Week Twenty-Nine: Shaunda and Quis w/Mark

The week that was... was busy. Sometimes I am happy to have my hands full, and this was one of those occasions. Erica's best friend from middle school, Shaunda, was back in town from South Carolina with her husband Quis and their son Mark. It was time for steaks in the middle of the work week, and we were ready for it!



I remember Erica telling me about Shaunda. It was one of the few times I have cried since I've been with my wife. Erica is very calm and doesn't put me through a lot of stress. Our relationship is extremely drama-free, and thus, I do not shed tears often. But she described her middle school experience as a shy, quiet girl. She told me about how nobody would sit with her at the lunch table and she sneaked her meals into the bathroom. It made me very sad that there was ever a point in her life that the world didn't recognize how sweet and loving my wife is.



Then Shaunda offered her a seat at her table of friends. Shaunda was Erica's first and only friend, for a bit. Erica really loves and respects Shaunda. I even met her before Erica and I got engaged. And Shaunda traveled out for our Wedding, of course, and was with Quis at the time as well. So this was a meeting of old friends, and, in Erica's case, her oldest.



This was my first time meeting Mark. As readers know, I am not a kid person. But I was blown away by how well-behaved a child he is! He wins the award by far and away for calmest visiting kid with the best manners. He pretty much entertained himself, did not make any disturbance, gave Lola a respectful distance and was generally a pleasure to have around.



Quis, on the other hand, was trouble. My man introduced me to a new favorite of the crew: Bud Light Platinum. I am not a Budweiser product enthusiast to begin with, so when the Select brand popped up, I didn't try it. I was sure to continue down the path of ignoring their beer selection, but Quis suggested we pick up a 12 pack of that and I obliged.



It. Is. AWESOME. It basically just tastes like ice cold water and has 6% alcohol, which is higher than most standard lagers. To top it off, it is packaged in neon blue bottles that make you feel like you are at a rave under some blacklights. The visual is so nerdy, it makes me feel like I am drinking Budweiser to be ironic, and I'm okay with that.



The food was pretty decent. Hard to mess up a steak! You just rub it in salt and pepper and don't over cook it. For sides, I made a Greek salad (kalamata olives, red onions, grape tomatoes, cucumber slices and feta cheese on romaine) and some red potatoes. I also grilled up some mushrooms and onions to put on the steaks.



What I did to prepare the red potatoes was the only interesting part of my cooking process. I chopped them into halves, filled a large pot with chicken stock and lemon juice, rubbed them in garlic and herbs, and boiled them then placed the pot in the oven at 430 heat for 40 minutes. They turned out awesome! Which was a big win from my previously undercooked potatoes on an earlier date.



The dinner conversation was great. We related stories about marriage, talked about cultural differences between the South and the Northwest, breezed through our meeting stories and, of course, played all four versions of Table Topics. I enjoyed their visit very much.



Even better than getting a sweet dinner date in before the weekend, was the bonus night of partying we got. Shaunda had invited Erica to Red Robin to meet up with their high school friends the next night, but the plans did not include Quis. I was going to do an open mic comedy night, so I invited him to come along, watch me bomb hard on stage and have a few Platinums. I did, in fact, bomb extremely hard and got nearly zero laughs. But I can officially call myself a rapper/comedian! (Which I have been doing for years now with no standup material to back it...)

Coming soon, Griff will be moving into Tune Castle and 52DD will potentially become just a weekly party. With one Griff-less weekend left to burn, I am tying our first Wedding Tour Show at High Dive together with the fourth act from that night (Sadistik). Sadistik and I recently created a song called "Damaged" over a Grieves beat (Ben, Week 1) which will be up for free download with the Bad Tattoos Volume Two EP at my BANDCAMP PAGE on either 7/23 or 7/30. You can listen to that song below.



In the studio, Sadistik and I both agreed our least favorite question to ask someone or be asked is "what's your rap name?" So, I will ditch the alias and just say, Erica and I are very much looking forward to our dinner with Cody and his lovely girlfriend Alexis. More on Cody, his rap music and our dinner with the girls next week. Cheers.