I know how to make a momma proud (Day 54)

When I have a hangover, all I want to do is sleep, but it seems that it’s the last thing I am able to do. Today was no different, as I woke up too bright and too early in the morning. My cold didn’t seem to be bothering me at all though, so I guess getting plenty of fluids last night was helpful in that regard.

I wandered around my room looking for my stuff, realizing and slowly remembering that not only had I lost my keys during the epic night before, but I also misplaced my credit card and my Ontario driver’s license. I still have my purse, now empty, and my phone, partially broken, and nothing else that I had taken out with me. I’m glad I’m not one of those people who use their passport as their identification, because that would have been a lot harder to replace than my license.

Several questions came to mind. How did I pay for a cab when I got home, without cash or a credit card? How did I get into the apartment building and up to the second floor, without keys or a swipe card? Why did I come home by myself and when did I lose everyone else? There were more questions than that, but not knowing the answers to those is embarrassing enough. No need to push it.

When I went out into the living room, Erasmus was already awake and he looked fine. I was a little jealous. I woke Durket up and then proceeded to recite for them the list of things I had lost or broken the previous evening. If they weren’t feeling well, I probably made them feel at least a little bit better about their nights. They were better off than I am. They reminded me of what a mess I had been last night, as if I needed reminding. That was helpful.

It wasn’t long before we headed to the ballpark. The guys were better off there, where their stuff was and where there are showers and whatever other resources they need, and I was supposed to be cleaning the field up with Carl. Carl had already called me while I was still at home and I gave him the rundown of my disastrous night, so he had started the cleaning without me. Good choice. I was appreciative of that.

I took Whitey’s keys and opened up the showers for the team, taking much longer than should have been necessary in order to do so. I was walking at a slow pace and functioning at an even slower one. After that I laid around in the locker room for awhile before trying to get outside to help Carl. I filled a bucket with a water and disinfectant mixture and grabbed a sponge. I made it up to the members’ stand before I felt like I needed to be sick. It was a good start.

I couldn’t manage to scrub down the seats because I was too queasy. Even a brief stint of throwing up whatever water I’d had throughout the morning wasn’t helpful. I wanted to head back home but Erin was out and since I lost my keys (in case you forgot about that), I had to wait until she got back. I ended up lying in the dugout on the field, trying to hide from anyone who might want to find me, just waiting it out until Erin returned home.

At one point, Watto came up and asked if I was alright. I answered in the negative, obviously. It’s hard to lie when you look the way I did. Then he asked if I’d gotten into my place last night and I responded with a question of whether or not I had told him that. He said no, but I did call Wade Dutton last night. Oops.

Since I have never even had a conversation with our third baseman-turned-centre fielder at the field or otherwise before, it’s hard to imagine why I would have chosen to call him in my drunken state. But it happened. And this new revelation caused me to check my phone for who else I might have disturbed throughout the night. It doesn’t appear that I made any more random phone calls, but I did send several text messages that are not English. A couple of them even have symbols in them that I wouldn’t be able to find back if I tried. Impressive or ridiculous? Draw your own conclusions.

While I was lying on the bench, reflecting on my idiocy, one of my best friends from home, Sarah, called. She made it to Australia! Despite my pleas, she is not coming to Brisbane but it is nice to be able to talk on the phone and text someone in the same time zone. And for that person to be a female nonetheless! Sarah informed me of her plans with her boyfriend while she’s here and gave me a list of days when she is free, if I should be able to make it to Melbourne. Unfortunately she is going to Tasmania when I might have some free time and coming back when the Bandits come back for their next (and last) regular season homestand. So I don’t think it’s going to work out for us to see each other while we’re both down under, but I haven’t given up all hope yet.  

After probably an hour or so of being useless, I got the chance to go home and shower. Steve gave me a ride home, feeling sorry for me in my rough state. I felt about 63 per cent better after showering, though the walk back to the park afterward took longer than usual. Once back at the field, I spent an extensive amount of time trying to figure out how to cancel my credit card, since I can’t just dial a 1-800 number from my Australian phone. It doesn’t work the same way as it would at home. Finally I found a website with an Aussie number to use and spent half an hour on hold before getting my card cancelled. President’s Choice Financial will be kind enough to send a replacement card to my home though, so I guess I’ll see that in five or six weeks.

I asked Carl and Whitey to run the soundboard, since I wasn’t really feeling up to anything at all. They did it, and even though I finally just got to sit and watch a Bandits game (I haven’t been able to get away with that before), I couldn’t really enjoy it as much as I would have liked to. First of all, it felt like the longest game ever, despite the fact that it was just over three hours (though that is longer than average for a league that doesn’t have commercial breaks or the like). Second, the Bandits took a lead into the eighth and blew it. Again.

It wasn’t a good day for SJ, though I’m sure no one needed to point that out to him or anyone else on the team. He blew his third save of the weekend (and the season) and took the loss in a 6-4 Bandits defeat. I believe that might mean the role of the closer on the team may remain undefined, but that kind of thing certainly isn’t up to me.

I went home as soon as the game was finished so that Erin would be able to let me in before she took off for the afternoon. I called SJ, since he was so upset about the game, and likely the entire weekend, and I figured that I could cheer him up by letting him know all the ways I tried to ruin my own life last night. Despite not having his slider, he still has his ID, credit cards, keys and a phone that works. I thought maybe hearing more about my situation would help his, but I’m not sure it worked the way I wanted it to. I probably just outlined all of the ways that I am an idiot. He’s probably second-guessing our friendship at this very moment.

After the phone call, I went to bed. Normal bedtime on New Year’s Day is around 6 o’clock at night, right? I took some more cold pills because I had started to feel my cold symptoms coming back during the game. I woke up a couple of times for brief moments, once to let Erin into the apartment, but eventually just went to sleep for the rest of the night.

I am kind of a little bit glad the weekend is over. I’ve never looked forward to a Monday morning more in my life.