So a few weeks ago, or maybe it was only two weeks ago, Weise invited us to his place for another shindig at his place in Park Ridge. It was for Matt Russell and Matt Morales’s joint birthday party. Kris said they invited loads of people, ones from work, ones from school, ones from their respective theatre companies…so having us come along was all five-by-five.
Grant and Al had a thing they had to go to before the party, so I ended up getting a ride with Yoss Mike. The party was to start at 5:30, which seemed unusually early to me, so Mike and I planned to go around 6 or half six. (In retrospect, we should have gone around 8 or so.)
I had dinner with my family and then Yoss Mike came and picked me up.
“Did you dress for the theme?”
“There’s a theme?” Oh the things Kris forgets to mention.
“Yeah. 80’s.”
Radical! Alas, I didn’t have anything really 80’s. Thus, we went on our merry way.
He took the highway to Kris’s place, which I had never done before; I’d only ever taken Higgins all the way to Park Ridge. There was a minor mishap on 90 when Mike went on automatic pilot, but that was easily corrected and we made it to Park Ridge at a reasonable time. As is usual with visiting Kris, we had to call him when we got closer to his house since none of us can ever remember how to get there exactly.
Getting to Weise’s place wasn’t too bad, although I think every time I’ve been there, whoever was driving (usually me Da) has taken a different route. It at least gave me a chance to admire all the pretty houses, and Park Ridge has some seriously pretty houses. South Barrington is all kinds of classy, but Park Ridge is a different type of classy. Old-fashioned maybe. Anyway, I got distracted by all the pretty houses and once again did not remember the way to Weise’s house for the day I could drive there on my own. I guess it really doesn’t matter because if I’m not mistaken, he and the gang are moving again next month.
There seemed to be quite a few cars on the street when we got there. As we were getting out of the car, a thought occurred to me, one which I voiced despite the possibility of it being a jack ass question. “So, when you go to these parties, do you ever feel awkward? I mean, it’s not too bad for me ‘cuz I know most of these people for school.”
Mike admitted it was a little weird sometimes, but he generally feels out of place at any large gathering when he doesn’t know a lot of people. He didn’t get to see Weise as often as we’d all like, though, so it all works out. He said he thought it was odd that I proposed going to the house at 6:30 instead of a later time, or at least closer to when Grant and Al were to arrive.
“Well, I was kind of hoping to fight Kris when there’s actual daylight out.”
My brilliant plan, however, was not so brilliant. Unfortunately for me, most of the people I knew well weren’t there yet — Tom had to leave for a show, Cori was at rehearsal, and Jon was nowhere to be seen. I chatted a bit with Jason, and Vicki Martini when she got there. But for the most part, I wandered around the house awkwardly. It wasn’t too bad, but I was certainly glad when Kris and I were able to fight. (More on that in a different post.)
The fun and different thing about parties at Weise’s place is the games. I don’t exactly participate in any of the games, but I think it’s a nice change of pace. And of course, the games involved alcohol.
The first game was 80’s Trivial Pursuit. People were separated into two teams, Matt Morales’s team and Matt Russell’s team. One player from each team went to the middle of the room and had to “buzz in” by saying “me!” when they knew the answer to a question. If they got it right, ’twas a point for the player’s team; the loser had to roll a die to determine how much he or she drank. Generally, I’m not one for Trivial Pursuit, mostly ‘cuz I never seem to know any of the answers, but I thought this method of playing was pretty funny. Heck, I was all kinds of surprised with myself when I actually knew some of the answers!
It was right around this time that Grant and Al arrived. Al’s far braver than I and jumped right into the game. I found Grant and Kris in the kitchen and hung out with them for a spell. I remember a time when I always thought of the two of them as being best friends. I don’t know if it’s still true, but hanging out with them then seemed like this was still so.
Al came and found us not long after her turn was over and the four of us sat in the kitchen for a spell. Kris expressed his Krisness for not being told that they were moving so soon and offered to help. I’m still amused by the fact that we all offered to help when it was first announced that they were moving in together and for the most part, they seem to have mustered an army together. Grant said to hold off until he knew for sure how many of their respective family members were going to help them and then he’d let us know — he wasn’t really sure if the apartment would be able to hold all their stuff, their parents, and all of their friends at one time like that!
“That’s because everybody loves you,” Kris declared.
I couldn’t have agreed more.
We re-joined the main party not long after that. I don’t know that Grant actually played at all, but Al was doing pretty good at the participated. Unfortunately for her, I don’t think she knew a lot 80’s trivia.
After 80’s Trivial Pursuit concluded, Grant and Al went to gush over little Ewan Ikari. I still think it’s hilarious that Matt and Lisa gave their son the middle name of Ikari; Lisa laughed and said, “We’re nerds, of course we did.” (Sarah J, if you’re reading this, did you know Matt Russell and Lisa Adams had a kid?! Can you believe it?!)
The next game that was played was Double Dare, except that it was only the obstacle course of Double Dare. Matt Russell set everything up and the people who were playing had to follow him through the house to each event. The first one had something to do with running around in circles Curly-style and then drinking something or another; I think the second one was finding taking a shot of something or another without using your hands; the third one involved a shot hidden in whip cream (or possible generic Cool Whip); and the one Grant and Al did was the one that had to do with chugging a whole can of beer and finishing one lap of Mario Kart Wii. There were at least three other parts of the course, but I didn’t see them all ‘cuz once Grant and Al had an event, I pretty much hung out with them.
I couldn’t really see the games begin since I was in the basement with the awesome pinball machine, but Al’s team member came down and tagged her like a whole minute before Grant’s did. I was pretty impressed by that. The beer they had to chug was a Miller High Life, or the champizzle of beer, as Bryan Harder used to call it. However, I think Grant had a better method of accomplishing the task. When his person finally came down to tag him, he was able to drink AND maneuver the controller. They finished within a few seconds of each other and went racing to tag their respective teammates at the next station.
In the end, I think Grant’s team won. I don’t remember which Matt he was associated with, though. The losing team had to do a shot.
Things mellowed out for the most part thereafter. We had some snacks, and sat on the floor and talked for the most part. We ended up ditching the party around 10 PM, and the four of us went to Wendy’s. Grant, Al, and Yoss Mike weren’t drunk or even tipsy in any way, but they thought it would be a good idea to get real-ish food in them and more than just fluffernutter sammiches.
We left the party just as Cori Cabbot got there. (I was kinda sad by that ‘cuz Cori is always fun to hang out with.) I hoped to be able to come out that way again to hang out with peoples.
Wendy’s was awesome, if anything ‘cuz I got a Kids’ Meal. Also, it was in the parking lot where I finally acquired the first three episodes of BSG Season 4. (Wow. After writing that, it sounds more like I acquired drugs or something.) I was pretty glad for that because we had planned on having something of a Battlestar marathon the next day starting at 2 PM and I was only three episodes behind.
‘Twas a pretty good night out.