Clear Blue and 22 (Translation: It's a Beautiful Day)

This post is not in the least bit timely, but if I let that stop me, I would never blog at all!

Several weeks ago, Shannon (a.k.a. the person that’s known me since Christ was a corporal) came to visit.* The main purpose of the trip was a date with Bono. The side purpose was to prove to our husbands that we need to get on a regular schedule of visiting each other. Sadly The Barron of Blog was unable to join us, but I heard he was pretty jealous of all of our shenanigans. Highlights of the trip included but were not limited to:

1. Eating our way through Houston. Seriously people. Like I had to go back on Weight Watchers after she left. I’ve noticed that when I visit other people they plan fun outings at local attractions. My version of “fun outings at local attractions” is solely limited to taking out-of-towners on a tour of all my favorite places to eat in town. I’m not sure what this says about me or Houston, but I do know that it means I love hosting guests!

2. A really fantastic concert. I think anyone who has read this blog for any amount of time knows that I enjoy live music a LOT. I’ve seen all range of acts and feel like I typically get my money’s worth, one way or another. But this concert was really unparalleled. As far as bang for you buck goes, I felt like I wrung every dollars worth of enjoyment out of the price of admission. The staging, the song selection, the…well the everything. I know a lot of people feel like U2 is overhyped, but I really feel like even the most jaded of concert goers would have enjoyed this at some level.

Some of our concert group.

Part of the super cool stage. The lit panels expanded like an accordian.

When the panels were compressed they formed the video screen. Like I said, pretty freakin' cool.

3. Seeing Shannon really cut loose. I would say of the two of us, Shannon would be classified as the more reserved one (maybe?) but no one would have been able to tell it this trip. She really painted the town red, and I loved loved loved getting to witness it. Highlights within this classification include her helping herself to some Red Bull behind the bar, relentlessly hazing Schaife about his “skirt” drink and above all else, introducing her to the Marquis. For non-Houstonians, the Marquis is a bar which I have frequented on and off for the past 13 years (don’t do the math, Mom). I was catching up with someone who has been involved with Marquis for longer than I've been going there, and Shannon asked “Oh, how do you guys know each other?” Uhhhhh…from here, sweetie. I don’t think she was clear on exactly how much time I’ve spent there over the years. By the end of the night they were BFF.

All in all I would rate the trip a total success. I had a blast, and I’m pretty sure Shannon did to.


*my family uses a variety of vaguely military inspired sayings that I never think twice about, until I say them around people who have no idea what I’m talking about. This one is perhaps the strangest. It means a long time ago, in case that’s not obvious. As in, he’s the commander in chief now. As in…ok I’ll stop now. Other great expressions that I thought everyone used until I moved away from my family: Clear, Blue, and 22 (used to describe flying conditions…clear blue and you can see for 22 miles. It means the weather is perfect.) and The AO (area of operation). My dad used to use it like “we need to police the AO” which meant we had to clean up the area or “I’m going to scope out the AO” which meant he was going to go check something out.

Have you ever noticed how something can make perfect sense to you until you try to explain it? Yeah. I’m experiencing that right now.