A Great Day For The Badgers DeBruins

This weekend one of my best buddies, Jeff DeBruin, was getting hitched in Minnesota. Friday I took my first ever paid vacation day and used that day to drive up to St. Paul. The weather was crappy the whole drive but it didn’t affect my superior driving skills one bit. We arrived somewhere around one in the afternoon. I dropped J off at the hotel and hooked up with my boys to go get our dapper tuxes. We went to the tux joint and everyone’s tuxes fit except for mine, of course. I came out of the dressing room and the pants were a good three inches over my ankle. So of course I had to come back the next day and pick the thing up. After that we headed back to the hotel and went through the ceremony rehearsal. It was a great rehearsal because it was short. Then it was time for a little fun to start. We had the rehearsal dinner at Buca’s in St. Paul. We all hopped into a bus and went off to have some family style fun. Copious amounts of food and wine flowed and I proceeded to have too much of both. After that was over we waddled out the door and the bus took us back to the hotel. Once back at the hotel a group of us, including the groom, headed off to a little bar down the street. We had some cocktails and discussed DeBruin’s last hours of freedom on earth. We had a good time but J and I split from the group around midnight to head to another friend’s house to catch some shut eye. Saturday I woke up and went and got my tux, stupid Pee-Wee Herman pants. Then J and I checked into the hotel and I got ready for the wedding pictures. I had pictures from eleven to twoish but it was nice to get them out of the way before the wedding. We were going to take some outside pics by the Mississippi but the weather was pretty nasty so we only got to snap a couple outside. Then the big moment, the Badger v. Purdue game Jeff’s wedding. The wedding was very nice, and it wasn’t only because I was in it. The wedding was simple but very well done. It was also nice and short compared to many of the weddings I’ve been to. Another nice thing about this wedding was everything was centrally located. The wedding was in one room, the cocktail hour was the room next to it that was a little bigger, the dinner was in a large ballroom next to all that, and we were all staying in the hotel that these rooms were in. Once the ceremony was over instead of going to the cocktail room all the groomsmen headed up to Luedke’s room to watch the Badgers take on Purdue. There were a good twenty people up in the room having some cocktails and waiting for the call that we had to leave the game and go downstairs for the wedding dinner. So the wedding party got to watch up to the first part of the fourth quarter but then we got called downstairs for the first dance. So I ran downstairs did my little dance and then ran to the hotel bar to join the rest of the Badgers fans (there were a lot of Badger fans at this Minnesota wedding) and celebrated the Badgers huge victory over Purdue. Another little snippet was that Jeff met Kelly’s parents at another Badger game where Wisconsin beat of all teams Purdue. From there I went downstairs, had a great dinner with good friends, and danced the night away with everyone else. We danced and toasted until the lights came on and we were forced to leave. The wedding was fabulous. Congratulations to Jeff and Kelly and a fruitful future to the both of you. Thanks to Jeff for letting me be a part of your day. After the lights came on we were instantly worn out and headed up to the hotel room and called it a night. Sunday we woke up and gathered the tux pieces and put them back in the bag. Kelly’s dad was nice enough to take them back for us. We bid adieu to the bride and groom and started the long drive back. We had it planned beforehand that we would stop in Eau Claire and watch the Packers game to break up the drive a little. We called J’s aunt and uncle to meet us at a sports bar called Boston’s. They were a little rough around the edges as well because they had a wine tasting party at their house the night before. After a little hair of the dog, some food, and a rare Packer’s win I was ready to sleep the whole ride back, and I did. We headed back to Milwaukee to wrap up an exhausting but fun filled weekend.

I Can Swim Like the Wind Blows

Not that an exciting weekend for me but Jocelyn had a killer one. This weekend was spent at Carthage college for the WI Masters Swimming state meet. Carthage was actually a nice little college and was a hub of activity this weekend. I got to see a couple innings of baseball (I still don’t know why the Badgers don’t have a team), a men’s volleyball tournament and of course, swimming. J kicked butt and now owns the under 25 state records in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle. Nothing really out of the ordinary to report. This weekend should be crazy. Jocelyn is flying to AZ to have Easter with her family so that means bachelor party and baseball for opening day! Stay tuned!

The Gypsy Ripped My Pants

I have a good amount to chat about in this entry. I missed last week so I have to talk about the NCAA tourney and the Badgers. After work J and I headed to the Hilton to meet up with the gang. We had about 15 people in our Badger crew. The game looked pretty bleak in the first half with Red down and struggling. They ended up coming back in the second half and kicking some butt. From there we headed to the Metro and kept the part going. Entertainment was provided by the ever entertaining big Schwenk-daddy. Schwenk you are one original man. I barely got over the hangover of the 10 hours of drinking when it was time to watch the Badgers again. This time the outcome wasn’t so good and Bucky got knocked out by Pitt. On to the baseball season.

This last weekend of the 27th we headed up to Sheboygan to fix a couple computers and J’s car. Friday night was spent doing the previously mentioned. The computer repairs went quick but replacing a heater core on a car is harder than replacing an engine. I swear this piece is the first piece bolted on the car. If this piece ever breaks on your car you’re better off throwing out your car and getting a new one rather than fixing it. My brother and I spent a good 6 hours taking off the entire dashboard and some of the cars other vital pieces. Whoever engineered this piece of crap must’ve missed as many college lectures as me. With the work done for the weekend it’s time to celebrate our accomplishment!

Saturday we went to Sheboygan’s world famous Ice Bowling festival. I have to admit I was pretty disappointed with the band and the festivals fun factor. Usually cheap beer and mullets to stare at in wonder equal a great time. We didn’t spend much time there but after that we headed to the Sheboygan Brewery. No sooner was I in the door than I was attacked by a swarm of green polyester. Low and behold it was Kondo, Weir and Richards completely wasted and in their ice bowling uniforms. The rest of the night became more blurry and blurry due to the crappy shots but I do remember Kondo sipping some sort of Tequila shot, who knows. At about 2:30 we hopped into one of Sheboygan’s gypsy cabs and headed home. Damn gypsy cab! I got out and into the house when Jocelyn noticed my pants ripped from my lower buttock to the upper buttock. The only explanation for my ripped trousers was the springs on the seats of the gypsy cab. A word to the wise. A cheap $5 gypsy cab ride is nice but if it’s going to rip a pair of $20 pants in the process, splurge the extra $5 and save your pants. It was fun but I have now had enough Sheboygan atmosphere to last me well into the summer.

A little side note. If you watch movies join Netflix. I joined this month and it is yet another tool for the lazy. I’m one step closer to the ideal life of not having to venture further than 5 yards of my couch. I’m watching more movies now because I’ve given up on the crap that’s on TV (sans The Sopranos). So I’m back to my movie reviews, check ’em out.

Hey Patty!

Not much happening lately. I didn’t go up north last weekend like I was supposed to because Jocelyn’s dad came into town. We had a good time. We watched the Big Ten tourney at the Milwaukee Ale House and wasted a good 6 hours there drinking and watching basketball.

I got another new cell phone so I’m going to have to plug all you people in again. I have to say that it is worth it getting the Sprint insurance if you have them as a carrier. My old Samsung wasn’t charging properly so I sent it in. Sprint upgraded my phone a top of the line Sanyo SCP-5500. It’s a video phone, not that I really need a video camera on my phone, but the thing is $350. Not a bad upgrade.

Happy St. Patty’s day to all. I had a great day. I celebrated the 25% of the Irish in me with 125% of partying. Jocelyn and I started off at County Claire. We got there around 6 and the joint was packed. They had a bar set up in the coat room and the lobby of the hotel was packed elbow to elbow. I had my corned beef sandwich and some beers to start things out. While we were there they had a father and daughter combo singing traditional Irish tunes. While we were sitting there a bus of bag pipe players came in and played some tunes but we couldn’t stay because there was other bars to be visited. We were supposed to meet Luedke at the Harp but of course he didn’t show up. So J and I had a pitcher of Smithwick’s and talked to some of my old Evan’s Scholars chums that I ran into. From there we went to O’Danny’s, had a beer and left. From there we went to McGillicuddy’s and low and behold we found the missing Luedke upstairs with his new woman. I always think the more the merrier so we stayed there drinking Guinness until eleven. To round out the evening J and hit Flannery’s on the way home for one last taste of the Irish fun before we called it a night. Another fun St. Paddy’s with friends. Erin-Go-Bragh!

Super Sunday, And Monday!

What a weekend. Friday and Saturday I had a good time chilling out here at the pad. Wians, The Bone, Chappy, and I played some darts and drank some brews here. It was all a warm-up to the Super Bowl party that I was throwing on Sunday. The party was a success and a ton of fun. Thanks to those who came and screw you to those who didn’t 🙂 Luedke, Adam, Stacey, Chappy, Todd, Stephanie, Jocelyn and I had a great time. The chicken wings were the popular food for the day and my hats off to Todd for eating close to a bag himself. The sarcasm and jokes made the two utterly boring quarters a hoot, thanks for coming guys, hope to see you next year. Another special thanks for the $25 bucks I won for the first half pool.

My super day was on Monday though. I GOT A JOB!!! I am once again a member of society and no longer a shut in. I will be working for a non-profit organization. Their full name is The American Society for Quality. They’re responsible for certifying people that take care of quality control in numerous fields. My job will be updating the content on www.asq.org. Their office is located right in downtown Milwaukee so I’ll be able to walk to work. I really can’t explain how happy I am. This job is pretty much everything I was hoping for. Right now the job is a temporary 90 day position but there is a possibility of more if I do a good job. I don’t care if it was only 5 days – I GOT A JOB!!! The frustration is over! Super Monday!