I Suck At Hanging Out With My Friends

Last Saturday, my friends (Marc and Kelley) invited Karen and I over for a little get together. Marc and Kelley recently returned from their trip to Hawaii and consequently just wanted to see everyone. So joining in on the shindig were my friends (Garv and Amy the czar). Too bad I suck at hanging out with my friends.

It was good to see the Czar again. I haven't seen her in quite some time. In fact, I think the last time I did see her was at one of Marc and Kelley's parties. In high school, we used to be pretty close. Heck, I was close with a lot of the ladies. It was probably my gossip queen qualities.

One of the things I remember most about the Czar was that she always had a house full of misfit pets. The one I remember the most was her three-legged dog who was aptly named "Legs". But that was Amy. She loved pets. It's good to know that not much has changed in regards to her pet-loving ways. She still has a house full of pets.

Apparently, she has become quite the knitter too. She brought a bag full of knitted scarves for everyone. And by everyone, I mean Karen and Kelley... although I wouldn't be surprised if Garv ended up taking one home.

It was a lot of fun on Saturday. We didn't really do much except hang out and order take out from Little Duck. By the Little Duck... Yum-O! Plus, we snacked... or more appropriately... I devoured some bags of chips. It was the new Lays chips. For anyone curious, Lays held a new flavor contest. Marc happened to get a bag of each of the three finalists: Cheesy Garlic Bread, Chicken and Waffles, and Sriracha. I must say, they are all pretty good.

Karen and I didn't stay too long that night. My in-laws were watching our kids, so we couldn't be out that late. But it was a fun time. Among the things we discussed were Marc and Kelley's trip to Hawaii and neurological eye disorders.

I Suck At Tree Trimming

Saturday started off pretty well.

My friends (Cass and Ellen) were in the neighborhood and decided to stop on by for lunch. Apparently, there is a company located near us that offers 3-D videos of your baby while you are pregnant. Suffice to say, it was definitely good to see Cass and Ellen. It appears that Cass has amassed quite a collection of Singamajigs already for their upcoming baby. (I think the Singamajigs may be more for Cass.)

Later than night, Karen and I attended a tree trimming. Unfortunately, I suck at tree trimming. And naturally, that is when things started to go downhill for me. Every year, my friends (Marc and Kelley) host a tree trimming party to celebrate the holidays. This year, in particular, their party coincided with a UFC fight. So, they were gracious enough to host the party and the UFC pay-per-view.

Anyway, I was pretty excited about the UFC fight. Sadly, things never really go according to plan. The tree trimming was great. My usual group of friends (Garv, Leeann, and Andrea) showed up. Cass was there. Marc's family were there. My BFF (Kerry) was there. My friends (Adam and Kim) were there. My friend (Amy, the Czar) was there. It was definitely good to hang out with everyone.

Unfortunately, it was probably due that I would mess things up. And as a general rule, when I mess things up... I mess things up. I think I've become "that guy". Needless to say, you know things are bad when you wake up the next day not knowing where you are.

And sadly, that is what happened. I woke up at 4 in the morning with one of Marc and Kelley's cat sitting in my lap, a bucket next to me, and the faint smell of vomit in the air. It didn't take too long for me to piece together that the smell of vomit must have been mine.

I say "must have", because unfortunately I have no memory about the incident. Quite frequently, I seem to suffer from alcohol-related amnesia. The last thing I remember was hanging out and chatting with Adam in the kitchen. I have since been told that I actually went to watch the UFC fight, only to never finish watching it due to my purge. I'm not exactly sure how much time elapsed since that moment in time in the kitchen to my inevitable purge.

Some people have an unhealthy relationship with food. I seem to have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. No doubt, I have done physical damage to my liver and brain. I think what is probably the scariest part, aside from putting a strain on my relationship with my friends, is not remembering what happened at all. I could have probably murdered someone in my inebriated state and wouldn't even know it. Heck, I would be the perfect person to frame for a murder.

I think as I am getting older, my symptoms are getting worse. Earlier in my days, I could tell when things didn't feel quite right. I would get "huggy" as it may be. And I would perhaps sway a little. These days, there's just the swaying... and by that time, it's already too late. There are no signs that I'm passed that point.

After all, like I said, I remember talking with Adam in the kitchen. The best way I can describe the feeling is that it's almost like a switch that gets turned off. It feels that quick. And my memory seems to immediately shut down with it, which is pretty sad because my memory is poor to begin with. Throw in the vomit and well... perhaps that is a sign that my body just can't process alcohol like it used to.

Needless to say, I'm not too proud of my latest drunkenness. I feel awful for ruining Marc and Kelley's party. I'm not sure if there is anything I can do to make it up to them or anyone else at the party who had to witness or even help me. It's yet another in a long line of things that I am regretful for.

It's funny. One of the reasons why I titled my blog "I suck at..." is because of incidents like these. Granted, these incidents that I'm not proud of are not all alcohol-induced. Seeing Amy The Czar did bring back some memories where I wasn't exactly the nicest of nice, a fact only reinforced by my recent rummaging through of old high school crap that my mother brought over after cleaning out her attic.

It goes without saying that I am sorry for letting all of my friends down. I'm sorry that I'm a bad reflection on Karen. And right now, I'm even sorry that my baby daughter (Briana) has me as a father. At almost nine months, Briana thinks I'm like the greatest thing on the planet next to her milk. It's amazing how good I feel whenever Briana looks at me and smiles, because I know she simply adores me. Unfortunately, she doesn't know any better. I'm not even good at taking care of myself.

I Suck At Hanging Out With Amy

yesterday, i had brunch with my friends, aimee and amy at the british beer company, which is located in pembroke. my friend (amy), who happens to be my only friend named amy who does not read this blog, has been wanting to get together for a while... at least since the fall of 2006. thus, i suck at hanging out with amy. interestingly enough, the last "i suck at hanging out with..." post involved my friend ron whom i also went to the british beer company with (maybe it's the place). also interstingly enough, i had called ron to see if he wanted to go to this shindig, but he couldn't make it.

anyway, aimee and i took amy out for her birthday. happy birthday amy! (pictured below clockwise from the top is amy, aimee's daughter amaya, and aimee.)



i sometimes refer to amy as the "czar", not because she is russian or anything. her last name starts c-z-a-r. it's similar to how i sometimes refer to my friend (andrea) as "lamo", as those are the last four letters of her last name.

anyway, even though neither aimee nor i could go back to amy's place after the brunch to hang out, i think amy had a good time. hopefully, i'll see her again some time soon... at least before the fall of 2008...