Girls Night In: A Recap by Ravenspunk

As the saying goes, "What happens in Vegas . . . stays in Vegas." Fortunately, we didn't stay in Vegas so we get to disclose what happened.

It all started with a tall, tanned, handsome, muscular man witha goatee named - - oops, sorry, THAT happened in Vegas.

Friday afternoon started with me picking Janine up and driving to San Rafael. Of course, my uterine tracking device was malfunctioning (again!). Fortunately for us, Janine's was working and got us to the Embassy Suites without getting lost. Mary Ann wasn't there yet (surprise surprise surprise as an homage to Gomer Pyle) so Janine and I did what anyone else would do - go to the bar and have a drink at 5 p.m. with no food in our stomachs. By the time Mary Ann arrived an hour later, we were feeling no pain and welcoming the weekend with big happy grins.
We had dinner in a very yummy Thai restaurant on 4th Street called My Thai (not to be confused with Muy Thai, a form of martial arts ;-) I think the guy sitting by himself next to us was eavesdropping on our conversation, which included books we've read (Mary Ann is a die hard believer of audio books - contact her to see why she thinks audio books are the next best thing to sliced bread) and relationships. I think he was interested in our book review.

We decided to go to Safeway to pick up munchies and libations for the evening. We were lucky to get there in one piece with Mary Ann's impersonation of Dale Earnhardt's driving as she made an illegal U-turn in the middle of the street. (MaryAnn, you rebel! You'd make James Dean proud!) There's never a cop when you need one! But we arrived at the Safeway, got our goodies (baguette, cheese and Smirnoff Twisted Raspberry) and headed back to the hotel.

We decided to take advantage of all of the hotel's amenities so we went to the jacuzzi (Mary Ann and I have the same navy blue Speedo one piece bathing suit, by the way) to relax. Went back to the room after our fingers got pruney, and spent the remainder of the night doing what women do best: talk, eat, be merry in each other's company.

The next morning we got up early, had the delicious complimentary hotel breakfast, and talked about our high school days. It's a wonder we're not hoarse!

I had to get home early to start The Move, so I left Janine and Mary Ann to have fun without me in San Rafael.

Overall Girls Night In (GNI) rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Night was full of friends, laughter, memories, food, and fun. Great way to spend the night (except for that hunky guy in Vegas . . . but my lips are sealed)

Janine in front of the restaurant where we had dinner on Friday night...

Movie Review Club

Inspired by Karen's idea, anyone interested in sharing thoughts about a favorite movie you would recommend? Have you seen any good movies (or videos) lately? : )

Trip to the Zoo!

"They say that it's all happening at the Zoo... I do believe it... I do believe it's true... Mmmm...Mmmm....WhoaWhoa...Mmmm...." - Simon & Garfunkel

All kids, adults with kids, adults who like to act like kids, and everyone who likes animals, are welcome to join us! Janice and I are planning a trip to the zoo tentatively on Sunday, April 24th... early morning. If you want to come but usually go to church on Sunday mornings, just let me know. It's still early enough to change the date. Also, if you'd like to join us, you can help us decide where to go...San Francisco Zoo, Oakland Zoo or Happy Hollows in San Jose. (I hear Mabel has a season pass to one or more of these places.) Remember, we can ride on the train at any of these places too! If you'd like to take a trip with us to the zoo, just e-mail Janice or Mary Ann before April. : )

Bernie's Barbecue

For those who missed out on Bernie’s barbecue, here’s some info:

Interview by Mary Ann

Q: When did Bernie’s Barbecue take place?
A: Well, it took place on Sunday, February 6, 2005…the day of the Super Bowl. People arrived around 1:00 p.m. I promptly arrived at 2:05 p.m.

Q: Did the gang get together for the Super Bowl game?
A: Actually, no. That was a coincidence. We wanted to get together just because. It also gave us a chance to celebrate Janine’s birthday. Although Janine’s birthday is technically on the 7^th, I believe she looked an inch higher at Bernie’s house, even though Janice mentioned that growing an inch can only happen on thee birthday date.

Q: So how was the event?
A: Well, let me put it this way… as soon as I walked into the room, I already felt comfortable. It’s like that show, “Cheers,” where everybody knows your name, you know? Gladys even handed me a margarita as soon as I walked in. Is that hospitality or what?

The kids were there too…Kaylin, Malia, CJ, Tommy and Victor. All of them are adorable…and growing up so fast. Of course, with Victor being the smallest, we passed him around like a cute hot potato.

Q: What did you eat?
A: Bernie provided an assortment of food for everybody – from salad to chips to guacamole to Mexican rice to chicken to beef to prawns to flan. Oh, and the mushrooms… they tasted soooo good. (By the way, Bernie’s kitchen was renovated so it looked like something from one of those shows like While You Were Out. It was pretty nice.)

The desserts that Janice brought were delicious too. Three of us craved over the tart with the peaches and strawberries on top.

Q: What did you talk about?
A: Well, I don’t know what everyone talked about but when we sat around the table, we talked about Ken’s Noah's Bagel dance, American Idol, how guys might cook, transgender issues and therapists.

Q: What else did you do?
A: We turned on the Super Bowl game as background. Ken watched it while most of us chitted and chatted as usual. While some of us were buzzed from the margaritas, or high on sugar, we tried to figure out when to do Girls Night Out. Bernie took the plastic off of her computer so I could use the Internet to do some research.

Q: How did the day end?
A: Later, Janice and her family went home and the rest of us stayed to play Cranium Conga. Through that game, I learned that Bernie would like a new car, Karen would like to meet Jesus, Janine rode the roller coaster more than 100 times in her lifetime, Gladys had gum in her hair two times in her lifetime, and I look like a lemur.

Q: Do you think everyone had a good time?
A: Of course. : )

Introducing Gremlins et al blog

Hello Gremlins et al!

For those who are not familiar with a blog, this is a site to simply post any message for us to share in lieu of mass e-mails.

How does it work? Just come to this site whenever you want to read updates about our circle of friends. I don’t know how this blog will evolve but it’s one way to stay in touch with each other and perhaps to see what’s happening in each other’s lives. If you'd like to be able to post directly to this blog, just let me know and I'll invite you to be a team member. Feel free to post any interesting stories, experiences or upcoming events that you would like to share with the gang. There's also a way to post pictures which we can figure out how to do over time.