Half Way Done!

Well, can you believe it? I've officially reached the half way point of my time in Philly! I will be on my way home exactly 2 months from tomorrow! There's so much more that I have to see and do, so I know that the rest of my weekends will be jam packed with excitement! To start it off, next Friday I will be heading down to Baltimore to see a Friday night game between the Red Sox and Orioles, followed by a night of partying at Baltimore's inner harbor. We've got a hotel room for the night, so we'll stay there and then get back to Philly in time for the Flyers game Saturday night. Anyways, as for what I've been up to....last week was a hectic week. The Flyers Cup championship was going on, so I had to drive to various rinks in the area to deliver merchandise for the event. The Flyers Cup is a March Madness style tournament for the A, AA and AAA level high schools. Tuesday night New Jersey was in town, and just like any game involving New Jersey, it was boring. The Flyers won 2-1, so everybody was in a great mood. After the game I went to Chickie and Pete's with Katey, Eddie and Josh. We went for one drink, but we were having a great time and one drink turned into four. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were quiet days. Duke lost Thursday night, which was a real bummer, but I should be used to that disappointment by now.

Saturday was a looooong day. I had to be at the two games of the Flyers Cup where I helped set up signage all around the arena and helped organize the trophies. Immediately following the game, I had to get over to the Wachovia Center to get set up for the Senators-Flyers game. The Sens got smoked, I was kind of disappointed, but everyone else here was happy and wanted to party, so it was an entertaining evening afterall. First Rob, Katey and I went to Chickie and Pete's (as always) and met up with Eddie, Marissa and Leslie from the Ice Girls. While we were there, we saw Simon Gagne and Donald Brashear there, they were just getting seated for their dinner. Once we left Chickie's, we went to a dive bar across the street, a little place called The Philadium and we met up with the rest of the Ice Girls there. Everybody else was tired, but i stayed and hung out with the girls until about 1...hey, I was havin fun, I wasn't gonna leave!

Sunday was the Flyer's charity carnival, and I have to be there at 11 30, so getting up relatively early was kinda tough following that night. Our duties were to run the 2 inflatable shootout games. It was a long day and there were tons of people, but it's worth it. Last year the carnival raised just under $1 million, which was the largest 1 day fundraiser for any pro sports team. Follwoing the carnival, all the employees got to go to The Victors Club, which is the VIP restaurant. We got free buffet and open bar! Best night ever! I stood right next to Robert Esche (Flyers goalie) at the bar.

I have an intersting day tomorrow. Last Friday I was asked by the community relations director to attend a team sponsored appearance. March is National Reading month, and Flyers wives have been going around to schools reading books to young kids. Tomorrow Karine Gagne and Manon Desjardins are going to be at the French International School, and because I studied French during high school, they want me to do the introduction speech. I have not studied or really talked in French in years, so I emailed Maryll (my friend in Paris) and asked her if she would edit my work and make any necessary changes or corrections to it. She gladly helped me out and to ensure that I'm saying everything right, she's gonna actually call me tomorrow to make sure it sounds good. Only the problem is she's calling me at 1pm her time, which is 6am here, so I'm gonna need to get some sleep soon! That's all for now. I will keep you all posted on what's going on here later!