Week Seventeen: Sarah and Kevin

Busy and broke, we stumbled toward Week 17 following two consecutive cancellations. I thought I was done with the dates. I kept proposing to Erica that we close the blog. I was mentally "over it" but she convinced me to at least stick with it long enough to have her brother over. Little did I know, my attitude was the real problem, and having a couple who was very excited to come over really turned things around for me. It was Kevin and Sarah's attitudes that made me correct mine.



There were a few firsts on this date. The first first was a 15-minute early arrival. Erica was still wondering around the house in boxer shorts and a tank top at this point. I hadn't started cooking because I just assumed I would get my 30-minute buffer. I opened the door to wide grins, a cheese cake platter and a six-pack of Newcastle. The first time I was presented with both my favorite dessert and favorite beverage. Sarah and Kevin are also the first family members to "do the date."

It was time to start cooking, because we were all hungry. I was aiming for cheap, light and easy, so I planned on making chicken Caesar dinner salads. I picked up all the ingredients at the grocery store for just $19! Four boneless skinless chicken breasts, three heads of romaine lettuce, a small packet of garlic croutons, one lemon, Caesar dressing and some parmesan cheese. However, I was so impressed by the gifting effort of our guests, I felt I would be letting them down if I didn't take a culinary risk. So at the last minute, I decided to make my own vinaigrette.



I cut the chicken breasts into smaller bits and tossed them on a skillet. Then I took out a pot to craft my own vinaigrette. I started with a cup of olive oil, then added a half cup of lemon juice, a 1/4 cup of Worchestershire sauce and a generous squirt of beer mustard (that I had left from the hot dogs night on Week 13). I put in a squirt of red wine vinegar for some punch, then sprinkled in various eye-balled amounts of salt, pepper, sugar, minced garlic and red pepper flakes. I whisked it and set it off to the side. I washed the romaine, cut the romaine, then tossed it in the salad spinner with the vinaigrette to coat the lettuce but not over-dress it. I put the lettuce in the bowl, added the parm over it, added the croutons, topped it with the hot chicken and served with a lemon slice on the side.



I must say, the salads turned out pretty well. I was nervous it would be too simple, but simple is often good when it comes to cooking. Sarah is an excellent chef herself, so I wasn't going to blow her away with any fancy complicated dish. We talked about cooking for a minute while we ate, and Sarah described a stuffed hashbrown breakfast muffin she makes that sounds fantastic. Imagine eggs, cheese and bacon inside of a hashbrown muffin. Delicious.



We did a bottle of cabernet sauvignon with the salads that Kawai and Danny (Week 16) brought us the week before. And we debated in a goofy manner the proper pronunciation of the wine when we opened and aerated it with this handy device. Out came the cheesecake and Newcastles for dessert. Then, of course, out came the Table Topics.

Conversation during this game took it's natural course and expanded in several different directions. The most notable question was "how do you view life differently from your siblings?" It was interesting because it was the first time that question was proposed in front of a family member. It was too on-the-spot for the Stensberg clan, so Sarah and I added our takes and Kevin and Erica took a pass. Though the game provided us with some good moments, including a dream analysis of a recent nightmare, we passed on playing it for too long and switched over to Blokus.

Blokus is a tabletop four man Tetris. It is a fast-paced strategy game where each player selects a color and is presented with various different block shapes to play on the board. Each shape has a different number of squares, and the object is to have the lowest amount of squares left when all the players are blocked from moving. A "move" starting from your respective corner most include your newest piece touching corners, but not sides, to a piece previous played. It is not to complicated and very fun. You can play on-line for free at the website, which I did just now while summarizing the rules.



Somehow, during Blokus, we came across the term "smouldering dog balls." Kevin used to work as a vet assistant and would vacuum the canine testicles after removal with a tube device. One night, an disgruntled dog bit out his stitches, bleed and vomited all over the kennel and Kevin spent an entire shift cleaning off what appeared to be exploded animal from the walls. That was the day he decided to quit. That story was rather entertaining and makes mopping a floor at a sandwich shop seem like a cakewalk now.

Speaking of cakewalks, I had a 6am wake-up call to open up said sandwich shop the next morning. So, after stories and laughs, Kevin and Sarah packed up and made an exit right around 11pm. The timing of the whole event worked perfectly for us. Being family, we were finally able to stick a guest with the infamous mantle piece, which is now Kevin and Sarah's to regift. Gotcha!



To put in on basic terms, there is no better guest than a guest actively excited to be there. Sarah and Kevin were super gracious and involved the entire night. Their enthusiasm was infectious, and it reminded me to be stoked on the fact I get the pleasure of seeing people every week.

Next week is a Cinco de Drunko extravaganza with Chad and Ellie, complete with sombreros and mustaches... it should be a wild time!

Week Sixteen: Kawai and Danny

Last week, we had a last minute, spontaneous date. This week wasn't far off. I was scheduled to have steaks with a former co-worker, you know, the one I fired. So that was cancelled. Which was a bummer cause I was looking forward to seeing her. We all miss her at work. I was given a 24 hour in advance courtesy call. Being the moody grump I am, I told my wife that I was over planning all these dinners and unless she handled this scheduling issue, I was going to stop writing the blog. Dramatic, I know. But in her even-keel style of fashion, Erica got a hold of Kawai, a bridesmaid from our Wedding, and set up a DD with us and Kawai's long-time boyfriend Danny.



The pitch was crafty, on Kawai's end. She called Danny and reminded him of the date which he had set up with us (their original date was actually in the first week of July). He got ready to come over, and they arrived on-time and with more booze than any couple has provided thus far. They were ready to party.

The menu was left up to me (which made it easy), and since I work across from Rain Shadow Meats in Melrose Market, I decided to stroll over and pick up some of their delicious pre-portioned bacon burger patties. At the grocery store I purchased some fresh kaiser rolls, sliced sharp cheddar, mixed greens, pickle slices, a red onion, two tomatoes and a bag of frozen french fries. Good, old fashioned American Cheeseburger and fries. You know how it's made and what it tastes like so I will spare you the details. But they turned out pretty good and I attribute it all to the high quality grass-fed beef.



The tour of the house was extended, because Danny knows so much about structures and is interested in how things are put together. Kawai is also big on decoration, so the walk-thru turned into a feedback exchange, and we discussed what changes could be made and future possible improvements. Kawai and Danny are also homeowners, and they have an amazing house in Brier with a huge backyard. So their advice is legit. My favorite offering was a simple idea from Danny. Paint the lower parts of the white wall in our attic bedroom up to where the roof starts to lean a slightly darker color (could be gray or tan or something) and it would open up the room and make it feel larger. We might have to do that.

After the back and forth throughout the house, we sat down at the table and put down the burgers pretty fast. When the food was finished, we migrated over to the couches and coffee tables to continue the conversation. Danny and Kawai literally started dating the same month Erica and I did, which is June of 2007. Their relationship was paced to ours and I remember being super stoked on their presence at our rehearsal dinner. Danny really worked the crowd that night and I assumed Kawai and him would be key players in our lineup of couple friends. Kawai is always smiling and upbeat, Danny is outgoing and great with banter. I definitely saw the four of us tearing it up on the town.

The years passed by and we only saw Danny and Kawai once or twice a year at major group functions, like Big Aaron's (Week Three)birthday party. For whatever reason, we didn't quite develop the couple friend connection I had anticipated. It might be because we have less in common than it would appear.

There was an awkward moment, at least in my head, when we busted out the Table Topics and the question was asked "What subject do you know more about than anyone else in the room?" Rap music. Fashion. Building stuff. Liquor. Four completely different passions, each of them incredibly boring to the other. The pause of silence was followed by moving on to the next card and not even elaborating on our knowledge. It made me feel like we didn't know each other that well.



Though I suppose we don't actually no each other that well, that moment just stuck out in my head in reflection as a possible reason for the lack of contact. Most of our interactions with Kawai and Danny are natural, flowing and fun. The dinner, for the most part, was no different. We sat and chatted about raising bulldogs (they have an adorable English female) and had some drinks and shared some memories. It was totally normal like it was something the four of us regularly do together.

One thing is for sure, Danny gets the award for biggest party soldier. Kawai and Danny had stayed out playing in a dart league until midnight the night before, Danny had to wake up at 4:30am for work, then they came to our house, and he stepped up to the social occasion even with a pending 4:30am wakeup call the next morning. Very impressive.

The duration of the date was perfect, too. On-time arrival, a pre-game drink during the walk-thru, some talking in the kitchen while the meal cooks, eat, post-dinner convo, off to home within three hours. Some of the other dates nearly lasted a full 24 hours, which Erica felt was a bit excessive. The three hour time window was nice, especially since all four of us had work the following day. Danny and Kawai were gracious guests who brought nice alcohol and stimulating conversation. I appreciated them coming over. I will look to make them closer friends in the coming year, as they are super dynamic people and we enjoy their company.



Next week, 52 DD becomes a family affair, as Erica and I play host to her younger brother Kevin and his fiance Sarah. If you stay reading, I'll stay writing, deal?

Week Fifteen: Annie Bell and Chase

This week we had a buzzer beater! Three cancellations, a few missed calls, mixed up schedules and rearranging arrangements all culminating in me riding home from work on Friday at 3pm, texting people like crazy trying to figure out who would be coming over that night. In a day-of invitation fill-in, Annie Bell came through in the clutch on a first date with her former co-worker Chase.



In Week 14 I posted that we had a mystery guest coming. That wasn't entirely true. Originally, our friend Krystal and her boyfriend Chad were scheduled. But some important family issues came up and they promptly informed me the Sunday prior to the date they would be unable to make it.

Erica and I then rescheduled with her good friend Kalei, who is single however. So we weren't sure if she had a date or needed one, etc. When we couldn't get a hold of her after we first spoke to get meal info, we decided we needed to get a back up plan. I posted on Facebook that we had an opening. That resulted in a few things. First, two unscheduled people volunteered, one of those people sent me a very sweet personal message. Before I could respond, I had about seven different couples scheduled farther down the line contact me via some various mediums. I tried to offer the night to a few of them, but because it was the night prior to the date, most people couldn't make plans on such short notice. So the morning of the date, I ended up texting Sarah Abel's (Week 5) good friend Annie Bell, who was bravely slotted for a blind date in July and I knew was always down to party.

Annie Bell is super fun, extremely social, and very reliable. I figured if it was coming down to a casual stop-by appearance, she'd be the one. Luckily, she even had arrangements with a gentlemen that evening. Her friend she used to work with (as of very recently) Chase. She said he would be done with a business meeting around 9pm. And that I should make "something Mexican" and pour strong drinks.

This is going to sound lame, but I was stressing out about possibly missing a date. And it possibly not going well. Let alone not knowing what to get at the grocery store. As you know, we have done tacos TWICE already. So when she said "something Mexican," it was vague enough that I decided it meant I could invent a brand new food that had typical ingredients from Mexican cuisine.

At the store I grabbed chicken, flour tortillas, shredded sharp cheddar, sour cream, an onion, a red pepper, and a green pepper. When I got home, I knew I had lots of time before the estimated 9pm arrival of guests, so I decided to make a marinade for the chicken. I took a pot and put in one cup of olive oil and one cup of lemon juice, then I sprinkled in thyme, basil, cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, pepper and a few other herbs off our rack. I sliced the chicken breasts into smaller strips and dumped it in the marinade and tossed that in the fridge to sit.



Here comes a 52 DD Original Recipe: "Something Mexican Chicken"
-make the marinaded chicken
-dice an onion and julienne two peppers
-make a skillet hot, then toss in the onion and peppers and cook for 5 minutes
-add the chicken (pull out of the marinade) and cook for 8 minutes
-take a flour tortilla and spread sour cream on it like tomato sauce on pizza dough
-top the tortilla with a healthy amount of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
-pop the tortilla in the microwave to melt the cheese and heat the tortilla
-toss some of the cooked chicken, onion and peppers on the tortilla and fold up
-add hot sauce as needed



Unfortunately, Annie Bell and Chase (not originally planning to be on a double date when they woke up that morning) made a late arrival, passed 11pm, and Erica and I had a few Something Mexican Chickens before they got there. And when they got there, they weren't hungry. So they incidentally receive three dubious awards off the jump: first couple to not eat, latest arrival for a couple, and first couple that actually isn't a couple.

As awkward as a "first date" must be at a late dinner in a married couple's house, I knew I had to follow Annie Bell's advice and make the drinks strong. The drink I decided to go with is one of Erica's favorites, the mojito. All that is required is lime juice, club soda, sugar, fresh mint leaves, ice and, of course, clear rum. It was my first attempt at the drink, and they weren't bad, but they certainly weren't pro. My advice, after my cherry popping, is to use freshly squeezed limes and make sure to muddle the mint leaves enough to release their flavor. I failed at both and thus we were essentially drinking spruced up Tonic Rums.



The late arrival and opening tour were confusing and awkward. I'm sure Chase had no clue why the hell he was there. We had the first round in the backyard, where Annie Bell took note that she lived in the apartment building behind our house many years ago, and had seen our backyard and previous owners. Round two landed us in the TV room in the basement. This is were the turn of the evening occurred.

Chase is also a musician. So we launched into music talk. He is in a funk band called Tip to Base, and knows the recording process, all about booking and playing shows, inter-band politics, the joy of creation, etc. So we shared experiences and opinions until it was time for round three.

Up in the living room, Annie Bell attempted a "should we go..." type exit that was rejected by Chase and myself. We weren't done with the musician exchange or the mojitos. We broke out the Table Topics and burned through a few questions. One of them was "At what stage is abortion still okay?" to which my answer was "17 years old."

We had some more laughs and another round. Annie Bell told me about how she attempted to get a slow clap going at her job (which was insurance related) because she knew someone who was in a Vern Fonk commercial. That someone was me and that commercial is here:


Then Annie Bell and Chase took off. At first, Erica and I looked at each other like we might have just cheated the system. Does it count if they don't eat our food? Then we sat down and discussed the blog. Maybe we shouldn't take it too seriously. It's not a set thing, with rules, and more importantly, it's our thing. For fun.

And that's when I realized what the date was. It was a date with my wife. I got to spend the entire night with my wife. We spoke while I did the prep work in the kitchen. We sat down and ate together. We even did a trial run of mojitos before our company arrived. And then we talked about our feelings about the blog and process after. It doesn't have to be so ridged. And honestly, Annie Bell and Chase were awesome company. Cool people to hangout with.

In reflection, I have several things to be stoked about from that night. Spending time with my wife is always a blessing. Secondly, I have a friend like Annie Bell who is fun, and open to stuff, and she came through for us and kept the blog alive. And, of course, I made a new bro in Chase, who is charming and hilarious. Look for a Worst Animal/Tip to Base show sometime in the future! The dates don't always have to be a certain structure, at a certain time, or even within the week. This one counts and we liked it.

I posted yesterday that the blog might be shutting down. We were cancelled on again for this week's date and I wasn't sure I could go through the same process two weeks in a row. I only have one day open this week, because of my show at the Funhouse on Friday and Sky Sander's bachelor party on Saturday. Erica and I are also living on credit at this point. And April 20th (the day of MY SHOW, at the FUNHOUSE, which is THIS FRIDAY) will be my second day off from work... in the month of April.

With stress levels still high from a few weeks ago, a large work load, and preparation for the weekend events, I wasn't sure I wanted to force in a DD. But, once again, a friend came through in the clutch, and tomorrow night Erica and I will be hosting her bridesmaid Kawai and Kawai's boyfriend Danny.

The blog lives. I do it for my friends. So I can see them. Because I love them. On that note, I will leave you with an ode to "My Friends" from my new EP, available for free download HERE and IS safe for work and children, for once. See you at the Funhouse on April 20th, and hopefully at dinner. Our place.

Week Fourteen: Thomas and Kaylie

The thing I love about lows are the highs around the corner. I knew in the darkest depth of my depression, that when the sun eventually shined, it would be brighter and feel fantastic on my skin. Getting a full day off from work the day after, I knew the sun would at least be seeming bright to my eyes the next morning... especially because our friends Thomas and Kaylie were coming over.



I met Thomas in Mill Creek at a venue called The Jet back in October of 2010. He lives around there and hangs out there too much, but his main reason for being present at that show was his bandmate Jake runs the sound (extremely well, I might add).

Their band is called Just Like Vinyl and I suggest you treat your ears to a sample and check out a live show sometime. http://www.justlikevinyl.com/
They played Aaron and Ana's (Week 8) Wedding that we missed and the first dance was to "The Circulatory System" which is my favorite song from that album.

After my set, Thomas and Jake complimented me on my content (I made them laugh, which is pretty normal for me... getting complimented is not) and we chopped it up about music and touring, etc. It turns out Thomas was the former frontman for a band YOU might know called The Fall of Troy. The Fall of Troy toured with the Def Tones and did several stints on Warped Tour. The name rang a bell so I looked it up on Facebook when I got home and saw they had over 140,000 likes. To put that number in perspective, my music page, after 15 tours and seven studio recorded albums, has just over 2,000 total. So that was crazy.

I returned to the Jet a few more times, and Thomas and Jake were there. And we hung out more, and got to know each other better. And Erica and I started taking a vested interest in their band JLV and we started going to their shows. And the friendship blossomed from that point.

Thomas is a really sweet guy, and Erica especially appreciated (in the earlier stages of our friendship) that he made a point of including her in conversations and took an interest in her point of view. More often than not, with musician friends, the guys pair off and geek out and the lady friends are left in the dust. But Thomas (and Jake) never let the bro down get in the way of being a gentleman and acknowledging Erica. It was a major indicator they are good people.

I actually have interpreting Erica's responses to new musician friends down to a science now. After meeting Thomas, and talking to him about girl troubles and fashion, on the car ride home she said "I like Thomas." On several other separate events with other people involved, the car ride home would include her saying "Too much rap talk." This meant, whatever dude I was broing out with... wasn't that awesome. But Thomas is good.

So both Erica and I were stoked to hear from Thomas that he was getting engaged to his lifetime love Kaylie. Who I had only seen and never really met prior to the engagement, however, I very much superficially approved of her as his friend. Kaylie is extremely gorgeous. After meeting and getting to know Kaylie, we more so approved cause she is super friendly and down to earth. Kaylie is good.

I barely had time to prepare for this date, because of the rigorous work schedule leading up to it. And Thomas and Kaylie like spicy food, so they suggested gumbo. I had never made gumbo before, but I thought, no problem. I will go over to Rain Shadow Meats after I get off work and pick up a bunch of andouille sausage and figure out the rest at home. I got back around 5pm and then took a detailed look at the instructions and noticed a total cook time of 3 hours and 40 minutes. I hadn't planned on that, and now I had a bunch of sausage to improvise with.



So I fell back on my sandwich-maker roots and took a page out of former Homegrown chef Rob Milliron's book. The andouille sausage sandwich: a toasted bun, spread with french onion dip, filled up with sliced grilled andouille sausage and caramelized onions topped with a pinch of fresh arugula, and my added improvisation of jalapenos to spice things up. It wasn't quite gumbo, but it turned out pretty damn tasty. And we followed that up with a chocolate fudge cake.

The date was a party. We blasted my new EP (Bad Tattoos Volume One, coming out for FREE 4/18/12 online at http://themctype.bandcamp.com/) and JLV's new album (release TBD). And we made the mistake of rum, wine, rum, wine, rum... rap show.

The course of the party took us to our good friend Desmond's birthday show at Nectar in Fremont. Des is the creative genius known as Graves33, the man responsible for literally all my merch art (he designed the covers to both Amateur Hour and Scumbag Delirium, as well as the Junk Punter and Man Crush t-shirts). He is also an incredible rapper, producer (who works with Aaron from Week 8), DJ, father, friend, you name it. So Thomas and I definitely wanted to land at his b-day party.



Then Nectar went something like this...

Fireball.
Thomas and I yelling and screaming.
Fireball.
Thomas and I chasing each other around.
Fireball.
Fireball.

Looks like one too many.

Aaaaand Thomas and Kaylie were couple number three to utilize the anti-DUI guest bed. And yes, Thomas and I slept in separate beds after the Nectar show. The only justification for any of our actions that night will be explained simply by this: Thomas and Kaylie are freaking rockstars, man. And when Erica and I hang out with them, we party accordingly.

And there was a mystery puke. Which I will not explain.



Next week. Somebody will be here. But it's a mystery...

Week Thirteen: Rob & Kathryn w/Jeff, Will & Matt

It's about to get personal. Fast. This previous week was one of the most challenging periods of time I have ever faced in my life, and certainly in my relationship with Erica. Our cat Smokey was growing old and started losing weight, 3 pounds in one month, and we faced the tough decision of having to put her down. My assistant manager at work was out with the flu, and because we were so understaffed, I needed to work two 14-hour shifts, back to back (in fact, today is the first day I have had off since March 26th, which is why I am posting so late). In the midst of that double double, one of my favorite employees, a girl I consider a good friend, missed her shift and I was left alone during the busiest breakfast rush I have seen in the middle of a mental breakdown to boot. It destroyed me that the situation panned out that way, but I had to fire her. On top of all that, my bank account shrank down to double digit figures and my debts climbed up to multiple thousands. I didn't have enough time, or money, and I was flat out depressed and treating my wife poorly.

Stumbling out of the back to back 14 hour shifts with barely any sleep, I opened my shop at 7am on Saturday, got off work and went to the vet with my wife and held our cat in my arms while she feel asleep for the a last time, and drove back to our home mentally preparing to fire a friend the next day, and welcomed our friends Rob and Kathryn from Colorado with their three sons, Jeff, Will and Matt into the house. No time for rest, it was date time.



Rob and I have a deep history. So it was really great in these trying times to see somebody who knows me really well. Rob and I were assigned roommates in Sewall Hall our freshman year at the University of Colorado. In the smallest room ever. We were forced to bunk the beds and forced to become bros. There was no space in that little room to not be bunk bros. Rob was top. (How did I just write that?!?!?)

The first week of college was a wild one. Rob and I went through fraternity rush with the guys in our dorm hall and bonded with them instantly. When the bids came to us, each of our friends had received a bid to the house they wanted most (except me) AND we all got bids to one house in common. We decided to stick together and join the same house. It was a defining moment in my friendship with those guys.

As our pledgeship commenced, it became clear Rob was a leader of the pack type of guy. Naturally, he was voted President of our house the following year and landed a smoking hot, tall, blonde girlfriend. And he has been with Kathryn ever since.

Kathryn gave council to me in several ways, as I was Rob's designated quirky friend with constant emotional problems. She would help me pick out the proper outfits to wear on dates, she would tell me to dump girls who sucked, she would remind me to do nice things for Rob on the appropriate dates and times. She, as well as Rob, had been there for me in times of need.

So I was stoked that it was Rob and Kathryn coming. If I was going to be seeing anybody at that juncture, it NEEDED to be them. I needed therapy and release. I also needed to cook an incredibly simple meal because of lack of prep time, so it was great they were accompanied by their sons, who are 6, 4 and 1. I figured I should do something for all ages, and so I tossed out the idea of hot dogs and chips.



With no time to make a grocery store stop, I lucked out that hot dogs was met with great approval. I work across from the best butcher shop in Seattle, Rain Shadow Meats. And they have unbelievable housemade hot dogs. After my morning shift and before hopping in my wife's car to go to the vet, I ran over and purchased some dogs.

For more info on Rain Shadow Meats, visit their website:
http://http://rainshadowmeats.com/
I highly suggest getting a steak there! The owner Russ is a good guy and they do quality work.

Now, because Rob and Kathryn are out of towners, I wanted to do something with a little local flavor. Getting the meat from a local butcher was step one. But I wanted to serve them a "Seattle style" hot dog. If one such exists, in my opinion, it would be the street vendor variety down in Belltown. And you know their secret ingredient: cream cheese. I'm not sure if this is done elsewhere, or what the origin is, but this is how I made them local food. Toasted bun, cream cheese on both sides, sour kraut, sliced pickled jalapenos, boiled then fried dog topped off with a stripe of brown beer mustard. Red Hook Pilsners to wash it down. The kids did it simple. Ketchup and yellow mustard. Milk to wash it down.



The kids, Jeff, Will and Matt, are a key component to the edge Rob and Kathryn have as a highly ranked Power Couple. They are awesome. Jeff is well-spoken, reserved and polite. I get the sense he will grow up to be a doctor, but like the George Clooney on ER kind, because he is handsome and charming. Will, for lack of better phrasing, is kind of a bad ass. He is fearless and wild. He will definitely be a Fullback for CU, and run over people like Mike Alstott. He will follow that up by becoming a powerful business man with an expensive suit. Matt is still new to the game, but from what I can tell, he is curious and adventurous. You can see him dissecting the way things work and function with his eyes. Possibly an engineer or an astronaut. But these boys are fantastic, and they are going to be able to do whatever it is they want to in life.



What they wanted to do, at least after dinner, was play video games. So they go to. I hooked up the X-Box 360 that had been collecting dust in my garage, and the adults sneaked away to enter deeper conversations. Erica and Kathryn paired off, as Rob and I drove to the store for some refills on the beverages.

I was still pretty mentally beat down from the week I had, so Rob and I sat outside in his rental car and I unloaded my feelings on him. We talked about marriage, and being in a relationship for a long time, mood swings, ups, downs and how to deal with all of it. And nobody has put life more in perspective than Rob. That talk was really necessary and I walked out of that car a happier man. And I am super grateful that Erica sticks by my side through all my craziness.



Back inside the boys are running around, playing with Lola, exploring the yard, and I'm looking at Rob and Kathryn smiling and having a good time. And I'm thinking one thing. #1. They are definitely the top ranked Power Couple we know. And it's going to take a whole lot for them to be bumped down!

Tomorrow a bona fide American rock star steps up to the plate with his gorgeous fiance to accept the challenge. He was the Alt Press guitarist of the year in 2007, she has awesome tattoos and can cut and style hair like no other. I'm gearing up to get out of my depression with our a good friends Thomas and Kaylie. Let the dates begin!