Partying With The Frat Boys...

Pulling off the near impossible, I was actually ready and waiting in the lobby for Josh to pick me up. When he drove up to the hotel, I got into his car and was greeted with a warm welcome and a kiss. This was a complete turn around from what I just experienced. Before I had a chance to ponder what caused this sudden transformation, out of nowhere an unfamiliar voice said, "Hello." Completely startled, I turned around and jumped and screamed when I saw a woman and her son sitting in the back seat. Everyone looked at me like I was nuts. Josh then introduced me to his frat brother and his mom. "Didn't you see them when you got in the car?" Josh questioned me, with a look of total humiliation on his face. "No," I quickly responded without really thinking about what I was saying as the words rapidly escaped from my mouth. "Do you think I would have reacted that way if I did? Actually I was so wound up from my marathon morning that I didn't even look in the back seat. Besides that I was blown away with how nice you were treating me when I got in the car. I was wondering what was up. This wasn't how you were acting when you first saw me." It was a pretty comical moment. We all had a good laugh and needless to say the incident turned into a great ice breaker.

Ever since Josh started at IU, Oliver Winery was one of the places I wanted to check out. Finally when Josh began his junior year, Dick, Marni and I stopped there briefly on our trip home from helping him move in. Back then, my dad's health was failing. His time on earth was quickly coming to an end. It was a hard reality for me to accept. Though I usually don't drink, I needed something to deaden the pain. The fact that it was before lunchtime didn't even matter to me. That's how devastated I was. But as my luck would have it, Oliver Winery was a very popular spot that mid-morning. There was a big crowd having a wonderful time enjoying their tastings and I couldn't even get close enough to make a request. On top of that, Dick was getting riled up. He told me in no uncertain terms to get my drink so we could get out of there already. Realizing that it was pointless to explain to him this wasn't like getting a sample of soda at Costco, I decided it wasn't worth the aggravation and vowed to come back another time when I could enjoy the experience ... without Dick.

The second time was the charm. It was worth the wait. Several other frats and sororities also had Mom's and Dad's weekend going on. It appeared that a visit to the winery was the activity of choice for students 21 and older and their parents. Again, it was next to impossible to get a sample of wine. Quite unexpectedly, Josh purchased a bottle of Reisling for the four of us. Apparently, my son learned somewhere how to turn on the charm when he wanted to. We toured the facility and got quite the education about the wine making process as we sipped our vino. The stress that steadily mounted up till that point magically evaporated away. While we were standing around, shooting the breeze, I learned that this was the extent of the planned activities for the weekend. It was a good thing I was stating to feel a little buzzed.

Back when I decided I would be coming out for Mom's weekend, I suggested to Josh that we have dinner at Janko's Little Zagrebs, a hot spot in town known for serving excellent steaks. I rarely eat meat, but this was also one of the places I wanted to try before Josh graduated. As we were chatting and polishing off the last of the bottle, Josh mentioned that several of his frat brothers whose moms didn't come for the weekend would be joining us at the restaurant. "That's nice," I said. "The more the merrier." Josh then continued, "The only problem is that no one made reservations for dinner and they are completely booked. Like I said, it was a blessing that I wasn't feeling any pain because I probably would have completely lost it. "How come there are no reservations?" I asked, trying to act like this was no big deal. "Mom, we're all busy with classes, homework and partying on the weekends. I guess it slipped our minds. Don't worry. We'll figure something out," Josh nonchalantly stated.

Surprisingly, "the brothers" actually came through. It took several of them, frantically dialing numbers, all talking at the same time to work things out with the restaurant to get our group a table at 5:30 before the mad rush began. Which meant we had to leave immediately to make sure we got to our destination without being late.

If you are ever in Bloomington, Indiana, make sure you have dinner at Little Zagrebs. The steaks melt in your mouth. That is how tender they are. Just for the record, everyone in our group ordered the petite fillets.... except for my son. He had the T-Bone, which I might add was one of the most expensive cuts on the menu! The fact that I scrounged together whatever money I could to make sure I would be there didn't phase him in the least. I started to get a little peeved but decided to let it go. We were all having such a wonderful time sharing stories, laughing and taking pictures, just like we were one big happy family. Why would I want to put a damper on things? Then I had what I thought was a fabulous idea. My birthday was less than two weeks away. Since Josh started college, he was never home to celebrate with me. That night would have been the perfect time to do it. I told Josh to tell the waitress it was my birthday. He totally ignored me. Maybe he didn't hear me. I asked him again. He heard me. He didn't want to. Not only that, the expression on his face changed immediately. I thought I was looking at Dick, which was not a good thing. Then Josh did the unbearable. With Dick's mannerisms and his tone of voice, Josh told me. "Forget about it. Absolutely not." My mood soured completely at that point. After we left the restaurant, I told him he had a lot of nerve talking to me like that. Was it too much for him to let me have some happiness for my birthday, considering the situation at home? Immediately he pulled another Dick by saying, "It was a JOKE. I can't help it if you don't have a sense of humor?" I told him I could definitely take a joke and I hoped he could too because whatever drinking he planned on doing the rest of the night, he will be paying for it. I was finished entertaining for the evening.

Needless to say, that put a major damper on things. We finished our meals, paid the bill and went outside. Since it was still relatively early, the boys decided that we should "go drinking."