Man I am in a FUNK!  Just can’t seem to get this thing kept up.  Not like I don’t have anything to go off either, we’ve actually been quite busy.  Maybe that’s the issue, who knows.  ANYWAY, poor excuses aside, we had a great holiday weekend.  We locked up the house and headed north last Wednesday afternoon, destined for our friends Danny & Denise’s house outside Harvard, NE.  We visited them last year and had such a good time that when they mentioned hosting another big party this year, we were ready to go.  The party wasn’t actually until Saturday, but I’m not much on driving, so if there is a five hour car ride involved I’m gonna be there a bit.  Matter of fact, by the time we got across the river I was pretty worn out, so we stopped at Martin’s house and ended up staying the night there.  Gotta break those long drives up a bit.

Thursday we got back in the car and continued our north-west journey.  Despite several stops along the way, we made good time and got there around dinner.  We spent the rest of Thursday and all day Friday catching up, playing cards, and just sort of enjoying their farm, not to mention their pool.  Last year we took Teagan along, but decided against it this year.  This turned out to be a wise decision, as they recently brought two longhorns into their big assortment of animals, and I’m relatively sure she would have ended up impaled in short order.  There was enough trouble with the horses last time, I think these monsters would have been too much for her to resist.  I also spent a good amount of time wearing Dan out with irrigation questions.  Not sure why, but for whatever reason I found the pivots rather fascinating on this particular trip.  How do you water a square field with a pipe that travels in a circle?  How often do those things break?  What if the well runs out?  Poor guy probably thought a two-year-old was staying with him.  Then I noticed the surface systems and started all over again.  Hey I thought it was interesting, what can I say.

Saturday was the fiesta, which was held at one of his boy’s houses.  Actually the party was in the quonset, which seemed to be a quite popular structure on all the farms.  (Naturally, upon taking notice of this, I bombarded them with another likely ridiculous string of questions.  Hey, might as well get informed on these vacations.)  It was an all-day affair, and we had a great time.  The smoker was fired up with 20 pork butts working, there was a 100′ slip-and-slide for the kids, and assorted other forms of amusement.  The weather suited the outdoor activities just fine, despite the sometimes annoying wind.  Later in the evening a few more members of the 295th showed up, that I hadn’t seen in a good many years.  They didn’t bite on my attempts to draw them into a discussion on what types of irrigation they found most practical, so we ended up rehashing old war stories of the Big One Of  ’91, which as usual was good for several hours of laughs.  After the enormous potluck that was dinner, we all sat back and watched his boys put on a massive fireworks display.  I should add some pics in here, but of course I’ll never get around to it.  They had two full pallets of the goods, stacked about four foot high.  I have honestly never seen a display that big at a private party, it was great.  Incidentally, the “Children of the Corn” reference comes from the fireworks.  During the daytime the kids were shooting off parachutes, and with the high winds they were drifting off over the nearby cornfield.  There would be twenty kids there, and then they would just suddenly disappear into the corn.  It was eerie, I tell you. I’m sure the kids wondered why I insisted on calling them all “Malachai” all day.

Sunday was the unfortunate drive home.  Ugh.  I guess it wasn’t too bad, except I could barely stay awake.  Went a lot faster than the drive up there, mostly because I was too tired to stop so we just kept hammering, save one required gas stop.  We got home around 2:00, and opened to the door to an extremely baleful moaning from the second floor.  Didn’t strike us as out of the ordinary;  Kane (the cat) gets quite upset when we leave town for a few days.  We set about bringing our bags in, making sure the house seemed in order…  And still the wailing continued.  Huh, that’s funny, he is usually right down here voicing his displeasure as soon as we get home.  I called his name a few times, and he just got louder.  Finally I headed upstairs to check it out, and found the poor little guy had gotten shut in a closet while we were hurriedly packing.  On Wednesday.  Four full days earlier.  Oops.  Needless to say, he was even a bit more put out with us than usual.  That sounds like a crazy-long time, but he really didn’t seem too bad off.  He headed straight for his food and water bowls, then set about telling us all about the horrors of being locked in a small closet with no litter box for days on end.  He’s been known to hold a grudge too, we might be hearing about it for a few more days.

I don’t guess this is so much a review as I just liked the picture. And, I’ve already been slacking on my beer feature so I thought I should throw something out here. So, this is Summit Meridian, randalled with fresh peaches and house-grown mint. Festive! Not much to delve into on the brew itself, at least for my tastes. It’s a nice little session ale, fairly light in body with some belgian yeasts giving a bit of fruity flavor. This rather understated character lent itself well to the randall process though, at least by the recommendation of our friendly Bier Station beertender. I don’t recall the complete list of available ingredients that evening, but we decided to keep it simple with some peaches and mint. Honestly I felt kind of bad for ordering it: It monopolized a good 15 minutes of the girl’s time, between slicing the peach, going outside to pick some mint, and very slowly pouring the beer into a large french press. She seemed happy people were trying it out though, it’s one of their “things.” After waiting the recommended 15 minutes or so, Donette and I both had a try, and we were both very happy with the results. The extra flavors were very bold, much better than just the ale off the tap by itself. Sort of fun if nothing else, I’m sure we’ll try it again with some different combinations of beer and flavors soon.

I guess the summer heat is here.  Wasn’t much of a Spring this year;  I’ve been cheated!  I don’t have a whole lot to cover from that weekend.  (Again.)  Friday, predictably, I ended up at the Brooksider.  Donette came down and joined me in a rare appearance.  After that we went home and hunkered down, did a little grilling;  Salmon burgers if I remember correctly.

Saturday I kind of laid low, as I was scheduled to work that evening.  I waited until it got good and miserably hot, then headed out for a bicycle ride.  Not the best planning on my part, but I need to sweat off a few (dozen) pounds anyway.  Had a good ride, even if I did about pass out from the heat.  After that I went and picked up Mom and three of her friends at a nearby liquor store, and drove them all home.  That is, of course, not an entirely accurate statement, but in the interest of deceptive journalism I’m going to leave it at that.

Sunday we actually got around to a little home maintenance, a rarity to be sure.  There is a big 12′ square slab in the back yard, (aka a “patio”) and over the last dozen or so years it has gotten rather filthy.  Luckily, we have a power washer for just such an emergency.  As is the case with most projects, it took a lot longer than I expected.  Definitely looks a lot better though.  As is ALSO usually the case, Doni branched it out into several little sub-projects.  I ended up power-washing the patio furniture, the sliding glass door, a few chairs, and I can’t even remember what else.  I drew the line when she pointed at the neighbor’s garage though.  (Really??  The NEIGHBOR’S garage???)  After that, we cleaned up a bit and headed outdoors for a small block party.  Oddly, someone had sent out a random email that we should all meet in a driveway and introduce ourselves.  (At least I find it odd.  This ain’t the northlands, people.)  Hey, it was sorta fun, what the heck.  Quite a turnout too, I was rather surprised.  I lasted well over an hour before excusing myself to “check on the dog,” never to return.  I doubt I was missed, and I had dinner to cook.  We put together a sort of grilled mexican salad, which came out rather well.

Another weekend come and gone.  The weeks have been rushing by a bit too quickly it seems.  Munkirs and I haven’t been able to ride much with the semi-crappy weather, or at least I haven’t.  Our 100-mile ride will be here before I know it and I’ll still be averaging 20 miles a week.  Recipe for disaster.

That weekend doesn’t really bear re-telling, but it’s Monday so what the heck.  Friday I went to the Brooksider, in the interest of consistency if nothing else.  Spent a few hours on the patio with the boys and then went home.  Friday completed; check.

Saturday I had good intentions of a fun day.  It didn’t necessarily go as planned, but then it rarely does.  I started my day by taking the scooter down to the nearby Price Chopper and grabbing a few slabs of spare ribs.  It’s not very relative to the summary of the day, but as I side note I forgot my stupid chopper-shopper card.  AGAIN!!!!  I hate those things like few other things on this earth.  What a nuisance.  I’m a big enough cheapskate that I won’t get anything without one though; It was like $6 off just on the ribs, but I don’t go there enough to get any saving on gas or whatever the heck their gimmick is.  So, I signed up for my 15th (at least) stupid card.  I don’t even keep them any more, I just hand the clerk the big card with all three still stuck together, they scan it, then I drop it in the trash at the end of the counter.  Arrrghhh did I mention I hate those things.  Anyway, back to my ribs.  My plan was to set my new Weber kettle up for indirect cooking and see how that compared to my smoker.  Overall they came out very well I thought, but it will be worth another try or two.  I really fought with the temperature to start, it was tough keeping it under 250.  And then, two hours into it, the rain came with a fury.  In my rush to move everything to the garage I dumped the water pan on my coals;  It wasn’t tough to keep it under 250 after that.  I managed to keep a glimmer of heat until the four hour mark though.  Remarkably, they seemed a bit overdone to me.  I’ll try again next time they go on sale, see what happens.

Sunday Donette took me out for Father’s Day, to Los Alamos.  I’d planned on the brunch at Blue Moose, but when I jokingly suggested alternatives she sort of pounced on the Los Alamos option.  Hey, works for me, I like that place.  This time around I ordered the Chilaquiles, with absolutely no idea what those were.  Honestly I think I might have a new favorite breakfast item.  Right up there with biscuits and gravy.  Seriously, I just said that.  I’m not ready to make that rash of a pronouncement just quite yet, but if I like them that much the next few times I see them on a menu it could be a monumental change in my life.  We left breakfast and headed north up to Donette’s parent’s to do some visiting.  All the girls were there, leaving her Dad and I severely outnumbered.  We sat quietly in the corner and waited for them to talk themselves out.  They never did, but finally the lure of In-A-Tub drew them out of the house and I escaped.

Whew I’m a bit out of sorts this week.  I’m in a class out at the Sprint Campus, which quite literally throws my entire day off.  It takes a long time to get there, it’s an unfamiliar commute, and the traffic is ridiculous.  But I guess the class is good so far, for what that’s worth.  Monday I rode the scooter, and yesterday the car.  For future reference:  Always take the scooter.  The parking garages are insane, it takes like fifteen minutes to get out of them.  The scoot’ is subject to the “park wherever you want” rule, so you don’t get tied up in that mess.

Any-who, as far as entertainment, it was another busy weekend.  Matter of fact, the weekend sorta-kinda started even before Friday, when our friend Steve came in from out of town.  We’d talked several times (OK, not talked…  just texts actually) over the last few months, so his visit was certainly no surprise.  What was a surprise, I guess, was his travelling companion, Pliny The Puppy.  In retrospect, perhaps it shouldn’t have been a surprise, as Pliny goes everywhere with him, and because he’d specifically mentioned it.  But, much like the fact that he told me he was driving instead of flying, it just really didn’t sink in.  He lives in California;  Who drives that far?!?!  Don’t get me wrong, I was more than happy to see young Pliny.  I wish everyone would bring their dog when they visit.  Teagan, on the other hand, was less than pleased to welcome a new friend into the house.  Sigh, that girl is just a less than hospitable hostess.  They did OK, but not great.  After a few small squabbles we decided to just take the low road and board her for the night.  Although she’s never stayed overnight, she’s always glad to spend time at her favorite day care, so it worked out fine.  For entertainment, we headed out to dinner at Fud.  Steve has, for whatever reason, decided to eschew good ol’ red (or any other color) meat, so this provided a good opportunity for me to try this place.  Doni’s been there a few times and recommended it.  Honestly, it wasn’t bad at all.  I had a burrito, and I liked it a lot.  To be fair, it was mostly guacamole and salsa.  Hey, I like those, works for me.  We headed out to Kauffman too, and caught a Royals-Twins game.  We sat in the Frenchy Quarter for the first time, which provided some extra fun.  Oddly, Francoeur wasn’t even in the lineup that night.  Weird.

Friday we went to our friend Susan’s house to celebrate her 50th birthday.  Sigh, my friends are turning fifty.  My day is coming, and not far off.  But it gave me a reason to celebrate, so it’s all good.  It was a nice night out so we partied in the back yard all night.  Bad for the neighbors, good for me.  Got totally eaten up by ‘skeeters, but had fun anyway.

Saturday we reluctantly crossed the river for another party.  Our friend’s daughter was graduating from MU, so they were throwing a bash.  Sigh, my friend’s kids are graduating from college.  With advanced degrees, no less.  Sigh.  It ain’t easy getting old, but at least there are a lot of parties involved.  I thought it was great that she earned her degree(s) and all, but to be perfectly honest I showed up for the barbecue.  Mark had smoked some  pork, brisket, and a turkey for the event, all of which were delicious.  I did manage to mumble my congratulations on my way back to the table for another plate.

Sunday I went on my first organized bike ride of the year, the City of Fountains Tour.  I am way behind on miles this year due to the weather, and maybe a general lack of interest.  When I got up and saw how wet the roads were, I almost bailed out of this event too.  It had stopped raining, but the streets were still very wet and I really don’t like getting my bicycle all filthy.  Not to mention, wet greasy roads and 20 mm high-pressure tires just don’t mix that well.  I stomped around the house all morning grumbling and fretting about whether to go, and then in her familiar shut-up-and-let-me-sleep voice, Donette said “Why don’t you just ride your mountain bike?”  I know she was just trying to get me out of the house, but that wasn’t a 1/2-bad idea!  I quickly aired up the tires on the ol’ Klein and checked it over, and decided it was road-worthy.  Only a third of the gears work and the tires are a little sketchy, but it would get me through the day.  Indeed, it was a downright pleasant ride.  I took it easy, took some pictures along the way, and just sort of relaxed.  I had good intentions of posting my pictures, but then realized I don’t even have the proper software installed on my recently updated PC for that.  Whoops.  Anyway, I didn’t go the full route as I’d originally intended, but had a good ride.  Meanwhile, Munkirs was hammering out the full route in his doggedly determined manner, until he got sidelined by a flat tire and called it a day.  I actually got to say I rode my mountain bike further than he did his road bike, bonus fun!