Buckle up, Buttercups. For the sake of brevity I’m even skipping some parts. This is going to be a long one…

My weekend started out promising. I left North Carolina early, packed up the pooches and headed back home. The dogs and I had a grand old time in the truck. We screamed out country music songs and listened to NPR for most of the ride. When we got home to Northern Virginia we were ecstatic that it was still light outside. We made it home before 6pm! Woohoo! Angela & I just kicked back and relaxed for the evening.

Friday Lunch w/Pete
Monday morning rolls around and I had a ton of stuff to do. I started some laundry that I brought with me (I love my washer & dryer!) and then got ready for lunch with Pete downtown. It was nice to drive the 350 around on such a nice day. I just need to remember to change the CDs that Angela has loaded, otherwise people will think that I like all that weird music that consists of ‘ploops’ and ‘plings’ and a bass line. I forgot how “interesting” driving downtown can be. Finding parking was a lovely adventure but I finally found a spot in front of the GAO and high tailed it off to Fado.

At Fado’s I had a lovely cider and probed shot the shit with Pete about work. He asked about me and what I was doing, especially after I bail from NC, and I asked him about how things are going with his contract and their recompete. All in all, not too bad. It was pretty funny because the wait staff still remember me there 🙂 Mary was happy to hear that I’d be moving back and haunting her bar again.

Friday Tea
Pete and I walk back to the GAO and, lo and behold, I run into people that know me and that are happy to see me. It felt like it happened every 20 feet. While saying adios to Pete, I got cornered by Alex & Faiza. Always good to see them and give them crap. And then it was off to tea at the Four Seasons with the Ladies. I was a tad early so I parked my tuckus in front of the bar and started drinking. It was nice. The bar staff enjoyed having me around to talk to and they even remember me (Hi, Flora!). After paying my $13 for a nice, old scotch they started feeding me drinks on the down lo. Yay, drunk me! After about an hour of schmoozing with the barkeeps Lila and Bev joined me. It was funny watching them drink their froo-froo drinks. Such pretty colors. Bah. If it can’t be used as an anticeptic I don’t want any part of it.

Here’s a common misconception – a lot of people think that these teas are prim and proper. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, while we were waiting for Lisa and Sarah, we somehow wound up talking about getting face lifts. On testicles. A ‘ball lift’, if you will. This conversation covered the gamut of testicles – how far should they hang? How should they sway? Will getting the wrinkles removed really be worthwhile? Should a person have them lifted?? It was quite the conversation. What’s even better is that it even continued when we got to the table with Lisa & Sarah. The hotel staff could be seen snickering as they waited on us. On the plus side, you also know that you’ve been going someplace for a long time when the hotel staff refers to you by your first name all the time.

This is, in fact, the truth about these teas. Rather than a bunch of prissy old ladies it is akin to sitting around with guys. Swilling down our orange pekoe and Earl Grey while eating our little cucumber or chicken salad finger sandwhiches. At one point I think we may have even poured some sip on the curb for our missing homie, Rhonda. I will say that beginning the tea with a nice vanilla mouse and cherry glace was very nice. How seasonal! With Spring and the Cherry Blossom Festival around the corner it was pretty spiffy seeing them incorporate the cherries in their foods.

But, alas, no randy pictures of Lisa’s daughter again. It should prove to be even more fun the next time we get together in 6 months. We should have a full complement of ladies then. And the gossip will flow like nobody’s business.

Saturday Paintball
Which brought us to Saturday and paintball. It was drizzly and muddy and, honestly, it stank of a swamp. But it was sooooo much fun! Running around shooting people is always fun! Honestly, not that much to tell except that we ran around for 4 or 5 hours traipsing about in mud. And, yes, Rob capped my ass repeatedly. Our bodies were sore and exhausted after.

Why do I tell you this part? Well, because at the very end of it my brother-in-law turns to me and says ‘So, are you coming back later?’ Huh?? I’m OLD! I wanted to sit in a nice, warm tub with my rubber ducky! I looked at him incredulously and said ‘ok’. Hey, booze. What can I say?

So we get cleaned up and then head back to my sister’s shack. After a few celebratory drinks there we went our separate ways – Angela and the girls to Clydes and me and the guys to…we had no idea where. Evidently they thought I was joking when I kept screaming out ‘hookers!’ and ‘strippers!’. So we went to a local bar named Kirkpatricks and I proceded to get royally sloshed. Ugh. My first time in that bar and I had no idea what to expect. Most of the evening was a blur. I’m pretty sure I polished off a good amount of liquor (two of the bartenders kept joking that I emptied them of their Glenfiddich and Bushmills) .

The funny thing about going into a bar like that is that I always go in not knowing anyone but when I leave it is like I’m a regular and everyone knows my name. I’m pretty sure I ran up a bar tab of over $600. Luckily, the bartenders only charged me $90! Finally, after saying ‘Good-bye’ to all my new friends Angela poured me in the car and got me home close to 2am.

Sunday Walk With Amy
Which brought me to my Sunday walk with Amy. Ugh. I woke myself up because I wanted to get together with her. The last time we talked she said she was going to be at Grady’s house at about 7. I looked at the clock and it was 6:50am. I threw on my clothes and bolted out the door and finally got to see her. I miss Amy! And I got to see little Grady! The little booger was soooooo happy to see me. We walked and talked and caught up on things. I really like Amy and the work that she does. I think she’s spiffy. Yay, for being hot, too!

The rest of Sunday was a blur. I think we ordered pizza. For all intents and purposes, though, I think I just passed out. Our bodies were sore and we wreaked of booze. It was a good weekend.

Which leads us to the past two days. My windshield was busted. I waited a good part of yesterday for the windshield repair people to come by and fix it but they never arrived. I was livid. LIVID! I was so pissed off that I suggested Angela & I get the country fried steak dinner from Chili’s. WHAT? I was hungry!

Today they finally came. I postponed going back to NC because of my windshield (I’ll post pics of it when I get back to my apartment in NC) . I was ready to load everything up and head back down. I was told that it would only take an hour to fix. And then I get punched in the stones again – the repairman brought the wrong glass to fix my car. Grrrrr…

So I’m working from Northern Virginia for a bit. Luckily I can touch most of the things that I need to remotely from both Angela’s computer as well as from my cell phone.

I’m still pooped, though. And just think, later this week I’m going to Vegas. Yeesh.