summer vacation

I've never felt that my group of friends and I had a whole lot of get-up-and-go. we tend to be pretty chill and homebodies to boot. so imagine my surprise when we spent nearly every waking moment this weekend out of the house - playing, hanging out, drinking. it was like being 6, but with beer.

Friday night, Zac was due to come visit. so was our friend Keiser. we decided to kill 2 birds with one stone and all get together at Gene's. and all is kind of an understatement. we were at least 15, and in a small dive bar, that's over half the bar.
Key points of Gene's:
- someone spilled an entire beer on me. I was entirely understanding (hey, karmic retribution baby!) but he felt so badly that he bought me a drink. nice.
- when Zac walked in, we all yelled "Zac!" and made jazz hands in the air
- we owned the jukebox for at least 3 of the 4 hours we were there
- same with the dartboard
- Stoli drinks are only $3

Saturday looms earlier than expected, but I have time to recover before disc golf. we head out around 2 and practice putting at the practice hole until everyone shows up. it's me, JP, Colleen, Brian, Brett, Silent Bob, Zac, Shannon, and Nick (the dog). the boys play and the girls (and Nick) sorta trot along behind them. I cheered for everyone and made sympathetic noises after bad throws. after a prior unfortunate incident in which I was ignored by the ice cream man, I had an intense craving for something that was 90% high-fructose corn syrup and frozen on a stick. so the ice cream man comes our way and we flag him down. only he's unlike any ice cream man I've ever known. for one thing, I've found that most of them wear shirts, are under the age of 45, and don't necessarily make me feel yucky and ashamed just from talking to them. but maybe I've been spoiled, I don't know. Shannon's quote after walking away from him was "You should have to get your child abuse clearances to do that job!"
but we eat our frozen treats without incidence and then decide to adjourn to D's for hot dogs, fries, and beer. and we sit there for a LONG time consuming just that. afterwards, we're tired and it's hardly bedtime (7!) so we get coffee and head to Frick Park for some bocce and frisbee. while there, we discovered bunnies playing leapfrog and the innards of a baseball (which actually sparks more conversation than you would think). from there, it was onto Silent Bob's where the adventure continued.

fast forward to Sunday afternoon and we're at Will and Shan's with Kara, Zac, and Jordann (Shannon's new co-worker). we grill 75 pork chops, 8 whole fish, 14 lbs of sausage, and a giant steak. add 12 lbs of pasta salad, 47 ears of corn, 6 pints of blueberries, and gallons of cool whip and we have our meal. I haven't eaten that much food in a long time. probably not since the Superbowl.

I'm a little pink from all the sun, a little sore from falling down while trying to catch a frisbee elegantly, and my apartment is a mess. but nothing beats the feeling of summer vacation (even when you're 25 and know the grind will catch up with you Monday morning).