Wonderful Independence Day Weekend
It was a wonderful party on Saturday, the first ever Steak & Shoot at waywalker and elena23’s house. I met a large number of people I didn’t know, and then promptly forgot most of their names, lol. The food was excellent. I brought a big crock pot of doctored up baked beans, and Sarah brought an excellent pasta salad. And of course, there was a great deal of food there that others brought. The steak was fantastic - in a class of its own. But I also had a brat, grilled chicken, a hot dog, a hamburger (come on, this was throughout the whole day!) and the best potato salad I’ve ever sunk my teeth into.
The shooting was a blast, no pun intended. I got to shoot my Taurus 1911 to my heart’s content, and I felt quite pleased with my accuracy, if I do say so myself. It was almost as much fun to watch my daughters shoot. Meggan looked mega-cool in her tinted goggles, tall boots and mid-thigh skirt pulling off .22 rounds. Later on, she said it kind of scared her (which is actually good, of course) and she didn’t enjoy it much, but she looked totally smooth, if style counts for anything. On the other hand, Hannah loved it. In hindsight, I wish I’d been a bit more assertive about getting her a few more turns on the firing line, but I only discovered afterwards how much she had liked it.
Sarah fired too. There was an actual professional firing range instructor there, who was much better at teaching than me. Sarah says that the best advice he gave her was to pretend the gun was a camera and she’s taking a picture, not to anticipate the bullet being fired, but to hold it steady while “taking the picture”. She also like the .22 much better than my big, ‘ol .45!
The most, um, interesting part of the day was blowing up the dishwasher. Yes, literally. It wasn’t dynamite, but the effect was much the same. Dishwasher parts flying fast in all directions is a thing of beauty, but you’re just going to have to take my word for that.
Sunday, we went to The Last Airbender. Hannah & I discussed its merits and demerits all the way home. For our tastes, we thought it had deviated from the TV cartoon just a little too much. For me, the biggest disappointment was Ang’s lack of joy. In the cartoon, he’s almost tirelessly happy, but in the movie, he was rather grim a lot of the time. Still, the boy who played him was physically amazing. I’m going to have to look up some info on him - to my untrained eye, his martial arts movements looked remarkably polished and advanced for someone his apparent age. Overall, I liked the movie and I’m glad I’m went, just so nobody reading this gets me wrong.
Monday was more of a relaxed day around the house. Sarah & I took the van in for an oil change and tire rotation, but that was easy enough. She and the girls spent most of the rest of the day packing, and then headed out for grandma’s house in KY mid-afternoon. Before they left, I made pasta with meatballs, garlic bread, and green beans for lunch, which Hannah exclaimed was “delicious”! In the evening, I went to rehearsal. This was the first time I pulled out my new inflatable, giant #1 finger and wielded it. People laughed spontaneously, which was very cool. I like to think I have a knack for doing funny things with a straight face, something this role requires.
The shooting was a blast, no pun intended. I got to shoot my Taurus 1911 to my heart’s content, and I felt quite pleased with my accuracy, if I do say so myself. It was almost as much fun to watch my daughters shoot. Meggan looked mega-cool in her tinted goggles, tall boots and mid-thigh skirt pulling off .22 rounds. Later on, she said it kind of scared her (which is actually good, of course) and she didn’t enjoy it much, but she looked totally smooth, if style counts for anything. On the other hand, Hannah loved it. In hindsight, I wish I’d been a bit more assertive about getting her a few more turns on the firing line, but I only discovered afterwards how much she had liked it.
Sarah fired too. There was an actual professional firing range instructor there, who was much better at teaching than me. Sarah says that the best advice he gave her was to pretend the gun was a camera and she’s taking a picture, not to anticipate the bullet being fired, but to hold it steady while “taking the picture”. She also like the .22 much better than my big, ‘ol .45!
The most, um, interesting part of the day was blowing up the dishwasher. Yes, literally. It wasn’t dynamite, but the effect was much the same. Dishwasher parts flying fast in all directions is a thing of beauty, but you’re just going to have to take my word for that.
Sunday, we went to The Last Airbender. Hannah & I discussed its merits and demerits all the way home. For our tastes, we thought it had deviated from the TV cartoon just a little too much. For me, the biggest disappointment was Ang’s lack of joy. In the cartoon, he’s almost tirelessly happy, but in the movie, he was rather grim a lot of the time. Still, the boy who played him was physically amazing. I’m going to have to look up some info on him - to my untrained eye, his martial arts movements looked remarkably polished and advanced for someone his apparent age. Overall, I liked the movie and I’m glad I’m went, just so nobody reading this gets me wrong.
Monday was more of a relaxed day around the house. Sarah & I took the van in for an oil change and tire rotation, but that was easy enough. She and the girls spent most of the rest of the day packing, and then headed out for grandma’s house in KY mid-afternoon. Before they left, I made pasta with meatballs, garlic bread, and green beans for lunch, which Hannah exclaimed was “delicious”! In the evening, I went to rehearsal. This was the first time I pulled out my new inflatable, giant #1 finger and wielded it. People laughed spontaneously, which was very cool. I like to think I have a knack for doing funny things with a straight face, something this role requires.