Sweaty Fun Weekend

Wow, what a weekend! I hope all my Monday posts aren't starting to sound the same. While massive amounts of fun always seem to be had, at least all the activities vary. This past weekend was the sweatiest of the year yet!

Thursday night was a hoot as Mr. Wonderful Stefano and I met up to go hang out at his friends' nearby house for the 1st game of the NBA finals. They had cooked up burgers and we brought coco rum and tomatoes of course. That was a lot of fun b/c all of Stefano's friends adore me and they make no bones about their jealousy of him for having a hot, young girlfriend! What cracks me up about Stefano and his friends--all of whom have been friends since their schooldays--is that they all LOOK like upstanding good Jewish citizens with great jobs, cars, houses, etc. but they're all really very crazy and funloving!

Friday was my monthly work from home day, but Stefano whisked me away to a wonderful lunch followed by a quick trip to the record store and then a quick liquor store stop. We also stopped into Costco and Stefano said he was going to get me a free membership card there on his account. Awww! I was drooling in the bakery dept. So later that afternoon I headed up to Navasota to the Corner Cafe. Navosota is a hair over an hour away from Houston but this drive took almost 2 fuckin' hours thanks to Friday traffic. But there was nothing I could do about that b/c although I was working from home on Fri., I still had to go do a quick shift at Job #2 b/c I cut it short on Thurs. eve so we could go do the NBA finals thing. Thank God yet again for the iPod entertainment, and I finished one audiobook and now have 2 others waiting in the wings.

When I got to the Corner Cafe I was shocked to see that it is a very small restaurant/coffee house type establishment. George, Leo, Mir, and George's wife and kids were already there. Leo and I looked at each other and when he saw the horror on my face he read my mind and said that we were going to have to turn the volume waaaaaay down. No shit!!! I said, "Damn, we are going to literally melt their faces off!!!" As we were setting up on the small stage Leo suggested I turn my amp towards the wall and I was about to get all indignant and up in his grille and order him to do the same damn thing!--when I saw he'd already done it w/his amp. Oops! Heh heh.

Anyway, the gig went well even if we were turned down to "2" on the volume scale. We got fed as part of the gig and I got the spinach lasagna--yes, still on my quasi-vegetarian kick. And we were amazingly told that the Corner Cafe has a drink limit for all persons: 4 drinks maximum! Whoa. George and Leo took off for a local convenience store to buy more beer. I just stuck to a couple glasses of White Zinfandel. The great thing about this gig, although I was worried we'd be way too much for this crowd, was the audience was very respectful and appreciative. At the break the owner got on the mic and said the band would be making our way around the room for a meet and greet. Leo'd warned me that that would be expected of us, so I just said What the Hell, turned on the charm, and started going from table to table. I flirted with the men, I joked around with the women. I sold 2 CD's and a Tshirt. I hustled and charmed 'em all!

After the gig we got drinks and desserts to go. (Diet Coke and a brownie for me.) Then we chatted up some more of the audience members and said our goodbyes to everyone before heading out. I'd come armed w/detailed directions to the grave of Mance Lipscomb and was determined to pay my respects. I told Leo and George they better goddamned well come with me; fortunately their women were game as well. They all asked me though, "Isn't the cemetery closed?" "What if there's a gate?" "Will we have to climb a fence?" blah blah BLAH! I retorted, "That's never stopped me before!" I said indignantly, "This is America!" and "I did not come all the way to Navasota Texas to NOT worship the grave of Mance Lipscomb!!!" So they got into their cars and followed me to the cemetery.

There weren't even any damn gates to the cemetery fences. See! We drove right on in! Brilliant Adela forgot her damn flashlight though, so when it came time to finally get to the general area of the gravesite we had to turn our cars and headlights over the graves so we could kinda see. Leo found it right away though and we commenced w/lots of picture taking. I got a nice one of me draped over the stone, hugging it. Then we all bid adieu and I drove like a bat outta hell back to Houston, making it home in just over an hour. After 2am Stefano also made it home from his gig and I met him at his place.

Saturday we slept in way late, even later b/c Stefano had taken a sleeping pill; I of course am a champion sleeper so needed no such encouragement. We got up, picked tomatoes, and Stefano made breakfast. Then I went home and got ready for the long day of activities: afternoon benefit gig at the icehouse followed by a night of Accordion Kings! What's fun is that Leo had invited Stefano to sit in w/us, so it was Stefano's gig too.

Ugh, I'm feeling crampy and bloaty so I'll hafta finish this blog post later. However I am looking forward to a nice long run along the bayou tonight. I bought some adorable little running skorts that even have a tiny pocket for my car key and as usual am backed up on podcasts and audiobooks and didn't get a chance to run at all last week so I actually can't wait to get out there tonight.