Weekend Update

May Fest. Ah May Fest. How I Liebe Dich. Friday started my summer hours at work. There's nothing shabby with getting home at 1 in the afternoon. I went home and after a while I took a cab over to the Land of May Fest. I spent some quality time at the DANK Haus with VonSis for a bit. I headed over with my parents and sister for dinner at the fest. I hung out with some people for a couple of hours having 2,3, maybe 5 HB Originals before my shift. I started working my kitchen shift a little early and a little buzzed. It's hard to work with people who don't know what they are serving. There is a difference between a Brat, Thuringer, and Leberkase. As a veteran of the fest, I knew exactly which drunken fools needed pretzels and land-jagers (a tasty, bigger slim jim type food product) people love me when I serve them carbs and meat. My feet and ankles did get pretty swollen by the end of the night. I was so tired I couldn't even shower when I got home, I fell into my bed smelling like sauer kraut, but I was pretty happy, and more than a little tipsy. Saturday dawned a little earlier than I would have liked. Around 8am-ish VonSis let herself into my place and woke me up with the question "What do you want from McD's?" Ah - hangover breakfast!! After my yummy sausage burritos I was kinda ready to start my day. I ended up at the fest a couple of hours early, to meet John and Toni and a couple of their friends. The crowd was enormous. I had to get my drink on, I knew it was going to be a tough night. I started pouring beers two hours earlier than I was supposed to. The thing is, the bar manager calls me his Rock Star. I pour faster and better than most of the other volunteers. Bar manager CJ loves me, and I appreciate that he needs me. I jumped right in and got into the swing of it. The lines got so bad that at one point I just stood in front of one tapper (the domestic) and said "Who wants domestic?" If the people standing in line were smart, they took the domestic. It was quicker, cheaper, and they didn't have to wait in line anymore. Trust me, they caught on really quick after that. They understood they could be picky and wait longer, or they could get their buzz on on domestic. I am also really good at slamming my own beer while pouring someone else's. By the time Shannon got there to help, I was pretty tipsy. She and I gave up pretty quick. There were way too many volunteers behind the bar. It was a too many cooks in the kitchen situation. You couldn't move, get to a keg, help anyone, so we got some beers and found TheMarty. While looking for TheMarty I got a better view of the crowd. Lots of hot men. God, I love summer! Strangely some random dude rubbed my arm. I have no idea why. I shot him the nasty eye and kept on moving. Sadly, no love connection for me this year. Side Bar: I heart TheMarty. He is super awesome. I think I laughed, really laughed most of the time we were hanging out at the fest. He, like Shannon, is one of those people I feel like I'm supposed to know forever, because it's so easy to be around him. So, beer in my hair, beer in my belly, Shannon and TheMarty left me to go home. I had to find SIL1X - she was 'around'. I had to find her and her Hubby in the masses. I was standing by the food tent and I'm starting to text her to find her. While I'm typing I hear "VON!" loud and clear. SIL1X has found me. Let me tell you - No one, I mean NO ONE can get the attention of this deafish person like SIL1X. She's a little, well, Loud. SIL1X, K and I found a cab. I had my first Mr. Sub ever - yum. We ate at their house. I went home and fought with my ankles. It went something like this: "Ankles, I know you are all swollen and pissed, but I need to take a shower" "Um, NO" "Ankles, I mean it. There's beer in my hair, and clean sheets on my bed, and I need to take a shower" "Too bad for you. NO" "C'mon" "Elevate us and give us ice and we will consider it" So, at 1am after bartering with my ankles, I showered. Best. Shower.Ever. Yes, I do have conversations with my own ankles. I also chat with the dog, the tv, the computer. What do you want? I live alone. Sunday started much the same as Saturday: "You want same thing from McDonald's as yesterday?" "grumble, cough, grumble, Yeah. don't forget the salsa this time, k?" and my hangover and I got out of bed. VonSis is the best hangover partner EVER.

Ugh

Weekend recap tomorrow. Too tired. Too achy to type.

It's rainin', it's pourin'

I can tell you why it's pouring in Chicago right now. A) I wore my crocs mary-janes today. They are soaked. My feet are soaked. They are drying on the filing cabinet and I have my ugly slippers on. But, the actual reason B) It's May Fest weekend! Last year we had the exact same weather on and off all weekend long. Never fear. Nothing deters people from coming out for beer and brats at the first street festival of the summer! I remember last year's fest, Friday night, major down pours. I was working in the food tent. I was wearing the DANK issued WHITE t-shirt. I noticed that the tent roof was sagging under the weight of the rain water between the posts. The Girl Scout in me sprung in to action. I dashed over to the saggy area and moved everyone out of the way. I pressed up on the sag - and proceeded to dump the water all over myself. In my haste to save the fest-goers, I didn't step in far enough to save myself from the deluge. Everyone stared. "Look! May Fest wet t-shirt contest!" That statement came from my brother-in-law. *shudder* I'm so excited it's May Fest weekend, I don't think I'll be able to sit through these tough 4 hours of work today (GOd Bless summer hours!!) I'm guessing the weekend review is going to be pretty interesting!

Wednesday Free Form

I will admit, I formulated today's blog in the shower. I have some random things I want to share:

• For the love of GOD - History Channel is bringing the world a new season of Ice Road Truckers. I can hardly wait!! Ice! Semis! Grizzly guys with bad teeth and even worse grammar!! It's like I won the lottery!!
• People in my family like to mess up lyrics to songs. A lot. Some of my favorites come from VonMom and VonSis. VonSis used to like that one song "Unbelievable" by, um, Jesus Jones? Or EMF? Hell if I can remember. There were two lines she messed up pretty good. The first: "You shoe-frou, believe you" and the second "Your bur-ba-bur justs gives you away" VonMom just removed entire lines from a Shania Twain (bleh!!!) song. The song's title is also the line VonMom didn't quite get. Instead of "Who's bed have your boots been under" VonMom sang "Who-be-doo-be-doo-be-doo". I can't remember who sang this line, but it slays me every time. From AC/DC's "Shook me all night long", we get "She was a sass machine, she kept her mother clean".
• I tried to buy some fantastic plaid shorts today at an ok yet convenient clothing store today. I was told NNNNOOOOO because I had no monies left on my magic credit card. Boo hiss. I came home from work and took a look around at my closet and dresser. How? How did I max out my card? I was going through drawers and I realized the culprit. My drawers. Or draaaaws. Oh yeah, those 3 pairs of panties I bought with the blue polka dots on them. Yep. I must have really needed those. I must have had a buyer's remorse black out, as I have no remembrance of bringing home not one, but three pairs of polka dotted panties.
• Some Craig's list people came over to the Commune (the phenomenal apt. building I live in) to see the front unit that will be up for rent soon. I happened to come home from the gym and was parking as they were getting out of their car. I was all excited, and started rushing to get out of my car to see them, and be all like - 'Look at me! I live here too! I am very cheerful! I have a dog! I don't smell, and am not weird!', at which point I realized that in that moment I was smelly, and looked pretty weird with my mismatched workout clothes. So I hung out in my car and pretended to gather things. I'm planning on not being around the next time people come to see the place. I like to be the pleasant surprise. Kinda like - upgrade! Cool neighbor who likes to drink and sometimes will blog about you!
• Today's post is goofy on purpose. There are a couple of people in my life going through really hard times right now, and the levity is specifically for them. I hope they got a little chuckle out of something I wrote here today. To the one of you who will not ask for help no matter what - you should. You have no idea how well I can take care of my own, and don't mind doing it at all. Ask and you shall receive. I'm here for you, even when you think no one else is. To the one of you who did ask for help - I admire you all the more now for being awesome enough to ask for help. I am going to be there for you whenever you need. Probably to the point where you'll get sick of me, but at least hopefully with the hint of a smile or smirk on your face.
• If I don't see Indiana Jones SOON, I'm going to kill someone. So, any takers?

Decent

Time for the weekend in review. It was a pretty good weekend, two hang-overs and all. Friday I spent all day in PowerPoint class. My dumb ass thought that an all day class was a good idea the day before a long holiday weekend. The class was good, I learned a lot. No, I will not be using PowerPoint here. Friday night I met VonStepBrother1 for his birthday dinner. We met at a Peruvian BYOB place. It was f a n t a s t i c. All total, there was 8 of us, and 12 bottles of wine. Yummy. VSB1, his g-friend, her brother, her two friends, VSB2 and VonStepSis2. We all had a great time. The food was to die for, the wine was perfect. It was one of those 3 1/2 hour dinners. They had a guy there that played classic rock on this pan flute thing and a drum. I was full and tipsy and went home after dinner. I opted out of the after-party at VSB1's house. At 3:30 am I got a text from VSB1 that said "yay" - I guess the after party was still raging! Saturday I had a wedding to go to. It was one of those weddings where I wasn't sure why I was even invited. It was the older brother of one of my oldest friends. The wedding was at a hotel in Schiller Park. I opted to get a room, so I wouldn't end up with a DUI at the end of the night. The wedding was very cookie cutter. I have to say that the bride's dress was gorgeous. Other than that, nothing much to say. I got tipsy on bad wine. I went solo to this wedding. The reason I did that is because a lot of my oldest/closest friends were there, so I knew I'd be ok. I was. The music was really really bad after a very promising start. The happy couple's first dance was a beautiful song from Rob Thomas that I'd never heard before. After that it was all "Celebration" and "We are family" and blah blah blah. Just plain BAD. I hate that. So, I just sat there and got myself tipsy. Good times. Sunday I had breakfast at the hotel with those of my friends that were able to make it down to the restaurant (there were a few who were way to hung over to join us). Sunday afternoon I was heading over to John and Toni's for dinner. I stopped at the store to pick up dessert. Well, don't shop hung-over. I got 2 desserts, a big tub of spinach dip, chips, and Hawaiian bread. Oops. John grilled up some ribs and hot dogs. We watched Cartoon Network. It was a good time. I like to just chill out sometimes, and John and Toni are the people I like to chill out with the most. So, while not the most exciting of weekends, it was good. I'm back in the swing of things. This weekend I will be at Mai Fest all weekend long. So, if you're around on Saturday, come on over to Mai Fest and see me and Shannon - The two fastest stein pourers in Chicago!

Lemme 'Splain

Yesterday, I got something that made me all giddy and stupid, and I actually squealed. At work. I got my New Kids on the Block tickets. Now, now, let me explain before you just laugh and point. I know, The New Kids are actually not talented singers, or songwriters, or dancers. I also know that they average age of the "kids" is like 42. There is, at least in my opinion, a very good reason I am going to this concert. When I was a teenager, I actually didn't have any New Kids stuff. I had a Jordan Knight doll someone gave me, and this picture book someone else gave me. The posters on my walls were actually of The Cure, and Killing Joke, and Morrissey, and Metallica, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. I knew about the New Kids, I dug them as much as any other teenage girl did at the time, I guess. Most of my friends were really into them, and went to all of their concerts. Here's the thing - I NEVER got to see them when I was a kid. VonMom and VonDad are and were awesome, and actually really indulgent of me, but on this topic they did not budge. There was no way they were going to fork over the cash just so I could get some cool points for going to the 19th NKOTB show in 1990. I didn't really push the issue, because they were so cool about almost everything else. But, I did feel like I was missing out. Interesting side note though - I think my mom is behind a lot of my love of music. My first concert was Heart. I approached her nervously about buying the tickets with her credit card. She said "Heart, huh?" and handed over the card with a sly little grin on her face. I feel she was holding out until I picked a quality band to spend my money on. Anyway, back to the New Kids tickets: So, I bought these fackin' tickets for one reason: Because I could. It's really as simple as that. LB1 and I were having lunch, and I told her that there was this pre-sale for American Express cardholders. She said "I have an American Express." There. Done. The following week we went online and bought the tickets - pretty damn good seats too. I bought 3, one for me, one for Laura, who I'm pretty sure is so excited she may not sleep until the concert - which is in October, and one for SIL1X. I had no idea she even liked the New Kids until I was telling the story of how I was getting tickets. She got all excited too. Turns out she was a big fan back in the day too. Just another reason why I heart her big time. So, October 4th, I'll be oh-oh-oh-ohing, with an arena full of thirty-somethings just like me.

Good Monday

Friday night I worked another show at Old Town. My evening started out very well. It was a lovely day, and the radio had this Friday thing, one hour of Flip Siiiiide, or flash back dance music. I can sit in traffic to a little Dangerous on the Dancefloor any freakin' day of the week. I picked up a pizza and went to the DANK Haus and ate with VonSis, who I've been not seeing much of lately and missing. The DANK was getting ready for their monthly Stammtisch (open house). I hung out for a bit, and headed over to Old Town. I was 15 minutes early, or so I thought. Not.So.Much. I walked up to head volunteer D and said "Hi. I know, I'm early..." she says, "No, you're late - you're hospitality." Um. Ok. Didn't know that. Usually, that's a task you find out ahead of time. I was pretty excited though, as I've been trying to learn that function. So, my evening took a little turn. The hospitality volunteer is responsible to/for the artist. This would be the second time I've done this job. I'm flexible, whatever. Alice Peacock was the artist. Her opener was very nice, damned if I can remember his name, but had a great voice, and was lyrically a treat to listen to. Anyway, Alice couldn't have been nicer. She was kind, and not at all demanding. I brought her a glass of wine and that's pretty much it. A nice lady with quite the voice. Again, I will rave about Old Town. Best Vibe Ever. That's the one thing I hear over and over again from the artists. But, to be honest, the best part of Friday night was when K taught me a new crochet stitch. I am really digging my new hobby. Y'all are getting scarves for Christmas/Hanukkah. UPDATE: The almostfriend that pissed me off bad last week was there Friday night. I was cautious at first, wanted to see what she would do. She was normal, nothing to indicate one way or the other where we stood. Well, I'm not that person. The first chance I got, I approached her. "So, are we talking? Friends? Just curious here." "Did I say we weren't friends?" "Well, we had that argusation last week...." "Refresh my memory. What happened?" So, I refreshed her memory. She thought about it a second. Then she said: "Yeah, I probably should have said something to that other person instead of you." "Yep, well, are we fine?" "Yeah, I didn't even remember it til you brought it up." So, safe to say I got all upset over something that was nothing to her. But, as I said previously, she's mostly awesome, so I'm keeping her on the nice list. I have no good reason to update the rest of my weekend. L A M E But: I did make up the term "vonocracy" this weekend. The sentence was "This is not a vonocracy, please speak up". I like it. I'm keeping it. It works. I painted my nails Really Red today. I'm feeling sassy. It's going to be a good week. I can just feel it. I am currently listening to "The Best of Morrissey" loudly (ok, really unacceptably loudly). I can only hope the neighbors hate it when their friends become successful.