Hot Weekend Plans!

There was a time in my life where the weekend meant going out, time with friends, bar-hopping, partying, and general care-free drunken buffoonery. Those days, I am somewhat glad to say, are ancient history. And no, this is not neccesarily a bad thing by any stretch. With the added responsibilities that come with getting married, buying a house, and then having a baby, there just isn't room in the budget for the hundreds-upon-hundreds of dollars I used to waste on the weekend in the form of bottled beer, shots and cover charges. Now, this doesn't mean that I don't still find ways to have fun. Take this weekend, for example. Some may say that this is further proof that with my rapidly-advancing age, I continue to slide down the slippery slope of boring adulthood, and even worse - total geekdom. I'll let you be the judge.

This weekend, this is what appears to be on top for The Fat Guy. Tonight, I will spend some time with my son before he goes to bed, watch some of the Sixers game, and eagerly await the arrival of my good friend and neighbor Bill and his ultra-cool son, 12-year-old Alexander. Why, you ask? Because in this age of desperately seeking out affordable entertainment options, firing up the XBox and getting killed repeatedly by ultra-experienced 12 and 14-year-olds in Halo 2 is tough to top. Yes, I am a 33-year-old who not only enjoys playing the occasional video game, I truly look forward to the weekends when the kids are around so I have someone to virtually hunt me down and kill me 12-ways-to-Sunday over and over again in "deathmatches" I have no chance whatsoever of truly being competitive in. My life, as rewarding as it is with a great wife and a beautiful son, has deteriorated entertainment-wise to a point where I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to be virtually blasted to bits by kids not even half my age. And I had so much potential...

Now don't get me wrong. Even if I had scads of money I wouldn't be going out every weekend anymore. And I don't miss the drunken idiot I used to be - for almost a decade of my life. I wasted SO much money and time back then. Now, there are tons of good stories, sure. But I did a lot of really stupid things back then, and with a little one at home I can't afford to make mistakes like that anymore. I do miss seeing my friends. I miss a lot of them very, very much. I just have to pick my spots now.

Saturday night Bill and I are going to get the Hopkins/Taylor fight on PPV. I don't know if Bernard has anything left, but this is it for him if he loses. He was (and still could be) a great champion, and a true example of how hard work can help overcome mistakes made early in life. I will be rooting for him tomorrow night, as I always do for fellow Sons of Philadelphia. And, depending on when the fight starts and ends, I plan to avoid getting shellacked too badly by the youth of the neighborhood in Halo 2.

[Currently Listening: The Selecter - "Madness"]