bbq and [besties]

another year older and another year celebrating with bbq.  i'm not complaining about either....

i entered 38 with a surprise gathering my wife planned at one of my favorite places to eat.  she knows too well some of my favorite things in life are well done burnt ends and good friends.  the only downfall was i was so busy chatting and catching up with everyone, i didn't have time to enjoy much bbq.  i did however snag a few smoked chicken wings from a friend which have know entered my top five all time best wings i've ever had in my life.

much like the wings i have a feeling 38 is going to be one of the best years of my life.

just a few [b's]

the older i get, the less i need to be happy.


and it's not even like i'm *that* old (although this birthday puts me closer to 40 than i'd like) i think what i mean is that as life gets more complicated and sometimes more stressful, little things mean more to me than they use to.

all these thoughts came about when my wife asked me what i'd like for my birthday.  after some thought i told her, "bbq, beer and basketball."

one of the absolute best things about my birthday is that it falls during march madness and this year my alma mater was playing in the elite eight.  so for my birthday my wife took my to my favorite bbq place, found me a great spot at the bar right in front of the tv and with a little sweet talking she got the bartender to put on the game....which no one else in the place cared about.  upon hearing it was my birthday, the bartender even gave me a beer on the house.  so there i was, another year older, beer in one hand and a fork full of brisket in the other, a little bit of bbq in my beard, watching college basketball and grinning from ear to ear.

although my team lost, it was a wonderful night.  who knows, if this "appreciating the small things" trend continues, maybe all i'll need to be happy at 70 is an ice cold dr, pepper!

and for those damn kids to stay off my lawn.

where's the [beef]

you can take the boy out of kansas, but you can't take the kansas out of the boy...nor can you stop that boy from consuming massive amounts of bbq on his birthday.

last year at this time i had just moved to a new state and hardly new anyone, this year i was able to spend my birthday with an excellent group of friends made the last 12 months.  i also enjoyed some of the best bbq i've found in the northeast at a place called "salvage"right here in portland, and by enjoyed i mean i ordered a meal called the "meat coma."  add on the fact that at this bbq place you can order a gallon of pabst blue ribbon and i was in heaven...

stuffed, bloated, covered in bbq sauce and suffering from the meat sweats...but in pure heaven.