I didn’t manage to take pictures of the guys putting the garage door on. What I thought was frantic installation mode late yesterday afternoon turned out to be let’s laze around the garage drinking beer and talking about the installation mode. I really should bring my laptop outside one of these days so I can blog as work is happening instead of relying on Drew telling me what he’s planning on doing. I’d have far more accurate reports that way.
Last night we held a pre-birthday BBQ for T (L’s son) and I. T’s b-day is one day before mine and since he’s always been ready to help out whenever we need it, it was just natural to ensure that he was included in all the festivities. Loxley took pictures so if/when she sends them to me, I’ll post the Queen of the Hill photos. Just remember that I take a horrible picture, was well into my cups, and spent half the night wearing silly hats (thanks to Loxley, P, W and A).
Best thing about BBQs in our backyard is the food. Salads, s’mores, fruit, and chips & dip were provided by the guests. Drew put on a multi-course meal including homemade corn dogs. Me, I’m not a fan of corn dogs but everyone else seemed to really enjoy them. E’s not a big fan of steak, so we usually cook up some chicken breasts when he’s around. Last night Drew went to town and BBQ’d (or violated, depending on who you ask) an entire chicken over a beer can. The chicken was coated in Corky’s BBQ rub. Can’t give away any more of the cooking/spicing secrets than that or Drew would lock me up and hide the laptop. The resulting chicken was fabulous. E got the bulk of it since it was intended for him but the rest of us at the kiddies table scrapped over the scraps. There wasn’t enough room on the upper deck for everyone to sit and eat around our table so R, our fabulous contractor neighbour, brought over a small table and some chairs to put on our lower deck. Oddly enough, both birthday guests ended up at the kiddies table. The chicken never made it up to the adults table. Then again, they made us go up to the adult table to get salads and chips/salsa… For those not fortunate enough to get a piece of the chicken, Drew grilled steaks. Big, giant, tender, juicy, triangular steaks. I have no idea what he’d marinated them in but they were melt-in-your mouth fantastic. And since we’re getting better at having guests over, he’d even managed to cook them to difference ranges of “doneness”. Apparently not everyone likes a rare steak like we do. So, R, L & J, and Loxley had theirs well done. Others had medium. And the best rest of us had nice rare steaks to chew on. For dessert, Drew made baked Alaska in the BBQ. He did insist in an all BBQ meal. I’d never had baked Alaska before and discovered it really wasn’t to my liking which left Drew a little disappointed. I did eat my portion. If you don’t try something you’ll never know if you’re going to like it or not. Everyone else really enjoyed theirs. That should make up for my odd taste buds.
Birthday presents are the second best thing about last night. P, W and A provided comic relief with silly hats and talking b-day cards. There’s always a need for Scottish silly hats. Man is it hot under that thing though. I’m sure the weather had something do to with it but I nearly roasted when wearing it earlier in the evening. L&J’s card came with a promise that I’d be getting an L special – which translates to a hand crafted item (furniture, planter, etc.) – on my actual birthday. I can’t wait to find out what it is. S made Drew happy by presenting me with Oscar perfume, soaps and bath chips. I love Oscar but Drew’s allergies act up whenever I spray it on. This little bottle isn’t meant to be sprayed; just a little dab will do. Loxley worked her fingers to the bone making a scrapbook picture of our trip to the LIVE concert. Unfortunately Drew put our tickets away for safekeeping so I could scrapbook them and forgot where he’d stored them. Loxley wasn’t able to include the tickets in her work of art. She’s mightily talented though. I just wish I didn’t look like some cross-eyed freak in the picture. Then again, she did warn me that the other picture was much worse! Loxley also made me an amazing CD of music to listen to in my truck. She always finds the most interesting cover versions of my favourite songs. To top it all off, she gifted me with a new storage bin for my scrap-booking goodies. I never have enough places to put all my brads and embellishments… R fulfilled the immediate need by presenting me with new knives (and wineglasses). The dogs chewed the handles on our previous steak knives and we’d thrown most of them out years ago. People in our neighbourhood have gotten used to my inviting them to dinner only to tell them that if they wanted to eat they had to bring their own steak knives. This should no longer be a problem as I am now the proud owner of 8 shiny new steak knives. Well, they will be shiny once they’re out of the dish washer. The rest of the knife set is pretty spiffy too. I think I’ll leave the handling of the heavy butcher knife to Drew though. I’m likely to hurt myself with it.
I wasn’t the only one to be showered with pressies. T’s haul included a new creeper (some sort of mechanic’s wheeled thingy), Stargate SG1 DVD sets, and a new circular saw.
Like a little princess I ended up heading to bed just before midnight. I’d been up since 6:30 am and just couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. On the bright side, I wasn’t the first to leave. M and T headed home about 45 minutes before I toddled off to bed. Of course, M is 9 month preggers and ready to pop at anytime, so she probably really needed to head home hours earlier! E also headed home shortly after T and M. So I wasn’t the first b-day person or guest to leave. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
As for my “present” from Drew – the completion of my Honey Do list – he’s about 50% done. He claims that he wasn’t supposed to finish before the BBQ because my birthday isn’t until mid-next week. So, when it comes around and the hedge is still re-growing in my front yard and the other items aren’t checked off, just ignore the screaming you can hear. That’ll be me just before my head explodes.
Next year I’m skipping the honey do list and asking for diamonds.
