Christmas in August

For those of you who are unfamiliar with my Martha Stewart tendencies, check out this pillow I recently made for my friend's birthday. (Sure, Geri's birthday is in August and the pillow clearly has a Christmas-y feel, but she's always so generous about making things for others, that I decided to return the favor...and a Christmas pattern was what I found that I liked.) What I should be posting are the photos of me, finishing the hand-sewing in a bar while I was listening to Sharif play. My former-home-ec-teaching mother-in-law will be so proud to find out that I schlepped my fabric, embroidery floss and scissors to a bar! I mean, what else is there to do on a Wednesday night, in a bar, during a live music gig?

Sharif Plays Boise

Sharif singing Tom Petty's "American Girl"
Sharif and his biggest fan --

we have no idea who this guy is, but he was really into Sharif's music

Samia and Sharif

Sharif, my friend Samia's hot musician brother, was in town this week and played a couple of gigs in Boise. Although we missed the first night he played, a group of us caught his act at the Reef last night. He's got a great voice and he is a gifted musician. He sings plenty of covers, but also writes his own stuff, too. You can check out his website here:

http://www.sharifmusic.com/

The 80's...

Mike just forwarded this photo to me, and I couldn't resist posting it because I knew that you would all enjoy it, too. Apparently, Mike and his buddies were big into tie-dye in the 80's, and coordinated their clothing before cruising around town in Mike's bus, listening to Grateful Dead tunes. Check out the short-shorts on Max. Check out the big, preppy glasses on Mike. Nothing says "hot summer nights" like a bunch of 20-somethings in matching tie-dye shirts. And in the words of the Dead, these lyrics from "Ripple" seemed the appropriate response to this photo:

"God damn, well I declare, have you seen the like? "

I'll Drink to That!

Our participation in the Fair ended on Friday, after the Temptations reunion concert. (And by "our participation," I mean that the Fair will contine through the weekend sans the Reynoldsons or the Berrys.) It's been a long week, with plenty of Pronto Pups and Bud Lights consumed. Here's to getting back on that diet wagon next week.

25 or 6 to 4

This is not your mother's Chicago
Sue and Mike
Belinda and Clint with the band
Clint, Rick and Mike
Colleen, Zach and Martin

"Ooh, ooh, baby please don't go..."

Chicago played the Fair tonight. Although there are only a couple of original band members, the band has toured and played nonstop since its inception. Interestingly, there is one member who cannot be any older than me. Can't you just imagine him strumming his air guitar and singing "Oooh, oooh, baby please don't go" in front of his mirrored closet doors at age 10? With his youthful mullett? And his sleeveless acid-wash jean shirt? Dare to dream, big guy.

Have you ever listened closely to the words of a Chicago song? Take, for instance, "Saturday in the Park." The song starts out, "Saturday, in the park, I think it was the Fourth of July"...then it goes on to add "a man selling ice cream, singing Italian songs." Really? Do you see the irony in a man singing Italian songs on a purely American holdiay? In the park? Incidentally, it seemed more and more ironic with each beer we drank. That is some sweet song-writing there.

Speaking of song-writing, here's a little Chicago trivia for you: "25 or 6 to 4" refers to writing songs at 25 or 26 minutes to 4:00 a.m. Apparently, the best inspiration comes in the wee hours of the morning. Chicago closed tonight's show with "25 or 6 to 4" and the crowd loved it! Something tells me that Chicago will still be playing to sold-out crowds 20 years from now.

I'm Just Sitting Out Here Watching Gary Allan

Laurie and Mike

Gary Allan opens the concert with his big hit, "Watching Airplanes"Bob, Clint and Mike
Clint and Belinda
Clint, Laurie and Mike

In front of more than 7,000 fans at the Western Idaho Fair, Gary Allan kicked off this year's concert series with a fantastic show. Gary refers to himself as a "rocker, who sings country songs," and he did not disappoint. He is a talented song-writer and has a great voice...not to mention he's an incredibly gifted guitarist. Rock on, Gary.

Hank Is Not a Splash Dog

For the first time ever, Splash Dogs came to the Western Idaho Fair. The dogs run down a 40' dock, leap into a pool of water, and are judged by their hortizontal leap into the water. We were so excited to take Hank to the Fair! He loves the water, and loves running and playing in the water with other dogs. What we didn't take into account was the trepidation Hank would have about jumping off of the 3' dock into the water. We tried and tried to get him to jump. We even went home for several hours to let him rest, and then took him back later in the day. He sat on the sidelines and watched pup after pup jump into the water...and he barked with excitement. Yet, when it was his turn, he wanted nothing to do with jumping off of the dock. We finally did coax him into the water twice...but mostly he sat at the end of the dock and barked at his ball. So, like all good stage parents, we are withholding his food and drink until he masters jumping off of the dock.

Hanging at the Fair

Mike, Glen, Bob and Clint

Sunday was our first full day at the Fair...and also the hottest day in August so far. I had my first Bonaminio's meatball sandwich of the fair season, and washed it down with a couple of cold beers while we walked the fairgrounds. We toured the Expo pavilion (it was air conditioned), where we had free spinal screenings, chatted up some guys trying to sell us a vacation (if only we would stay and listen to the 90-minute pitch) and bought a Gourmet Quick Chopper 2000 (as seen on TV, of course) after watching some guy make homemade salsa in about 2 minutes. Here, Mike and Clint hang out with Glen, a fellow Fair Board member, and Bob Batista, the Executive Director of the Fair.

No Way Jose'

There was a good deal of reptile hunting at the Reynoldson house this weekend. A tree frog, which looked remarkably similar to "No Way Jose" (the frog who camped out at the O'Neill's house for a while until they accidentally squished him with the hot tub cover), climbed up our back window on Friday night. Then, the neighbor kids hunted for snakes in the yard on Saturday. The good news: the snake they found has been "transplanted" somewhere else.

If It's August in Idaho...

that must mean it's time for the Caldwell Night Rodeo! Clint, Mike and I enjoyed a great evening of rodeo action at the CNR, "where the cowboys are the stars." The bareback riders were by far the best. Only a couple of bull riders made it the full 8 seconds, and very few of the ropers were able to complete their ride. Giddy up!

100 Cubic Feet Later...

The hole
Part of the sprinkler system that tied into the main water line

The good news: we were only without water for 1 day, and the plumber only charged us $105 to fix the leak. The bad news: we spent hours and hours on Sunday digging the hole to reach the leak. The hole was nearly 4.5 feet deep, 4 feet wide and 6-7 feet long...and we've got terrible ground for digging...lots and lots and lots of large river rock. Turns out when they initially installed the sprinkler system in the 1950's, they tied a portion of it into our domestic water line -- and it looks like that connection ruptured a while ago...quite a while ago. Here's hoping the water bill goes down!

Call Before You Dig

Mike tries to find the leak
Hank gets in on the action
When we were planning the swimming pool,

we envisioned that it would be in the backyard and not near this muddy.

Mike's tools float through the front yard

Not 20 minutes after my last post, which talked up Mike's sprinkler-maintenance prowess, the flood began. Houston, we have a problem. It seems likely that the main water line to the house was "knicked," causing a small flood in the front yard near our front door. We have now turned off all of the water to the house, and we are digging to China to find the leak. Keep your fingers crossed that we can turn on the water tonight so that we are able to brush our teeth and use the toilet before going to bed...

Mr. August in Rain Bird's "Men of Irrigation Water" Calendar

It's Sunday afternoon at the Reynoldson's house, and since we are at home, that must mean that Mike is working on the sprinkler system. Today, he is tackling a leak near the front door. Turns out, it is a veritable geyser: a HUGE leak in metal pipe...some of the oldest pipes in the sprinkler system. Keep your fingers crossed that the hole he is digging doesn't need to get too much bigger to fix the leak.

Randy Travis Concert

Randy belting out "Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart" during the encore
Mike in front of Randy's semi-truck
Sunset over Boise

Randy Travis visited Boise on Friday night. He played at the Idaho Botanical Gardens, which are right across the street from our house. We loaded up the low-back chairs, some cheese and salami for dinner, bug spray and a blanket and trekked up the road for the show. It was a great concert! He's a funny, funny guy that interacts a lot with the crowd. If his "Around the Bend" tour makes a stop near you this summer, you should check it out.

Friday Night Fights

Security talking with the 3 women involved
Secruity escorting the women out of the concert

(In order: the Slapee, Her Friend, Security, the Slapper, and More Security)
All the while, Randy just kept singing and entertaining the crowd...

Not only did our VIP tickets get us in to see Randy Travis, we also got a freebie: choice seats to a Catfight. Two scanitlly-clothed young women ran up to the front of the stage when the concert started, and were shaking their booties to the beat of the music. Security asked them to step aside because they were blocking the view of the fans who were seated behind them. The women danced and sang on the side of the stage until it was time to go get another beer. Then, a middle-aged woman in a long dress got up, pointed her finger in the blond woman's face and started giving her the business. When the blond woman retorted, the long dress woman slapped her across the face. Are you kidding me?! With age comes maturity, right? Next thing you know, a group of women (some siding with the dancers; some siding with the long dress woman) start holding court...just a couple of feet from the stage...and we had great seats to the whole fight. Security intervened and escorted all of them out of the concert. Music and a fight...all for the price of a concert ticket! Priceless.

And the Best Part of the Concert...

PEOPLE WATCHING! Oh my goodness, Friday night's concert was definitely a warm-up to this year's Western Idaho Fair, which comes to town in 2 weeks. The people watching at the concert was top-notch. I am still kicking myself that I was not able to get a photo of the woman in her 70's with the wide-brimmed hat, orange full-length prairie skirt...and the black Megadeath concert t-shirt.

Here are a couple of our other favorites:

Despite standing directly in front of the misters and sporting a flag-embellished neck cooler, notice the sweat...on the shirt, on the legs, on the back...everywhere.
I think this is a Glamour "Don't."

(And no, that is not a blade of grass that you are seeing.)
Apparently, to be a RT roadie, you must have long hair...and chain smoke.

Notice the knee-tassles on the young woman's pants.

Here, our guess is that they are discussing some crazy story from the good ol' days,

working on Journey's tour in 1983.

Meet Viv!

Vivienne Sophia Hunter
The Hunter girls: Gwyn, Kelly and Baby Viv Baby Viv smiles for the camera
Gwyn, Laurie and Baby Viv
Mike, Hank and Gwyn (in her Hello Kitty nighgown)

The Hunters made a brief stop in Boise tonight. We were so happy to finally meet Baby Viv! (And, for the record, Kelly's baby Vivienne was born more than a month before the Jolie-Pitt baby Vivienne...isn't Kelly just so avant-garde?) Since Kelly hadn't shared any photos of Viv, I was beginning to think that she was an ugly baby...Kelly knows me well enough to know that I wouldn't hold back about telling her so. As it turns out, little Viv is a total sweetheart...cute little round cheeks, big blue eyes, strawberry blond hair, and the sweetest disposition. Big sister Gwyn is very proud of her little sister, and Gwyn is enjoying all of the "big girl" time she gets to spend with her parents. Pray for Kelly...she and Bill are taking the girls to Europe for 4 weeks in September.

Kevin McGowan for District 19 Representative

Kevin gives his "pitch"
Dustin, Mike, Jason, Zach, Jason, Megan, Jayson and Holly
The Strattons
Kevin talks with constituents
Since Hank has already decided to cast his ballot for Kevin,

he took a moment during Kevin's speech to munch on a water bottle.

Our friend, Kevin McGowan, is running for District 19 Representative in the Idaho Legislature. On Wednesday night, we had a fundraiser for him at the house. The event was well-attended, and we raised some money to help Kevin's campaign. If you are interested in learning more about Kevin, getting involved in his campaign, or making a contribution, please visit his website: http://votemcgowan19.com/

Good luck in November, Kevin!