Howdy Ho!

I can't believe it has been a month since I've updated. So much has been going on and I've opted for more sleep over blogging. Go figure.

Wedding: The date is Oct. 22, 1:30 in Las Vegas. We arrive Oct. 21 and leave Oct. 24th. It's going to be busy! If you are going, shoot me an email and let me know.

The arrangements are nearly complete. I have to tell the wedding coordinator a few details, like flowers and music preference, but she just asked for those today. I selected a dress on Tuesday and have the fitting on Saturday afternoon. The dress fits perfectly, except for the length. We got Jim's ring on order and is should be here before we go. We just need to get his tux. I'm glad we aren't doing a full, blown traditional production. This has been stressful enough.

ACL (a.k.a. The $4 Lone Star Festival): We went to ACL. Here's my impressions, for what's it's worth. Yes, nothing I know.

Los Lonely Boys - Rocked.

John Mayer - Only saw for a few songs, but better live than I expected.

Van Morrison - Pretty good. Only knew the few songs at the end.

Ghostland Observatory - Is it a boy or a girl, a he or a she, it's the lead singer for Ghostland Observatory. We were enjoying it, until we got distracted trying to guess the gender of the lead singer (It's a he). He was wearing a pink t-shirt, low rise tight jeans, and braids and had a pretty high voice.

Ben Kweller - What a trooper! He came on stage late and apologized, explaining he had a double nose bleed and the paramedics were tending to him. Well, the nose bleed didn't stop. He was constantly wiping it with a towel that was quickly turning read. The cameras kept zooming in on his guitar and showing how much blood was getting on it. Between songs, he asked if anyone had a tampon. Someone threw him one and he stuck it up his nose. At the end of the song, he had taken it out and said it had expanded too much. His bandmates suggested he do a piano song. He did one, but bled all over the piano. At that point he apologized profusely and said he couldn't go on. Was he any good? I don't know. I was too busy watching the blood gush out of his nose and was impressed that he tried to keep going.

Aimee Mann - Liked her, but she needs to eat a cheeseburger or 10.

The Ranconteurs - They rocked! We ran into Vag and her dad and watched it with them. Her dad is a hoot!

Willie Nelson - Chanted 'Turn it up' and left after a few songs. Sound sucked on that stage.

Massive Attack - They were great, until they depressed everyone with statistics on the war in Iraq. 47,000+ Iraqi civilian died, 2600+ US soldiers, and billions upon billions spent. Thanks for killing my buzz. They owe me a couple of $4 Lone Stars.

Damian Marley - Rocked! I wish we hadn't left to see KT Tunstall. The only thing I remember about KT Tunstall is that she was the only musician dressed for hot weather.

Jack Ingram - I really enjoyed his act. He sang a few songs then dedicated the next few to his Father, since it was his birthday. Everyone in the crowd thought that was sweet, but then he started belting out songs about how his dad abandoned him when he was young. "I hope you found what you were looking for in Mississippi".

Matisyahu - I can't understand a single word he says while he is singing. He stops singing and starts going on about how God is present in the rays of the sun, the leaves on a tree, etc. Ok. I get it. God is everywhere. He continues to ramble on about how God is in other various things and people in the crowd. Ok. I still get it. He then says God is in the people sitting on the port o' potties. At that point, I laughed my ass off. It was the funniest thing I heard all weekend. He also took a prayer break.

Ben Harper - ROCKED! This was definitely the best show I saw! G. Love came out and did a ditty with them and he finished w/ the Marleys doing Get Up Stand Up.

Colorado Invihash: Jim's family (parents and sister's family) lives in Colorado Springs, so we went up early to spend some time w/ them before Colorado Invihash. We had a nice visit with them. Jim's father is growing cucumbers and has been picking 60-80/day. At that point, he had picked over 800 cucumbers. He planted a wide variety. Everytime we were over his parents, we ate pickled cucumbers. Yum! I like pickled cucumbers. As far as touristy things, we went to the Air Force Academy, Garden of the Gods, and Seven Falls. When we left Seven Falls, we took a scenic route that used to be an old railway and passed by Helen Hunt Falls.

We did Brownie's pre-lube trail on Thursday night. Like all Brownie trails, it sucked. Too short. I was looking forward to get a bit of exercise. Oh well. I did learn that I like the Boone's Farm flavors that are apple based.

Friday we were off to Monarch. We picked up Fish and Gagger from Brownie's and ate breakfast at the Purple Castle. I'm glad BC and I shared a dish. There is no way I would ever get a sticker for finishing my meal there. Along the way we went to Scenic Road. That was pretty cool. I'm sure Gagger will post picks, if she hasn't already. It's a road that runs at the top of a big hill (or miniscule mountain??) . It's a great view.

We also stopped off at Royal Gorge. We paid the $20+ dollars to get in and did the various attractions there. BC talked Gagger and I into doing the sky coaster. The sky coaster is one of those big swings that you see at amusement parks, etc. This one, however, put you over the edge of the gorge. The gorge is 1300 ft. deep. It was scary! We bought the DVD, so you can hear Gagger screaming. Everyone at the gorge did!

We made it to Monarch and from there, the normal Hash festivities began. I had a good time. I enjoyed the trails and the beer was pretty good.

Dilloman: I did the Dilloman a couple of weekends ago. Thank you Brownie for the shout out on your blog. I had a good time. I received my first injury (very minor). My little toe on my right foot got kicked while we were treading water at the start. By the time I took my shoes off at the end, it was bruised and swollen. It wasn't broken, but Jim suspects the tendon got injured. I wore flip flops or loose shoes for about a week and a half. Jim didn't do it, but did a fabulous job supporting me and the other Hashers. He was at all the transitions and had a cold beer ready for me at the end. What more could I ask for?

BTW - The Dilloman was T-Rex's Tri debut and he did a great job.

I hope everyone is doing well. I will try to post more frequently, but I'm not posting from work anymore. The next couple of months will be busy. Wedding stuff, dog agility trials, and I need to move into my new home and get my current one ready to sell. Once we start the merger, I'm sure we'll be sending out emails about stuff for sale. I anticipate the merger will take a couple of months. We have too much stuff!