Baby Gaga

Shake it baby, shake it!

Fore?

Golfing on a Monday holiday! Or as Laura apparently called it: Daddy Playdate

So we were kicking it at our 4th of July BBQ, like normal guys do... (see picture below)

Regular guys, doing normal guy stuff

and we somehow managed to get on the subjet of golf. So naturally, being great planners, we decide it would be awesome to go golfing in the morning. Here's a little reinactment of the conversation (which I assume is how most golf conversations go):

"Yeah, we should go golfing sometime. When do you want to go?"
"How about tomorrow?"
"Yeah, let's do it."

At this point wife #1 and wife #2 walk in.

"Um, Laura, do we have plans tomorrow?"
Laura: "Why? What are you guys planning?"
"We're setting up a golf game for the morning."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, can I go"
Guy #2, turning to his wife: "Oh, yeah, we're going golfing in the morning. Is that cool?"
Guy #3: "I should probably ask too."

Our conversation was actually about how bad we are at golf, so it was kind of funny how excited we were to go out and play a round. Also funny, by the end of the evening, I think all the wives had identified a certain number of items for each of us to deliver to each other. Reinactment #2:

Laura: "Oh, you can take this tray back to Guy #4. The chips are for Guy #3 and the watermellon is for Guy #2"
Gary: "Really? You want me to deliver a watermellon? Why on Earth does he want a watermellon?" Seriously, I think she's was making stuff up at this point just to see what she could make me do...like the wives had their own little secret game of "Let's see want we can get our husbands to deliver." Well played Laura, well played.

So with approval, we nominate guy #2 to find a course. "Honey, what was the name of that course I just golfed at?" And of course, wife #2, having not been at that golf outing, remembers and suggests googling it for directions. So guy #2 stumbles with the google search and offers wife #2 the opportunity to search for our golf course because "you're the better researcher."

So miraculously we manager to hook up a location and tee time: Monday at 8:23am. But we apparently forgot to tell Guy #4 the time and of course none of us exchanged phone numbers.

So in the morning, I get the numbers of 2 of the wives, you know in case I need to contact the husbands before golf.

We arrive one by one, but guy #4 doesn't show up and of course it's his wife's phone number I didn't have. So I call Laura for the number. No answer. So I call wife #4's friend to get wife #4's number to get guy #4's number. That plan worked, but guy #4 is at home because we forgot to provide the tee time. Apprently he left a message with Laura the night before (because of course he didn't have my number), but the message was just static-y and we just assumed it was a wrong number.

I would have more pictures of the golf outing, but I forgot the camera and I'm sure it's probably an unwritten guy rule for the golf course. There's probably a rule about writing about these conversations too.

Artist's recreation of golf outing: Apparently a swing and miss (which did happen, but still, c'mon! That artist is a jerk)

I did manage to hit a really great shot on hole 8. From about 50 yards out, my shot landed two inches from the hole. I even have a picture to prove it but it's on my phone and I haven't figured out how to upload it yet. But I do have two witnesses.

***Names were changed to protect Phil, Justin, and Jeremy***

H2 ooohhhh

Oh, so good on a hot day - 107 degress hot. Pool time!

There's a smile in there somewhere

Moommmm, it's fine. Let's go!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I'm done!

Sonoma stalking her prey

DaaaDUM...DaahDUM

Returning with the catch

Plus we found a new gardener! Who knew it was so much fun to play with the hose? Okay everyone knew, but it's always fun to find out for the first time.

A little over here...

A little over there...

And now we can't get it away from him. Well, we can, but not without a fight. Ooo, maybe he will be like this with his chores...What do you think?

Hey, Nathan, you missed a spot

Who's On First? (updated with bonus Allyson picture)

Well that would be Nathan. On his first baseball game, that is. Nothing like instilling a little bit of good ole American tradition. Maybe we'll try some apple pie next...

hmm, what happens if I poke this person?

Nathan playing with Allyson and baby Calli

hee hee hee

Milk Allyson, Justin, Calli (not necessarily in that order)

Nathan was in awe as we entered. I think he was amazed at the size of the stadium and all the people. And when we finally entered our area we opened up to this view:

Hello...hello...Echo...echo...echo

Yes, we were pretty high up, upper deck section 305. Nathan basically had this look of "Whoa" on his face. Until we sat down. That's when he became Mr. Squirmy Man. And here I was hoping that he would sit nicely on our laps and enjoy the D-backs beating up on some Yankees. But alas, no, none of that happened. D-back lost 5-6 in 10 innings...oh, sorry, ***Spoiler Alert*** I didn't mean to give away the ending like that...

A little break from the action

So Laura and I took turns walking around with Nathan and letting him walk the concourse. Being the wonderful husband I am, I let Laura take more turns than me (you owe me one Schmoopie). :)

Nathan seemed to enjoy the game, or rather the experience at least. Whenever the crowd cheered, he started clapping. And when there was music playing, he started dancing. And he really enjoyed running around the concourse. Oh, and poking the people seated in front of us.

Surprisingly, we actually made it to the seventh inning stretch. He normally goes to bed at 7pm and with the game starting just 20 minutes prior, I had only expected to reach the 3rd. Well that and Laura's love for the sport.

International sign for milk

RO RO RO Your Boat...

Who knew installing an RO system was so easy. For the most part, this and the garbage disposer I put in the weekend prior were both just plug and play, or unscrew and use, such that it is.

Hole (in case you couldn't figure that one out)

So we had this hole that we needed to fill. Actually it was a rusty looking cap, but after popping that off, voila, hole. Anyhoo, Laura has been wanting an RO system for a while now and our in-fridge filter just wasn't doing the trick. So with summer fast approaching we needed a fix since Laura is a water connoisseur and she is about 97% water, about 37 points higher than normal, everyday humans.

Empty space that could be used for something...

Well, lo and behold, we had this hole in our sink and empty space that we have been debating about what to do with ever since we bought this place. "Hey Laura, what do you want to do with all that space under the sink?" "Hmf. I don't know. Can we convert into a closet?"

So, after years of debate, we landed on a "zero waste" RO system to deliver fresh, clean drinking water to all the people in the land, or whoever should stop by our house...when we are home. I say "zero waste" in quotes, because it is zero wasted water but only after you waste the first two tanks rinsing out the system. But I guess this is better than the alternative that wastes a few gallons per filtered gallon throughout the process. But still...

Success!

So seriously, easy to install. the hardest part was the faucet, only because it was an awkward angle to reach up into. All I had to do was screw in the faucet, add two screws to hold up the filters, attached the tubes, and BAM, done.

No more hole

Fresh water at the push of a button. The only bad thing is that the water is room temperature. I'm sure there is a way to run it over to the fridge to have cold water and clean ice - I guess I'll have to google that. Though with the fridge on the opposite side of the room, it may be a much larger project that the install itself.

Extra pieces???

Boiled Weeds...mmmmm

It works!!!!! Boiling water does kill weeds. Now I just have to wait to see if it had its way with the weed's roots.

Happy weed

Exhausted weed

Dead weed

Again a reminder - Don't try this in your garden or it will also kill the good little bugs and microbes that power your garden. Also pointed out, you probably shouldn't do this in your grass yard, unless you want to kill the surrounding grass. Happy chemical-free weed killing!

Organic Wine Review

Vida Organica - Malbec
2009 Argentina

Though made with organic grapes, apparently, it doesn't qualify under FDA regulations as being organic since sulfites are used to make it shelf stable. I'm not sure if this applies to all wines or if this refers to this one specifically. But how does it taste...

Well, initially, quite harsh and unbalanced, maybe a little bitter? Even running it though my new wine toy, an instant aerator, which speeds up the breathing process, failed to enhance the flavor. However, on day 3 (yes, it lasted that long since it wasn't very good) it finally showed promise, but by then I lost interest. It was softer and some of the fruit flavors became apparent, but who wants to wait 3 days for wine? According to the all-knowledgeable label, this wine is full bodied with flavors of dark berries and plums. Maybe berries that were picked about a month too early. I wouldn't yet write off the producers, but I can't recommend this vintage and since there are plenty of wines to choose from, I'd only recommend this to an alcoholic who has run through the avaiable wine universe and must now choose between this bottle and Boone's Farm.