Those Darn Connors...

We have good intentions. We really do. We have fun playing games with Jen, Todd, and E, and we'd totally do it sober and have a blast.

But normally we don't. Dang Todd and his good manners of never letting anyone have a glass empty of red wine.

Saturday night we planned on having dinner with our buddies in New Paltz. We usually bring a change of clothes and toiletries JUST IN CASE. Joe was actually saying, as we were getting ready, "you know, we don't HAVE to get drunk."

Oh, Joe. Poor, naive Joe. Had a lovely chicken soup dinner, had a blast playing Taboo, and then Todd pulled out the tequila.

But I think it was already too late for me. There were already 6 dead soldiers (of red wine) that had fallen. And trust me - I wasn't alone in the consumption.

Not long after the two shots of tequila, Joe clumsily escorted me up to the guest bedroom. It took most of Sunday (and a whipass omelet) to recover, but fortunately Jen's folks came by, and we all had fun with some beers (good god that helped), watched the men fill holes with cement (Todd's building a deck!), watched the younger boys and Joe play with Diet Coke and Mentos, then we all had yummy steaks and noodles for dinner. With strawberry shortcake. Happy Birthday, Jen!

Joe often comments that I'm so unlike my normal self when I'm with the Connors. I don't think twice about staying over, getting out of my "comfort zone." I beg to differ - I think that when we're with them, we're more ourselves than we are anywhere else. It's good to have friends like that. Where you can say something stupid and have it be the funniest thing anyone's ever heard. Where you can wake up, looking like you're the worm in the tequila bottle, caustically grunt a morning greeting, then flop down on the couch. Where you can just sit, not talking, and just enjoy a cup of coffee and good company.

Those Darn Connors...I'm so glad we met them. They make life up here in NY seem normal. And wonderful.