Life at 41 now. ugh

!So, Lufthansa give me a 25 Euro voucher because I had written about the jerk on the plane on my trip back to the US on flyertalk.com. They didn’t need to but they did.

It’s a little lame though because it’s only for merchandise you purchase while on a Lufthansa flight. If it went toward a ticket I think I would have appreciated it more.

So we get back from our long trip to Cape Town at around 7ish pm on Wednesday, I’m at work on Thursday at 8ish am. It was a little bit rude I have to say. After being away for so long with nothing to worry about but what you’re going to eat with your fabulous wine after working out for two hours, coming back to reality wasn’t so nice. But reality didn’t last too long, noooooo. We keep the vacation going.

Why did we do this you ask? Well we had some friends from the UK come in on Thursday night to visit for the weekend, actually from Birmingham to be exact. So Dave picks them up from the airport and brings them home. We’re pretty sure they will be jet lagged and will feel like going to bed. We gave them options for dinner and they choose Duplex Dinner. We kind of pushed them in that direction because Duplex is the place to go on a Thursday night. It’s also the home of some of the strongest drinks in DC.

I was there until 12:30 that night. I made it into work the next day on time but I’m not sure how. The boys didn’t know what to do with all that alcohol in our drinks so they just drank more. One thing to know is that alcohol in the US is relatively cheep. In the UK you get a double, 50ml, which barely wets the ice in the glass and it cost about $12. Here you get about 4oz for $10 which is about 6 times more than the UK for a lot less money. And if you go to JR’s on Sundays it’s $2 double (American strength) vodkas. If you do this it usually ends up in tragedy and tears but I’ll get to that later.

So I go to work the next day and Dave takes the boys out to see the monuments. They didn’t get up until after ten. I had been at work for two hours at this point. Well we set up dinner with them at our favorite French restaurant around the corner. Somewhere along dinner I realized it would be a very bad thing for me to go out. We have a dinner party in their honor on Saturday with twelve people coming. I end up sending them on their way and I go home to bed.

Sometimes I do the smart thing.

I was up and at the grocery store at 9am on Saturday morning looking for all the fresh ingredients I needed. We had scallops with a savory vanilla sauce and parmesan crisps for the starter. We had halibut with a crab meat stuffing with asparagus and multi colored small potatoes for the main and we had a poached pear stuffed with pistachios and dates with small profiteroles and a scoop of butter pecan ice cream for dessert. It all went over very well.

Cooking and plating for twelve can be a bit overwhelming especially in my small kitchen but luckily Tony was there to help too.

So we finish up dinner and then find there is another party to go to. I volunteered to take the boys because Dave had done it the night before. We end up staying at the party until 3am. Boy oh boy. We ended up taking a cab home, firstly because it was raining, secondly because it was too far to walk from that neighborhood and thirdly because we were too drunk to walk that far.

Got Home and passed out.

Only to get up on Sunday and make it to the 3rd annual Saint Tragic’s Day brunch at the beacon bar and grill. $30 for all you can eat and all you can drink. There were 20 of us there and I think we must have gone through at least 4 cases of cheap Champaign. It all started at 12:30pm and didn’t end until 4ish. The boys from Birmingham said at brunch all they’ve been doing sense they got to DC was drink. And it was mostly true. At this point they boys need to get back to the house and pack for their plane to Los Vegas. I decided to stay with my friends and go to JR’s. Really bad Idea.

It always seems like a good idea at the time but if very rarely is a good idea. What I remember of it was great fun. I did get home around 9ish. Dave took a friend to dinner.

I did make it to work on Monday. Got home and went to bed early. Made it to work today too, but……

I now think I have bronchitis. My bald spot hurts, when that happens I know I’m sick. That and the fact that I’ve been coughing up nastiness for two days.

Too much excess for too long. This all started the Thursday before we left for Frankfurt when I went to see the Spice Girls. It’s time to calm down for a little bit.

I might right about the trip to Cape Town too but I’m not sure I want to bore you with all the food and wine stories. Until next time.