I Suck At Hanging Out With Jen And Bill

tonight, karen and i hung out with my friends (jen and bill). too bad i suck at hanging out with jen and bill. it seems like it has been quite some time since the four of us just hung out together. it was definitely nice to hang out again.

the entire plans for today actually started earlier in the week. jen had asked karen and i if we were available some time this week because she wanted to get together... laugh... drink... be silly... and think of some ideas for a photo scavenger hunt. (i had previously asked past participants for some ideas on what they would like to see on this year's photo scavenger hunt list. jen is always chock full of good ideas. i probably could have just asked her to brainstorm all of the items for the scavenger hunt list... and she would have.)

anyway, jen, bill, and karen came up with a bunch of possible ideas for the photo scavenger hunt. depending on how things go, bill might even participate this year. i have toyed with the idea about opening up the photo scavenger hunt to all of my friends. unfortunately, i sometimes worry about how all of my friends will interact with one another because the formation of the four-member team is randomly created. it's the whole mixing of the circle of friends that i am afraid of. the other alternative would be to have everyone decide on their own teams beforehand... i don't know. i'll have to give it some more thought. so, we'll see.

in addition, jen and bill tried to convince us to go to new orleans with them for st. patrick's day. unlike me, karen has never wanted to go to new orleans. tonight, however, i think karen was actually considering the trip. traveling with a group is simply difficult... not because of the group. for karen and i... or at least me anyway... i know that since our son (braden) passed away in september, my moods have changed from high to low... not just on a daily basis but sometimes hourly. for me, it's frustrating because i know my mood swing is happening, yet i can't control its fickleness. if it's frustrating me, i can only imagine what it must seem like to my friends. so, i imagine traveling with a group now is difficult.

i was quite surprised that karen was interested. of course, it could have been the alcohol talking. by the way, i tried a "hand grenade"... or three... for the first time today courtesy of bill and jen... it's very good. but we'll see about new orleans. i always wanted to go to new orleans, not for the rampant flashing of naked breasts although i'm sure that helps, but more for the cajun cuisine. (surprise... food.)

speaking of which, the four of us went to the 99 restaurant in quincy tonight as well. one of the things that i like about the 99 restaurant in quincy is that there are pictures of high school sports teams in there that decorate the wall. karen is actually in one of those pictures. i want to go once and have them sit us at a table beneath that picture of karen. i just think it would be funny.

anyway, tonight was a good time. i'm glad jen invited us to go out tonight because it does seem like it has been a while since all of us hung out together.