He said, she said....

For those of you who can't get enough of the Brett Kavanaugh debacle, I'm sorry, this is about someone else, Cookie and Pete!  I know I said I would write about them occasionally because of all the funny things they do.  I have not been very consistent because much of what they do, say or happens to them is hard to explain in a tactful manner.  I already have several family members who no longer get the blog because they are offended.  Oh well, here goes nothing....

Last week Cookie or is it PJ?  Well either way, she and Pete traveled to Florida to take care of their two wonderful grandsons for a week.  I know what you are thinking.  Who would trust them with their children for a week?!!!  I mean I struggle leaving Cooper there overnight not knowing what latest bad habit he will bring home.  Not to belabor this topic, but he never begged, ever.  After an overnight at Cookies, he was constantly begging for food.  I asked her, "Did you give him people food?".  "Never!" she respond offended that I would even ask.  Ok, that is so strange that all of a sudden he would start begging.  A few days later while Cookie was at our house having a snack, I watched her pass a bite over to Cooper who was anxiously awaiting a treat.  I almost jumped out of my chair!  "Ah-hah!" I bellowed.  "You are feeding him. " "Never!" Cookie responded indignantly.  "But I just saw you!"  "Just small bites", was her justification for A). feeding him and B). not considering that feeding him....

Anyway, they watched the kids and everyone survived without lasting damage that we know of.  They were leaving on a 7:30 AM return flight to fly directly to Las Vegas.  They Ubered for their first time and arrived at the airport two hours early, plenty of time to catch their flight.  They missed it anyway!!!  After checking in at the gate, Cookie decided she wanted a Starbucks...some chocolate, whipped cream, pumpkin, sweetener, latte crap.  Doesn't anyone drink black coffee anymore?  While she was in line, Pete went to McDonalds for a power breakfast.  You can already tell these two are health nuts.  Pete picked up his order and passed Cookie who was now about eighth in line as he went to the gate.  10 minutes later the plane began the boarding process.  They were in the C group so there was plenty of time.  Pete waited....  Finally it was the C group.  Pete got in his place and eventually made his way onto the plane, no Cookie in sight.  As you all the know the boarding process can be lengthily.  Pete spent about 10 minutes in the jetway before boarding.  Still no Cookie.  Finally he was on the plane and held a seat for Cookie.  Another 15 minutes passed and they began paging Cookie on the plane to see if she was there.  After all she checked in at the gate a LONG time ago.  After several attempts, Pete informed them reluctantly that Cookie was his wife and had not gotten on board yet.  Meanwhile they were paging her in the airport.  "Ms. Cookie, please come to Gate 12 immediately, your plane is leaving".  Eventually they told Pete they could wait no more and he had the choice of remaining on the plane Cookie free, or getting off.  Surprisingly he left the plane and it immediately departed.  As he entered the now empty boarding area there was Cookie, sitting all alone sipping her latte with not a care in the world.  When she saw Pete coming out of the jetway, she immediately assumed they had given him a tour of the cockpit!!!  Seriously!  According to Cookie, Pete's head exploded and he began yelling, "Why didn't you get on the plane?!!!"  "Can't you see there is no one in the boarding area, I'm not in the boarding area!!!  Did it not occur to you that the plane had boarded?!!!!"  And so on....  He was not happy and to this day she has no plausible explanation for returning to the gate long after the boarding time and not even considering it may be empty because people had actually boarded at the designated time.

They eventually got on a flight to Houston and from there waited on standby for a flight to LV.  As it turned out, there was only one seat available.  Using his head this time, Pete took the seat.  Besides, he had to go to Costco and Sam's Club in LV.  When you ask Pete what he is getting at Costco, he says he has not idea, but needs to go.  In his defense, he did pick up copious quantities of alcohol which he eventually smuggled to us across state lines.  Cookie made it on the next flight out and Pete picked her up after half of his shopping was complete.  He took her back and finished it.

What should have been a 4 hour flight ended up as a 12 hour travel day.  Lesson learned, never let Cookie go to Starbuck within two hours of your flight, stay on the plane if she does not show up and thirdly, understand your dog is going to have all kinds of bad habits after a night at Cookies.

For the official record, we do appreciate her taking care of Cooper, smothering him with love and perhaps returning him with some new "tricks.  Next blog will be about our upcoming MOAB bike trip with Western Spirit.  If anyone is interesting in going there is still some room, just contact Western Spirit for details.

Softball Reunion - Bowling Green State University

I know, it has been some time since I blogged.  It is not like we have not been busy running back and forth between St. George and Park City.  I just want to make sure the blog is interesting since so many of you are reading it at work.  You know who you are....

We have not flown for some time so I was not looking forward to the hassles associated with flying.  We have TSA Pre-Check so security checks should be a breeze, but often are not..  We both carry Hydro-Flasks to make sure we are well hydrated at all times.  Prior to entering the security area I dumped out the remaining water and ice in my flask.  Julie only dumped out her water.  No sooner had her flask entered the x-ray machine when the sirens went off.  "Who's is this?" the security guard asked waving around the offending pink flask.  "It is only ice" I stated firmly.  "ISIS!!!" screamed the security guard as more guards came running.  "No, I said ICE, not ISIS"!, I stated emphatically.  "There you just said it, ISIS!" shouted the guard in reply.  At this point I was tackled by two large female guards and dragged to the ground.  The first guard finally opened the flask, looking inside timidly he said "It is only ice".  After some squirming and uncomfortable touching by the guards, I was allowed to get off the ground exchanging hateful stares with the two guards who had tackled me.  As I took the flask and turned to walk away, I was accosted by a woman shouting, "Abolish ICE!" and waving a pro-immigration banner.  I guess I just can't win when it comes to airport security....  Oh, by the way, none of that was true with the exception of ice being found in the flask.  Ok, I promise everything else from this point on will be truthful...  😉

Hudson, Hope, Dave, Julie, Kris after a water balloon battle.

We had an uneventful flight into Detroit airport, which is rated one of the top five airports in the country and I can see why.  Easy in and out, nicely decorated and nice security.  From there we drove to our very good friend's home, Hudson, Kris and their lovely daughter Hope.  The area is much different from what we are used to.  It is FLAT with lots of agriculture.  I had not seen Hope since she was two years old and now she is six.  She is an amazing niece and provided non-stop entertainment the entire evening.  The following day Hope had to go to school.  I tried to coach her on how to fake an illness with her parents, but she is too honest.  Oh, to be young again!  Hudson took Julie and I into downtown Detroit for lunch at The Hudson Cafe, no relation.  I was a little apprehensive about going into Detroit not packing, but soon felt more comfortable surrounded by the buildings, old and new and the general hustle and bustle of a large city.  Oh, I failed to mention on the drive in we passed several gigantic assembly plants for American cars.  I could only think of all the people who had worked there over the years, raised families and put children through college because of companies like Ford, GM and Chrysler.  At this point I would shout "Make America Great Again" only I do not want to offend our more delicate readers...you know who you are.  💕

Shortly after lunch we packed up and headed to Bowling Green, OH where we would meet up with Hudson, Kris and Hope as well as many of the ladies on the 1993 Mid-American Softball Championship Team as they were being honored at a Falcon Football game for their 25th anniversary.    

The team members began arriving and the alcohol began flowing.  I know, hard to believe.  I set a goal for myself of remaining sober and making sure my lovely wife got home safely after that evenings dinner.  Julie had a wonderful time catching up with her dear friends and I enjoyed meeting them all, well most of them.  Only kidding!  All of you!

Early the next morning, Julie sprang out of bed to take me on a walking tour of the campus.  This was quite a feet considering the "unhealthy amount" of alcohol consumed the previous night.  I was made fun of for pointing that out to the ladies.  I guess they are trained professionals and I am not.  As a matter of fact, there were a lot of alcohol related stories that Julie shared during the tour of campus.  We walked by all the dormitories she inhabited during her college years as well as classrooms, cafeterias, training rooms and sports fields.  The campus is beautiful with lovely planter boxes filled with flowers in bloom.  Not sure how much longer they will last in Ohio, but we sure enjoyed them.  Campus was fairly vacant at 8 AM with the exception of those hard core fans/drinkers arriving for the tailgate party.  Oh, we did see a single hill.  It is not far from the sports fields. I guess the team had to run from the practice field to this "hill", run up it 20 times and then run back to field after practice.  It is famous for how difficult it is as well as the amount of vomit that was spewed during the process (never happened).  I have to be honest, it looked pretty puny to me.  I do not think it compares to the climb out of the Grand Canyon...just saying.

The "Hill" with Behling, Moss (Julie), Brown, Yoda and Hudson

The Team met again for drinks (common theme) and then went to the football stadium for the on field recognition.  It was great seeing them all lined up on the field receiving their well deserved recognition, especially from the comfort of the air-conditioned VIP box, courtesy of Stan and Wolfie.
As soon as the recognition was over, the ladies hightailed it for Frickers restaurant for...you guessed it, drinks and dinner.  I was not impressed by the service or food at Frinkers but did enjoy ordering...
"Yes, I would like a Fricken cheeseburger, some Fricken fries, oh, and a Frinken beer."  One of the ladies told us a story I have to share.  I will keep her name secret as this may not have been her proudest moment.  Back in college, (most everything started this way) her hair was curly as it is today.  One day she decided to straighten her hair, get all dolled up and go out drinking.  Several drinks in she had to use the ladies room and began walking down the hall to the restroom.  On the way she spots this hot, sassy looking gal coming her way.  She suddenly realizes the girl is not moving to the side to give her room to pass.  Well, if you know these competitive athletes, she is not going to give her an inch and in fact speeds up to meet her face on if that is what she wants.  BANG! She ran into a mirror.  That sassy looking B----was her own reflection in a mirror which she failed to recognize because of straight hair, and of course an unhealthy amount of alcohol....

PreGame Warm-Up 

(Behling, Yoda, Ranz, Moss, Wolf, JenLeis, Kris, Hudson, Brown and Patty)

Current and former Softball Team Members

The ladies being honored as seen from the VIP Box.  Yes, they are out there.

BGSU Stadium, Home of the Falcons

Hope made Aunt Moss a Birthday Treat!

We sadly departed our old and new friends and stopped by the Hudson's on the way home.  We had a great time playing badminton, grilling out and a wild balloon fight.  Please note, never say that you "throw like a girl" when complaining about not hitting anyone one of them with your awful throws.  I found that out the hard way and was destroyed by these fantastic softball players who showed me exactly how a "girl throws" and does not miss...repeatedly.  Even Hope did not miss!

We are back home and back to the grind of working out at 5 AM, napping, hiking, napping, blogging, napping....  Get back to work!!!