Plump-Tuckered-Out

Whew.  I am pooped.  

I had the best but most exhausting weekend.

But I'll take it.

Friday night M left work an hour early and we were on the road by 6pm.  He drove, and we managed to make good time by only stopping for a quick bite at Arby's.  My friend Carolyn had given us directions to the cabin and before we left the house, I was in such a foul mood because all my friends were together but it would be at least 3.5 hours before I would be there (lucky bitches with free Friday afternoons.)  We called Carolyn when we took a right at light three (the cabin was a ways down that road) and she said she'd send someone down to let us in, since the area was gated.

After driving a ways off the main drag and then turning onto an even windier, bfe road, we took a turn at the Shagbark community in Pigeon Forge.  I assumed the gate would be right there, but we had to drive a little further until we reached a quaint security hut with pvc bars that he had to raise up and down.  We waited and waited for Paul to come meet us.  He finally got there and we began our journey trek.  

Now, I have stayed at cabins in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.  I know it's in the Smokey Mountains and you'll have quite a drive upwards.  This was nothing compared to that.  Paul was in his Xterra and we were in our Accord.  Lucky he has 4-wheel drive.  So up we go.  It wasn't too bad until the 180 degree turns uphill on the gravel driveway in the dark.  I truly thought I was going to die.  It was insane.  We finally reached the cabin, unloaded and I immediately started looking for Ashleigh.  She had been taking a nap (I guess she's suffering some Jet-lag.)  As soon as M and I got there, the party started.  They had all been drinking leisurely, but once we arrived, Ashleigh whipped out some German booze.  Evidently one of my friends had requested she bring something German.  

Ratzeputz is a German liquor made from ginger.  The best way I can describe it is to mention the salad that comes before your hibachi meal at a Japanese restaurant.  The dressing on that salad is a ginger based dressing.  Ratzeputz tastes like that salad dressing in the form of a shot.  It is pretty bad.  It makes your tongue and mouth tingle.  It was very high proof, and Ashleigh succeeded in getting all 12 of us to take half a shot.  Once the quest was finished...we started the party and we all got drunk.  Lots of fun was had until I got sick and passed out.  (I blame the hot tub.  Apart from it making me sick, was a kickass time!)

I woke up at 8:30 before almost anyone.  Carolyn had blown up the air mattress for us (I slept on the couch) and when I looked at the mattress, M was in the fetal position, snoring, with his body on the mattress and his head on the floor.  He looked so uncomfortable (I'd post a picture, but he'd probably get mad.)  I violently shook him to get him to move to a more comfortable position, but he didn't budge. 

Eventually others started to wake up, we cooked breakfast and wallowed in our hung-over-ness.  After gradual rounds of showers and eating, half the group decided to venture into Gatlinburg and the other half decided to hit up the Tanger Outlets.  I was in the second group and managed to find a sweater at Gap I really liked, so I bought it in teal and a caramel/taupe-y type color.  We ate a late lunch at Logan's and then decided to head back to the cabin because the group in Gatlinburg was going back, too.  By this point, my hangover had taken a horrible turn for the worst, and I was just miserable.  M and I packed up and said our goodbyes so we'd back by a decent time.  

I was very sad to say good-bye to Ashleigh, but it was wonderful.  Maybe someday soon I'll be able to afford a plane ticket to Berlin to visit her.  (Sadly, I hardly took any pictures on my camera, so maybe once my friends post pics on facebook, I'll re-post them here)

M and I stopped in Knoxville for dinner at Cracker Barrel, which I would normally swoon over, but all manner of food sounded positively awful.  Once we hit the road again, I drove the rest of the way home.  We had to wash our sheets since M's dad stayed with Sally-dog, so while we waited for the dryer to finish, I passed out on the couch and proceeded in a zombie-like manner to the bedroom once the sheets were clean.

My alarm went off too early on Sunday when I got up and ready to head to Alabama.  We picked up my brother (after running a tad bit late) and hit the road.  Mom texted my brother to see where we were (**I must state here that my dad is notorious for leaving 10-20 minutes before he says he's going to.  He is always. always. early.) and they were actually 4 miles behind us!  I was shocked.  M drove 70 to give them time to catch up and as soon as we parked at my grandmother's house, they pulled onto the street.  Crazy timing!

Fischer Price Pocket Radio

It was good to see most of my cousins and their offspring.  I was most excited for M to meet my relatives.  They mentioned they were glad to finally meet him after stalking him on facebook.  We played with the babies and watched them open their toys.  I showed M all these ghetto toys my grandmother has had FORever.  There is the Fischer Price pocket radio to the right which plays "It's a Small World."  We are amazed it still works.  I think it was made in 1964.  She also has this pink boxing man with a grotesque facial expression which my dad bought in high school.  It had it's boxing glove in the air flipping the bird, but my grandmother broke the middle finger off.  None of my cousins knew that until a few years ago.  Our minds were blown.  She has this plastic toy padlock that will easily still fit around my wrist and you have to line up three puppies, three kittens, three parrots, etc to get it open.  There is this awesome boxy football player on a stand.  You stand his football upright in front of his right foot and push down on his head and he kicks it.  There are other toys as well, but these are the most beloved which my cousins' children all play with to this day. 

After eating way too much junk and most people heading out, we decided we'd be on our way.  As we were leaving I gave my grandmother a hug and she whispered in my ear "I really like him!"  I told her I do too! :)  

We got home around 6:15 and were just absolutely worn out from driving and such a busy weekend.  We purged the fridge of all the leftovers we optimistically save thinking we'll eat them and M scrounged through the pantry and fridge to make some dinner.  We ended up having salad, pasta with olive oil, garlic powder, and Parmesan and garlic bread.  It would've been positively delicious if my body hadn't still been in "I hate Ingrid" mode.

• I'm incredibly excited that we made a grocery list to have meals for the whole week because we've gotten so lazy that each day we have to figure out dinner plans.  Now we'll be set until after Christmas.  
• I CANNOT believe Christmas is on Saturday!! Where has the time gone?!
• I thought I was done with my Christmas shopping, but now I have to get something for M's Dad, Mom, and Stepdad before Friday.  
• My coworkers keep leaving anonymous gifts on my desk for the holiday season (mostly junk food which I don't need to be eating).  How am I supposed to thank them if I don't know who it's from?  Today, however, there was an orange on my desk which I quickly passed on to another coworker because I absolutely hate everything about oranges.
• When I lived in Knoxville for school, all the buildings downtown and on campus would put those tube light Christmas trees on their rooftops.  Then as you looked across the skyline you saw trees of all colors.  I thought it was so stupid all 4 years I was in college.  As M and I drove through Knoxville twice this weekend (both times at night) I actually found myself missing and appreciating the rooftop Christmas trees (because at times I still miss Knoxville.)

 That was a longer post than I intended it to be, so if you read to the end, thank you!  I'm so excited about a 4-day work week this week followed by a 3-day and then another 4-day work week!  4 days til Christmas!