How I Lost the Tip of My Toe -or- My Weekend Roundup

                                          
The title of this post is a tad misleading. I don't mean that I didn't (almost) lose the tip of my toe, and I don't mean that this isn't about my weekend, but I mean that my weekend wasn't nearly as exciting as I'd like you to believe it was based on the fact that I (almost) lost the tip of my toe. In fact, compared to how my weekends typically go, this past one was uneventful, pretty blah, and really quite mellow.

So mellow, in fact, that I'm actually going to be able to tell you about it without the fear of revealing to you a side of myself that few are privy to.

First off, my drive on Thursday wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated. In fact, Unfortunate One* and I had so much catching up to do that it was the fastest 6 1/2-hour road trip ever (A road trip that usually takes me 5-6 hours. Incidentally, Unfortunate One drives like an old lady. Who knew?). It's been awhile since I've been able to have a real, intelligent convo with anyone (you'd be surprised, but Co-Worker and Boss Lady aren't the brightest bulbs in the box). We talked politics and other issues of the current affairs variety. We gossiped a bit too (contrary to popular belief, men are the worst gossipers). I won't bore you with the details.

We met up with Gregarious, who we were visiting for the weekend, at his humble abode. We eventually made it to Murphy's Irish Pub in Old Town Alexandria. I've been there before, and while the atmosphere was enjoyable, the service has a tendency to suck and the food was merely mediocre. The beer, however, was good. Beer usually is.

WHAT I ATE/DRANK:
* Hot Roast Beef
- Served open-face on white bread topped with Gravy, Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables on the side
* Beer. More specifically, Yuengling
MY THOUGHTS:
It was kind of tasty... and kind of cold. The mashed potatoes were, eh. The vegetables were your standard previously frozen, re-heated variety.
WOULD I ORDER IT AGAIN:
Probably not. Unless I was really drunk. Anything can happen, right?

   
    
Friday afternoon we sat around in a circle (triangle?), outside in the bright Virginia sun, eating Cheetos, drinking, reminiscing** and talking about the days we used to sit around in a circle, eating Cheetos, drinking and partaking in certain activities. I may or may not have drunk a nearly full bottle of wine on my own. I may or may not have briefly blinded a cat when I (accidentally) poured wine into the kitty's eyes***. We then proceeded to try grilling steak during a hail storm. Well, Gregarious tried. Unfortunate One and I just sat inside and watched.

At some point we ventured into DC to visit Thing 2. It was a fun and exciting evening that involved sitting on Thing 2's roof deck and drinking beer. Good times. Fun fact: Did you know it was National Police Week in DC this past weekend? Yeah, we didn't either. We made this discovery while riding the last train on the Yellow line when a (very drunk) copper from North Carolina got on, in full kilt ensemble, and proceeded to serenade us with his bagpipes+ (can you serenade with bag pipes?). Good times.

(Source)

Not our bagpiper, but you get the idea, right? Man, I have got to start bringing my camera with me on my adventures.

We had originally planned to venture into DC again Saturday morning to meet up with Thing 2 for brunch. This did not happen. Most likely due to the fact that our Metro adventures had us arriving back at Gregarious' at about 5:00am. Instead, we met up with Thing 2 around 2-3:00pm for a late lunch at the Thai food restaurant, Kanlaya. I really like Thai food, however, I have a hard time finding anything I can eat since they like to put egg in everything.

WHAT I ATE/DRANK:
19. THAI SPRING ROLLS (shared)
- A combination of cellophane noodles, cabbage, carrot, and dried mushrooms served with chef's special sauce
21. SIAM DUMPLINGS (shared)
- Steamed dumplings stuffed with a mixture of shrimp, crab meat, pork and mushroom served with a deliciously sweet Thai soy sauce
81. PAD KING TOFU
- Fried tofu sautéed with fresh ginger, onions and fresh mushrooms in bean sauce
ICED TEA
MY THOUGHTS:
19. Good. Typical of spring rolls. Nothing special.
21. Eh. Not really a fan. Can't say I enjoyed the crazy meat combo, but everyone else really liked them.
81. After re-reading the description, I'm pretty sure that while this is what I ordered, this is not what I actually ate (as I suspected at the time). What I ate had green beans and red peppers. And no onions, mushrooms, ginger or bean sauce. That being said, whatever it was that I did eat, it was very good.
WOULD I ORDER IT AGAIN:
Sure. If I knew what it was I was ordering. I suspect it was this:
82. PAD PIK KING TOFU
- Fried tofu sautéed with PIK KING Sauce and fresh string beans

   
     
Afterward, we took a nice little stroll to the Jefferson Memorial. You know, just for fun. The men decided we needed to take a cab back to Thing 2's place, so we did, where we proceeded to drink some beers on the roof deck. Again.

Some crazy bastard decided that we needed to eat again that day, so we went out the Lalibela, an Ethiopian restaurant. Little did I know, I love Ethiopian food. Why do I love Ethiopian food? Because you eat it with your fingers! Now that's my kind of meal!

Funny story: At one point in the evening, I needed to pee, and guess what? There was no toilet paper. Well, there were scraps of t.p. Just enough for me to take care of business, but not enough for the poor fools who were in line after me. They had the misfortune of having to use the men's room. Poor ladies.
UPDATE: Now that I think about it, I probably shouldn't have followed a short story about a potty trip with this pic. Doesn't really make this look at all appetizing, huh? It was though, despite its resemblance to... well... you know.

WHAT I ATE/DRANK:
37. Lalibela Special One, for four Combination of #8, 12, 13, 17, 21, 30, 31 (shared, obviously)
8. Kik Alicha
- yellow split peas cooked with onions, garlic, red peppers, turmeric and vegetable oil
12. Teckl Gomen
- cabbage and carrots cooked with onions, garlic turmeric and vegetable oil
13. Gomen Wot
- caler green cooked with onions, garlic and vegetable oil
17. Laga Ribs
- tender cubed pieces of lamb marinate with special spices, onions, tomatoes, jalapeno and garlic
21. Doro Wot
- sauteed tender chicken marinate in seasoned butter and stewed in red hot peppers sauce. flavored with ginger root, cardamon, garlic and exotic spices served with hard boiled eggs
30. Yebere Lalibela Ribs
- prime beef sauteed with seasoned butter, hot peppers, garlic, onions, tomatoes and jalapeno cooked in pan
31. Keye Wot
- fresh beef marinate in red wine and cooked with red hot peppers sauce, onions, ginger roots, garlic and exotic Ethiopian spices
Water and coffee
MY THOUGHTS:
Overall, yummy. I did not try the lamb dish because I have issues with eating baby animals.
WOULD I ORDER IT AGAIN:
Definitely. Especially if I were out and about with a group of people again. And we were slightly buzzed.

   
     
After our Ethiopian adventure, we met up with Unfortunate One's cousin and her husband and proceeded to travel (walk) to the Commissary, a cafe/bar/what-have-you, for a drink. I was underwhelmed. Just for fun, here's a little riddle for you...

Four men and two women walk into a mediocre, overpriced bar in DC. They wait 15 minutes for service after waiting 5 minutes to be seated. The following drinks were ordered: Irish coffee, Thin Mint, Brooklyn Lager, Gin and Tonic, Chardonnay Woop Woop, and Allagash White. They discussed the going rate of wives in Sudan, which, at the moment, apparently averages at about 85 cows. The bill, with tip, comes to $60 and change.

What did I have to drink? (feel free to leave your guess in the comments) 

(BLOODY APPENDAGE STORY AHEAD)    

We proceeded to call it quits and headed back to Gregarious' house where I proceeded to relieve myself of one tip o' toe of the big toe variety. I somehow managed to stub my toe on a set of free weights while trying to remake a bed. I pretty impressively gouged a chunk out of the tip of my big toe the size of a dime. There was cursing. There was a surprising amount of blood shed. There were no tears because I am not a wuss.

While I haven't exactly lost the tip of my toe, yet, there is a pretty decent sized skin flap hanging on for dear life. I'm hoping it chooses to stay, but I'm prepared for it and I to part ways. I would have taken a picture for you, but I haven't been able to look at it yet without the urge to vomit all over it. (Okay, so maybe I am a wuss.)

So, yay! That was my fun and exciting weekend. Thanks for sticking through to the end of that fabulous Weekend Roundup. If you were bored, I apologize, but just think how I felt. I had to live through it. 

   

Have a fan-freakin'-tastic Monday!

* Names have been changed to protect other people's identities. Duh.
** I may or may not be using this word as an innuendo. You decide.
*** For the record, I wasn't trying to blind the kitty. I was trying to get it to drink wine. It's not my fault he moved his head at the wrong moment.
+ This is not an innuendo.

The big 3-0...

So, last Sunday I celebrated my 30th {gasp} birthday. We started the celebration by ringing in the BIG day with some good beer and some good music at Brittany's Restaurant & Sports Bar. The bar was smokey, the crowd was, uh, interesting, so-to-speak (think middle aged, redneck women out for a night on the town and the men who like that sort of thing), but the music was good. Furious George, a pretty decent cover band, was definitely slumming it that evening. I'm sure they can, and do, play at much better venues. Their set was damn good though, and they managed to play quite a few of my favs while avoiding all the cliche cover band tunes.

On the evening of my actual b'day we had some ice cream cake before heading out to enjoy a yummy sushi dinner at the Ichiban Sushi House. (Incidentally, I was dismayed to discover that ice cream cake doesn't involve any cake. I'd never had it before, or at least not to my recollection, and was rather disappointed. However, considering my egg allergy and the fact that I had pancakes for breakfast, it was probably a good thing.) After stuffing ourselves with raw fish (well, I was stuffed) we hit up the Irish pub, Murphy's, for some beer, football (it was Sunday after all) and some good old fashioned Irish drinking songs. Despite the festive atmosphere we soon bailed because, quite frankly, the service sucked. We wandered over to the Columbia Firehouse for some quiet conversation and, of course, more beer (and considerably better service). The Firehouse offers a nice selection of regional beers, and I wish I could remember which one it was that I drank for the rest of the evening because it was quite good, but alas, I cannot.

We took Monday off (it was a holiday, after all) and headed out on Tuesday to the mountains of West Virginia for some skiing. Yes, I said West Virginia. Why? Lord only knows, but I don't think that's a trip I'll be making again anytime soon. I have to admit though, some of the scenery we drove through was quite impressive, like the Seneca Rocks and the area of the Smoke Hole Caverns, but when we arrived in Davis, WV, I wondered if we had made a very bad decision. Despite the isolation and backwardness look to the place, we did manage to find a really enjoyable place to eat, Sirianni's Cafe. The atmosphere was rustic and comfortable, the service was friendly and attentive, and their attitude was surprisingly liberal and anti-country. The only downside to this place was that they only accept cash or checks, and seeing as we only had about $24 on us, we settled on a pepperoni pizza. It was good, in fact it was so yummy I ate four slices.

After filling up our bellies and picking up some beer, we trekked back to our room at the Canaan Valley Resort. I really wish I had something good to say about our room, but it had to be the must run-down hotel room I have ever stayed in. From the mildewy tub to the water stained toilet and sink to the dysfunctional heater. Let's not forget the total 70s decor, which I'm pretty sure is the last time that bathroom was ever cleaned (seriously, there were spiders hiding in the corners of the shower). The Hickory Dining room was at least attractive enough, the food was okay and the service was decent. After filling up on another pancake breakfast Wednesday morning, we hit the slopes where I was finally able to try out my new ski boots (they were a birthday present for my last birthday). I only get to ski about once a year, so it takes me a few runs before I get the hang of it again (this time it took me about four). I should have avoided the midday break for beer and loaded fries at the bar though. I could only make it down the slopes two more times before I came this close to losing those fries all over the side of the mountain. Overall, the skiing was good. It was midweek so the mountain was pretty empty and the lines at the lifts were nonexistent.

So, how do I feel about turning 30? Well, ever since I turned 29 I've been getting all sorts of reactions whenever I admit my age. Some people responded with groans and asked me if I dreaded turning 30. Others expressed to me that my 30s would be my BEST DECADE EVER. Some even laughed because they just had their BIG day and were estatic to see someone else hit the mark. Me, I have mixed feelings about it. For one, I had expected to be much further along in accomplishing some big life goals. On the other hand, I see turning 30 as a fresh start. Turning 29 felt far much worse. As I have explained numerous times since the BIG day, 29 felt like the end of something, while 30 feels like the beginning. I have goals, I have aspirations and more importantly, I know what I want in life, and I will settle for no less. Most importantly, I realize that if my life is not what I want or expected, I have no one to blame but myself. I have the power, and I have the control to make myself happy, and I feel damn good about that. (Plus, I'm pretty sure I don't look 30 yet. see photo above)