Another fun weekend in full swing

I was glad I didn't get over to Kristen's until 10:30 yesterday morning - the girls hadn't gotten in the night before until 3:30am and were just waking up when I arrived. Annette had driven the whole way and now agrees with my opinion on driving on a long trip at night: It. Sucks. It's boring because you can't see any scenery. It seems longer. You are more tired. All around crapfest. Which is why they're leaving late tomorrow morning, making this a very short visit. I don't mind - this is a bonus weekend I wasn't even expecting until a couple of weeks ago.

We ate lunch at the best pizza place in three counties, Antonina's. I may have spelled that wrong, but if you ever find yourself way out on 1 headed toward Batesburg, right past Lexington High School and think you're lost, all of a sudden this little plaza appears with this little pizza place in it and you need to stop in and get a slice. Believe me, because I'm from NY and therefore an expert. It's expensive for the type of place it is and also worth every penny.

Neither of our groups had any set plans for the day, so when Kristen suggested the state fair, I immediately agreed. It's the last weekend of it, I hadn't been in years and what better way to kill a few hours, spend some time together and show the girls a real SC experience. Off we went, caravanning in three cars.I will say this. It was waaay more pleasant there in the late afternoon on a weekday then the last time I'd been there on a weekend night. It might have been the weather - rain was called for all day and the sky was progressively getting darker after we arrived, but damn was it good for crowd control.

We walked around looking at the stinky cute farm animals and then bought our first junk food, dipped ice cream cones. We decided to go on a couple of rides to, the first one being what used to be called the Himalaya. Okay. Apparently I haven't been on any fair rides in awhile. I spent the entire time flying around (backwards, that smart-ass carny) praying not to vomit my ice cream cone into Annette's hair. No, really - I was praying. Which was the only thing that kept it from happening. It wasn't as fun as I remembered, is what I'm trying to say. The next ride had to be calm, so I picked the ski lift thing that rides you up above and over the fairgrounds. That would've been a perfect choice, had it not started to rain and also we were both dizzy and weird about the height. The rest of the time was spent walking around in the rain, looking at indoor exhibits and getting more fair food. I finally found the WIS tent and got excited since they've been doing the weather every night at the fair - well, they told me they wouldn't be doing the weather from the fair today. I asked it that was because the weatherman didn't like to come outside in the rain. They laughed and sent me away with a bag and a sticker. Damn it, I wanted to meet the weatherman!

After it was clear that the rain was not only going to not stop but that it was going to keep getting progressively harder and colder, we decided to take our leave. Annette and I stopped at Blockbuster then went home. We also slipped a Walmart trip in there later - it's almost unavoidable. We had to get supplies to make the magical spinach dip, which we're bringing to the party tonight.

Oh yeah, the party tonight. I'm very glad the weather turned cold for many reasons, but mostly because that Cat in the Hat suit is HOT. I tried it on for Annette last night and almost spontaneously combusted after wearing it for only five minutes. I still plan to have a good contingency outfit underneath should I tire of wearing it. Annette is going as Kat Von D, Jennifer is going to be a goth chick, her son is Flava Flav and Kristen is a geisha. Joe's costume is a secret, but Kristen said it's amazing, so I'll definitely be toting the camera. I haven't gotten to dress up for a Halloween party since 2000, when I was Mary Katherine Gallagher in Lake City. It's wrong to go that long when I love Halloween this much. We did dress up a lot at Avatel and I miss that - I can't really picture the Center for Child and Family Studies coming into work in costume. What a disturbing thought.

Okay, I'm off - there is much to do and not a lot of time in which to do it. I hope everybody is having a fun weekend.