fanlain and I almost had to answer that philosophical question last night; we were starting to lose hope when it turned past 6 p.m. and no guests had arrived. But finally the two people who RSVP'ed held true to their word and arrived bearing ice cream and wine. We had a nice evening, mostly focused around Soba in both conversation and activities. They really liked the chicken (between brining and using the rotisserie, it ended up being super-moist!) and were surprised to learn that I, and not fanlain, had made it.

I guess the other side effect of holding a party, whether anyone comes or not, is that we got to clean the house. Our kitchen is finally uncluttered (though some of the clutter moved to the office) and the floors are cleaner than they have been in months. The hard part about cleaning our house is that Soba relentlessly tries to attack the mop, broom, or vacuum, and will throw a huge tantrum if we lock her in her crate or outside while we clean. We're seriously considering throwing technology at the problem and getting the Scooba, not as much to save us the work (though that's certainly a welcome bonus), but to be able to run it while we take Soba to the dog park or the farmer's market.

I've been really enjoying how trips to the farmer's market have become our Saturday morning routine. Soba gets to enjoy a nice long walk and lots of attention, and we get to enjoy some tasty treats from Mirabelle's and some fresh stuff from the market. Our trip Saturday was prolonged by delayed baguettes: apparently, Mirabelle's had a power outage in the morning and were behind schedule. They kept promising that the baguettes would come first at 11, then at 11:30, and they finally put two baguettes (still hot!) into my hands just before noon. But we got sit outside, have a leisurly lunch, and talk with an ECE prof and his family, and even say hello to our dean (who didn't remember who I was). I guess that's one of the advantages of living in a small town.

We woke up a bit late this morning, which meant that we missed out on getting a baguette from Mirabelle's and had to settle for a New York Rye bread. But we did make it to the farmer's market. We found it completely devoid of produce, which should perhaps be not surprising, seeing as it's May, but we did buy some meat from the Amish farmers and a couple of basil plants.

Then, after a late breakfast, we were off to Indiana to Shades State Park for a hike. We were told that it was nicer and less crowded than the nearby Turkey Run State Park (why people go to a park run by turkeys, I'll never understand.) Seeing as Shades was, while not crowded, still quite busy, I thikn we made the right choice. We had a small picnic and then hiked over to the Pine Hill preserve to see some pretty neat ridges, only a few meters wide but tall enough to make me slightly nervous about the steep drops on either side. I wonder what caused the ridges to survive while all the surrounding areas eroded away.

On the way home we hit a few geocaches, including one by an old covered bridge. It was fun riding along the back roads of middle-of-nowhere, Indiana, speeding along and watching the rolling hills and the farmhouses pass by. It made me miss my motorcycle a little bit, though there are certain pluses to being inside an air conditioned car on a day like today.

By the time we got home, we were too tired to cook and got chinese takeout instead. The hike itself was not that challenging — the "moderate" rated trail through Shades was, best as I can tell, wheelchar-passable — but we did hike for a reasonable distance, and I'm out of shape. After dinner, my muscles were feeling sore and so I tried to take a bath, though quickly remembered why I usually don't — I could manage to just get my thighs completely underwater if I locked my knees. I can't wait until we move into our new house and can use our nice tub. If all goes well, we'll have access to it in just under 6 days!