Friday Night Fun

Vegas Winstar, Baby!

B and the WinStar sign
(a little blurry--the camera was no cooperating)

Sorry, couldn't resist that one. If we can't go to Vegas, much to B's dismay, we can at least hit up the WinStar World Casino in Oklahoma every now and then, which is what we did Friday night.

We bought tickets a month or so ago to see Rodney Carrington's comedy show. If you haven't seen or heard Rodney, you should. He's hilarious. A little on the dirty side, a little on the country humor side, but hilarious. I think he'd fit in nicely with the Blue Collar Comedy guys.

Let's see. Quick rundown of the trip: I'm B's bitch, great show, successful poker playing, and arriving back home nearly 24 hours after we got up the previous morning.

How am I B's bitch, you wonder? Well, to know for sure, you'd have to ask idiot road rage guy who was ticked that B honked at him after IRRG sped up so that we wouldn't get in front of him when we tried to change lanes. We honked, so he thought he should then flip us off, point to the side of the road (presumably so we would pull over so he could beat up B or something--ha!), and make a gun gesture with his hand--that got his license plate written down. Then, when we ended up next to him in the stop and go traffic, he threw a rock at the Jeep--and didn't miss--and proceeded to say he'd shove B's badge up his a** and then yelled "F*#@ you and your Bitch!" Before he sped off, B hollared after him (in his best "Church Lady") "Hmm . . . Satan!" While a little scary, still pretty funny in the end. We're still walking around with B saying "you're my bitch, baby!"

The rest of the jaunt up 35 was less uneventful, thankfully. We made it there in plenty of time to walk around a bit while waiting for our friend Kelly and Scotty P., who were going with us to the show, to get there. Now, for my one complaint about the place. Do people smoke in public places that allow it just because they can? I'll admit, it wasn't as smokey this time as last time we went up there, but geez! Or is like drinking? You have to smoke while you gamble? I just don't get it. And since the casino is basically, one big tent, the ventilation isn't great, so the smoke just sort of sits there.

Me, Scotty P., and Kelly waiting for the show to start.

Bad attempt at getting a self portrait before the show started.

Someone sitting near us took pity and got a shot for us.

These were all taken with B's phone because no camera's were allowed. People were even gettting reprimanded for having having out the camera phones.

Anyway, we had lots of fun at the show. The opening act (don't remember his name AT ALL) was pretty funny in the end, but hit a few duds. Someone should have told him that at least half his audience was probably from Texas so he could have cut out or changed his Oklahoma jokes. We Texans just weren't amused.

Rodney was great. I've only heard bits and pieces from his CDs that B owns. His schtick is mostly country/hick family/couple fun. A lot of his stuff about couples you have to laugh at because it so dead on. He also has a whole segment of singing. He's got a really good voice, so you focus on that at the beginning of the song and then he pops out some outrageous lyrics. He's probably best known for his songs "Titties and Beer" and "A Dozen Roses" (which sounds innocent enough, but is NOT!). Honestly, my face hurt by the end from laughing so hard.

Oh, and thanks, Kelly, for getting such awesome seats!!

B and I waiting for the bus take us back to the poker room.

Kelly and Bernie goofing around while we wating for the bus.

There's no getting a "real" picture of these too!

Yet another attempt at a self portrait.

Can you see B sort of peeking out in the back.

And what a lovely shot of my double chin.

And that's a whole lotta Bernie!

After the show we met up with Bernie, got some food at the restaurant next to the live music that was good but so loud we couldn't hear to talk, and then let B and Scotty P play some Hold 'Em. Now, we went all the way up there and lot of you probably know that I'm a Hold 'Em player too, so you may wonder why I didn't play. I dont' do cash games. Too much pressure and I'm not nearly an aggressive enough player to have much success. I had $100 to possible play slots, but I ended up just hanging out with Kelly while the guys played--well, while B and Scotty P. played and Bernie watched over them to give updates and make sure they didn't go broke!

They didn't go broke. B even came home over about $150, so all-in-all a successful trip.

And despite being crazy tired, we got home safely and the munchkins nicely let us sleep until nearly 10:00. Needless to say, we spent most of Saturday lounging on the couch. We are definitely too old for these late nights!

Taking it on Tuesday: The Great Landscaping Project of 2010

So, remember this little TioT from a couple of weeks ago?

Well, that "little" project took a turn for the big.

B had been throwing out the idea of a walkway in the front yard for the last year or so, but we've never had the resources or inclination to take the project on. But, this time when we went to look at flowers to plant in the pots, we decided it was just the right time to take it on.

First stop was Lowe's to take a look at what kind of stone or brick we wanted to use. We picked a sandy colored cobblestone that would look good with the brick for the house, but that we could also stain if we wanted. The next morning, before making any purchases, we did a rough design of what the pathway would look like with the water hose, then it was off to Lowe's to buy our supplies.

Here is the official before pic. I had already started to remove a couple of bricks from the original border.

The plan was to extend the plant bed out about a foot and half to add a few smaller plants/bushes in front of the existing shrubs then make a walkway/border from existing pathway around the side of the plant bed and stopping at the corner of the house. Eventually, we will probably extend the walkway all the way to the gate.

B spent most of that Sunday digging a trench with the edger (is that even a word?) and digging out the grass along our planned pathway. Do you see all that dirt and grass? It was crazy! Oh, and, no, we did not leave the grass and dirt in the City of Fort Worth trash bin. B just needed someplace to put it until I got home with lawn bags, which we initially forgot!

Next came pouring the sand, which really made it start to look like something.

Now, picture this scene. This was Sunday a little over a week ago. Game 3 of the Western Conference playoffs between our Dallas Mavericks and the hated San Antonio Spurs (that was just for my friend, Cris!). Game started a 6:00 and we still had a lot of work to do, so I opened the front windows and turned the TV up really loud. Let's just say that it is amazing that our neighbors did not call the cops on us--well, me--for all the yelling I was doing at the TV through screened windows. Yeah, next time we won't plan a big project during the NBA playoffs.

Finally, we start laying the pavers. B started on the ones up the side of the bed then I started laying some. We quickly realized that I seemed to have more of a knack for laying the pavers, so I spent Monday through Thursday evenings after work until dark laying out the pathway.

We hit a few snags.

Does something look a little different from the original plan above?

Yeah, we were unable to get the tool for cutting the pavers and they were a little too soft to chisel, so we decided to work around the issue and not have the walkway curve. I still think it turned out completely awesome.

Here we are late Thursday night (finishing up just in time to head in for Game 5 Mavs/Spurs) with the sand poured over the top and wet down to set.

Something we learned after this point. The guys at Lowe's do not always know best. B initially wanted to use paver sand, which is sand mixed with cement to set the stone. Guy at Lowe's said this was unnecessary and all we needed was the regular sand.

Wrong!

The pavers just weren't quite setting right, so when we went back to Lowe's Friday night to get planting soil, plants, mulch, and grass to fill in the bare spots we didn't hit due to the design change, we got the paver sand. We went ahead that night and did the first round of paver sand and by the next morning, the stone was setting in quite nicely.

Saturday morning, we finished up setting the stones and then I went to work on the planting. I didn't want to plant just flowers in the bed. Our original idea had been just more shrubs/bushes, but maybe some yellow or red/purple ones. Unfortunately, all the ones we found at Lowe's were going to grow bigger than the space we alotted for. So, Plan B was to find some perennials that would grow kind of big and give just a little color to the space.

They are a little hard to see because they are still small, but the two on the outside are Marmalade Rudbeckia, which will yield some pretty yellow flowers, and the two on the inside are Passionate Blush Gaura, which should show pretty pink flowers as well as reddish leaves.

We used a black mulch to really contrast the the lightness of the pavers and also to coordinate with the black shutters around the windows.

And here we are, almost all finished. B has put one coat of stain on the pavers, but needs to add another.

View from the sidewalk. I've still got my pots our ready to get some flowers in there to complete the landscaping look.

I'll post more pictures when B finishes staining. We're really pretty proud of this project and really excited with the way it turned out.

Happy Tuesday!!

A

All in a Week's Time

It's funny how life works sometimes.

It's funny how the highs and lows of life hit.

In the span of one week, I've seen and felt (felt as an observer) the highest of highs and lowest of lows in life.

Last Tuesday, one of my very best friends, Julie, gave birth to her first child.

Julie and I work together and have been friends for nearly 9 years. Since we are both friends and co-workers and talk on a daily basis, I had a firsthand account of her entire pregnancy, talking with her as she planned and prepared for her sweet son, all the things that come with impending motherhood.

Another good friend and I waited (impatiently) all day for her husband to update us on Facebook of the new baby's arrival. At work all day, people anxiously asked for updates. We could hardly stand the wait. And then he was here.

I most definitely teared up seeing the first picture posted of that sweet baby boy and later pictures showing him with his two proud big brothers, his daddy, and his mommy.

It was such an exciting, happy day to watch, even from afar.

It was a major high.

On Sunday morning, our very dear friends, the Perry's, lost their beloved husband, father, and grandfather.

I've mentioned Scotty P. before. He's Bill's best friend and has been for over 15 years. Bill considers Scott's family his family, and as an extention of Bill, I do too. The Perry's are a wonderful family who love each other so much and love to laugh together. Jerry was such a big part of that, maybe the biggest part.

B and I spend all Saturday night, into the early morning Sunday, sitting with Scott and his family at the hospital as Jerry's situation steadily became worse. It was one of the most awful things to witness as these wonderful people tried to wade through their emotions and grief. But, I was glad that we could be there to support them and hope that in some way, we were able to give them some amount of comfort.

On Sunday, I took a step back and realized what had just happened in a week's time. I've never experienced anything like that before. It seemed so surreal to have these two major life events happen in such a short time. I know it happens every day, every hour really. There is life and new death every day. But, to see these things happen to people I am so close to really hit home to me.

Life is strange like that.
It is beautiful and precious.
It is made up of highs and lows that we sometimes don't even see.
But it is all life nonetheless.

Welcome to the world sweet baby boy (who I hope to meet, live and in person, really soon!).
And, goodbye, Jerry, a man I am so happy to have known.

A