Fish out of Water

I just wanted to share a few miscellaneous thoughts this week as I'm eagerly anticipating the trip to Dallas for the Jimmy Buffett concert this weekend and am finding it hard to concentrate on anything else.

I attempted to make a drink to fit the name "Holy Crow" last week. I wanted a dark drink so I tried using grape juice as the main ingredient. Also, as Carol pointed out, grape juice fits with the "holy" part of the name as well. Unfortunately, grape juice does not make a good mixer. It is very strong and tends to overpower everything you add to it. I tired mixing it with cranberry juice, Myer's dark rum and coconut rum. The result tasted like grape juice that had gone bad. I was able to drink it by adding enough Amaretto so that all I could taste was the Amaretto. I then tried less grape juice mixed with cranberry juice, Myer's and vanilla liqueur. Not only was this drink bad, it was so bad that - for the first time in my life - I poured a drink containing perfectly good Myer's down the sink. I guess I'll go back to the drawing board.

I'm feeling old because my youngest child turned fourteen last week and my oldest attended his prom. Time really does slip past you if you aren't careful. If you have a screaming toddler running through your house and destroying everything in reach, cherish these moments too because one day soon that toddler will be walking out the door in a tuxedo or pretty dress while you can only hope that they stay safe. I've heard that tequila can help you through these melancholy moments, however.

Now that the college basketball season is over, the second worst time (behind summer) in the sports year is in full swing. The good news is that the NBA playoffs are starting soon and I'll watch a few golf tournaments over the next few months. The bad news is college football, the NFL and college basketball are gone for a while. I shouldn't complain, however. The Tiki family has a bracket challenge each year for the NCAA basketball tournament. Each of us fills out a bracket and whoever picks the most games wins bragging rights until the next year. This year, not only did I lose to my son who watches more college basketball than Dick Vitale, not only did I lose to the Tiki Gal who watches quite a bit of college basketball herself, I also lost to my daughter who didn't watch a single college basketball game on purpose all season long. This is why I don't gamble. I'd be homeless in a matter of weeks.

Have you ever thought about what the fishing experience is like for the fish? You are swimming along, looking for something good to eat, when you are suddenly jerked out of the world you know and into a smelly, dirty universe where weird looking creatures make strange noises at you as you twist on the end of a line. If you are lucky, they pull the hook out of your mouth and set you free. If not, they drop you on the ground and hit you with a stick. The Tiki Gal knows this feeling well and it is all my fault. There aren't enough jewels in all the world to make up for her fish out of water experiences. I'll just keep mixing boat drinks for her and hope that is enough.

As I mentioned above, the Buffett concert is this weekend. I'll be working on packing the portable Tiki Bar this evening (I made a list and printed it out so I wouldn't forget anything.) I guess I'll also take some clothes but there won't be a list for those. You have to have priorities, I always say. I'll also be taking a notebook and a camera so I can keep track of all of the interesting things we do and see so that they can be reported here. Until then, just remember that it's no use trying to reason with hurricane season.