Lot’s of stuff going on post “Snowpocalypse”. School is out for the rest of the week. Abandoned cars litter the road. It took the rest of the week for the snow to melt, freeze again, and finally melt. Even if the main roads were cleared the secondary roads and neighborhood roads were still difficult if not impossible to navigate. Birmingham isn’t a snow town. Birmingham isn’t a snow flurry town for that matter. As the city recovers and begins to settle back in, there is word that avery similar storm system is heading our way.

“Fool me once…”, say the people. We all hunker down and prepare to be prepared. All businesses, schools, government agencies, churches, shelters…everyone is ready. It rained. Many of us were able to find the humor in this who weren’t scarred from the events. The Surber’s made it out unscathed. Many others were not as fortunate, some worse.

As February arrives, we see the end of basketball and beginning of baseball for a busy 8 year old. We are one more month closer to March which will see our daylight extended by one hour. Two events happen in February. Everyone knows about St. Valentines days. The second occasion is the anniversary of the day of my…of our wedding. February 17th  is the day that Michelle and I were married.

This year marks our 18th year and we are still going strong. This year we have also been lucky enough to be included on a birthday celebration for our very dear friend Lori. Lori and Mark have included us on a really great Las Vegas experience to celebrate her birthday with another couple. Tom and Jenise have been our dear friends since we moved to Birmingham in 2000. This is going to be fun!

Friday, February, 14 2014: Many folks love this scheduled day of romance. Apparently none of “those” folks set the calendar for this years Sadie Hawkins Dance. We have two daughters who have squared away their dates. I don’t know how your dances are but these dances in Vestavia Hills are work. Don’t misunderstand me. It is a lot of fun seeing friends and all of our kids all “dolled-up” in a very social setting. Group pictures, sub group pictures, date pictures, pictures with parents, pictures with pictures…all kinds of pictures. Two daughters, one dance, four locations….glad it’s raining. We had a ball! We holed up wit home new and old friends at a restaurant near the kids and enjoyed some food and beverage…..and many trips to the “urination station”. Tomorrow afternoon, we leave for Vegas. I have never been to Vegas.

Saturday, February, 15 2014: Catching a direct flight on a Saturday afternoon is cake. We managed to insert our own amount of stress into this seemingly simple task. No worries. We meet at the airport and enjoy a celebratory bloody mary before we leave. I had a vodka and grapefruit. Wheels up!

Mark has a driver waiting on us holding a sign with Lori’s name on it. The driver collects our luggage and takes us to the limosine. We are traveling with, “Vegas Professionals”. We stop by the drug store and get couple of bottles of champagne to continue the celebration. Yes, the drug store. We also pick up some other spirits and such. A couple of loops around the strip and we are at the hotel. 24 Hours until the Bruno Mars show. Smiles all around.

Sunday, February, 16 2014: Bloody Mary’s and cigars on the balcony. It is a beautiful day in the desert and we hang out after breakfast, just relaxing and talking about whatever. Good times with good friends. Michelle and I take off on an excursion to check things out, This is her second trip to Las Vegas and she guides me around our little corner of the desert. Shopping, lunch with the gang, a little more browsing, quick purchase…let’s get ready for Bruno.

This is the day that I finally let her in on my little secret. I tell her everything I know….which is not much. I think I have enough information to let her know that, “something’s up” and that we shouldn’t be concerned. Most likely I have an enlarged prostate and they make medicine for that. I was tired of keeping the secret ….and because I am so young, I’m probably right.

Bruno Mars sounded great. Mark set us up with a VIP section and Enrique. Enrique was our “Nightlife Marketing Host”. He led us past the lines, around the ropes, through the curtain down to our box. Bruno delivers a show, not a concert…a show. Everything is planned, no variance from the schedule. Starts and ends on time and it is awesome.

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Monday, February 2014 12:01-ish: Our Anniversay: Michelle knew I had “it”, but wasn’t 100% sure. I had recruited Jenise and Lori with Jenise serving as my “mule”. She has the cargo. It was important that our hosts were okay with this plan. After all we are here to celebrate Lori’s birthday. This is her party. Not surprisingly, she graciously lends her support to my cause and helps map it out. After Bruno finished we stop by a cocktail stand and talk about the show visit the restroom. We circle around Michelle. I am winking, nodding, whispering and nudging as I take Michelle’s new wedding ring and slip it on her finger. The original wedding ring had been erroneously discarded a few years earlier. It was my Great Aunt Francis’ wedding ring and it fit Michelle perfectly. That’s another blog and shorter story. Tomorrow we head back to the Magic City.