2nd Annual Cul-De-Sac Party and Charcoal versus Gas Grill-Off! Sunday afternoon 4ish. Bratwursts, homebrew, kiteflying and squirtgun duels will be enjoyed. There *may* be some lawnmower drag racing. Last year, we fought off an errant cow from the farm down the road and lodged two (TWO!) Frisbees on my roof. This year? Who knows!
Posted by: Fes on May 28, 2004 02:42 PMThat is SO festive, Fes! Add a couple dozen deviled eggs, and it's perfect.
Posted by: tizzie on May 28, 2004 03:00 PMDespite the fact that 'tis not a holidy until the 2nd here, I will venture out and be snarly amongst the weekend hoards as I elbow my way to the bar for another JD on the rocks.
I figure since this week of behaving myself (getting loads of sleep, eating vitamin C till I turn orange and drinking enough soup to float a friggin' battleship, no nicotine) hasn't kicked this cold yet, maybe I just need to burn this little bug out with liberal dose of internal disinfectant.
Plus it's training for next week's work conference here in Rome, in anticipation of which my liver is already shreiking in horror. Which also reminds me that Bush is visiting his Italian lap dog the day before. Oh. Joy.
Posted by: romakimmy on May 28, 2004 03:05 PMIt's the start, lounging by the pool. May attend an art festival, which will be the closest thing to a family picnic around my parts. Maybe it's me, is "the family picnic” on a national holiday a by gone era?
Posted by: thomcatspike on May 28, 2004 05:37 PMIt seems like the "family picnic" always ends up later on Jerry Springer as something entirely different.
Posted by: tizzie on May 28, 2004 09:51 PMI'm getting drunk for Memorial Day. Wait, I already AM drunk. And I'm test-drivin' the brand new computer that the Hubs got me for my birthday ('cause it's today). Then we're going to eat swanky Eye-talian food with the family. And then I'll probably get drunk again--not because I'm trying to, but because I'm a really cheap date these days.
Plus we're admiring the boy. But we do that all the time.
[Can I just add that while one might imagine that having your birthday on Memorial Weekend would be awesome because you always get a day off, it actually sucks green donkey dick because everyone and their second inbred cousin is swarming the haunts that you would like to go to, but can't because it's filled to capacity?
At least it's warm out.
Oh wait, no, it's raining. Never mind.]
[Addendum 2: This time last year I was choking down morning sickness bile after meeting the NYC chapter of 9622 and talking to Fes on the phone. It was awesome because I loved meeting everyone, but miserable because, well, I was nauseous. What can I say...
It seems fitting, somehow.]
Posted by: readymade on May 29, 2004 03:52 AMHappy belated birthday, readymama! And I think we missed ufez's last week too. Toast to you both!
Posted by: tizzie on May 29, 2004 08:27 AMI'm going to the swamps of New Orleans to drink myself into oblivion one last time before the baby is born and my life is over.
Posted by: ColdChef on May 29, 2004 09:12 AMBuying a car to replaced the one I totaled earlier this week, pulling together financing for our first house, and fighting with my apartment complex over where all my stuff went when they gave my garage to a new tenant. And reading the action in the "SFW" thread on the blue.
Also, one-a-my good pals is getting married on Sunday, so I'm spending the evening in a tux in a candlelit wedding chapel.
Did someone say this was a holiday weekend? I might have a little time to relax on Monday.
Posted by: britain on May 29, 2004 10:13 AMDrinking myself to sleep and trying to forget that I am a new part of unemployed America ;)
BTW, now that I have a lot of spare time on my hands, those cds I promised are getting packed this week and shipped on Tuesday.
Posted by: eyeballkid on May 29, 2004 03:22 PMJust got home from watching the jet-powered dragsters run.
Mucho fun, but very, very loud.
Sample photo available here.
Posted by: Crash on May 30, 2004 02:16 AM
Well, gas won the grill-off, but the weather was not so accomodating: severe thunderstorms, 30-40 mph winds, 2 inches of rain and a few funnel clouds, in addition to the heat. In a testament to the lack of entertaining things to do in my neighborhood, nearly *50* people crammed into my garage for dinner and beers, and it got so thick we let our kids play outside during a thunderstorm. Anarchy!
I also got new shades.
Posted by: Fes on June 1, 2004 09:08 AM
regarding the grill-off: my neighbor Hutch (as in "Starsky And...") and I have a friendly rivalry concerning our prowess at the fire, and thus we turn our Memorial Day bbq into a competitive exercise, winner declared by guest acclaim and portions remaining. He had burgers this year, I had bratwursts (exact reverse of last year). I don't know what he did to his burgers (onion soup mix and rosemary in the meat, I think, they were good) but I got him. I pre-baked my brats in thinned porter with shallots to avoid the charred-outside-raw-inside effect (always a hoot with pork and pork-y dishes), the transferred them to the grill for marking, then into one of two dishes for boiling - one one side, the rest of the porter (unthinned) with the rest of the shallots (chopped fine) plus some paprika and a squinch of lime, in the other bbq sauce diluted lightened with stout, cracked pepper, and poupon mustard. My brats boil-soaked in those two mixtures for about 20 minutes, then got et. The beer-soaked ones were the garage favorite, but the bbq ones gave them a run for the money. Hutch conceeded the day graciously. Sweet, sweet victory!
Posted by: Fes on June 1, 2004 09:24 AMI bet those shades came in handy during the torrential downpour.
And I applaud your success at making me crave sausage prior to 10 am, Chef Fes. Mmmm, doggies!
Posted by: tizzie on June 1, 2004 09:50 AMHappy belated birthday, readymama! And I think we missed ufez's last week too. Toast to you both!
Happy Birthday! readymade...sounds like you had a nice time drinking in your 21st B-day. Wish I was a woman, then I'd be: 21 forever...:P
uFez's b-day is coming up, from "what" he mentioned to me at the mefi meet up... or am I mistaken?
My weekend summed up: relaxing until my neighbor fell into the creek[think she is alright, she changed clothes before the ambulance took her a way} Then the following night at 2:30am, teens gone wild: streaking, shouting, screaming all in that order under my bedroom window{live off the pool}. Would have been ok if not for the fact I had company over those nights. It was better than being at work tho.
Posted by: thomcatspike on June 1, 2004 04:57 PMYeah, the birthday's a couple weeks off just yet. Fortunately, I've got a three day blowout planned that's involving two shows, a soccer game, and a Sunday that will consist solely of rolling around on the bathroom floor in a fit of cold sweats praying for a swift deliverance from Becky, the ancient Incan god of ye that drinketh far too much of the holy water.
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