What a lovely day...

Oh man, I had a great day today.

Eric and I headed over the mountains Friday afternoon with a reluctant and sulky Inkwell, who forgave us as soon as he was let out of his travel box at my folks' home and realized he was in the house-of-great-hiding-places again.

This morning started with a freshly baked batch of orange biscuits prepared by my wonderful mother. Ah... bliss.

After breakfast and a shower, Eric and I headed to Totem Lake to the comic shop of our friend Paige for Free Comic Book Day. We got there early and stood in line with other shop patrons.

"open open open!"

It was a bright sunny day in the Seattle area, comfortably warm but not hot. One of the guys in line had brought a case of water and handed out bottles to folks who needed it.

Once the shop opened, we all headed in. It's been ages since I've been in a comic shop and I just had to stand and bask in it for a bit. I was delighted to be there. I've missed Free Comic Book Day the last few years because I was always working that weekend.

The limit was 10 of the free comics per family. In addition to the free stuff, Eric purchased a couple of trade paperbacks. It was a good haul. After about 20 minutes, we headed out.

A tiny portion of the free comics.

There's a specialty shop in Redmond called "The British Pantry" and I hoped to visit them. As it happened, we got a little lost and turned around because Redmond has changed dramatically since we lived there. There are tall apartment houses all over the place now. It's actually a bit daunting. But we eventually found the shop, in the same place it's been. Everything else is changed, but it's still there and they still had custard pies and Nanaimo bars. We also bought a British treat called Wagon Wheels, because we were headed to a Doctor Who party with a Western theme.

We took our purchases to Half-Price Books and ate custard pies and Nanaimo bars in the parking lot before going in to wander the bookstore. Eric found an Oz book he wanted, I just looked. It was so neat to be in an actual bookstore again.

After the bookstore, we visited Redmond Town Center and wandered. There is a comic shop there, so we stopped and got more free comics, another trade paperback and I bought a DC Bombshells Mera shot glass. Then we visited Stone Cold Creamery for some ice cream. Bliss!

We wandered back to the car, then visited a grocery store to get another food contribution for the potluck party. Then it was back to Totem Lake to the house of a friend for the party itself. We got there a bit early, and while Eric chatted with the video specialist (Hi Dan!) as he was setting up the day's shows, I sat down on the bed in the relatively quiet bedroom to rest for a moment. About an hour and a half later I was woken by people arriving loudly and went out to join the party.

I'm not a very social person, but I enjoyed the fun, chatting a bit before retreating into a book. It was a relaxing afternoon. Lots of good food at the party, so I think any dieting effort was blown out of the water today.

It's nearly 10 p.m., and I think it's time to rest for the drive back tomorrow... assuming we can find Inkwell to get him back into his travel box. He may be reluctant to leave again.