In The Paradise City

Oh, Mexico! My brother stayed over Monday night and we drove to the airport together Tuesday morning. Our flight took off at seven and we arrived in Cancun a little after ten. We then piled on a bus with a bunch of people staying at other resorts and the bus took us to our resort while dropping all the others off on the way. We were almost the last stop so the trip took two hours but we were actually about an hour south of Cancun. We stayed at the all inclusive Barcelo Maya in the Riviera Maya on the East side of Mexico. When we got to the resort it looked like paradise. Everything was open air without windows and the paved paths were like walking through the jungle. Before we even went to our rooms we hit the first little bar and we had our first drink together as a group. After we got situated in our room we met at the buffet to eat. The meals were all very good. They had tons of pretty much every kind of food you could want laid out and you could take what you wanted or have a chef make you pasta or quesadillas or some other things. The buffet also had a help yourself tequila and beer bar so I grabbed one of each for lunch. After lunch we spent the rest of the day exploring, drinking dirty monkeys, and soaking up the sun. That night we ate the buffet again and headed to the resort's disco, Captain Morgan's. Morgan's was a big open air building with a huge pirate ship in the middle. By the bow of the ship was the dance floor and the DJ booth was in the hull. The bunch of us danced the night away and brought day one in paradise to an end. Wednesday was a mixed day for me. We started the day lounging but then we decided to play the four hole pitch and putt course they had at the resort. There was about five of us and the loser had to be the drink maiden. The game was free but you only got one ball and if you lost it it was two bucks. The course conveniently had a fence behind the holes and plenty of brush to lose a ball. We also played that you get one mulligan per hole but it wasn't the normal mulligan rule, is anything normal with this crowd? The rule was if you can get to your ball in ten seconds and bring it back to your starting spot you could hit it again with your mulligan. If you run out of time or hit a ball over the fence it was a two stroke penalty. Golf was very fun and full of laughs. We all also learned that one of the hazards of the course was the fire ant hills. I, the one armed man, was dominating through three holes with a plus…

(Grey) Goose In The White Snow

Friday night J and I had to pick up an item for my mom at South Ridge Mall. We picked the item up and then went to gorge ourselves at The Olive Garden. I always end up eating way too much salad before the meal but that stuff is like crack, I can't stop eating it. I got my normal Tour of Italy (Lasagna, Chicken Parm and Fettuccini Alfredo). After waddling out to the car we drove home in the beginnings of a snowstorm. Saturday we woke up to fifteen inches of new snow. We weren't planning on doing anything due to the snow but Craig Evraets gave me a buzz and said he and Feyer were braving the elements and actually driving to Milwaukee to go to the clubs. I guess Craig really wanted to live it up on his last "free" weekend and was willing to risk the snow covered roads to do it. I figured if they can drive 45 minutes to go out I can walk three blocks to have a good time. J and I met the two at Taylor's. We had a drink there and then we went to Tangerine for a drink. We finished the night off in vintage Craig style by dancing the night away at 3 with Grey Goose and Red Bull in hand. After that we stopped at Real Chili to get our eat on. This was my first visit to the downtown RC and it didn't disappoint. When eating late night with Craig and Feyer you know there won't be a normal sit down meal. We proceeded to dump bowls of oyster crackers in each others chili and we essentially ate crackers topped with a bit of chili. It was a good time and a bunch of laughs. Craig's final bachelor weekend was fun. The two hooligans went back to Random and made it home safely. Forget this snow it's off to Mexico!

Bachelor Party! Most Of It At Least

Friday J went to Peoria for the weekend so I had the whole city and the ability to rip it up bachelor style. So I ripped it up Friday by staying on the couch and watching TV. Saturday I did actually do something. It was my good buddy Craig Evraet's bachelor party. The party started out in West Bend and I was stranded in MKE because J had the ride. Luckily my other bud Feyer was working in MKE Saturday morning and he was able to give me a lift to WB. The party started out a bar/arcade that also had an indoor go-kart track inside. I wasn't able to race due to my hand but the other race junkies tore it up. We watched the football games, ate some grub and had fun. I did kick a little butt in darts and air hockey. If you only need one hand I can still dominate. At 8ish we all loaded up on a bus for the trip to the bars in Milwaukee. The next two hours I am not able to talk about due to the man's code of bachelor parties. I can tell you I did see Grady Jackson of the Packers. We made it to Yester Years in West Allis about eleven. The crowd there was a little sketchy but everyone had fun. From there we went to Have a Nice Day downtown. I paid my cover charge went to the bar and decided I had had enough of partying. I discretely left and walked to get a gyro in the freezing cold. Another one bites the dust.

Pack It Up… It’s Over

This past weekend I can describe quite quickly. Friday I stayed in and did nothing. Saturday Schwenker came over and we watched the playoff games. We went out later that night to Flannery's and My Office. We got some gyros on the way home. We ate them then called it a night. Sunday Schwenker was still hanging around. Todd and Steph came over. We got some pizza and we all watched the Packers tear our hearts out once again. It wasn't so unexpected this year though. That's it.

Windy (and Frozen) City

My weekend started Thursday because I took Friday off. Thursday night I went to see my coworker Roman's band One Drum at the Jazz Estate up by North Ave. It was a good time and the music was kicking. The small place was packed and alive with fun. I was going to head home at midnight but it was such a good time I stuck around until the end. When the show was over I helped Roman break down some of the band gear. He was a kind soul and gave me a ride home sparing me from the winter elements. When all was said and done I ended up getting to bed around four in the morning. Friday I had the day off so I spent it doing absolutely nothing. I did go meet Roman for lunch and hung out at our normal Friday lunch stop, the Ardor. Since I wasn't working I was able to enjoy a beer with my lunch. Once Roman headed back I stayed and talked with the patrons a bit. On my way home I was stopped by three limos of drunken people in Santa hats. They were on a scavenger hunt and had all arrived at the same place at once. I had to take their pictures by a statue in Cathedral Square. Once I finished taking their pictures they all started running around tackling each other, one person got tackled in the street. I guess if you steal the other teams Santa hats you get extra points or something. This was too much craziness for my day off so I walked home. Friday night we just relaxed and got ready for the weekend. This weekend was Jocelyn's dad's second annual holiday gathering/celebration of her sister Arianne's birthday in Chicago. Saturday we drove to Chicago and dropped our stuff off by our hotel about noon. I was starving so J and I headed to Miller's Pub and got a bite to eat and a beer. While we were there the waitress told us about a German festival going on up the street so we figured we'd hit that once we were done. Once we finished we set off to find the outdoor German festival. We got a block and then decided to stop at the Berghoff Tavern. It looked like a historic place so we went there and had a Berghoff. From there we walked up and found the festival. Once we were there we both regretted eating because the food smelt delicious. We made it to one of the heated tents and got a little cup of glog. We sat in the tent a bit and then walked around and looked at some of the German crafts. Upon finishing there I went and showed Jocelyn the hotel that I stayed at when I was in Chicago. From there we headed back to our hotel with a brief stop at the new Millennium Park. Back at the hotel I took a nap for…