the weekend

I was awoken this morning by the fire alarm at 7am. I didn't know what to do, but I definitely couldn't sleep. At first I got dressed just incase this was real – but I stuck my head outside and no one was outside. Apparently everything was OK. So I decided to go to McDonalds for breakfast. I love treating myself to McDonalds every so often.

This weekend was alright.

Friday: what better thing to do then go to the American Legion for some dancing? My friend Allison had invited me along, for what was supposed to be a fun-filled night of Cajun dancing. So I arrived an hour before hand for some lessons. The only time I partake in any dancing is after midnight (for obvious reason) and I figured I needed to brush up on my (totally absent) rhythm skills.

When I got to the American Legion I was surprised to see a mixture of ages: some old, some young, some really old, some really young. After the dance lessons, the lights dimmed and the disco ball began to spin. I got beer.

First on the agenda was some chicken chase thing. This is apparently some Mardi gras ritual that involves catching chickens. That's a good enough description.

Then they played "When the Saint Go Matching" in honor of the upcoming game today.

After that, the dance took place. It was amazing. Old (may I say elderly) people are amazing dancers. Enough said – can't explain it.
Afterwards we went to Alison's house for drinks.

Saturday I slept in late… again. Then I had to go to the bank. I barley made it before it closed. I chose a bank across the river instead of going to a bank in town. I thought I out-smarted the system because it is a lot easier for me to take the bridge to the west side of the river then to drive in to town. But I didn't make it before it closed. It was closed when I got there. The workers had decided to shut up shop a little early and go home. Thus I had to find another bank in town. My plan failed. Next time - just you wait.

That night we (Jordan, Jess, and me) went to go see Children of Men. Which was good, and interesting. I've been predicting this for years, and someone finally believes me.

Then we went to Champs and drank for a long time. My friends allowed me to get some artichoke drip. I have the coolest friends.

Today is the Saints game. I'm trying to get my Saints game down, since I'm in their country. But then we get to watch the Colts after the Saints.

zydeco

It's cold today. Actually it isn't cold at all – its almost ready to hit the freezing point. But when I was leaving work I acted as if I as going to die when I stepped outdoors. It took me a good three minutes to realize that it wasn't cold at all, and only an illusion in my mind. At this point I was walking out with one of my co-workers originally from Green Bay, WI. The same city that weathermen always say – "it might be cold here, but up inGreen Bay, it's REALLY cold". So she was apt to the winter ways. Yet, she was complaining more then me.

Coldness is all relative.

So relative that I cancelled my plans to go to the comedy thing I've wanted to attend for a long time. That's how cold it was.

I'm terrified to see these people drive when temps drop below freezing. They have enough problems keeping their driving in order when there isn't ice.

Anyway, I went to lunch with a co-worker to a seafood deli place. It was good and cheap. Which is the only two criteria I need. I also learned a little about crawfishing. I told the story of the time my brother caught a crawdad in Michigan and we cooked the thing for dinner. At which point I was asked why we don't eat crawdad's up north if they habitat in the area. I had no answer – until I realized that it took LOTS of crawfish to make a meal.

So this is my life: complaining about the cold, eating seafood, and learning about the trade of crawfishing.

To top it off people across from me conversing in French.

Anyway, funny story yesterday –

I lied. Nothing funny happened.

nothing much

I got up this morning feeling fairly good, even though it was late. 10:30. I never sleep this long so I was a little paranoid that I was going to miss the day. Saturday is the farmers market, so I got my act together and made a walk over to the city market.

This was the second week I was attending the farmers market. Last week I had a comprehensive list of needed supplies in order to make my first batch of jambalaya. I bought most the stuff I needed at the farmer's market, which included chicken, sausage, onions, lots of spices, and some other stuff. The directions basically told me to cut everything up and throw it in a pot that was supposed to bake for an hour and a half. My gage for a good meal is editable. And the jambalaya was editable – and fairly good. So I succeeded.

This week I wasn't prepared with a list of supplies, so I just bought some strawberries and went into to the inside portion and got some food for lunch.

I'm beginning to get to the point that I will see someone I know when I trace out into the town. Today I got to see one of the landscape architects that we work with a lot. She's cool. Last week I met someone that is part of the yuppie-tool organization I'm a member of (aka Forum 35).

I walked back to my apartment, and took another nap. Somehow I was tired. The previous night I had gone out with ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Jordan to the Roux House. the Roux House is a some-what band venue that also had some outside seating. Some covered band was playing, and it wasn't great. So we sat outside and had conversation until we migrated to the Irish Pub across the street. But it was definitely not a late night. Nor was there an abundance of drinking involved.

Thursday night was happy hour with the agglomeration of people that work in the statehouse. We went to Chelsea's. Chelsea's is located at the Perkins underpass. It's an ecleptic area, that isn't pretty. I mean, the entire bar strip is located under the interstate. But the area is pretty much awesome. Our happy hours will fluxuate between the Perkins area or Red Star downtown.

Wednesday night was the premier of Armed and Famous, which I was prepared to give aMuncie party. It wasn't until I turned on the TV at 7:20 and found the show partially over. (I thought it was on at 8:00, but I keep forgetting the TV schedules are different here). So I called the (few) people attending the party and cancelled, then took the remaining pizza over to my friends apartment down the street. They had a bunch of people over, along with a wine. This was fun, but at this point I was ready for bed and just sunk into the atmosphere instead of participating.

This weekend is low key – just like most weekends that I have been experiencing. Although this weekend is three days. Awesome. Plus we got off at 1:30 on Friday. The mayor has a policy that shuts the city down at 2:00 the day before a holiday. But here of lately we are allowed to leave at 1:30. This includes taking a lunch.

I have finally secured my first visitor. Jess will be coming down for the LA conference at the end of February. This rocks.