On Wednesday, I got home late from work and waited on a person from Craigslist to drop by and buy my washer and dryer. Sadly I got stood up (again). So, I waited until 8:00 and then headed on down to Flying Saucer and meet up with Jared, Tobin, Cory, Amy and (eventually) Mariah. However, since I'd been drinking while I waited, I decided to ride the bus. I got to Flying saucer pretty late and Amy had already left.

My July 4th weekend started on Thursday afternoon. Kelly invited us to lake Travis to hang out on his boat and watch the fireworks. So, Amy, Danielle, Cory and I met a few of his friends at his condo and headed out. I thought I had over-purchased on the beers (24 pack of Bud Lights, 6er of Corona, 6er of Woodpecker Cider, 4 big cans of Bit Burger, and 3 Mackeson XXX Stouts) but, by the end of the evening, most of my beers were gone, and so were the 2 other coolers worth of Corona.

Just before the fireworks started, I went to the back of the boat to get Danielle another beer. When I got to the cooler, I heard a splash. Then a few people were yelling at the person in the water to not swim between the boats. Turns out, Danielle fell off the boat and decided to sneak to the back of the boat so no one would notice that it was her that fell in. Unfortunately, she swam between the boats, and since the boats can drift towards each other, it's not a good idea to swim between them. Fortunately, she survived and I gave her that beer she was waiting for.

We had docked fairly close to the barge that had all the fireworks on it, so the show happened right above our heads. Danielle and I sat at the back of the boat and watched the show with our feet dangling in the water. It was really cool.We had anchored fairly close to the barge that had all the fireworks on it, so the show happened right above our heads. Danielle and I sat at the back of the boat and watched the show with our feet dangling in the water. It was really cool.

On Friday morning Danielle, Amy and I got prepared for the 4th of July party at my house. Jasmine and Brian came up with the BBQ idea, and even supplied the meat! We got started around 1:00. Amy made jalapeno poppers (wrapped in bacon) which Jared expertly grilled to burnt-fection (seriously, they were better with a little char on them). Mariah showed up with some really great chicken and couscous and Connie brought some excellent spicy guacamole dip. Jared manned the grill the whole time, keeping every meat at the perfect temperature. Towards the end, a few people burned off to go see the fireworks on auditorium shores on Town Lake (downtown Austin).

On Sunday, I decided it was time to brew again. Rachel, Danielle, Cory and Jared helped out as Cory and I explained the procedure. I decided to brew a second batch of Jen's American Amber in honor of Original Jen (my first official Austin friend, not including existing Austin friends). We started at 2:00 and (par for the course) ended after midnight. Mostly because the wort (beer before the yeast is added) was not cool enough to put the yeast in (70° - 75°). So, we put a few ice packs on the outside of the carboy and went to dinner.