I am too old for this!

On the IPOD "Sin Wagon" by: Dixie Chicks

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned! That is what I felt like when I walked in to Nia at 9:45 Monday morning.

This weekend made me feel like I was 25 again although a much older, sicker version of 25. The weekend really started on Saturday morning at Nia. Two of my friends were going out to dinner to celebrate their birthdays and I threw it out there that Mike and I were interested in going to karaoke, well Sharyn and Melissa were all over that like butter on a hot biscuit (yum I wish I was eating a biscuit right now!) So we set it up that we would meet around 10 with our boys at a local karaoke bar.

We got there ordered our first round of drinks and started picking out songs to sing. My first choice was "Sin Wagon" its my favorite! Before I knew it our first round turned into shots of tequila and Jager. By the end of the night Sharyn and I were in a slurred version of a deep conversation that I'm pretty sure neither of us remember....


My brother Andrew and his girl Natalie came in on Sunday morning to celebrate his birthday on Monday, so my Mom and I ran up to the store to get supplies to make a beautiful dinner. (I pretty much made the same menu as my dinner party on Friday night except I decided to make a Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake for dessert.) This is a prime example of why I don't bake: When we got home the first thing I did was put the cake together, I mixed all the wet ingredients together in a bowl and then started cracking my eggs in. Well my fourth and final egg was, let's just say all kinds of wrong so because I didn't follow standard culinary directions and crack the eggs in to a bowl first before adding them, I had to throw the whole batch away. So after cleaning all the bowls up, I started again this time cracking the eggs first just to make sure I didn't have another issue... By 5 pm. dinner was prepped, cake was iced, and I was trying to relax from me big night out the night before.

Dinner was great, everyone was happy. We sang Happy Birthday and then I went to serve the cake... as soon as I started to cut it I knew something was wrong. It just didn't look the same as it has before. One bite in and I realized that when I was rushing to make my second cake I forgot to add the oil. Thank goodness nobody cared and it was just my family!!! (I think subconsciously I just didn't want a chocolate cake around!!)

After that mess we decided to go out and celebrate. My brother Andrew really celebrates!!! He works as a bartender in Austin and he pretty much is a home town celebrity here. So our little nights out turn into BIG nights out... Let me get the stage set for you... It was me and Mike, my brother Adam and his wife Audra, and Andrew and Natalie. We started out with a quick game of bowling where I scored an amazing 58 points ( don't worry I'm not planning on going pro.) After bowling we headed to a great dive bar called the "Goat" in Lakewood, for "Rockstar" karaoke Sunday. I never get to go to karaoke anymore so twice in one weekend was such a treat! After karaoke we went to "Cosmos" another great dive bar in Lakewood. Before I knew it, I had way too many birthday shots and drinks called "Sex with Jackson" referring to the head bartender and very good friend of ours. But it was Andrew's birthday and I was sticking it out for the long haul (well kind of). We left Cosmos at 2 and I was driven (while I napped in the back seat) to a "greasy spoon" diner. Memories of our time at the diner are blurred to say the least, which is really too bad because I didn't even get to enjoy my grilled cheese on rye bread with grilled onions (which is my ghetto version of a patty melt without the patty) and tater tots (yes I am three.) I managed to take another 10 minute nap from the restaurant to the house. It was now ridiculously almost 5 in the morning!!!! I went to sleep and woke up at 9:15 am. I had already notified my client that I knew from past experience that there was no way I would be working on Monday. And as soon as my eyes opened the guilt and stomach ache rushed over me and by 9:45am I was nauseous and in a Nia class.

That was the best decision I made all day because birthday lunch turned into another birthday dinner. And another night out. Mike was lucky he was working!!!! It ended up being me, Adam, Andrew and Natalie moving furniture at a bar and shaking our money makers in the middle of the room. I finally reached my bed at about 1:20am.

I have to say that even though I can barely move, I would've never given up this weekend. My brothers are truly my best friends. Besides my husband, they are my two favorite boys to hang with. I am so blessed to have a family that through all the other bullshit has decided to make each other a major priority. We have been through so much together and sometimes a girl just needs her big brothers around.

Now all I have to do is stay awake long enough to drag Natalie and Andrew to Nia tonight!!!! Do you think I can chop while sleeping at work today????

xoxo chef a