The Grand Prix Fix of Milwaukee

I had a very pleasant spring weekend. Friday night J and I went to the Brewers game. It was so nice after work and I was really looking forward to sitting in the lot and soaking up some rays. Of course Mother Nature knows that the weekend has started so she decided to bring in a huge bank of clouds as we were driving to the game. It still wasn't too bad but the sun would've made it that much better. It was first day of the spring madness games. We bought Beer Pen tickets so I received my first free t-shirt of the year. We watched the crew lose a fairly boring game. We were out of it so we left in the top of the eight so we took off early. Canal Street just opened up so now its super easy to get home and the traffic is literally zero. I called Adam on the way downtown to see if he wanted to hit My Office for a bit. He did. So I picked him up on the way and dropped him and J off and went to park the car. Luedke showed up a little later with Anna and the five of us shot darts and had a good time. A late night stop at Myk completed the evening. We had already planned to go to the game on Saturday and the weather cooperated a bit more than the night before. It was a nice sunny day and we headed for the lot at eleven. The same crew from the night before hung out in the parking lot. I got some good sun and we enjoyed a couple beers. We went into the game and got to witness a little history. The Brewers hit five home runs in one inning. That history doesn't compete with my back-to-back foul ball catches, yea I'm still sore. A guy in front of us had gotten one of the balls. We learned later that the Brewers were attempting to collect all five balls so they traded the guy a game used bat and a ball signed by everyone, lucky dog. We enjoyed the rest of the game and headed out after the Brewers stomped the Reds. I didn't get to eat as many hot dogs as last year. There was no real competition so I only ended up with a paltry seven. After the game we headed back downtown to Luedke's and spent the afternoon playing dominos and watching the basketball playoffs. I was getting super tired but they motley crew wouldn't allow me the privilege of going home to sleep. After dominos we headed to the Nomad which is a short walk from Luedke's. We had some more beers there and got a couple of their Prix Fixes. It's a special that really doesn't appeal to me but I'm a sucker for a deal so I got a couple. You get a Pabst, a shot of Jamison and a cigarette…

What’s That Bright Thing? The Sun?

The weather is finally starting to get a little better and instead of feeling like collapsing on the couch after work I called up the wife and Luedke to see if they wanted to meet at the Ale House for some pints. I met them both after work on Friday and we sat at the bar and had some drinks. We got there early and the patio bar wasn't opened yet so we stayed inside, at least we could see the sun. What was supposed to be a couple of pints turning into an all night affair because a bunch of our friends showed up. It was one of those "one more and then I'm out" moments where people keep on showing up so you can't leave because you have to have a beer with them. So we ended up leaving the Ale House at about nine and going to the outdoor beer garden at McGillicuddy's. J and I had one beer there and headed home about eleven or so. We stopped at the Myk on the way home to wrap up the night. It was another nice day on Saturday and I just bought a new road bike and wanted to take it for a spin. J and I went for a short bike ride. It started to get a little cool so we didn't get to go as far as we had hoped. It was nice to see the sun for a change though. After the bike ride we went to Kondo's place for a cookout. There were a bunch of people at Kondo's. We grilled out and had some beers and were home a little after ten. A fun day and not overly crazy which was nice. Sunday was Easter. No families for either of us this year. We celebrated our one week anniversary by going to brunch at a new crab house called Rip Tide. I had a build your own Bloody Mary and the brunch. I also made the traditional Easter ham at home. We spent the day together, just the two of us. No holiday traveling was a nice change. Counting down the hours to Hawaii. Can't wait.

Taking The BIG Plunge

The weekend has arrived that Jocelyn and I have been furiously planning for what seems like years, our wedding. Leading up to the wedding I wasn't nervous at all. I unfortunately was sick and spent the entire week trying to get over my cold. Friday after work ended the running around and craziness started. I was able to relax for an hour at home before I had to run to get the DJ lighting from a couple establishments. There was a mix up on the lighting that I had originally ordered and I spent Thursday frantically calling around trying to find some lights. I think I found the last two sets in Milwaukee, a huge disaster narrowly averted. Rich and I hopped in the Montero and drove around Milwaukee picking the stuff up. A spring snow and rush hour traffic made for crappy driving. After we got the lights I took Rich to pick up his tux. Once we got back downtown I stopped by Luedke and DeBruin who were having a couple beers at Mo's pub. Rich and I had one and headed back to my apartment. Once back at the apartment I got ready for the rehearsal. Jocelyn and I didn't feel like driving so we got a ride with her mom. We were a little late but being the bride and groom we had the right. The rehearsal was actually pretty long. The pastor took his time in explaining everything very thoroughly. After the rehearsal we headed to Turner Hall for dinner and drinks. Many had the classic Friday fish fry and the food was great. Once dinner was over we stayed at the Hall and had a couple more beers. Jocelyn went home early to get her beauty rest but my job as the groom was to go out and enjoy my last night as a single man. So I went out with a couple of the Marti boys, DeBruin and Luedke. We went to the German beer hall that is right by Turner Hall. We had a couple more beers there and a five person shot on a snow ski. I was home about one and to bed at about two after I did some wedding day chores. The day of reckoning. I woke up about eight and got my stuff together, checking and double checking. At nine I headed to Kenosha to pick up the rest of the DJ equipment. On the way I stopped at McDonald's for a wedding day sausage egg McMuffin and a breakfast burrito. I got back to Milwaukee just after eleven. As soon as I got back to the apartment everyone started showing up. Todd and Greg showed up followed by Marti and my two brothers. Everyone just sat around, drank a few beers, got ready and waited for 1:30 to roll around. We got to the church on time and accounted for. The groom and his men hung out in the basement and watched the Brewer game on…

Opening Day the Mexican Way, With Tequila!

I went over to Luedke's to watch the final four games on Saturday. We hung around and had some beers. After the first game was over we went to Cans for a couple drinks. Luedke and Anna left so I hung out with Hand and went to BBCs for a couple drinks. They have my favorite beer, Hoegaarden, on tap. It's the first time I've seen it on tap anywhere outside of the east coast. I had a couple of those and hiked it home. I stopped at Mykano's to some late night grub. Baseball season is here and opening day was Monday. This wasn't as crazy as the last couple opening days have been. I left work at noon and took the bus to the stadium. This was the first time in a couple years I didn't meet up with the Random Lake guys from Booze-Inn. Instead I met a couple of the Falls guys there. I hung out with them for a bit and then met Luedke at Lef's Lucky town tailgate party. I had some food there and a couple beers. After that we headed into the game. The game was sold out and the Brewers won. When the game was over we were going to go to Lef's but it was packed so we ended up at a Mexican restaurant next door. Anna met us there and we hung out for a while. Anna drove us back downtown. I went to My Office for a night cap and headed home. Stay tuned to a very special post next week as I get to give you all the play by play of my wedding, scary.

The Greater Chicago Links, Fore!

This entry should be much longer but once again there are just too many details that should be included that there is no way I can remember them all. That combined with a booze haze makes what should be a long story short. I had my Chicago bachelor party on Saturday. I drove down with my brother, Evraets and Billy. We drove to Chitown and checked into the Hyatt Regency in downtown. I got a steal on Priceline.com at $100 a room. After we checked in we took a cab to the Cubbie Bear in Wrigleyville where I met up with a bunch of my friends from Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago. Once there we started our game of bar golf. Bar golf is scored like regular gold with one drink at a bar being par and each drink after that being one under. We had a scorecard and itinerary all made up so we were well prepared. We all started on our way wandering from bar to bar. Some of the bar events that occurred during our wandering were cigar smoking, wooden Indian posing, other party food raiding, batting cage swinging and Fat Tire Ale (imported from Colorado) drinking. We were doing really good until about hole number nine. We stayed there a little too long because one of our friends from Madison worked there. So we camped out there and since there was a Qdoba across the street some people went get something to eat. After that, the group got pretty split up and it was everyone for themselves after that point. I tried to plod on with my cousin Steve. About a half hour behind was my brother, Evraets and a couple other friends but as far as the golf game was concerned it was over. I was -11 after nine so I'm pretty sure I was winning. We continued drinking at various establishments throughout the night and we ended up at an after hours bar someplace in the Chicago with a skeleton crew of about six of us. Everyone was a mess, including me. I was super tired and drunk so my brother and I left a couple diehards and cabbed it back to the hotel. We got back around four so I was pretty mad when Billy started thrashing around the hotel room at seven. I was pissed but I knew he wanted to get home so we woke up and drove back. I was home by noon which was nice because I could rest the rest of the day. It was a good time.