Bought my pass...

I cant believe I am already gearing up for the ski season, but I bought my pass for Mt. High today! To renew it I had to get the pass card out of my ski jacket which was packed away - looking at it reminded me I really need to drop 15 pounds to fit into it... hmmm

I got this picture off mthigh.com - this scene would look better with about 3 feet of snow on it... I'm hoping for a early winter this year... maybe skiing in October???

Fat

I hit a new high with my weight while I was in KC... this is so me...

Wedding Bells

So Doug asked Lisa to marry him. The wedding plans are a flying and the family turmoil is a brewing... I just love drama...

DINOSAURS!

Sunday Afternoon Sheri and the kids invited me to go to Honda Center for "Walking with dinosaurs" and it was awesome!


The whole show was a "history" lesson about the dinosaurs (according to scientists not theologians). As the actor (a paleontologist) would describe the period or dinosaur a gigantic life size robot version would appear and move around. The robots were very lifelike and amazing!


I think Sheri and I had just as much fun as the kids did...

Nicole's Banana Bread...

After my barfnana bread disaster Nicole decided to show me how it was really done. Sunday after church I found this little treasure on my front mat. I heated it just a touch in the microwave and slathered it with butter.... ahhh it melted in my mouth... Thanks N-Kat - I will use your recipe next time...

Kansas City

Yet again my job took me to a glamorous destination! Beautiful Kansas City, Missouri. I stayed in the eastern suburb of Independence. And boy was it a suburb - more like the country. As you leave the airport and downtown you travel over the river and through the woods for what seems like forever.

Then all of a sudden out of the trees pops a huge mall complex and the beautiful Hilton Garden Inn.
The hotel was nice and clean. There was a nice view of a creek, or swamp or something out my window.
Overall I ate pretty horrible. Twice we did have time to go downtown and eat at Fiorella's Jack Stack. A premiere steak and BBQ restaurant in Kansas City. It was awesome; fancy table clothes, exceptional service and the biggest ribs you ever saw. Here is a blurry picture of my buddy Arturo trying to eat one! Totally Awesome!

So KC - yet another city I am not a fan of...

Fresh and Easy Ciabatta

So they opened a new Fresh and Easy market by me. I was pretty excited as I pulled up and saw that they were finally open. I was not that thrilled once I got in. The prices were high and all of the produce and meats were pre-cut and pre-handled, then placed in neat little cellophane containers. Something about other people handling my food before I drop in into the pan is creepy. One of the things I enjoy most about cooking is getting the food from raw to prepared to beautifully plated. Out of utter disappointment I skipped buying anything prepared. I did however find the most beautiful ciabatta rolls. I made a chicken sandwich with them.

Barfnana Muffins

The best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go awry... or so I read a long time ago when I used to read books... I had some really brown bananas sitting on the counter left over from Sunday school last week and I was dreaming about a thick slice of sticky delicious banana bread with a nice thick layer of butter on top... mmmm my mind often wanders in the thoughts of delicious food. So out of laziness I purchased the bread mix and threw in some nuts and those bananas...

I stirred it up and filled my cupcake pans and placed them into my preheated 400 degree oven.

I waited in anticipation as the whole house filled with the delightful smell of banana nut muffins. My mind imagined all the women at work gobbling on the muffins and exclaiming what a talented baked I was... Then Shel came in and said "what are you burning in there" sure enough the muffins were raw in the middle and burnt on the outside... Shel and I had one each and they were horrible... so into the trash they went... hmmm -

Whoop Whoop!

So according to this sign which is posted outside the elevator in my office building; in case of a fire rappers will come over the intercom and sing for us. How neat!

Brooks and Dunn with Rodney Atkins

So Dad, Lisa, Doug and I all went to see Brooks and Dunn last night up at Glen Helen. The weather was absolutely perfect; shady & warm with a nice breeze.

While we waited for Brooks and Dunn to come on Rodney Atkins opened. He was huge! I really cool guy and a fun entertainer. He sang a couple songs we all enjoyed.

Then the moment we all waited for. Brooks and Dunn started their show by releasing a gigantic hot air balloon over the amphitheater with their name on it which got everyone hoopin and hollarin...

They were great! They sang all the good old classics like Neon Moon and some of the great new hits like Believe... Fun night!

Thai Salad

It was hotter than you know what on Friday so I thought a nice cold Thai salad would be good for dinner...

I made it with some deliciously tender chicken thigh meat, wheat pasta, carrot, bell pepper, cabbage, peanuts, red pepper flakes and spicy Thai peanut sauce (yea I cheated with bottled sauce).

I cooked and cooled everything, then mixed together for a fresh, crunchy, and spicy salad... it was bomb...

Crunch!

This morning while we were sleeping a man fell asleep and ran into Shelly's parked car. I don't think they can fix it!