A weekend party

This past weekend I went out to Pittsburgh to attend a 40th birthday party for a friend from there. This party had been planned for a while, and C offered to let me stay with her. For those of you unfamiliar with C, you can read what I previously wrote about her here. C currently has a serious boyfriend, but she assured me that her beau was OK with me staying with her. She had asked him, and he did say yes it was ok for me to stay there. She and I were both under the impression that he was going to be staying over as well. I wanted to make sure it was ok, becuase there are hotels there, and I easily could have stayed at them, and she made that point to him as well.

One problem I have with the whole thing is that C hasn't been 100% honest with the new bf about she and I. She apparently has always been very vague when talking about our history, and he may not know that we lived together at all, let alone that we lived together for almost 2 1/2 years. I'm not a big fan of the omission, but I'm not going to be the one to tell him. She obviously has her reasons, and while I may not agree with them, I respect it. I was worried that while at the party, there would be people who knew she and I as a couple and would say something that the new bf didn't know.

I arrived on Friday evening, and we enjoyed dinner at Max and Erma's. They have Ultimate Nachos back on the menu, so it was a guilty little pleasure for her. It was odd to be back in the house I previously lived in. I of course was in the guest room this time. On Saturday, C and I went out and ran errands needed for the party. Vince, the person who the party was for needed some help putting the last minute things together. C had asked Vince on multiple occasions if he needed help with anything and he said no, no, he'd take care of everything. On Saturday morning, she got the call asking if she could pick up beer (4 cases, and he wanted them all cold), and well he needed coolers for them and of course ice. Additionally, C had to drop off a cooler in a neighboring town that was left over from last weekend.

The last time C and I had a party, the picture to the left was the aftermath. It was a mild New Year's eve, and we had all the beer in a keg tub in ice on the deck. New Year's Day was really cold, and froze the water, and then it snowed on top of it. Eventually the keg tub broke, and what was left was beer trapped in solid ice. For months.

We went about the errands, and ended up at Horse Trading Days in Zelienople, PA. C loving the carnies as she does, we had to stop. We stopped for lunch and made it to the beer distributor and back to her house. Apparently at some point, the plan changed from her boyfriend meeting us at her house at 2pm to meeting us at 3pm. We went, dropped off the beer and everything else at Vince's house and went back to her house to get ready for the party and meet up with her boyfriend. We caught up on a lot of things while we were out, and she told me that the bf is moving in to the house in 2 weeks. She also hasn't told her parents about that yet. It won't be a problem with them since they like him. I think they like him more than they liked me. He mom didn't like me because of my job. That was a big sticking point with her. He's a hunter, so her dad likes him.

While I was in the shower, today's plan changed, and the bf was going to be taking a friend with him and just meeting us there. He wouldn't be staying the night either as was the original plan. He had to go help clean up the farm that he hunts on in the winter. This REALLY pissed her off. They had made plans, and he wasn't keeping them. She was getting blown off for hunting preparations, not even hunting. As she said, at least when I had to cancel plans for work, it was for work, not for fun. Also, Vince called and needed three more things for the party. This of course required us to stop at 3 different stores, and in-efficiency can really piss her off.

We ended up showing up around 4:30 or 4:45pm. Conveniently, the new boyfriend showed up at the same time. We managed to get all of the introductions out of the way outside the party. It was fine for me, and C said for her as well. I know the one or two times I've been in a similar situation as C was in (two people who have seen me naked, and knowing that fact meeting) it was a little uncomfortable for me. This wasn't the first time that I met one of her boyfriends since we broke up. I was fine with it. I honestly don't think that he was, but he also wasn't saying anything.

Treading into dangerous territory here, I was suprised when I met the bf. He was a CWB like she tends to date (Chubby White Boy), but he was very quiet. Again, I don't know if that was because I was there, or if that's his normal behavior. His friend was very likable and outgoing. He was very conversational. I would have guessed that she would have been with the friend, and not with the bf.

Also at the party was a friend of C's from around college who we'll call Frau and her husband. (They didn't go to college together, but went to Germany together in college and are still friends) Frau doesn't like me. She like most of the world finds it odd that C and I are still friends. She doesn't think that it's right and will remind C of that every chance she gets. Frau felt that I wasn't good for C. She felt that our relationship, when we were together, was damaging to C. Frau has really had one adult relationship. She married the guy. He seems nice and all, but I really think she needs to have experienced more, or at least TALKED to me more before passing judgement. All I've ever wanted is what is best for C, I guess Frau doesn't realize that.

Anyway, enough with that. All in all, I had a good time this weekend. I got to see Vince who I hadn't seen in ages, and go to a weekend party, which I haven't been able to go to in ages because of my schedule. One thing that I forgot about living out there is how clear the skies are and how many stars you can see. Here, where I live, we get a scattering of them. The lights from the city drown them out. Up there they don't believe in street lights, so you can see EVERYTHING.

I'm sure I forgot something, but that'll have to do for now.