Wow, welcome to winter.  That was a quick and harsh change in the weather there.  Hopefully it will be short-lived too.

We kicked off our weekend with a few dinner dates.  Thursday we met the Munkirs at the Blue Moose in lovely Prairie Village.  In truth, that really doesn’t qualify as a “weekend” event, as I had to work Friday, but since they are one of six people who actually read this I have to be sure and give it mention.  We had a fine meal and fine conversation, at least when we could get in a few words between James’ nonstop blathering.  (He DID actually speak though;  To the waitress when he ordered his meal.)  Friday we went out with the Martin and Wilcox gangs.  We met up at the Brooksider to say hi to that group, mostly because we haven’t been there in a few weeks and needed some face-time.  Satisfied that nothing had changed there while we were away, we walked down the street to Carmens for some dinner.  It was awesome as always.  I even branched out and ordered eggplant parmesan, which I don’t believe I’ve ever had.  After dinner everybody came over for a Rock Band party.  Yeah, that’s pretty much what we do anymore.  Keeps us out of trouble and so far hasn’t gotten the least bit old.

Saturday was pretty low-key.  We did a little shopping in the afternoon.  Big sale at Microcenter!!!  I picked up a copy of Guitar Hero, because you just can’t get enough rockin’ at our house.  I thought the guitar that came with it was compatible with our Rock Band game, so that was my main reason for getting it.  Turns out it’s not, but I kept it anyway…  Because it’s fun.  After that we went across the street for a big 1-year-old birthday party.  Now there’s something I don’t find myself invited to very often.  This was the little boy that Donette babysits for though, so I guess we were obligated.  It was fun I must admit, and there was plenty of delicious food to occupy me.  For evening entertainment, we stayed in and played Wii games all night.  We played Rock Band for quite a while, then we ended up playing Mario Brothers well into the night.  I really think that game is gonna pay for itself sooner or later;  We tend to just stay home and entertain ourselves with it rather than go out.

Sunday got off to something of a rough start.  I put on my shoes to go out and get the paper, and quickly made the disappointing discovery that somebody had peed in my right shoe.  That falls pretty squarely in the “you know you’re going to have a bad day when…” category.  I lined everybody up against the wall for a harsh interrogation, but nobody was fessin’ up.  I did catch the cat nosing around the scene of the crime later, with a rather annoyed look on his face like “Hey, who moved my litter box?”  So, at this point he is my prime suspect.  However, Donette was pretty upset that I beat her in Mario Brothers, and Gabe doesn’t like going out in the cold much, so I haven’t totally eliminated them as the culprits either.  Remarkably, the day shaped up to be not so bad after that rather unsettling beginning.  Donette made some delicious breakfast burritos, and then we headed down to the Brooksider to watch the weekly debacle at Arrowhead.  Donette’s Mom & nephew came down and joined us for the Steelers after that, so we effectively made up for our recent absence at the ‘Sider by staying there all day.  After football was over, yep, you guessed it, we fired up the Wii and gamed all evening.  Good stuff.  I can feel my brain atrophy a bit every time we turn it on.

When I wasn’t playing video games, I  (finally) got around to putting up a few donated pictures from the American Royal, so check those out.