Busy Weekend

Yesterday morning, we put the Mother-In-Law on a plane back to Oklahoma. She flew in late Thursday night for a visit. She had planned to come in Late August or early September but Toby Keith convinced her otherwise.

MIL is a huge Toby Keith fan. The problem is, even though he's from Oklahoma, he doesn't play there too often and he sells out quick when he does. With that in mind, MIL had told the wife, I'd say it was about a year ago, to keep an eye out for one of his concerts in the region. The wife had been checking Dallas, Kansas City and Oklahoma venues but nothing.

Then, as many of you know, we moved to Boise in April. As luck would have it, we heard an advertisement about six weeks ago that none other than Toby Keith would be playing here July 29. We told MIL and she said, "Buy the tickets and book me a flight."

We had a good time hanging out on Friday. We sat around and talked most of the morning then went to see Evan Almighty (a good afternoon diversion - Steve Carrel is wonderful). On Saturday, I took MIL with me to some garage sales. She got a chance to see some of the local landscape and she enjoys garage sales, too. I think she picked up three or four paperbacks while we were out and about. I had to go to work Saturday night so she and the wife hung out together.

[SIDE NOTE: While I was at work, a lady brought in the DVD she had rented to return it. I told her to simply drop it in the return slot at the end of the counter. She then advised me that she had "wound it back." "What?" "It's a new DVD player. I wound the movie back for you... at least as far as the previews." I thanked her and kept my chuckles to myself - at least until she left.]

Sunday morning we spent chatting again then to the concert that evening. The concert was a blast. Although I don't know many of the songs by Toby Keith, I do enjoy his style of C&W and had a great time discovering many of the songs he's recorded since "Shoulda Been A Cowboy." There were lots of bangs and confetti canons and pyrotechnics and a good ol' rowdy time. It was LOUD, too. With the hearing difficulties I'm already starting to experience I was glad the venue had earplugs available. I had one in my left ear the entire time and kept loosening or removing the one in my right ear. It was loud enough that I could hear fine either way.

On Monday, I decided to let the ladies have a day to themselves. After everyone slept until noon, the gals went off to the fabric store and to have their hair done. The big problem was that they selected Wal-Mart as their salon of choice and, rather than a permanent, the wife ended up with a simple trim... long wait, long story, she wasn't happy. She called me while as I was arriving downtown to tell me they were going to go see Hairspray. After my stargazing trip, I met them at K-Mart (another disaster - why is it that nobody ever seems to understand how to handle a traveler's check? And why is it that retail cashiers can't seem to pick up an intercom and call for a manager-or at least someone more experienced-if they don't understand how to deal with something?) for a little bit of shopping and then we had dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Tuesday morning, I brought MIL to the airport at ~6am for her 7:30 flight... then came back home to bed. It's been a long weekend but it was good to get a little taste of home. I get along well with MIL and I think it did some good for her daughter to spend a little time with her as well.