With my intra-office beer debt having grown to 26 bottles, I headed over to the local convenience store with plans to make things square. After carrying two 20-packs up to the cashier, the following transpired:
Cashier: "Thirsty, huh?"
Me: "Fortunately, it's not all for me."
Cashier: [Takes my debit card and gives me the evil eye.] "You're 21, right?"
Me: [Thinking it's been a while since I was carded--although I did shave last night.] "29."
Cashier: [Swiping my card.] "Yeah, I saw your gray hair and figured you were. Just checking."
Me: [Awkward pause.] "Hmmm. Well, at least it's not falling out."
Cashier: [Handing me my card and the receipt.] "Yeah, and I actually like gray hair."
Me: [Another awkward pause as I try to figure out if this is all just a bizarre pick-up line.] "Yeah, uh, thanks."
Friday, January 16, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Stan the Man
As always, we played lots of card and other games over the holidays. Stanley even got in on the action.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Back in Lander
After returning home from Vegas, The Wife and I had much of The Wife's family over for a few days around New Years. 
Between bouts of euchre and smart ass, we managed to fit in more fondue:
...and made a trip to Jackson to see the sights. While the summer tourist season and its unbelievable crowds can make Jackson a less than ideal place to be, winter in Jackson is quite nice.
Our first order of business in Jackson was to tour the Elk Refuge. This place is pretty amazing. Basically, with all the development and sprawl in Jackson Hole, many of the large animals that historically used the Hole for winter range end up concentrated on the refuge. While not ideal from the wildlife's point of view, it creates a gawker's paradise.
We also tried to ski Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Unfortunately, the snow was/is ridiculously unstable and the resort had to shut down. Just the day before we planned to ski the Resort, an in-bounds avalanche tragically killed a skier.
The day we showed up, another avalanche damaged one of the Resort's lodges and led to its closure (more here). Since yet another avalanche has since plagued the Resort, perhaps it was best that we didn't ski the Resort that day. We ended up skiing Snow King instead and had a fun, safe day on the mountain.
After our hectic day of skiing, we all headed back home for a few lazy days around Lander. The pets got to enjoy the wood stove:
And The Wife, The Sister-in-law, The Mother-in-law and myself enjoyed a hike around Sinks Canyon.
Between bouts of euchre and smart ass, we managed to fit in more fondue:
...and made a trip to Jackson to see the sights. While the summer tourist season and its unbelievable crowds can make Jackson a less than ideal place to be, winter in Jackson is quite nice.
Our first order of business in Jackson was to tour the Elk Refuge. This place is pretty amazing. Basically, with all the development and sprawl in Jackson Hole, many of the large animals that historically used the Hole for winter range end up concentrated on the refuge. While not ideal from the wildlife's point of view, it creates a gawker's paradise.We also tried to ski Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Unfortunately, the snow was/is ridiculously unstable and the resort had to shut down. Just the day before we planned to ski the Resort, an in-bounds avalanche tragically killed a skier.
The day we showed up, another avalanche damaged one of the Resort's lodges and led to its closure (more here). Since yet another avalanche has since plagued the Resort, perhaps it was best that we didn't ski the Resort that day. We ended up skiing Snow King instead and had a fun, safe day on the mountain.After our hectic day of skiing, we all headed back home for a few lazy days around Lander. The pets got to enjoy the wood stove:
And The Wife, The Sister-in-law, The Mother-in-law and myself enjoyed a hike around Sinks Canyon.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Road trip to Vegas
Since the New Year managed to sneak up on me this year--and then run me over like a Mack Truck--I'm getting a late start to the resolutions. However, beginning with this post, I plan to update this blog at least twice a week. Like with all resolutions, we'll save judgment on how well I do until later...
As has become custom, The Wife and I took a road trip to Vegas to visit my family over Christmas. However, since we didn't get out of Lander until noon we knew we were in for a long haul. The roads were miserable but we were in no hurry.
Karta is quite the trooper on the road. What you can't see is that my eyes and facial expression mirror hers.
A few things stand out each year from our Christmas in Vegas. First, we all attend Christmas Eve mass to sing carols before returning to Ma's house for a fondue party. Over the years the fondue party has become the stuff of legend.
The party never really gets started until Walt takes up the piano.
Think of a cross between National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and an old West piano bar--with too much food.
A second thing that sticks out from each year is that my other grandma, Mary Dale, has everyone over to sample the latest batch of Mary Dale's Maddening Margaritas. While the margarita bash usually follows Christmas, we did things in reverse this year. What's more, Mary Dale's Maddening Margaritas must have been especially potent this year because both The Wife and I forgot to take any pictures...
After a little under a week in Vegas, it was time to head home. We had gone skiing in blizzard conditions at Brian Head, I got to watch my dad split queens in black jack--and win, I demonstrated my lack of skill in tennis, we threw the football around until my shoulder was ready to explode, and I set a new personal best in bowling--170. Pretty successful all in all. The drive home, on the other hand, was not so successful:
Oh yeah, one final bonus picture of the pooch:
As has become custom, The Wife and I took a road trip to Vegas to visit my family over Christmas. However, since we didn't get out of Lander until noon we knew we were in for a long haul. The roads were miserable but we were in no hurry.Karta is quite the trooper on the road. What you can't see is that my eyes and facial expression mirror hers.
A few things stand out each year from our Christmas in Vegas. First, we all attend Christmas Eve mass to sing carols before returning to Ma's house for a fondue party. Over the years the fondue party has become the stuff of legend.The party never really gets started until Walt takes up the piano.
Think of a cross between National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and an old West piano bar--with too much food.
A second thing that sticks out from each year is that my other grandma, Mary Dale, has everyone over to sample the latest batch of Mary Dale's Maddening Margaritas. While the margarita bash usually follows Christmas, we did things in reverse this year. What's more, Mary Dale's Maddening Margaritas must have been especially potent this year because both The Wife and I forgot to take any pictures...
After a little under a week in Vegas, it was time to head home. We had gone skiing in blizzard conditions at Brian Head, I got to watch my dad split queens in black jack--and win, I demonstrated my lack of skill in tennis, we threw the football around until my shoulder was ready to explode, and I set a new personal best in bowling--170. Pretty successful all in all. The drive home, on the other hand, was not so successful:
Oh yeah, one final bonus picture of the pooch:
Sunday, December 14, 2008
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