Peking Acrobats

It was a very nice and pleasant week/weekend for me. On Monday, Anna and I had dinner with Kevin and Martha. They’ve been meaning to have us over for quite some time, but due to our busy schedules, we’ve not been able to find the time. Finally, Monday worked out for all of us and it was such a pleasant evening. Both Kevin and Martha got to know Anna better and it was nice to see her interact with a family that is so very near and dear to my heart. Kevin prepared dinner and it was sinfully good yet very simple. We all loved it. I brought a bottle of wine that complemented the meal very well. Everyone had a very good time.

We had a staff meeting at the facility on Thursday and all of us were introduced to the new administrator. I’ve seen her somewhere before and I just can’t seem to put a finger on it. One of the comments she made the really grabbed our attention was when she asked all the staff to write down their current work schedule because there’s a very strong possibility that all of us will be changing our schedules. Well, I guess we’ll find out how that goes. I’m reserving my comments for the time being. There’s no point in doing anything drastic just yet. I’m just going to wait and see how things play out.

Anna’s sister, Gretchen and her boyfriend, Travis were in town for the weekend. We met up with them for dinner at the Drake Diner prior to the basketball game. They had invited a couple Travis knew from college to join us at dinner and the game. It was a great time just chatting and catching up with one another. The basketball game itself was pretty sloppy, but Drake grinded out a win which was important to say the least. After the game, we went to Peggy’s which is the Drake bar. All my years at Drake I probably made it there once if not twice. I never really liked it because it was really smoky, small, and they only served beer. Now that smoking is not allowed in bars, it definitely made for a better experience and they even have mix drinks which made the visit a good one. We were definitely in the minority due to our age because most of the people at Peggy were college kids and I would say probably half of them were not of age. Hey, I guess if you have a good fake ID, it’ll get you in. After Peggy’s, we went back to the hotel bar where Gretchen and Travis were staying for a couple of night caps. All in all, we had a great time and I had forgotten how much fun Travis can be especially when he has some alcohol in him.

Sunday would definitely be the highlight of my week. Our group sang at Mass and Kyle, who is the music and liturgy director sang next to me. He’s my age and we had a good time singing. He mentioned that it was nice to just stand at the back and sing and not worry about the music since most of the time, it’s his responsibility to plan the music and arrange for singers and musicians. After Mass, I drove up to Ames for the Peking Acrobats performance. My oh my, talk about a jaw dropping performance by one of the most elite acrobatic troupes in the world. The first half was pretty good, but after the intermission, they definitely did not hold back. Some of the acts they performed defied human acts. I kept telling myself that there was no way any human being is capable of doing what they did yet, they always seemed to make it bigger and better. The crowd was extremely enthusiastic to say the least and cheered a ton of times. One act that just blew my mind was when this guy climbed a number of chairs that was balanced on four champagne bottles up at least four-storey high. These were pretty simple wooden chair and how he managed to stack it all, maintained his balance and just reached the top was out of this world. It was mesmerizing to say the very least. I do have to say that it was one of the most spectacular shows I’ve ever seen in my life.

So, that’s the week that was. This weekend is Valentine’s Day weekend and the only thing Anna and I will be doing is going out for dinner at an Italian restaurant where she has a gift certificate. Nothing else has been planned. She knows I’m definitely anti-Valentine’s Day and has not been pushing to do something special. We will be going out for dinner on Monday since it’ll be our four month anniversary, but I made it known to her that it’s not going to be a Valentine’s celebration, but more our anniversary celebration.

That’s all the news from me. I hope you have a good week ahead.