Flippin’ Good Time This Halloween

This Halloween was a lot of fun. My costume of choice this year was Napoleon Dynamite. I bought some moon boots and a flippin’ sweet wig and glasses. I wore my costume to work on Friday and won the award for funniest costume. We didn’t do anything Friday night because we knew we would have to be full power on Saturday.

Somehow Jocelyn talked me into doing a fun run on Saturday morning. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do it because of my leg. I put on my Napoleon outfit and attempted to do the run. My leg is still really screwed up and I’m going to have to go get it checked out sometime in the next couple months. I bit the bullet and walked and ran and walked and ran until we finished. I finished just a shade under a day. One positive of the run was that it finished at the Milwaukee Ale house. We met a bunch of Jocelyn’s swimming buddies that also ran the race at the Ale House and drank some of their special beer that they brew only for the runners of the race. We stayed there until about noon. It was worth getting up for but I could have done without the running part.

Saturday night we went to a party in Random Lake at one of my brother’s friend’s house. He had asked me if I could be the DJ for the party and since I hadn’t heard of anything else going on I gladly accepted the duty. We arrived about 8 o’clock, I as Napoleon and Jocelyn as a hippie chick. Tal, the owner of the house, had a great Captain Morgan costume. Craig was Elvis, Jackie was a wench, Feyer was a blue man group guy with Dan and Rich Weiss was my favorite costume, a tiki guy. The party was a lot of fun. Tal has a great house right on Random Lake. I didn’t know a lot of people that showed up but everyone at the party was cool and it appeared a good time was had by all. We were crazy until about four in the morning (day light savings included) when we shut it down. We ended up spending the night in Random on Craig and Jackie’s couch. After a pretty disappointing Halloween last year it appears one of my favorite holidays is back on the fun track.

Showing Bucky My Love, In Person

Can you believe it, this week is my first Badger game of the year. We have been so busy with weddings and other events that we haven’t had the chance to make it to Madison this year. This weekend the Badgers played Purdue for their homecoming match-up. Luedke being the great friend that he is hooked me up with a ticket. We left Milwaukee early in the morning on Saturday and made it to Madison before ten. The weather on the way was pretty crappy. It rained for a majority of the drive but once we got into Mad-town the rain stopped and then it was just cold and windy. We parked by the Kohl center and had a couple beers while we waited for everyone else to get into town. Todd, Steph, and Ham showed up about an hour later so we packed up the tailgate and retreated to a more hospitable climate. Is there really a better climate than Buck’s tavern on Regent? We spent the rest of the pre-game there. When it came time for the game some of the group, including Jocelyn, went to the KK while the rest of us with tickets went to the game. The game was fun and the Badgers’ D really stepped it up. They scored two defensive touchdowns in route to a Badger victory. After the game we headed to Brats to meet up with everyone else and enjoy some of the lovely State St. atmosphere. I ran into some of the Evans Scholars so I talked to them a bit. The rest of the night was spent bouncing around from Mondays to the Pub, to Mondays to the Pub. At the end of the night Jocelyn got a call from her cousin Ethan. We went up to Bullfeathers to meet him and a couple of his buddies. Once there we ordered a drink but the day officially caught up with me and I wanted to call it a night. We finished our drink and then headed to Ian’s to get some pizza. After our late night munchies we cabbed it back to the hotel and concluded our homecoming weekend.

Partying Like It’s 1999

This weekend I felt a young spry 26 again so instead of staying in like I normally do on a Friday night, J and I actually left the apartment for a change. Chappy was having people over by him so we decided to venture the block. Adam and Stacey were there along with a couple of their friends. The night was a lot of fun but we really didn’t do anything “crazy”. We sat around most of the night just telling stories and acting crude. There was a little dice shaking by the others but I avoid those games at all cost. We were planning on going out to the bars but we were having so much fun that the time melted away. I remember seeing ten o’clock and the next thing I knew it was 3:30. Club Jim shut down and walked out with everyone. They were on there way to Mykano’s but I had pizza oven quesadilla on my mind so I skipped out. I had a bunch of fun, a cheap night, and was able to stay up late just like the days of old.

Saturday was another football game. I called up the troops from the night before to see if they were up for some festivities at Apt. 54. They were all surprisingly up for it so I had a gathering for the Badger v. Minnesota game. Todd, Steph, Adam, Stacey and Chappy all came over. The ending to the Badger game was pretty amazing. They got their butts kicked all game but somehow stayed with the Gophers. Then during a punt with thirty seconds left the Badgers blocked it and recovered the kick in the end zone. It shocked the Badger fans as much as it did the Gophers fans. Craziness ensured in Apt. 54 and we celebrated with some tequila. After that game we watched USC v Notre Dame and Michigan v. Penn State. They too were awesome games that ended on the final plays of the game. After the games we DID NOT go to Brothers, amen. Instead we all went to Joey Buona’s for some family style Italian dinning. Oh, did we eat too much! I have never felt so unbelievably stuffed in my entire life; I was drunk on food, delicious food. Everyone at the table was in the same overstuffed boat after the 2 salads, 2 appetizers, 2 pastas, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts. It really is the definition of gluttony but the food is so good! I struggled to stay upright during the walk home. It felt so late when we arrived back at the apartment and it was only 10. There was no way anybody was gong to be able to go out so we all went our separate ways. I was up for about another half hour when the food coma set in and I passed out cold.

Sunday Luedke and I went to Germantown and I helped him set up his company’s new network. It’s a lot of fun doing network setup. I wish I could find a full time job doing that. No Packers this Sunday so nothing to worry about.

Badgers Lose, I Lose, Packers Win

Friday I made some jambalaya. Now that I have free time on the weekends I will start cooking more again. My jambalaya turned out good but it was hot because I accidentally added too much hot sauce. J and I watched a movie about the real school of rock out in Philly. The kids that were in this school were amazing and the twelve year old guitar player was unbelievable. Rock School was a great movie.

On Saturday we invited Adam, Stacey and Schwenker over for the Badger game. We watched the Badger defense get run over by Northwestern in a 51-48 loss. We were pretty bummed after that but we pulled it together. Ham was in town for a wedding so we went down to Water St. and met him at the Water Street Brewery for a couple beers. After that we headed over to brothers for their two for one happy hour. That was a bad mistake again! I had way too much to drink which is my fault. No more Brother’s happy hour for this guy. We were home and sleeping before midnight. Not the relaxing weekend I was hoping for.

Packers finally got a win this Sunday. They beat New Orleans 52-3. They should have banked some of those points for the rest of the season. Let’s hope they can pull it together and put some wins together.

Free At Last

No wedding and no anything to do this weekend! What a relief. Friday J and I stayed in and watched some TV and had a nice dinner. I made seafood marinara with scallops and shrimp that we had over some angel hair pasta. We had a little wine and some French bread with the pasta. I love scallops and the marinara turned out very good. I had forgotten how great a quiet dinner at home could be. Friday was just what the doctor ordered.

I woke up and had a weird feeling. A feeling of being unfettered and free. I didn’t have ANYTHING on my schedule! I spent most of the morning getting caught up with my side jobs. Once I finished that I plopped down on the couch and watched some college football. I think being out and about every weekend has really affected me because I started to get a little stir crazy. I called up Luedke and Adam to see if they wanted to go on the Lakefront brewery tour. They wanted to go so Luedke, Anna, Adam, Greg, Jocelyn and I went on the tour. We skipped the tour all together and just had some beers. We sat on the boardwalk area outside and enjoyed the early Fall weather. After the brewery we went to the new Brothers on Water Street to watch the Badger game. Brothers had a two for one special until seven and we all took full advantage of it. We watched the Badgers win and stayed at Brothers until 10. After that we split up. J, Adam and I went to the Metro. I had one very unnecessary appletini. After our one drink we headed to Mykano’s for a late night gyro as a night cap.

The Packers lost to the Browns at Lambeau?!?!? We’re 0-2 and our season is over. Are we really the worst team in the league? Why is Sherman still on the sideline?