The Weekend That Wasn't

Do you ever have one of those weekends when you have so much going on that, by the time Monday rolls around, it feels like you didn't have a weekend at all? This past weekend wasn't quite one of those, but it was really close. I think if Sunday had required one more thing from me, I may well have gone postal when I woke up this morning and realized I had to go to work.

Friday was the day we had set up for my parents to meet Brandi's dad and stepmom for the first time. Bowling Green isn't exactly the same distance from each of our hometowns, but it's close enough that our apartment was probably the most convenient meeting place. I got home at work right at 5:30 to find that my parents had already arrived a few moments earlier. They had woken Brandi up from a nap, as a matter of fact. We got to hang out and chat for a little bit, which was nice. Brandi's parents arrived shortly after 6:00, and the six of us went out for dinner.

We went to SamB's here in Bowling Green. It wasn't our first choice, but we couldn't get reservations anywhere else. We like to eat there, though, and it turned out to be a good choice. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about this initial encounter, but I'm happy to say that my fears were groundless. It was a good time. The food was really good, and everyone got along and seemed to enjoy one another.

After dinner, we took a ride to go look at the wedding and reception sites Brandi and I have picked out for next year. The wedding will be at Prout Chapel on BGSU's campus, and the reception will be at a BG Parks & Rec building that used to be a church. We went to the reception site first, then onto campus. Unfortunately, neither building was open for us to go inside and look around, but we (and, more importantly, our parents) got to peek into some windows and at least get a little look at what's in store.

From there we all came back to the apartment. Our parents hung out and chatted for a short while longer, then headed out to go their separate ways. It was fun having them here. It was a little crowded in our apartment with all of them here at once, but hopefully they'll all come visit again sometime.

Brandi's friend Cricket had called and left a message for Brandi while we were out. She was out on the town with another friend (Jess), so Brandi decided to go out and join them. Knowing we had plans to go out on Saturday night as well, I settled myself down in front of my PlayStation and stayed home instead. I just hung out here for the rest of the evening, then went and picked up the ladies when they were ready to come home, as Cricket and Jess crashed here for the night.

We got up relatively early (around 10:00) on Saturday. Cricket and Jess were getting ready to go meet a friend for breakfast, and Brandi and I had to get ready to welcome yet more guests into our home. Our friends Amy and Doug were on their way up from Piqua. Brandi's bridesmaids were getting together in the afternoon to go get fitted for their dresses, so Amy was coming for that. They came bearing some world-famous strawberry doughnuts from the Troy Strawberry Festival, among other things.

Shortly thereafter, the rest of Brandi's girls showed up, and they headed out for their appointment. I was left here with Doug and another guy, Seth, who is the husband of Brandi's friend Annie. If it was going to be just Doug and myself, I figured a trip to see Episode III would be in order, but I didn't think Seth would be too keen to join us--he had already seen it, and probably isn't a freak like I am. Instead we watched Episode II (which Seth hadn't seen) on DVD and ordered a pizza. When that was over we just turned on a baseball game and chatted until the girls got back.

Later in the evening, we had invited a bunch of people to meet us at BW3 in Bowling Green for an engagement party of sorts, so we headed over there. We actually did have a pretty good crowd there, although not quite as many as we had hoped for. Still, it was fun. We ate there and had some drinks, and then went to a couple of other bars as our crowd thinned out some.

We finished the night at Downtown, one of our usual haunts. Brandi was chatting with her stepbrother Stephen, and Cricket and I ended up having a heart-to-heart talk that I think was good for both of us. We covered a range of topics, mainly centering on our own respective relationships. It was a little deeper than most conversations happening in college bars near closing time, or at least I like to think so.

The four of us ended up back at our apartment after the bar closed. Stephen hung out for a while and then headed home. Cricket called her boyfriend Adam, then came out to join us in watching Harry Potter on DVD. Eventually Brandi (not feeling particularly well) went to bed, and Cricket crashed on the couch. I didn't stay up too long myself after that.

Sunday was a much more relaxing day. Cricket and Brandi went shopping, and I hung out here, watching baseball and lounging on the couch. Cricket headed for home after the two of them got back, and Brandi and I didn't do too much after that. There was a nap involved; and later on, some laundry. It was definitely good to get at least that little bit of time to recover before heading back into action today.