Punishment Park

There’s nothing quite like a high temperature of 19 degrees to make you want to kill yourself. I went outside with Blue last night and turned back to come in after about 4 seconds when my teeth nearly cracked. Hell…bull riders stay on longer than that. In typical fashion, Blue just went and laid down in the middle of the yard unfazed and proceeded to tear the neighbors tennis ball apart.

As for me, I watched a pretty intense docu-drama called Punishment Park. It was successful in making me tired enough to get to bed early for Friday.

KK comes home tonight….YAY! Hope the flight goes okay and I hope we don’t have snow covering the ground. Damn I hate airplanes; I wish I never had to fly again. Okay, have a great weekend everyone.

Wine, Movie, and the Boys

I recently bought several different types of wine due to great reviews I'd read in Wine Spectator Magazine. Of the wines I purchased, last night I enjoyed the 2003 Concha y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile. It started off a bit intense, as most Cabernet's do, but eventually became very enjoyable. Sure wish I'd had a nice steak to go along with it. Maybe this weekend...

And since I just so happened to be drinking wine and spending the evening alone with the boys, I decided I'd throw in one of my favorite movies, Sideways. That movie gets better every time I watch it.

Wine Spectator Notes: "Very solid, with ripe cassis, blackberry and boysenberry fruit offset by vanilla, mineral and cocoa notes. Shows a loamy undertow, but stays fresh and focused through the finish. This has a great track record of value. Drink now through 2007."

Zzzzzzzz.....

As Mark mentioned in an earlier post, it was a very early morning for us today. We got up at 4:00am because I had a 6:50 flight for Orlando. My VP is having an "All Hands" meeting down here for our Field Marketing Organization. We met the gang at our swanky Marriott Resort. It is really a nice place - there is a shower AND a bathtub in my room(decisions are the worst). We met the team from 1:00-3:00 and then off to the go-cart track for a little team building. It was a total blast. My face hurts from smiling. My Director slammed me head-first into the wall once and the "carnie" had to help me get back on track. Other than that, I think I would have done my family proud with my hot-rodding skills. We met again tonight for dinner and presentations at the hotel and then off to the Daytona NASCAR track tomorrow for the Gatorade Duels - which will determine the starting order for Sunday's Daytona 500!!! Very exciting. We even have a police escort to the track tomorrow. At Sprint Nextel, we spare no expense!
Now, time for some shut-eye!

An Early Day

As I imagined, Kristen and I opted to just go out for dinner last night. It’s probably better, too, because my shopping list was starting to look pretty hefty and I imagine we would’ve spent more money by eating at home. After much debate, we decided to go to Bravo! at Town Center. After dinner, we came home and Kristen packed for her trip.

We had to get up this morning at 4:30 to take her to the airport. We’re both exhausted as you can imagine. She’s gone to Florida for a three day work function. It sure will be lonely around the house. I hope Blue makes it through without her. He doesn’t like it when his mom is gone. As for our dinner last night, here’s what we had.

Kristen: Grilled Filet with Shrimp Kabob and Mashed Potatoes with Vegetables.

Mark: Parmesan-Crusted Sea Bass with Crispy Potatoes, Spinach, and Lobster Butter sauce.

For dessert we both shared the Tiramisu. It was out of sight.

Valentines Day 2006

Well…I missed my target weight loss by one pound this week. Those three damn Thin Mints did me in yesterday. I bet if I go back and work out again tonight I’ll hit it. The good news is that I’m still losing about three-and-a-half to four pounds a week. I’m currently 19 pounds lighter than when I started on February 10th.

Tonight is Valentines Day dinner for my baby. We’re having either Salmon or KC Strip depending on what looks better at the store. I’m also going to make my famous horseradish mashed potatoes and braised red cabbage with goat cheese and basil oil. For desert…Vanilla Ice Cream with Marinated Berries and a nice glass of Sauterne. Mmmmmm.

Pictures will be up soon of the dinner.

Happy Valentines Day everyone!!!

Parental Love

Who doesn’t hate step parents? Ugh! I sure did. I saw this video the other day and laughed for about five minutes, but then I realized how cruel it was and how the kid will probably murder his step dad one day for his actions. Make sure you have your volume up so you can hear what the kid is saying. And for the love of God, please never do this to Kristen or me.

Here's the video.

SHWING!!!

Cheater!!!

....Guess who fell off the wagon??? Mmmmm. Thin Mints.

Gonzales

Last night I had some very weird dreams and woke up at about 3:45am. Unable to fall back asleep, I made my way to the Internet for some early morning entertainment. It’s a good thing I got up because I would have never stumbled upon one of the best piano performances I've ever seen.

Not long ago I downloaded an album by a solo pianist, simply named Gonzales, who everyone in my circle has been talking about lately. Needless to say, he pretty much changed my opinion of the boring old piano. Gonzales has captured the young and hip audience pretty quickly as well, and will hopefully inspire others to follow suit.

Note: This short performance is only 12-minutes long, but well worth your time. Once the video starts, you can place your cursor over the video to enlarge it to either 2X or full-screen. I recommend full-screen.

The video is here.

ENJOY!!!

Starr Winter Follies

They’re forecasting tomorrow to be a blustery, overcast day with a high of 29 degrees and flurries. In preparation for the bitter weather, here are the top 5 cold weather movies:

1. Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (Yum, Turkish Delight)
2. The Golden Child (Viva Nepal!)
3. March of the Penguins (Brrrr!)
4. Billy Elliot (Short snow scene, but brilliant movie)
5. Love Actually (“I HATE Uncle Jamie!!”)

*** Honorable Mention: Alive (Submitted by my sister - who likes to eat people)

Brrrrrr....

The weather has finally gotten cold here in Kansas City. We've been blessed with warmer temperatures so far, but we all knew it was a matter of time before the winter weather hit. I would have liked to report that we were all coping with it well, but that's simply not the case. Even Blue has started walking around here with his new Burberry scarf. I got him to stop long enough to snag this photo. Well...at least the boy has style.