Wow that was a full weekend.  Full of, for the majority of the time, good stuff.  Friday night we went over to Ed and Kim’s and met up with them for a wedding.  I expect everyone has been to a wedding;  How much should I have to detail that.  Good food, lovely ceremony, blah blah blah.

Saturday was an especially fine day.  I headed over to Ed’s house at 3:30 (yes, A.M.) and fired up the TFB BBQ smoker, which Kevin had delivered Friday evening.  I had some minor issues getting it going, mostly due to my unfamiliarity with the beast.  It took a lot longer to heat up than I had allowed for.  Everything got going OK though, and I tossed on a 12 lb. brisket, two 6 lb. pork shoulders, and three slabs of ribs.  Obviously, they were expecting a few people over to their house that evening.  They had invited numerous friends and family down from Cincy for the home opener against the Chiefs, and wanted to put on a feed.  After everything got rolling, Ed ran some power out to the front porch and we sat out there with our laptops all morning, watching the food and surfin’ the Web.  Kind of a Nerd/’Que kind of morning, and on into the afternoon.  The “Dork Highlight” of the day was when Ed ordered Jimmy John’s for lunch.  Despite the fact that he was sitting two feet away from me, he opted to email the menu in a pdf file instead of just asking me what I wanted.  Truly a Munkirs-esque move.  Well, that was honestly the entire day.  The food came off promptly at 6:00, and it all came out pretty good.  Not a competition effort, but a darn sight better than last weekend.  I powered through until about 8:00, and then hit the wall.  I came home and tried to watch TV, but crashed in roughly 20 seconds.

Sunday was another Cincy-in-KC day.  We met up with the whole crowd down on the Plaza around 7:30, where Donette’s parents had agreed to pick everybody up in their RV.  We were in line for the gate at 8:00, through the gate by 8:45, and enjoying some grilled burgers and sausages by 10:30.  It was a good tailgate; I sort of liked watching all the taunts come in from our less-than-hospitable locals, especially from behind the relative safety of my trusty KC tee-shirt.  On the downside, I had to endure all of the standard nonsensical chants and songs, which I still don’t get.  Sorry, the phrase “Who Dey” just doesn’t really mean anything.  Everytime somebody said it I had the uncomfortable feeling I was supposed to respond in some manner, but was a little lost as to with what.  “Hey hey hey, we’re gonna beat the #$(*@ out of you.”  Now THAT makes sense.  Easily decoded, straight-forward, none of this mystery crap.  Anyway, I’m sure you know the rest of the story.  We sat through 3 miserable hours in the rain (thankfully not with the Out Of Towners,) watched a pitiful, boring game, and then partied in the lot for a while afterwards.  Even ran into the Munkirs, Belanger, and Frerking crowd, so I got a little respite from the “Who Dey” chants.  The only good thing to come of the day:  The Cincy crowd went into the stadium as staunch Pittsburg-haters, based on what they perceived to be a cheap shot against Carson Palmer last season.  By the end of the day, the tables had turned, and they all agreed that cheap shots against QB’s weren’t really that bad of thing after all.  I think I even heard several of them offer Josh good money for his Pittsburg jerseys, but he wasn’t selling.  : )

Other random news… I think we are keeping Belle, so I guess I better post some more pics.  Her and Gabe are pretty much buddies now.  My arm is still messed up, I have to wear this stupid sling for at least three more weeks.  Actually WEAR it, not just have it near me, according to the Doctor.  Good grief.  I had an MRI done last week, but haven’t had it looked at yet… hopefully no surgery.