Friday, August 20th
On Friday, CVCA held its first annual ConnectFest. New this year, all faculty members and some staff have a “Connections Group” of 8-12 students. The idea is that we want to give students a place to connect with an adult and with their peers. Connections meets once a week on Thursdays for 45 minutes, and we talk about issues that are of concerns to the group, whatever those things may be. I have a group of ten 11th-grade guys, and Mer has a group of 12th-grade girls. I am very impressed with my guys – they have been much fun to be with the last few weeks.
Anyway, to launch the Connections experience, CVCA held ConnectFest – an afternoon of organized mayhem, designed to break the ice with the groups. We played goofy games, like sitting-down volleyball, dodgeball, odd relay races (like having to track down your own shoes in a pile of shoes). We also filled out getting-to-know-you forms while eating snacks, and also served together as a group as we put together supply bags for a homeless shelter. The weather worked out, and I think most people had a good time. It certainly was a change of pace from the normal school day.
Our friends Matt and Clarice were on vacation, and while they were gone we had agreed to stop by and look in on their cats. Mer and I feel that cats are pretty social creatures and like having people around, so we headed over to Clarice’s apartment and settled in to watch one of her movies (after a quick stop at a drive-in food place, the B and K Drive-in). Mer wanted to watch the musical Hairspray. I was pleasantly surprised by the film. It was fluff, but it was fun fluff. Add in four attention-starved kitties that wanted to snuggle, and it was a pretty great evening.
Saturday, August 21st
Saturday started as many Saturdays of late have started – a long run with my friend Jason. We put in 16-17 miles on the Towpath, and I felt as if that gave me permission to take Mer out to breakfast. On Jason’s recommendation, we headed over to the far northwest side of Akron, to a diner called Egg Castle. I had hoped we would run into Jason there with his daughter, but they were gone by the time we got there. I ordered a huge breakfast that was satisfying, and Mer seemed to enjoy her breakfast as well. I don’t think Egg Castle will surpass Wally Waffle anytime soon, but it was a good place to eat.
Since we were right in the area, and it was my day to be in charge of the fun, we headed over to Summit Mall. I had not been in Summit Mall in years and years, and I wanted to check it out. I was quickly reminded of why I don’t go to traditional malls much anymore – most stores were clothes and not of my taste. There were no bookstores, and the only gadget store was a Brookstone, where things are cool but way too expensive. Oddly, probably in an attempt to compete with open-air malls, Summit Mall had added half a dozen stores to the front of the mall, as a facade that made the place look more like an open-air mall. The outside stores were not even accessible from inside the mall.
It was not a wasted trip, though – we found two restaurants that we did not know we had in the area. The mall had added a PF Chang’s restaurant, and there was a breakfast/lunch place called First Watch that Mer had been to in Florida and had liked very much. Although we are both trying to curb back on eating out some, these were good finds for the future.
We went home and puttered around after the mall trip. That evening, we headed over to Nate and Rachel’s house, and then headed over to Strickland’s ice cream. Nate had fixed Mer’s car, and I wanted to thank him. Plus, it was a great excuse to get ice cream. It was raining lightly, so after we ate our ice cream under the overhang of Strickland’s, we headed back to Nate and Rachel’s house. They put their son to bed, and then we all sat on the front porch in candlelight, talking and listening to the rain fall. Mer and I left at about 9:30, but it was a nice way to spend an evening – good food and good friends.