Weekend Update

Most Monday mornings I get angry at my alarm as it calls to me at 4:40, but today I wasn't so much angry as I was surprised. Was it really time to get up for work already? Is the weekend really over? Mondays like this have been rare for me of late, but I love them because I know I had an awesome weekend.

Friday:

Friday started off the weekend right with a great date with Jen, the wonderful girl in my life. We started out with dinner at Ristorante Ciao in Dearborn. The place itself was OK and looked like a smaller version of other Italian restaurants. I guess the P.C. term would be intimate instead of small....still the place itself wasn't anything special. We were seated promptly even though we arrived a little early for our reservations, but I ran into my first problem right away when I pulled out my chair and noticed that the arms were so long that they were still under the table when the back of the chair hit the wall. I rotated the chair about 45 degrees toward myself, sat down, and shuffled it back toward the table locking myself in for dinner.

The server was attentive and courteous and easily rattled the night's specials off the top of her head. The food came out very quickly after we ordered, which made me wonder how they had enough time to overcook my filet. Mind you, I am very picky with how my steak is cooked, but I was very disappointed when I cut into it, and even more so when I tasted it and realized that it was a very good cut of meat. Jen's mushroom and cheese ravioli looked really good and she said it was very tasty. The presentation of both meals was fantastic, and the plates were very stylish.

Overall I enjoyed the dinner at Ciao and would definitely try it again in the future as the few drawbacks I encountered can be easily remedied and the food and service were both very good.

From there we went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Jen was completely unamused with the flick, but surprisingly enough I enjoyed it. Tim Burton's adaptations aren't always my favorites, but I liked the deviations from the norm this time. By the time the movie was over I was so tired I was just about useless, so I headed home and jumped in bed to get a little bit of rest before getting up early(ish) for golf on Saturday.

Saturday:

So my room mate Mark and I are notoriously late for everything....and we've got a golf outing to be at....I am told I need to be there about 10:45....we have several foursomes in the outing, so I figure that we can be a little bit late because everyone knows we always show up late. So we show up at 11:05 figuring that we'd have about an hour before tee time....we had five minutes. I am already annoyed when we got there because on our way someone called us to give us directions, but they were the wrong directions. Luckily I knew the area and was able to guide us to the course without incident. Then I get even angrier because they kept as as the second tee time even after we called them and told them we would be late. So I am pretty wound up when we get to the tee box and have to start without so much as a short stretch....just grip it and rip it and hope you don't pull something. Golfing angry equals bad golf, bad golf equals anger....by the turn I was ready to call it a day but we pressed on and finished very near last place....behind the girls team. Hooray Golf!

After such a showing on the course you definitely need something to raise your spirits, or some spirits to raise....either way we needed a couple drinks. So we headed to a friend's house for a non-bachelor party bachelor party. Our friend is getting married in a couple weeks and already had his bachelor party, but needed something to do while his fiancee' had her bachelorette party so we all headed to Jeremy's house in Oxford (only about a light year away from town) to have a little get together. Now I assumed that the party was going to be guys only, so when two attractive, well dressed young ladies started walking up the driveway toward us I said something to the effect of, "I thought you guys said there wasn't going to be any 'entertainment' tonight...." only to hear that it was someone's girlfriend and her younger sister coming to hang out with all of us. Situations like this are just one of the benefits of having Foot in Mouth Disease.

The party was a lot of fun. Had some deep fried food, had a few sprites, played some poker....I guess the poker was fun because I won....and we did a lot of talking and joking around. The only drawback was the ungodly drive home at 4:30 in the morning. Ugh.

Sunday:

Before I know it my alarm is going off and it's time to get up for poker. I am moving very slowly and my mind seems mired in a dense fog. I shower up, Jen comes over, and we head out to Big Rob's house for event number three of the Basement Poker Tour. By the time we get there my brain is still swimming in a thick gelatanous substance, and it becomes very apparent that my the money I won last night will just be a donation to today's prize money as I have no chance at winning since I can't concentrate at all.

First game I played some up and down poker. I busted out Big Rob fairly early and hung out with my big stack for a little while. Played poorly and ended up giving away a healthy portion of said stack to Paul by misplaying a little boat. My last hand was pocket 7s. I of course go all in, but Paul is the only one to call me....not what I want to see. He flips over his tens....not what I want to see. His hand holds up and he is still the only person to break my 7s in a live game this year, and he's done it twice now. The sevens often signify the end of the tournament for someone, but it very rarely ever me....oh well. Mark beat Jen heads-up to win the first game.

Second game I was awful. Called when I should have raised or folded. Raised when I should have merely called or folded. It wasn't pretty. Last hand is little slick(2-3) offsuit I raise preflop and catch bottom pair with my 3. I push all in and Mark announces that I have him beat, but he is still calling....He made top pair on the flop, which holds up and knocks me out. Mark beat Paul heads-up to win the second game as well.