funds on a "meh" restaurant). But it was still a good time. The one friend's daughter graduated from high school a few weeks ago and will be attending college in a town about an hour away, which means my friend--who lives in NY--will have even more reasons to come back to NE OH for a visit. I haven't seen the daughter since she was 10...she's studying acting and music. She was so sweet and easily joined in conversations with people she barely knows...and she's really pretty. I can see her being a successful actress one day--not just saying that because she's my friend's daughter. We all had some good discussions...and some mediocre food <g>.

Here's the question...if you're married or dating someone and/or have kids, and you go out to eat with friends, do you generally sit next to your loved one? I was thinking about this...last night, friend, friend's hubby and friend's daughter arrived last. None of them sat together; hubby was next to me, friend sat next to her bff and friend's daughter got the chair pulled over at the end of the table. I'd made a comment before they got there about them maybe wanting to sit together and friend's bff said nah, they'd been together all day and maybe wanted a break from each other. It made me think about the meal after my nephew's law school graduation two months ago...when I got there, BIL was already there but Sis had left in a different car. I sat on the same side as BIL but left an empty seat between us for Sis; when she arrived, she was surprised to see a seat next to her husband open. Is that not a thing? I've never been married, nor do I have children...all their lives, whenever my folks went anywhere that wasn't a family gathering (church events, graduation parties, etc.), they sat next to each other. I thought that was just the norm. Do you, SZer, usually sit next to a loved one at a gathering? Or do you prefer to sit with others since you see your loved one all the time?