Best. 96. EVAR.
Hey, Kool-Aid! OH YEAH!!! I had a very pleasant holiday.
My weekend began somewhat inauspiciously as I waited in line for over an hour Thursday evening to get fuel, and I was not at all certain I'd get any. Apparently out in town only three stations had any gas, and law enforcement was called in to quell "near riots" or some such nonsense. I'm betting those reports were a bit exaggerated, but I admit when I first heard them I was glad to have flak, kevlar, and ka-bar in my vehicle and wishing I had a firearm. I was seriously contemplating bringing at least one from home back to Camp Lejeune for just in case, and at some point I may if I can arrange storage, but it turned out to be blown over by the time I rolled through. Then there was a little matter with my room that I was afraid might keep me from going... The 1stSgt told me that my roommate was going to have to stand re-inspection, but I did not. I won't go into details here, but suffice to say, I understand the decision, and while some parties might not see it as fair, I think it was. In any case, I almost said something anyway, but the incentive to get home outweighed my desire to hang with my roommate. So, a few tists and turns aside, I managed to get home. Oh, kind of funny bit about that is that I was in such a hurry (plus I didn't want to be a jerk and take a shower when my roommate had to stand field day inspection again), that I actually drove home in my cammies and showered/changed over at the House of Lamey (sorry I missed you J, but well, I was in a hurry lol... maybe I'll see you guys this weekend?).
So, Friday night was spectacular. I met up with Mandy at her apartment, and since it was a little late (blame the Marine Corps) for my original plans, we fell back on an outing to Old Town Alexandria. We walked around a bit, chatting a little bit, holding hands, people watching, and just enjoying each other's company. I was pretty quiet, but she didn't seem to mind too much :P What was it that Mrs. Mia Wallace said in Pulp Fiction, "That's when you know you've found somebody special. When you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence." Then we went on a ghost walk tour thingummy which was very nifty. We stopped for a bite to eat afterward, and then we walked around the Marina a bit and enjoyed the evening.
Saturday we drove up to Baltimore to check out the Inner Harbour. I've been up there a couple of times and thought it would be fun. We walked a bit, people watched, had lunch at Legal Seafood (which was quite good, though a bit pricey for a poor LCpl lol). We checked out some of the old ships in the harbour (and the docents even let us aboard for free with our military id, woot). Diesel subs were cramped! Wow. After that, we toured the National Aquarium, which was really cool. It definitely would have been cool to have Mark along for his vast aquatic knowledge for some of it hehe :) After the aquarium, we embarked upon a quest to locate Starbucks, which while everywhere, can be amazingly difficult to locate when one is desired in an unfamiliar setting. We finally located one within the Barnes & Noble, and after sating the sugar and caffeine cravings, wandered around the waterfront a bit more and spent a little while out on a paddle boat, which was fun.
Sunday we went to the National Zoo, and Mandy's roommate Carly and her husband Justin (I suppose technically both are roommates now :P ) came along. I was somewhat miffed to find no polar bears, but they did have monkeys and lions and stuff. I think I liked the tigers best, though the little pygmy monkey was awfully cute. I was planning on cooking for her, but then Carly and Justin offered to do the cooking to leave Mandy and me cuddling on the couch. Who was I to argue? I'll probably cook next time ;)
Monday we lounged around on aforementioned couch for most of the day until meeting up with Paul at the pizza place for some free tasty pizza. Yay for free tasty pizza. If you are in or near Falls Church, VA and interested in some very good pizza, check out Z Pizza. Quite good. We then went down to Scott's Run and walked around the trails a little bit (mostly talking about boot camp :P ) to kill time while waiting on Paul to get off work, and Dan and his wife Lynn met us there as well. We then went over to meet Paul where he was house sitting for a rousing game of Apples to Apples. Paul's friends Paula and Medina (I think, not too sure on the latter) came over as well, and a good time was had by all. We got home a bit late, and unfortunately, Mandy was feeling sick by the time we got ready to go :\ She was feeling a bit better earlier today, so hopefully she's all better now.
So, in sum, yes, I had a wonderful fantastic, fabulous, happy, just plain good weekend. Oh, and if I forgot to mention it and/or you hadn't gathered, you may strike me from your list of "available men" as I have a super amazing girlfriend with whom I am quite happy :)
For now, that is all.
My weekend began somewhat inauspiciously as I waited in line for over an hour Thursday evening to get fuel, and I was not at all certain I'd get any. Apparently out in town only three stations had any gas, and law enforcement was called in to quell "near riots" or some such nonsense. I'm betting those reports were a bit exaggerated, but I admit when I first heard them I was glad to have flak, kevlar, and ka-bar in my vehicle and wishing I had a firearm. I was seriously contemplating bringing at least one from home back to Camp Lejeune for just in case, and at some point I may if I can arrange storage, but it turned out to be blown over by the time I rolled through. Then there was a little matter with my room that I was afraid might keep me from going... The 1stSgt told me that my roommate was going to have to stand re-inspection, but I did not. I won't go into details here, but suffice to say, I understand the decision, and while some parties might not see it as fair, I think it was. In any case, I almost said something anyway, but the incentive to get home outweighed my desire to hang with my roommate. So, a few tists and turns aside, I managed to get home. Oh, kind of funny bit about that is that I was in such a hurry (plus I didn't want to be a jerk and take a shower when my roommate had to stand field day inspection again), that I actually drove home in my cammies and showered/changed over at the House of Lamey (sorry I missed you J, but well, I was in a hurry lol... maybe I'll see you guys this weekend?).
So, Friday night was spectacular. I met up with Mandy at her apartment, and since it was a little late (blame the Marine Corps) for my original plans, we fell back on an outing to Old Town Alexandria. We walked around a bit, chatting a little bit, holding hands, people watching, and just enjoying each other's company. I was pretty quiet, but she didn't seem to mind too much :P What was it that Mrs. Mia Wallace said in Pulp Fiction, "That's when you know you've found somebody special. When you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence." Then we went on a ghost walk tour thingummy which was very nifty. We stopped for a bite to eat afterward, and then we walked around the Marina a bit and enjoyed the evening.
Saturday we drove up to Baltimore to check out the Inner Harbour. I've been up there a couple of times and thought it would be fun. We walked a bit, people watched, had lunch at Legal Seafood (which was quite good, though a bit pricey for a poor LCpl lol). We checked out some of the old ships in the harbour (and the docents even let us aboard for free with our military id, woot). Diesel subs were cramped! Wow. After that, we toured the National Aquarium, which was really cool. It definitely would have been cool to have Mark along for his vast aquatic knowledge for some of it hehe :) After the aquarium, we embarked upon a quest to locate Starbucks, which while everywhere, can be amazingly difficult to locate when one is desired in an unfamiliar setting. We finally located one within the Barnes & Noble, and after sating the sugar and caffeine cravings, wandered around the waterfront a bit more and spent a little while out on a paddle boat, which was fun.
Sunday we went to the National Zoo, and Mandy's roommate Carly and her husband Justin (I suppose technically both are roommates now :P ) came along. I was somewhat miffed to find no polar bears, but they did have monkeys and lions and stuff. I think I liked the tigers best, though the little pygmy monkey was awfully cute. I was planning on cooking for her, but then Carly and Justin offered to do the cooking to leave Mandy and me cuddling on the couch. Who was I to argue? I'll probably cook next time ;)
Monday we lounged around on aforementioned couch for most of the day until meeting up with Paul at the pizza place for some free tasty pizza. Yay for free tasty pizza. If you are in or near Falls Church, VA and interested in some very good pizza, check out Z Pizza. Quite good. We then went down to Scott's Run and walked around the trails a little bit (mostly talking about boot camp :P ) to kill time while waiting on Paul to get off work, and Dan and his wife Lynn met us there as well. We then went over to meet Paul where he was house sitting for a rousing game of Apples to Apples. Paul's friends Paula and Medina (I think, not too sure on the latter) came over as well, and a good time was had by all. We got home a bit late, and unfortunately, Mandy was feeling sick by the time we got ready to go :\ She was feeling a bit better earlier today, so hopefully she's all better now.
So, in sum, yes, I had a wonderful fantastic, fabulous, happy, just plain good weekend. Oh, and if I forgot to mention it and/or you hadn't gathered, you may strike me from your list of "available men" as I have a super amazing girlfriend with whom I am quite happy :)
For now, that is all.