Who Do I Think I Am??

This one's about the friends and fam.

THE PROMPT: "Dating ensues. Characters meet the fam or social pals."

Good evening friends. Looks like the serial thing isn't going away, so I'll suck it up and play along.

It was inevitable. Date night with her friends from work.

Mind you, they had already known enough about me from my trips to Walgreens. But now they had more dots to connect with Jess and I dating. More dots means shorter lines and better angles. At least that's how I remembered it.

Her boss was by and far the most skeptical, as well as the closest, of her work people. And I suppose going into all of this, we each had a something against each other. She hated my name, so she called me "Bobby". And I hated her for that.

We started the night at Brennan's, another Irish pub (and while I realize this is a Valentine's Day thing, two straight days of Irish pub mentions already has me thinking of St. Patty's Day more . Dinner with Jess, her boss and myself. Was I nervous? No. But I wouldn't say I was comfortable until the Guiness started flowin'. And all things considered, it wouldn't be until Christmastime that I'd meet her parents. That was nerve-wracking.

So what did I have going for me? There was a Sabres game on. I'm a Sabres fan. Jess' bosslady is a Sabres fan. Jess is a fan because her dad's a Sabres fan. And Irish bars in Buffalo suburbs are typically packed on game nights...so when waiting for a table, the conversation is pretty much shouting whispers into people's ears and enjoying the reciprocation of that in your own ear.

It was cool once we were finally seated in the dining area, which was considerably quieter. The girls dominated the conversation, but I managed to make a few points here and there to ensure I was still a part of the evening. I can remember Jess saying a few days later that her boss really liked me, or something to that effect.

After dinner we moved back to the bar area, where the crowd was thinning and we could watch the rest of the game on a bigger screen. More of her co-workers came out, and they were all nice and receptive. The Sabres won a good, hard fought game. Conversations flowed like Guiness from the tap to my mouth to their ears.

We stepped out to the patio for a cigarette at one point, and were greeted with screams and hugs by Jess' cousin and her husband, who were in back in town from California. I'd met her sister and brother-in-law by then, but this was pretty much the first time I'd be encountering extended family. The nerves? They returned.

But what was great for me is that Jess' cousin and her husband were very warm and open...as I would find the rest of her extended family to be. The night was an overall success.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

Ohhh, the choices...let's see what happens... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiYDJ432b0U That's what you get when I got nothin'.

VITAL STATS:

Yeah, I know...not really following a storyline other than the one I lived. If I had the time and energy, I'd write an autobiography, and maybe a screenplay. But this serial is going nowhere in terms of whatever a serial is. And that's ok with me, because the ending still has yet to play itself out in our lives, and won't for a long, long time.

Did you know that when a large bottle of V-8 juice falls and explodes, when it dries on olive green pants it looks like someone threw up on you? Cuz yeah, that was my morning at work. Sixty-four ounces of blended vegetables, all over me from the left knee down.

Other than all of this and that, not a bad day. I'm gonna keep it short tonight...got a whole day of nothin' goin' on tomorrow, so we'll see how that works out. Peace, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgqM7zrgCLI