Weekend Update #33, A Perfect Balance

I had a goal for this past weekend. To eat as badly as I could, spend time with friends, and be as lazy or as active as the situations presented us would allow. No need for diets or plans. Jump in and see where life takes me.

You get the picture.

So, Saturday morning, I jumped in my car and headed to Des Moines to see the girls. I had my bike, bowling ball, disc golf discs, camera and laptop. I was like a mobile sporting goods store.

Here is a set of texts between Sheila and I, as I was driving to their house.....

Nej: Mobile Scheels to tower. Tower, do you copy?

Sheila: Scheels, we read you loud and clear. Are you in position.

Nej: Affirmative. ETA 15 minutes, permission to land?

Sheila: Copy, permission to land. Tango out.

I arrived on scene about 10 minutes later, and we headed out. We hit Sheila's favorite store in Des Moines, we got some awesome Mexican food (and margaritas) for lunch at a new place they wanted to try, visited Starbucks (green tea frappachino - yum!) , and we also stopped by the new Bass Pro Shop grand opening.

(Mel had to scope out the competition.) :-)

From there we headed home.

Their son was going out for the night with a friend, and they wanted to be home in case he called so we headed back to their place. Mel cooked dinner (an awesome dinner I might add), while Sheila and I played Peggle to our hearts' content.

I'm officially an addict.

It's true. They could make a TV public announcement spot about it.

This is my brain, this is my brain on Peggle, any questions. :-) :-)



Mel and I got up Sunday morning and took the bikes out for a ride around (well, not all the way around, how about...along) ...yes, we took the bikes out and rode along Saylorville Lake.



It was a gorgeous morning. A little foggy, cooler....and not an ounce of wind. The ride was great!

It officially kicked my out of biking shape rump, but it was good none the less. :-)



And speaking of rumps, I still have the bike seat that came with the bike, and it's killing me. How do you pick out a good seat??? I want some cushion, but I don't want to look like a pansy with my HUGE bike seat.

After we rode along the lake for a while (and then had to turn around and repeat the route - uphill this time - ugh!!), we decided to ride out along the dam.

Boy am I glad we did!!! I'd seen something I've never seen before. You see, in this area, there are quite a few turkey vultures flying around. It's really a common site in this neck of the woods. But, what we saw when we first biked out onto the dam had me stop my bike without warning.



There were hundreds of them....sunning themselves on the rocky banks all the way along the dam. Holding their wings out like they were trying to air out their armpits. Hilarious!

After our ride, we headed back to their place to eat breakfast. From there, Sheila and I decided to conduct a reconnaissance mission of sorts. You see, last year some time, I'd decided to add another sport to the growing sporting goods store in my basement.

Neither Mot or I had done anything with it....heck, we don't have time for the other 40 million hobbies we've collected over the years. So anyway, the last time I was in Des Moines, I'd brought a magazine with me to read. Sheila latched onto it, and was immediately intrigued.

Disc Golf.

Oh yeah!!! So this weekend, I brought the gear we'd purchased a year ago, so she and I could try it out. We headed to a course close to their house.

We weren't there long before we had successfully spooked three grown men out. (We didn't know what we were doing, so we sat in my car and watched them like a hawk.)

We sat there for a good 15 minutes, before deciding to go back to her house for some more research. Neither of us like to jump into things, when we have no idea what we're doing. We were hoping to find a map of the course online...and also wanted to take some time to read up on the sport a little.




After completing our online research, the three of us (Mel joined us) went to Scheels (via Starbucks, green tea frappachino - yum!) to price a set of discs for Sheila. We also wandered over to the gun section to drool over some really nice shotguns. (gun geeks, aren't we cute?). *giggle*

The rest of the evening was spent with Mel making another outrageously awesome dinner, while Sheila and I plied our brains with more Peggle. (It's a good thing I don't have this game at home, I'm just sayin'). After dinner we watched a movie (State of Play - oooh, Russell Crowe) then headed to bed.

Monday morning, Sheila and I headed out to play some disc golf. We were unable to find any maps of the course, but finally decided it was Monday morning, on a holiday weekend....there shouldn't be any one else out on the course that early...and we were free to make complete fools of ourselves without an audience.

I hadn't brought any long pants with me, so I put on a pair of capris, long wool socks pulled up to my knees, and my red Keen sandals. (I was stylin', I tell ya!)

It's a good thing I did...this is what Sheila looked like by the time we got to the second tee box.



It was a gorgeous morning. The temperature was cool...but unfortunately it was still humid. I'm glad we decided to go in the morning before it really heated up and got muggy.

We started on the 8th hole. Why??? Because we didn't know where the 1st hole was. The 8th was right there...so why not?!?!

You could tell we'd never played before. We had discs going off into the woods on the right, into the tall grass on the left. Some discs went a mere 30 or 40 feet ahead of us....some really flew - but usually in the wrong direction, or hooking horribly at the end of their flight.

I only ended up in poison ivy once, so I thought it was an overall victory. :-)

We skipped the 9th hole, because there was a young kid (14 or so) throwing random objects into a tree in the middle of the course. We later found out he'd lost something up there the day before, and came back before other people arrived on the course to shake it loose.

We also skipped the 5th hole....basically because we couldn't find it. After some later exploring, we're pretty sure we know where it is.

Sheila, you'll have to confirm that this week!!!!

The 6th hole was the worst. The absolute worst. The tee box was up on hill, no problem there. The fairway was huge, wide, and mowed nicely...still no issues.

Running right across the middle of the course, a really gross and disgusting water way.

But we didn't know.

My tee off disc didn't go all that far, but Sheila's really sailed. We were excited....

.....until we saw where it landed.



Way down in the ravine, a mere inches away from the most disgusting water I've seen in some time.

Ick!!!!

When we finished playing, we headed back to their house for breakfast and a shower. Sheila and I were actually Peggle'd out (surprisingly enough) so we all just sat in the living room and talked.

Then ordered delivery pizza. :-)

After eating, I packed up my gear and headed home.

I had just unpacked when my great aunt and uncle, and grandma knocked on my door. They were in town shopping, and wanted to stop by and say hi. We spent an hour or so out on our back deck talking - boy was that nice!! It's not often I get to see them, and just get to sit down and talk.

Once they left, I crashed on the couch, then eventually moved my lazy bum to bed.

I ate like a pig, but was actually still a little active. My goal of being a complete lazy hound didn't pan out...but I sure gave it a shot. :-)