This past weekend was one of our busiest in recent weeks. Lia's bff, Elizabeth, came to visit from NY, so on Friday we had a lot of cleaning to do in preparation for our guest. And of course we chose to go to dinner instead. We went to Aida Bistro, a little restaurant in one of those corporate office parks in Columbia, and as soon as we got a look at the prices on the menu, we left. I had been to this place a few years ago and remembered it being pretty decent, but I definitely didn’t remember those prices. Now I’m not a cheapskate and I do have a slightly more refined palate than your average middle-schooler, but as a general rule, if I’m going to drop $100+ on dinner for two, I’m not going to be looking out the window at a drive-thru ATM and a Mattress Giant in the middle of an office park shopping center. Besides, I wanted a friggin’ steak, so we said “thanks anyway” and went to Longhorn Steakhouse. I decided I’d rather have a belly full of steak and a relaxing beer than an empty wallet and a smug sense of refinement.

Elizabeth arrived on Saturday at the Greyhound bus terminal in Baltimore. Lia and I were delayed by a flat tire, but eventually picked her up and had a nice afternoon that included thrift store shopping, lunch at Briggs Chaney Deli, and naps. Once we woke up, it was time to get ready for the +/- show at the Black Cat. I guess I should say it was The Wrens’ show, but we went to see +/-. I dressed up as a wizard (or something) and had a really freaky mask, Lia dressed up as a motorcycle accident victim (complete with shards of broken glass poking out through her neck), and Liz was very creative with her costume as a screen saver (a.k.a. the Boob Tube). Check out that photo set here

Sunday night we went bowling with Karri & Greg and I kicked everyone’s asses. I’m just that good. And Lia and I decided that pitchers of beer from the bowling alley are a good value.

Lia took the day off on Monday, so we were able to sleep in and prepare for Markoff’s Haunted Forest on Monday night. We met up with our group at the Rio in Gaithersburg where I scared the shit out of Lana and Brian with my mask as they were walking in. Good times…more drinking…then off to the haunted forest. We had a blast there as Brian terrorized everyone with my freaky mask, and then we made our way through the spooky haunted forest. Nothing too traumatizing, but it was pretty neat and worth going.

Now I’m preparing to hand out candy to the neighborhood children tonight. I think I actually have to go buy more because I’ve eaten half of it, but I’m just getting nice and wound up for tonight. I’m going to scare the shit out of these damn kids. There isn’t going to be any pumpkin smashing here tonight, I’ll tell you that much. They might try it, but they won't live to tell about it.