Okay, how often does one get to say that they went on the worst date ever with the greatest person in the whole world? Not very often.....so, the story must be told. I should add that none of the craptasticness of the night was due to any of the company present. I thoroughly enjoyed the company of each and every one.
Last night Graham and I met up with his cousin Colin, his girlfriend Samantha and another friend. On our way out the door Graham mentioned that he was cleaning up because it was a "date." I gave him a little silly grief, because it didn't fit my definition of a "date" - it was a group of friends hanging out. But, I digress. By the end of the night I am sure we both wanted to dismiss the whole idea of it being a date since it turned out to be a wreck.
After a long afternoon of studying, I was extremely hungry. So, we stopped at Taco Bell for a quick bite on our way into the city. We hopped onto the Eisenhower and as we are approaching downtown, there is a car and a pick up truck about 100 yards in front of us driving aggressively and lane hopping at about twice the speed of the flow of traffic. Just after we both commented on how stupid that truck was being it lost control and spun out across four lanes. As this was happening in front of us, what felt to be in slow motion, my brain was just firing off and it was coming out my mouth, "I think you should slow down. I think you should slow down!" My life flashed before me and I held my breath in anticipation of a billiard ball effect of car after car being hit and spinning out. This is my biggest fear on the Eisenhower, since people drive too fast and too crazy all the bleepin time. By some divine intervention, not one.....yes, not ONE car was hit. The truck ended up on the shoulder facing forward. The first words out of my mouth were, "wow, that was some divine intervention right there, Pulp Fiction style. Ya know, like God diverted the bullets." My heart was racing and I was panicked for a good 10-15 min afterwards. Strike One.
So, we spend the rest of the drive talking about the incident and finally arrive to pick up Colin and friends. We went to see the movie Cloverfield. Now, I didn't know anything about this film going into it. Nada. As I was waiting to use the rest room some women behind me had just seen it. I turned around and jokingly shushed them and we talked for a minute. They asked me if I had a heart condition because it was scary. I laughed with them and was anxious for a good intense, suspenseful monster flick! Well, I wish they had said something to the effect of, "do you get sick in the car easily?" instead of joking about a heart condition, because my goodness I got wickedly ill in this movie!!
The whole movie is shot with a digital handheld camera. The concept is that it is a home movie filmed through a small video camera. I lasted about 30 minutes. Then came a scene where a woman gets really sick, pasty white and looks like death and I thought, "that's how I feel right now." I haven't had motion sickness that bad in years. I kept thinking, "when I puke, which cup should I grab?" I almost got up and left the theatre, but I knew the bright lights of the lobby were bound to make me feel worse. So, I just laid on Graham's shoulder with my eyes closed for a bulk of the film and listened to it. I would open my eyes when I knew the monster was coming, so I could see it. I still feel like I "saw" the movie" because so much of it is audio based. So, by the end, I am just a wreck.
We get out to the lobby and start discussing it. Graham told Colin that I was really sick and he looked at me and said something to the effect of, "wow, I can see it in your eyes. You look really wrecked." Yup. Strike Two.
After the film we head to the Korean BBQ on Western Ave. I was wary of this venture, since I am now keeping a vegetarian diet. Graham has been there before and enjoyed it, so I figured it would be good. The whole place was filled with smoke, since you cook the meat at your table. There were fans, but it was still pretty smoky. I still felt pretty sick and we were there a long time. I didn't care much for the food, though the company was nice. All I could think about was, "I really want to go home and eat Raisin Bran." About 15 minutes after all of our food was served, the server brought a bag filled with food to go. We were very confused and said we had not ordered anything to go. She fingered Graham as the culprit and started berating him about what he had ordered. We may have ordered a 2nd hot pot, there was some confusion at the time of ordering, but certainly not to go. They took the bag back to the kitchen and about 5 minutes later the server came back and spoke very tersely with Graham again accusing him of lying and whatnot. I could tell he was really upset about this and made a passing comment about how he was never going to come back. I wasn't sure if he was joking or not. The rest of the table laughed it off, but on talking to Graham later about it, he really was upset about it. Strike Three.
So we head back out into the BITTER cold by about 11pm. We drop everyone off and head home. I am pukey sick again the whole way home, my hair reeks of smoke and I am freezing. I do manage to get a shower and hop into bed feeling like death.
It was great to see Colin (and friends) and I always love time with Graham, regardless of the circumstances, but maybe we should have just stayed home. ;)
For Emily, and for the rest of us, the last few days have been a little intense and difficult. Over the weekend, Emily was almost behaving intolerably. Then, come Monday, some things I can't really disclose in public happened with her father. She handled it with with maturity and grace, well most of it anyway. This saw me sitting up with her until 1am. I think a lot of what came out of it was very cathartic for her. She has been quite pleasant over the last couple of days, relatively speaking. I really hope that we can take some of this into counseling, where we can explore more about the effects her dad's sickness and abuse has had on her. I really think if she is able to address this successfully, she will lead a much more pleasant and happy life.
