Look What You Made Me Do

I told you and I told you but somehow very few of you listened (Kim and Byron listened, they visited, they had a great time), and when you did not come to visit I was forced to take all of my saved-up fun and shower Jamie and Brook with it. I can still see the look of shock and awe on their faces. Good times.

They came into town like a cool Portland breeze, and two days later they vanished like change on the floor in a laundromat. We had a great time, and since they are now on their way back North, I will try to relive some of our adventures to comfort myself.

The first thing I did was finish up some work while they laid around and played Guitar Hero. Work was unplanned and for all you future visitors it will not happen. Partly to make up for that work and for denying them of my fun personality for a time I made them germies. I think these turned out pretty great. The Gin Blossoms put it best I believe when they said, "hey, jealousy."

The only sad part of this trip was that food did not factor in as the most important part of the trip as it should in any Harrison outing and especially when we are in what is quite possibly one of the best food cities in the world. There is one thing that Harrisons prize more than free food we discovered, and that is volleyball. I am getting ahead of myself, however, let's take it from the top.

So Friday afternoon was our first chance at my pitching S.F. to Jamie and Brooke as a future home and I made the most of it. Three o'clock found us wending our way downtown on the Muni train ready to see the sites. I took them shopping. H&M suitably impressed them with its size, but after they assured me that they were very close to having an H&M of their own, I realized I had to bring out the big guns if I wanted them to move here. It had to be Zara. Yes, that place of mystery and magic out of Europe that takes plain Janes and turns them into Fashionable Freddies. It is a really cool store, I read online that if they have stuff that does not sell they take it off the racks after a couple of weeks. They are committed to staying on the cutting edge of every-day fashion. So far mission accomplished. Zara is a little more expensive than H&M but it has a similar philosophy, and with a sale in place (like there was when we went) it is a great store to get the perfect outfit that will have all your friends gushing about it to your face and hating you behind your back. So get out here and get you something. That is about all the shopping that we did.

We also tried to go see Wicked, but we did not win the lottery and had to settle for sausages in the Mission. Jamie and Brooke got to see quite a few sides of our wonderful city out here, and if they were not all flattering, they were at least interesting. We met up with a few of the kids that I know from church at the sausage place, and then spent a few hours at my friend Camille's lovely apartment in Pac Heights. After Jamie fell asleep on the couch I knew the tykes were tuckered and we headed for home, all the better to prepare for a new day.

I feel that I spoiled the girls on Saturday, and I must confess that I do not usually have quite this much fun every weekend, but they got lucky. After a breakfast of German Pancakes we headed to the east bay for some fun in the sun. A friend of mine from Berkeley had invited us over to swim in the pool and hot tub and it was really great, plus Brooke had the opportunity to showcase her Rock Band skills, and all her beaus were suitable impressed. It was a lot of fun and I think I fulfilled my goal of showing them how many cool people live in this area.

This post is getting long. Now to the main story. I always thought that food was a Harrison's main kryptonite, but I learned this weekend that for Jamie and myself it is actually volleyball. We got to a young single adult party maybe about six-thirty or so and began to play some volleyball. For the next three hours we did not quit for a moment. People left to eat. We stayed. People left to socialize. We chided them for their lack of competitiveness. People left because it was getting dark. We razzed them for being poor losers. Not our finest hour. Brooke played at the beginning, then went to the pool, met people, had a little food. Jamie and I continued to play non-stop. We missed the food. We met no one. We had a great time.

The next day we went to church and they met a lot of girls that they want me to date as well as (in their words) "so many hot guys." I think my work here is done.

It was a lot of fun to have the girls here and I hope that they had a good time and that it was worth the drive. Some other highlights of the trip: Brooke brought her new kitten Javier (pronounced with a smoky Spanish accent, of course). Not only am I less and less allergic to cats, but my roommate and his girlfriend fell in love with little Javie and would play with him while we were gone, so he did not have to stay in the bathroom the whole time. He is a fun little critter and so social. Way better than a boyfriend, Brooke. More highlights: Jamie and myself showing our skills on the v-ball court. Making Jamie and Brooke tell my friends all of their dumbest jokes, and finally, randomly running into two girls that I know on a midnight run to Bob's donuts, further reinforcing my point about what a fun city I live in and how many friends (15) that I have here. That is also a plug for Bob's, if you come, I will take you and I will pay. For one doughnut. Each.
I am sure that we did way more fun stuff, like watching MacGyver on DVD. The only fun I like is the non-stop variety. It was really a lot of fun to see these girls though and I hope that they will not be strangers. It is always good to get together and reforge those family bonds. I am sure that I will be returning the favor in Portland soon enough.

The important thing now is that I rest up for Puls and Chad this weekend (Giants game and a trip to Sacramento), and for Mom, Dad, and brothers the following week (Dustin Blodgees wedding). Happy summer (or what passes for summer in fogsville)!