Royal Treatment

This afternoon, when I arrived home, I found the mail in its usual place on the dining room table. There stacked nicely on top of letters, the Pottery Barn and West Elm magazines was an average sized white padded envelope. My curiosity instantly rose.

I passed the stack on my way to set down my things and noticed it had my name on the envelope. What could this be thought? I don't remember ordering anything. Upon closer inspection, I found the package to be from the legendary Eric Levings. Ah, Yes. Eric had called me last week to let me know he had something he was sending my way. I ripped open the envelope to find.....

What a perfect gift! The Royals play the Rangers this week at the Ballpark in Arlington. I'll be attending the final game on Thursday afternoon. Thanks Eric, with the Sprint logo on the sleeve I hope to get away with wearing it to work.

Legendary

About a week ago or so this "bird" (said in Mary Lou's best voice - emphasize the B! - hold the r) came strolling through our front yard.

What kind of "bird" is it, you ask? My thoughts exactly. My first guess was.... the friendly blue bird of happiness. Not quite. After doing some research on Google and Wikipedia I determined it was a little blue heron, often found near swamps and creeks. Although we have no creeks or ponds to speak of in the area, neighbors informed Sarah and me that it's nest was just a block over on Hall. For no identifiable reason I took this "bird" sighting as a good sign.

Fast Forward to this past Friday. I had the pleasure of hosting 3 of my oldest friends, Eric, Darin and Danny, at the house for my birthday weekend. We ate much good food. Nearly (I use the term loosely) set the all time high score on a punching bag machine at the local dive. Mastered Wii Sports. Witnessed, from the 7th row, a rare Texas Rangers victory. Competed in 18 holes of demanding miniature golf. And played several serious games of pool basketball. In the end, Eric deemed himself champion of the most events and crowned himself King. Here's a photo for the Tarkio trophy case.

I think it is no coincidence that this birthday, my 33rd, is the jersey number of my favorite basketball player and coach, Larry "Bird". I expect this to be one legendary year.

32 on 23

This past Friday I turned 32 years young. The weekend events added up to one of the better birthdays I've experienced in the last several years.

I got an early start to the festivities, on Thursday evening, with a round of golf out at GSW. This, naturally, was followed up by a second round of golf on Friday afternoon before making my first visit to Pappas Bros. Steakhouse.

While the restaurant is widely regarded as one of the best steakhouses in town I had somehow managed to miss out on dining there until Friday. The experience lived up to it's expectations. I learned some new things about wine, enjoyed a great lobster bisque, a wonderful steak, fantastic service and had the best company imaginable.

Following dinner I was treated to surprise plans for the remainder of my weekend, a Kansas City trip. I left out of Dallas Love Field just before lunch on Saturday and met my KC hosts, Darin Lee and Eric Levings, in no time at all. Our time together was full of surprises.

We had tickets to a Royals game, but there was a surprise rain delay. Once we finally entered the gates we were surprised to learn it was Frank White bobble head night. By the middle of the 7th, the Royals were ahead and "surprise" went on to win. After the game we ventured down to "the boats" for some blackjack. Surprisingly, well maybe not, my cousin Travis was there and as usual winning big. All in all, I think (i know i did) the Tarkio Triad had a great time getting back together again for a short weekend.

Lastly but certainly not leastly... I was treated to my favorite oreo dessert upon my return home. 32 is off to a great start.