So Damn Tired

Got home a short while ago from a very full day. Today was the day Ken and I went to meet Eric the Southern Boy and his bf Comic Boy. They live in NYC and we're in Albany and we decided it would be easiest to meet half way between, which meant Poughkeepsie. So we got up early and hit the road. Their train was due in around 11:30 and we timed it to get there in time. Of course, we got a little later start than we had hoped, but still got there early. Meeting the boys in person was really easy for me. That's huge, because I'm such a shy guy. I find it hard to talk to people, no matter how long I've known them. I've known Eric via the interwebs for a while now, but I've never "met" the bf. But that didn't seem to matter. I felt very comfortable with them from the instant we met.

We didn't really have much of anything planned for the day. I have to admit that both Ken and I are horrible planners / tour guides. I dread having out of town company simply for this reason. I never know what to do and feel like crap for it. What we did have planned was a visit to October Country, the comic shop I used to work at in New Paltz. It's been probably twenty years or more since I worked there. Anyway, we headed there and we all bought some stuff. I got the new Joker comic that came out this week as well as a Gotham Central trade paperback. Eric picked up the first 5 issues of Trinity and the new Astonishing X-Men. Comic Boy picked up a handful of trades including Queen & Country, a book of essays about Neil Gaiman, and other stuff I've blanked out, as well as a Buffy comic and a couple issues of Planetary. While at the store, I ran into someone I knew. Jack, who has worked there for years. He was just a customer when I worked there.

Right after that, we made an unplanned stop at the hardware store across the street. Our friend Andy works there and we popped in to surprise him.

Next, we headed up to Woodstock. There was a place we were thinking about go to for lunch. Unfortunately, they only do dinners there, so we had to resort to plan B, which was just to find some other place to eat. We did, but I can't remember the name of the place. It was really good, though. I got a salmon salad with goat cheese and walnuts. OMG, it was so good. I even broke down and ordered a beer. It's been nearly a year since last I had one. After lunch, we ran the boys ragged. We hit up most of the shops up Tinker Street, poking around. Comic Boy bought this really cool skull lunch box at the toy store. If I didn't pack my lunch in my backpack every day, I'd consider getting the same thing. I was so neat.

The most important stop we made was for ice cream. It was a necessity. I got a chocolate peanut butter cone. While eating it, my mind raced to back when I would eat three times this every night and how I ballooned up in the first place. It's nice to have ice cream on special occasions, but I have to stay away from the stuff. It's way too easy to get myself into trouble with it.

We made one more sidetrip after the shopping. Our friends Lynn & Lori live about 3 miles from the center of town and Ken needed to pee, so we went to their house. Unfortunately, they weren't home. We left a note and headed out to dinner. About 15 minutes after leaving, we got a call from them. They just got home and found out note. What we didn't know is they were on vacation in Maine. The weather was terrible, so they came home a day early. And our lousy timing kept us from seeing them.

We headed to a place we've been to dinner a couple of times and thought the boys might like. They did and we did. Again, I tried to behave, but I fell short. I ordered a Cobb Salad for dinner, which was tasty and a good thing to get, but I also ate the bread and shared in Eric & Comic Boy's nacho appetizer. Holy crap were those nachos good.

At dinner I realized that I brought a camera and didn't take a single picture. So when we went back to the train station, I knew I needed to get some pictures. But because we suck, we barely got the boys to the train before it departed. I think we got to the station about 7 minutes before the train left. So no picture proof that we spent the day together. I feel like an ass for that.

You know, Eric is EXACTLY what I imagined he'd be like in real life. He's cute, he's funny and boy can he talk. :-) He even puts Ken to shame. I had no idea what to expect from Comic Boy. He's adorable, very tall and really personable. He seems very similar to me just like Eric is very similar to Ken.

My biggest fear for the day was I was going to be a non-responsive mute. I never realize I'm in that mode when I'm in it, so as soon as we dropped the guys off at the train, I immediately started quizzing Ken about my behavior. Apparently, I was very good. I spoke, I didn't seem to disappear into myself. I feel really good about that.

I don't know if I'll see the boys before September vacation, but I know I have at least that to look forward to. I can't wait. Thanks Eric and Comic Boy. I had an awesome day today. I hope you guys did, too.

Nessa, my partner in crime, had a similar event today. She met up with Wes & Ricky and I can't wait to hear about that.

I'm exhausted and I need to go collapse. I hope what I wrote was somewhat coherent. If not, it's because I'm too tired to care anymore. :-)