This weekend was rather eventful (sort of). I consider it a great birthday celebration.
This weekend, I was supposed to go camping with a group of friends to celebrate Beltane. It's at the site where we usually camp, so I was excited and even (finally!) bought my own tent and a larger cooler. I was excited because it was going to be some of my best friends on the weekend before my birthday. About Wednesday, Angela announced that "nobody [had] the money" so we weren't going. Manda and I were still set on going, but I wasn't about to spend a weekend with her and her girlfriend. Talk about awkward, considering I can't shake my effing crush on Manda. So camping was canceled. Boo.
Then, Angela asked if I was up for going to the "colonial fair" which is apparently like the Renaissance Fair, except for Colonial times instead of the Renaissance. I told her I'd need to know more about it, and she said we'd talk about it at work on Friday. She called out sick, and I didn't hear from her Friday. Or Saturday. But I had been talking to Shawn and Jacque (they're engaged and I work with both of them) about camping, and Jacque invited me over to their place to camp in their back yard. We'd grill out and pitch tents and everything.
Well, the weather was horrible Friday. I told them I'd come over as long as the weather improved. It rained, but didn't look terrible, so I finally headed over there. We grilled out, but tents were not pitched. The weather forecast was bad, with severe thunderstorms and heavy rain, and we were worried about tornadoes. But we hung out, and one of their buddies came over. We ended up watching Sweeney Todd, and I dozed off near the end, but it was pretty good, if gory.
Saturday morning, Jacque, Shawn, and I got up and went "yard sale-ing" to grab some deals. I ended up with a coffee press, an oil burner, and a pretty sun catcher for $5. Not a bad haul, but there wasn't much to be had at any of the places we went. While we were out, we ended up talking about ghost hunting, and decided we should go that night. Jacque had been to New Hope Baptist Church to explore several years ago, and had some creepy experiences, so we decided to go out there, armed with a camcorder and digital camera. They called their friend Steven (I don't know whether it's with a v or a ph), and he came along, too. We had a cool discussion about religious beliefs and the afterlife, and we headed out to the church.
I had picked up some sage from a local shop earlier in the day, so I smudged us all, and invited the spirits to join us and show themselves. We wandered around there for a while. It felt like about 15 minutes to me but apparently it was closer to 45 or an hour. Shawn was pretty creeped out, even though it had been his idea, but he stuck close to me since apparently I was doing it "for real" and not like his buddies had done it before. I guess because I was being respectful and polite to the departed, and not acting like a drunken teenager. He said we did it on a completely different level than he'd done it before. Jacque snapped about 65 pics, and Shawn got about 5 minutes of film because the camcorder's battery died. Steven said he was feeling stuff around him in the woods, and said he stared at something for about 10 minutes. Once Shawn got too creeped out (and probably cold, too, because it was freezing out there), I smudged us again, thanked the spirits, and we left.
When we got back to the house, Jacque and I immediately headed to the computer to check out the pictures. I know there is much debate on the subject of orbs, but we ended up with a shitload of them. Always placed randomly, and never near a reflective surface. And the "something" Steven was staring at? Jacque snapped a picture, and sure enough, there's an orb off in that direction. There were a few more things that may or may not be something, but her camera wasn't set on its highest resolution, so it's impossible to tell. I'm looking forward to doing that again, though not necessarily at the same place.
I ended up spending the night again, and headed home this morning. Mom and I had lunch at Dairy Queen, and it was one of the crappiest experiences ever. We were the first people to order - nobody else was even in the restaurant when we ordered - and the last to get our food. They gave her basket to someone else, and had to make it again. When they gave us the tray, they had a grilled chicken instead of a grilled cheese on there for me, so I had to wait even longer. I mean, really. I'm never eating there again. Blizzards yes, food no.
I have two side stories for this weekend also.
One:
Jacque and I went to Kroger on Friday to shop for our "camping" food, and we kept talking about fajitas (always pronounced faj-eye-tas in this post, except when stated otherwise). Yes, it sounds like vaginas. But we kept talking about fajitas throughout the store. Jacque stopped to look at sauces and marinades, and some lady came down the aisle, pushing her kid in the cart. At the same time, Jacque sees fajita sauce, and says, "fajita!" causing the lady to whip her head around and look at us with a "wtf did you just say" expression. Because of that, we had to get the fajita sauce. When we got home, Jacque was telling Shawn about the experience, and Shawn picked up the bottle, examined it, and declared, "I bet it's fa-hee-ta." Ya think?! XD
Two:
Angela hadn't contacted me about the colonial fair, so I gave up on the idea. By Saturday afternoon, I was committed to ghost hunting. So imagine my surprise when I get a text at about 4:30 asking if anyone (amongst our usual group of girls, I imagine) wanted to go dancing. Hell no, I was going to see ghosties! So I told her my plans, and she said it sounded like fun. (It was.) That's what you get for ditching me for two days when you're supposed to be discussing weekend plans. Then, at about 6, I get another text asking me about Doctor Who action figures and whether I had them, the screwdrivers, and the comics. I told her I had some figures, both screwdrivers, and none of the comics, but I only wanted things that did not include Martha. I have a not-so-sneaking suspicion that she was shopping for my birthday present. Why else would she need to know that stuff?
So all in all, it was a pretty damn good weekend. And Toni's bringing me a lemon cake tomorrow. Yummy!