September 7, 2011 Oregon Trail Park

I'm planning a fall bar for the local bar association and one of the possible venues for said party is the local Oregon Trail Park east of Belvue.

It's one of my favorite parks with great walking trails and views and ponds and real bathrooms. Running water and everything. It's true, I do judge many places based on their bathrooms. Forum Hall at K State is a total success. The convenience store on the bypass around Austin is a total FAILURE. *shudder* (We are going to San Antonio in November....I'll post a picture. EWWWW)

Ahem.

CB was home early from work, so he drove Buddy and I to the park so I could check for availability. On the drive, I took some pictures. For the bottom two, CB even stopped the truck.

This silo is painted with scenes of the Oregon Trail.

The Oregon Trail Park has one walking trail that goes straight up (seriously, straight up, and I am not even exaggerating. Well, maybe a little exaggerating, but not much.) and the view at the top is breath taking. Or it could be that you just can't breath because you just climbed STRAIGHT UP for this silly view.

Anyway, after my heart surgery, I was able to make the walk/climb and not feel like I was going to die. The day I did that was a very, very good day.

September 6, 2011 The Problem with Requesting Books

Here's what happens when you request a lot of books all at once from the local library.

They all come in at one time.

My priorities are in turmoil. I want to read but I have to work.

What to do?

I read until the wee small hours of the morning (which drives CB nuts. Look, his eyes are closed, how can my reading light bother him? I'm just sayin'.) then go to work. Come home, read before fixing supper, fix supper, eat, then read until the wee small hours of the morning.

So far it's working out, but for the record, if I could figure out a way to get a paycheck by reading the fluff that I love, I would sign up immediately.

Also for the record, I do read books of substance. It's just that in this go around of book requests, all the books were fiction. Frankly, I get enough "real life" bullshit at work to last all day. I come home to escape the real world.

Every year I promise to keep track of all the books I read but I never seem to be able to keep it up. I have 40+ books on my Kindle but sometimes I just want to hold a book and turn the pages.

My book vice? I read the last 3 or 4 pages last. Sort of like eating dessert first and who doesn't love that?

September 5, 2011 Kansas City Barbeque

In spite of our desires otherwise, the time had come to deliver Roger and Karin back to the airport. Since our weekend had clearly been defined on where and what we were eating, Roger suggested that we close it out by going to the original Arthur Bryant's Barbecue place on Brooklyn Ave. It is right down the street from where the old ball park used to be.

That's exactly what we did.

It was great. People were lined up out the door - all kinds of people, tourists (like us), fancy people, people from the neighborhood, people who come there all the time (and are more than happy to tell others in line exactly what to do. They didn't tell us because we were in the know. Roger has been around the block a time or two, you understand. And he's 60. So he knows everything. Just ask him.)

Roger took a picture of Karin, CB and me completely satisfied and nearly in a BBQ coma. Doesn't CB look like the cat that swallowed the canary? I'm not sure what that grin is about except that he ate THE WHOLE THING and his tummy is very, very happy.

In case you were wondering, and I bet you were, I had the beef sandwich with baked beans.

It was a wonderful weekend with friends who are like family. Those are the best kind, don't you think? The family you choose for yourself.

September 4, 2011 Mom's Birthday as Declared by ME!

Nothing beats a family birthday, especially one celebrated at the Brookville Hotel in Abilene.

Mom's birthday was on the 2nd, but I moved it to the 4th just for this year. (Did you not know that I had that kind of power? Oh, I do. Just ask anyone. I used to move Luke's birthday if it fell too far from payday, so I got pretty good at time warping. Maybe it's a single mother thing, I don't know.)

Anyway, we all took Mom to Brookville for lunch today. It was, as usual, awesome.

Roger and Karin hadn't been to the Brookville Hotel for 30+ years and they've never been to the one in Abilene. Karin was drooling in anticipation of the coleslaw and Luke kept asking if I was sure the mashed potatoes and corn were "all you can eat".

I'm sure I heard a groan from the kitchen when the cooks saw Luke walk in. That boy can do some damage to an all you can eat situation!

We ate our fill, had some leftovers, gave Mom her gifts and headed home for naps.

Nap we did. (Isn't that what Sunday afternoons are for?)

At 7:30 on the dot, Momma showed up for a Domino Throw Down. All of us crowded around the table and the swearing began.

Roger, who got schooled BY ME last night in the fine art of dominos cheated his way to victory tonight. Not sure how he did it, but the Scotch helped.

Weather report: GLORIOUS! Karin and I sat out on the deck this morning and she needed a blanket!

September 3, 2011 Perfect Day

It was a great day. The weather was perfect - in fact it even rained a little!

We started with made from scratch blueberry muffins (I am such a good hostess!) then headed to Topeka.

Our first stop was Monroe School. It's a very interesting place to learn about integration and Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. There was a magnet board upon which you could express your feelings. So I did:
Then we went to Porubsky's for lunch. It hasn't changed in at least 30 years and more like 60! No chili, but I had the cold plate and a beer. It was exactly the same. And the hot pickles? They still make grown men cry for their mommas.

Next stop was Washburn University's Mulvane Art Gallery for an exhibition of art built from Legos. It was unbelievable to see the things that the artist was able to make from little square blocks.

Here is just one example:

We got home and, at some point in the evening, CB and Roger grilled steaks and shrimp.

The meal was so good.

Then we played dominoes and Karin and I sang along with the radio. The guys loved it. Oh yes, it's true. They loved every note that came out of our mouths. They were particularly taken with our rendition of "Y.M.C.A.". In fact, my recollection is that they wanted an encore.

Alcohol count for the day: numerous beers, 2 bottles of wine (one for me, one for Karin) and 1/2 a bottle of Scotch.

Also, I won the domino game. I dominated it. Didn't even cheat. Didn't have to. But, you totally know I would have.

September 2, 2011 Shoppin' for Company

The Barnes are here.

Drinks will be drunk. Drinks will include: 3 bottles of wine, 1 bottle of Scotch, 2 frozen bags of margaritas (I know, it's weird, margaritas in a bag. However, margaritas from any source whatsoever are fine with me), and an unlimited supply of beer.

Fortunately for us, the local liquor store is 2 blocks away at the bottom of our hill. I could, theoretically, ride the lawnmower down for more alcohol if necessary. Not that I've given it any thought, although I did ask CB to show me how to run the mower earlier this summer. He thought I was going to help mow. Silly boy.

Roger and Karin are glad to be "home". Kansas did not disappoint them, there was a beautiful sunset as we were driving to Wamego.

I hope there are no Say Cheese! posts from the Pottawatomie County jail, but when the Barnes and Barrs get together, there are no guarantees.

September 1, 2011 More Liberals!

It seems like yesterday that Ben and David were involved in student government at Kansas State and hanging around my office.

They are great liberals and great thinkers.

In spite of it being against the law in Kansas for 2 or more Democrats/liberals/free thinkers to gather in one place, we did it today at Coco Bolo's!

How refreshing it was to speak frankly about our disappointment with the Democrats and Obama, our complete disdain for the the republicans, our concerns about the future and our memories of their days at K State.

Here's one of the things I remember: David, Ben and a couple of other guys came over for the season finale of "The West Wing". I made chicken and noodles - an entire roaster full of chicken and noodles - and about 10 pounds of mashed potatoes. The guys showed up, bringing me a bottle of wine. (Which I thought was nice of them. Their mommas would have been proud. At the beginning.)

They ate and ate and ate and ate. And ate some more. Then, ate again. They ate all those noodles and potatoes. I had never seen anything quite like it.

Then, we went to the basement to watch "The West Wing". Somehow, the boys discovered CB's stash of beer in the fridge and the party started for real.

After they had drank all of the beer in the basement, one of the kids went upstairs, got the bottle of wine they brought me, opened it and polished it off!

When CB got home from the golf course, he came down stairs to say hello. There he saw about 30 empty beer cans on the floor and an empty bottle of wine! And several slightly tipsy college students! (This is where their mommas might have been mortified.)

I can say without equivocation that it was most certainly the most interesting episode of "The West Wing" I had ever seen!

David, a Topeka native, is now at the University of Oregon and Ben is in Washington, DC. I'm glad that they come back to their alma mater occasionally, and I'm glad that I was lucky enough to spend some time with them.

So, for a short time this afternoon, I was not the only liberal in Manhattan. That felt pretty great.