adamap

Shreveport / Dallas

Sorry for the drought in postings. Rachel and I spent productive and relaxing week in the aforementioned cities. We were met in Shreveport by a great suprise. My uncle Navin was visiting them as well! I had seen him last 3 years ago at my cousin Shalini's wedding (btw congrats to she and Rafael on their bouncing baby boy Arin!). After a day or two of relaxing we headed over to Dallas to get down to business. We checked out some wedding sites and decided on the Dallas Women's Forum. It is a really well preserved mansion that fit a lot of the things we were looking for in a site. Once that business was taken care of we headed to uncle Mike and aunt Brenda's Plano home. It is a beautiful home with a wonderful back yard complete with in ground pool. There was a cookout where I stuffed myself and the night was capped off with uncle Mike singing and playing guitar. He has a great voice and writes his own material. He even put Rachels ode to cats 'Birdies and Squirrels' to music.

I have failed to mention so far that Rachel's dad Rich was carting us around the metroplex the whole time. We could not have gotten so much done without him. We did find time to relax. We watched Lady Snowblood, which if you watch it can tell QT was inspired by to make the Kill Bills. Was a good movie and recommend it if you enjoyed KB. We also watched Girl With a Pearl Earring. If you enjoyed Frida, period pieces, art or cinematography there is good chance you will dig it.

Also on your adventures was a trip to the Dallas Musum of Art. Lots of great works there including a Chihuly installation of seaforms. They also had a great collection of Japanese samurai works, and Mayan and Aztec gold work. So much more to talk about. The photos will be up by the weekend and ya'll can see for yourselves.

Oh, and can't forget the trip to the VIP lounge at Harrah's Louisiana Downs. Dad has the high roller card which gets us into a bas ass lounge with flat screens o' plenty and FREE DRINKS. We hung there for a few and caught the first horse race of the day.

Was a great trip. Loved spening time with Mom & Dad. But I was excited to come back home becaused I upgraded my wheels.

Socks

We had to say goodbye to Socks our cat last week. Socks loved people and people adored Socks. She was protective of her sister in the face of danger (dogs) despite her skiddish ways. She loved to have her belly rubbed. My lap feels a little empty.

5 Bratwurst Weekend

Last weekend was action packed! Rachel and I first went to Gallery Night. The first gallery/shop we went to first was the most interesting. The shop sells eastern influenced furniture and artifacts. The most interesting items there were photographs by a local man who spends half the year abroad taking pictures of cultures. We really liked how he captured very honest moments. The rest of the galleries were a whirlwind of paintings and people. One shop had a Chihuly glass sculpture freshly installed. Later in the evening we headed over to Mantra night club and caught some floor shaking beats.

Early the next morning Pete and I took off for Bill's cabin up nort der hey to meet Bill, Brendan, Johnny, and Scott. After some grocery shoppin' the boat was launched and the wakeboarding began. THE LAKE WAS GLASS ALL DAY!!! Granted it was a bit weedy but still glass. It was like wakeboard camp, perfect conditions and all day to ride. Once the riding was done the grilling began. The Iron Chef theme of the night....Bacon. The beans had some bacon, the potatos were boiled with bacon, the steaks were encircled with bacon, and finally the pork tenderloin was completely wrapped in bacon. Toss in some sweet corn and you have 6 completely stuffed guys. The next day was routine clean up, and oh yeah a bottle rocket fight. Only one injury and one burnt shirt, not bad for a 132 bottle rockets.

Immediately after arriving in town I headed over to meet the Waiken and welcome him back home after his 7,000 mile adventure. It was great to see him after many weeks. Also in the mix were Steve and Alice Wise and their 6 week old baby girl Anika. She is adorable and can keep her eyes trained on a tennis ball.

Can't wait to post the wakeboarding pics once I can obtain them from an un-named slacker.

BTW, 1 brat friday nite from a street vendor. 1 brat saturday night as snack while grilling. 1 brat as a snack sunday before hitting the road. Then 2 polish sausages at Waiken's cookout. I have since taken a 10 day and counting break from ethnic sausages!