Phineas and Ferb, Whatcha doin'?

I wish Phineas and Ferb were here. I really need them to build a Springer Thought Reader. My dog Sparky is exhibiting some behavior that I really do not understand and is driving me crazy trying to figure it out.

Now I have given up trying to understand Sparky chasing imaginary birds, sleeping under an old Ford truck hood instead of in a comfy dog house, and many of the other things he does that baffle me, but this latest obsession is too goofy.

When we got Sparky, he did not like the water. Not at all. After he fell in the pool-twice-, I knew he had to be coaxed into it enough to learn how to get out when he tumbled in. So with a lot of treats and pulling him in, we got him past his initial hatred of water. Soon he liked it. Then he loved it--as long as his face didn't get wet. So imagine my surprise when he started diving under the water and just swimming underwater. Over and over again. He'd spend the entire time we were in the pool doing that. He exhausts himself; he never rests. He is like a hairy little dishrag when pool time is over. Soon I realized that he was diving after one of the "eyes" where the water comes into the pool. Thinking he liked the feeling of the water flow, I turned off the pump, but it made no difference. He still had his head underwater. He still dove and dove seeminly after the "eye" in the side of the pool.

He perches at the edge of the pool and sticks one paw in and tries to reach the "eyes."

What is Sparky doing? Why does he dive and dive and dive? What is so fascinating about the water coming into the pool? Why does he care about it this year and never took notice of it before? He is obsessed with his task. A Springer driven by some need to explore the depths. I know that if Phineas and Ferb would just decide this is that they were going to do today, that the mystery would be solved.

IN MY LIFE

I read Colt's blog about the Beatles last night and it spurred me on to actually write one that has been floating around in my head ever since the hype for Beatles Rock Bank began--and yes the hype worked on me. I bought the whole damn Beatles Rock Band package even though I already own Rock Band. Of course Colt urged that insane move so he could have the Rock Band instruments I already have. But that's not what I came to talk about.
I came to talk about what a difference the Beatles made in my life. I was one of the millions whose life was changed after that first Ed Sullivan Show. I was in the 5th Grade and I think I can truthfully say I was St George's most ardent Beatlemaniac. I came early to a love of popular music. A Ricky Nelson LP (Look that term up those of you under 40) for Christmas when I was in the first grade; my dad bought Bobby Darin and for some reason I was drawn to The Lettermen and Frankie Laine, but the Beatles, now that was a whole new thing--obsession. I had it all: posters that ruined the paint on my bedroom walls, Beatle dolls, a lunch box, a pillow. All kinds of stuff that would be worth a small fortune now. I did take excellent care of all the vinyl and have lovingly passed it down to my son who thankfully appreciates this kind of crap even more than I do. I loved it all and I lived and breathed Beatles for a long, long time.
Somehow I'd forgotten how much I really truly loved them until the Rock Bank hype. It's not even just that I loved them and their music. It's that they taught me so much.
It was the Beatles that first had me actually listening to words of songs for story and meaning because they wrote their own material. As I assess the artists that I went on to love, the ones that I really admire are all singer/songwriters: Elton John, Toby Keith, Jimmy Buffett to name the BIG THREE in my world. So they taught me the power words of a song can have and the value of making those words your own.
They taught me the value of humor in disarming people who insult or ridicule you. Can you believe the world thought there was something sinister in long hair? It really did. This also served as a primer to my education in WTF as I began to try to figure out why people are so concerned with what other people are doing even when it really has no effect on them.
I saw how celebrity can be used effectively and not so much as George spread Eastern religion and tried to feed the hungry; Paul worked for animal rights and John wanted us to give peace a chance.
When Brian Epstein committed suicide, I was shocked to learn that people really did discriminate against "homos." That's what we called them then, but even with my limited knowledge of sex, I was pretty sure that which sex other people were attracted to really wasn't contagious and that we should just let them be happy and not mess in their love lives.
Paul and Linda showed me true love and the ability to raise healthy good children in a glass bowl and validated my choice of Paul as my favorite.
John taught me that even though your intentions are noble and just, you can totally go about things the wrong way. And he taught me that people you admire can greatly disappoint you (Yoko, yep, I'm a Yoko hater), but in the end what they do with their lives is their business and not yours.
George grew as he aged and I really love his later stuff and I adore the Traveling Wilburys.
Ringo just makes me smile and we all need to smile as much as possible.
Maybe the most important thing the Beatles did for me is shape some priorities. Colt told me one time when I was lamenting about the CD's filling every corner of his room that I had a kick ass music collection and that he admired that and it was one thing he wanted. So I take credit for his music obsession and I am thrilled that he came to love the stuff I love early in life and then spread his musical wings and was exposed to and grew to appreciate many more genres than I ever will. Would I have had that kick ass collection if not for the Beatles, probably not.
Books--Books are a big deal for me. On of the first grown up books I HAD to own was John Lennon's IN HIS OWN WRITE. Jeez, it was clever. I learned to love owning good books and that's another trait Colt has picked up. I happily bought him many, many books on the Beatles, the Kennedys, US presidents and it worked. He's well rounded, well read, and curious about everything.
Concerts--I have a great concert resume and am still adding to it at the ripe old age of 56. I am so happy now that I can take Colt and Maggie along with me on these magical mystery tours to see live performances. The first concert I took Colt to was Crosby, Stills and Nash. He didn't like it much but now is proud to say it was his first concert. It was watching the Beatles at Shea Stadium that made me want to go to see a live concert. It was wanting a concert resume like mine that made Colt want to go to concerts and he is building his concert resume.
So in a lot of ways, the Fab Four not only shaped my life, but they influenced the way I influenced Colt's. Obladi. Oblada. Life goes on.

DEFYING GRAVITY AND BEING POPULAR

If you want to know what makes you "Popular," it's nine extra tickets to see WICKED. No kidding, people really, really wanted to see that show and I had nine extra tickets. I chose wisely and everyone who got them really enjoyed the show. Kevin and Jamie from my office saw the matinee along with a friend of Maggie's. The evening performance Colt Maggie and I were joined by Holly, Niece Stephanie (celebrating her 16th birthday) and her mom, my friend Judy, Bryan and Dani.
We had a most excellent weekend. Colt, Maggie and I had dinner at Red Rock on Friday night and then went to see "End Days" at Salt Lake Acting Company. It was a fun play and dinner was so good. If you go to Red Rock, get something with the horseradish potatoes.
Saturday Colt went to the Salt Lake County Democratic Convention. I slept in and then Maggie and I did a little shopping. We didn't find much to buy, but we caught up with Colt and went to the Cheesecake Factory for a yummy lunch. Colt's kind of looked like a Fred Flintstone meal and Maggie got Mac 'n' Cheese so it was all good. After lunch we walked through Fashion PLace and I found some Ray Ban Clubmaters that I really needed to own. I managed to not buy them then, but brought my $$'s home with me and bought them today in St George. They are blue and awesome.
We went to Thaipoon for dinner before WICKED. It's one of Colt's favorites but I think I was still too full of Cheesecake Factory to enjoy it,
WICKED was fabulous. I saw it twice in LA and was a little worried about how the traveling production would compare but it was excellent.
After the show we tried to find someplace for dessert. Honestly, stuff closes early in Utah. We wound up back at Red Rock for appetizers and desserts. Holly and I enjoyed a delightful little beverage called a "Jack Mormon." I highly recommend it. So Holly treated us to appetizers and dessert and it was a grand time. We were the last ones in the place.
Such a fun evening. I love it when I get to spend an evening with people who are entertaining and not stupid.
Sunday Colt and Maggie went to church and when they were finished we walked (Well, at least Maggie and I walked. . .) to the Original Pancake House for breakfast. A quick trip to Costco followed and I was on my way home.

Easter

So I have been terrible about blogging. Chalk it up to my obsession with Facebook I guess.
Anyway, we had a wonderful Easter. The weather didn't cooperate until Sunday so the first part of the weekend was not that swell. Colt & Maggie came down Thursday night. I had taken Sparky for a bath and grooming and he looked so beautiful that they took him to the Arts Festival in St George with them on Friday afternoon. Sariann and Becca went too, but Sparky got all the attention. "What a pretty Dog!"
On Saturday it was not a good day to swim and we were bummed. Colt and Maggie got their hair cut and Maggie worked on her homework while Colt and I shopped for the Easter Feast. At least I think that's what happened. It was a week ago and I am aging rapidly.
Sunday the sun came out and it was a perfect day. Colt, Maggie and Sparky all enjoyed their Easter baskets. Then the guests arrived: Jamie, Addie, Avery, Tashia, Kevin, Sariann, Becca, Abbie, Phoenix, Bryan, Danni, Portia, Roman, and James (who we called Jason for some reason). We had a huge egg hunt with hundreds and hundreds of plastic eggs filled with goodies and coins. And the feast. Of course the feast.
Nephew Brady had some over and repaired my ailing BBQ and I had cleaned off the patio. Colt made good use of the now working BBQ and fixed possibly the best lamb I ever ate. It was an outstanding feast and I think everyone enjoyed it, the sunshine and the pool.
So my work was done: People were full. People got their first sunburn of the season. Diets were ruined.
It was a glorious Easter Day.

JANUARY BLAHS

I remember when I lived in Salt Lake that the January Blahs were just unavoidable: the inversion, the cold, the once pretty snow was now all dirty and icy. I just realized that I love January now that I am back in God's Country--Utah's Dixie. True, I've been back almost 30 years, but until I had a Sparky dog to go out and play with, I really didn't think about January much. Also since going to work for Washington City where the year ends in June, January has a lot less unhappy chores.
I am especially enjoying this weekend. I have my little robot friends doing housework; Sparky has had his bath; my neighbor is trimming "our" grapevines, and I have three more seasons of House to enjoy before the football game tomorrow.

Christmas 2008

We had an amazing Christmas this year. We started celebrating on Dec 18 when Colt graduated from the police academy. I flew up to attend the graduation. It was really special. Colt's dad would have been so proud. Two of his dad's best friends were there to support him: Dale Elton and Jim Raburn. It was super chilly in Salt Lake but it was such a warm lovely time that it was easy to bear the snow.
Friday morning we loaded into Maggie's car and tried to head home early to beat the storm. We did beat the storm, but we really didn't get out of town early. . . That's another story that Maggie or Colt should tell. I was just a passenger in the back seat.
We spent the weekend at home in St George getting ready for Colt's Festivus party on the 23rd and doing the food shopping for the week's special dinners. On Saturday we went shopping . . . again. We slso wrapped a lot of last minute gifts, went to see "BOLT," and Colt went shooting with the Ence Cousins.
Colt and Maggie went to church on Sunday and then had the bad luck to go visit the grinches. This would have been a totally negative experience except that it gave us lots to laugh about over the next few days. That evening we had our family Christmas Eve dinner. It was just delicious. We were joined by Sari and Mike, Jamie and Addie, Abbie and Phoenix. It was just so much fun. After dinner there was a game of Apples to Apples while I tidied the kitchen and got the lemon sauce ready to go with the gingerbread.
On Monday I went to work. Colt and Maggie went skiing with the Ence kids and they had a wonderful time. I fixed corn chowder and they all ate and experienced the "Tim Tam Slam."
Tuesday and Wednesday were filled with Festivus and Maggie preparing her family's traditonal Swedish Christmas Eve dinner. We had a surprise guest join us. Maggie's brother Scott flew in on Christmas Eve and that really made it special for her. We were joined again my the same group from Sunday plus my niece Ciera. We ate later than we planned because Scott's plane was weather delayed and the little girls got pretty tired and hungry but we finished up in time for them to get to bed before Santa got to town.
Colt, Maggie and Scott went to Midnight Mass and Sparky and I waited for Santa. We all got to bed about 2:00 AM and Colt (Bless his heart) got us up at 6:00 AM. We had a really perfect day. Santa was more than generous and the gifts we gave each other were heartfelt and wonderful. Sparky was especially entertaining discovering his stocking. We went over to deliver gifts to the Ence's and Becca came to my house to get her gifts and play. She and Ciera arrived in time to eat turkey turnovers. A very important Christmas tradition in our family. Ciera didn't eat any of course because she doesn't eat meat, but Becca quite enjoyed hers.
The Wii was a lot of fun. Colt, Scott and Maggie stayed up playing Rock Band until after 2:00 AM.
For me it was probably the best Christmas ever. (This time for real Colt, not like your "Best Christmas ever in '06). It was a BB gun Christmas for me and that was ever so fun.
Friday we ran around and did some errands and went to Red Robin for a late lunch. Today we got the kids all loaded up to head north. Maggie's family is flying in from Pittsburgh for a family ski trip. Colt and Maggie are really looking forward to that. Before they left I got a cash course in Wii 101 so I can at least do something with it before they come back down and we took some family photos.

CHRISTMAS COOKIES AND OTHER STUFF

I have been trying to do my Christmas baking this week. It's not like I do a lot of baking, but I do like Christmas cookies so I have sifting and mixing and baking various kinds of cookies. I did some chocolate chip with some special Christmas chips first. I did them first because I went to see Colt and Maggie last week and Colt really likes chocolate chip cookies. I am not that thrilled with that particular cookie so it is one I can make and not be tempted by too much.
Oh, but next I did snickerdoodles. I have a really, really good snickerdoodle recipe and even though I made a double batch . . . they are almost gone. I took some of these to work and they didn't last until 10:00 AM whereas the chocolate chips batch lasted almost all day.
Saturday morning I discovered a really fun recipe. I don't remember what they are called, but the are a bit like shortbread and a bit like Mexican wedding cookies. They are tasty: covered with powdered sugar and they have the white baking chips with the Christmas swirls in them. Yummy and festive!
So I have three kinds of cookies made. I will still do some minty coconut cookies that we made for the first time last year, molasses cookies and, of course, sugar cookies. The sugar cookies don't keep as well so I think they will be a "Weekend Before Christmas" project.
And the other stuff: Now I don't make candy. I figure if God had meant for me to make candy, he wouldn't have invented See's. Their bordeaux pecan fudge is so much like my favorite of Nanny's fudges! And See's caramels. . .there is nothing better.
I'll make a Christmas pudding for our dinner next Sunday and I may make the rice or bread pudding we will have on Christmas Eve, but that's about it for the goodies I will bake.
The other stuff mentioned in the title??? Turkey Turnovers. That was my project today. Turkey turnovers are a Christmas Day tradition in our family. So dear family members who are worried about such things--Never fear. They are all done and safe in the freezer along with everything we need to make delicious gravy on Christmas Day.
Happy Holidays!

TURKEY DAY

Thanksgiving was really nice this year. Turkey Day is not really one of my favorite holidays but I really enjoyed it this year. Colt and Maggie were in Pittsburgh so there was only Sariann, Mike, Judy and I. Judy has been trekking from Price to Washington for the promise of butter tips and shopping for quite a few years now.

It rained most of the day but that was okay. I discovered that I have been wrong about the amount of work equation with the number of people served. For years I have been saying you cook all the same things so what difference does it make how many you serve. WRONG! It is way easier to cook for only a four people. The meal turned out really, really good. It may have been the best we ever had. I discovered a new way to serve sweet potatoes that does not require marshmellows and it was excellent. I am sure it will be an addition to our regular slate of dishes on Thanksgiving.

After I cleaned up, we started to "deck the halls." Mike had to haul in all the tubs from the big garage solo and he really missed Colt after about 10 trips. We got everything done though. Sariann did the Disneyland Main Street on top of the China Hutch; Judy did the Danbury Village, and Mike hung the garland. Perfect job for a tall guy. My niece Ciera joined us and decorated the tree in the kitchen and helped me with the living room stuff.
Nephew Brady had come over and put my outdoor lights up last Monday and I plugged them in as instructed Thursday morning so they would come on that evening, but as I was taking out garbage, I realized they were not on. Oh What shall I do???? So I sent Brady and text and faster than a speeding bullet, super hero that he is, he and Carson were there to set things right. My lights are really cool this year. Come and check them out!

Judy decided to brave the crowds at the outlet mall and so I was alone and I mopped the floors and put the Spode in the China Hutch. Then I went to bed and watched "The Christmas Story."

The rest of the weekend was pretty low key. Judy and I shopped a little each day and we found some really fun stuff. Becca came over and we had a mini birthday celebration for her 6th birthday which is on Monday.

On Sunday Judy headed home and I put up the Christmas tree and puts bows and ribbons on the gifts so I could put them under the tree. Then I watched football and took a couple of naps. What a great Sunday!

Thanksgiving

It has really come home to me of late that I am every so thankful my son had the good sense to marry Maggie.  Ever since Colt was a little boy people have been telling me what he would and would not do and besides telling me he would get to old to want to go to Disneyland with me (As if--now I have both Colt and Maggie packed and ready to go if I even hint at a trip) and that it would be terrible when he got married.

Well, as usual "they" were wrong.  I always felt that since I never outgrew Disneyland and all that it stands for, that Colt probably wouldn't either.  I was right about that one.

I also was pretty sure that anyone Colt would fall in love with would have to be someone I would fall in love with too.  I was right about that one.

I was with my Red Hat group in Las Vegas on Sunday and as we were showing off our purchases, one of them commented that I really hadn't lost a son, but gained a daughter.  I got me thinking how really true that is.  I hear my friends moan and groan about son and daughters in law and I feel so blessed.  (Of course I always take credit for raising a practically perfect son who just would not make stupid marital decisions.)  

I love Maggie!  She took her first trip to Disneyland with me while Colt was in Washington DC and she felt the magic.  It was such a treat to introduce her to that very important part of our world.

Maggie loves Drag Queens.  We share that obsession and I even share my very own Drag Queen with her.  

I collect "gays," and Maggie is building her own collection too.

Maggie loves books and concerts.  We turned her into a Parrothead a year ago and she figured out right away that while shopping in Margaritaville, I will purchase about anything you throw on the pile. . .even if I am not drinking.

Probably my only concern with Maggie and Colt is that I thought it was a terrible move to give him a deadline to get married.  They had dated more that three years, but I was really concerned that Colt would someday resent being given an ultimatum.  I was wrong.  He probably never would have pulled the trigger.  As I realized this, I knew that Maggie probably knew him well enough to "handle him."

Anyway, besides my friends, my dog, Disneyland, Elton John, tequila, rock n roll, and green tea, I am thankful for Maggie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICKEY

My very good friend, Mickey Mouse, celebrated his 80th birthday on Nov 18, 2008. Since I was unable to trek to Disneyland to celebrate with him, we had a party at the Washington City Utility Office! We all wore ears and Disney shirts and even had a birthday cake.

Cari's husband, Jason, is quite an artist so he made Mickey a very special one of a kind birthday card that we all signed and I sent off to MM.

The citizens who came into the office quite enjoyed the ears and many were amazed that Mickey was 80! The mouse has aged well.

Christmas Present to Myself

I always give myself a nice Christmas gift. Not that my son, my family, and friends don't give me good gifts, I just think I deserve a gift from myself. This year I hadn't really come up with anything I wanted to get for me and I am trying to save money to take Colt and Maggie to Disney World this summer, so I was thinking I would just skip myself this year. Until. . . On the Monday before Veteran's Day, I called to see if I could get my carpets and upholstery cleaned on Vet's Day while I was home. As I was telling Stanley Steemer which areas I had to be cleaned, I just felt sick tomy stomach about having the burber carpet in my tv room cleaned again. Burber carpet is the work of the devil. I'd have it cleaned and it would look beautiful and two weeks later is was disgusting again. I began to ponder.
After pondering a bit I called Colt to run my idea past him: let's pull out the devil's carpeting and put in a laminate wood flooring. Colt agreed this was an excellent idea and said to call Mike and Sari because that is what they did at the salon and they could do it for me. So I put in a call and not only did they not hesitate to offer to do it, they also suggested we paint the room while we had the carpet out.
They said they would be over on Sunday to do it. . .all of it in one day. I had my doubts about that but went to Home Depot and brought home flooring and paint samples. After making my decision, I went back and got the flooring and the paint.
Sure enough Sunday morning--only two hours after they said they would be here--we started the project.

My "new" room is awesome and sure enough we got it done in one, very long, day. Thanks to Sariann and Mike for giving up their one day a week off and doing this for me. I LOVE IT!
They also posted a blog about the project if you want to check that out: http://mikeandsari.blogspot.com/

PS - If you have a painting project, call Mike. He doesn't need a ladder to do the ceiling.

He's Baaack

My oldest nephew, Elder Brady, returned from his mission in North Carolina last week. Brady is my "project buddy" and a true carrier of the Sims Gene. If you don't know what that is, I can't explain it to you. It was great to see him.

He's actually been around in paper form since Colt announced his engagement. Brady didn't want to miss any of the excitement surrounding Colt and Maggie's wedding so I had a life sized cardboard cut out of him made to attend all the wedding functions.

Then we decided that Brady needed to attend all important birthday, Easter, and Holiday celebrations. He was also included in most "projects" that took place while he was away. My great niece Becca doesn't really remember that real Brady, but she always made sure her "Paper Cousin" was in the photos.

It was great to chat with Brady after his homecoming on Sunday. He is more mature and a much better public speaker than when he left, but I'm sure he will still get excited about projects that require multiple trips to Home Depot!

HALLOWEEN

What fun Halloween is! At least it's fun if you get to dress up and act a fool all day at work. Halloween is one of the days you are glad you get to go to work. I mean what fun is Halloween if you just sit home all day. Come to think of it, what fun is any day if you just sit at home. . .

Anyway, Halloween at the Washington City Offices was a blast. We had a great potluck. Jamie brought in a crock pot full of Mexican Chowder. Cari bought these most excellent and fun to look at pumpkin bread bowls; Cristy brought a veggie tray; Kevin brought the Dr Pepper. For some reason three people in the Utility Office are DP Addicts! Shelly and I brought some dessert and I also brought Diet Coke so Cristy and I would not join the ranks of the Pepper addicts.

Elton's Still Standing. Jimmy's Still Here. I'm Still Loving It All!

What a most enjoyable weekend the end of October brought! On Oct 24, my friend Cindi, my daughter in law Maggie and I attended Elton John's Red Piano at Caesar's Palace. It was amazing. This was my 12th time seeing Elton John perform live and he is truly getting better all the time. (I know that's a Beatles' line, but whatever.) His voice sounded the best I've ever heard it and the staging was amazing. A little too amazing sometimes. It was hard to concentrate on Elton with all that was going on.
I hear there are only two engagements left when this one is over. Do not miss it. Do whatever you have to do to get there. It is ever so worth it.

After spending the night in "affordable luxury" at the South Pointe, Cindi, Maggie and I ventured down to Margaritaville to attend the street party, do a little shopping at Smuggler's Cove, eat some cheeseburgers (in paradise), and get tuned up for the Buffett concert that night. The street party was fun, but it really belongs on a beach or at least a lawn. It was great fun though and I am sure Cindi picked up many, many new ideas for hats

Colt had to miss Elton and fly down from Salt Lake just in time to go to the Jimmy Buffett concert at the MGM Grand Arena. He was a little bitter about it, but made the best of the situation and flew down in full Elvis garb and personality. He was very popular with the flight crew and they made a much bigger fuss over him than Vince Vaughn who was also on the flight. Yeah, he was in heaven getting all that attention.

My "other son/sort of nephew" Brad and his wonderful wife Mandi (we are all SO thankful Brad found Mandi) drove in from Southern California to join us. Brad made his own Elvis costume so he and Colt were "ELVI" together. Mandi dressed as a sailor and Maggie was a pirate. Cindi made great hats for us to wear so we were only somewhat upstaged by the kids.


I had taken Colt, Brad and Maggie to Buffett concerts before, but this was a new experience for Mandi and Cindi. They got right into though and are now totally hooked on Parrothead Madness. There really is nothing like a Jimmy Buffett concert. You find all ages there. Grown people dressed as salt shakers, sharks, boats and hula dancers. Not to mention people wearing blenders on their heads. The whole audience was on their feet from the first strains of "Piece of Work" to the final encore. Everyone sang along and danced with no thought at all of making a fool of themself. It just doesn't get any better!



After the show we headed to Johnny Rockets. This seems to be our late night eating spot in Vegas these days. At least it is since Colt discovered apple pie with melted cheddar cheese on top. Then it was back to affordable luxury for a little sleep.



Sunday morning we had a bit of a problem finding some breakfast food. We did locate some at the Cheesecake Factory. I highly recommend it as a breakfast spot. Then we headed back to our real lives.

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I can hardly wait until next year.

Redneck Roosters

The Dixie Ladies of Elks Past Presidents are always on the lookout for a good fund raising idea. A few years ago we convinced the successful Dippy Chicks to let us publish a calendar featuring them. It was a best seller.

Last Sunday we did the photo shoot for a new project: The Redneck Roosters calendar.

What does Toby like about Utah?

On September 2oth, I went to Salt Lake to take Colt and Maggie to a Toby Keith concert. Now Colt and I love Toby (He is a registered Democrat you know), and Maggie just plain likes concerts she doesn't have to sit down and shut up for, so it was bound to be a great night! We had amazing seats; Maggie had her new western attire; and the opening act was Montgomery Gentry.

What we didn't know is that it was the last night of the US tour and there was a bit of celebrating on stage. Dare I say it got a little drunk on stage? I guess I do. It got a little drunk on stage. It was great. Toby put on an amazing performance and I gained a new appreciation for Montgomery Gentry.

Best of all we learned what Toby likes about Utah! He can get a Wienerschnitzel chili cheese dog here.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Colt and Maggie were able to come to visit over the Labor Day weekend. I have been so lucky this Fresh Peach Pie season. For those uninformed few, Croshaw's Fresh Peach Pie is the best thing ever. It truly is angels on your tongue. You can only get them a few weeks a year and they are in very limited supply. You have to call Croshaw's at 9:00 AM and pray that you get through and beg to have them reserve you a pie. This year I have been able to get one every single time I called. Labor Day was especially wonderful because we got TWO pies. That was sweet because Maggie snuck extra portions while I was napping.

Not that all we did was eat, but: We made peanut butter & jelly Monte Cristos. We were introduced to this wonderful treat at Disneyland last year. We could hardly wait to eat them again this year. When we arrived we learned that they are no longer on the menu. We were so sad, but resourceful and decided we could make our own. We did that and did it perfectly. Colt also tried deep frying everything that wasn't nailed down in the kitchen too: Twinkies, Oreos, Snickers.

The highlight of the trip may have been Colt's haircut. He had the honor of having the first haircut done at his cousin Sariann's new salon, Sinful Pleasures.

AUGUST BIRTHDAYS

There are a lot of birthdays in August around our house. Since Maggie and Colt were still in town last Sunday we decided to go ahead and celebrate hers (August 22), Mike's (August 15) and mine (August 26). It was a pretty low key celebration. We just grilled up a wonderful dinner and then had cake and presents.

Aaaahh. . .the cake. I ordered the cake. I wrote down what I wanted written on it. CRAP! When I went to get it, my name was spelled wrong. I tried as hard as I could to be a good sport about it. Didn't work. I decided that Mike did not need or deserve a "E" so I stole his.

Margaritaville

Since we needed to take Jonny to Las Vegas for his flight back to Pittsburgh anyway. . . we went to Margaritaville. I had a bit of a relapse and whatever brain cramp hit my head in the Cayman's earlier this year, took control again (This time aided by a couple of Margaritas from the walk up bar) and I went a little crazy in the Smuggler's Hold. Maggie picked up on this quickly and added quite a few new treasures to my pile. It's a good thing Colt didn't get the spirit. He didn't get anything, but Jonny is now the proud owner of a Margaritaville shirt!

After shopping my little heart out, we head upstairs to eat. We order some beverages and appetizers. The guy waiting on us identifies himself as the manager and tells us not to order entrees. He assures us Volcano Nachos, Coconut Shrimp and Conch Fritters will fill us up and not to get anything else. Fooled him. We finished it and our entrees all off!

The "Magic"

We made a pilgrimage to the "Happiest Place on Earth" this month. It was truly one of the best trips ever! We took Maggie's 19 year-old brother, Jonny, with us for his very first trip to Disneyland. It was so much fun to see things again for the first time through his eyes. I even missed my power nap in the Enchanted Tiki Room because he was loving it so.

We drove directly to Knotts Berry Farm when we hit Southern California and ate the best chicken dinner ever. Then we went into Knotts and rode all the crazy coasters there. It was ever so much fun in part because Brad (My adopted nephew/son) and his wife Mandi joined us. After a full day there we headed back to the Disneyland Hotel for a little rest before our Magic Morning in the Magic Kingdom. Bless Jonny's little 19 year-old heart, he didn't even complain about our insistence that we be in line at 6:30 to enter the Main Gates.

The new Toy Story Mania ride in DCA is everything it was hyped up to be. We rode it four times by using the single rider entrance. I never even came close to matching everyone else's score, but I was the most accurate all four tries. Another highlight at DCA was dinner at the Vinyard Room. It was wonderful but we were saddened to learn that it is closing at the end of August.

Jonny caught the spirit of being first in line by the end of the trip though. He and Maggie wiped out a few small children in order to be the first in line for Indy.

After promoting peanut butter and jelly Monte Cristos for a whole year, we were dismayed to learn they are off the menu at the Bleu Bayou. Never fear though. I bought Uncrustables and am going to figure out to make them myself!