Rootbound

Friday afternoon I took a co-worker over to watch a testing session with a local firm we're working with. It was interesting and I learned some things about their company and their processes, so it was definitely worthwhile.

That evening I had dinner with Kevin, Kim, and Matt in Factoria and then went to see Kevin and Kim's "new" apartment. They've only been there a month or two, but neither of us had seen it yet. I liked it. Lots of space and multiple levels. I'm sure I'll be over there again soon.

Saturday I read, got comics, and then met Shane and Cathy over at the University district Red Light to look for clothes for Shana's disco-skating birthday party later in the evening. Most of their clothes are for people that don't go beyond one X in front of their L's. So no luck there. Which was okay because I'd sort of resigned myself to not going in 70's threads. I wasn't in a big party mood anyway.

When I finally found the place (I got lost for a while) I was very amused by the outfits a lot of the people had. Fashion in the 70's was atrocious. Really. Shana had invited everyone she knew so it was a very unusual group, lots of people who knew each other well, tenuously, and not at all, including her parents, her friend Marie from San Diego, and the guy she's interested in who flew in from Atlanta for the party.

Since this was a skate party I had to try my hand (er, feet?) at skating. I don't think I've been on roller skates for about 22 years. My center of gravity is very different than when I was 13. I was very out of sorts initially, but after two or three times around the rink I'd remembered how to skate and was probably doing better than most. It was fun, but I can definitely feel it in my left outer thigh. Yeah, I know that sounds odd, but we kept going in circles and my left leg was the one that took the brunt of the punishment because it had to control my turns, my right leg just supplied power.

After the party a number of us went to the bar in the hotel where her parents were staying and chatted for a while. I had a great time talking to Katie. We have a good time together. When everyone was finished there, Marie, Katie, and I went to another bar and then to IHOP so they could have a late-night snack. I finally dropped them off at about 3:30 and I was in bed by 4:00.

I slept until 11:00, did laundry, read, and repotted a plant, hence the name of this post. See, this particular plant had been turning a bit brown and some of its leaves were drying out completely. I hadn't changed the way I'd been watering it and the temperature has been fairly consistent -- maybe a little cooler than in the summer, but it hasn't been that bad. Anyway, I figured I had to repot it, so yesterday I picked up a new pot and some potting soil. I had a hard time pulling the plant out, but when I finally did I learned what "rootbound" meant. The roots had wrapped around the dirt so that I couldn't see the dirt at all. Plus, a couple of the roots had grown out the drainage holes . . . which made it difficult to pull the plant out. Now the plant has a new home in a spiffy new pot (not the plastic faux-terra cotta one it came in) and will hopefully rebound quickly. Repotting that plant makes me think I should repot the other two plants I've had for a couple of years now. They probably need it.

I saw something earlier today on T.V. that said this is the 16th season of The Simpsons. That means that there are people in college who don't remember a time when The Simpsons weren't on television. Wow.

Time to go play some City of Heroes before bed.