Pibil, the Phantom, and Parking Garages

*Some details may be falsified/embellished for dramatic effect...

So last Friday was a great day of celebration. I didn't exactly know what we were celebrating, but we decided to party like Rock Stars (or how we would party if we were Rock Stars). It started with the usual; waking up to the Josie, getting some grub and heading out the door. Instead of making the pilgrimage all the way out to North Bend, we met Dolly's mom (Grandma Sheri to the wee one) in Issaquah at 'the Bird' for an Iced tea, Diet Coke, and an order of fries. After leaving Josie for a fun adventure at the Grandparents (she has become rather fond of Boompa), we decided to head over to Ross so we could look snazzy sexy on the Cheap. I ended up with a nice Calvin Klein shirt, Dolly ended up with a wardrobe, and Josie would get a puffy pink jacket (I hope we return it, *hint* *hint* Dolly). There is something about getting some new, nice clothes and going out on the town (and there is something else about even leaving the tags on to let the town know that you are going out in new nice clothes- we practiced the former and neglected the latter). Anyway, after Ross we had to hit up QFC to make ingredient for our favorite Mexican dish, Puerco Pibil.

**SIDENOTE: Puerco Pibil is an amazing slow roasted pork dish that is uber fantastic (I probably should've used a Spanish word and not a German would to describe that...). Anyway, it is the only thing good about the movie "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" Robert Rodriguez has a "10 Minute Cooking School" (Rated -R, but the PG-13 version of the Recipe is here) and it teaches you to make this amazing dish. I highly recommend it. Because you use 5 lbs of meat, it usually feeds the Joines Fam for about 10 meals.**

At QFC we figured the best course of action for our Pibil campaign was to break up into two teams ('super secret squad alpha,' consisting of me and 'lame Dolly team', consisting of Dolly) Alpha team was in charge of a 4-pack of Red Bull and 5.5 lbs of Pork Butt and the Dolly team was in charge of the rest. It was like a crazy scavenger hunt to get the ingredients and meet at the register. Unfortunately, and I won't mention any team names, but it wasn't the super secret squad alpha team forgot to get the most coveted Mexican cheese in the display, Cotila or something, so she had to go back and get it, and ultimately had to pay separately for that.

So after a short stop at a liquor store (to get a cute lil bottle of Tequila for the Pibil), we made the trek home. We had laid out all the spice before we left and were ready to grind, blend, and roast. The little bottle of Tequila somehow broke and when I opened it up it started draining across the floor and shooting a small stream of liquor across the kitchen. Since my military training kicked in, I knew exactly what to do; get a safe distance away and aim the small stream in the blender. Unfortunately my marksmanship with a lil bottle of Tequila isn't as good as one might expect with all my taxpayer-sponsored training, so after the most expensive dribble of tequila in the mix, we were ready to put it in the oven.

After a short nap we woke up to some fantastic Pibil and got ready to go. We both looked great and we were ready to tear up the town. So after a few navigational blunders/parking adventures, we ended up parked and almost 50 minutes early. So we got to the Paramount, purchased an outrageously over-priced program, and looked good (we do these things in style, or at least we pretend). So we decided that we would get a drink; I got Glenlivett on the rocks (a standard) and Dolly ordered a "Masquerade" (Absolut Pear, Soda and a splash of Cran- disgusting). So neither one of us really enjoyed our drinks (they gave me about a pint of Scotch and Dolly's was just plain disgusting), but we didn't want to just throw our drinks away. So with the utmost care we performed the most clandestine operation of the evening; getting rid of our drinks without other people knowing that we were getting rid of our drinks. We saw only a handful of options:

1. Wrap the napkin around the cup and toss it in the garbage can,
2. The dying tree to the left of us could probably use a little pear liquor in its roots, or
3. Tastefully discard the beverage while at the drinking fountain pretending to get a drink.

We decided on the last option, but I had to perform the act with both drinks. It was smooth (aside from the mountain of ice left in the drinking fountain). So finally we were able to snag our seats. We had purchased the tickets one week before they went on sale thanks to Dolly's passport thing for working at Children's and they gave us some of the best seats in the house. They were dead center and 8 rows back so we could easily gaze over the pit to the theatrics unfolding around us, and were under the Chandelier as it fell (really cool). Overall, the play was a fantastic experience (the production was amazing, the costumes were great, and the music was captivating) my only beef is that the main lead for men were anything but strong. Since my only framework for the Phantom was King Leonidas (300) who played the Phantom in the movie version, so I was expecting a pretty tough dude. Instead, we got this joker (below the King). Lame. This consequently made Christine's character look weak. So after enjoying the time at the theåtre, we hit up the Cheesecake Factory for a quick appetizer and drink. We both enjoyed some of our favorite foods (Potstickers for the misses and I rocked some sliders), and got some Cheesecake and Carrot Cake for the road.

Unfortunately, the entrance to the convention center (where we parked) closes at 10pm and the garage closes at 12am. Our watch said 11.15 and we knew if we didn't play our cards right, we would be that couple calling you (to the two people who will read this) asking if you could pick us up. Luckily after going through the entrance off 8th, through a parking garage, through three levels of the convention center, and riding in two elevators we made it back to our car. We pulled into our Pibil smelling abode shortly after midnight and were able to enjoy some of our Cheesecake bounty. We started a good movie about the IRA terrorists, but was only able to make it 20 minutes in before we crashed.

Dolly wishes that I would be more thoughtful posts on here instead of just recounting the adventures. I honestly am thankful for Jesus that I have an amazing wife who have been able to grow with over the past 8 years and still enjoy and experience 'that teenage feeling', that I get to eat good food that anticipates a heavenly feast with Jesus, that we have caring parents who love and adore our girl to enable us to do this, that there is creation and expressions of it via theater (and the better movie) to reflect God's creation and drama, and that we can share how special this is to the one person who actually finished reading this.