July 7th weekend – Saturday we were up earlyish
to perform our coffee ritual. We soon
left to pick up wine when I thought it might be fun to walk around Southwest
Plaza Mall. We drove around C470 to stop
at Tipsy’s for our wine before stopping at the mall. We looked at the store fronts as walked
around, not really having any need to purchase anything. Susan suggested we check out the mall’s
aquarium and so we did. It wasn’t huge
but held our attention as we went from room to room and tank to tank. Much of the appeal of the place is that they
sell tokens used to exchange for fish food to give to the various fishes. We didn’t actually buy any ourselves but
watched as the various fish ate what other patrons held out to them.
Susan wanted to see the old neighborhood and Dawn house so
we moseyed on down there to verify the structure still stood. We then made an impromptu stop at the
Littleton Upay for a replacement visor for Flo.
On the way out we ran into an old CONOC friend who happens to work at
Great-West Financial too. Such a small
world. Our last stop was at Walmart
where we purchased food stuffs before heading home. I BBQ’d juicy hamburgers and we ate outside
the garage with the pups before retiring to the couch for the evening.
Sunday we got to sleep in until 9:00 before brewing our
coffee. Susan packed up Slayer in his kennel so I could relocate the snow
blower to make more space in the shed.
Slayer is generally a sweetie but latched onto Susan’s arm earlier in
the week so we know there’s a bit of mischief to him too. I cut up some of our scrap wood using our new
circulating saw and we made neat piles by the fire pit. It was very hot outside without the seemingly
ever-present breeze we normally enjoy.
To do just about anything outside was tortuous and we were soon back
inside the house to cool off. I
eventually made us green chili omelets for lunch and prepped food for dinner
while Susan chilled out with the dogs.
Alvin and Kari came by around 4:30 for dinner and to meet
our new furry companions, Pebbles and Slayer.
Pebbles barked at our guests at first but was just excited to see them
and was content to sit on Alvin’s lap for pets.
Slayer was a doll when we visited him in his shed. Such a friendly kitty. The original plan was to bake chicken for
dinner but Susan suggested we try BBQing the meat instead and this turned out
to be a great idea. While the chicken
cooked we hung outside with Bella and Pebbles on the shady side of the
garage. It was hot but bearable and we
ate our meal in the elements. The
once-distant rain rolled in and we packed up to head inside. We quickly changed our minds and simply went
to the other side of the garage as the storm winds allowed us to sit outside
while being protected from the rain. A
lot of conversation later and Kari and Alvin left for home and Susan and I went
inside to veg on the couch where we spent the remainder of the weekend with
Bella and Pebbles.
July 14th weekend – Saturday began with blessed
sleep with us staying in bed until 9:00.
Coffee was delightful as we sat and chatted, the pups fighting over
Susan’s lap-space. Our main plan for the
day was letting Slayer experience some free reign. It took little coaxing to get him to exit his
shed via the window and he was off… to hid in and under the car port. We left him to his limited wanderings and
walked around the property spraying thistles.
Slayer was still sticking to the car port after we were done though we
were able to get him to join us in the garage.
He seemed to do better with us around so we sat in our old camp chairs
while he continued his limited exploration.
We lured Slayer back into his shed when he began panting in stress to
give him a break. I made bacon and eggs
for lunch and hung out with the pups for the majority of the afternoon. When we were finally hungry again I BBQ’d
burgers on the grill while Slayer got another shot at freedom. He did alright and actually stalked a few rabbits. Eventually we got him back in his shed with
the promise of food and spent the rest of the evening with Bella and Pebbles on
the couch.
Sunday began with a 6:00 alarm followed shortly by
coffee. We were up early to participate
in a Road Rally that began up in Boulder.
Initially we wanted to bring Scrappy but with angry clouds threatening
we took Tia instead. Susan did the
driving while I acted as navigator.
During the adventure we got lost a few times and had to backtrack more
than once. One straightforward but
pivotal instruction was dependent on the odometer of each car and proved the
undoing of virtually everyone as all subsequent step was then off. Considering how lost and turned around we
were it was surprising that we were the second car to finish the rally. We might have done alright but I bungled my
job as navigator and missed some critical clues (the rally could be described
as a motorized scavenger hunt). Despite
our foibles throughout the experience we had a blast and likely will participate
in similar events in the future. Susan
and I work together well and generally keep our cool when presented with the
sorts of dilemmas they present. The
rally ended at El Dorado Mexican Restaurant in Golden and we chatted with
several of the other teams while we ate and trophies were eventually
awarded.
We drove straight home to decompress and hang with Bella and
Pebbles while the rain fell. It let off
late in the afternoon and we took advantage of the dry spell to BBQ chicken on
the grill and let Slayer run around a bit.
As we were packing up the grill the rain began again. Slayer didn’t appreciate the drops falling on
him and was reticent to enter his shed.
Eventually the cute kitty ventured inside for his dinner. We’re very happy with Slayer’s progress and
temperament. He’s getting used to the
outdoors and is still such a sweetheart with us. Once back inside we finished the weekend as
we often do, with the pups on the couch.
July 21st weekend – it began on Friday with a
downtown concert. After work Susan and I
drove up to meet Kari at a King Soopers around I25 and Hampton/285. We arrived a few minutes early despite
terrible traffic. After watching as some
dudes were arrested several cars down from us in the parking lot we made an
illegal left turn to get back to I25. I parked
us at Susan’s work and we walked ourselves to Tom’s Diner for dinner. It was Kari’s treat and we enjoyed the food
and chatted until it was time to make our way to the show at the Ogden. Fortunately the wait outside the venue wasn’t
long as it was hot out and we were soon ascending the steps to take our, now
standard, spot on the second level.
The opening bands were alright and consisted of one
ska-light band and a strange mashup ska-metal band. The first band Kitty Kat Fan Club had two
female singers who harmonized with each other quite a bit (I liked it but Susan
and Kari weren’t impressed). The singer
of the second band (Mephiskapheles) growled out his lyrics and the guitarist
periodically used a lot of distortion (I preferred the first band). Then came Streetlight Manifesto (the reason
we were there) and they delighted the entire room with their hoppin’
tunes. As per usual they put on a great
show. It was a dark walk back to get the
car and went without incident. On the
way back down south we dropped off Kari and executed another illegal left to
get ourselves on the path home. It was
late and we went straight to bed.
I roused Susan out of bed around 8:00 as we had some things
to do. First came our coffee routine and
then we let Slayer out of his shed. The
plan was to let Slayer out and just let him do whatever he wanted for the
day. We found this mostly consisted of
him following us around and wanting attention.
I pulled the evo into the garage to change its oil and swap wheels. I’d been lax in wheel organization and Susan
and I made a trip to the tire coup to exchange several wheels out. It was decided to forgo changing the oil as
the dipstick still looked clean and I simply swapped the wheels out. We did make a trip to the car wash which is
only notable as it’s the second such trip this year (we seem to rarely clean
the evo).
Once back home we commenced with the afternoon. I BBQ’d a late lunch of hamburgers while we
sat around watching Slayer slink around the garage. I was tired of being outside and convinced
Susan to go into the cool house. Back
inside and with our bellies full we settled down for a refreshing nap with the
pups. Then Susan and I were off to see
another concert at the same venue with the same bands as the night before. Craziness, I know. Concert night number two had essentially the
same schedule as the night before as we met with Kari, drove to Susan’s work,
ate at the same diner, and the concert was much the same (albeit for some
different tunes from the main act). One new
cool part occurred when the first band had a person in the crowd on stage to
play guitar for a song. Pretty neat to
see (he did great). We were pooped when
Susan and I finally arrived home after another long and fun night.
Sunday we slept in a little and were up at 9:00ish for
coffee. Then we were released Slayer
again and went about to yard work. I
mowed and trimmed and Susan sprayed thistles, picked up trash, and raked. It was oh so hot outside. Susan ordered Jimmy Johns for a late lunch
which we ate inside to escape the heat.
Later we locked up Slayer just ahead of an oncoming thunderstorm which
hit midafternoon. Tired and drained from
another day in the sun we hung out on the couch with the pups for the rest of
the day. The only break in our lazing
occurring when Susan ordered Domino’s for dinner. Another fun weekend in the books!
July 27 weekend – The weekend began on Friday when Susan and
I took half days at work to go home early to clean up the house. Em, Ryan, Stewart, and Lee were in Denver and
came by our place after 3:00. Susan and
I gave them the tour of the Dogwood Estate and everyone got to meet Slayer and
Pebbles (Bella was already known). The
dinner plan was BBQ so I had at it while we all chatted outside the garage and
watched Stew and Lee act like the little boys they are. Slayer was happy to have the attention and
was friendly with our guests. Pebbles
sat in the kiddies’ laps with only a little bit of shaking. Stew and Lee stalked rabbits and looked for
bottle caps while accumulating sticks and interesting-looking rocks. Susan and I were sad to see everyone leave
after 6:00 but so happy they were able to visit! We finished our evening in our (now) clean
home with the pups.
Saturday began early for me and earlyish for Susan who
brewed us coffee when she rolled out of bed.
She left briefly to run some errands while I held down the fort in the
late morning. We hung out until Jeff
dropped by around 5:00 for dinner and to pick up his engine hoist and
cruiser. There was still plenty of
uncooked meats from the day before so I BBQ’d some up for sustenance. We chatted as is our way before Jeff left us
to enjoy the remainder of the day on the couch with Bella and Pebbles.
Sunday we both slept in until almost 11:00 which was almost
unbelievable. It had been quite some
time since we’ve stayed in bed so long and I felt divine when we were finally
up. Susan made coffee again and any
thoughts to having a productive day were put to rest as my foot, which was
bothering me for the preceding few days, effectively had me tethered to the
couch. Luckily for Susan her favorite
Netflix show “Orange is the New Black” had released a new season and she
managed to finish the entire thing by the time we went to bed that night.
July felt like a rushed month between work and our weekend
activities. The weather has been brutally
hot with a few thunderstorms bringing copious amounts of rain to the
state. The rain is generally welcome
though we did end up having to reschedule a rallycross event due to the site
being under water which was a huge bummer.
Pebbles and Slayer have now met snout to snout. While Slayer was apprehensive Pebbles broke
the tension by happily sniffing our kitty’s face. Slayer now gets free reign during the
day. We were concerned he wasn’t finding
his way back into his shed during the day but Susan discovered Slayer entering
via the window which allayed our worries.
His daily outdoor routine is essentially set now though it’s obvious he
would love to come inside the house.
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