Tonight We're All Still Young at Heart

Image from barringtonriversideretreate.com.au

Saturday morning I woke up with a headache so bad it made my eyes water! I had to suck it up though as we had a 2 and a half hour drive ahead of us to it out to Gloucester, where the Runner and the Smooth Talker were getting married. I was able to find some headache medicine right before we left and that seemed to knock the headache out pretty well.

It was a pretty drive and MOTH and I had fun in the car and talked about how it felt like road tripping in America. We were the first to arrive at the cabins we were all going to be staying at for the night and had our pick of the 4 so we chose the one with the best view of the river below. Not long after, our bunk mates The Farmer and Tinkerbell (who hates this pseudonym and whom I still need to think up another one for) arrived and after them came LC, Bob Marley, the Hairdresser, the Soccer Player, Croc, and the Teacher. All the boys hung out on the porch drinking beer and making a trip down to feel the water while us girls took over the main bedroom of our cabin and the Hairdresser very nicely did all of our hair for us. We then got dressed and started to head out for the ceremony. I started to feel a bit headachey again before we left, but figured it was just because I was a little overheated.

The ceremony was at a beautiful hill overlooking the whole valley and town of Gloucester. The Runner teared up as she walked down the aisle and I teared up with her. It was a short and simple ceremony, but by the time it was over, I was starting to feel really sick to my stomach so I told MOTH Dude I needed to go sit in the car in some air conditioning for awhile. Being a good guy, he left the after ceremony drinks, pictures, and canapes to check on me a few times. After a while, the air conditioning just wasn't doing it for me so I stumbled out of our car and very classily got down on my knees in my pretty dress and heels and puked behind a tree. I felt better for a few minutes so I went down and joined our friends again. But then I started to not feel so great again and MOTH offered to take me in to town to try and find some medicine so I wouldn't be sick all night. We made it in to town just as the last grocery store was closing. I explained to them how I had just been sick and could I please run in for some quick medicine. They don't have much variety in grocery stores here like they do in the U.S. but we grabbed whatever we thought might help me. I took some Alka Seltzer that was supposed to be for headaches and upset stomachs. About that time, our friends arrived in town to go to the pub to wait for the reception to start. MOTH got me a gingerale and I sat outside with the girls trying to get some air. I felt bad for MOTH having to keep missing out on the fun so he went inside to play pool with the other boys. Twice I ran out to in front of the pub to try and catch a bit of breeze to make me nausea go away. Finally, (TMI coming up so beware if you're squeamish) I couldn't hold it any longer and I did 3 big heaves in to a planter outside of the pub. I'm sure I just looked like a hot mess and a bad drunk to anyone who saw, but I couldn't help it, nor could I face puking in the pub's bathroom. MOTH came out just as I finished and I started crying. I felt so awful and just wanted to go back to the cabin to lie down. He convinced me to wash my face and grab some fries aka chips to eat and that seemed to do the trick.

It was then time for the reception. It was a fun night with everyone else doing lots of drinking (I was driving, plus nothing sounded worse than drinking on top of having already been sick) and dancing and taking scandalous and funny pictures together.

There was a tiny bit of drama at the end of the night when we went to say good bye to the bride. I told her that I know I'm flakey so it may have seemed that that was what I was doing the weekend before when I missed her bachelorette party, but that I had been sick with other stomach issues. I told her about being sick that night. She didn't seem to believe me and had some issues about our cabins, as well. It was sad to see her upset on her wedding night and upset at me/the other girls(?) specifically because we hadn't actually done anything wrong and it was a shame that people were telling her crappy things about us. I guess you can't be in a group our size without a bit of drama between everyone every once in a while, though. Hopefully she came away believing what we had said, but I'm not sure. I hope to speak to her when she gets back from her honeymoon to reiterate that we didn't say anything negative about her, her bachelorette party, or her choice of accommodation for us-there was just a lot of confusion and third party misinformation.

After the reception, we all headed back to hang out at the cabin and decompress from the night. At the stroke of midnight, we roused the Farmer from his room and sang Happy Birthday to him. The rest of us made it in to bed between 1 and 1:30.

In the morning, we got up waaaaaaay too early (7:30!!) and sat out on the porch again and watched the river. We then made breakfast, packed up, and all headed down to the river where MOTH and the Soccer Player took an unintentional, that turned in to intentional, dip in the river.

I don't think anyone wanted to go and we discussed getting a big house together somewhere at the beach to share sometime soon. We then got in to our separate cars and headed home. Other than being sick and the bit of drama that unfolded, it was a fantastic weekend away!

Get the Party Started

We're at T -31 hours until party time people and I am in a mad panic! Somehow between Saturday and now our RSVP list has grown from 45 to around 65 people. Holy Moly! What have I gotten myself in to?

Luckily it looks like the weather gods are going to smile on us and tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm. Thank goodness!

Yesterday I hit the mall to find the perfect tropical-y dress to wear for tomorrow. After 3 hours and hitting every clothing store there, I decided that maybe new jeans and a cute tank top and bright shrug would be enough. I'm a bigger girl with stubby legs and big boobs so no, those maxi dresses that everyone is carrying right now don't flatter me, nor do my only other two options in stores right now- something tight and short or something strapless. No, no, no! So oh well, I'll probably be the least Hawaiian-y looking person at my party, but at least I will be comfortable and feel cute in the outfit that I did pick out. I was trying to surprise MOTH Dude by getting us male and female style leis to wear, too, but apparently plumerias aren't in season yet so the flower shop said they'd have to use orchids and the leis would cost $80 a piece so that put a kabosh on that idea pretty quickly!!

In about 45 minutes, I'll be out the door for a 5 hour shift at work and then I'm off to shop for party supplies which includes 18 kilos of pork shoulder and 4 boxes of cask wine (for Goon-a-Fortune, of course). We brought the iconic American, red plastic cups back with us on this last trip so I might have to teach these Aussies how to play some beer pong, too! (Have I also mentioned that we are having an adult slushie machine and an adult sized bounce house?!?)

Tonight I've got 3 batches of chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies to bake, as well as 3 boxes of cake mix worth of cupcakes, and probably close to 100 bread rolls (not to mention getting that 18 kilos of pork wrapped in banana leaves and put in to 3-4 different crocpots to cook away for the next 20 hours). I'm going to be one frantic girl!

I'm off to get dressed for work and then take these next 37 hours head on. Wish me luck! I will hopefully have fun stories and maybe some pictures to share early next week.

I Hope You Had the Time of Your Life

Just recently Bun's little sister Mini-Bun posted her Prom pictures and gosh did that make me feel really, really old! Mini-Bun was 9, maybe 10, when we graduated from high school so it's surprising how fast the end of her own Senior year has snuck up on us. Mini-Bun looked stunning and like a true California surfer girl on her big day. She looked stylish and effortless and that's due to the fact that I believe she did her own hair and makeup and reused a dress from a previous dance. Who does that?! Who is that cool at 17-18 to say, "Hey Mom, it's cool, I don't need a new dress to the big dance because I've got one that I've already used that will work great again"? Mini-Bun=Awesome!

Seeing her Prom pictures and coupled with the fact that I just saw a friend's Facebook page that is still covered with pics of her and her old high school crew got me thinking about my own Prom night and what a blast it was. I had been to 3 other dances over the 4 years of high school and all of them were awkward/awful. As a freshman I went to the Homecoming dance with a boy I had gone to grade school with. He didn't go to my same high school and I didn't know anyone there and we hadn't seen each other in 6 months so we didn't have a lot to talk about and I can't remember if we danced or not. As a junior I thought I was asking a cute guy I had met once to the dance and my friends were going to ask his friends so we could all go in a group. They never got around to actually asking the friends so there I was again with a guy I didn't really know, but luckily he was friends with my sisters boyfriend at the time so we kindof hung with them for the night. We left as soon as we were allowed to and went back to Bun's house. At this point I kind of liked the guy, but he didn't seem to be paying enough attention for my liking. So I decided to get drunk for the first time in my life off some blue koolaid and vodka concoction that Bun and her cousin had whipped up. I ended up drinking way too much and acting like a complete tool, even saying I was going to jump off the balcony on to Bun's Mom's Navigator (3 feet) below! (What did I think I was going to accomplish, a sprained ankle?? Haha, so dramatic! I still can not talk to Bun's cousin without her bringing up "I'm going to jump on the Navi" without fail, soooooo not fun introducing her to new people, especially new boyfriends who always got to hear the story, too!) (P.S. Sorry Mom for getting drunk at 16 and you not knowing until now. I guess there is a reason for the legal drinking age not to be 16!) So the dance date took off and we never spoke again because he didn't want to deal with that kind of bullshit, rightly so. The next dance I went to was Homecoming my senior year. I thought I was going in a small group of the cool kids, but turns out it was more like the top 100 coolest kids, and me and my date didn't get an invite to their after party...ouch! I also hated my shoes, wasn't a huge fan of my dress, none of my real friends were at the dance, and my date was the Loser ExBoyfriend who didn't go to the school.

Finally, finally, for senior Prom everything came together. We partied with the football boys every weekend and I sat next to one of the team captains in Math that year and we really hit it off. We had made out one weekend (sorry, again, Mom, and it was just making out), but really only because Bun had left us alone downstairs at her house and I was too young and dumb to say "No" to a popular boy. I mean, he didn't force me or anything, that's not what I'm saying, but I would've been happy not to make out with him that night, too. Anyway, so all of us decide we should go as a group and hire a limo, do pictures together, then have an after party at someone's house. The Team Captain asked me by bringing me two different bouquets at lunch one day and I was excited to be going with him because we were really good friends by then and the Loser ExBF was out of the picture for the moment.

The night of Prom I was running late because Nae wanted to follow us over to where we were going to be taking pictures beforehand to have her pictures done there, too, but her friend was running late and I finally just had to go. I got there and the Team Captain was pretty pissed because picture time was over and we had to leave and he and I only got a snap or two before jumping in the limo, but as we were taking those few quick snaps he said something really nice- "that I looked so beautiful, I was worth the wait"...awwww!

On the ride over to the Long Beach Convention Center, we laughed and talked and had a good time and then one of the boy's pulled out a bong, nicknamed Snoop Bong, and started taking huge rips off of it. Me, Bun, and Candie (another old friend whom I've only briefly wrote about to chronicle the demise of our friendship) just thought it was hilarious, but the other girls in the group who we weren't really close to were spazzing out and saying we were all going to get contact highs or wreak of pot smoke and not be allowed in to the dance (and they were the types of girls who had those huge, poofy princess dresses so smoke probably could've hid up under one of their layers or something) so the guy put the bong away. As we walked in to the dance, we took our couples photo and group photo. The picture of me and the Team Captain is a great one- I am standing with my back to his chest and just as they were taking the picture the Team Captain whispered something really naughty in to my ear that made me laugh and that is our picture- him with a big smile and me mid-laugh. I also got a great picture with Nae- we are both in our fancy black dresses and I had her jump up in to my arms like I was a groom carrying her across the threshold.

The rest of the dance I had a great time running around and chatting with people and taking pictures with friends I was only going to see for two more weeks of school. The Team Captain was in fine form, having mixed some Shrooms in with his Mac n Cheese when we got to the dance and he was super funny to hang with. We had one dance that night and not being a dancer that was enough for me and the Team Captain being the charmer he is danced with tons of girls the whole night and it was nice to not be with a boyfriend where I'd have to care or be jealous if he spent the night dancing with other girls.

Prior to the dance, the Team Captain and I told people if they couldn't think of anyone to write for Prom King and Queen, vote us. I thought it was a bit of a joke because I was pretty anti school spirit. A lot of people in my homeroom thought it was funny so they put us down. Well, a friend of my sister's was on the dance committee or student council had come up to her a few days before the dance and told her that we had enough votes to make it on to the court, but I guess with school politics we somehow didn't make it on the ballot. Didn't matter in the end, the two nicest kids from our class won it and I thought that was pretty great.

At the end of the night we piled back in to the limo and headed out to a ritzy community in the hills above Newport Beach to spend the night at the Co-Captain's (and Bun's date) house. I must have been pretty tired because I don't remember much from the night. I got upstairs early to claim a couch because Princess D doesn't really do well sleeping on floors. After I had gotten in my pajamas, the Team Captain came upstairs and asked me if we were going to hook up that night. I said "No" and he, ever the gentleman, asked if it was okay if he went and hooked up with someone else! I said "Sure, go for it, good luck!" or something to that effect and then the Team Captain proceeded to whip out his guitar and serenade me with this reggae song that I loved how he sung before going off to fulfill all of his stereotypical Prom night fantasies. It was really, really nice and honestly, I thought it was a perfect night and a perfect Prom. I had fun, I looked good, there was no stress, and I got to spend it with all the people who meant the most to me at that point in my life.

So, did reading this bring back any fun or funny dance memories for any of you? Did anyone lose their virginity in the back of a limo or the back of a Ford Fiesta that night? Did you love what you wore? Hate what you wore? Go with someone your regretted or your future spouse? What was the highlight or lowlight for you that night?

I am the Fire Starter

Last night we went over to Croc's parent's property for a big bonfire. I never realized how far back their land stretches. When we arrived, Croc and the Teacher loaded us in to an open topped trailer and pulled us behind their quad down to the back of the property where the bonfire was. It was huge! There was a10 foot tree that was still standing in the ground, but was dead as termites had built a huge nest inside that we could see, and that was the centerpiece of the bonfire. All around it were other huge chunks of wood that were alight, too. Beside Croc and the Teacher, it was all of Croc's family-his parents (who are super nice and super funny people) and his brother and sister (who are great as well) and their boyfriends and girlfriends, and then the Soccer Player and the Hairdresser.

Croc and Boyfriend were little fire bugs. Boyfriend had brought over some old fireworks and firecrackers he had lying around in his closet and he and Croc lit them off and shot them at Croc's brother. Croc surprised his brother and chased him so far across the backyard and even hit him with one shot from the firework! The other amusing thing the boys got their hands on last night was a cattle prod. The Soccer Player jolted Boyfriend twice with it and Croc's brother snuck up on him and gave him the biggest shock with it in retaliation for the fireworks. Boyfriend luckily had layers on so he said it didn't hurt super bad but Croc got prodded on his arm and it burnt him! The Teacher had a big night and had to head to bed early with Croc's help. After she went to bed Croc brought out the "goon sack" which is the bladder inside a box of wine. This boxed wine was port and we all took sips off the pouch. It was pretty white trash but was a lot of fun and even Croc's Mom had a few gulps off of it (but only after she had seen me do it)! Then as we were getting ready to leave, all the quads were being used up at the house so Croc had us hop in to his 4 wheel drive and gave us a tour of the back part of the property. We slammed through little trees and it was just like off roading. His brother came up on a quad with his girlfriend on his back and two friends in the open trailer and they ran in to the back of the car we were in. Then Croc put his foot to the floor and we were doing burn outs and racing through the backyard and seemed like we would crash in to one of the old dirt bike jumps or old dead cars they had back there, but we made it safe and sound to the house. It was just like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland and I was squealing and screaming and laughing the whole time!

New Workout Plan

Last week I went and put in more resumes at different spots at the local shops. On Thursday the Runner came to pick me up and take me to the big mall so we could grab some coffee and I could pass out more resumes. The Runner probably thought I was so fussy because there were so many places I didn't want to work at. I just can't see myself selling jewelry and stuff like that. Her parents own their own business and when her mom called her she asked if there was any filing or anything I could do and surprisingly her mom said I could come in for a day for a trial run at filing stuff for them. I was so stoked and was/am so grateful to the Runner for asking for me. We spent awhile at the shops and then we had to go back to her house because her parents were having new flooring delivered. It was supposed to be like a 20 minute stop over, but two and a half hours later we were still waiting. The Runner's parent's place is pretty cool-lots of property, feels like a real family home, and they own lots of animals-a dog, cats, and some cows! The Runner had a running date with the Smooth Talker's sister and she came over with her dogs right before the flooring guy got there. Smooth Talker's sister (I'll have to figure out a name for her, I really like her!, this was my first time meeting her but I've heard nice things about her over the years) said that I should go running with them. I laughed and jokingly said "oh well, you know, I would, but I'm wearing jeans and stuff so they aren't really good to run in" The Runner says "no worries, I'll find you something to wear" I said "Bitch, Im not going to fit in to any of your stuff" and she said "Oh yeah you will" So I ended up looking like 5 pounds of sugar stuffed in to a 3 pound bag, but she was right, I fit in to her old stuff kind of. The Runner and Smooth Talker's Sister ran most of the trail, I ran the downhill bits and power walked the rest. I felt like the people on their first day being at the Biggest Loser Fat Camp! Haha! But I didn't give up and I didn't stop once and the trail that we ran on was so pretty. I felt like I was dying while it was happening but I loved it, too. It was so cool to be out in the country just walking and running with the dogs and not having to have them on leashes. It's probably corny but I think stuff like that is the life. I'd love to have a dog or dogs that could just hike along with me and not have to worry about them running away or whatever.

Saturday we had a Tequila Party at the Smooth Talker's house. It was so fun! I made margaritas, but only drank one since I was driving us home. It was the Smooth Talker, the Smooth Talker's Sister, the Runner, the Miner, LC, Bob Marley, Me, and Boyfriend. We played Pictionary and I typically HATE board games but this was fun and we had exactly the right amount of people to play. Me and Boyfriend were so close to winning, but in the end the Miner and Smooth Talker's Sister beat us.

Boyfriend had a VERY VERY big night! He doesn't go that big ever so it was good for him to just let loose. It was fun just talking to Smooth Talker about his job and his place up in the country and stuff like that and to talk and joke with and get to know his sister better. She just seems like a cool down to earth and mellow chick so I hope I get to hang out and work out with her again. Boyfriend ended the night creating a potent mix of tequila, countreau, vodka, and kool-aid aka cordial. The Runner had been making the last batch of margaritas for them and when she left the blender for a minute, Boyfriend pulled in even more of all the alcohol. Even being a bit drunk, the Runner said the mix Boyfriend ended up creating was pretty toxic. I think that is what put him over the edge. Although he did have to chug a few times during a rowdy game of Uno, too, so who knows....like I said it was a very big night for him!

I drove home- it was only about a 15 minute drive but it was the longest I have done yet. We saw a fox, well I saw a fox since Boyfriend doesn't remember it, at the end of the Smooth Talker's road. I had to drive through round-abouts and those freak me out. Luckily it was like 1am and no one was on the road so I could just cruise through them. When we got home Boyfriend started getting sick. He was sick til about 430am and I got so worried that I called my Mom to ask if this was normal and what I could do to help him. He was pretty much on the verge of having to go to the hospital, that's how hardcore it was.

Today I went in to the office with the Runner and got shown the ropes by her mom. I have to answer phones, take money, write receipts, file stuff, open mail and send mail out-receptionist type stuff. I enjoyed it. I like learning new things, I was nervous, but it was good once I got the hang of it. Her parents probably don't really need the help but have offered me a day of work a week. I soooooo appreciate it because the money I make there will at least cover my groceries for two weeks and bus fare and stuff. Isn't it awesome to have good friends who look out for you? :)

Oh, we heard over the weekend that our one friend, Croc Dundee, got beaten up by random people while he was out camping at the same spot he had had his Buck's weekend while there for someone else's Buck's party. I will try and write more after I see him this next weekend, but the details so far are that his nose was broken, his brother got a bottle of Jim Beam smashed over his head, and the Soccer Player's car got smashed up and these were by guys who had earlier in the day asked Croc and the boys back up to their campsite to have a beer, but Croc says before they even got out of the car these guys were throwing bottles at the car! Gross, right?

Graceful Like a Deer

Yesterday I ran in to my bathtub and heard a big pop in my toes. The two closest to my pinky toe are now killing me. How do I know if they are broken? S calls me “Graceful like a deer” or “like a pro” when I do stuff like this because one time we went on a day trip up the coast and we had to dart through traffic to cross the road, I laughed and skipped across the road and said, “Look at me, I’m graceful like a deer” The words weren’t even all out of my mouth before I ran into a low brick wall next to the road. The “like a pro” comes from when he, Bun and I were drinking in my dorm room one night and I said I could chug vodka and then take a sip from a juice bottle and mix the drinks in my mouth “like a pro.” I took too big of a gulp of vodka then was still determined to sip some juice down and ended up throwing it up on my bed and near S! Like a pro indeed…

Drunk Kid Catholic

A few weeks back, the Teacher had her bachelorette party (also called a hen’s night here). We went to the races. The title for the post is cause she’s a good Catholic girl and she got very very drunk! I hope she had fun, I had more fun than I was expecting to have because I had never been to the horse races before. We got her to do silly stuff-take funny pictures with different boys and get a lap dance. No one really won any money. From our group it was LC, Tinkerbell, and the Runner. We just had a good time hanging out and talking between races.
I spent the night at LC’s, all the boys were out camping for Croc’s bachelor (or buck’s) party. The next day was my 25th birthday. Time for a quarter life crisis! I woke up early, not feeling well, like I had a hangover but I knew it wasn’t one as I had only had like 4 drinks over the course of the whole day. LC woke up right before S came to pick me up. He got special permission from Croc to bow out a little bit early to spend the day with me. Unfortunately, we had a lot of boring errands to run for most of it. I ended up baking myself a cake while S slept off the weekend. He took me out to our favorite Italian food place and then he came back and set up my wireless internet and tried to fix my TV. He got me a funny book- funny because it’s called Homework for GrownUps, and it’s like everything you learned at school but forgot and I am constantly asking S dumb questions that he thinks I should know the answer to as an adult and as a teacher of young children. I am also maybe getting a beach cruiser bike from him after his next pay check so we can go for beach and lake rides.