The Crazy Folks I Love

Tonight, I went to Ben and Ashley Barber's house to play Win, Lose, or Draw. Nancy, Ben, Justin, Greg, and Kristina were there too.

A bit earlier, I'd debated with Emily (Yancer) whether I'd be going or not. See, sometimes large groups of loud, rowdy people can be really stressful to me. For some reason, it often makes me want to sit in the corner with my knees to my chin and never talk again. It had that sort of effect on me when we played games on Sunday night. And with my stress levels and mood lately, I didn't think I wanted a repeat experience.

"I really like them," I said to Em. "But I know we'll play Pictionary, and it makes them so loud. Maybe they will be quiet tonight."

"But Justin's loud. And Ben Barber's loud," Em pointed out. "When you played Sunday night, he was really loud."

"It's true. He was really loud. But there's something about Ben Barber that makes it okay," I said. "I think it's because you always know that he likes you, even when he's loud."

Wierd, I know. But it makes sense to me.

I wasn't going to go, but then Greg and Ben (Barber) called me and convinced me. When I came in the door, everyone cheered for me like I was on the Price is Right. But then they realized that Bob Barker wasn't here, and that made them all very sad. They moved on quickly though.

When you play Win, Lose, or Draw with these people, you all make up crazy words and phrases to put on little pieces of paper and draw out of a basket of doom later. Sunday night, Justin wrote "The viper ate my pet rat" and I had to draw it. This could be part of the reason I didn't so much have fun. Tonight was better. Here are some of the things we made up to draw:

"Athlete's foot"
"Hair dye"
"Fluke"
"This one is hard"
"Dreadlocks"
"Stuff"
"Barefoot in the kitchen"
"Optometrist"
"Gerund" (it's a part of speech--when a verb is used like a noun)

Think about how you would draw those things. They're not so much what you'd call easy, huh?

I don't think I actually did any guessing tonight. It's hard to get a word in when Ben(s) and Justin are just rattling off every ridiculous, nonsensical syllable that comes into their heads. I'm so busy listening to them that I can't think for myself. See, the noise, I tell you. It was really fun though. I was surprised that I had fun. I'd just spent hours and hours staring at a computer screen doing homework and work work. This means that I was tired, cranky, and otherwise feeling anti-social.

These folks apparently are a recipe for fun, though, even when the conditions aren't exactly right for it.

And Ben Barber pulled through for me as I knew he would. I walked up the stairs to leave, smiling at having spent an hour with some of my favorite people, when it happened.

"Hey, thanks for coming! We like you!" he yelled.