beer and freak storms

I had a pretty good weekend, well.. up until Sunday I did anyway.

Friday

Friday night was the Beer Festival. I had an absolute ball. Spent an absolute fortune, but had a ball. It cost $20 to get in, then I spent $30 on 10 tickets for beer in the main hall, then $10 for 6 tickets in the University of Beer (which wouldn't take the same tickets as the main hall bugger them) and I spent about $10 on food to share. So yeah, $70 for the night - that's a bloody big night for me. And I only gave away 2 or 3 tickets.

There was a fair crowd of us - The Tall Guy, his sister, a couple of their friends each, and the Ex - about 10 or so in all - so I got to taste a lot of beers that I didn't buy which was good. I think I'd tasted roughly half of the beers by the end of the night, which isn't bad going. Favourites were Paddy's Chocolate Porter, Gold Coast Honey Pale Ale and Jamieson Brewing's Raspberry Ale.

As the night wore on, I did get a little bitchy with the Ex though. It started with him the following conversation:

Ex: I've recently busted my right knee playing soccer and don't have the $1000 it would cost to get it fixed.
L: What you need is a rich girlfriend who can pay it for you or lend you the money.
Ex: Yeah right. How am I supposed to get a girl like that?
Me: You had one remember. You broke up with me.

It got a big laugh (even from the Ex) and it kind of deteriorated from there. As I said to the group at one stage, he may be my ex, but I still find him bloody annoying at times. He was being really flirty with me, and I think it just brought out the worst in me.

Anyway, we finally left just after midnight. I walked home and had my usual hangover prevention of a green apple and a Berocca. I don't know why it works, but it does.

Saturday

Woke up, ate breakfast, went back to bed. I didn't have any hangover symptoms like headache or queasiness, but I did feel very tired and wrung-out. Checked my email and had an invite from a new guy via the internet dating to go for coffee. A couple of text messages later and I had a date for lunch in the Valley.

Met up with him for lunch. He's a really interesting guy - works for a record company so I got a different perspective on some of my favourite Brisbane bands from him. I'm certainly interested in him as a friend, but I'm not sure if I'm interested in him romantically. I found him to be great company, but once again, no spark. Maybe my mum is right and I am too fussy.

I'm not sure if he's pissed off with me though. I went completely blond and forgot to pay him back for lunch (he went and ordered while I minded the table) - it's only $8 or something, but I'd feel pissed off if someone did that to me. I did text him about 1/2 hour later when I realised, but I haven't heard back, so I'm not sure if he got it or not. I'll have to email him next time I'm online and apologise again.

Anyway, I did a bit of shopping through the markets after that as I haven't been for a while. I found this great handbag of green bamboo and ordered a pair of handmade sandles for summer - I pick them up next Saturday. I've been meaning to get a pair for ages and now that I've paid off my car, I'm spending up for a couple of weeks before I start socking that money (about $1000 a month) away for a house deposit or my planning trip to SE Asia next year or something.

Saturday night, I headed over to T&S's place for dinner and a catch up. I'd planned to get there about 5pm and had told T that, so I was a little surprised when I arrived about 4:45pm (I woke up about 4:15pm after a nap and figured if I didn't get ready and leave then, I'd just go back to sleep) and I couldn't raise anyone. So I pull out my mobile to call them, thinking they might be downstairs and couldn't hear me. Only to find a text message at about 4:15pm telling me that they'd gone for a walk and should be back at 5pm. I figured they'd probably gone to the park, but couldn't remember exactly where it was and got no reply on either of their mobiles to check that they were in fact at the park and how to get there. So I just strolled up in that general direction for 10 minutes and then, when I couldn't see them, strolled back again, getting back to their place about 5:05pm. Still no sign of them. So I settle down onto their front steps to wait. Finally, at about 5:20pm, the Ex turns up with a set of keys. He was down at the park with them, but had to return to make a phone call. They didn't turn up until nearly 5:30pm! I wasn't all that happy with them as you can imagine. But I was determined not to let it spoil my mood or the night, so I said it was fine and let it go. These things happen. It's just a shame they hadn't taken their mobiles with them.

Anyway, it was a good night after all that. T's parents came over and T&S got terribly excited by the game, which was very close. The Brisbane Lions were down in the 3rd quarter and the mood was blue at T&S's place, but they scored a couple of good points towards the end and eventually won by 84 to 75. There was much jumping up and down and screaming and the like - T&S are going to be in Melbourne for the final, but could only get tickets if the Lions were in it. Something to do with tickets for members or something. Anyway, apparently it's a historic final because it's the first time that there isn't a Melbourne team in the final. The final has to be held at Melbourne because of a deal long ago between the MCG and the AFL people, which has caused a bit of an outcry in the past and is likely to stir more trouble with members of both teams (the other one is Port Adelaide) having to travel for the final. I don't really know much about it, but I've heard some of the complaints from T&S and their Lion's supporter mates.

Anyway, I missed much of the last quarter as I was getting the bub off to sleep. I figured that T and her mum were both a lot more interested in the game than I was, so I was happy to do it. They are just trying to get him to sleep without a dummy, so it takes a little effort to get him to sleep. It was okay though. I just waited for him to stop grizzling and start to drop off, then I removed the dummy and just patted or rubbed his back for a while. The main thing was that he didn't wake up completely, because then he would realised that it was me and not his mum putting him to sleep and he would really crack. It eventually worked.

Not long after the game finished, I started feeling a bit queasy, so I figured I should go home. I hadn't been drinking and ate the same stuff (fish and chips) as everyone else, so I thought maybe I was just overtired, so would feel better in the morning.

Sunday

I didn't. Still felt pretty off. By the afternoon I was throwing up everything I ate and that didn't stop until about 8pm Sunday night when I finally started to keep down black tea and dry toast.

I still wasn't feeling too crash hot on Monday (yesterday), so I had the day off from work. I had a 3pm meeting that I was hoping to get in for, but went back to bed as soon as I threw up breakfast and didn't wake up until nearly 3pm. And here we come to the second part of the title - what woke me up? Hail! Yes, hail! A little freak storm hit Brisbane yesterday afternoon. Rattling my window and freaking me out (I hate storms and hate hail most of all - it all relates back to a childhood trauma). You get used to spectacular stoms in the middle of summer in Brisbane, but it's barely spring at the moment! Quite unseasonable. Anyway, the hail didn't last long, but the rain and thunder was still going well into the night. So I didn't sleep well.

I'm still feeling a little queasy today, but I'm keeping food down, so I came into work. And so far, so good. ;o)

Listening to: The Kerbs - Live