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I guess I should finish up the tale of epic weekends. It was after all, pretty epic.
So Sunday I kicked around and felt surprisingly moody in my post-birthday glory, but it was a cold yucky day and all that was going on was Carroll's Oscar party which wasn't until much later. Plus I had a very good biological reason to be moody, which I would find out about Monday. But it was fine, Carroll's Oscar bash is always a blast, and I even enjoyed the awards show, which I'm basically against in general. These people don't need awards in general. But now I have to see a whole bunch more movies than I thought. Even 127 Hours which sounds terrifying and possibly enough to make me faint, but still a good story.
Monday was back to work, Tuesday turned out to be Birthday Plus 3, because Cecily came by to give me my birthday present from her, which like Cecily, was amazing. Every girl needs a Doctor Who shirt, even if she can't have the Doctor. I can't even decide which one I'd pick anyway, so I guess that's a good thing. I spent most of the week trying to be prepped for when I'd be out of the office for the impending swing week at Heartland Swing Festival, which was like the most last minute trip I've been on in a while, but we had it planned at least a week in advance, so I wasn't quite as spaztic as I could've been.
Thursday was bowling night and my meeting with Carroll to discuss book club. Poor Carroll, she's so concerned with pleasing everyone in book club, I had to let her know that she can't possibly do that, but those people can just come to a different meeting. She does such a great job, and I love our group. Though I'm still pissed about those terrible books we read. Dear God, Chelsea Handler, worst book ever! It's probably the only time in my life I've actually felt like defacing or burning a book! The Jungle didn't even make me that mad. Anyway, Carroll and I had a nice chat and I ran late to bowling, but I didn't really feel like bowling much anyway, so I just hung out and chatted with people. Lindsay's arm was hurting by the end of the night, so Eric and I finished her game, so there was a smidge of bowling for me.
Thursday night and Friday morning was an adventure in getting things done ON SCHEDULE! And waiting for my laundry to dry in time, but I managed to get my errands done, buy more Aleve, grab travel toothpaste (have at thee, Atlanta TSA!), check the bank account (huzzah for getting paid right before a road trip!), and then rapidly ate lunch and packed, and then Dad hauled me over to Troy and Merinda's. Eric was packing and Merinda was reading about the Oscars when I got there. Zeke the cat came to inspect my luggage a bit. I notice he seems to like whatever bag I carry. Eventually we were all packed in and headed over to Iowa to retrieve Jillian, and then we were off on our grand adventure to EXOTIC...Des Moines. Hey, it's the most exotic you can expect us to get on the first weekend of March in the midwest without spending much.
I like roadtripping with those three. Merinda drove like she had a deadline, Jillian took time to knit (more), Eric challenged me to Angry Birds, and there was various and random singing. I was also designated Eric's punching bag if a VW Beetle was nearby. Stupid slugbug game. However, we reached the hotel without incident, and Jillian, Eric and I took up our rather cushy digs for the weekend. We had a chaise lounge! We had a flat screen! We had TWO WHOLE bathrooms! For some reason also, the bathroom light switches were on the outside of the room, which only led to shenanigans. I think Eric, Jillian, and I might be the loopy triad.
We puttered around for a bit since the dance was until later, and apparently the hotel pool also needed to be visited. I have no idea where my swimsuit is, it might be in the house still, and I think the last time I bought one was in high school. The last time I wore it was freshman year of college, so it may be time for something new. I'm sure Victoria's Secret can help with that. I enjoyed the echoy humid room while Merinda, Jillian, and Eric swam around. Afterwards my loopy roommates brushed up and we went to find food. We discovered a brewery restaurant that turned out to be amazing and none of us can remember the name of it. I could google it, but that would require effort. We decided to split two entrees between the three of us, which worked quite well; I ordered pasta which is easily shareable, and Eric's steak came with three baked potatoes. Jillian and I had ginger beer which was tasty and non-alcoholic, unlike Eric who was tippling away. It was Friday, who were we to argue?
After plenty of giggles and delicious noms, we decided it might be a good idea to actually go to the dance, so we went back to the hotel and zazzed up our outfits and then took the next big adventure of exploring the Skywalk! See? Des Moines is exotic, they've got a mildly creepy above-ground tunnel system that links the buildings together. It's like being in a really empty airport, but at least it's not walking outside. Des Moines is still cold in March.
The rest when I emerge...