Friends and Family and Fun, Oh My!

My week away from blogging wasn't supposed to happen. I never had any intention of disappearing for a week. I am SO sorry to anyone that I may have worried. I know that it might sound silly to apologize for not being here, but I really feel like I owe it to you guys, and to myself, to keep this blog going. Besides, I feel really sad when Charity, CherryRed, or Lorraine don't post for a few days, and I miss them. It sounds really horrible, but I hope they miss me too. At least just a little bit. And no, that's not me fishing for a compliment or anything, it's just me being honest.

As for why I was gone - there really is no other answer than - LIFE. The last time I blogged was last Wednesday. I worked Wednesday night. And Thursday night. It's a lot harder than I remember it being. It is actually WORK. I guess I'm not used to it anymore. I'm just used to sitting here, using my brain. This job was supposed to be a no-brainer job, but it's harder than that. Yeah, I know, I'm just getting people drinks and food. How tough can that be, right? Wrong. It's tough. I have to remember things, and smile all the time. I have to listen to the 19 year olds talk about all the drugs they did the night before and not lecture them. I have to deal with the 200 pound woman who enjoys doing things like pulling my shirt untucked from my pants. She seems to love to torment me, and I almost hit her last night. That's pretty sad. If I don't like the job, then I shouldn't be there. But I just hate to quit, and it's only been a few weeks, so we'll just see.

Friday, I took the kids to a birthday party at Dana's house, for her daughter Ryleigh. The party was over around 8pm, but we ended up staying later. Of course. Shane showed up and ate. My new friend Emily was there. And Kelly finally showed up with her kids. Finally. She drove down from PA for the weekend. She got to Dana's and decided we needed to go to a bar. We went to Tim's II out in Fairview Beach. The site linked is pretty old, but I'm almost positive there are some pics that I took still on the site. I worked there for 3 summers, and loved it. I'd still work there if we hadn't moved to the farm. We (Kel, Em, Shane, Chris, and me) sat out on the deck and drank cold drinks on a hot night. It was awesome. Then we went back to Dana's and crashed pretty hard.

Saturday morning, we had youth group. I won't even try to tell you all that we discussed. Saturday afternoon, we went to the Grand Opening of a friend's tack shop, The Hitching Post. I'll be doing the website for the owner, Angie. I'll give you guys a link when it's done. Saturday night, I took Kel to Colonial Beach for Bingo. Yes, Bingo. As in little old blue haired ladies B-i-n-g-o. No blue hair in sight though. And, Kel won almost $300. I really thought they were gonna kick us out when she won the first two rounds. I was scared. We stopped by 7-11 on our way home, and Kel got carded for beer. Can you believe that? I couldn't. It was hysterical. What was even funnier was that her id was in her other purse, back at Dana's.

Sunday morning was church. We had a guest speaker. I wasn't impressed, and Kel got offended. That's all I'm saying about that.

Sunday afternoon, Dana dropped her kids off and took Kel and I to Virginia Center Commons in Richmond. The plan was shop, then eat, then hit the bookstore. We shopped. Then met up with Emily and her husband. Then ate. Then drank. Then drank some more. Well, I was GOOD. I only had a single Bloody Mary and one yucky lemon drop. Other people had a bit more. But I won't mention any names (K-E-D!). Then we made a mad dash to Barnes and Noble and tried to buy books. Have you ever gone to a bookstore with three drunk chicks? It's just way too much fun. The mission was to find a copy of "Welcome To Temptation" (By Jennifer Crusie) for Kelly, and "Ex and the Single Girl" by Lani Diane Rich, for me. I have a copy of WTT, but The Cherry herself signed it, and it's not leaving my house without me EVER again! We finally found the books, plus I picked up "The Mermaid Chair" by Sue Monk Kidd, and "Madame Mirabou" by Barbara Samuel. You know about Madame Mirabou already. I'm reading Mermaid right now. I finished off Ex yesterday. LOVED IT. Go buy it. It's good, I promise. I need to read more of Lani's stuff. She's awesome.

Anyhow, they finally kicked us out of B&N and we went back to my place. All of us. And played a drinking game. It wasn't supposed to be a drinking game, but it was adapted, just for me. We drank way too much. I think 3 out of 4 of us girls worshipped the porcelain god that night. Maybe it was only 2, I'm not sure. I just know it wasn't me, and for that I am thankful. I held my liquor like a champ. Shame on me, right? I shouldn't drink, I'm a responsible adult. I have 6 kids. I go to church. Yeah, well, I did it anyhow. And I had a great time. So sue me. Pray for me. Ridicule me. Frankly, I really don't care. It was fun.

That brings us to Monday. When I was supposed to work at 8am. I made it there by 9:30. Hey, it's not brain surgery. It's serving up biscuits and gravy. And thankfully, I was NOT hungover. Just very very tired. I got home in time to say goodbye to Kel and her kids. She may be back next week. I really hope so. I love having her here. She's been around longer than Shane and 5 of my kids, so she really has a very special place in my heart. I just love that girl...um, I mean - woman.

Tuesday was more work. But before that, I took the kids to see X-Men III. Loved it. Really. Totally set it up for a fourth, and that didn't even bother me. The chick that played Phoenix had totally amazing hair, and I'm thinking of copying her soon. We'll just see.

Anyway, with all of that, is it any wonder that I didn't blog at all for a week?