Our Rather Simple Yet Chaotic Life

This weekend was a little strange. We took Thursday off to extend the extended weekend and relax a bit. Relaxing the weekend was but it was also busy if that makes any sense at all! Thursday was the night of our community fireworks display so I cut the grass in the morning and started up the smoker a bit later than I should have. I decided to smoke a pork shoulder roast and two chickens....what a nightmare. The problem was that I couldn't keep the heat high enough to cook efficiently (read timely). The temperature is supposed to be near 180-190 for smoking and I was lucky to see 135 degrees most of the time. The 4 hours is was supposed to take ended up being 7 hours and still not completely done. At the 7 hour mark, I decided to finish up the cooking on the trusty propane grill. The finished product was still good but the heat issues were frustrating to say the least. After dinner, I put on a small firework display in the driveway and then we watch the community display.

Friday we took a drive to Cabela's. Cabela's has a conversion kit for my smoker that would turn it from a charcoal fueled smoker to an electric controlled smoker. Unfortunately for me, they don't stock the conversion kit at the stores. After Cabela's we headed to wander around Ikea. We ended up buying a few odds and ends, nothing too exciting. Then we spent the evening sitting on the patio watching neighbors shooting fireworks.

Saturday morning began the work part of the weekend. We decided (I actually decided to appease Lisa) to paint Katelyn's bedroom. Lisa's parents took Katelyn for the night on Friday so we could get the painting done uninterrupted. We got the taping done on Friday and a coat of primer and one coat of paint finished on Saturday before we left to go to the Mudhens game. The paint went on extremely light, so light that I sent Lisa out to Lowe's to pick paint that was a couple shades darker. By the time Lisa called me to say she was having problems deciding on a color, the paint on the wall had darkened up nicely so she came home without the new paint. The original paint was going to work just fine. On the way to the game, we stopped by Home Depot to pick up another gallon of paint for the second coat.

The Mudhens lost the game. Katelyn was her usual self and we left before the post-game fireworks began. Once Katelyn got to the car, she relaxed a bit and allowed us to pull over and watch the fireworks display.

Sunday, I put the last coat of paint on the room and Lisa and I put the room back together. That pretty much did it for the weekend.

This week I am golfing on Friday and then heading over to the LPGA tournament being held this week in town. Tuesday we are going to the annual "Jamie Farr Kroger Classic" dinner gala. The entertainment this year is Hootie and the Blowfish. Am I getting old or what? The entertainment at these events always seems to be a singer that I was too young to remember or someone that I remember my parents enjoying. I actually remember Hootie and listened to their music. I must be pushing 40 years old!

Other than that, no big plans other than getting ready for our short Nashville trip next week.

Below are a few pictures that I mentioned either in this post or previous posts:

Basil/Pesto Pictures