February 2020

Most of 2020 sucked. But, there were some good moments that made memories to cling to. I'm going to review some of those moments from each month. (Disclaimer - my memory isn't what it used to be so this is my story and I'm sticking to it regardless of reality.)

I moved into my house in May of 2019 and it was already hot out so I used the Arizona summer as an excuse not to do anything to my patio or yard. I don't recall what excuse I used to justify ignoring the both in the fall and winter. Let's go with complete laziness. It's entirely plausible.

However, I had to get on the stick and pretty it up because I had a bunch of company scheduled for the spring. The first thing I did was get some inexpensive chairs from Target for my beat up table. I honestly thought I could jam them into my car. I really, really did. One would never guess I was a Tetris master.

After several futile attempts, this is how it ultimately went down.

Adam (answering cell): Hi, Kathy!

Me: Hi, Adam. How would you like to be my hero?

Adam:  So, you need my truck.

Me:  Yep.

Fortunately, Adam and Karen were just paying their tab at the American Legion so it wasn't too inconvenient for them to swing by to pick up the chairs and deliver them to my house. Karen snapped the pic of just how big the chairs were to show how ridiculous it was that I intended to get them home on my own.

Yeah, those aren't going to fit into a Sonata.

In their proper place!

Next up was getting some nice and comfy furniture. Of course, I put it off until nearly the last minute but I found a great set at a reasonable price from Mayfair. They delivered the day before my first guest, my Bestie Jim, was arriving so I made Steven come over and assemble. As is any project with him, there's a lot of griping and swearing. A. Lot. It's just white noise to me now. Bzzzzz. Bzzzzz.

What fine assembly work by Steven Charles!

Cheers!
(I'll spare you the other gazillion pictures of that same pose at different establishments.)

I was so excited when Jim arrived! I've been to his place in Minnesota a bunch of times and we've travelled all over together but this was his first visit to see me in Phoenix. We took it easy the first night by just having dinner and hanging out at my place but it was go, go, go after that! In addition to Jim being here, Crash and her Dad, Iron Mike, came down from Washington state. Countless laughs were had.

Haha! The guy from Minnesota got cold on the patio in Phoenix.

Not the only fancy doughnut breakfast.

Lunch with Shorty.

Drinks at Undertow with Lori and Tammy.

The gang at Zipp's.

Early birthday celebration during Game Night.

Fatso's (isn't it always Fatso's?).

Rigged. The Queen was the Queen of Mardi Gras and the out of town guest was the King.

Delivered Crash's Fantasy Football winnings to her.

Farewell Champagne brunch at O.H.S.O's before taking Jim to the airport. 
I was very sad to see him go.

We started to close out February with a house concert at the Bauman Party Palace by Trop Rock musician (and buddy) Brent Burns. Always a good show and I only heckled him a little. At the mid-show break, someone came up to Tammy and asked if I were there. Turns out, it was a high school chum and he was there with friends including one of our old coaches. Who is now not that old so, thinking back, was probably pretty young back then. Funny how being an authority figure adds perceived years. Or, I'm just at the point where I think everyone is "around" my age regardless of reality. Anyway, it was nice to catch up.

Last Men Standing.

Despite repeatedly telling us he needed to go to bed because he was hitting the road early the next morning, Brent stayed up taking with Tammy and me until, well, really late. I love such times with the musicians we know. They're usually tied up with getting ready for a show, performing, then selling their swag and heading to the next show. Any time I can have an extended and meaningful conversation with one of them becomes a treasured memory.

The last event of the month was our friend Karen's milestone birthday party. I invited a bunch of peeps over to see my house afterwards and use the new patio furniture. No pictorial evidence except of this mayhem found the next morning.

I wish I could say no Peeps were hurt in this incident but it was clearly a near fatal wound.

February was very, very good to me.