November 4th weekend – Saturday was a busy
day. It started with me getting up
before Susan to play video games while she snoozed on. Around 9:30 Susan showered and got ready for
the day while I remained on the couch.
Finally around 15 minutes before we were to be at her eye-appointment at
Icon Lasik she reminded me of said appointment and I quickly got dressed so we
could arrive there on-time. We made it
just in time but the appointment itself took almost an hour with Susan sitting
in one of the offices for most of the time. Lame!
Susan needs touchups on both her eyes which she’ll hopefully get in the
upcoming months. From the Lasik place we
drove straight up to White Fence Farms to join many older folks in celebrating
Jan and Wayne’s 50th wedding anniversary and Jan’s 70th
birthday.
We were driving Tia which turned out to be a mistake as the
road there was incredibly bumpy. The
poor car’s underside made hard contact with the pavement in two bone-jarring
impacts. These weren’t potholes, just
bumpy sections of road. Nuts. After some confusion on which room was
reserved we sat down with John, Karen, and Kari to chat before the food was
figured out and the guests of honor arrived.
It was supposed to be a surprise for Jan and they arrived a bit late
while the food was being served. I don’t
think Jan was too surprised but she seemed happy everyone was there (there were
something like 40+ people in attendance).
We stayed for a couple of hours talking and eating before heading
outside to see the on-site animals (part of the experience I suppose). These animals consisted of a three ravenous
goats, a chicken, and a peacock. The
goats were slow to care about our presence until they figured out that food was
to be had (Susan came bearing food pellets bought from a 25 cent dispenser next
to their pen). Eventually a couple of
wiry-coated goats were eating from her hand, much to her delight. We finally got home around 4:30 just to
gather up wine and dip to leave again.
Dinner was at the Tiedeman’s new house in the Southwest Plaza
area. They had moved in a few weeks
before and this was our first chance to check out the new digs. The house was extensively remodeled as part
of their contract and everything looked nice and new. They are in a cul-de-sac and their backyard
is large for suburban-living (the lot is .5 acres). They served hand-crafted hamburgers (yum) and
we talked at-length about this and that.
We stayed until around 9:00 before heading home. It was a nice visit.
Sunday was to be another busy day, this time due to the NB
Miata in the garage. The plan was to fix
up the new-used engine and get it in the car.
Various delays made this goal impossible but much work was done. Jeff came by around 9:30 to lend his aid and
Tristan around 10:30. I was already in
the garage working on the suspension before they arrived. We pulled off the intake manifold and timing
components before discovering the engine gasket kit I bought was for the wrong
car. The problem was Amazon listed it as
for our model car but not having it impeded our progress. We called and then drove to three car-part
stores in a fruitless search for the parts before grabbing lunch at
Chili’s. Jeff remembered he had a gasket
kit at this point and we drove to his folk’s house to pick it up. I knew something was wrong when he hopped
back in the car. The kit number was the
same as mine. Sure enough, his kit was
also wrong. We went back home to do what
we could and decided to press on using old gaskets where necessary. After some time we asked Susan to pick up
some emery cloth while we toiled away.
This proved to be daunting as the several stores thought they had some
when only one actually did. Eventually
we had the majority of the motor back together and Tristan went home. Jeff stayed for a chili dinner and
conversation. We had a great time
talking about lots of stuff before Jeff went his way around 9:00. It was a busy and great weekend.
November 11th weekend – Saturday was spent
getting ready for Sunday and working on the NB Miata. We rolled out of bed around 8:30 and I made
coffee. As the next day was a rallycross
we swapped out the RS’s street tires for rally tires and loaded it onto the
trailer (the evo still has a bad clutch).
Jeff rolled up as we were finishing and we proceeded to begin the final
assembly steps on the NB engine. He came
bearing OE gaskets and a rear main seal and the latter was installed along with
a new clutch and machined flywheel (the gaskets will go on if there are
issues). At this point we took a break
for lunch at Chili’s. We were going to
go to Texas Roadhouse but it was Veterans Day and the joint was packed. Our meal was good and we went home to try to
put the engine in the Miata. It took
some doing but eventually the motor was and mostly bolted up. Wiring issues and some bellhousing bolts in
difficult places slowed things down quite a bit. In the end we got the engine to turn over and
idle without the exhaust headers or much of the other accompanying stuff which
was a success. Jeff took off at this
point and Susan and I went to King Soopers to get dinner and lunch stuffs for
the next day. Back home we parked
ourselves on the couch with Bella. Bella
had a dental and a couple of bumps removed (eye lid and elbow) on Tuesday and
has had to suffer the indignity of wearing a cone since.
Sunday was an early start for us as the alarms went off at
4:30 in the AM. As this was not only the
final event of the season but also the final event at CORE there was extra to
do. In fact Kubo designed a
monster-course which required much more time to lay out. Thus Susan and I were onsite before 7:00 and
unloading the RS. By the time Eric Adams
and then Kubo arrived I was ready to help out and we headed out to scope out
the terrain. After two passes in the bus
the cones were roughly dropped along the course and Eric and Kubo went forth to
set them up again while I attended to setting up the rally bus. It was pointed out early on that the sole
port-a-john was located half a mile up the access road which simply would not
do. With help from Neil Rickli and a
CORE peep we finagled the port-a-john on our car trailer and deposited next to
the paddock much to the relief of the many competitors. Time was a-passing and the course wasn’t yet
finished so I asked Dan Quiet to begin setting up the course from the finish
back. I actually closed the course for
walking around 9:00 as it took roughly 30 minutes to get around on foot. I ran a novice meeting for the 20 or so newer
drivers and then a full-on drivers meeting for the 80+ folks waiting for
something to happen. As we had a
mega-course with a large turnout we ran the event differently than normal. This time we split the group equally with one
half running all morning and one half running all afternoon. This saved literal hours of time we would
have spent transitioning between run groups as the walk to the corners was
sometimes so far away. We elected our
class to run in the afternoon which was done on purpose as we wanted to see how
the course/event held up before passing the reigns to others. The morning drivers each got five chances to
battle the dirt in part because each run lasted 20-30 minutes. Lunch was a brief 30 minutes and, amazingly,
the workers and drivers were mostly on time getting back. We drove in the afternoon and had a good time
trying to go quick in the RS (spoiler – we didn’t). I experienced my first ever debead which
occurred close to the finish line. I
came into a bumpy turn that looked smooth and off went the tire. Luckily Eric Adams was hanging out by his car
and let us use one of his wheels/tires for the remainder of the day. We had fun and there were no real incidents
to mar the day. After the racing was
done and Susan compiled the results I read them to the masses. We ended up driving away from CORE for the
final time right at 5:00. We were tired
and went straight home for leftover chili and to spend time with Bella on the
couch. Such a great weekend!
Thanksgiving week – We flew out to Georgia on Thursday
evening with Bella in tow. Instead of keeping
Bella confined in her small kennel Susan walked her on a leash all the way
through DIA from security to our gate.
She was super-good the whole time and a few people felt the urge to show
Susan pictures of their pups on their phones.
I don’t believe we’ve ever flown out so late and we arrived in Atlanta
around 11:00 local time. Mom was there
to pick us up at the airport and we chatted all the way to her home. It was a somewhat long drive due to
construction traffic and she pulled into the garage at around 1:00 in the
morning. Susan and I made our way to our
room and soon were asleep.
Friday we woke relatively early and went shopping at
Wal-Mart. We bought various food stuffs
and coffee. We drove to LongHorn
Steakhouse for lunch and the food was marvelous. I felt the urge to exercise and found a local
gym to try. It was supposed to be $10
per day but the girl womanning the counter didn’t seem to notice I was there
and I had no issue in working out for free.
Later we hung out in the kitchen and Mom put frozen chicken in one of
her slow cookers for later. Eventually
we all headed downstairs to watch some Netflix and chat before bed.
Saturday had us up and making a long shopping list for the
next week. The menu for Thanksgiving was
to be long and varied. Mom also made us
eggs for breakfast while we drank our coffee.
This eating sequence was to be repeated almost every morning for the
rest of the week (her eggs were amazing).
We went to Costco to whittle down the shopping list. Costco was absolutely slammed and cars roamed
the parking lot watching for spots to open (there were literally none
available). We were hungry after we
finished there and settled on lunch at Bahama Breeze. The food was yummy and soon we made our way
back home. I once again decided to
exercise but found the gym I went to the previous day to be closed. After striking out at another
Google-Map-driven search I finally found Firehouse Gym where I settled on for
the next few days. There they actually
did charge me the $10/day but I didn’t mind as they were open when I needed
them to be. Dinner was a group-affair as
Grandma Sauder, Uncle Randy, Uncle Greg, and Aunt Janice joined us for tacos
and a game of Hand and Foot. Hand and
Foot is a lot like Dirty Books but there are far fewer rules to keep track
of. The food was yummy and the game
fun. Grandma and Randy left somewhat
early as they were to be on the road up to Michigan in the wee hours the next
day.
We rolled out of bed relatively early on Sunday for no particularly
good reason. I hit the gym while Susan
worked on a puzzle we had purchased at Costco.
Mom went to church and I helped Susan with the puzzle after I was
showered. When Mom returned we were
still sorting the pieces. That puzzle
was a task we toiled over for the entirety of the day. Janice came by at some point to knit and
visit and left at some point later.
Lunch and dinner consisted of leftover taco stuffs. The puzzle was all-encompassing and we
weren’t sure we were going to finish the puzzle that day. It was after dark when the final piece was
placed and we felt some satisfaction. It
was a great Sunday.
Monday Mom and I went out while Susan slept on. Mom dropped me off at the gym where I worked
out while she shopped at Wal-Mart. After
we got back I woke Susan up and we soon were out of the house on our way to
Atlanta. The plan was to visit the
Georgia Aquarium in the afternoon and then meet up with Diane and her boyfriend
Scott for dinner. We worried the traffic
might be bad but our drive was swift with no delays. We lucked into a good spot in the Coke Cola
museum parking garage which was right next to the aquarium. The line to get in wasn’t very deep but it
took us longer than we expected to buy tickets and get inside (everyone had to
be checked for weapons and go through a metal detector). Once inside we did our normal thing by
turning right and visiting each exhibit in a counter-clockwise fashion. It was very busy at first but it seemed that
everyone spread out after a while which we appreciated. We
oo’d and awed at the fishies and generally enjoyed ourselves. The Georgia Aquarium was the largest until
recently and has some amazing exhibits. Towards
the end of our visit we happened to walk into the dolphin show right before it
was to begin. This was super-duper lucky
as it was the last show we would have been able to see and the joint was mostly
packed. We found seats and watched as
trainers rode dolphins around and the dolphins performed various acts of
flinging themselves out of the water. I
have to admit that I was exhausted at this point and may have slept through
most of the show. Susan did enjoy the
performance and I felt rested when it was over.
After one more exhibit we tried again to get a commemorative squished penny
(the first time the crank machine did a poor job). Success!
Susan was the proud owner of a seahorse-impressed penny. We walked out of the aquarium at 4:00 which
left us in a time-bind of sorts. Dinner
was to be at 5:30 which didn’t leave much time to do much in the interim. Looming over Olympic Park (right next to the
aquarium) is a huge Ferris wheel and we made our way in its direction. The ride’s price and timing was right and we
rode that wheel. Exciting isn’t the word
I’d use for the experience but we did enjoy ourselves. Eventually we walked back to Mom’s minivan
and drove across town to Folk Art for dinner.
As is our normal we arrived early and walked up and down the
hipstery-street to burn some time before settling down in one of the restaurant’s
booths to wait for Diane and Scott. We’d
already had a glass of wine by the time they sat down and we soon ordered
food. Susan had chosen this particular
restaurant as it was featured on Guy Ferrettipoo’s Food Network show. I ordered the hamburger from the show (it was
labeled specifically) and the others got various other stuffs from the
menu. We enjoyed our conversations with
Diane and Scott as well as the food. Scott
is a car-guy and we spent much of our time talking car-stuff. Diane is now managing a Melting Pot
restaurant and sounds very busy with that.
Eventually we all left and Susan and I drove back to Mom’s house. Our poor pug Bella was waiting impatiently
for us and showered both of us with urgent licks.
We decided to go to some antique stores as part of our
Tuesday plans. I believe we visited
three or four in the course of the morning before stopping at Applebee’s for
lunch. We dropped by Hobby Lobby to buy
painting supplies for a family activity and went back to Mom’s house. Mark, Jesse, and their kids were to arrive
that evening and the main course for dinner was to be a chili I planned on
concocting. We had cooked the beef days
before and had most of the ingredients on hand (Susan and I did make a quick
trip to get green enchilada sauce at one point). Much of the afternoon was spent working on
another puzzle and then prepping the food for dinner (I also squeezed in
another workout). With little fanfare
but many hugs Mark, Jesse, Julia, Evan, and Jonah arrived. Janice and Greg also came by for dinner and
to see the family. The chili was a hit I
believe everyone enjoyed. Most of the
remainder of the evening had Mark, Susan, and I talking about this and that in
the kitchen while Jesse and the kids settled in. They brought a little mixed-breed dog named
Lucy who was hilariously cute and precocious.
Lucy and Bella got along alright after it became clear that Bella didn’t
really mind her presence.
Wednesday had Susan and me out of bed somewhat early. Mom was already preparing lunch which was to
be chicken casserole and garlic bread. I
volunteered to make the garlic bread and set about to it. The
food came out excellent (especially the casserole). After lunch we proceeded to set out tarps,
tables, chairs, easels, canvas, paint, paint brushes, etc for our family
painting activity. Greg and Janice came by
around this time and were apprehensive about our plans (they did both eventually
acquiesce to joining us) which were for Susan and myself to direct everyone to
painting two pictures we’d previously picked out and Mom had printed off in
color. There was grumbling and hitches
abounded but after a few hours everyone had completed their paintings and the
general consensus was the experience was enjoyable. I honestly can’t remember what dinner was but
I am sure we all ate something. We
showed the kids how to play Cabo and played a few rounds into the evening.
Thursday morning was busy with Mom doing most of the final
preparations for the Thanksgiving lunch.
I’d set a beef roast in the slow cooker the night before and Susan had
made her orange jello with Mom. Janice
and Greg eventually arrived bearing even more food which was all laid out for
our feasting. The kids set the table
and, after a blessing was said, we attacked with plates and utensils in
hand. The variety of delectable was
almost overwhelming and everyone had trouble fitting a small portion of each
thing on their plate (I’m actually pretty certain no one succeeded in this
endeavor). After lunch was dessert
although most of us were too stuffed to eat much. Janice and Greg eventually left to visit
Diane’s Thanksgiving and we finished our Cabo game from the night before. Much of the afternoon was spent hanging out
and we also played through a game of hand and foot. Eventually Janice and Greg made a triumphant
return and we put our current puzzle aside (yes, we started a new one) to play
one last full game of Cabo. I believe it
was at this point I finally felt empty enough to enjoy some dessert and all was
right in the world. After the game was
over we bid our goodbyes to most everyone as Susan and I were to fly back home
the next morning. Thanksgiving was
excellent this year!
Friday morning we got up early and Mom made us her wonderful
eggs one final time. Packing was simple
and the minivan was loaded up in no time.
Mark volunteered to join us on the drive to the airport and sat shotgun
as I piloted Mom’s Honda. During the
drive we engaged in pleasant conversations about this and that. The airport was busy and cars were backed up
by the passenger drop-off. We finally
arrived and hopped out to make our quick good-byes before Susan, Bella, and I
walked into the airport. Our return trip
went without much fuss and our plane landed early in Denver. Once again Bella got to walk for most of the
way through both airports and was a very good girl. When we got home we were happy to be back but
sad too as the trip seemed to fly by so quickly. It was an amazing vacation for us as we
really needed a break from our regular lives.
We loved visiting with the family and eating the rich food on
Thanksgiving Day. The games, the
painting, the dogs, the welcoming house… it was an all-around great time. The remainder of the weekend was mostly blah
for Susan and myself as I was feeling miserable due to a sinus infection I’d
been inflicted with earlier in the week.
Other November stuffs – Bella had a dental and two bumps
removed, one from her eyelid and the other from her elbow. The procedure occurred close enough to
Thanksgiving that she had to wear shirts to bed and a cone when we left her at
Mom’s house. She suffered through and
had the last stitch removed from her eye after we got home. Bella was fantastic on the trip and we loved
having her along. I got a chance to talk
to Evan and Jonah while we wiled away at a puzzle. It was fun to talk about this and that. They combined their efforts to put together a
huge Lego rocket thing which had almost 2,000 pieces. On November 30 I turned 37. We went to dinner at Texas roadhouse which
was nice and tasty. Both of us are
feeling under the weather but we enjoyed the time out. November has been a busy and fun month!
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