Tommy and I went to the gym today around 11:30. We thought by then the only people we’d have to deal with would be those teenagers left that had not yet hooked up with their friends. Oh, and of course…the remnants of the viagra brigade who were late getting started today so they had to get their fair share of staring in before they left.

Anyway, so there I am doing my shoulder weights when I look up and…wait for it….ugly gross disgusting hermit/mountain man guy is walking down the line of no less than 10 empty stair climber machines…toward the end…where….one single girl is working out for all she’s worth. Yes, on the end machine – away from everyone.

So where does he go? On the machine right next to that poor girl trying to work out by herself, leaving no less than nine machines to his left empty!!

What is WRONG with that guy? I mean, seriously!!!!!!

Well, at least he’s gotten some fashion sense since the last time I saw him there….the gross disgusting sweat-stained gimme cap was gone as were the creepy dark glasses. But the beard…still in tact. Not sure about the other stuff….luckily I got a machine five down from where he was when it was time for me to do my cardio.

Buffi was here yesterday. We started drinking at 4:30. We stopped drinking at 12:30. Oh yes, there was plenty beer and wine and Pisco sours and rum and cokes to go around.

And brisket. There was the best brisket Tommy has ever smoked eaten here in this house last night…and again today for lunch. And we can’t forget the slow-cooked pinto beans. Yummy. I was too busy eating to take very many pictures…sorry.

But we had fun! Talking to and drinking with Buffi! Poor Buffi. She had to go to the airport today to fly to Houston to wait for her flight back to Ohio. The weather is bad in Houston. And in Ohio. So now she is stuck in Houston. Hopefully she will get home some time today.

While she flew to Houston I went to the gym. After an hour of cardio I feel better…but I am very tired. I always find it’s best to sweat out the alcohol the morning after and get the blood moving and oxygen flowing. Always helps. The good news is I don’t have a headache. But I should have a headache after dealing with all the damn flirting high schoolers that have returned to the gym. But that’s a story for another day.

The alcohol…it has been sweated out. The weather…it is gorgeous. The Boy…he is out of school for the summer. The spouse…he doesn’t have to go to work until Saturday. Life is good. And I am not hungover. Yeah!!

How often have you been driving down a neighborhood street lately and found yourself braking as hard as you can, skidding your tires down the road and grabbing your steering wheel for dear life hoping you don’t run over a kid on one of those motorized scooters that has suddenly darted out between cars or cut in front of you as you drive along at the very reasonable low speed limit?

Yeah…me too. And we’ve all heard about the many, many accidents where a kid seriously injures himself and/or others as they speed along the beach on one of those motorized 3-wheelers parents are so fond of spoiling their pre-teens with. The fact is that it is questionable sixteen year olds have the capacity to drive a car; kids younger than that are even less likely to act responsibly when operating a motor vehicle of any kind.

Assenine. Absolutely assenine. In an effort to indulge their kids’ every whim (and make up for the time they don’t spend with them), parents are willing to buy them anything they want and can get away with legally….including gas-powered vehicles that can be driven at excessive speeds and can potentially cause serious injury to those very kids, their friends, or an innocent bystander. These are the same parents that provide little to no supervision for their kids on these vehicles or anywhere else they happen to be. It takes a village while they work or do whatever it is they do…right?

Can you tell I don’t think much of parents who buy their kids these things and don’t supervise their kids while they’re on them? I’m not saying that all parents who buy their kids these motorized death traps don’t supervise their kids while they use them; I’m sure there are a very precious few who do…but I’ve never seen them.

Every time I see a story like this I get furious. How in the hell did that 13 year old get keys to that skiff? And why did he think it was OK to drive the think at breakneck speeds across a lake occupied by many trying to enjoy some quality time with their families? Now a six year-old is kid is dead – potential lost – because this irresponsible kid was given access to keys for a vehicle which became a death device.

I don’t care how responsible we think our kids are. They still need supervision. And we still need to control their access to keys for vehicles which they might think it’s OK to take out because really….their parents “will never know.” Well, this time they will. And so will the parents of that precious child who is now lost due to the negligence of the parents who are supposed to be raising that 13 year-old.

Ridiculous. And sad.

Yes, I went. The brisket is in the smoker and the beans are soaking and the house is clean…so I really had no excuse not to go.

The advantage of going on a holiday is you don’t have to fight for the free weights as most of the people that are there have made the trip to either socialize with neighbors or do only cardio at a very slow pace. So on days like this I usually do weights until a cardio machine is free, then do cardio, then finish my weights.

Anyway…although I dreaded going and I hate working out, I’m glad I went. Because guess what a lady that I see there a few times a week with her home-schooled daughter said to me?

You’ve lost a lot of weight. I see you here all the time and you really look a lot thinner or more muscular or something. I don’t know what you’ve been doing but it sure is working.

See? Sometimes it pays to go to the gym. Oh…just so you know…I haven’t lost more than maybe a pound or two. I’ve just switched the order I do things and cut down on the calories and salt a little bit.

Now I can happily eat Tommy’s wonderful brisket and beans knowing I look so much better than I did.

Although of course I am left wondering….just how big did I look?

It’s a nice time to get together with family and friends and take a break from our hectic schedules at work or school or whatever it is we do in our lives.

I am married to a veteran who served honorably and with distinction for ten years. And I was proud to serve as a military spouse. I realize when you have never lived with a military member, have no family members who served, or have never known anyone that served or is still serving in the military, it’s easy to treat these three days just like any other long weekend we all enjoy. Through the years, I’ve worked with many who do not understand what it’s like to live the life or make the sacrifices that are required to serve.

As you enjoy your time at home with family and friends or concentrating on that project you finally have time to complete, please try and remember why we are all able to do the things we do in a country that gives us the freedom to live our lives as we wish.

Never Forget

That’s right. The Boy has three finals this morning, and then at 12:30 he gets out of school for the year. Once again will his boyness be unleashed upon this household 24/7.

His first requests of the summer:

1. As usual, he wants a friend to come home with him from school and spend the night (unlike most years where these sleepovers drag on into lunch the next day this friend has to leave at 8:30 in the morning so there will be an early end – bad news is one of us has to get up and make sure the friend is fed before he goes).

2. Take The Boy and said friend to Culver’s for lunch immediately after pick-up. Yes, Tommy is home so he will also have to put up with this request. Don’t get me wrong….we all know I love Culver’s. But it is the last day of school. It’s likely to be as crowded as the opening day. But we will go. Because so far The Boy has received A’s on all his finals. He at least deserves the burger of his choice and a malt.

3. My pepper steak for dinner. Now this doesn’t sound like a big deal….but really it’s like 2 1/2 hours of cooking. And it’s really good. So if you need me later I’ll be in the kitchen trying to recover from Culver’s and making dinner for the better part of the late afternoon.

4. Omelettes for breakfast tomorrow morning. I won’t have to do this for the friend because he has to leave, but I will be making omelettes with fresh chives from my herb garden in the morning.

Why is it that most of his requests have to do with food – either the getting of or making of? I have no idea where he gets that…

School is out in a little over three hours. I will be eating and cooking. The Boy will be home ALWAYS until August. Help.

I was worried about posting at all about this tonight because I didn’t want to be a “spoiler”. But then I saw Ann Althouse once again delivered a stellar real-time blog about the event so I figured it was safe. Go read it. She’s truly the best at AI blogging.

The list of guest stars was amazing…but what the hell DID happen to Toni Braxton? Has she lost her voice or what? That was a total mess. M.J. was fabulous as usual and Elliot held his own with her. That Meatloaf thing? Very creepy. And what’s even creepier? I was oddly turned on by Prince…what was THAT about?

But back to the real story. As for me, I really think Kat was better tonight than she’s ever been. Probably because Simon went ahead and pre-announced the results last night and everything so the pressure was off. She’s got a record deal anyway. She’ll be fine. And who doesn’t want a free Mustang convertible?

I don’t know what it is about Taylor…but it was the same with Bo and Fantasia and Kelly. They all “feel” the music and make the rest of us “feel” the music. And so we vote for them. I have no idea how Carrie won last year; that’s still a mystery to me. Because she was plastic-woman then and still seems very stiff to me even with the moving country lyrics.

But Taylor..oh Taylor definitely lives the music. You can tell the road is his home and the stage is his workplace. He was a road-weary rustic professional that just needed a little polishing when Randy and Paula voted him through in Vegas.

There will definitely be very little lead-time in preparing him for the road and all that goes with it. Taylor is a true home-spun Idol and I look forward to hearing his soulful voice soon on my XM radio (and on the downloads I will ask Tommy to get for me because he’s all that with the computer download thing).

Yay Taylor!! And now maybe Kat can relax enough to put out some pop hits for the younger crowd….

I went to do my weekly grocery shopping yesterday, only to find that my store of choice did not have any brisket in the meat section. How can that be? No brisket…in a Texas grocery store…a week before Memorial day.

Ah, but it was true. So I picked up my dry pinto beans, bacon, garlic, onions, southern potato salad (Did I mention that Tommy does all the cooking when we have brisket… thus the pre-made potato salad), and wheat biscuits, and home I went. Yes, it’s just brisket, beans, potato salad and biscuits. We don’t want any of that nasty green stuff ruining that good brisket meal experience.

So today after the gym and the pool and a shower, off I went in search of brisket. Tommy had requested I find a pre-marinated one that would retain many juices while slowly smoking in his grandfather’s old smoker by the pool so all can enjoy the flavorful, juicy aroma whilst swimming and drinking chilled beer from our keg all afternoon.

Well…I went to the two other grocery stores in our area…the only pre-marinated brisket I could find was also pre-smoked so that would not work….we do our own smokin’ around here.

But they DID have good-sized raw unseasoned brisket. Now, I know my way around the kitchen and I have a few days to think about it…so knowing I could come up with some type of marinade in which I could steep the beef for a day or two, I set my sights on the brisket section of the meat case.

Now…I don’t know about you but around here we smoke our brisket fat side down so all the juices can run down the meat and thus keep it extra juicy. So one must find a brisket that has one complete side that is fat. There were several pieces that were 1/2 fat or maybe 2/3 fat on one side. But no. I needed my fat. So I found one like that…only it was about six pounds.

Note: Brisket smokes much better if it’s big.

Now, I know it’s only going to be the three of us plus Buffi but leftovers are good and The Boy will be out of school for the year and the spouse will be home for a few days after Memorial Day….

So I got me a BIG BRISKET. It’s a little over ten pounds. And it has its glorious complete layer of fat on one side. And it is big enough to cook up right while the beans slowly simmer on the stove with all their bacon and garlic and onions and pepper…..

Oh yes. We got us some brisket! I will research for the next day or so and then marinate that bad boy in some really tasty stuff so it’s good to go on Monday.

Brisket!!! Yay!!!

Oh, I’m sure there will be pictures on Monday. No worries…

Today The Boy had his Math final, so he didn’t have much time for T.V. last night. However, while he was walking through the front living room he saw Taylor singing his first song. Here is what he said:

There is no reason why anyone should EVER wear a shiny purple jacket like that.

My son, he tells it like it is. As for my impressions? Like everyone else I think Taylor won it. I’m sorry, but that girl just has absolutely no warmth in her and everything she did seemed so contrived I don’t think she will get the votes she needs.

And Taylor, well he’s just got soul. No other way to say it. That boy truly “feels” the music. I hope America gets it right. But then again, I didn’t vote this time so I can’t complain about the outcome if I don’t agree with it….

As usual, I will watch only the last segment of the two hour finale because really, all we want to know is who won. We don’t care about any of that other montage/special guest plugging their new album/previous idols making horrible attempts at trying to be inspirational to the finalists/Ryan with his many teases/parents crying in anticipation….stuff.

I went to the gym today, fully prepared to deal with all the yucky Viagra-popping members of The Brigade.

However….what I was greeted by about half way through my 55 minutes on the ellipticals at level 8 took the gross-out factor involved with me going to the gym to a whole new, unprecedented level.

There I was…heart rate at about 152..struggling to complete the last half of my cardio…and then….ugly gross disgusting hermit/mountain man guy climbs onto the machine to my right (mind you there are no less than four open machines to my left of the same kind he chose). You see, I guess this guy thought he would look cooler if he was in between myself and the really in shape 30-something blond two machines down.

I tried really hard not to look…really I did. But let’s face it when someone is that gross it’s kinda like a car wreck. You just can’t help it. Here is the description (in a list):

1. He was fat. Not just fat. I’d say he’s pretty securely on the obese side of things. I say nothing wrong with that unless..

2. He had on an old green stretched out t-shirt and very sweaty sweat shorts. I say nothing wrong with sweating; I do it profusely, unless…..

3. He had on a gimme cap (if you don’t know what that is I’m sorry it’s something you just “know” when you live in Texas) that was old, smelly, and had dirty sweat stain marks all across the front of it…ewww.

4. And he had a beard and mustache that looked like they hadn’t been groomed in months and they were both all wet and sick looking like when a dog slobbers and there were crumbs in the beard.

5. And he had on some weird type of shaded eye glasses so you couldn’t see his eyes….very creepy.

6. And old-style tube socks to complete his look.

7. And finally…the icing on the cake…I have no idea WHAT the guy ate for breakfast but the smells emanating form somewhere close to his posterior combined with the old sweat mixed with new sweat smell coming from his cap and the overall aura of B.O. were almost enough to make me hurl.

Hopefully you have a visual now. Tommy says I can be rude at times (don’t know where got that) so I used every single ounce of my willpower not to shudder in disgust and move to a different machine. I steadfastly breathed through my mouth and not my nose, averting my eyes, and completed my time on the machine.

Then I quickly wiped off my machine and got the hell outta there.

Yes…yuck…and ewwww…..

God, I hope he doesn’t show up again tomorrow. Because then I WILL have to move. I can’t go through that again.