This weekend didn’t kill me, but I fear today might. Yesterday I was so tired that I was having honest-to-goodness hallucinations. Who needs drugs when sleep deprivation can do so much? Also, who knew the best way to offset the hour loss of sleep on Sunday would be to not sleep at all? And by not sleeping, I also avoided a hangover. Unless, of course, the hallucinations were partially alcohol-induced.

Whatever. I’m pretty sure I’m dying and that’s my point.

But the weekend! The weekend was absolutely lovely. My thoughtful mother is kind enough to call me every Saturday and Sunday morning when I stay in Duluth to ensure that my sister and I are still alive and not in jail. She’s sweet like that. One of these times we just might surprise her, though I don't know how surprised she would really be.

Tuna and I hooked up Friday afternoon to make the excursion up to Duluth. Once we got there, there was Grandma’s, the four-beer, four-bar tour of Duluth, reacquainting of Yvonne, harassing of Ethan, and mourning of the loss of the Pioneer. Needless to say, it was a busy night. Somehow we were still able to be in bed by 3am and we felt well enough Saturday morning to enjoy Thai food, shopping and bowling. (Tuna bowled a record 100!) A dream come true, right? You know what’s even better? I bought four pairs of shoes when we were shopping. Who does that? I also bought a pair of sunglasses that I lost that night. Go me. I’m glad I got to wear them outside that once.

Saturday night, I’m not sure what the hell happened. I remember making it to four bars again but I also know I didn’t stop at just one beer at each of them. We met a woman named (crazy) Jane at Heroes (this name change is going to take some time getting used to) and the new owner popped 14 credits into the jukebox and gave us free reign. I didn’t let Tuna and Angie pick a single song and every time a song came on, I would get all excited because I loved it. Then I would realize, der, I picked it out.

I have come to enjoy RT’s immensely (a possible Pioneer replacement), but I still can’t figure out why my pinkie hurts so bad. We got to spend some quality time with Angie's stalker and he still likes her even though she caught crabs in the back of Tuna's ride. And yes, he uses binoculars to watch my sister walk to and from work. If you are wondering how we know, it's because he told us. How can he not already have a woman? The highlight of the weekend may have been when the Thai restaurant server/host/busser told Angie, "Good job!" when he came over to "fetch" her empty plate.

It has been an extremely difficult day at work, but it was made a bit better when Sam came rolling in at noon and Missy asked how his weekend in Lutsen was. His response was, “Oh, it was good. We had a fire extinguisher go off on us on Saturday though.” Missy said, “Seriously? An extinguisher?” and Sam replied with, “Yeah, well, we did it.” I don’t know how I can have such strong feelings of loving some of these people so much but wanting to get the hell away from them as soon as possible.

In all seriousness, leaving Duluth yesterday killed me. It felt like leaving home. Hopefully two months from now, leaving Duluth will mean leaving home.

Check out the pictures, if you feel so inclined.