Our weekend sorta kinda started Thursday, which is always nice.  The Martins joined us in Westport for an O.A.R. concert.  Normally we wouldn’t take part in such wackiness on a school night, but we were feeling particularly energetic I guess.  It was a good show, other than the slightly uncomfortable feeling that we were 20 years older than everybody else.  I also had hard time shaking the notion that we were getting cheated on the venue a bit.  Saturday night Ed went to see them in Denver, where they were playing at Red Rocks; In KC the show was in a parking lot outside the friggin’ Beaumont Club.  I can’t help but notice a bit of disparity there, yet the ticket prices were the same.  Welcome to Kansas City, cultural center of the Midwest.  After carefully comparing the setlists with my seasoned eye for the arts, however, I don’t think we got shorted any on the music;  Good show.

Friday I had to work, which was pretty tough after a late night out.  I gave ‘er my usual 110% though, showing up early and staying late.  (Never know who actually reads these things…)  After that, I hit the lovely new digs at the Brooksider for a while, enjoying their copious amount of man-made shade, also known as a covered deck.  Donette joined me after a bit and we headed down to Jalapenos for a big dinner.  We were so full after that we ended up just going home and lounging in front of the TV the rest of the night.

Saturday morning I was scheduled to drop off my motorcycle at a shop in Excelsior Springs, so they can install my new handlebars and grips.  I’m pretty pumped for this upgrade, if not for leaving my toy in Excelsior all week.  I was having some trouble finding a place to get the swap done, at least in a reasonable amount of time.  Seems everybody is all booked up.  Anyway, I had to ride all the way out there and leave it with them, which I wasn’t too excited about.  I thought I heard them bang something into the gas tank last night, although it might have been my imagination.  Donette picked me up out there, and we headed over to her parents house to eat some lunch.  Gotta maximize your trips north of the river, you know.  For evening entertainment, we went to see “Sweet Charity” at Starlight with the Martins.  We haven’t been having much luck with our Starlight tickets this year.  We missed the first show entirely while we were on vacation.  At the second show, we sat in the pouring rain for the entire first half before bailing out during intermission.  Then, Saturday night the show was delayed for an hour and a half while they tried to get the stage door un-stuck.  Honestly I didn’t notice a big difference in entertainment value between staring at the door and staring at the production itself, but it was a rather boring wait.  They finally started the show around 10:00, but then we had to leave at intermission again because I had to work at midnight.

Sunday we spent the better part of the day up on Smithville Lake with the Martins and Browns.  I’d planned on smoking a “practice” brisket, even had one all seasoned up in the ‘fridge, but couldn’t refuse a little boat time.  We floated around all afternoon, listening to the Royals lose again and soaking up some sun.  I managed to burn myself again too… Slow learner.

By the way, there are some new pictures of our recent Spain trip up in the gallery; check ’em out.  Plenty more to go… I’m getting there.