Bang!

Lately, it seems like my life is an alternation between bouts of nothing and bouts of too much. There has been something or other going on almost constantly since Friday when Yoda guided me through a rather ghetto part of Tucson to a rather nice hotel where I got to see one of my oldest and dearest friends.

I spent the afternoon sitting on the couch in her room watching her and the other girls get ready for a dance. Two hours may seem like too long of a drive to sit around watching girls do their hair, but I loved it. It reminded me of Young Women's activities. I love the smell of hairspray and the conversation and the way girls borrow from each other and tuck in each other's tags. Besides, hanging out with Gabby always feels right, like taking up a book I just put down and picking up where I left off.

On Saturday, Shantel graciously hosted the Knights' New Year's Eve party. After some very salty pumpkin seeds and the light, pleasant socializing that happens while a party is waiting for the rest of its guests to arrive, Matt grilled chicken and hamburgers, and we all played a round of Bang!.

Bang! is an Old West-themed card game made in Italy (so all the cards are in Italian) wherein the sheriff tries to kill the outlaws and the outlaws try to kill the sheriff and nobody knows who anybody is. It's a bit like Mafia in that way. The game that night went very quickly. Several people were more than a little trigger happy. The outlaws won.

After the game, we carpooled over to a YSA event featuring free ice skating. I didn't do any skating, but I didn't really care where I was so long as I was among friends. We meant to head back to Shantel's before midnight, but that didn't happen, so we ended up counting down at the skating rink.

Back at Shantel's, the boys took turns trying to get down the timing of throwing a blooming ground flower into the air so it starts spinning before it hits the ground. Fireworks were followed by hot chocolate was followed by The Bourne Ultimatum and a massage train. I'm running with the assumption that that movie is even better if you've seen the first two.

Sunday was actually pretty quiet. I slept most of the day and spent the evening at family dinner.

Yesterday, I got to spend the day with my brother and his wife and their two adorable little girls. Is it terrible that I love making jokes about my nieces being poster children for Hitler's master race? They're going to be heart breakers when they grow up, them and their giant blue eyes.

They may look like clones, but I love how different they are. The elder is cautious and proper, and the younger is audacious and has attitude. They're expecting a little brother in March. I'm so excited!

Because I'm insane, after a long day of watching the girls fight over who got the bumblebee Pillow Pet and who got stuck with the ladybug, I didn't hesitate in answering an impromptu call at 10 PM to head over to Shantel's for another night with the Knights. There was more Bang! and Marc brought his telescope. After the boys got kicked out for making too much noise while they attacked Shantel, she and I stayed up chatting until five. I love one-on-one time with friends. You get to know people so much better that way.

I also love how the last few hang outs/parties/shindigs I've been to have been mostly guys. That's different for me, but interesting and fun. Boys are very entertaining, and they can be quite charming. Sometimes too charming, the devils.

Listening to: "The Call" by Regina Spektor
Reading: Les Misérables by Victor Hugo