Family and Friends

The extra hour 'fall behind' brings our way used to mean an extra hour out drinking at the MadTown bars -- and while I did my best impression of college Amy this weekend, that extra hour, this year, meant one more precious hour with friends and family during this action-packed weekend.

Friday, after a study session with my Acadec kiddos, it was off to Appleton to celebrate my brother's birthday.  We joined a few of his wonderful friends for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, where I ordered what I thought would be a typical margarita.  What arrived at our table was more like a bucket of awesomeness, a margarita as big as my face.  By the time I was done with it, I had trouble feeling my face.  After dinner, the party continued until it was time to pack up the car and head home.  As we were heading out and saying goodbye to my brother and his friends, I had a real old lady moment, where I looked around at my brother's people, an in my mind though of how very happy I was that he is so loved and looked after. It would be fair to say that I'm severely protective of him, so knowing my brother is surrounded by people who care about him as much as I do makes me less worried about him -- though I'd still prefer he lived closer to me so I could fully boss him around like the good ol' days.

the Untis 
us being us
my ride or die, my kid brother, the person I'd do absolutely anything for! 

Saturday I mad a true attempt at adulting and got to the gym for my typical back-to-back workout despite having been over-served the night before; and after a stop at the grocery store (like I said, I was trying to 'adult'), Brian and I headed to the lakefront to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather.  We walked though Veteran's Park and beyond, drank coffee at Alterra, and started to make plans for a little winter trip.  When we ran out of sunlight, we headed west to grab our favorite kind of meal, Mexican, at our favorite restaurant.  Then, it was off to the theatre. I did my best to dodge students and those awkward moments when the kids see you outside of school and wonder why you've left the classroom - I saw four students but only made eye contact with one.  Not bad...

Sunday was gorgeous as well, so after some time indoors for our typical morning climbing session with the crew, we headed to brunch and enjoyed more Mexican food, this time on Bel Air's outdoor patio.  Next, we were off to Mukwonago.  We picked up Brian's bike and made a loop around the sprawling countryside that is the far reaches of Waukesha County, and closed out Sunday at my parents' house.  Not only was it more time with Mom and Dad, but Grandpa Unti was there, too. That was the prefect reason to open a bottle of Unti wine!

I'm closing out this weekend especially appreciative of the great weather, great times, and great people I spend that past several days with.

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