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Let me just start by saying that I'm in a much better mood today than the last time I posted anything. MUCH.
Last time had been the kicker to a rather craptastical week, the highlights of which include: Emo Cat spraying the C shelf of DVDs (including all seven seasons of CSI), Colonel Brandon forgetting he was housebroken for three consecutive days in a row AND having an upset innards issue (the second probably being the cause of the first, in retrospect), Captain at Fort Bliss for extended training, and all around depression/stress due to the upcoming deployment.
Since then Captain has come home and we've left the state to bum around, mooching off of thegullibility kindness of friends and family for the last week. Emo Cat and Roswell were not invited to travel with us, but CB the midget moosedog did make the trip.
My parents put in a special request for us to stop by so that they could see Captain off before he leaves (this trip is his last chance to see friends and family before he heads to Iraq for fifteen months, plus he was unable to go North with me in January for the Annual Gathering and Gift Exchange for Friends and Weirdos so he hadn't seen anyone in ages), so we stopped by on Wednesday. They took us out to dinner, Captain helped Mom make the new satellite dish and VCR communicate, and Midget drove down to join us for the evening.
We were able to sleep in on Thursday, then drove across Kansas to visit Alex (stopping in Manhappiness so that Captain could have his beloved Chipolte for lunch). Friday was a day trip back into Manhappiness and lunch with Beck, Perky and a friend from Varney's, then off to the Perkys' house to fuss about playing Rock Band until dinner time.
Saturday we returned to Manhappiness (this time with an overnight bag, leaving the dog at Alex's house) in time to meet up with a lot of friends at the faux-Cheese Warrior. Bee and Sig, Snazzy and Begstodiffer and their little one, the Perkys, my sister Midget, Beck and Alex were all there. Lunch was fabulous. After that we went back to the Perkys' place where we had three different levels of rocking gaming goodness set up - Rock Band in the basement, Guitar Hero 3 on the Xbox 360 on the main floor and GH3 on the Wii upstairs.
I? Do not sing in public. Ever. Normally. Yet there I was, murdering songs in my monotone drone whenever Perky's voice would give out and no one else wanted a turn at the mic. Midget was rocking the drum set (and Begs was doing a pretty good job of it as well). Snazzy is the Queen of the guitar, watching her play GH on expert seriously left me in awe (And I thought I was doing pretty good with my five stars on easy, ha. I so need to practice more.) and more than a little intimidated. Alex, who told us from the start that he just wanted to watch, ended up singing several rounds and did a LOVELY version of "Sabotage" as if sung by Edith Bunker that we could hear all the way upstairs! People were constantly rotating in to the band member slots (we splurged for a second guitar as a birthday gift for Beck, mainly so that there would be a bass guitar and a fourth band member) all day and well into the night. I think by the time we called it quits fingers and throats were dying and Midget had blisters from the drum sticks ("Play through the pain!").
An old gaming buddy and his wife and sprog dropped by to see Captain off as well, staying to play a few sets of GH with us. Jason called because he couldn't make it but still wanted to say goodbye to Captain, which was great of him, I know he was exhausted from the trip he'd just gotten home from. We had one last meal as a group on Sunday morning (got to love IHOP and the Rooty Tooty Fresh N Fruity, we even ran into another old friend who was in town visiting and who I hadn't seen in years there) and then it was back to Alex's (and a showing of "Semi-Pro" at the local movie place).
There were a few people I had hoped we might be able to see but things just didn't work out. I'm glad we didn't tell Captain who we'd asked to come ahead of time, so that he wasn't disappointed that they didn't show. I did ask if he wanted to try to find time to visit before we head home, but he said they're probably too busy and asked me not to call.
Today Captain helped Alex repair his deck (even I helped, although there was wood involved and I HATE wood), and the dog tried to sneak into the fish pond every time we turned our backs.
All in all it was a great vacation, even with Captain being sick with a cold and my uber-annoying innards issues popping up at dinner Saturday night. I haven't laughed like that in ages, and I would definitely recommend Rock Band for anyone who wants to have a gathering.
We're heading home tomorrow. Captain reports back to the base Wednesday night and he wants a day to recuperate from the vacation, can't say that I blame him.
I have some pictures, not a lot because I constantly forgot I had the camera with me - I did get some shots of our band, Gnome Pie, rocking away in the basement, including guest drummer Sophie! - and hope to get those loaded somewhere once I get home.
Last time had been the kicker to a rather craptastical week, the highlights of which include: Emo Cat spraying the C shelf of DVDs (including all seven seasons of CSI), Colonel Brandon forgetting he was housebroken for three consecutive days in a row AND having an upset innards issue (the second probably being the cause of the first, in retrospect), Captain at Fort Bliss for extended training, and all around depression/stress due to the upcoming deployment.
Since then Captain has come home and we've left the state to bum around, mooching off of the
My parents put in a special request for us to stop by so that they could see Captain off before he leaves (this trip is his last chance to see friends and family before he heads to Iraq for fifteen months, plus he was unable to go North with me in January for the Annual Gathering and Gift Exchange for Friends and Weirdos so he hadn't seen anyone in ages), so we stopped by on Wednesday. They took us out to dinner, Captain helped Mom make the new satellite dish and VCR communicate, and Midget drove down to join us for the evening.
We were able to sleep in on Thursday, then drove across Kansas to visit Alex (stopping in Manhappiness so that Captain could have his beloved Chipolte for lunch). Friday was a day trip back into Manhappiness and lunch with Beck, Perky and a friend from Varney's, then off to the Perkys' house to fuss about playing Rock Band until dinner time.
Saturday we returned to Manhappiness (this time with an overnight bag, leaving the dog at Alex's house) in time to meet up with a lot of friends at the faux-Cheese Warrior. Bee and Sig, Snazzy and Begstodiffer and their little one, the Perkys, my sister Midget, Beck and Alex were all there. Lunch was fabulous. After that we went back to the Perkys' place where we had three different levels of rocking gaming goodness set up - Rock Band in the basement, Guitar Hero 3 on the Xbox 360 on the main floor and GH3 on the Wii upstairs.
I? Do not sing in public. Ever. Normally. Yet there I was, murdering songs in my monotone drone whenever Perky's voice would give out and no one else wanted a turn at the mic. Midget was rocking the drum set (and Begs was doing a pretty good job of it as well). Snazzy is the Queen of the guitar, watching her play GH on expert seriously left me in awe (And I thought I was doing pretty good with my five stars on easy, ha. I so need to practice more.) and more than a little intimidated. Alex, who told us from the start that he just wanted to watch, ended up singing several rounds and did a LOVELY version of "Sabotage" as if sung by Edith Bunker that we could hear all the way upstairs! People were constantly rotating in to the band member slots (we splurged for a second guitar as a birthday gift for Beck, mainly so that there would be a bass guitar and a fourth band member) all day and well into the night. I think by the time we called it quits fingers and throats were dying and Midget had blisters from the drum sticks ("Play through the pain!").
An old gaming buddy and his wife and sprog dropped by to see Captain off as well, staying to play a few sets of GH with us. Jason called because he couldn't make it but still wanted to say goodbye to Captain, which was great of him, I know he was exhausted from the trip he'd just gotten home from. We had one last meal as a group on Sunday morning (got to love IHOP and the Rooty Tooty Fresh N Fruity, we even ran into another old friend who was in town visiting and who I hadn't seen in years there) and then it was back to Alex's (and a showing of "Semi-Pro" at the local movie place).
There were a few people I had hoped we might be able to see but things just didn't work out. I'm glad we didn't tell Captain who we'd asked to come ahead of time, so that he wasn't disappointed that they didn't show. I did ask if he wanted to try to find time to visit before we head home, but he said they're probably too busy and asked me not to call.
Today Captain helped Alex repair his deck (even I helped, although there was wood involved and I HATE wood), and the dog tried to sneak into the fish pond every time we turned our backs.
All in all it was a great vacation, even with Captain being sick with a cold and my uber-annoying innards issues popping up at dinner Saturday night. I haven't laughed like that in ages, and I would definitely recommend Rock Band for anyone who wants to have a gathering.
We're heading home tomorrow. Captain reports back to the base Wednesday night and he wants a day to recuperate from the vacation, can't say that I blame him.
I have some pictures, not a lot because I constantly forgot I had the camera with me - I did get some shots of our band, Gnome Pie, rocking away in the basement, including guest drummer Sophie! - and hope to get those loaded somewhere once I get home.
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