Okay, well I said I'd write about my weekend, so I guess this is as good a time as any...

Friday afternoon, after packing the car, Andy and I headed to St. Bonaventure for my friend Jen's sister Kerry's going away party. She will be going to London to study abroad for the semester. After taking a detour through Buffalo to get me some windshield washer fluid, we were on our way, and made it to Olean around 2:30pm. We met Jen and her other sister Amy at WalMart, where they were buying things for Kerry's party. When we get there Amy was all frantic, and Jen was running around trying to find things quick... It turns out that Kerry was in the store!! (Did I tell you that this was a SURPRISE party??). But we managed to get out of WalMart without Kerry seeing any of us, and we were on our way to Aldis for food, and Factory Card Outlet for balloons. On the way back to Bonaventure, with the balloons in the back of Jen's car, we pass right by Kerry... She still doesnt notice!! So we're in the clear, so far.

Now, all of Kerry's friends have basically fed her a line of crap about how they have to work, or have meetings, or just dont have the time to hang out with her that evening. It got to the point where Kerry actually was very upset and just wanted to go home.

Later that evening, Jen, Amy, Andy and I went over to the Skellar (the bar on campus) to decorate for Kerry's party. One of Kerry's friends made the cake, and it looked AWESOME! It had pictures of London on it, such as Big Ben, and had sayings like "Spot of Tea", and "Cheeri-O". We put up streamers and balloons, and it all looked pretty cool.

Around 10pm, we went back to the dorms and got Kerry and headed back over to the Skellar, with the excuse of going to visit one of her friends that was working at the time, and also to hang out for awhile. We walked in the door, around the corner, and Kerry almost died. She turned around and walked away from everyone, then turned back around and was crying. It was great!!

We ended up being there til almost 3am, opening presents (a bunch of us pitched in money to buy her a camera for her trip), eating cake, and playing pool, along with a few karaoke songs. We all had a great time! I guess no one can really keep a secret hidden from Kerry for too long, so Jen and Amy were pretty excited that they pulled it off.

The next afternoon we woke up and went to Dairy Queen in Bradford for lunch. I've never actually eaten at DQ, and their chicken strips are awesome!! After hanging out at the dorms for awhile when we got back, Jen, Amy, Andy and I decided that we wanted to go snowtubing. I've been sledding with my snotube, but never been to a place that actually tows you back UP the hill!! So we went to this place called O'Dea's Mountain Sno Tubing Paradise in Olean. Oh my God, I had the BEST time!! We were there for over 2 1/2 hours. I had on lots of layers of clothing, including a t-shirt, long-sleeved shirt, a sweatshirt, and my winter Adidas coat, along with sweatpants, my red nylon pants, and blue snap windpants that I borrowed from Amy, along with 2 pairs of socks, boots, and ski gloves. I was not cold at all!! Everyone swore that we'd freeze our butts off, and would be back after 2 runs. Let me tell you, when 9pm closing time rolled around, we didnt want to leave!! We had so much run, racing each other, linking our tubes, holding hands, etc. I even flew into Jen, when coming down the hill! She was already stopped at the bottom, and I was coming down, but backwards, and couldnt see where I was going. All I could hear was her screams, and then PLUNK... We were both bounced off of our tubes. It was so much fun!! If any of you talk to Andy, be sure to ask him about his tubing experience as well... Its hilarious!! I will definitely have to go again sometime! I know Kissing Bridge has a snowtubing hills as well, and its closer to where I live, so maybe I'll get to check that out sometime soon!!

When we got back from snowtubing, we played UNO Attack with some of the girls on Amy's floor, literally, on the floor. We sat outside of Amy's room, taking up the entire hallway, and played. Around 12:30am, we went back to the Skellar for the dance party, where I really got to see Jen dance!! I tried, but I'm (a lot) self-conscious, so I didnt do too much. We left at 2, when they closed, and went back to Amy's room. Jen swore she wasnt drunk, but by the time we got back to the dorms, she felt it. We went down to the vending machine and bought some snacks for her to eat, but when we got back upstairs, as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out. So, Amy and I ended up watching the Crocodile Hunter on Animal Planet til we dozed off.

The next morning was quick and we basically showered, packed, and left. Quite an anti-climatic end to the weekend. Before we left, I checked the weather, and as my luck would have it, we were headed into some heavy snow...

Leaving Bonnies was okay, and 17 wasnt bad either. By the time we hit Route 16, the roads were snowy, but at least there were tracks to drive your tires, and it wasnt snowing too badly. On the way out to Bonnies, I noticed that we passed a resteraunt called Earl's

I didnt start to panic though, which, if you know me, this is quite a feat. Last winter I went into the ditch in the snow, and I have been somewhat petrified of it ever since. But, I was somewhat okay, and just kept driving as well as I could. All I knew is that I wanted to get off of that highway. I knew anything would be better than what I was driving in. People in their stupid 4x4 trucks are passing me, then cutting me off, taking away what little visability I do have left, and I just wanted to get off of that road.

As I am driving, I see this guy in the ditch. He is one of the people who passed me. Go figure. Soon, after what seemed like forever in agony, I saw a sign for an exit, and had Andy determine on the map where it would take me. He figured it would take me to Route 78, which was perfect, cause that turned into Transit Rd, a major thoroughfare in the Buffalo area. So I got off at this exit, and its not great, but definitely better. Its a back road, but it quickly took me to another road, which ended up being 78, and turned into Transit. As we drive further north, the weather is getting clearer, and the roads are getting better. By the time I got into the Williamsville/Amherst/Tonawanda/Kenmore area, things are relatively fantastic. We FINALLY made it home, after driving for 3 1/2 hours. It is normally a 1 1/2 hour drive...

We stopped at Tops and bought frozen pizzas, in order to relax and enjoy the Super Bowl. At this point, from the stress of driving, and from snowtubing, I am incredibly sore and dont want to move. But I am happy to be home.

So, that was my weekend... Hope it wasnt too indepth for ya, but I wanted to try and include everything... For those of you who were there, if I forgot anything you'd like me to include... Let me know! :) I've been at this for an hour, writing nonstop, between a little chatting with Mark and my friend Andy about Mark's computer problems. So... its time for me to end this! Have a great night everyone!

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