And the Beat Don't Stop and We Talk So Tough

My friend T. giving me a hug on her birthday.

Well, this weekend turned out much differently than I expected. It was good, but as they say in Ottumwa, just diff'ernt. On Saturday afternoon, we watched my niece and nephew. My sister's friend's husband (got that?) is an engineer for the railroad and fell into the Cedar River by Columbus Junction when the railroad bridge he was on collapsed from damage from all of the flooding. Needless to say, he's in critical condition in the hospital here, and so we babysat my sister's three year old and five year old so she could be there to support her friend.

Of course, I didn't even think to get my camera out and take pictures of my niece and nephew being all adorable. We watched Night at the Museum. I had never seen it before, and I thought it was pretty good. My nephew was really into it and my niece was really into coloring on pink construction paper with pink and purple markers. Having teenagers, I forget how different it is to have younger kids. It's been over ten years since I've had a three year old and a five year old in my house all day. It takes a lot out of a girl. I don't know how my sister teaches at a grade school all day and then comes home and entertains her kids all night (with the help of her husband). I think I might have to develop a meth habit to have enough energy for that.

I went out late on Saturday night. I needed some alone time after my girls went to their dad's house, but then I went to the Dublin for one beer. My friends J. and D. were going to go to Joe's Place because they were having guest bartenders from a bar called the Wig and Pen. The Wig and Pen was pretty much ruined from the flooding, so I don't know what their employees are doing now for work every day. Instead of going with them to Joe's, I left and went to the Picador where my friend T. was celebrating her birthday. C. was in town from Fort Madison, and I got to talk to him for a bit before he left for a party.

My friend J. was getting ready to go home and so I asked him for a ride and he kept saying no. Which he always does. In most cases with him, no usually means yes. When we got to his car, he acted like he wasn't going to open the passenger door and just leave me standing by myself in the parking lot. Of course, he finally did and we laughed most of the way home about how both funny and sad it would have been if he had driven off and left me.