In The Zone

Laser Skirmish

Tonight was surprisingly good fun. DrB and i took the youth to Zone3 for some Laser Skirmish. Superbly, we ended up with 40 people, which is fantastic (and turned an awesome profit)! Yay! DrB and i felt ever so successful. I've got to say though, figuring out how to get that many people into cars, with their $15 paid, and on their way to South Road. But we managed somehow!

That said, a car ride with LittleM, English, Loz and Im was rather hellish. Either there was a somewhat tense silence or a barrage of insults about my driving. I'm not that bad a driver! I think i've almost got most of them convinced of that by now. They all made it there and back alive, at least!

Each person got four games and they were split into two groups. I wasn't playing (i had homework that i was doing), so i was in charge of watching whichever group wasn't in the 'zone'. Everyone seemed to be having a pretty good time - typically, SD, Shirtless Buddy and English were our best 'shooters'(?), but one of the girls was way up there too, which was heaps cool! Go girls!! Despite pleas from the guys to play, i refrained - i had it on good authority that they were planning on pinning me to a wall and shooting at me :P Coupled with my tendancy to fall over, i didn't see it as being the best idea!

Out in the main room, trying to keep the boys from pummelling each other into a pulp, was lots of fun. All 'my' boys were there, so it was the usual mix of payouts and laughter that seems to follow us around when we're together. Elmo had his girlfriend along and was seeking my opinion (two thumbs up, if you're interested). He also had a recording of me singing from last weekend, which he proceeded to play to everyone, much to my mortification. Ickickickickick. Naturally, at some point in the night, Shirtless Buddy lived up to his name and said 'can i take off my shirt and play in my singlet?' - i swear, the boy never wears a top. It's insane. English was tickling me, in hopes of getting a smile, which he apparently considers quite a worthwhile achievement. I haven't seen SaviourDave in ages, so it was good that he came too. Shirtless Buddy and the boys started the regular beg-for-money deal that they do. We compromised; i said that if they took some decent photos i'd give them the two bucks they needed for the motorbike machine thingy. A stack of good photos later, i had to think about actually handing the money over (which wasn't something i'd planned on doing :P)! With a 'so, don't you just love me?' as i got out my wallet, i was amazed to get the response of 'i love you! *This* much!' with the arms outstreched. Wow. Such a public admittance was a serious declaration :P Of course, this lead to a rehash of the i'm-divorced-from-LittleM-engaged-to-Shirtless-Buddy-and-having-an-affair-with-Elmo conversation. Plus, Elmo decided to inform everyone about my date thing last week, which was... interesting.

Eventually, we finished up and headed back to church. Somewhere along the line, SD blew us off and our plan to hit Maccas on the way home! Instead, English and i collapsed by the front desk in exhaustion. Him on a chair with his feet on the floor, me on the floor with my feet on his chair. It's really unfortunate that he's stronger than me, as he managed to pin me to the floor with his feet and i was like a writhing fish as i tried to escape him. Eventually, the effort was too much and we resigned ourselves to sharing the space. Not long after, i dropped Loz home and headed off to the land of nod. Long night.

Tonight was lots of fun. I've got to say that hanging out with Elmo, English, Shirtless Buddy and the gang is really something that makes me grin (my big, goofy grin). Sure, we pay each other out constantly and to the outsider it must look like we really don't like each other much. But really? We all adore each other and have a good time. We laugh, tease, tickle, insult, hit, torment and compliment each other in perfect proportions. We all get along pretty well. Plus, especially in English's case, and Elmo's, if i'm feeling down they're always ready and willing to cheer me up; be it a compliment, a hug or just a mission to make me smile. More often than not it's spontaneous and i don't even have to ask for it. Even more often, they succeed. I don't know what i'd do without them! Much fun is always had.

Random aside? This time last year, we'd had our formal on friday night and had gone laser skirmishing with youth group. This year, the same weekend, Elmo had his formal last night and we went skirmishing tonight. Loz and i took photos each time, for 'documentation', and it was cool to see how things changed in the space of a year!!

Annie