Sampler Week

...and so wraps up the first 40 years of my life. Celebrated in the home town of Pittsburgh surrounded by my many friends and loving family members. The party just happened to be a giveaway night at the farm. Yes, the first 10,000 guests were given parting gifts ala leftovers from the folk's yard sale. Well, not exactly given, but REQUIRED to take with them a piece of memorabilia. The kids enjoyed themselves as well, as Poppy passed out countless hats that he had collected over the years. While it was wonderful to see everyone, it was a harsh reality when one guest reminisced of the string of cars that used to line the vineyard...the convertibes, the Shelbys, the Grand Prix, the Stealths, and the occasional hand me downs from our parents and older brothers had now been replaced by minivans and....well, minivans. Wow, I miss the 80's.

Following a week long trip on the west coast (Portland, Spokane and Hollywood), I came back home in an attempt get my life (and my lungs) back in order.
Tracy and I got the opportunity to hang out with Carinne and Dan at the Orioles game one Thursday night. As they were in between (one time in) Band Camp and School starting, they had some time to kill. We had Dinner at Bay Cafe (strongly recommended), where Dan was deeply enticed by the ads for the Sunday brunch from 10-2, including all you can eat AND DRINK. We stayed awake during an 11 to 2 trouncing of the Orioles, and then finished off the night at the Inner Harbor at Capitol City Brewing Company.

On Saturday, Ron came into town with George, who if you don't know him bears a slight resemblance to sasquatch, Justin the Hairdresser, and another buddy of theirs, whom don't know well enough to assign a nickname. Regardless they spent the day at the Corvette Show in Carlisle, and then headed south to Gettysburg to meet up with me for some libations. We kicked off Happy Hour at the Dobbin House, then had dinner at the Appalachian Brewing Company. We finished off the night at McClellan's at the Gettysburg Hotel. Most of the boys went off to Sensation's gentleman's club, while Ron and I hung in town and chatted with locals, Robin and Paul. As usual I got the recurring question of who was older between my brother and myself. What I didn;t expect was the reasoning why it was believed that I was the elder. Robin seemed to think that I must have been older due to my level of maturity. Yeah, OK, I enjoyed that moment for a while. Today, I got the scoop on the boys that left. According to Ron, the Gentlemen's club was truly just that last night, as it was Male Revue night. This didn't stop the boys from going in anyway and enjoying their night. A night that would eventually end up with George spreading Justin across the hood of the car, while Justin claimed he was the Tasmanian Devil. Really, sometimes, it's just best not to ask.

Lexy had her first game today as a cheerleader for the Gettysburg Warriors. She was a natural, cheering on the Red and Black to a 7-6 win in the opener.

Finally, my ponder of the week. As I had three or four samplers at various brew pub's during the week, I was shocked to find out I had to pay for them...after all, are they not , only "Samples"? What a cruel trick to play on a beer drinker.

Waterproof

OK, so as usual, I got some catching up to do. But I promise, I am going to make a conscious effort to learn how to spell the word conscious...and then...I am going to make a conscious effort to update my blog on a more regular basis. I am sure this will pan out about as well as my new year resolutions.

It was late in August when I had a trip out to the Southwest, which included Phoenix and Las Vegas. I stayed at the Hooter's Casino Hotel in Vegas, for no other reason than I got a deal. If you know me then you know I am a bargain shopper, and I got a room for $62 a night. When I got there I was shocked and dismayed at the skimpy little orange and white outfits be-boppin all over the place. Here, I thought I was staying at a theme hotel in Sin City that depicted wildlife and owl-watching. Despicable! Well, three good things came out of the trip. The first two were the aforementioned Hooters, and the last was a surprise run-in with none other than Ashlee Simpson herself. As I sat playing video poker, I glanced over and saw Ashlee standing not 5 feet from me. I called her over. She smiled and shyly asked if I wanted to go swimming with her and her two friends. I hesitantly agreed. The next thing I knew I snapped out of it and realized that I was still sitting at the poker machine, staring jaw dropped open with her five feet from me. As she walked away, I began to bang my head on the machine, realizing I had my camera in my pocket and froze like an idiot. It paid off, though, as my head-banging drew me a Royal Flush and paid out $100. Woohoo!!! Your loss, Ashlee!

Lexy left for her dad's at the end of June as we celebrated Tracy's B-Day before her departure. Mom and Dad came in for a quick visit to join us for dinner at the Altland House, where it was reported that Billy Joel and his luck of the draw wife at the time, Christie Brinkley once stayed.

While Lexy was away, Tracy and I tried to enjoy our relaxing time together. We didn't do too much exciting, as we both still had a lot of travel to do for work. Tracy picked up a new job with Bank of America and went to Louisville, Knoxville and two or three other "villes"....er...sorry, "vulls" as they say dahn sath n'at. My travels took me to Boston, where I got to visit Fenway for the first time and became and instant fan of the Red Sox. What a fan base this team has and what support the town gives them!!! I got to see the best and the worst of these die hard fans. It was a Monday night, 95 degrees and high humidity. They were playing the worst team in the league (the Royals) and were LOSING to them 4-0 through 6 innings. As I was dripping in sweat from head to toe, packed wall to wall with thousands of drunken idiots, I enjoyed watching the beloved Sox come back and win 5-4 in the 8th inning, including a homer over the Big Green Monster. I must say that loved every second of it! Of course I had to follow it up with a trip to Cheers...

At the end of July I headed for the beach with a packed SUV to go on the family vacation....by myself :( Yeah, Lexy was still in Atlanta, and Tracy was working the week in Louisville, so I left for North Carolina by myself. Just me and my cigars. Met my brother and his family (minus Carinne, working her little but off at home for the summer) in Raleigh. Had a few drinks and then shot over to the airport in Raleigh to pick up the wife coming in from Louisville. The next Morning we headed to Ocean Isle Beach, NC (the far south end of NC), where we further met up with the Reynolds (Ron's neighbors). We all brought our livers and left them at the door. Although my beach towel dried out, my liver is still hanging on the deck railing. On Monday we drove to Myrtle Beach and picked up Lexy flying in from GA. Everyone was glad to see her...she just wanted to get to the beach and play with the kids. She didn't care who was picking her up. What a week, though! 105 Heat index all week, and stale breeze most of the time limited our time actually ON the beach. Thank God for the Isle's Restaurant Tiki Bar!!!! Three of these days we sent on the deck of the Tiki Bar overlooking our kids swimming in the pool, while Tarbender Kimberly, and Waitresses Elizabeth and Kenri broughgt us numerous cooling libations and conveniently forgot to ring many of the drinks up. We felt guilty, so we frequently left plenty of extra money in the tip to pay the extra part of the bill that was overlooked :)

Upon returning it was a short lived hiatus, as we had to prepare for Lexy's birthday party the very next day! We had a dozen or so kids at the house swimming in the pool and jumping on the trampoline, as the princess turned 9 years old. As part of her birthday surprise, we wrapped up 4 tickets to HersheyPark in a big Hershey Bar (ala Willy Wonka). She had her friend Kelsey stay the night and we were off, yet again, the very next morning to spend the day in Hershey! A blast was had by all. The heat and the walking was a little torturous, until we discovered the Tidal Force flume ride. The girls stood in line for an hour, while Tracy and I just stood at the end of the ride and got soaked by the surging boats crashing into the pool of water at the end of the run. We played the games smart, as well. That day they had a deal where you pay $20, get a wristband, and you can play all the games in the park all day and win all the prizes!....Well...we THOUGHT this was a smart move, until you know who had to carry around all of the stuffed animals all day. I may have "accidentally" dropped some on the way out of the park, that evening.

In closing, I would like you to ponder the concept of the Waterproof Sunblock. We tend to buy every bottle, in SPF 8, 15, 30, 40, even 50 (which Ron slapped on at the beach). We have it in cream, in spray, in white, purple and blue. Here's my question. If we get waterproof sunblock, why would there ever be a need to reapply it. I apparently still have some on me from my Lake Erie vacations when I was five. It would appear no amount of showering will ever eliminate this stuff. Sleep well, and change the sheets in the morning.