Signs of True Friendships

This past weekend we had the chance to go to Lethbridge to celebrate Sean and Chris Gonzo's birthday at a black-tie poker party. We drove to the bridge city with Kevan and Leah, as per norm, and arrived in town a few hours early so Karyn and Leah could go shopping for new outfits for the evening. Kevan and I followed them through the mall until at one point we decided to take a look at a Nissan Frontier truck that was parked in the mall and they walked right by us (we didn't see them but they saw us) and we were separated. A little background, Kevan and I hate malls...We ended up lapping that mall 3 times trying to find our wives and after the final try we decided to go wait in the car. We were sitting in the car with the seats reclined and the sunroof open and it was boring. Not the fact that Kevan and I don't have anything to talk about, it was just boring. I made a comment about how I wish we had sporting equipment that was not hindered by the wind (we were in Lethbridge, you expect it to be windy all the time and when it's not you get excited). Good thing Kevan had a couple of baseball gloves in the trunk and we ended up tossing the ball in the parking lot for about 20 minutes.

We went out for dinner at Montana's and had the worst service ever. First, we showed up and were seated right away and did not have anyone come over for 10 minutes to take a drink order or anything. Kevan went up to talk to the manager and a few minutes later a waitress came over. She didn't apologize for the wait and took our orders. Kevan and I ordered a chocolate shake, Leah ordered a slush drink (I can't remember if it was a margarita or a daiquiri), and Karyn got a water to go along with our meals. About 5 minutes later the waitress brings Kevan and I our shakes and they were, not a lie, about 90% milk, 10% chocolate ice cream, and 100% gross. At that point we decided to leave so I went up and talked to the manager once again and told her we were out of there.

Boston Pizza's where we ended up and had a good meal. After Kevan and I went out and again tossed the ball around while the girls went to get changed. After about 10 minutes of baseball we decided it was about time we changed too so we did so right on the side of Mayor Magrath drive in Lethbridge (it's a pretty major road there!). Kevan and I have no shame. I think the worst part about it was Kevan was having trouble getting his top button done up on his shirt and I ended up having to do it up for him...there were a few strange looks given!

We arrived at the party fashionably late. We thought it started at 7pm so we were there at about 7:20pm. Apparently it started at 6:30pm. Oops. Kevan got right to the tables as it was a poker party and we just mingled. Good to see a lot of friends that we haven't seen for months like Uncle Christoph & Lisa G., Lisa M, Mike & Amy, and others. I think we were at the party for about an hour and a half and all of a sudden there's Pete coming out of one of the rooms! I haven't been able to connect with him for months! After he got out at the tables we ended up having a good chat to catch up on life. It's friends like these where we don't see them for months and we can just pick up right where we left off, as if time stood still since our last meeting.

The night ended with Kevan getting out on the tables, finishing 3rd. We wanted to go back to Calgary that evening and it was about midnight when we finally left. Kevan decided to drive back to Calgary with Sugar and I ended up driving their car with Karyn and Leah as my passengers. I'll tell you, it was a little odd to be driving the Majestic Golden Eagle with Karyn in the passenger seat and Leah in the back seat. Meh. We got home at 2:30am, completely beat.

Sunday and this morning I feel the exhaustion coupled with what might be the beginnings of a cold. We slept in on Sunday until about 10:30am (so we got about 7 hours sleep) and last night went to bed at 10:30pm but it doesn't seem to be helping. Hope it goes away soon because I sure don't feel well.

D