Geez

So we went to a Lenten Fish Fry last night. At our school's Athletic Association Fund Raiser, some friends of ours had bought at auction a package where we would get tickets to the fish fry, a limo to drive up to 10 people there, and back, and two cases of beer. So we found a sitter for the baby, and left the other kids up to their own devices, and off we went. We got there around 6:30, and the line was already twisting like an "s" through the parking lot, around one building, then into it, under the tunnel between the two buildings, then up into the second building. It's a good thing we Catholics love to socialize, because the line was three hours long. For twenty minutes worth of fish, french fries and cole slaw. And by the time we got there the ice cream was gone.



This particular fish fry is basically a reason to drink, and I don't really. So it was interesting seeing early on the families with little kids and grandparents, then the older couples, and their adult children, then the college students from Creighton in their high heels and tight jeans and bottles of Rum, from a sober perspective. There were many broken beer bottles and spills to say the least! We got to kick around a playground ball, and get to know intimately the bricks on the side of the building as we crawled along in line. As the drunks got louder, the crowd was deafening by the time we got under the tunnel. And the smell of fish hit you like a brick when you got back up the stairs into the cafeteria. The place was so humid that moisture was literally dripping down the walls. I still can smell fish in my hair.



So, since all my companions were drunk, when we got back to our hosts' house, I was the des. driver, and got to drive 45 minutes round trip to pick the baby up from the sitter. It was 10:30 by this time. When I got back, my husband decided that we should stay and play poker. Then my daughter called and asked what was taking so long. Her siblings were all asleep, and she was up waiting. Since our hosts were the parents of her good friend and she was also still up, I went home to pick her up to bring her over to stay the night.



But when I got home, the 3 yo had peed the couch, and when I woke him up, everyone woke up. So I spent twenty minutes taking kids potty, walking them to their beds, finding blankets, pillows, etc. By the time we got back to their house it was midnight. It was a fun night, but I think next time I'll send my husband with his buddies, and I'll stay home and knit. I can make fishsticks.