Celebrations in B-Town

I really wanted to get to Bloomington this week to celebrate Brett's birthday.  We talked about a lot of different options.  Cam and I thought about going down on the 13th to see him and to catch IU vs. Iowa, but Brett had to work all day so that was out.  I had gotten an email on Thursday offering me discount tickets to Sunday night's performance of Les Miserable.  That meant that I could head down Sunday afternoon, take everyone out to dinner, see the show and head home Monday.  Doug agreed to that idea at first, but then decided that he would like to go as well.  Thus, we made plans to leave yesterday afternoon once Cam finished Science Olympiad.  I was more than happy with that decision.

We arrived at Brett's around 6:30 last night.  He had to work late, but that gave us time to pick up all of the bedding from Jackie and Sarah's visit with Meg.  Brett picked Crazy Horse for dinner.  Meg was busy with Yatsiri, but Cal was able to join us.  On the way we all talked about the IU game today and the different celebrities that were there besides Coach Knight and former Indiana players.  Brett started into a long story about his experience at work that we weren't quite sure where it was going.  We all enjoyed the ending, however, when he told us that he ran into Mark Cuban as the billionaire tired to leave the stadium without being noticed.

Dinner was a lot of fun and delicious as well.  There was a lot of sports talk, political news and discussion about music.  Cal headed back home afterward as Cameron Adams was in town.  The three of us then went back to Brett's apartment to play Ticket to Ride and do laundry.  Both Brett and Meg had been too busy to get their's done and I didn't mind helping.  We ended up washing seven loads between the two of them.  Thankfully, the laundry room was pretty desolate at that time of night and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  Meg joined us after her movie, so we got to catch up with her.  She loved "Knives Out" just as much as Doug and I did.  Ticket to Ride was a lot of fun.  Cameron came up with a new strategy which worked very well.  He not only beat us, but he also set an all-time record of 297 points.  It will be tough to top that one.

Today the celebration continued with the six of us having lunch together at Oliver Winery with Pizza X breadsticks.  Brett loved his new shirts from Meg, Cal's strawberry vodka, Jedi Fallen from Cam, Justice by Trial from Doug and birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa.  While we were together we also gave everyone their Valentine's gifts.  My parents had money and candy for everyone.  I was pretty proud of the Baby Yoda, Kuzcotopia and Pacers shirts I found for Cal, Brett and Cam.  Meg loved the copies of Hope Floats and Kate & Leopold that we got her as well.  Those gifts along with some holiday candy and gift certificates for lunch made for a perfect celebration.

 

 

After lunch Meg headed to the library to meet a study group for Econ and Cal went home to prepare for tomorrow's test.  Brett, Cam and I had time for one more game of Ticket to Ride.  The outcome was the same, but we all had fun trying to beat Cameron again.  It was the perfect way to end a fantastic twenty-four hours in Bloomington.