Basketball Goal - Take Two

Remember a couple of years ago, when we built a basketball goal and we didn't realize we had mounted the backboard on the pole, while the pole was still sticking through the ladder?  No?  Well, get caught up on that debacle of a project by clicking here!  (Look at me getting all fancy with links and everything!)

So, we are not experts at the assembly of basketball goals.  We are however, experts at running over basketball goals.  Just ask Harry.  

He ran over the last one backing out of the driveway.  No damage to his truck, but that could not be said for the goal.  It cracked the base so the water leaked out and bent the rim into an oval.  The ball could still go through by it had to be a PERFECT shot!   We put a sandbag on top of it and it held up for a while, but then starting falling over every time the wind blew.  It was a menace in the cul de sac so we eventually dismantled and disposed of it.  

A new basketball goal has been in the plan, and we finally put that plan into action this weekend.  

Shaded driveway was the perfect spot to begin assembly.  Please note the new step ladder that Harry is standing on.  Please also note that no one is working except for Hubby. 

The instructions were read, re-read and read a final time.  It all came together great with only one do over.  That was pretty dang good!  Felt like it went much faster this time around. 

We did have lots of extra pieces and parts left over but that is to be expected, right?  Right?  

Cool new product we used to fill up the base.  It is called BaseGel and it is basically about three cups of a sand like mixture that you pour in the base and add water.  It absorbs water and basically turns to a ton of concrete.  Seriously, we could barely move the portable goal.  I am talking HEAVY!  Hopefully it will be sturdy for years of play.  Hopefully Harry won't run it over, because pretty sure this time it would not budge and there would be car damage! 

Finally, here is my Chip posing like a model with his come hither look?  Or is that a smoldering look?  Or is it a, "it is 105 degrees out here, even in the shade" look?  I think it is the last one.  Definitely the last one.  

Hot days in Texas, but basketballs are already being bounced and shot all over the place!  

Hope you had a great start to your week! 

Family Bunco Night

Games, games, games....we have been into some games the last few weeks.

Last night, we hosted a Family Bunco Night with some good friends.  WHAT A BLAST!!  The kids loved it and I think the adults loved it even more!  I have played Bunco with ladies, I have even played Couple Bunco, but this was the first time I had played with kids and adults.  The most fun ever!

The prizes were lined up on the mantel and I got the kids spun into a frenzy when I told them there was cold, hard cash in the envelopes.  Kids love some cash!  They were all a little worried about how to play, what the rules were, but it didn't take them but a round or two to figure it out.  The pressure was off when they realized there was no strategy, no logic...it is just pure luck whether your number comes up on the dice or not.  Bunco is a perfect family game, because kids young and old can play and have the same chance of winning.

We had a little dinner and then it was time for BUNCO!

Let the games begin!

We had four tables set up in the house.  Everyone had their own scorecard and one person at the table kept score for both teams. 

Please note:  That is NOT Christy's real hair!  That, my friends, is what you had to wear when you were lucky enough to get a Bunco!  Folks were wearing it loud and proud and happy to have a turn in that beautiful accessory!  

The great thing about Bunco is that you switch partners every round so you are always on the move and teaming up with a new face!   

And let me tell you about this competitive bunch!  There was screaming and hollering going on that I haven't even seen at Alabama football games!  THAT is saying something!  

The kids were totally into it!  

The head table had more screaming than most!  

Last night, I saw more trick shots of dice throwing than ever before.  We had the "Reverse", the "Whip", the "No Look Behind the Back", the "Roll Off the Fingertips", the "Left Hand", the "Right Hand", the "Shake a Lot", the "Shake a Little", blowing on them, rubbing them between both hands and lots of "Momma Needs a New Pair of Shoes!"

This COC team was pulling out dance moves and singing hymns!  It was a riot! 

There were tons of tie breakers that were heart breakers! 

Folks were talking hard to the dice.  Screaming at their partners.  Begging their opponents to not roll any more.  Or maybe that was just my son!  

So much fun! 

The winners! 

After a quick break we moved on to the final event of the evening!  A game of Left-Right-Center for money!  Everyone put in three dollars and we had a pot of $51 that was going home with one lucky winner!  We all crowded around the dining room table and hoped our lucky streak would hit an all time high when it was our turn to roll the dice! 

Does it look like anyone is having fun in this picture??

Would you believe the kid who had the Most Wins at Bunco ALSO won Left-Right-Center?  What a night for him!  I was so happy that a kid was the big winner of the evening and I might encourage his mom take him to play the lottery ASAP! 

It was a wonderful night with so much laughter!  

Such a hit, with adults and kids alike, that I think we are going to make this a monthly event!

Looking forward to it! 

Yahtzee Night

I played Yahtzee last night with my girlfriends.  It was awesome!  Super casual, sitting around the kitchen table playing a game.

Let me just state the obvious right off the bat....playing a game with six women is so very, very different than playing a game with the three boys I live with.  Last night, there was no smack talking. There was no burping or farting.  No one shouted "It is NOT your turn!"  Games were not interrupted for important news announcements from the world of sports.  At no time, did anyone stomp around the kitchen declaring themselves "El Champion" in a super loud voice while pumping their arms in the air. That just didn't happen last night.

Here is what we did have:

Clapping, cheering and genuine happiness for opponents when the dice rolled their way.  There was honest input about the options you could choose with the dice you had rolled.  We will call those "Yahtzee consultations" that were given freely and willingly from the Yahtzee experts we had in attendance.  There were groans when the roller did not get the dice they were hoping for.  There were pauses in the game with nice conversation.  We covered the gamut.  Headline news, neighborhood news, health updates, kiddo updates, recent travels, upcoming travels, etc.  There was even erasing an already entered score because someone suggested a way you could get more points with your roll putting it somewhere else.  That is against the Yahtzee rules, but we just didn't care.  It was quite remarkably different.

Now, I enjoy both crowds.  Honestly, I do.  Very, very different experiences that are very enjoyable.

Unfortunately, I did let a little of my boy culture creep into girl night when I got three Yahtzees in one game.  I might have over celebrated for girl's night.  I might have shouted out a few too many Woo Hoos.  I also may have also taken a close up picture of my scorecard, with the previously mentioned three Yahtzees, where I set what has to be a personal best score of 424!   I blame my poor behavior on playing too much with boys!

It was a fun night and I will definitely host Yahtzee Night again!   If you haven't played it in a while, drag the game out and get to rolling! 

Weekend Wrap-up

Life is humming along and even regular weekends, that have unscheduled down time with a few thrills thrown in, are worth documenting here on the old blog.  

Friday, I got to celebrate Beth's birthday with a casual get together with Beth and some friends.  It was wonderful.  Great company.  Great food.  Great wine.   Lovely.  We should celebrate Beth more often!

Saturday, I read a book.  Cover to cover.  Sat in the recliner with several cups of coffee and read a good book.

It was called The Rosie Project, if you are looking for a good one.  It was about a Big Bang Theory Sheldon Cooper type character and was very entertaining. Bliss.

Then I had a piece of pie.

Not any old piece of pie, but a bourbon apple pie ala mode in a cast iron skillet piece of pie.  Wicked good.  And we played cards.  Lots of cards.  All four of us.  It was awesome.

Sunday, we had a family adventure at iFly, the indoor skydiving facility, where you can experience the thrill of skydiving without the sky part (or the part where the ground is hurtling at you and you are relying on a parachute to save you from death.)  Yay!  On the way there, Harry and Hubby are mouthing off as they are occasionally known to do, about the tricks they are going to be doing in the wind tunnel.  Chip, who has done some investigation on iFly, tells the big boys that the instructor stays in there with you the whole time.  They were both disappointed at the idea of someone holding on to them in the wind tunnel....until we got there!

That wind tunnel was no joke!  We watched the group in front of us and their instructor was holding on to people like wrestling an alligator.  One little move of your arm or bend your legs too much and you are changing direction in a hurry! There is definitely an art form to maintaining a firm but relaxed body to fly straight and steady.  So what initially seemed like a super fun family activity all the sudden had a level of danger added once we saw it in action. We had to take a little class to learn how to hold our body for a smooth experience and what the different hand signals from the instructor meant (chin up, legs straight, legs bent, etc)  We got suited up in our jumpsuits, goggles, ear plugs and helmets.  So thankful there are no pictures of that hot mess!

The next thing you know, we are stepping into a wind tunnel and feeling the sensations of skydiving!  It was cool!  We each got two rounds and I will say that I enjoyed round two much more than round one.  Round one all I could think about was the wind rushing up my nostrils like nobody's business.  Can you suffocate in a wind tunnel because you can't exhale?  Round two, I knew I would be able to breathe and I had decent form so I was flying pretty good.  The instructor was signaling me to straighten my legs, but I already put together that straight legs would make me go higher and I did not want to go any higher.  My perfect flight is one that keeps me no more than let's say, table height. So I kept my legs bent a little so I wouldn't fly too high!  Ha!  I imagine the more times you fly, the more relaxed you would be and could figure out how not to fly into walls, etc..  At the end of round two the instructor grabs hold of your arm and leg and flies you up to the top of the tunnel and back down about three times.  That was quite a sensation.   Once all the people in our group did their two sessions, our instructor put on a little show that was amazing.  He was like Spider Man shooting all over that wind tunnel.  It was fascinating to see how he could jet up, down and all around that wind tunnel with ease.

Everyone did great and thought it was a cool experience. No one got the bug to jump out of a plane, so I don't think any skydivers were created, so that's good!

We followed that up with lunch, a trip to IKEA and more cards!

What a great weekend.  Hope you did something fun, too!

Bowling and Billiards

Chip and I went to Mel's Sunday afternoon for a little bowling and billiards. 

Pre-game.  He thought he had a chance. 

First frame...I threw a strike, he got two gutters. He knew he was in trouble.

I pulled out a 156 (which honestly is way better than I bowled even back in my league days!) and he shot an 85.  It was a bit of a bowling wonder.  We bowled a three game series.  He got better each game and I got worse.  Bowling balls are heavy!  Chip was a bit peeved that he didn't beat me, so he suggested a game of pool to see if he could redeem himself.   

Guess what?  I was on fire at pool, too!  I was hitting crazy shots that certainly were not due to any billiard skills I have developed in my life, so we can only assume it was pure luck.  

Sometimes, luck is enough!   Any given day!!  

In other news.....

• I am registering for a 1/2 marathon today.  Why, why, why is running so hard?   Why is 13.1 miles so damn far? 
• Loved the MLB Home Run Derby last night!  The new rules made it much more exciting.  I couldn't have picked Todd Frazier out of a police lineup before last night and I was totally pulling for him by the end of the derby!  Hometown Hero!  Great story! 
• Bob and Lana are heading up to Baltimore today!  Crab heaven!  Praying for safe travels, wonderful visits with dear, old friends, and lots of wonderful memories.
• The Lakeside yard sale is tomorrow!  Can't wait to share all the wonderful goodies with my peeps at Lakeside! 
• I signed the family up for an iFly adventure this weekend.  Indoor skydiving!  Can't wait!  

That is all for now!  Hope your work week is off to a great start!  Bring it on, Tuesday! 

LBJ Presidential Library and Museum

Today, I drug Hubby and Chip downtown to the LBJ Museum.  Harry had to work, so he got a pass!

Chip was like "NO FAIR!  Why doesn't Harry have to go?"

Then once Chip accepted that he was going, he started acting like LBJ was for Lebron James.   He said "Mom, can I get a souvenir?  Like, if they have a game used headband worn by Lebron?"  Ha!  What a card, he is!

Turns out...it was terrific!  What a history lesson!

The most interesting thing was all the phones that were on the walls where you could listen to actual phone conversations that were taped by LBJ.  He talked with Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Kennedy, Richard Nixon.  It was the whole conversation from "Please hold for the President of the United States..."   So cool.  I didn't listen to them all, but I certainly could have.  Except there was this 13 year old kid that was checking the time every five minutes.  He was a human Big Ben timepiece.  Running back and forth between me and his Dad giving us the details on how long we had been in the museum and inquiring as to how much longer we thought it would take.  Needless to say, he was not as enthralled as the adults, although there were several displays that he knew something about from his history lessons.

All the handwritten letters were so wonderful. Love, love, love, love, double, triple love handwritten letters.  Jackie Kennedy wrote a letter to LBJ the day after JFK's funeral that brought me to tears.

There were so many heart wrenching decisions that LBJ had to make about Vietnam.  He was a tortured soul, because he was a man of action and the no win situation in Vietnam was so frustrating for him.

Several of the handwritten letters in the museum were from parents of soldiers who had died in Vietnam.  Parents that thought the war was a mistake, but that wanted LBJ to know their son did not die in vain and were proud to fight for the freedom of other countries.  They acknowledge what a hard job they knew it must be for him to be the President and that they were still behind him.  It was very moving.

LBJ was a great speaker.  Some of his speeches, especially after JFK was assassinated were so touching, genuine, personal and delivered beautifully.

There was also a replica of the Oval Office - which was very cool.  Another interesting one was a display of all the gifts that were given to the Johnson's by dignitaries and just regular people.  Some cool.  Some bizarre.

All in all, it was an afternoon that was well spent.  I can't wait to get some company into town so I can drag them down there.

After that, we ate at Hopdoddy Burgers and even with a long wait in line, I think it was worth it.  I had a Llano Pablano burger with a lettuce bun.  Scrumptious!

Hope your Saturday has been great!

Password

Before we left on vacation there was a thing happening at work called a migration. It was something technical to do with computers (I know that is dummying it down, but honestly that is all I know).

Well, my migration didn't work correctly because of some internet glitch.  I blame AT&T.  That means I could not get logged back into my work accounts the day we were heading to Maine. It was a bummer, but I was going on vacation so I just walked away.  Goodbye problem.  Hello Maine.

This morning, after being off for a week I figured I better get on the phone with the IT department and get it figured out before Monday rolled around. 

I am talking to the techie guy and I always make it very clear that I have zero computer skills.  I can type like a demon, but please do not ask me what version of Explorer I am running or do that thing where you go to the black screen and type in some kind of computer code overwrite with \'s and *'s.  Not going to be able to do that.  Just need them to understand my limitations.

So the guy has to give me a fake username and password since mine would not be recognized by the system.  The username was some kind of gibberish and the password was "3Ftov)^QRn9rr#?vX~".

I was all....damn, what the hell kind of password is that?  The techie guy goes "a safe kind".  Safe?  I got hand cramps just typing the dadgum thing in?  They are serious about some password safety.  I took a lesson and beefed up my own password.   

Don't even get me started on the Security Questions!  Why are they so hard?  What happened to Mother's maiden name?  Paternal grandfather's first name.  I know those!  These new fangled questions are hard. I guess there is a reason for that!  Anyways.....

Good news....I am back on and ready to roll on Monday morning!
Bad news....I am back on and ready to roll on Monday morning!

Coming home from vacation is the pits.  Big old giant PITS! 

Hope you have an awesome Friday and wonderful weekend!