My kind of weekend

I feel like being at work last Friday was about a month ago rather than just a couple of days. And, I have to say, I love those weekends when time decides to start playing tricks with you. Haven't had one of those in ages.
Friday after work a few of us went out for a few beers down at the Mission. Great way to end a week from hell, if you ask me. There's nothing quite like getting to see the President and the Directors let their proverbial hair down, start telling inappropriate stories, and hanging out drinking longer than they should even though they know their wives are going to be upset about them coming home so late. Partway through the evening, I noticed that Bill (my boss, the Prez) had tickets in his shirt pocket for that night's Celtics game. Turns out, no one had given the company tickets to anyone yet, so he gave them to me to use or pawn off on someone. Of course, the only 3 people I know who would have been interested in going had Christmas parties to go to, but I spent a lively couple of hours over beers with the guys calling literally everyone I know. Hey, at least I wished everyone a Merry Christmas and don't have to send them cards now! It really seemed a shame to waste such awesome seats (especially since I later discovered that by some minor miracle, the Celts actually won that game), but there wasn't much more I could do. I was going to just head down to the Garden and sell them to someone outside, but by the time I got home, I just had to jump in the car and head out to meet up with Mike for a poker tournament.
Now, Mike doesn't know this, but he accidentally gave me an awesome compliment when I met him at his store. See, he gives great hugs. I'm talking huge bear hugs that literally sweep me off my feet every time. But Friday, he decided that a mere sweep off my feet wasn't enough so he tossed me over his shoulder and carted me around the store. No one has tossed me over their shoulder in I couldn't even guess how long. Possibly decades. Usually I prevent it from happening because I've always been heavier than I look, and there's no need for anyone but me to know that. But Mike hoisted me up as if I weighed no more than a pillow. Barely had to even flex a muscle to hold me up there. Dude. For the sake of my own ego, I'm going to pretend that Mike's a weakling. Because man, when have I ever gotten to feel small and waifish? Nice!
Anyway, we went off to play poker with some of his buddies up in Reading. I've played with these guys before at this house, and they've got the whole setup down in the basement. There's a bar, a real poker table (you know - cushy bumper, cup holders, fancy fabric top), and a screen up over the bar that calculates the winnings and runs a timer to change the blinds. That and the missus is the consummate hostess and always has oodles of food for noshing on (she's a damn fine poker player to boot). The first game I was in on, I was doing really well until Mr McFarty started eating away at my stack, but then I was like the cockroach who wouldn't die and kept doubling back up from a short stack. Made it to the final three, so I made my money back, but didn't make it all the way to the head to head with Mike. The next game, unfortunately, I didn't say no when they asked if we could switch to Omaha instead. My mistake. I forgot that I suck at Omaha and pretty much just handed them my money as soon as the game got underway. Oh, well. $20 for a night's entertainment is still a good deal in my book. And when I got home at about 3 in the morning, I looked at the Celtics tickets sitting on my coffee table and had an "oh my god, was that just earlier tonight that I was trying to get rid of those?" moment. Seemed like that had been a million years before.
Well, getting into bed at 4 in the morning on a Friday night isn't really such a bad thing. That is, unless you've agreed to do volunteer work for Community Servings' holiday gift basket donations later that morning. I had to wake up at 7 to get myself over to "Basket Central" that was set up over at Northeastern. Needless to say, I didn't say a word to anyone once I arrived until after I had beelined for the coffee urn. But, once I was well caffeinated, it was a good day. Spent the next 8 hours on a delivery truck with Bobcat and Abdul going around to homes all around the North Shore area delivering baskets for AIDS and other terminally ill patients and their families that the organization delivers food for throughout the year. And, giving always feels good no matter how tired you are! The only downside is that the radio station was locked onto 94.5 FM and I still have the Beyonce Knowles song that played on the hour every hour all day stuck in my head ("...to the left, to the left. To the left, to the left...").
Needless to say, by the time I arrived home, the caffeine had worn off and I was having difficulty seeing straight. Of course, the second my head hit the pillow, Donald called to see if I was still going to this Christmas party with him which was starting in about an hour. Ha! Nap first, then party, thank you. So after a quick little half hour nap, it was time to hit the caffeine again and head out to Brian and Pam's place for their party. Now, when Donald told me that their families were going to be there, I was unaware of two things. First, there's not room for a whole lot of other people in the house once the families cram in there. Two, their families rock. Hell, even the landlord who came to hang out was a cool guy. It was absolutely the kind of party I was looking for. And more food and alcohol than you can shake a stick at. I'm STILL full! And Brian, Pam, and Jeff, bless their little hearts, were very concerned for my current state of mind seeing as the last time they saw me I was sitting on a curb in Cambridge, downing Jack Daniels, and cursing at the sky. (Yes, thank you, I'm much better now). And after it was all over (I managed for one of the very few times in my life to not be the very last person leaving the party this time...I might have been the second to last), I slept like a dead rock.
But wait, there's still one more day in the weekend! (And if you've read down this far, I'm ashamed of you, you really should have better things to do...I'm mostly just rambling because I can). Sunday was a day for errands seeing as I had only been home to get a couple of hours of sleep in the prior 72 hours. You know, knitting supplies and cat food - the essentials of any old lady! Then it was off to the 'rents Christmas gathering. More food. More wine. More people. A fun little handheld 20 questions game which everyone thought was so cool, but I couldn't get it to guess lasagna, America, candle, or golf ball (though it did ask if it was smaller than a golf ball). Oh, and free laundry of course.
Phew! Man were the cats happy to see me when I came home last night!!