Day 109

Boy am I tired today. Back 10-12 years ago, drinking back to back nights hardcore was no problem. Just give me a nap at some point and I am fine. Fast forward to 2006 and its two days later and I couldn't be more tired today. I can't sleep late anymore and I think I slept a total of 8 hours Friday and Saturday nights. All I know is that Friday night I passed out around 3 am after eating late night pizza and I was wide awake at 7:30. Poor P had to share a room with me. I did my best to keep quiet and I left the room around 8 to go up to the business center. But I digress.

Lets back up - Friday 9 of us flew Southwest to Kansas City and headed to Lawrence for Sean's bachelor party. You had Sean, Teddy, Danimal, Mark P, Buatch, Franco, Jordy, Sean's Dad, and me. I arranged for a private room at the Hereford House, the one legit steakhouse in Lawrence. Little did we know, having the private room was the move. The meal started off good, we were a rowdy bunch, but again, we were in a private room, and then our server walked in. I felt sorry for the poor girl and Buatch dropped more F bombs on her than Stiffler. The food was good, but the next thing I knew, we had finished our meals, Buatch and Franco were insulting each other, the rest of us laughed and rolled out eyes, we were told to calm down by a manager, and we were paying the bill and rushing out of there. We bar crawled a little after that, hitting up Louise's on Mass for a Schooner (see the photo), then we went to our old go to spot Fatso's. I spent countless hours and dollars at Fatso's over the years and now the place is dead. It seemed like every bar we hit was dead Friday night. Next we stopped at the Jazzhaus for a couple of drinks before having a limo pick us up to take us to "Temple." We dropped Sean's dad off on the way and as fun as it was at "Temple," I was lucky enough to witness one of the funniest scenes of my life. Buatch being absolutely abused on the "bima" by 4 different "Rabbi's." So badly did he get abused, the next day he had a deep dark bruise on his side and welts across his stomach. I was almost in tears laughing so hard. I will leave it at that. Around 2, we got back to our hotel and congregated in Buatch's room and ordered pizza. More craziness ensued, including a cracked out girl, who was an unconfirmed Carmelo Anthony, wandering into our room when the food showed up, and Sean and Teddy eating a Bacon, Tomato, and Onion pizza with warm Mayo instead of pizza sauce. Yikes.

The next morning we all pretty much stumbled up to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch and to watch hoops before the KU game. Half of us ate (I hooked up some spicy garlic boneless dinger - they are the whup). Beforehand, Buatch and I went down to the Fieldhouse and scalped some seats and met everyone else at B-Dubs. Around 2 we headed to the game. We walked around the newly opened KU Sports museum and Hall of Fame, which is now attached to the front of Allen Fieldhouse. We were sitting all over the arena, since we could get 9 together. We sat 4, 3, and 2. Mark P and I sat together. We were about 19 rows up just to the right of midcourt. Really there are no bad seats in the Fieldhouse. We were in our seats for all of the pregame festivities that a first time visitor to AFH must see. the Alma Mater where the crowd sways, the Rock Chalk chant, and the new introductions which are spine chilling. The game was solid, as KU won by 13, but I am glad that P, Jordy, and Sean's dad were able to go through the Fieldhouse experience.

A nap was an absolute must for the group after a long night and long day. Luckily, I passed right out for an hour and 15 minutes before going for Rudy's Pocket Za's at 8. Of all of the pizza's I've ever had, I put the Pocket Za #1 just ahead of Geraci's Pepperoni in Cleveland. I'd say at 9, we walked across the street to Quinton's where round two began. The first couple of drinks were tougher than normal, but once I got a jaeger bomb in me, I was ready to go. On this night, the bar was packed. The on-going themes of the night were how long would it be before Buatch and Franco pass out and whether or not we were "those old guys" at the bar, gawking at college girls. Around 12:30, Frick and Frack disappeared, and weren't heard from until the next morning, and we clearly were the old guys at the bar in my eyes at least. We went back to the hotel when Quinton's closed and went to sleep.

Another early wakeup Sunday morning was tempered by the fact that we got to go to Mr. Goodcents for my favorite sub of alltime - the Penny Club on white with provolone cheese and mayo. Overall, it was a solid weekend. We all had a great time. The downside is its Monday, I had a million things to do today for work and all I want to do is take a nap. Again, the recovery skills of your body at age 30 compared to age 20 are night and day. Can't wait for that 3 PM conference call I have to lead....I promised Buatch I wouldn't mention the destruction of his hotel room or his puking all over the floor and his bed.

Song of the Day: "A Long Walk" by Jill Scott