It's that time of year, when friends start magically appearing from far corners of the country, gathering for a weekend in which we really don't have a lot of stuff actually planned.

I picked up Gareth tonight at the airport, fresh in from the other side of the planet. The Atlanta->Huntsville flight was early, as usual, and Gareth actually arrived at the Huntsville airport before I did. He was at the baggage claim counter, calmly speaking with an attendant."Where will you be staying while you're here?" she asked. Gareth turned to me, and I recited my address.

"Lost a bag, eh?"

"Yep."

"How many?"

"Only one I checked. I saw it in Atlanta, though, so I know it at least made it to the States." A bit of a relief, that; always nice to know what continent your luggage is on. "I did pack things like a razor and whatnot in my carryon, so it's not like I'll be desperate in the meantime."

Things will get quite a bit wacky here in the next few days. Gareth stays with us tonight, but will move to a hotel sometime tomorrow. Jess arrives on Friday night, and will be here through Monday. Heather and Andy arrive on Saturday; Andy is only staying until Sunday, but Heather is staying until either Monday or Tuesday, and then returning on Thursday. Jody (the Great Oompa) is crashing here just for Saturday night.

…and this is just my house. Kat and Sean are hosting another crew entirely.

Friday night will be rounds of Settlers of Catan at Kat and Sean's, for whoever's interested. Saturday afternoon we'll figure out as we go along—some kind of evil scheme always gets cooked up, and it's impossible to predict in advance what it will be. Saturday night, we've made quasi-reservations for 20 at our favorite Cajun place in town. I think we'll do a bit of damage to their beer reserves.

Saturday night we'll undoubtedly destroy my kitchen, mix some drinks, watch some movies, tell some really wretched lies, and get some really incriminating photos. You know, standard geekfest stuff. We'll have pancakes on Sunday morning if we can convince someone to make them. Otherwise, we're probably going out for dim sum. Either way, I'm going to blow through a mind-boggling number of sheet and towel sets this weekend. Not to mention that I'll take a lot of pictures.

It's going to take my cats weeks to forgive me for this. They are going to go out of their little feline minds when they realize that there are strange people sleeping in their guest bedroom, their computer room, and on their sofa.

Anyone need a couple of really spoiled cats for a weekend? I think mine might need to go on a vacation while we turn their house upside down.

Meanwhile, Jeff and Gareth are sitting in the living room, watching the American version of Junkyard Wars. Those cackling noises are getting louder and louder. Perhaps I should investigate. Leaving the two of them together in a room tends to have dangerous results (house wired for ethernet, new computer equipment magically installed, neural interfaces created). I'd better go see what's happening before the house explodes.