Painting The Town

IMG_0683, originally uploaded by mpgangle.

Heather, Rebecca, and I were among the first to christen Sips N Strokes, the new "art night out" place in East Cobb. I was so slow that I earned myself a "Type A" t-shirt. When the teacher, Wendy Lovoy, saw how far behind I was, she actually said, "Woah!" She encouraged those of us who were obsessing over the circularity of our circles to go paint the wall instead so our paint could dry for the next step! What started out as clean white walls ended up a big ole' mess. We had a total blast and are looking forward to going again.

The scene

We were there

Poor Kristin, whoever she is. We burned her art.

While standing in line to clean off brushes, R turned around and THWACK! threw her palette against the brick wall. It turned out to be the best art of the night.

We Miss You, Wowo!

Laura was here this past weekend, and we had a total blast. We haven't blogged in a week or so, so we'll include stuff since our last post. Without further ado, here's What's Been Going On:

If they knocked down the wall and combined businesses, they'd be RuPaul's.

G shows his bunny ("ribbit", as Laura would say) to Wo-Wo.

Jim 'N Nick's serves these enormous freakish mutant potatoes as a main course. They're longer than the forks!

Here was Laura's reaction to the potato.

Matthew made me and Laura drive by and take a picture of this sign. I wonder why!

Yesterday, we went hiking on Pine Mountain, which Jack recently discovered down the street from his and Jen's apartment. When we were waiting for Jack to arrive, Mom pointed at a steep hill and dared me to climb it. This is the view from the top; Jack, Laura, and Mom are at the Saturn and G was off the left side of the picture.

We hiked the West Loop trail to the Summit Overlook, and along the way, Jack and Gabriel found a scenic place to take in the view.

Proof that we actually made the summit!

The view was much greener than from Kennesaw Mountain. You could see 41 and I-75 unwinding, and to the right was the city of Cartersville, but mostly it was a sunny and green view. We all got a little color from the sun.

This is typical: Jack relaxes with good posture, Laura sunbathes, and Bun and Gabriel play. Oh yeah, and P takes photos.

Our more astute readers will notice the absence of Dear Matthew, Papa, and Jen from our hiking adventure. Jen was working on school stuff and Papa was fixing the desktop computer. Matthew, however, has had a horrible cold for the past week and we hope he will feel better quickly.

It doesn't take much to entertain us as a group. Here's a game we invented when we found a couple of uneaten onion rings after dinner.

Finally, Laura wanted her very own bit of amigurumi, so I made her Gangsta Bear. He does not have eyes, but he doesn't need them as his do rag is pulled down to his nose. He wears his bling proudly, but isn't a member of any gang. His message is "Stay in school and say no to gangs."

Laura is safe back in Michigan again, and we miss her a ton. Thanks for coming here this weekend!

Happy Birthday, Dad A!!

There is an old saying amongst rotary wing pilots: there are old helicopter pilots and there are bold helicopter pilots, but there are no old and bold helicopter pilots. We'd like to add one more to that - apparently there are also really, really old helicopter pilots!

If you can believe it, it has been 60 years (60!!!) since this guy was born. I know, that's a shocking number. How can it be true, you ask? The guy who now answers to Granddad has in fact been preserved by years of inhaling JP-8. It has infiltrated every one of his cells and keeps them from losing the battle against time. Its properties are amazing, he is even still capable of talking and walking.

Actually, he's a guy that is capable of and good at just about anything. At 60 he can still run circles around his son (maybe not his daughter-in-law, but his son anyway). He loves his family and there isn't a thing he wouldn't do for them. We miss him and we can't wait to see him again, hopefully with a freshly snared trout on the end of a fly line.

Happy birthday, Dad. We hope you had a great one, because you sure as heck deserve it.

Excuse Me, Blessed Virgin, But You Have Some Salt On Your Cheek

Mary in a pretzel.

Happy Birthday, Mom A!!

It was only a few years ago on this day that a certain Mr. and Mrs. Kranz, in the state of New York, brought forth Matt's mom onto the Earth. We would not be the people we are today if that day 40 years ago* had not happened. There is much that we owe to our favorite Bun-nut, and we hope that she knows that she is loved, greatly appreciated, and that we were thinking of her on her birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Is it coincidence that today there was a total lunar eclipse, in fact the last lunar eclipse until late 2010? We think not.

* It is possible that her actual age does not, exactly, match this number.