A day of surprises!

On a day when we thought we were all out of fun things to do we were invited out to Richard's farm for a sleigh ride. What a ride through the valley. A snowy day that made us all smile and laugh out loud. From tipping back our heads and catching flakes to the "Who can hold on the longest contest?" it was a day to remember.

B and A's JPEGs of BNL A OK! - TKP

BNL with B and A

So what do you do in Saskatchewan when it is - 34 and the wind chill makes it feel like - 44? You get in a vehicle and drive for a total of 4 hours to a concert - that is what! :)

Sari and I got together with our friends Ben and Amy and went to see the "Barenaked Ladies" (for though of you who don't know - there is nothing to worry about here... no one was bare, or naked or even ladies for that matter - just a silly name for a band of 5 rather strange looking guys!) in Regina.

It was a lot of fun. They came on stage at about 8:30 and did not quit until 10:45 (no intermission, no real breaks - just 2 + hours of music). We stood up when they came on stage and did not sit down again. Sari was clapping - I was "WOOOOOOOO" ing - Amy was dancing - and we were not really sure what Ben was doing! ;)

One of the nice parts was that because they have been around since the late 80's/early 90's they can play for 2 hours and you know almost every word to every song. Well, except that stupid rap in "One week" - I can never get that.... "gotta getta better setta clubs, the kind with tiny nubs, so my irons aren't always flying on the backswing...." etc (If anyone can learn that rap and do it at exactly the same speed as Ed does without missing a word or messing up - I will give you $20 - seriously!! Find me and prove it - I don't think you can! Come on, Lenny, here is your chance! ) :)

So, of course, we had to go for coffee afterwards and then drive home - didn't get home till 2 am. Up at 7 to go get the girls from the Hill's house and then to work all day. No nap - No problem!

I AM NOT OLD YET!!!!!!!! :)

So that was the big excitement of this week. I will post some pics of the whole event here later.


PS. Remember - "One Week" rap - $20 - try it.

Buckled in....

So - the decision you all have been waiting for has been made.......

But, before I reveal the answer to the question "Flying or Driving" - I must say that I am shocked that not more of you took the opportunity to vote on this burning issue.... our forefathers gave their lives so that you could have the right to vote and what did you with their gift????? Nothing - that is what! Well - Crystal and Ben voted - but only Crystal actually acknowledged the $100 voting fee - and that was the important part (the cheque is in the mail, right? I mean, it has been a few days now and I have not seen it yet. I guess the cold weather is delaying its arrival, right?)

Well - after much debate and many long hours - we booked airline tickets today!!!! So, that is it. No turning back now. Flights, hotels room, rental car - all locked in. There is no way out now (Well, I guess I could just refuse to go - all this stuff is on Lenny's credit card after all) :)

The only bad part now is that if every decision that we make on this trip is as hard to come to as the "Fly or drive" question - Lenny and I are going to spend the entire eight days standing on some street corner in downtown Charlotte going, "I don't know! Which way do you want to go? We could go left.... or right. Left looks nice - but right has its advantages. Maybe you should go left and I will go right and then......." :)

The problem is (I think) that we are both being too nice (believe it or not). We are trying to consider how our decisions will effect others (like our wives). We are trying to be considerate of what the other brother wants to see or do and how much money he may want to spend.

I don't expect that to last! :)

Decisions will come much more quickly as soon as we start tapping into our "Pippus rage" - they may not be the best decisions (in fact, I can almost guarantee that!) but they will come fast. No more mamby pamby "What do you want?" - "I don't know - what do you like?" stuff!!!! What are we.... girls?????

So - I expect that now that we have that "niceness" thing out of the way - things will go much more smoothly.

I am getting excited now that we have a plan!!! I just need a few of you to come through with your $25 "reading my blog" fee and I will be set!!!! (I don't care whether you knew I was charging for my blog or not!!!! Unless you can completely erase from your memory every word you have just read - you owe me $25!)

Thank you in advance for your patronage! :) TKP

Lennys and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!!!! :)

So, it is happening!!! After many years of being nothing but big talkers, Lenny (otherwise known as my brother Kurt) and I are going to a NASCAR race in Charlotte, North Carolina.

We have tickets to Cup qualifying, the Busch race and the Cup race. Our hotel is within a mile of the speedway and is near all the race shops. The race shop tours are going to be cool. They are huge and really interesting. You get to watch the cars being built, most of them have museums and stuff like that as well.

As I said, this is something that we have talked about doing for years and the time has come (Well - actually my wife told me "The time has come, stupid!" - though she did not add the "stupid" part - and she actually said "Happy Birthday" but I know what she meant!) :)

Now we just have to decide how we are getting there. Do we pay the big bucks and fly down like adults, or do we do the "Planes, trains and automobiles" version of the trip and drive 30 + hours??? Is the cost saving worth the grueling marathon trip or not? Or is the trip 1/2 the fun (think of the memories.... "Lenny, remember the time that we fell asleep and almost ran into that bridge abutment??? Or the time we felt like throwing up because we had been in the car all day, every day, living on McDonalds and Gas Station food for three straight days??? Or how about the time that we fought all the way across Indiana????" (Could be Good times, huh?) :) I am taking a pole to see which way we should go - so please leave your comment below (Also please note that every vote for "Flying" must be accompanied by a $50 bill to help offset the cost. Check that - make it $100 - it is a long, expensive flight!)

What could be more fun than a week in the southern states, looking at race shops and 800 horsepower stock cars? I can't think of anything much better! :)