Writing this on my phone as I get a pedicure done. I fly out at 8 am tomorrow for my work conference in Clearwater Beach, Florida!
I’m looking forward to it. I’m honestly looking forward to both the conference part (I think it will be interesting!), having a King sized, gulf front room all to myself, AND traveling with my work bestie.
We’re the only ones attending from our team (we are presenting, jointly, on Thursday about a project we worked on together). I think the down time and evenings will be fun and relaxing! Plus, beach…. I come home late Friday night.
Yesterday my mom and I drove to Delevan, about an hour away, for Ethan’s 1 pm soccer game. Unfortunately, about 10-15 min into the game, a kid on the other team fouled him pretty badly (he basically kneed him really hard right in the front of his thigh). Ethan went down and then hobbled out of the game. He was unable to return, sadly, and spent the rest of the game foam rolling and stretching and looking sad. The only plus to it was that the penalty shot (taken by another teammate as Ethan could not) resulted in a goal.
He is still in rather rough shape today. Basically I think it’s just a bad bruise/muscle contusion. But he has been playing SO WELL lately and he is distraught over the idea of missing playing time. Especially as a senior! 😩 He’s doing ibuprofen and ice and rest and hoping it feels better soon. His next game is Thursday…
Last night the four of us all went out for dinner for our nephew’s 21st birthday. It was fun! There was a big group- his parents are divorced and his mom (Ivan’s brother’s ex-wife) organized it. The cool thing is that they all get along really well now, so his ex plus her new husband and his family were there, plus Ivan’s brother and his girlfriend and her son… nice to see everyone coming together cordially from both sides, AND with the new partners. I know that is NOT always the case in divorce situations.
After dinner we dropped the boys at home and then the group had planned a bit of “bar hopping” in downtown Madison. Now, Ivan and I agreed we probably would not personally want to “go out drinking” with our sons, or at least we wouldn’t want to really encourage that scene. (Nor am I sure my boys would want to “go out” with us on their 21st birthday?!) But, his mom organized it and invited us and it was meant to be in moderation and he seemed thrilled with it all. 🙂
We started at a place his mom and her sister had picked- a club on State St called Roxxy, then moved to another bar after.
I have a few…. thoughts.
- First, we’re old. lol! We had to wait in a little line to get in and then the bouncer dutifully checked our IDs even though we both knew there’s no way in hell he thought we were underage. 😅
- We had to pay a cover charge to get in ($10 each) which made me a little grumpy. Because, I’m old and apparently grumpy over paying to get in somewhere that is basically just a bar and there are lots of free bars.
- The music was very loud. Hehe. And also, it was terrible. It was “Nikki Minaj vs Cardi B” night. Nothing against either of those ladies, but… their music (rap) is not my style. My brother-in-law’s girlfriend and I kept joking, “Should we go up and say, “excuse me, could you turn the music down?? It’s too loud. 😅😅”
- Observation: today’s “club style” is apparently ALL over the place. I looked around a little, thinking I’d see “what young people wear to clubs these days”. Basically, it appears that it’s anything and everything. I saw girls in booty shorts, skirts, “fancy” leggings/yoga pants style outfits (like velour with matching cropped zip ups?), ALL styles of jeans, and everything in between.
- What is with all the vaping?! Dear Lord, this is concerning. The girl who scanned our IDs in was vaping while she took them from us. I saw people vaping alllll over the place indoors. Girls, guys, everyone. Yikes. It is terrible for you, and also, it looks REALLY stupid, IMO. (Sucking on a little plastic thingy? And then blowing weird vapor out?)
We had fun, though!! Eventually we had enough of the um, “music”, and moved on. 😆 (But not until the DJ did a big shout out to my nephew and everyone cheered, which he got a kick out of.)
We then went to Red Rock Saloon (it was after midnight by this point, you guys!) which was actually much better. Only $5 cover this time 🙄 but the music was immensely better. We were still the oldest people there but the music was mostly all from like 80s-90s! (But amped up “club” versions.) Perhaps it was throwback night?! Hahaha. But there were tons of good songs and all the young people seemed to be singing along and knew it, so, that was cool.
I had one vodka cranberry at the first club (it was small…) and then later one Michelob Ultra beer. Then I switched to club soda with a splash of cranberry and my today’s self is thanking me. I woke up feeling great (despite a very late bedtime.. after 2 am…. Though I slept in until after 8 so it wasn’t too terrible).
Also, at the second bar, a girl across from us at the bar leaned over and said, “You’re so pretty!” Now it’s possible she was drunk 🤣 (she didn’t seem sloshed…) but it was still a nice ego boost. Ivan agreed with her out loud, which was also sweet. Haha.
On the way home, Ivan and I stopped off at a late night taco truck for a 2 am carne asada taco! Which was literally delicious and a perfectly fitting way to end a night “out”.
It had been a looooooong time since I had “been out” like that. Lol. Not something I feel the need to repeat any time soon, BUT it was actually really fun and I don’t regret it. 🙂
Ok, pedicure’s about done- time to head home and finish packing! (Fortunately did most of it on Friday). Want to hit the gym yet today too.
More from the road this week!!
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for a fun night out last night, even if we were the oldest people there. 😉
