Reunions

Greetings, Gentle Readers.

The last three weeks have seen some wonderful reunions twixt your friendly neighborhood Marius and some of my oldest and dearest friends. First was a journey a couple of hours southward to visit Adam and Bi, and their kids. They have built a house out on the fringes of civilization (at least for now) which is gorgeous, and decorated in the very highest of geek-chic. Superheroes and Loony Toons characters greet you from every shelf and corner, as do a very snooty cat, and a fluffy, happy tongue with a puppy attached. The kids got along great, as did the wives. There was much silliness, some drinking, games were played, giggling children were chid at the wee small hours, and not much sleeping was done on anyone's part. In other words, a grand time was had by all. (no Wampuses were harmed in the making of this blog entry)

This weekend saw the recalling of the gang that went to NYC to surprise Dave on his birthday. I don't know if he's just good at taking things in stride, or he was on to us, but he didn't seem particularly surprised to see us waiting for him with balloons and streamers and such. He was delighted, though. We spent the majority of the day/evening just goofing off, drinking, swimming, playing pool, and chasing the 7 children that were there. If there were some way to harness the energy generated by a small group of children we could tell OPEC to take a flying leap. Gradually, as the night wore on, wives and children went to bed, and then one by one the men dropped off. Around 3ish I finally crashed, and then Jeff and Dave could hold out no longer.
Sunday, after some half-hearted chastisement from the spouses about how drunkenly loud we had been, we went out on Dave's boat for a couple of hours. We fished a bit, saw some dolphins and gars, and lots of birds, but mostly just did nothing...and enjoyed every minute of it. Then it was time to drag screaming children away from the video games, gather up the debris of the weekend, distribute hugs and promises of quick and frequent returns, and head home.

This apartment complex still sucks, but being so close to those I love the most is certainly making it more endurable. I am going to try to get us a little further south if I can, by Grapthar's Hammer, but at least for now being able to get to my friends in hours, instead of days is very, very welcome.

Yours from a very warm and fuzzy Marius