You can't make this up (aka why we should have our own reality show)

This post can be filed under the "you can't make this up" category.  The day started like any other Thursday during the school year.  I began my carpool to work this week on Tuesdays and Thursdays in an attempt to get me home earlier and to get my colleague to stay at work later.  On our drive in today one of the questions we discussed was whether we would want children.  My response was that I have a pretty awesome life and am free to come and go as I please without them at this point.  Tonight was a prime example of this.  After being dropped off at home, the plan was to take a 45 minute walk to Nut Island. What happened was a phone call from one of my closest friends Ned that went something like this:
Me: Hello
Ned: Good evening how are you?
Me: I'm well, how are you?
Ned: I'm well, are you at home?
Me: Maybe, why?
Ned: Well, because you weren't anywhere else I tried.
Me: What do you need?
Ned: A drink, people are crazy
Me: I'll meet you at the Wharf

Fast forward 30 minutes where we meet at Wharf 88 and then proceed to the Farmers Market before settling in to prime seats at the end of the bar.  We are greeted by our regular bar tender (who we believe is named Brian).  We know many things about him, where he goes to school, that is he a single dad, what he wants to do after college, etc., but haven't exactly got the name thing down.  After determining that Fall sucks for drinks since people tend to put pumpkin in things and declare it a fall drink recipe, we order our regular summer drinks and an appetizer.  Everything is on track for a lovely evening, we plan vacations, talk about work, have some laughs, and then it happens.

Ned's eyes get big and I hear a little "oh look" and as I turn we see Brandi and Sandy.  These were two characters that we met several months ago -- Ned believes it was a year ago, it was really about 5 months ago.  They are regulars at the bar, but call themselves frequenters because regulars sounds too well, you know.  They sit down next to us and we chat about drinks, work, and that we never connected like we said we would since the last time we saw them.  Then I hear a "oh no" and as I turn and look I see Frank enter.  Frank is a regular at the Wharf and makes his way around to all the patrons.  He cal tell you why we know drink vodka and martinis, any number of things about Presidents and film trivia, and many other topics of no consequence to anyone.  The last we we saw him he insisted that Ned freed the Irish from persecution.

Brandi and Sandy insist that Frank is going to sit next to Ned, at which time he tried to take up as much space as he can at the bar.  This doesn't work and Brandi and Sandy let us know that Frank is in his 80s and we need to be more kind to him.  Ned continues to mumble "you can't make this shit up" under his breath.  At one point, our dinner comes, Frank, Brandi, and Sandy are all talking to us, and neither of us are listening to any of them.  I look at Ned and ask "Is he talking to you?"  Ned replies, "I think so, but I don't care".   Then Sandy and Frank decide to play trivia and begin loudly asking questions that come to their heads about various topics.  At this point another woman (maybe Susan) comes in and Brandi goes to talk with her while Sandy and Frank continue to quiz each other.

At the end of the night our bill arrives and Ned writes a note to our bartender that says:
"This was a completely crazy night at Wharf 88.  We love you!"  Brian had all he could do to keep a straight face while he ran our cards and returned the check to us to sign.  Ned (the extrovert) hugged all the folks on the way out, while I (the introvert) did a subtle wave and he promised Brandi and Sandy we'll catch up soon. The entire staff escorted us out when we left and were laughing with us when we made it to the parking lot.

And as I drove home to the sounds of the Frozen soundtrack I was reminded of the morning conversation where I stated that I wouldn't be able to have spontaneous adventures if I had to think of taking care of a kid.  I think tonight was a perfect example of that.

Pickles, Pretzel Buns, and other random nonsense

The Banjos and Brastaps team was back in action this Labor Day weekend.  Since KBW had doggie duty she and Luna headed for Boston with a bag full of cucumbers and a dream of making pickles. She also dropped some hints about the need for jam and so we squeezed a few jars of peach pear jam in as well.  At the end of the weekend we had sweet and spicy relish, bread and butter pickles, and dill pickles made along with the jam.  Here is a lovely magazine like photo of half of the bounty.

We'll share the recipes later in case you want to try the same at your home.
We also spent the weekend walking at the beach, eating Chinese food, playing Crimes Against Humanity with our gal pals, and shopping for school clothes.

KBW also thought we should share some quotes from the weekend with you so here we go:
1. Nobody owns Carrie Cokely.
2. You have to establish your dominance, that's why I ignore the dog.  I saw it on the dog whisperer.
3. I like that game, crimes against humanity.
4. Are you trying to see if I'm in a coma?
5. You've got to make your own adventures Luna!
6. Can I tell you something without it sounding like sexual harassment?
7. Oh goodie, I get to learn about white people!
8. Have you ever eaten a Wendy's pretzel bun burger? Yeah!  It's like a pretzel, but it's a bun and a burger.  It's great.

In the end I think while we were enjoying ourselves, the dog couldn't make heads or tails of what was happening as evidenced by the picture below.

That's it for now Banjos and Brastraps fans.  We'll try to post more often in the last half of 2014, especially now that I have the correct password!