Game

We had a bunch of people over to watch the US game this week and things were going really well … until USA lost.  We found out that people really don’t feel like hanging out and partying too much if there is really nothing to celebrate any more.  We started with 12 people and about ten minutes after the game was over we were down to five and those were the five that were living in the apartment for the weekend.  Everyone suddenly had something they remembered they needed to do.

We had some friends in from out of town so we were busy going out to eat, going to the pool and just hanging out.  It turns out they like Blokus a lot and were intrigued by the Trigon version I have.  We sat out by the pool in the evening and played which was a great way to end a good afternoon of hanging out and having a good time.

At one point this weekend, one of my roommates left a half eaten pancake on his plate and got up.  When we asked if he was going to finish it, he said he was too full at which point a chase ensued.  I had the pancake in my hand and we both ran around the apartment; him to escape and me to force that pancake down his throat if it was the last thing I did.  I ended up kicking a wall and possibly breaking a toe.  He still didn’t eat the pancake.  Jerk.

Double Down

We went out and got ourselves some Double Downs from KFC.  If you haven’t heard of this creation, it’s a sandwich where the bread has been replaced by two deep fried chicken breasts and the meat is bacon, cheese and cheese sauce.  It’s a quick and salty way to both increase your blood pressure and increase your likelihood of keeling over at any time with cardiac failure.  That was definitely a one-time issue.

We were out at an Asian food mart the other day and saw some large live lobsters.  Without thinking the plan through very well, one of the guys and I picked up four large lobsters and took them home.  The ensuing fun made for a great night of laughing and watching a movie with a 3.5 lb lobster on the plate in front of us.  I will say it was difficult to come up with the pots large enough to cook enormous shellfish.  Thank goodness for nice friends and neighbors.

We finally finished all six episodes of Star Wars.  We watched them in order from One to Six because that’s the way they are supposed to be.  I know a lot of people think it is best to watch them in the order they were created but that just seemed pointless.  All in all I really liked the movies.

One of the girls at work wanted us to install a fitness pole in her living room.  The only place it could be was right in front of her TV.  She loves her Bravo and other trash TV so we will see how this works out!

Back

This Sunday was a busy day.  Right after getting picked up this morning, we went to church.  On the way to church, one of my people in the car with us decided to tweet that we were going out to eat sushi after church was over.  It turns out we didn’t want to make her a liar, so we had to tromp off to sushi after the service.  On the way
to church, I also bet one of the guys in the car that the person we were meeting there would arrive before we did.  I figured he lives a lot closer and was leaving the same time we were ergo he should logically arrive before we pulled into the parking lot.  I was mistaken.  We bet a homemade pancake which means I now have to figure out how to make a pancake from scratch and come up with enough time to get that done one morning.

After sushi, we rushed home to get changed so we could head out and volunteer at the homeless shelter downtown.  They have been pretty understaffed as far as kitchen help goes, so it’s always nice to head there on the weekends and volunteer some of our time for people who may not have as much as we have been blessed with.  There is a picture on my picture page of all of us.  The hairnets and aprons aren’t really that flattering, but you can at least see the crew.

Traveling home this last week was fun and my sister managed to make it across the stage at her graduation without tripping or causing an embarrassing scene.  The venue for the graduation was a little strange in that the seating was on bleachers and not in seats, but the ceremony was great and the student speeches were MUCH better than the ones at my cousin’s graduation.

The one bad thing about going home was that I realized my niece doesn’t like me very much.  It doesn’t matter though, once she hits 5 or 6, I’ll start to shower her with fun gifts and become her favorite relative.  If I can’t get her to like me with my stunning personality I’ll just buy her love and affection with presents.

I realized while I was home that I talk about the same couple people back home all the time.  Every story I tell starts with the same couple names and most end with some sort of childish antic.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Learning

I spent a good portion of this week in a class for work.  Though the class was fairly rudimentary, I learned a little bit and met some very intelligent people that will be useful to know for future work projects.  I don’t think I’ll be recommending this class to other people at work though.  It turns out we already teach most of it in our own initial training class.

Other than all the new airline miles I’ve accrued, this week was fairly basic.  I’m headed out for the week to attend two graduation ceremonies.  I’ll be able to see family and friends that I haven’t seen in quite some time and have some good laughs with them.  I went to a half-price book store one day when we got out of class early and bought a bunch of books.  I haven’t purchased a physical book since I bought my Kindle but the price for these was way less than even the digital Kindle version was online.  It felt kind of funny to read through a paper book that wasn’t a manual of some sort. We’re always reading paper at work, but books have just come to be Kindle material for me.  I’m sure I’ll be able to adapt, it’s just interesting how quickly you can become accustomed to reading on an
e-ink display.

If anyone is thinking about getting a Kindle and is unsure about it, just buy one.  It has really changed the way I read and I now read a lot more than I did when I would have to order a book online or go to a store and stand in line to purchase it.  Embrace technology.