That Thing Called A Weekend

So, in the outside world, as I vaguely remember, they have this thing called a week-end. I'm not exactly sure what it is (I mean, when does the week, end?) but from what it sounds like, after working five consecutive days, people in the outside world take two days off. They sleep in, do yard work, go out with friends, go on adventures, and some even attend church on Sunday morning. Now, this is all very strange and new to me, but...if I didn't know better...I'd say I just experienced my very first “week-end.”

Now, keep in mind that I have already had two consecutive days off, on which I did absolutely nothing. So, I did not have particularly high hopes for my one day off on Sunday, especially since I was looking forward to having Tuesday off instead, to spend with a very special family member who was coming to visit me. So, when the schedule came out on Saturday, you can imagine my disappointment when I saw that the two days my lovely aunt would be here, I would be working from 8 a.m. Until 6 p.m...if I was lucky enough to get out on time!

So, Saturday night, right after the schedule was released, my friend Hal and I met up with her mom and brother at a hotel downtown.Now, none of us were staying in this hotel, but I swear there was no sign that said no trespassing...soo....

Hal and I grabbed some pretty much 100% plastic magazines, and somehow managed to get a fire started in one of the hotels fire pits outside (again, there wasn't any no trespassing sign...). We had a good smolder going until a gentleman from the hotel finally came out and really got it going for us. We sat and talked for probably an hour, roasted hot dogs, and made marshmallows and s'mores on the campfire. Check that one off the to-do list! This was five days ago, so honestly I don't remember what I did for the rest of that night, probably watched Julie and Julia for the 107^th time.

The next day was Sunday, my day off. Now, on any given day that I have off, I usually sleep in until at least 11, however this particular day I woke up at 5:30, again at 7:30, and again at 8:30. Finally, I got the hint. It was Sunday morning...my first Sunday off since I've been at the hotel- I was going to church! So I got up and went to an awesome church service. Absolutely the best I've been to since I came here. There was a band in town from Lima, NY (not far from where I go to school) and they were truly incredible. Pastor K announced afterwards that instead of our usual Crossroads meeting, we were having a bonfire (second night in a row!!) up at one of the member's houses back in the woods. So, I left church, went up to the hotel for an amazing lunch at the Tea Store, and then went back downtown to my room. I played guitar for a couple of hours, took a nap and then woke up just in time for dinner. I ran up to the hotel in time to catch Sandra for dinner, and then we walked for a bit until I went up to the bonfire. Now, this was a fantastic campfire. We had, again, hotdogs and marshmallows.  However, what made this fire special was that I got to share it with my fellow Christians, listening to testimonies, and singing a few gospel songs. After that, I went over to chat with and make friends with the people in the band, and ended up singing a few random songs together on the guitar. From there, we all went over to the Woods, attempted to bowl until we were thwarted by little kids with popcorn eating on the alley, went to sunset rock for a little while and then...yes...decided to do a late night bike ride.

Yep! Knocked two things off the list this weekend! The bike ride was great, absolutely pitch black except for the stars. Very peaceful minus all the spiderwebs.

So, Monday my aunt came into town! She gave me my birthday present...which is probably one of the best gifts i've gotten in a while. Rain gear!!!!! Now, you all have been reading these for a while, I assume (hope..). I've been getting absolutely drenched up here! I am so excited, especially because they are pink, I find myself actually hoping for rain. Forgive me, fellow islanders. But give me this simple pleasure! So after we stopped at her room and I got my rain gear, as well as some fresh cherries, strawberries, and blueberries – all of which were a huge hit at the office – we went for dinner at the restaurant where John Stamos works. When we walked in, he greeted us and took us to our table. We sat down, and I looked at my aunt and said, “So....you read my blogs, right?” she basically says “You know I read your blogs. I'm pretty much the only one that ever comments.”

oh. yeah.

“Well....that was John Stamos.”

We both erupt in laughter.

Dinner there was great, per usual. I finally tried the spinach and artichoke flatbread which i've been wanting to try forever and it was really really good. We went our separate ways after dinner, I was getting up early to go into work so I went to bed pretty early that night. Woke up the next morning, clocked in at about 6:30 a.m., and was hoping to get my boss to let me leave an hour early. Unfortunately, do to unforseen circumstances, our department went back to being understaffed today so I ended up just working another reeally long day for pretty much no reason. The good news was that the day flew by, and my aunt came up to the hotel at about 5:30. I brought her into the office and introduced her to everyone, and then decided to ask my boss to let me leave. Who would've known! He said yes! I took my aunt up to the front porch and left her there while I went downtown to change, which i'm sure was absolutely horrible for her...came back up, and we went to Woods again for dinner! When I say that is my favorite place on the island, I'm not lying. I'm going there again next week for my birthday dinner.

So, we had dinner at woods. She had the pasta pomodoro, which looked awesome, and I had the duck. I don't know how I missed out on duck my whole life but it's got to be one of the most amazing foods in the world. Or maybe just the ones they give you here. Either way, yum.

After woods, we went downtown to a bar to hear the niece of one of my aunts friends play guitar. We sat and chatted for a bit over some waters, and then headed out around 10. She's leaving early in the morning, so we had to say goodbye tonight. I'm sad to see her leaving so soon, but it was nice remembering what it's like to have a weekend!! Hope you all enjoyed yours too!