The quote from Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers, was in my mind yesterday.
Friday
I sent a random text to a mate of mine, at around 1 o'clock when I was on my lunch break.
"Fancy a few drinks tomorrow?" Within a few minutes I got a reply, saying, "yes."
He wasn't in work, neither was his girlfriend. Aimee, and myself were both in on Saturday, but were both off on Sunday, so I text her and got organising.
She was up for it too, so we were all good, and were able to get a baby-sitter for Saturday night.
Then I text another mate of mine who I hadn't had a drink with since Paddies Day, and he was up for it too. I spoke to my sister and her boyfriend too, and they were able to get a baby-sitter as well, and come out.
The last time I had a drink was my nieces Christening, back at the start of June. While we did have a nice get-together, and had a few, me and Aimee turned in at around 9:30, to bring Kaleb to bed, and once he was asleep we pretty much crashed out too.
Before that, the last proper night out with everyone was Paddies Day, back in March.
We've all tried to meet up, and due to conflicting schedules it just hasn't been able to happen.
Until last night.
Prep
My mate was excited, as we all were, and the two of us were talking about what drink to get. He mentioned that he had an unopened bottle of Jameson's Whiskey, which had been sitting on his shelf for a few months.
I've had this bottle of Captain Morgan's in the cupboard since my birthday about 11 months ago.
On the day, Aimee bought herself a naggin of Gin, as well as two cans of this stuff called 4-Loco, and I bought a 20 crate of Heineken.
It's nice starting with something strong, and then leveling yourself out on beers.
For get togethers like this, it's a marathon, not a sprint, and there's a fine line we have to walk, where we can build up a buzz, slowly, but not too slow, otherwise you end up developing a sluggish, hangover feeling, which completely stops the momentum.
It Begun
My mate I hadn't seen since Paddies Day decided he wasn't going to drink, until he was in the drink section in the supermarket.
He decided not to buy anything, but was tempted, so I said he could have a few bottles of Hein-o-mite, and see how he feels.
Well, that was the intention, but once we got to the house, I made up a Captain and Club - Club is an orange fizzy drink in Ireland, similar to Fanta, but with pulp in it.
When he saw that, he decided he wanted one too, so I made him one as well.
I free poured it, so it was probably a double, or maybe a triple. We sipped over that first one, because of how refreshing and nice it tastes. It's kind of like a Solero ice-cream.
As we all had our first drink, we ordered some takeaway, by time we had ordered, we drank our first class of Captain, and while we waited for the food, I made us up another.
This time, a little strong.
Then the food was ready for collection, and upon our return we cracked open a bottle of Heineken. (Me and my mate were going drink for drink, so I'm referring to us as we.) Everyone else was doing their own thing, and setting their own pace.
Music was good, it started off watching some Glastonbury highlights, and then progressed into some heavier stuff, me and Aimee were humming dance tunes, but the host refused to let any scouldy music go on that early.
A few bottles in at this stage, and I decided to make us up another Captain drinks.
As we were finishing up that round, the suggestion was made to go to the pub, since it was getting on a bit and everyone was afraid the doors would get locked soon.
Off We Strolled
The pub was near empty by time we arrived, so we all got a few pints. I suggested shots, but everyone said no, apart from my sister, so I got us a Baby Guinness each, and as we finished them, the bar man mentioned something called a Barbie Guinness.
Intrigued, we enquired a bit more about them, and he said it was bailey's, with some tequila maria, or something like that, which is pink.
She bought us one each, and we staggered outside to the others. I ended up getting a few pints, but no more shots for the night.
It was good craic, sitting out in the warm summer night, as trickles of rain hit the roof of our cover, we talked, joked, and had a bit of banter, there were some slaggings, and a few messy compliments.
All in all, it was a good night.
Me and Aimee got back home first, and I made us tea and we hung out for a bit chatting, and then my sister and her boyfriend arrived back, and made up a few glasses of bailey's and plenty of ice.
It was a good night cap.
Today though, I've been dying off with a bad hangover. But, it was worth it. Also, it was a good chance to just blow off some steam, for all of us really.
