I'm easy like a Sunday Morning

May I just start this post by saying "It wasn't me!". For once, this wayward bicycle does not belong to me. Big Red was doing some speeding around a curve and look what happens kids. Don't let this happen to you. Thankfully, he was okay and jumped off but I am sad to say his bicycle did not make it. He is now sitting at his computer trying to find a place here that sells replacement rims because neither Target or The Academy does. May I also remind you that we shop at Costco, therefore, the gigantic package of toilet paper. We are all human, people.

We decided to take Max to the park to chase his ball (he chased it, not us) and he had a blast running like the wind. He looks like such a happy dog here, doesn't he? It was beautiful out this morning and we enjoyed relaxing out at the park on a blanket.

He played hard so he took the time for a break as well. It may have been a nice day outside but Max is wearing a fur coat so he had to replenish his water after every chase.

He is getting so good with commands like "leave it" that no matter how much he wants a cookie, he will wait until we give him permission to eat it. I'm so proud of him today, he did so well and we loved being able to take him out with us.

Max was actually calm enough for us to take him out to brunch with us. We were able to sit outside and drink our coffee and eat breakfast while he relaxed next to the table. It was quite the relaxing father's day for my husband and we really enjoyed spending the day relaxing like this. Have I mentioned it was relaxing?

K

What a wicked weekend

That's right, the highlight of my weekend was Wicked. I loved it and am leaving for Broadway right away. I tell you, if I were a Broadway actress the part of Elphaba, the wicked witch of the west, is the part I would kill for. Just to perform "Defying Gravity" up there on wires with all the lights on you...awesome! It gave me chills. This cast was so good and I really enjoyed the play but I think the Lion King may still be number one for me.

After that we had dinner and drinks at Dick's Last Resort on the Riverwalk and it was an experience. Most of us had never been there before so it was a good time. The stupid paper hats they make you wear were fun and I enjoy sparring with rude waiters, though I think our waiter had a crush on H. Monkey Boy was the first one with a hat that said "I'm not gay but my boyfriend is" with an arrow pointing to H. I was next with "So easy a cave man could do me", Big Red got one that said "Free mustache rides" and H was the last with "I beat anorexia". We had a good time stuffing our faces, throwing paper napkins at unsuspecting diners and fighting off a woman who wanted a free mustache ride from my husband. We ended the night at Candelight with coffee and dessert and drum roll please....trannies!

These were older trannies with bad wigs, fishnet stockings, and really bad shoes. Big Red called them tranmas because they were older...trannies + grandmas = tranmas. It was quite exciting and we seemed to be the only ones getting all aflutter. Everyone else there seemed to be nonplussed about the tranny meeting taking place at one of the tables because this is a very gay friendly place. We tried to get pictures but we couldn't do it without being obvious and what we really wanted was just to have a conversation with them, out of sheer curiosity. Wicked and dicks and trannies, oh my, could this possibly be the best birthday weekend ever?

K

Who doesn't love a train ride?

Here we are at the end of our Boise trip as we rode the Thunder Mountain Train along the Payette River. My brother catered the lunch so we got comp tickets to enjoy the ride. We rode in an outside cart because it was such a beautiful day.

The view along the Payette river was so lush and serene. I miss mountains.

Big Mike had a chef at the lunch stop but he couldn't help but pitch in. Always on the job.

All along the river there were kayakers but wouldn't you know every time we wanted to get a picture, here come the trees. I was smiling the whole way home because the view was just so gorgeous...it just made me happy.

Big Mike and Tash posing in front of the caboose. She is little, isn't she?

Big Red and I doing the tourist thing and mugging for the camera. I didn't want to leave, I just wanted to ride the train all day. I was sad the day we had to leave because I miss seeing my brother. He has grown up so much and I wish we lived closer. But the return to Texas was inevitable and once we got to the airport it all went downhill from there.

Let me just give you the low lights: My glasses broke the minute we passed through security. Air Force One with President Obama aboard landed in Vegas same time we did hence making us sit out on the tarmac for a good 45 minutes (kinda cool actually). We were rerouted to Phoenix from Vegas because they cancelled our flight to San Antonio. We had to wait in Phoenix for hours because they could not find a plane to take us home. I called my parents to let them know about the delay and my dad told me Max had run away because of a severe thunderstorm. Once we got a flight to SA Red and I could not to sit together because the flight was full so I ended up next to a lovely young couple with a sweet baby who cried for the whole 2 hour flight.

We ended up coming in in the wee hours of morning and were thankful that by the time we came home Max was there waiting for us...muddy and scared but safe. Oh the drama...a crappy ending to an otherwise wonderful vacation. Max will now need doggy Prozac and therapy because we are horrible parents for leaving him so soon after Nani died. How were we to realize he would have such anxiety over us being gone a few days when my parents came over every day to take care of him? Needless to say we are looking for a dog trainer to help us figure out what we need to do to help him. I'm quite sure he will consume all our time until the guilt and or shame is gone.

K

Boise or Bust Part II

I have to say that I love Boise, it's just so pretty and clean. They have 10,000 parks and everyone rides a bicycle there. We decided to go to Camels Back Park in this gorgeous neighborhood called Hyde Park. See all those little people climbing up that hill? It's all sand, ever try to walk in sand...uphill? It took me about 15 minutes because I had to keep stopping to rest. I made the mistake of looking back when I was half way up and for a minute I almost chickened out. That hill is hella steep and my legs were shaking. Some little kid sliding down in the sand told me "Don't look back, you're gonna want to, but don't!" Big Red stayed right there with me and kept telling me I could make it and I did!

This is the view from the top looking straight down the hump. Thank goodness they had the posts on the side because I had to hold on to those and pull myself up.

The views from the top were gorgeous. My brother was smart to stay at the bottom with his dog but Tash decided to brave the climb with us.

I'm only smiling because I made it. The climb going down the side of the hill was equally steep but at least there were stairs. You better believe I held on to Red for dear life, I am so scared of heights.

We took a little hike along the river right past Boise State University. It was so breathtaking and awesome. Did you know they have the only blue football field in the country? This University is huge and the student housing is nicer than where I live. My brother was lucky to have gone there for Culinary arts. Red and I have talked about perhaps moving there but not for a couple of years, I have to ponder the snowy winters. It may be fun to go tubing though. K+snow+tube= really chubby snowball.

K

Boise or Bust Part 1

Okay, I can see by the lack of entries that H did not blog at all. Thank goodness I came back in time to tell you about my awesome trip to visit my baby brother Big Mike. Here we are in one part of his restaurant, can I look any prouder? There was so much jammed in to this trip that I will have to break it down. As in all things K, there were good and bad (the bad was only on the return trip) so let's start with the good...the FOOD!

Teriyaki Beef with jasmine rice and mac salad...broke da mouth!

Now this is a loco moco, two 1/3 patties on jasmine rice with asian gravy, onion nest and fried egg on top...this had to be taken home for later, it was so much food.

One of the pupu's we had Kalbi Buffalo Wings with Blue Cheese dressing. OMG...these were the best wings.

This was spring rolls with ahi inside and isn't this the prettiest presentation you ever saw? I love how when we order my brother tells them to bring a larger order for us. This is the advantage to being related to the owner. I had to ask my hubby if I was just biased because it was my brother or was his food just so damn good and he said the food was ono! We ate 3 of our meals at his restaurant and while we were full we had to try the dessert too because he has this amazing pastry chef.

Oh the pounds we packed on. Our first meal the day we came in was chicken katsu, kalua pig sandwich, chicken satay, sweet and sour meatballs, coconut prawns and strawberry daiquiri smoothies. We actually went back that night for dinner and had the food pictured above plus dessert. We were exhausted when we got home that night but stayed up talking in his back yard that he just landscaped to look like a mini Hawaii. The tiki torches, fire pit, Hawaiian music and even sand...it was heavenly. He and his girlfriend, Tash, showed us the best vacation I've had in a long time.

Tash, Big Mike and the newest member of their family, the baby rottweiler...Kanaks. I have to tell you the rest in another post because I have so much to do!

K

Here Ya Go!

We have so much fucking fun! Even pretzels become a source of comedy!