It's Finished!!

Well, mostly anyway. Jason stayed home this weekend while I went to the lake (more about that later) and he & Greg cut all the last bricks that needed to be cut. Then tonight Greg, Jason and I swept the sand block (sand that turns to concrete when moistened) into the cracks. Jason used yet another rental power tool - this time a plate compactor, which stamped down all the pavers ensuring they were all securely and evenly in place. Then we swept some more sand, and finally Jason sprayed the patio off to solidify the sand. All that's left is the steps and the landscaping surrounding the patio. It looks so awesome!! Can't wait to go get patio furniture so we can sit back and enjoy it!

So that was Jason's weekend. Mine was much more relaxing. I had a work field trip to Monmouth, IL on Thursday night and Friday. We have a 400-acre research farm in Monmouth and they provide tours showing what technologies we are currently marketing and what is in the pipeline. It is very interesting!We got back to St. Louis at about 5:00 Friday night, and I picked Melissa up for a trip to the lake. It was my annual trip with my family and friends, and this time my friends from San Francisco AND my friends from Chicago were there - it was fun times! Saturday was a perfect day at the lake: got up early and went to the huge outlet mall (110 outlet stores!) while it was overcast outside, piled onto the boats at about noon, right as it got sunny and hot for the day, anchored the boats in a cove, lazed around in the water whilst drinking some adult beverages, at about 4:00 piled back in the boats and headed to a bar for their famous Pain in the Ass frozen drinks, and then headed back to the condos for dinner followed by the left-right-center dice game (bonus: Melissa won $54!). I mean, what more can you ask for on a lake trip? Maybe more than just one day's worth of that, but other than that, I can't think of anything.

My oldest friends in the world - Jules, Laura & Steve:

Neighbors! Melissa & me:

Hangin' out:

The San Franciscans, Laura & Paul:

Jeff & Jenn:

The Chicagoans (2 of 4), Adam & Jules:

The big winnings!

Sunday Jason and I went to the Cardinals game and sat in the Monsanto suite with my coworkers. It was about 100 degrees out, so we were very lucky to be in the air condition. It also happened to be one of the most exciting games of the season! To top it off, a few colleagues from Brazil were there, and though they don't have baseball in Brazil, they made a trip to the mall the day before and were all fully decked-out in Cards gear. It was cute. Plus, they were making it a point to learn the rules of the game and were super-excited when Troy Glaus hit a home run to take the lead and later (after Izzie tried to blow yet another game) when Aaron Miles hit a walk-off grand slam. High fives all around!