Are we not men? We are D E V O

I should have titled this... Whip It! Whip It GOOD!...

Amber and I did something fun last night and I am dying to tell whoever will listen about it... uhh, that didn't come out right. OK, bear with me, I will try to clarify in a minute.

So what have we been up to the last couple of weeks? Lets see...

I went to Austin and back in under 12 hours a couple of weekends ago. I had to check over a bicycle for my cousin Bob who is training for a triathlon and also to pick up some tires for the Audi. I found a guy who had a full set of Goodyear Eagle F1's with 80% tread for 250$ on craigslist. They are that much for a single tire new and these were pristine. Maybe even 90% tread left they are so good. I combined the two reasons into a quick run down there and back on a Sunday. It was a new record for me as I didn't even leave until 10:30 am because I was waiting on a couple of emails to confirm. Crazy day. Tore out of here just before 11am and got back at 9:55 pm... got tires from the guy as soon as I hit town, had early dinner with my brother in Cedar Park, and then looked at Bob's bike out at Steiner Ranch and was back in Plano less than 12 hours later. All in the name of saving money and helping get someone else into cycling.

Last weekend Amber and I met my Mom in Ranger for the grandkid hand off. She wanted to take them back to her place for Spring Break and Amber and I couldn't come up with a good argument against the idea. No seriously, the last couple of years my Mom (bless her) has wanted the kids to come to her place for their week off and it ends up a great idea for all. The kids get a different environment to explore for a week and my Mom gets to have them close by... and Amber and I get a quiet house all the while. Not a bad deal at all. I started missing them almost immediately. In fact, by Tuesday I was already complaining to Amber that we hadn't heard a peep out of them. This in fact was a good thing and a couple of phone and email exchanges later and we were satisfied that everyone was having a great time.

My Mom even wanted Ginger for the week. Stellar idea but this makes the house almost too quiet. Its bordering on spooky when you are used to the sounds of three pre-teens, an active young dog and the din that all that entails. Amber and I did our best to cope though. Last year was an incredibly difficult year, one that we would both like to put past us, so getting the gift of time with just each other is really appreciated. During the logitical phase, I had sent my Mom an email that said I felt blessed and she screamed back (all caps, bolded, and lots of exclamation points ;] ) the she was the one who felt blessed. Sweet huh?

I think Scrappy made it into town mid-week and surprised the kids by being there a day early. Everyone loves Scrappy and the kids are no exception. He is the only grandfather they have known on my side and he loves them like they are his own. I think they probably brighten his day as well. I think when he arrived he might have laid on the airhorn as he drove over the bridge at my Moms place and I am sure the kids ate that up. This is vintage Scrappy... he likes to announce his arrival and he is nothing if not loud but we love him that way. I am hoping that he can give them a ride on his truck at some point during the week. We thought we had a plan in place where the kids could hop onto the truck with Pat who was unloading in Roanoke (nearby DFW metroplex) on Friday. It ended up that he had to make another short run assigned to him last minute and he had no option but to load up and head out... he did make it back home on Tuesday to enjoy a much deserved week at the house, now complete with kids, dog and all. Looking forward to seeing him and everyone else this weekend when we pick up them up.

So what did we do all week? Hmm. Lets see. We ate at restaurants that didn't serve food wrapped in paper... we saw a couple of movies... we caught up on Tv shows... Amber caught one of my indoor soccer games (we didn't have any subs and subsequently didn't play well)... we also went to a concert and just generally enjoyed spending time together. What concert you ask... wait for it... DEVO. Yes, we donned our flower pot hats (in spirit...) and joined the other local DEVOlutionists who were headed over to the Palladium Ballroom in Dallas for the show. I think I had my doubts going in but it ended up a far better concert than I expected. I came away with ringing ears, a new found appreciation for DEVO's ability to rock, and a new favorite band (opening act) called Odis.

How was DEVO you ask? Those old guys in coveralls can really put on a show...synchronized dance moves and all. It is funny but if you listen to them on CD the music is really synth heavy but seeing them live was completely different. I am a fan of electronic music and I had trouble picking out any of the synthesizer sound because of the really guitar heavy feel they have live. It was really cool to hear them add thickness to songs that sound so thin normally. The really deliberate moves and quirky showmanship that everyone associates with DEVO was on full display as well...and not just on stage. Watching the crowd was an equal part of the experience as several people showed up in the full on yellow radiation jumpsuits and there were lots of those flower pot hats. Awesome spectacle.

The opening act was called Odis and they are definitely going places. The first song or two of the set had Amber and I trying to figure out who they sounded like. We both came up with a pretty good cross between Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Maroon 5, and Lenny Kravitz. They had a rock/funk/blues thing going that worked really well and I have a feeling they gained more than a couple of new fans that night. Sounds like an oil and water mix for opener/main act but it seemed to work. Amber and I had a blast and it was a highly entertaining evening.

All said and done we are both looking at the clock dying to get out of town so we can hug our kids this evening.