The (Labor Day) Weekend! (01-Sep-25)
Alien: Fate of the Nostromo
Yes, this is late, but it was also Labor Day weekend, so there was a bonus day to cover!
Friday: I was going to take an entire day of PTO, but there was a meeting I had to attend for a project I am working on, so fuck it, I worked for a couple/few hours (which was fine, because Shalee could not get the day off). We were still able to leave around 4:30 to head to East Lansing for the home opener against Western Michigan University. I fully admit I had almost no desire to go to the game, but once we were parked and on campus I was again happy that I was back at MSU.
Saturday: Woke up to play pickleball for a couple of hours with my regular pickleball group, so yes, that meant getting yet another massive donut from Bostwick Bakery before I played. Went home, had lunch, showered, and helped Shalee to reclaim the kitchen and get some laundry done, before heading over to a friend-of-a-friend’s house to play Alien: The Fate of the Nostromo boardgame. I had a fucking blast geeking out and playing a game within my favorite franchise; and bonus, my friend, Chris, brought me a yellow watermelon, my favorite!
Sunday: Slept in a little and then reached out to the girls to see what their plans were for the day. Much to our surprise they were both very eager to go to John Ball Zoo as a family; after purchasing a year-long membership (which will hopefully force us to finally go to the Detroit Zoo soon, and maybe to the Schedd Aquarium!) we spent a few hours looking at animals and just spending quality time with the ladies. After we all went out to dinner, we took a moment and recognized how special it was for us all to spend the day together, and then Shalee and I went to a showing of The Roses before having a chill night at home.
Monday: Slept in a little more yet, had breakfast, discussed potential plans for the day with Shalee, and then off we went to Holland State Park to enjoy what could very well be our last beach day of 2025. I took a break from reading The Mote In God’s Eye because I got an alert that The Emperor of Gladness was available on Kindle from my library and I accidentally said to check the book out now instead of deferring for a couple of weeks; that said, I read a good chunk of it on the beach today (25% done), and I am enjoying the book even though it is not sci-fi nor an autobiographical book authored by a woman who has survived some horrible trauma, which are apparently the only two genres I tend to read with regularity.
Had a lovely dinner at The Unicorn Tavern with Shalee as we capped off the weekend before heading home to play video games with my brother on this, his 40th birthday.
The summer has gone by far too fast and I am still quite upset about that, but not upset enough to not enjoy a lovely weekend with my family and some friends.
It was perfect. No notes.
The Daily: loosely grouped thoughts, three sentences or less
The Weekend: A version of the The Daily covering the weekend’s events. Duh.
© 2025 Michael A. Diaz
