The backblog bug has struck again – this entry is for two Saturdays ago, the same day I ran my half marathon (September 27th). It was Mer’s Date Day – she was in charge (other than my race – she was very patient with that even though it was certainly not her idea!).

After I cleaned up from the race, Mer took me out for brunch. We headed the short distance to Big Boy, where they had a breakfast buffet available. Mer took advantage of the buffet, but I just had to try the cinnamon French toast. It was nice to just sit and eat after the morning excursion.

Mer ran a few errands while I napped, but then took me a little north to a movie theater to see the movie Fireproof. Mer had seen it just the day before, but she liked the film and likes to share such things, so she was willing to see it again. I knew very little about Fireproof, except that churches were endorsing it. I liked it quite a bit. It is explicitly a Christian movie with a Christian perspective. I thought they did a very good job of portraying tough situations, given that movies can only be about two hours long. I suspect that the movie will be lampooned for having a happy ending, but many movies have happy endings, so I cannot fault it for that. Probably if the name of Jesus were removed from the film and was replaced with self-help language instead, the movie would be getting average to good reviews (the IMDB reviews are mostly polar – either 10’s or 1’s). Anyway, I think the film was good – I don’t think it was a 10, but it was certainly a 7. It made me misty in a couple of places, and actually made me cry in at least one spot (I have a soft spot for men who sacrifice and/or try to get better).

We went home again after the movie. We had theater plans in the evening, so I got spiffed up in my suit. Mer then took us out to dinner – two meals in one day! We headed northward, and ended up at Chick-fil-a. And me in a suit! We had coupons for free sandwiches, and Mer wanted to use them. The fun irony is that it turns out that the coupons were for another location, so we could not use them. Still, I really like Chick-fil-a sandwiches (and their cookies-and-cream shakes!), so that was well. After dinner, Mer had more in store – we went to Starbucks to get dessert, using a gift card that a student gave Mer (I’m still boycotting Starbucks, but will go there when given a gift).

After the food-fest was over, we headed to Hudson to see the first play of the season at Actors’ Summit. I have no record of ever paying for them, but somehow it turns out that we bought season tickets for Actors’ Summit last May, so we get another year of good theater. On this evening, we saw a musical called Main-Travelled Roads, based on the some short stories by Hamlin Garland. It was about turn-of-the-century Wisconsin, and featured four actors who each played at least two roles. I always enjoy seeing multiple role plays because I like to see how actors use voice and posture and body language to define character. The play was well acted, and the singing was very fine. All music was provided by solo piano. The actual story was only okay. I’m not sure why it was not more gripping, but it wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong – it was still a fun evening, but I did not feel very invested in the characters.

A run-13-miles, eat, movie, eat, theater sort of day is a busy but happy one.