I know it's been over a week since I last wrote, but I just don't feel much like updating lately. It's nothing major. I just wonder (other than my sister and Jen) if my life is worthy to report most of the time. I am not saying this to get attention or anything like that. I say it with all honesty from the perspective that perhaps my life is really ho-hum and not interesting to other people. I know that sounds kinda grim, however, that's not what I'm trying to accomplish. I'm really trying to analyze the situation.

Now, having said all that, I'm going to try to catch you up on the oh-so-exciting Life of Michele.

My party seemed to fall flat like a loaf of bread without baking powder.
(These are my words, not anyone else's.)

My first guest called me right at 6:30 and asked, "What time was it supposed to start?" I told her, "Now." She replied, "Oh! Ok. I'll be there in 30 minutes."

So she got there at 7. Our friend, Nathan got there 2.5hrs later at 8:30pm and our other friend got there at 10pm. We did play quite a few rounds of Catch Phrase. We played girls against boys and despite the fact that S. and I were up against THREE guys, we kicked their butts. I mean, we stomped them into the ground! The score was 43-20. I had a few drinks but never got a buzz. Apparently, I ate too many carbohydrates prior to the party. That, and I kept nibbling on the delicious beer bread that I had made for the party. I don't drink it, but Corona tastes great in food!

The party ended around midnight-thirty. The good news was that Ben and I didn't waste a lot of money on food or supplies and we had the whole kitchen cleaned before bed. You'd never have guessed that we had people over for food & fun! In fact, speaking of money, I think we spent about $50 total on everything.

Saturday, on the other hand, was WAY fun. (Which, for me is ironic because I woke up feeling quite depressed and down-in-the dumps even though I knew I had NO reason to feel that way.) While I was putting on my make-up, Sheray called me. It's always a pick-me-upper when she calls. Plus, when she knows I'm feeling blue, she immediately turns up her charm and witty sense of humor and has me laughing by the end of the conversation. Later in the day, we met up with Nathan and went to see Rush Hour 3. It was okay. The first movie is still the best. And, like the other movies, the bloopers at the end were better than the movie itself.

After the movie, we hit Jamba Juice and then we were undecided as to what we wanted to do. Then we decided to ride go-karts! Oh. My. Gawd. That was just so much fun!! I forgot how much I love that. I shoulda been a race-car driver except for the fact that I wouldn't want to go quite that fast and I'm not a red-neck/hillbilly! (tee-hee)

When we finished at the go-kart track, we hit Tijuana Taxicab. It's a local Mexican restaurant that makes these phenomenal veggie fajitas. I was SO proud of myself..I didn't eat ONE chip. (You know, the warm tortilla chips that come to the table hot & freshly salted.) I was on a mission to really pay attention to calories.

And then I blew it.

Note To Jen: Due to the nature of the next few sentences you may want to scroll further down.

We went to this place called "Hot Shots" and shot pool. I wasn't intending to drink anything but the boys each had a beer so I thought, "Hmm.. I"ll try to see if the bartender here knows how to make my old favorite drink." I order an Amaretto Stone Sour. The waitress looked at me funny. She asks me, "Is that different than an Amaretto Sour?" I replied, "Yes, but *I* don't know what makes them different." She shrugs, turns on her heels and heads to the bar. Meanwhile, Ben, Nathan and I continue our game of cut-throat. For simplicity sake, we each keep the same set of balls whenever we play: I have little balls, Ben's are in the middle, while Nathan has the bigg'uns. LOL. (I have no verification of this, for those of you with a dirty mind.)

A few minutes later she returns with 2 Coors Lights and 1 Amaretto Stone Sour. I precariously took the first sip...

...you see, the reason this is such a big deal to me is that I have YET to find anyone to replicate this drink properly since I first fell in love with it back when I was in the Navy. So, for over 12yrs, I have been from restaurant to restaurant, bar to bar hoping to find someone who could make this drink.

And...

Well...

IT WAS JUST LIKE THE ONES I USED TO DRINK! I couldn't believe how good a drink could taste until it brought back a flood of good memories with each sip. Not that I'm one to pine for my youth (because I still feel very young indeed) nor am I a big time drinker, but, it was nice to reminisce and feel nostalgic all at the same time. After 2 hours of pool, we moved to the back and played darts. For some reason, the darts were free while the pool was $12/hr. (Which, to me, isn't a bad price when 3 people can play at a time.) Ben and Nathan ended up sharing a pitcher and I had 5 more drinks. Now, I have to tell you that I think that I was being ripped off between drinks 3 and 5. I noticed that they weren't quite as dark in color as the first two and not as dark as the very last one so I think the bartender wasn't putting in the same amount of amaretto. Because let me tell you... if I had drank SIX full Amaretto Stone Sours that were all equal in their amount of alcohol... I'd be D-R-U-N-K!!! I mean like 3- sheets-to-the-wind kind of drunk and I was only slightly buzzed. The only reason I was disappointed about not having as much alcohol in my drink is because I was PAYING for it---- to the tune of $5.50 a drink!! Yeah. And you know they fill the glass with a lot of ice, too!

After we left the bar/pool-hall, we headed back to our place. We sat and chatted a bit and then I started browsing YouTube and took another trip down memory lane. I found a video of the band Warlock with Doro Pesche... singing one of my favorite songs from way-back-when: "Unholy Love". My gawd could that woman sing! I was on a mission to look up as many hair band videos as I could find. (I was inspired from the drink as well as from the awesome music they had playing at Hot Shots: they had XM49 on and the music was kickin'!!!) I even found Steelheart's "Angel Eyes" (also known as "I'll Never Let You Go") which includes one of the best falsettos since Andy Gibb of the BeeGees!!! (Oh, and a very nice gratuitous crotch shot...well, it was nice when I was 15!)

When all was said and done, it was only 11pm and I had a full day INCLUDING having some drinks, laughs and a fun trip down memory lane. I was able to get up at 6:30 (sans hangover! Ha!...in fact, I've never had one!) ~and~ Ben and I biked for 16.2 miles around town!

Now, that's what I call a weekend!!!

Until next time...peace, love & HEALTH!!!