Weekend Review

Occasionally there are weekends that don't feel 100% like weekends because there's so much going on. Sure, I'm not at work, but I'm on the go and don't have much downtime, and when I get back to work on Monday, I'm like "What the hell just happened?" This isn't a bad thing, by any means, just different. I'm not a high-energy person who's always busy, so weekends like this are somewhat rare.

Brandi and I got into Bowling Green around the same time on Friday. I was coming home from work, and she was coming from her hometown of Clyde, which is about 45 minutes east. We hung out for a little bit (watching That 70s Show) and then went out for dinner at Easystreet Cafe in downtown BG. We had to wait a little bit for a table, so we went upstairs into their bar area to have a drink and play a game of pool. We got seated for dinner not too long after that, and it was great. The food was awesome, as usual, and the service was good as well.

After dinner we just headed back to my apartment. We thought briefly about going out for a while, but we were both pretty tired, so we didn't bother. We sat on my couch and watched Animal Planet. We're both big fans of that Funniest Animal Home Videos show, or whatever it's called. We ended up falling asleep in front of an episode of that.

We got up relatively early on Saturday--about 10:45, which is early when you consider that neither of us was really ready to get up at that point. We had tickets for the Red Wings' playoff game in Detroit. The game was scheduled to start at 3:00, and due to a terrible previous traffic experience for a sporting event in Detroit (the Motor City Bowl at Ford Field this past December), I wanted to leave plenty early. We were able to take our time getting ready, and we got on the road about 12:15.

That turned out to be almost perfect timing. The streets in Detroit...well, they leave something to be desired. If nothing else, the signage wasn't very good, and it was by pure luck that we managed to find Joe Louis Arena on our first try. We found convenient parking for only $4 and got into the arena around 2:00.

The game experience was a lot of fun. Hockey is huge in Detroit, and that arena was loud. I like that a lot. There was a little bit of fighting, and Detroit's Steve Yzerman got whacked in the face with a puck and had to be helped off the ice. Unfortunately, the Wings lost, and didn't even score. The game was a lot of fun, though. I think we may have turned Brandi into a big hockey fan--she can't wait to go see another game.

Getting out of Detroit after the game was interesting, due mainly to traffic and the driving habits of others. We made it, though. On the way back, we decided to stop at a Mexican place in Toledo (Loma Linda) for dinner. When we got there, though, the place was packed. I couldn't even find the person we needed to see to get our name in for a table. We were both hungry, so we didn't want to wait. We went back to Bowling Green and ate at a Mexican place there (El Zarape) instead. The food there was pretty good, if not quite as good as the Mexican food we had last week.

After dinner, we stopped in at the grocery store to pick up a few things, then headed back to my place. We watched Zoolander on DVD and ended up falling asleep before it was over. Luckily for us, we've already seen it a bunch of times.

On Sunday we did get to sleep in. We got up around 12:30. Of course, neither of us really felt like getting up even then, but we had some stuff we needed to get done. Our first item of business was to find the YMCA in Toledo that expressed interest in hiring Brandi, so she could fill out an application and all that. Getting there was something of an ordeal, due to a stopped train blocking one of the roads we were on, but eventually we got there. Brandi went in to fill out her application and take a tour (she liked it a lot and it sounds pretty promising, by the way) while I stayed out in the car and listened to the Reds game on the radio.

From there we went to the Franklin Park Mall in Toledo. Brandi wanted to get a Mother's Day gift, and I was thinking of looking for a new cell phone. Also while we were there, we went in several different jewelry stores to look at engagement rings. Now, I'm not saying I am or am not planning to buy one of these beasts anytime soon, but browsing them (and conversing with jewelry store employees) was highly educational. It was an interesting experience, and it made Brandi almost maniacally happy, so it was all worth it.

It was around 5:30 when we finished at the mall, and I was extremely hungry, having not eaten all day. Due to an accident on the interstate, getting somewhere to get food was something of an ordeal as well. We had to guess our way around Toledo, which we managed quite nicely, if I do say so myself. I felt a lot better once we got something to eat--I had been starting to zone out and get random, which happens from time to time.

We got to relax a little bit once we got home. We watched The Simpsons, and then I played some PlayStation basketball while Brandi played The Sims. Then we went for a walk on campus, which was really nice. I went to school at BGSU for three years, and I've been out of school for four years, and I still love being on campus.

After our walk, we watched an episode of a show called Curb Your Enthusiasm, which Brandi borrowed on DVD from a co-worker. It was pretty funny. We only got to watch one episode, but I've still got the DVD, so I'll probably try out a couple more of them.

Now I'm back at work, thinking "Where in the hell did the weekend go?" Of course, today has been a story unto itself. We'll save that for a little bit later, though.