Payback: Hanson Style

Well, it has been about a month since we last updated the interweb of our doings. In an effort to stay out of the doghouse, I had better get after it...

January 21-23: The weekend of Hanson

Good friends, TJ and Erin Hanson, arrived late Friday evening after having driven over from San Diego after work. The lady and I had just gotten home from a fun dinner date, pint, and a run-in with a one Robby Fox (whom you have already been introduced). After hitting the store on the way home for a RedBull (sugar free...) we were officially... Ready to party!

It was about 4:00AM when TJ and I looked across the couch at each other and realized: A) the girls had gone to bed, B) it really was 4:30AM, and C) We were in roughly the 37th minute of an intense (albeit practice) round of the Carcassonne in which I was trying to teach him how to play while he was intently trying to beat me. Given the fact that during the 6 or so hours before that point we had seen a constant supply of beer, wine, cocktails, and snacks... you can only imagine how finely prepared our minds were to be teaching/learning a board game full of rules and strategy. Perhaps we should have thrown in the towel after catchphrase with the girls.

Saturday morning reared its ugly head much too soon. And we were sternly instructed by Laura NOT to have "any fun!" She stumbled upon a job posting earlier that week and was called in for an interview that Saturday morning. So as to not miss anything, she didn't want us to do anything while she was gone... We agreed, with fingers crossed behind our backs, and saw her off to her interview. Before the garage door stopped rattling closed, the bloody mary bar was in full force, the cats were lunging after hummingbirds, and we were preparing for a serious Blongo-a-thon in the backyard. For the record, we had absolutely NO fun...

Laura called on her way home, giving TJ just enough time to make some last minute preparations.

TJ's redemption.

If you caught the post on our visit to TJ and Erin's place in San Diego, you'll understand why this was a little long-overdue payback on TJ's part. Laura took it in stride and quickly released the Fun-Ban she had previously instated.

Hoping to show the Hansons around the Phoenix area a little, we hopped in the car later that afternoon and headed up to Tempe to see what was happening on Mill Ave, the main drag for ASU in Tempe. This was the first time we had been on Mill Ave during the day, and we were unfortunately pretty disappointed. There really wasn't much going on and most of the fun places we had been to before weren't even open. We tried one more place, Four Peaks Brewery, and found a lively crowd of college basketball fans and lunch-goers. But alas, they made a totally unnecessary fuss about TJ's temporary California ID (as it apparently takes up to 6 weeks to receive in CA once you declare residency...), jabbered on about something random like him needing a "parental guardian" as I pointed out the couple of 6 year olds sitting having lunch with their parents, and we took our business elsewhere. Now, really needing some lunch, we stopped at a taco shop in the way out of Tempe for some delicious and much needed cheap mexican food and headed home where his Temporary would readily be accepted for entrance.

After a quick run to the store, Laura and I threw together some of Shari's world famous raspberry daiquiris and we sat outside with cigars around the fire-pit for another relaxing January evening in AZ.

After a delicious shrimp and fresh pasta dinner, it was back to the couch for The Game of Things and round 2 of Catchphrase. We didn't quite make it to 4:00AM that night but we definitely had an equal fill of great fun and company.

Sunday morning greeted us with omelets on the patio and we saw TJ and Erin off much too early for their trip back home. Thanks for coming friends! We are really looking forward to seeing them again sometime soon either in San Diego or Las Vegas. I'm sure you'll hear about it when we do...

-CDK