I think I’ve become addicted to the library. Though I haven’t been to one since college, I decided to get a library card so I could check out the book Into the Wild after watching the movie. I’m nearly finished reading the book, and though I feel it’s a good read, I think I partially ruined it by watching the movie first.

However, I’ve now discovered that I can get travel guides from the library as well. Yesterday I went to two different libraries to put together quite a large stack of books detailing European or Mediterranean cruises, as well as some books about hikes in some southern Utah parks that Kim and I hope to visit this coming weekend. It’s a good thing I’m riding the train back and forth from work for most of the remaining week, so that I can start reading through these new books.

If you have to become addicted to something, it might as well be something good for you.

Sunday morning came early and we headed into the mountains to go out for a hike. My original plan was to hike to the summit of Mount Edwards, and at first we were well on our way. That was until we parked the car and started walking. At that point we forgot the directions in the car, and missed the actual trailhead that we needed to take to go up to Argentine Pass and then over to Edwards. Not knowing that we missed the trail we wanted to take, we actually ended up walking right to the bottom of Edwards at probably close to 13,000 feet. But then we didn’t see a very good route to take up to the top, and the storm clouds quickly closed in. However, I still managed to get some really good photos.

We celebrated my birthday on Friday evening. My birthday was four months ago, but due to multiple reschedulings, we weren’t able to use my gift from Kim until then. She bought seats for both of us to attend a cooking class at the Cook Street School of Fine Cooking. Originally we were going to take a grilling class, but after missing that class we opted for an Thai cooking class.

First we were briefed on all of the different dishes we were going to prepare and enjoy over the next three hours. From there we were all actually able to get our hands dirty and involved in each phase of multiple dishes. For both Kim and I, it was great to learn some knife skills first, and then put them to use cutting and chopping all sorts of fresh ingredients. Later, we were involved in tasting and recommending additions that needed to be made to each dish. And finally, we got to sit and enjoy all of the dishes the group of around fifteen of us prepared.

Though we lost the recipe book that was provided to us for each of the dishes, I think the overall knowledge we gained will help both of us cook better than before. Now all I need is a decent chef’s knife to use as the techniques we learned are likely not going to work with what I’m using currently.

Our company has started a new on-call system and today starts my first shift. For the next week I could potentially be called to work if a problem arises during non business hours. Yippee! The program started a couple of weeks ago, and I don’t think anyone on the team I work on has been called yet, and I don’t anticipate we’ll be called very often. However, the thought of them calling when I’m out hiking, or catching a show, or even out of town is really bothersome especially since I don’t have a laptop to work from. Hopefully all issues will be resolved before they get to the sixth and final level, which is where I am now sitting.

Yesterday a 134 year old Denver record was tied, as we had our eighteenth consecutive day with temperatures at or above 90 degrees. Today it is just a matter of time before the record is broken, with temperatures hovering in the high 80s already. This afternoon we should climb close to 100, and the predicted temperature for both Friday and Saturday is over 100 degrees! And it doesn’t end there, with current predictions having us in the 90s through the early part of next week. The streak will likely end by next Wednesday. That would be a twenty-four day streak, destroying the previous record set in both 1901 and 1874. Fortunately the humidity is low, around thirty percent most of the time, so the heat is bearable. However we still may have to escape to the mountains for the weekend.

Well another session of summer hockey has come to an end. My team had our first round playoff game last night, and being in last place we faced the first place team. Surprisingly, the game wasn’t a blowout, with a score of 1-0 through at least the first period, if not the second. One major difference for our team is a recent change in goalie, with the current net minder being much better than both of the previous ones. The final score was only 3-0, after I was totally expecting to be blown out. If we only could have matched their first goal, it could have been a completely different game. I think we are shifting some things around for the next session, so hopefully our team does a little better in the fall. I guess that can’t be too hard after finishing in dead last. The positive news for myself is that I made it through the end without injury so we should have an injury free wedding!

Let the honeymoon planning resume. So far I have attempted to plan out the first seven days of the cruise. Here’s a quick recap:

• Day One: Cannes / Monte Carlo / Nice
• Day Two: Livorno / Florence / Pisa
• Day Three: Rome
• Day Four: Naples / Capri / Sorrento / Pompeii
• Day Five: At Sea
• Day Six: Venice
• Day Seven: Venice

The eighth day of the cruise brings us to Split, Croatia, which should be our fifth country on the trip if everything goes as planned. When Split was built, everything revolved around the palace built for the retired Roman emperor, Diocletian. Outside of Diocletian’s Palace there doesn’t seem to be much that interests me in Split. With that said, I’m actually considering taking one of the more adventurous excursions offered by Royal Caribbean. A few that interest me are Canoeing on the Cetina River, an Off Road Safari, or Sea Kayaking in Trogir. Thoughts and/or opinions?

It’s nice to be back in Denver and out of the humidity of Kansas City. I can take 90+ degrees anyday, but not when it’s mixed with 100% humidity! Before leaving KC, I managed to have a nice weekend there. Kim flew in on Saturday morning, taking a quick layover on her return from Cincinnati. I picked her up at the airport and then we headed for a company picnic with many of the folks I work with in KC. We did our best to fight the humidity, but the gathering only lasted for a few hours. From there we pretty much relaxed the rest of the day, with dinner thrown in at Jose Pepper’s.

Sunday we awoke too late to get the free hotel breakfast, but it was so nice to sleep in. From there we headed down to our old stomping grounds near the Country Club Plaza. We drove past the old house, though it doesn’t look like too much has changed over in that neighborhood. From there we met up with our old friends Mike and Christie down on the Plaza at Baja 600, another Mexican place. Yeah, I had my fair share of Mexican food while in town. We then walked around the plaza for awhile before it was time for our flights back to Denver. I’m well rested now and ready for the week ahead.

I finally made it out of the Lee’s Summit area last night. After work, I headed down to the new Power and Light District with a co-worker where we met up with another fella that we used to work with. We first had dinner and a couple rounds at the Flying Saucer, which I would highly recommend. Not only do they have an incredible beer list, they also have some tasty food.

From there we wandered around the block and into a few different bars down there. First was the PBR Big Sky, which when I first heard the name thought was going to be a place where you could only get Pabst Blue Ribbon. Instead, it turned out to be a bar for the Professional Bull Riders, complete with a mechanical bull and servers wearing chaps.

Once we had our fill of country music, we headed for Angels Rock Bar, which was equally as loud and also had it’s share of scantily clad servers. Are you noticing a trend? They did have some music a little more our style though, so we hung out there for a while. Finally made it down to Tango Sed Cantina, which actually tuned out to be even more crowded than the other bars where. Downtown Kansas City has definitely changed and I’m happy to say that there now appears to be something worthwhile to go down there for.

Just over five weeks from the big wedding day. If they haven’t already arrived, invitations should be showing up in mailboxes in the next day or two. We’ve already received some great feedback on the invitations, and obviously we feel that Amy did an incredible job with them. We’ve been putting the finishing touches on lots of things recently. A few that I can remember are the church music, the readings for mass, and picking some songs for the reception band. That reminds me that I’ve yet to receive any submissions in the big Mix Tape Challenge contest I announced months ago. If you were going to put something together, please do so soon so we can get some good music together for the set breaks at the reception. Things are moving along pretty smoothly thus far, I’m sure it will be here before we all know it.