Another weekend has flown by...

The rest of the weekend was just about perfect.

Having John come to class with us on Friday was just like old times (when Kev, John, and I were all in the same religion class at Luther) and it was actually fun. From class, we came home to have a dinner of Thanksgiving leftovers with Mark, Carol, John, and Mary's parents. Brandon had choir practice, but after he came home, we headed out for the night. We showed John around the city centre at night (the Christmas market is in full swing and the decorations are fabulous) and took him to our favourite places to go out. Pitcher and Piano was classy, as usual, and Revolution was fun, as always, and we ended our night at Dogma, which was loud, as usual. It decided to start pouring, so instead of walking back from city centre which had proved to be a cheaper and enjoyable way to get home, we split into two groups and caught taxis back to the flat. Once again, we stayed up talking too late... I purposely did not look at my watch when I finally crawled into bed.

Saturday started with everyone waking up around noon. I actually woke up a bit earlier and went for a short run, which felt surprisingly good after staying up so late two nights in a row. We all raced to get ready and head out the door for the Forest football game. Along the way, we decided to have a pre-game meal/drink/ whatever, so we stopped in at the traditional place for Forest fans. Hooters. OK, I know, gross. It was my first time there and it was packed with football fans of both sexes and of all ages (a few months all the way upto around 80 years old). The boys got a drinks and wings and Emily and I split quesidillas. We met up with Mary and her parents just outside after we were done and we made our way to the game. We got there a bit late and ended up missing the first goal... it was Milwall against us. Fortunately, the Forest came back and ended up winning 2-1. We had heard tha Milwall was notorious for thier rowdy fans and noticed the excess of police and security at the game. After the last games events, we were surprised when no riots broke out. However, on the way back to the tram, we noticed that the entire contingent of Milwall fans was being herded by police and and police vehichles and police horses back to the train station. When I say herded, that is actually what I mean. The fans were kept in a group and were surrounded by literally hundreds of police. Traffic was delayed to keep the fans seperate and pedestrian traffic (of the Forest variety) was also delayed in order to keep the Milwall fans inline and on their way out safely.

Once home, we warmed up, had dinner, took naps, watched a movie and then headed out to the Lion for a quieter evening. David Juggins had told us that there was going to be a phenomenal band playing at the Lion on Sat. night, so we made our way there. The place was packed and the band was phenomenal. It was a traditional Irish band and the atmosphere which is generally so comfortable anyways, was even more so and it was an overall happy time. We met up with the Juggins, Mark and Carol and Mary and her parents later on in the evening. It was a great night with specialty cask ale pints, good music and friends and family. Suddenly, time had flown once again and we headed home around one and once we got back to the flat, stayed up talking again. This morning, everyone crawled out of bed to say goodbye to John. Kevin and I left with John at 8:30 to take him to the station and find him a ticket. We made it in plenty of time, and once again, I said goodbyes at the station. It is not getting any easier to watch friends and family pull away from that station, knowing that I will not see them for atleast seven more months. I came back to the flat with the intention of going back to bed, but wasn't sleepy anymore. I ended up watching a movie and once Kate joined me, and put in another movie, my sleep deprivation caught up with me. I soon fell asleep and actually slept for about four hours on the comfiest couch in our living room. After dinner, I've finally caught up on all of my emails and pictures (be sure to check my picasa page for new pictures) and am ready to start one of many large papers that are due over the next two weeks. I hope everyone had a fun and safe Thanksgiving weekend. Cheers.