Yeah, But It Wasn't Snakes

SweetPea and I got invited (sort of) to go see the St. Patrick's day parade down in old town with the Monkey's father and the New Girlfriend. My response to this invite (sort of) was to pull a face and ask if they were sure it was a  parade  and not a pub crawl. Apparently, it is, in fact, a parade. An alcohol-free, "family event", no less.

OK.

So an expected turn out of several thousand people, the tiny ass, crowded streets of old town, family, I'm not doing the driving, and I can't even get a green beer?

Suck.

Oh, alright. I am not so much of a lush (honest!) that the evening is being spoiled by lack of beer (I swear). Although I will admit to being more than a little nervous of tiny ass public places with large crowds and my family. This is not assisted in the least by the fact that I've still got one ear almost completely plugged up, so I'm only hearing with one ear. Some of you may already know how I am about listening and hearing things, and some of  you are about to start wondering how I could possibly be so neurotic and still be alive.

I have been known to pull my iShuffle out of my purse in crowded, noisy places as a way of creating a "cushion" between myself and the noise. Because, you know, having a lot of noise crushing in on me makes me feel claustrophobic. Cranking music directly into my ear drums makes me feel a little more sane than normal.

Not being able to hear the noise that's crushing in on me?

Not even cool.

So let's have a recap.

Loud & crowded: Suck

Music cranked directly into ear drums: Awesome

Can't hear the loud & crowded and not because of music cranked directly into ear drums: Super Suck

This is the part where I start chanting (only in my head,  honest) that I'm doing this for the kids.

Those Monkeys owe me big time.

PS: Did I happen to mention that SweetPea is bringing Gomi? No? Huh. Maybe I blocked that part out.