alright, so my evening. after closing up the office, i made a mad dash to the hearing room for beryl's "so long, farewell, good luck" party, which had begun at 5 (i closed up the office at 6). about an hour and a half spent at the par-tay, enjoying a couple of glasses of wine (i'm beginning to acquire a taste for the stuff--but only red. white is way too dry for my pleasing) and conversation (including speaking with the senator's wife, as i was arranging a white house tour for her and a couple of her personal guests--she's so sweet!) before the party started to wind down at 7:30. after cleaning up and whatnot, a bunch of us junior staffers headed to cap lounge to celebrate a couple of office birthdays--patrick's, which was yesterday, and chris', which is today. i'd never been to cap lounge before, so i was looking forward to that, as well as the opportunity to hang out and relax for a drink or two before heading home in time to catch my wednesday night tv shows.

well, i got home at 10, just missing both shows. but it was worth it. i did stick to my "drink or two" policy, but wound up talking and laughing and whatnot...and having the single WORST encounter with a waitress i've ever had. the story, you ask? let me tell you...

upon entering cap lounge, we headed to the downstairs bar, which was offering specials on beer (not that that did me any good, but nonetheless). we all got our drinks and headed back upstairs, where we took over a couple of tables. when the waitress came over at one point, corey ordered another beer and i asked for a glass of water, since i wanted to pace myself and all. she gave me a Look and said it wouldn't be a problem. but when she brought corey his beer, she never brought me the water. didn't bring it at all, so i figured she forgot. no big deal.

but when i finished my first drink, i wanted another and she wasn't there, so i walked over to the bar, which was just a few feet away. while the bartender's making my drink, the waitress comes up to me.

"why didn't you order a water at the bar?" the woman, who was probably mid-40s in age, asks with another Look.

"because i wanted a water when i asked you for it," i replied. "now i want another drink."

"well, you should have ordered a water here," she shot back. "some of us have rent to pay, you know."

"well, i probably would have ordered my drink at the table had you been at the table," i said, shocked and amused by the whole thing. "but you weren't, i wanted a drink, so i got one where i could get one now. and thanks for bringing me the water." with that, i took my drink and walked back to the table, where i told everyone the story. everyone was floored. when the waitress came back to see if anyone wanted anything else, ted asked for a water. she gave me another Look (thoroughly unprovoked on my part!) and walked away.

later on, she gave dan a hard time too, as she gave him grief for paying his tab at the bar because she wasn't around and we were getting ready to leave.

i couldn't believe it, though! it's not like i'm mean or anything, particularly at restaurants or bars. i know how hard it is to deal with people--hell, i'm the former drive thru queen--i'm all about giving credit to those who deserve it. but i didn't commit any huge social faux pas or anything by what i did and she was just a bitch! i hope she was just having an off night. holy schnikies!

but the night was great fun and, while i'm feeling it today (i wasn't Drunk last night, but i was certainly past the buzzy stage) combined with the reminder that i have no big muscles as of yet (thanks cake, flower stuff and the case of beer i lugged back to phil's office post-party), i feel like i've been hit by a truck. ugh. i have tentative plans to go out for drinks tonight, but it's up in the air at the moment and kind of hope we can get it postponed to this weekend or next week or something, as i'd love to head home tonight, do some stretching and cross-training, eat dinner and watch tv.

mmmmmm.