As a Civilian

I very, very rarely step foot in the bar on days I'm not scheduled. Tonight I made an exception. Partly to pick up DVDs from Julia, partly to work on a story, and partly just to get out of the house.

I walked in, claimed a spot at the good end of the bar and tried to figure out what I wanted to drink. Generally, my strategy is to have Julia pick something for me, but she was kind of busy. Instead, I grabbed the book of shooters off the shelf. I figured it was my best bet because shots tend to be a lot of sweet things and, wuss that I am, that's pretty much all I drink. After a bit of deliberation, I opted for Blue Balls on the rocks (blue curacao, Malibu, peach schnapps and a bit of lemon juice). Apparently, most of the drinks I like have raunchy names.

Julia: Ali's had two blue balls since she's been here.
John: Oh, you give 'em to her?
Har, har. So funny.

Alex: You ready for your writers group tomorrow, then?
Me: Almost. I've got one more critique to finish.
Alex: Well, don't think too hard. If your brain explodes, I am not cleaning it up.

John's wife: *Yawn* I can't believe I'm so tired already.
Me: And just think, you've got eight more months of this.
John's wife: I can't wait.

Tonight was also a night where lots of people I know were about the place. Bartender John had the night off, but stopped in with his wife for a bit. They're thinking about a monkey theme for the nursery and both are hoping the kiddo comes out a boy. In the event of a girl, I'm going to laugh very hard. Then, there was Julia to chat with, Alex to throw stuff at (throwing stuff at coworkers is now one of my favorite games), Rob and Melissa (who wondered where I'd disappeared to now that I've cut way back on hours at the bar), a friend of my brother's, and his date(?) who I know from a class we were both in this past summer. It took me a good ten minutes to leave since I had so many folks to say goodbye to.

See? It is humanly possible for me to be sociable sometimes.