That’s right kiddies, the count-down has begun in earnest.  Some light packing has begun, some groceries have been purchased, and the trip-plan is being composed.  The weather forecast looks a bit foreboding, but we’ll have to take what we get.  I borrowed the in-law’s vacuum-packer-thing for the food, and it’s working out famously.  I vacuum-sealed the steaks, the danishes, some salad, and a few random household items that were within reach.  I gotta get one of those things.  Doni got a little nervous when I started calling the cat.

Well the weekend was relatively uneventful, but that’s how I like ’em.  I headed to the Brooksider on Friday after work and watched the basketball games, and then got up Saturday and went back for some more.  I sat down there for about 5 hours, and then the Munkirs’ came over and we went to dinner at Carmen’s, under the guise of a “Float Trip Planning” meeting.  I wonder if that’s tax deductible as some kind of business expense…

Sunday morning was the typical “relaxation” period.  I worked late Saturday night so we slept in a bit, then had our ritual 3-hour “coffee and newspaper” event.  After that I drove out to Mom’s to do a few light chores, and that more-or-less wrapped up the weekend.  I’m about 80 percent sure we did something fun later on Sunday but I can’t remember what it was.  (Besides the vacuum-seal-athon, that did take a while.)

Now it’s Monday, and I’m sitting at my desk facing the harsh reality of work without free popcorn.  Not good.  It would be an enormous quality of life upgrade if they had that machine here all the time.  Perhaps I’ll put that in the suggestion box.  At least it’s a short week.  I’m still working on posting the Mexico pics, but I can guarantee it won’t be until at least next week.

Big news on the work front; It’s QUALITY WEEK!!  One week a year there is a week dedicated as “Quality Week.”  We have cookies and stuff, and presentations, and speeches and what-not.  It doesn’t hold a lot of personal significance, as I make it a point to strive for quality each and every day regardless of the date.  (Although only in the workplace.)  But, the reason I anticipate it every year is that we get all-you-can-eat popcorn.  That’s right, they park a popcorn machine smack dab in the front lobby and it gets popped just as fast as I can chow it down.  Ahhhh, bliss.  I was quite concerned, actually; At first glance I thought it was going to be LAST week and I was going to miss out while in Cabo.  You can, I’m sure, imagine my dismay.  Likewise, imagine the height of my joy when I walked in the front door Monday and smelled that hot, buttery nirvana wafting through the air.  And to think, sandwiched right in between my Mexico trip and Float Trip.  I am truly a blessed young man.  I’m thinking about filling a trash bag with it and taking it to Float Trip…

We made it back safe and sound from our 10-day journey to Mexico.  We came back late Friday night, and have spent the last few days decompressing from the trip.  I’ll be working feverishly on posting (some of the) pictures over the next several days.  I can sum up the trip as “sunny, sandy, and relaxing.”  Nobody got arrested, my SPF 150 lotion performed flawlessly, and the houses we rented were more than satisfactory.  If anybody is planning a Cabo trip and wants some lodging recommendations, we got some for you.  Well, I really don’t have an update, so to speak.  Naturally, I am bound to silence regarding specific details of the trip, under the strict law of “Que ocurre en Mexico, permanece en Mexico.”  I tell you, that Google translation tool is a wonder.  I really have no idea if the previous sentence even makes sense, but that’s what Google spit out and I like the sound of it.  Anyway… Generically, I can say we had fun, although my body feels somewhat beat up.  I honestly can’t explain why, as I did nothing but float around in the nearest available body of water each and every day.  My feet are having some kind of adverse reaction to shoes too… They just can’t accept enclosure after 10 days of freedom.  Sigh.

Float Trip in two weeks, kiddies, start putting your gear together.

Veale en dos semanas, para el Float Trip.  Hasta luego!!

Hey, that wasn’t a bad weekend.  Sorta relaxing, but at the same time we actually left the house a couple of times.  Mixin’ it up a bit…

Friday evening we didn’t have anything going on, so we walked over to Waldo Wine around the corner from our house and hit the wine tasting that they have every Friday.  I don’t know why we don’t do that more often; It’s a rather fun diversion.  Take a little sip of this and that, mingle with the neighbors (if you’re Doni) and they usually have some type of live music too.  Plus it’s free, which adds considerably to the allure in my book.  After that we met Ed and Kim at Jalapeno’s for dinner, then they came over to the house and played some cards.  Went for a round of euchre and a game of 10-point pitch.  I think euchre has taken over pitch as my favorite game, but Doni doesn’t like it.  At any rate, between the two games, we managed to stay up slightly past the 9:00 time frame that’s marked our last few Fridays.  Can’t really remember who won, and I don’t suppose it’s really important anyway.

Saturday morning another “window guy” came over to quote some new windows for us.  Holy smokes, they do not give those things away.  Geez, it’s just a window, give me a break.  Oh well, they need replaced, what can you do.  After that my Mom came and picked us up and we went for a late breakfast at Sharp’s.  Good stuff man.  Maybe not good FOR you, but that’s OK.  After that we kicked around a few other places, then ended up at Tanner’s for dinner.  We had thoughts of actually venturing outside “the circle” and going out to the big bowling party in KS, but we were quite content watching some insignificant basketball game at Tanner’s, so there we stayed.  After a while we did get bored, so we headed home and watched Shark Tale.

Sunday morning we got up and went to good ol’ Perkins for breakfast.  I don’t know why we like that place so much.  Cheap and a lot of food, I guess.  We seem to go there a lot, so it must hold some kind of draw for us.  After breakfast we did a little light shopping, then I met Todd down at Tanner’s downtown to watch the big KU game.  I should have called it weekend right there, but against my better judgment I went to an Oscars party over at Susan’s.  The upside of this is that there was a ton of really good grub, the downside was that they actually had the Oscars turned on.  I can honestly say I was just a bit embarrassed to even be watching it.  Now THAT’S some bad TV right there.  A bunch of drug-addled freak-shows, parading around in bizarre clothes gushing about all the other drug-addled freaks.  Sad stuff.  I made it an hour or so though, and the spaghetti made it worth the effort.

Well, Wednesday we head out for Cabo San Lucas for 10 days.  We’re flying standby courtesy of our N.M. friends, so hopefully we get there with no trouble.  The place we are staying looks very cool, but of course they always do in the pictures.  What the heck, they have a swimming pool and beach access; can’t really go wrong.