An Exhausted Weekend

I don't know if it's the flickering of the fluorescent lights this morning, but as soon as I got into the office this morning... BAM! A headache just popped me a good one. I guess this slight cold isn't helping much either, but these lights really suck ass.

Well, as the title somewhat tells ya... I had a pretty exhausted weekend. It was an okay weekend, didn't really reach the exact measure I would have hoped for... but I suppose it was still okay. I do think I have to go back and see what I had written on Friday, since I had not written anything since... just give me a sec. I think I'll go start a pot of hot water for some Neo-citron too... yeah, that's the ticket.

Alright, I think I'm all caught up now...

Friday's lack of plans was somewhat of a blessing. I didn't necessarily want to spend a great deal of money, especially since I invested in my Bertuzzi Olympic jersey. So, the eventual plan for the evening was to head over to Jeff's place for some pool and poker and just have a nice quiet one. On the way home, I stopped at the liquor store to pick up the ingredients for the weekend... a case of Keith's and a bottle of Brandy... then a stop at Royal Food to grab some Red Bull (for the Brandy) and that was that. I had a couple beers at the house before heading over to Jeff's place where I took the Brandy & Red Bull.

At Jeff's house, there was quite a bit of uncomfortable hostility in the air... especially for me, still new to meeting the family and such. Jeff, his Mom and Grandma were all pressing each others buttons, since no one really had any patience for one another anymore. Jeff was moving the contents of his room down to another room in the basement, which was bigger and such and then moving the house's office upstairs into his old room. The house is a fair sized place, but the hallways and some rooms aren't really big enough for two people as it is, let alone having someone trying to figure out where to put things or co-ordinate other people to get the job done in a reasonable span of time. So add that with the lack of patience and wow... was that ever a spectacle of uncomforableness.

Eventually, after a drink halfway through helping out, we finished up the job and proceeded to make our way downstairs to the pool table. Jay eventually showed up with his joyful enthusiasm to be back with the guys and we were off for the evening. Unfortunately, we were the only three guys there, which didn't make for the biggest party but we did what we could.

It wasn't too long before Jeff's Mom, Pam, joined our three-guy party and made for a foursome for pool again. That sorta turned the evening sour for Jeff, as he doesn't really like it when his Mom hangs around the guys, especially when she's had a little bit to drink. It's sort of obvious as to why he isn't partial to it... Pam, when drinking, goes into a real bad state of reminiscing about her late daughter, Jen. Well, the photos came out and the flow of playing pool disappeared to the photos and thoughts and stories and anyone could tell that Jeff had sort of lost his mojo for the evening, so to speak.

Once the pool had stopped, we plugged in the Saturday Night Live 25th Anniversary DVD to get us laughing again. Somewhat of a must after the evening thus far. Pam had decided to show up and watch that with us as well... which sent Jeff further back, slouched into the big comfy chair in the room.

When the DVD eventually ended... Jay and I had left... it was just before 4am. I had gotten home and gave both Lars and Barry each a call before passing out at about 4:30am.

Saturday, I eventually got my sorry ass up at about 10:30am. I was in dire need of a shot of cranberry juice and a cup of coffee. Both of which were readily available when I got up... thank goodness. The plan for Saturday was quite simple... give Amber a call to see if she's free for the afternoon and then wait on Barbara's call to see if she's free to get together later in the evening.

Around lunch time, I finally got a hold of Amber and she had said that she'd be out and about for the early part of the afternoon, but she said she'd give me a bell later on to see what I was up to. In retrospect, I made somewhat of a mistake by saying that I had absolutely nothing on my plate to do... so inadvertinly saying that I was relying on her to give me something to do. D'oh! I sort of knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as the words had left. It's not that I'm trying to go out with her... but I'm thinking that the air of desperation just doesn't work between friends either.

So, since Amber was busy for the early part of the afternoon, Jeff was busy pretty much all day and early evening (with going to the STARS Air Ambulance Gala that night)... I called up Benny to see what he was up to. He had told me that his Dad was stopping by for a bit, but then would be willing to go out for a bit. That was alright... I didn't quite feel like getting too motivated at that point anyways... so I lazied about for a bit, got a shower in and got dressed before he called a while later and said he was ready to do something.

The plan was sort of just kill some time really... and the best way to do that on the weekend, and I think Benny would agree, was go to the mall and look at some girls. So, I picked him up and we headed into town... we pulled into the parking lot across MacLeod Trail from Chinook Centre and just walked over. There's very little I hate more in this city than the parking lot at Chinook. It has got to be one of the worst parking lots ever! In there, we coasted through the mall taking in what we could and having a really good laugh about the whole thing. From one end to the other we went before stopping into the Joey Tomato's for a beer and a bite to eat... and to well, continue on with the time-killing plan. On the way to Joey's though... we passed by this absolutely stunning brunette, with a great revealing top on and well... if only I could include sound clips on this post, but before she even passed by, I happened to let slip and medium-to-low sounding 'waaaaa.' Needless to say, I was pretty shocked that it even slipped from my mouth, which I had also made mention to Benny... but we both agreed it was definitely worth it.

In Joey's, we had some pretty terrible service from a girl we actually had weeks before... I'm sure I posted it when it happened. This tiny, little waitress, Dresden... she avoided the two of us like the plague. All in all, it was a pretty quick beer, order of Sweet Chilli Chicken each and oggle of the talent there. The service was so bad, it couldn't save us to stay for another beer at all... granted, the Satruday afternoon talent was somewhat lacking to the Joey standard. Much like Thursday night in Eau Claire.

After we finished up at Joey's, I needed some cold medication for the brewing illness I had in me... especially if I was to go out in the evening at all. I should be feeling somewhat my best, me thinks. Got home in time for Hockey Night In Canada... and the agreement was to give Benny another call after Coach's Corner. Well, as soon as I got in... I sat down to watch the Senators/Leafs game, but my eyelids all of a sudden got really, really heavy. I actually nodded off two or three times during the first period, only to eventually wake up in time for Coach's Corner (thank goodness, I had missed the last couple weeks). I watched Don rant and rave, as per usual, with the same intent that I would give a World Juniors gold medal game... and then realized that I was still drowsy. I gave Benny a ring and said to him that I'd call him after I put my head down for a bit. I, for some reason, was exceptionally tired... and it wasn't until I woke up again did I speculate that there was some sort of peanut extract in the Sweet Chilli Chicken sauce that triggered my allergic reaction and thus making me super-drowsy.

Well, I finally got up again... in time for seeing the second Canuck goal against the Canadiens. I then called Benny and said to him that I'd meet him at the Wildfire to catch the game. By then, I hadn't heard anything at all from Amber... and it was still a tad early to hear from Barb, so only one had been written off for the evening. Before I had left the house for the wildfire, the Canucks were already up 3-0.

I met Benny at the Wildfire, got beers in, finally got the channel changed to the game (it was on a Pay-Per-View Boxing match?!?) and was in time for the last three goals that the Canucks scored in the first period to take a 6-0 lead into the intermission. Although there wasn't any phone calls, just the result in the game was sort of making my night. Benny and I eventually moved up to the bar, 'cuz Bubbles changed the TV behind the bar to the game and thus Benny could sit next to Theresa, in his never-ending hope to finally persuade her to join his 'dark side.' As we sat there though, the littlest Tuck, Michelle, sat next to Theresa... which scares the piss out of me, 'cuz I'm sure she fancies me... *full-body shudder*... but I think she finally got the message (through ignoring and the ol' nod & smile routine) that I don't reciprocate. And then, two younger fellas came in and sat between the girls. These two looked like trouble too. Oh yeah... I forgot to mention, the new bartender (a she!) was working there at the time too... apparently she started Friday afternoon. Benny was raving about her for the couple days beforehand. Megan, was pretty good looking... maybe not quite as hot to me as she was to Benny... but as it turned out was good friends with Theresa and Michelle... and now as I'm learning, Theresa isn't exactly the best apple on the tree either. So, it just looked like a whole load of trouble to me... if one wasn't too careful. It wasn't too long before I found out that Benny didn't mind a little bit of trouble... as he was starting to lean towards staying at the bar all night.

Fortunately, since neither Amber or Barb was seemingly gonna call... I had a Plan B. Jeff & Jill were both at the STARS gala until about 11pm... from there, they were gonna meet Mike at the Black Swan in town. So, this... it was my Plan B. It wasn't too terribly long through the third period that I gave up on Barb and started resorting to Plan B. Also, by this time, Benny was then weighing his options... my Plan B, which had the opportunity to see Jill (tell me, who couldn't love Jill... man, is she hot) or stay with the troubled bunch all night at the Wildfire.

Also fortunately, Benny decided to come into town with me... unfortunately, JC came in, just about as we're gonna leave... and we were too nice to say no as he wanted to tag along with us to the Black Swan. D'oh!

We all piled into the Cavalier and headed off into Calgary. We got in there and met up with Mike and the large party that was in there the last time we were at the Black Swan. I wasn't drinking at all that night, holding some sort of slim hope that Barb would call, but then again... it was also good, 'cuz then I could be the DD for the night. Which... as it turned out, I was.

The Black Swan was quite busy and was quite a haven for the minorty gang sect... as it looked anyways. I pretty well had my eyes peeled throughout the evening there, just to keep myself on the safe side. Jeff and Jill finally arrived just after 11pm and went to go meet them at the bar. Jill was looking absolute stunning in black that night. The night went pretty smoothly, moving from one spot to the other, trying to be social with quite a few people... trying to avoid JC all night with thoughts of ditching him there... (ha ha!!) and just keeping an eye on everyone.

The night was pretty uneventful as a whole... there was thoughts of finding somewhere else to party at around 3am... but that never really came to. Jill got really drunk and was pretty much pleading to go home. On of Jeff & Mike's friends, Tuna, was trying to drunkenly get himself into trouble there at the bar... and well... Benny & I were ready for just about anything.

As it turned out... I took Jill home first, 'cuz she was looking pretty exhausted and drunk... so I went and dropped her off. I then met the guys in front of a Wendy's on McLeod Trail... and then dropped everyone off and then went home to bed.

Phew!!! That was Saturday. It's a good thing there isn't much to Sunday.

Sunday, I finally got up around 10:30am again... just absolutely tired. I got up for a bit, Mom made some pancakes, but by noon, I went back downstairs to bed, as I couldn't keep my eyes open. I went back to bed for another hour before getting up again and calling Benny to see if he was watching the football or not. He was! At his house, no less!

So, I showered, packed up my opened case of beer and headed over to his to watch the football. That was the extent of my afternoon, before getting home around 8pm and then to bed for 9pm. I was just dead tired as I sat and watched the game... I think there is still a little of that peanut extract in my system... even now, 'cuz now I'm dead tired. Well, it could have been the Neo-Citran too, I suppose.

So... I think I'll leave it at this. If you've made it this far... I applaud you. I'm surprised I did.