Glory Daze III

Well my guy lost the election. I don’t know what the 51% of America is thinking. If you took time to watch any of the three debates there is no way that you could tell me with a straight face that this moron of a man is fit to run our country. My high school forensics team could’ve out debated that guy. Anyway, the country has spoken and I must now live with this man as my leader man for four more years. I guess it could be worse. I guess I could live in the Sudan. Ok, enough Ryan. It’s over and congratulations to the Bush supporters out there.

This weekend I had plenty of time to drink my blues away at Glory Daze III. For those of you that are unaware of what GD is, it’s basically a big bash that all the college buddies throw every year at a Badger game. This year it was the Minnesota game. Friday after work we jetted over to Madison and set up shop for the weekend. Jocelyn and I dropped off Todd and Steph on the west side at an Italian joint to eat. We were going to try to eat there as well but the place was packed so we tried four other packed places until we decided to wait it out at Chili’s. The wait was going to be about forty-five minutes but we got a first come first serve seat at the bar. I finally know why these places are so popular. Our whole meal, which included my kick ass fajitas, was under twenty bucks. I need to eat there more. After Chili’s J and I went to the Up North Pub for a drink to sit and chill. Graham joined us there and once we finished we headed down to Brats to meet the rest of the motley crew. We stayed there until about ten and then went up to The State where the entire clan stayed the rest of the night. I didn’t feel like drinking much so I only had a couple drinks. I still had tons of fun though talking with all my buddies and catching up. About one-ish a bunch of us piled into the Montero and headed to Graham’s to get some shuteye.

Saturday I was up pretty early. I took easy on Saturday just so I would be fully rested for the fun to come. It ended up being about ten once everyone got showered up and ready to go. We got down to campus and found an ideal parking spot. We parked the hoopty and headed to our meeting area. My group of friends from Chicago rented an RV to drive to Madison and we were going to use that as our focal party spot. When we got over to the RV things weren’t really set up yet so I went to Buck’s with a couple of people for a drink. We had our drink there and headed back to the site and started to get the party going. I really don’t know much of the debauchery that went on during the party. I was designated grill man so I didn’t leave a ten foot radius. The grilling took at least two hours but people were kind enough to come talk with me while I was grilling. Once I was done grilling I brought out some of my Rau Brau to sample and then we did some heavy drinking. When game time came around I didn’t have a ticket so we headed over to the Stadium Bar with a bunch of the group and watched the game there. The Badgers steamrolled the Gophers and the game was pretty much over after the first quarter. J and I stayed there until halftime. At halftime we went to Luther’s Blues to hang out with Jocelyn’s cousin Ethan and his friends. We had a great time at Luther’s and the second half of the game flew by. Once the game was over Jocelyn and I went to Casa Bianca’s for some cheese steak and pizza. We finished eating and then found the rest of the crowd stationed at the Karaoke Kid. We had to wait in line about forty-five minutes but once we got in the whole clan was there. It was just like the good old times, sitting around, being dumb. I was pretty exhausted so I only had a beer but just being around the clan was tons of fun. I sang my traditional “Ring of Fire” and watched as my friends embarrassed themselves. Once everyone was done at the Karaoke Kid the group kind of disintegrated. J and I went to The Key but when we got in the door we decided we had had enough. I had had one drink in about five hours and was just exhausted. We left The Key and headed to Qboba for a late night snack. After we were done with that we headed to Hamm’s brother’s place and crashed for the night. Another fun Daze in the books.

Sponge Bob Again?

This Halloween was a pretty tame one. On Friday Jocelyn and I hit up Turner Hall for a fish fry and then went to go see a movie at a massive cinemaplex in New Berlin. There were twenty some movie theaters but the theater we were in was ironically the smallest movie theater I’ve probably ever been in. I’ve seen some home movie systems that rival the size of this theater. The reason the theater was so small is because we saw a movie that nobody probably ever heard of. We went to see a movie called “What the Bleep Do We Know!?”. It was a Discovery Channel type movie that discussed quantum physics and theory and asked questions about why we perceive things the way we do and what makes us us and is there an us. It has a bit of theology mixed in as well. It was a great movie and really makes you think about life and the universe. If you are a thinker, questioner, and ponder go see this movie tonight. If you aren’t, go see it tomorrow, it’s really good. After the movie was over my brain hurt too much and I didn’t know if I actually existed or thought I existed so I took my non-existent ass to bed.

Saturday we really didn’t do that much either. There was a party going on but I didn’t feel like going so Todd and Steph came over and hung out. We all sat around and drank some sangria and watched “The Lady in White” which is a movie that scared the crap out of me as a kid. It is a hard movie to find and is currently out of print. I tried to get the DVD on eBay last year but it was going for $100+. I managed to get a copy this year for $25. It was obviously a bootleg and I was going to send it back but it would be more trouble doing that than it’s worth. Anyway, the movie wasn’t scary at all and was cheesier that I expected. It would have been good back in the day but the awful special effects and bad acting took all the horror out of the movie. When that was over Todd and Steph went home. Jocelyn and I felt like going out so I slapped on my Sponge Bob costume and we went to Flannery’s for a couple drinks. We headed home about midnight and hit the hay. I haven’t had this calm of a Halloween weekend since I was bobbing for apple at my aunt’s house. Oh well, there’s always next year.

Sunday was an unexpected crazy day for me. I went with Jocelyn to her bar, the Sports Dock in Pewaukee, to watch the Packer game. I had a couple Bloody Marys and some beers and talked with the locals while the game was going on. The Packers rolled to another victory and I was feeling pretty good. Jocelyn got done after the game and we were planning on going home right after the game but the next thing we knew it was the end of the second game. Then the next thing we knew it was bar time. J and I hung out with J’s boss and her husband and I guess we were having so much fun we lost track of a whole day, must’ve been a time warp thing we saw in Friday’s movie. It was tons of fun but I paid the price the next day. I guess my Halloween did end up being crazy after all. Get out and vote this week!

The End Of An Era.. The Start Of A New One

This weekend was my last wedding of a very long eight wedding season. This wedding was a special finale though because my very own brother was getting married *gasp*. Friday I drove up after work and drove to the church for the rehearsal. This rehearsal was nothing like Jeff’s the week before. This one the priest was a slave driver and the rehearsal took about as long as Jeff’s wedding and rehearsal combined. I managed to power through it and we headed off to a pizza joint for the rehearsal dinner. The pizza was very good and the pumpkin ale was flowing. We ate and then sat around and smoked cigars and had some more pumpkin ale. From there we went to a couple bars to have the final “single man” drinks. I stayed at Rich’s that night and once again braced myself for a long day.

Saturday I was going to sleep in a bit but I was literally drug out of bed by one of the other groomsman and told I had to go to breakfast. I didn’t want breakfast so once he was out of the room I locked the door. Once I was back in bed there was no way that I could get back to sleep so I showered up and started primping for the wedding. Rich got home and we started to get ready when he noticed that one of the groomsmen and took his tux instead of his. I was practically dressed and Rich had the other guy’s pants and shirt on but we had to leave and get dressed at the other guy’s house. So we gathered everything we needed and got in Rich’s Mustang. There was one problem though, the battery was dead. So Rich and I had to jump the car with our tuxes on. We got to the other groomsman’s house and Rich got his jacket and vest and we finished getting ready. For the second week the wedding forecast was rainy and it seemed to pour most when we were outside. From there we headed to the church for pictures. Once again it was nice that we did all the pictures before the wedding. While the pictures were going on we had a couple radios to listen to another victory for the Badgers, go Bucky! After pictures we had the wedding. The wedding was nice. There was a full Catholic ceremony so the wedding was pretty long. I think it’s impossible to have a bad wedding. After the wedding was over it cleared up a bit so we decided to have a couple outdoor pictures in a park in Plymouth. Once we got there we snapped a couple pictures and it started to rain again. I rolled up the Mustang’s windows but in the process I must’ve accidentally locked the doors. The keys were in the car and there was no way to get in so I had to run back to Sheboygan and get the spare set. It took about an hour out of my time with the wedding party but the only thing I really missed was an hour of drinking so it was no big deal. So once I got back to the car in Plymouth I met up with the rest of the wedding party at the O in Falls. From there we headed to Horse & Plow in Kohler for a yard of brew and then headed to the reception for the real fun to begin. Once we got to the reception I did a lot of schmoozing. There were a lot of relatives and friends to talk to and it seemed like I had a second to talk to each. Once dinner started we sat down and did the toast thing. I had one plate of food and then got up and started talking to everyone again. I brought some of my cousin’s baseball cards and he was a good sport and signed them for the kiddies. Once the dancing part started the wedding party had to sit in chairs on the dance floor and two people dressed up as a miniature bride and groom put on a comedy skit that was very funny. Then we danced and I caught the garder. Then my godmother Terri got yelled at because she brought hundreds of jell-o shots into the dance hall. Then I decided to go martini for martini with my gin loving uncle Tommy. The last I saw him he was saying something about me being mister clean and he had to go home only because my aunt wanted to leave, thus declaring Ryan the martini drinking champion. I had a fancy blue light up martini glass and I think Tommy was intimidated by it. The night was so much fun but it went by so fast because I was bouncing from person to person talking. It was good to see everyone from my dad’s side of the family together as well as my mom’s side. We took some big family pictures to remember the moment. Like I said the night went by so fast and before I knew it it was time to go. Everyone headed down to the O for a couple night caps and we went back to Rich’s to get some sleep for Sunday’s gift opening.

Sunday I woke up feeling fine. Rich on the other hand looked like a steamroller ran over him. He was wearing his tux with a t-shirt and stunk to high heaven. I drove him to pick up the rental car for the honeymoon and he kept his tux on to go get it, classy. Once we got back he finally changed and everyone started to arrive for the gift opening. The whole afternoon the women sat in the house and the men sat in the garage, watched the Packer game and drank our collective hangovers away. After another Packer victory we gathered our things and headed back. The end of an era for my brother, the end of a long wedding season for me. Congratulations to Rich and Billie and I’d like to welcome the Stranz family into our fold. I think Billie knew what she was getting into but I don’t know why anyone would willingly want to be a part of the Rich Rau faction. Either way, all the love in the world to my brother and his new wife and good luck in the future! Some more love to all my family that was at the wedding and those who couldn’t join us.

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 Shake My Leinie On The Catwalk

On Friday after work we headed up to Eau Claire for a fashion show that Jocelyn was going to be in and her aunt was putting on. The show was for the Make a Wish Foundation. Friday was pretty much shot because it took us a good amount of time to get up there. I think we actually arrived somewhere around ten. We stopped at Pizza Hut in Tomah to get some grub. Once we checked in to our hotel we just hit the hay. Saturday was one of the more eventful days that I’ve had in a long time. I woke up about nine and cleaned myself up a bit. Then I headed to the mall to get a haircut. One thing about Milwaukee is there is no place to get a haircut for under $20 in the downtown area, so I was forced to travel four hours to get one. I got my haircut and hung out at the mall for a bit. When I was done there I did some browsing and wishing at Best Buy and then picked up my teriyaki beef jerky and Dr. Pepper lunch from Wal-Mart. Then the day started to get fun. I cruised up to Chippewa Falls and took the Leinie Brewery tour. It was a perfect fall day and the tour goes outdoors so I could enjoy the weather. The tour was your average brewery tour, not quite as small as Lakefront’s yet not nearly as big as Miller’s. The tour also ends like all other tours too. You get a couple glasses of Leinie’s. I would’ve be pretty upset that you only get two 7 oz. glasses to sample but I had an in. It was a huge coincidence that Kirk Leinenkugel (Jake’s son) was working the Lodge’s bar. I had hung out with Kirk a couple times in college and he surprisingly remembered who I was. He was supposed to be working a group outing but they canceled on him so he was behind the bar. So we caught up with what each other was up to and I got more than two oz. Leinie’s, a big thanks to Kirk. At about two I took off from the Lodge so I could watch the Badger game. Kirk suggested a place called Boston’s in Eau Claire. Jocelyn and fam had just finished their fashion show practice so we met there to watch the Badgers and have some Oktoberfests. We stayed there until half time when we had to leave so the ladies could get ready for their fashion show. I dropped the girls off at the hotel and went to another cool place called the Northwoods. It was a small microbrew restaurant by our hotel. I bought a beer sampler and watched the second half of the game with some other Badgers fans. The second half flew by and Bucky kicked some serious behind. It’s good to see we at least have one good team in WI. After the game I flew back to the hotel to change and get to the fashion show. I was on time and looking good so I thought I would be having a good time at this show in a matter of minutes, boy was I wrong. I proceeded to get totally lost and when I stopped and asked directions the stupid lady working at the gas station gave me directions to drive the complete opposite way to the countryside. I drove for about thirty-five minutes when I decided to turn around and go back. I called Jocelyn and got the right directions and arrived technically still on time but hour later than I was planning. The fashion show was nice. There were a couple corny moments but the food was fabulous as were the martinis. When dinner was over we danced for a bit and headed home.

Sunday morning we did the long drive back to Milwaukee via Sheboygan so we could get J’s car fixed, again. The color up north was beautiful and was almost as good in Sheboygan. We went to Parnell Tower in the Kettles. Parnell is a tall tower on a hill that allows you to see for miles and miles in every direction. The tower is in the middle of nowhere and usually when you go there you are the only one on the tower. Well this last weekend there were hundreds of people there to see the fall colors. There were rangers there directing traffic and we had park a ways down from the actual park and take a trail in. The hike was worth it. The color was great and Sunday was a perfect day. The normally baron back roads in the Kettles where packed with motorists and Harley riders. When J and I were on our way out of the Kettle we got passed by a Lamborghini Diablo and we saw a couple Ferraris and nice restored cars, it was another perfect day at my favorite time of the year.