Thanks all. And Rick and Peter you are 100% right, it's all about taking a moment to reflect.
So I followed everyone's advice for Martini number 2. I put plenty of ice in the shaker and poured some Vermouth over it, then shook it a bit and dumped it into the chilled glass, swirled it then dumped it. I then poured the vodka and the brine into the shaker over the vermouth infused ice and shook the living bejesus out of it then poured it over the olives (this time I did provolone stuffed olives from DiBruno Brothers
). Wow. Wow. Wow.