Hopefully everyone still has all their fingers intact after the Fourth.  I can’t decide if the weather was a boon or bust at this point.  I could have done without all the rain, but at least it was reasonably cool.  I had Friday off work, and, ahem, Donette did too, so we started our weekend Thursday evening.  I started things off by “fixing” my webserver for a few hours.  There wasn’t anything wrong with it in the first place, but by the time I finished there certainly was.  I gave up after a while;  I’ll figure it out later, or start over, or something.  Luckily, I keep a spare for just such an emergency, so I moved everything over to the super-duper backup and went about more entertaining ways to kill time.  For the first evening of the long weekend, we picked up Brooke and went down to the newly opened Vox Theatre, where they were having an open house of sorts.  It was definitely worth the time;  They had a nice table of feed out with some good pulled pork and trimmings.  There was also Shatto ice cream, which I’ve always wanted to try but am too cheap to buy.  (It’s probably worth the extra coin after trying it.)  We also got to test out the new Tank 7 from Boulevard, which I think will be a hit.  We hung out there for a few hours and then it started getting a little crowded so I freaked out and left.  Fun gathering though.

Friday we got up and headed to Smithville Lake for some psuedo-camping, which would take up the rest of our weekend.  Donette’s folks have a big motorhome, which they let us borrow, so we pretty much just threw a few changes of clothes in a sack and headed up there.  Since all our northland friends were so rude as to sell their boats we really didn’t have any water-related entertainment, so we just kinda hung out.  And hung out, and hung out, and…  Hey it was “relaxing.”  We met our camping neighbors and spent a considerable amount of time talking with them.  Yep that’s us, making new friends, building bridges.  They were nice people though, and it passed the time.  The guy was pretty funny too;  By the end of the weekend I noticed that every time the dozen or so kids in their camp started getting extra wound up, he would wander over to our camp.  Hmmm, coincidence?  That was about the whole of the weekend.  We enjoyed the fireworks, at least the ones that didn’t get lost in the clouds.  There were several rainstorms, but that is relatively insignificant when you’re in a motorhome.  During those wet interludes and the 14 hours a day Donette was sleeping, Gabe & I watched movies.  Our cinematic entertainment included:  The Happening, The Strangers, & Max Payne.  The Happening was one of the worst flicks I’ve ever endured, but I didn’t have anything else to do so I sat through it anyway.  The Strangers was…  OK.  It might have been better if I didn’t watch the first 20 minutes without hearing any of the dialogue.  I could hear the music fine, but no voices, which I figured was supposed to be some sort of artsy-fartsy suspense builder.  It started getting ridiculous after a while though, and then I figured out I didn’t have my headphones pushed in all the way.  It wasn’t worth starting over though, so I just let it run from there.  I liked Max Payne better than the other two;  It was good enough to restore my faith in Marky Mark as the top-notch actor that he is, after watching “The Happening” disaster.

Sunday we broke camp and headed back  home around noon.  I was feeling mysteriously beat up for no more than I actually did all weekend.  I watched the Royals game, took a short bike ride down to the Plaza and back, and well, that was about it.  Our old neighbor Rick was in town again, so we went to dinner at Waldo Pizza with him and called it a night.  If I would have taken any pictures at the lake I would post them…  But I didn’t.  Sort of forgot I had the camera I guess.  There wasn’t much to photograph anyway though;  I guess I could have done a 48 hour time-lapse of Gabe sleeping on the picnic table.

I shall put my best effort into this, as always, but am feeling rather lackadaisical.  I should move this to Tuesday or some later day, when the grim reality of another week has set in and I’ve achieved a better level of acceptance.  Right now I just feel like going back to bed.

There is also the fact that I didn’t do a whole lot last weekend.  Donette was out of town with her little friends, so Gabe and I settled in for a few days of yardwork and relaxation.  Or at least relaxation.  She left early Friday, so I had to get home right after work before Gabe ate the house.  We fixed ourselves a nice little bachelor dinner (chips and dip) and hit the TV room for an evening of Rock Band and reruns.  Good stuff.

Saturday…  Well it was really too stifling hot to do much of anything.  I threw a brisket on around 7:30 in the morning, and that project ate up most of the afternoon.  Believe it or not I had some issues keeping the heat down.  It got finished way earlier than it should have, but didn’t turn out too bad.  I had planned on spending the entire day cooking it though, so it’s early completion left me a bit short on entertainment for the rest of the day.  So, given that it was kind of hot in the house and I was too lazy to turn down the thermostat, I ended up walking down to the Brooksider to sit in their A/C.  This ended up being a fine decision, they had it set on turbo-cold.  I hung out down there for the rest of the evening, then back home for more Wii.  I tried to teach Gabe how to play tennis so I’d have some competition, but his lack of opposable thumbs proved an insurmountable obstacle.

Sunday, I wish I never would have gotten out of bed.  I did though, and it proved an unfortunate decision.  It started off well enough;  Gabe and I took a nice long walk to enjoy the cooler weather.  We got back home around 10:00, and after 30 minutes or so on the computer I was getting bored.  I checked into the MS-150 website to see if they had any rides going on, and sure enough there was one starting at Loose Park at 2:00.  That sounded like a reasonable diversion, so I ventured into the basement and dug out my long-retired road bike.  A quick check showed the tires were rotten beyond all hope;  I was clearly not going to be riding that bike.  So, in what would prove to be the first in a long line of poor decisions, I decided to just take my mountain bike.  I hadn’t ridden it either this year, but it looked road-worthy at least.  I rode down to Loose Park to find a gathering of around a dozen people, all on road bikes.  Yeah, no big surprise there.  However, a quick assessment of the group made it clear that a few of them quite frankly were not going to be setting any land speed records.  So, I checked in for the 15 mile option.  Hey, I hadn’t ridden in a while, I was on a mountain bike, and I’m in horrific shape, but figured anybody who can walk under their own power can struggle through 15 miles.  Well, my intended riding partner fell out pretty quick.  In retrospect, I should have called it a day right then and turned around.  I was feeling pretty good though so I kept plugging on.  At around ten miles I asked “So, uh, where’s the turn-around for the 15 mile ride?”  Well, they sort of forgot to mention it, so I was now on the 20 mile ride.  Bummer.  Well, whatever, I was halfway done and feeling OK.  There were four of us on the 20 mile option, so we’re cruising along enjoying the weather and one them drifts off the road and wipes out.  Boom, done.  No broken bones luckily but she’s done for the day.  The other two stayed with her to wait for a car, leaving me with, yep, the 40 mile group.  Shoulda stayed in bed.  Next thing I know, my legs hurt, my butt hurts, I’m getting a sunburn (no sunscreen, I was only going 15 miles) and I’m in friggin’ Martin City.  So, I hung back a bit, pretending I was messing with my shoes, and when everybody was about a block ahead of me I hooked a right on Holmes and never looked back.  I managed to drag my carcass to 95th, and decided I would either have to find a ride or just die there, because I was definitely not going to survive the hill in front of me.  In what would prove to be my only good fortune of the day, I caught Donette just pulling back into town, so she came and got me.  She drove me to the Brooksider, where I ate dinner and retold my tale of woe, standing the whole time.  Not a good start to my supposed bike riding season.

Whoa it’s toasty out there.  Downright nasty.  Oh well, I guess in all fairness it is summer in KC. We had a good weekend despite the weather though, and despite not sticking to our “weekend plan” at all.   Maybe we shouldn’t even try planning, because whatever we put on a list just never works out.  Friday I don’t recall that we did much of anything;  We hit social hour  at the Brooksider, then went home and played Wii games for quite a while.  Boring entertainment, but cheap and wholesome.  (My new motto.)  After that we popped in “The Dark Knight” and I promptly fell asleep as usual.

Saturday Donette went out with “the girls” and I had a big motorcycle ride planned.  I got my ride all washed up, fueled up, and ready to go.  My buddy Troy showed up on his bike just about the time the rain started.  We stood around and ciphered on this unfortunate situation for a while, trying to guess what it was going to do.  After a while it was clear the rain wasn’t going anywhere so we called no joy on the ride.  Bummer;  We’d been trying to get something coordinated for over a year and that was the first Saturday we finally got sync’d up.  But, riding in the rain ain’t a whole lot of fun, so I guess we’ll just have to try again another day.  So, given the rainout, I slogged down to the Brooksider and spent the rest of my afternoon there, mostly out of sheer boredom.

Sunday, according to our weekend itinerary, I was to spend the afternoon smoking a brisket.  Well, as it happened, I just didn’t really feel like it.  I had finally gotten around to picking up a new handgun last week, (a Ruger SR9 for the very few readers who might actually care,) and I was anxious to try it out.  So, I called up my friend Mark and we headed out to Parma Woods for some shootin’.  Yeah, it was a little warm out, but it was a lot of fun.  It must have been fun, because we were there over three hours.  After that entertainment, we once again headed to the Brooksider for a little a/c.  (Apparently my unofficial hiatus on the Brooksider is over;  Geez I went there more last weekend than the last two months total.)  We hung out there for a while, then our neighbor Brooke showed up feeling hungry so we walked down to Jalapenos for dinner.  After stuffing myself on some enchiladas I went home and curled up on the couch for a movie.  Donette recommended “Iron Man,” which her and Susan had watched the night before.  Indeed, it was a good flick;  I even stayed awake all the way through it.

Not a bad weekend, all things being relative.  Actually my entire week was shot down Tuesday when I went to the orthodontist, presumably to get my braces removed.  They hadn’t really said as much, I just had it in my head based on a few clues.  For one thing, it was my last payment.  It stands to reason that if I am no longer giving them money, they never want to see me again;  That’s the way it usually works.  Secondly, I’m really quite tired of them.  Done.  So, based on these reasonable assumptions, I packed my celebratory beef jerky and headed off.  Well, it didn’t work out;  Guess the jerky will have to save for a while.  Dang.

Friday after work Donette picked me up and we headed over to Raytown to check out the BBQ contest.  Our friends Red Buffalo BBQ were competing, so we hung out with them and walked around a bit.  Rick threw a few slabs of ribs on for munching, and they were pretty awesome.  He inspired me to give my own horrible ribs another go, so when we got home I took a few slabs out of the freezer.  We pretty much called it a night when we got home.  We picked up a copy of Gran Torino from the Red Box, popped it in, and that was it.

Saturday I got up and set about dealing on the ribs.  Since my last attempt was such an unmitigated disaster, I effectively started over.  Babybacks instead of spares, different rub, and less heat & less smoke, on the advice of my good friend Alton.  Meanwhile, Donette was continuing her monumental undertaking of trying to stop our 75-year-old crappy stone basement from leaking.  Unfortunately, my constant attention to the firebox kept me from assisting with this project.  While we were both engaged in our respective tasks, our old neighbor Rick came by to visit.  He actually still owns the house next door, and has been renting if out for a few years.  The current tenants are moving out though, so he drove up from Chicago to do a little “between renter” maintenance.  His partner Lucci was with him, and their dog Bondai.  Bondai & Gabe are buddies from way back, and they acted it;  They pretty  much ran each other ragged, which doesn’t really take much for Gabe.  While we were chatting with them they foolishly let it slip that they were going to a BBQ at their friends Ann & Jen’s house, so we invited ourselves over to that event.  Hey, they live close by, they were que’ing, and we didn’t have anything else to do;  Worked out perfect.  (For us anyway.)  So we packed up our ribs and headed over there, and actually stayed rather late.  The ribs?  Eh, better than last time.  I think I’ll save the hickory for the brisket and switch to apple or something next time.

Sunday for some reason, Donette uncharacteristically got up at the crack of 10:00.  Since she was up pre-noon, we decided to celebrate with breakfast down at Sharp’s.  That’s a pretty good start to a day right there.  I’m pretty sure we could do better at home, but all things considered I’d just as soon have my breakfast brought out to the table all cooked and ready, with no effort on my part.  And so, stuffed with johnny cakes and biscuits & gravy, we headed back home and hit the couch to await the predicted storms.  Well the storms never came;  It actually looked pretty nice out.  We didn’t want to risk it by stepping outside though, so for the most part we just watched TV and played on the computer.  We watched “Fletch” for the bajillioneth time, caught the Royals game, and a few other entirely forgettable movies.  Donette did make a quick run to Costco and picked up a few more slabs of ribs;  Since this last round at least gave me a base to work off, I’ll call them version 2.5 I think.

I must have hit some kind of hole in the space-time continuum or something;  It could not possibly be Monday already.  I’ve been cheated.  Somebody owes me a day, maybe two.  It was even supposed to be a long weekend.  I had Friday off if I remember right.  Must not have spent it very wisely though.  I remember going to the pool with the wife, maybe grilling some hamburgers…  It’s all a big blur.

Since Friday apparently fell into a black hole, I guess I’ll just to move on to Saturday.  It started off with a rash of “chores;”  Had to get the lawn mowed, zipped out to Mom’s and worked on her PC, and a few other assorted household items.  For evening entertainment we were going to a concert with Ed & Kim, so we had some level of preparation to do for that.  We took Gabe up to Ronda’s house and dropped him off, then went and met Ed & Kim at the airport.  (I’m not entirely clear why, as they rented their own car, but I don’t ask questions.)  Since it was getting into the afternoon hours, we went ahead and drove out to the general vicinity of the show, which was at Sandstone.  (Or whatever they call it these days.)  We had a tasty dinner at The Yard House, then headed out to the show.  Incidentally, I don’t guess I even mentioned who we were seeing;  It was an O.A.R. concert.  Ed & Kim had actually gone to the show the night before in Denver too, so they had some kind of groupie thing going on.  Which, speaking of groupies, Ed mentioned that the Sandstone show marked the 90th time he had seen them.  Ninetieth.  As in ten less than triple digits.  Whoa.  After a good show (probably my 4th or 5th, I’ve got some catching up to do) we ended up back at the Yard House again.  We stayed there until they booted us out at closing.  (They close early.)

We stayed at a hotel Saturday night, so we caught a little sleep and then pretty much just killed time Sunday morning until Ed’s flight home.  Most of the morning was spent at Cabela’s;  That’s always good for a couple of hours of wandering.  They had a big sidewalk sale going on too, so we scored some deals.  Unfortunately, I missed out on a stellar deal on a new tent.  I was waffling on making an un-researched purchase on the spur of the moment, and it sold while I was ciphering.  Just to add insult to injury I did a little online research when I got home;  Yep it was a heck of a deal.  Sorry Munkirs.  After shopping we had a little lunch at Arthur Bryant’s (yum,) picked up Gabey, and called it a weekend.  Hanging out with the sub-30 year old crowd apparently took it out of us;  We spent the rest of the day on the couch watching bad movies and playing Sudoku.