BEER FOR BREAKFAST

Not sure why I chose this title except that I just left a party where there were still 8-10 guys crowded around a keg of beer, guarding it like someone might try to confiscate it from their ardent watch. I wonder if they will still be there in the wee hours of the mornin'. That is, if there still would be beer in the keg. Doubtful. But there is always this scene at any gathering where there is a keg of beer. I wonder if these are the same actors at each party. Stunt men of sorts. The beer guzzlers. Maybe stand-ins is a better way to refer to them. They all have the exact same stance, the plastic cup of beer in one hand and the other hand buried in their jeans pocket. The same smile on their collective faces, the same glazed-over look in their eyes. The keg guards. They need to wear those big tall fuzzy black hats like the guards at Buckingham Palace wear. That would be funny. This post could be weird, I've been drinking coconut rum and Coke all evening.

An old friend turned 50, the cause for celebration. He's a good guy. I'm not sure though if I ever apologized sufficiently for the black eye I gave him when we were in Junior High. It was totally not intentional. It was a snowball fight, most likely the girls vs. the boys, as most squirmishes are at that age. I had wailed a ball of snow at him, in the dark. It was by pure chance I'm sure that it hit him in the eye, as my aim was anything but accurate. In the excitement of the moment I had neglected to notice that there was ice among the snow and what I threw at him was actually more of an iceball than a snowball. Oh gawd, imagine the sheer humiliation of walking into school on Monday morning with a black eye and having to explain that a stupid girl hit you in the eye with a snowball. At any rate, he survived and is now celebrating the milestone of turning 50. Happy Birthday to him.

Had a good time tonight. Getting out just to have fun and relax is pretty much a rarity for me and it felt great. I got to spend time with a lot of old friends that I rarely see these days. I did however have one startling "wake up" moment when I met up with a boy/man I used to babysit when I was in High School. He had more gray hair than I do and that kind of knocked me for a loop. Some things are just not right.

I was able to spend time with a dear, dear friend Patty and her husband Jay, from Amsterdam. They are fairly newly-wedded and very much in love and a joy to be around. Jay is another crazy engineer and can be quite the smart ass which I totally appreciate. Patty and I have been friends since elementary school and, although we don't see each other quite often, we have the sort of friendship that picks up where we left off the last time we were together. Jay and I had a very interesting conversation about all the different types of engineering. The couple travelled to Detroit, Michigan earlier this week to a Car Show and the Henry Ford Museum and shared that experience with me. When we weren't talking we were laughing. I only snorted once. Did I mention that I snort when I laugh too hard? Not proud of that but it's not anything I have control over... Oh, no, I forgot to ask them to bring me strope waffles next trip. Have you ever had strope waffles? They are thin, crispy waffles, 2 of them, with a thick maple syrup between them. If you put them on top of a hot cup of coffee, the syrup softens up and ummm, ummm, are they yummy.

Not to stop this abruptly but it is now Sunday morning. I hadn't finished posting last night when the husband decided to do scads of downloading. So I'll post this now and write more later. I should run over to the party site and see how many of those guys are having beer for breakfast.