Weekend at random

Great weekend -- a long one since Friday was a vacation day.

Helped son Dan move out of his New Jersey college off-campus housing to his new apartment in Fairfax, Va. on Friday. A very long driving day -- 7-plus hours behind the wheel of a rented cargo van out of 9 -- but it was worth it. He's transferred to George Mason University, and it's going to be nice to have him closer to home.

Did my training for Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic in the District Saturday morning. Think I can be a real help here, reading and producing filed for college and high school textbooks for those in need. Plus it's cool to have a reason to get into D.C. more often. Learning this city is one of my goals this year.

Then Dan and I went to volunteer at "ReStore," in Purcellville, Va. Saturday afternoon. It's a store of used items, the sale of which raises money for Habitat for Humanity. Put in about 2 1/2 hours putting donated items together or on display and working to help customers load stuff into their cars. I'll definitely back. I love Habitat but don't have the greatest home repair skills in the world. This is a good way to get involved.

Biggest plus of the weekend has been the unexpected visit by daughter Katie and her husband Nick, who just finished a week at the beach in Delaware with members of Nick's family. They knew Megan was leaving for William & Mary on Thursday and took the opportunity to spend the night and say good luck. Very cool.

Sunday morning I was on to lector at 7:30 a.m. Mass -- ouch -- but everyone got out of bed and came to the early Mass. Rewarded them all by springing for breakfast at the Silver Diner in Reston.

Lots of stuff coming up...Megan to William & Mary...flying to Florida to do some writing training for the Fort Myers News-Press staff; seeing Billy Crystal at the National Theater. The nest may soon be empty, but I doubt the schedule will ever get dull.

Later.