jianantonic | I dance around in a gay, gay way

A very gay friend of mine once told me a very gay story, and it very gaily inspired me. He and his husband of 35 years both work as directors in the ACBL, and when they go on the road on separate assignments, they each take a teddy bear from their collection. Then sometimes when they get back home, they kick back with cold beers and talk about their respective trips from the bears' perspectives. Aww, right? Well I remember one of the teddies being named Oberon, and ever since hearing this story, I've just thought it would be nice to have a teddy bear to accompany me on my many bridge journeys, especially when I'm not with my usual bridge partner.

Tangent:
Laura (on the phone to a friend): My cousin is visiting this weekend and she's staying here with her boyfriend. (to us) Wait, is that what you guys are calling it? Boyfriend? What's the proper terminology?
Both of us: Bridge partner!

For the record - when I refer to other bridge partners, I do not mean to suggest that they are romantic partners as well. That's only true for, like, three of them. :-P

Anyway so we came to DC for the weekend because two of our fellow Gatlinburg caddies are up here without transportation, so we're all carpooling down to Dollywood. I wanted to come up a little early and spend some time with my cousin here, and also go to a hockey game. Well, we waited too long to look for tickets and the game was sold out, so we adjusted our plans for Saturday. We decided to meet up with Fingers for dinner and then go to a bar and watch the Wild game, so that gave us the whole morning and afternoon.

I woke up early and got some work done, then Ahren and I trudged out into the snow and walked the 2 miles to the National Zoo. I saw the new baby giant panda along with zillions of other animals that I didn't even know existed, but no giraffes because theirs is on loan to another zoo, and no armadillos, despite walking past three displays claiming to house armadillos, and yes I am a little bitter about this. It was at the zoo that I picked up Oberon 2, a very soft stuffed giant panda. I figured that not going to the hockey game and not having to pay to go to the zoo (it's owned by the Smithsonian and is free, which was an awesome surprise), I was coming out way ahead and could afford the overpriced gift shop souvenir without any guilt.

So by early afternoon, Ahren and I had spent several hours outdoors in the cold, walking. This is why I do not feel the least bit guilty about all the food and alcohol I had yesterday. I even stole my cousin's yoga mat and stability ball and worked out on her floor before dinner.

The bar wouldn't serve Ahren because his ID is expired (I've been warning him about this, and he said it's never been a problem and always ignores me, so it was nice to finally, at long last, be proven right), which makes me laugh, because the kid is bald and could pass for a forty-year-old no problem, so we had to move to a dinner table instead of the high top table we were, and Ahren got to drink Coke all night and be our designated walker. We watched a very exciting Leafs-Canadiens game, then watched the Wild absolutely pound on St. Louis for 60 minutes of play. Ahren and I were both all decked out in our Minnesota garb, and this guy walked by and asked if we were from there. When Ahren said yes, they went into the more specific questions, and it turned out that they'd gone to the same high school, and this guy had graduated just one year earlier. Small world.

As soon as the boys are awake, we'll grab our things and head for Vienna where our car is parked. Then we're meeting my mom in Staunton on the way down and I'm hopping into her car (apparently she thinks I'm going to do all the driving) to keep her company for the drive down to Tennessee, which should be about 5.5 hours from there. There's a great deal of uncertainty as to what I'll be doing at this tournament, exactly, but if I have any free time, I'll certainly update a bit.

Peace.