Nix the acorn squash...

So we had a bunch of things to cook tonight for tomorrow. So what did we do? We watched Live Free Or Die Harder IV With a Balding Vengeance and the Mac Guy Too. Fun flick.

And then we got to cooking. And we were amazing. All three of us in the kitchen, rocking out, and each cooking something different. No collisions, nobody got hurt, nobody needed so much as a Band-Aid - and everything came out great. I even put on my checkered pants.

First we wash our hands.

Here's what it looks like to make Lola's stuffing...


That's the celery, onions, garlic and parsley in a whole lot of butter. Here's the meat. Which I may have neglected to mention you need to brown first. Hope nobody tried that and got sick.

I can't bring myself to do veal. And butcher's don't seem to carry it anyway. So I did a mix of ground pork, ground beef, and ground turkey. Seasoned with a little salt and pepper. And, of course, since I love it so much, I did a double batch. And then found I had no container big enough to fit it all. Until I remembered our gigantor stainless steel bowl. That was somewhere in the garage. And I eventually found it.

It really is gigantor.

Rachel did up this boiled blueberry goo with 10 Cane rum and a lot of sugar that is going over a cheesecake.


Jake decided it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. And I didn't get it together early enough to make pumpkin bread this year. So we let him have at it.

And he had a mixer catastrophe. And it was funny to everyone but him. And the dogs liked the bits that got on the floor. (That's it now puppies, out of the kitchen!) And he got really upset and went to play his bass for a while.
Nice that he's got an outlet in music to help him calm down when he gets frustrated.

We gave him some time and then showed him that it actually worked out perfectly because the recipe was for ten inch pie shells and we only had 9 inch pie shells.

And we gave him some time to settle and then reminded him that you only get good at something if you practice and learn from your mistakes. Like my pomegranate mistake in the squash last week. And this Indian dish I made a few years ago that tasted like a salt lick rolled in boogers.


And if this were the Brady Bunch, or a very special Blossom, I'd say Jake learned an important lesson today.

And they came out great. I don't particularly like pumpkin pie, but I'm sure it will be delicious to those that do. And he did it.

Also, Rachel cut up the yams so I could make the yammy marshmallowy casserole.


It was a lot of fun cooking together. And now I need to get some sleep so I can drive to Petaluma and eat all of this and a bunch of what everyone else is making.

Oh, and the stuffed acorn squash got cut from the menu. Lauren and Paul are bringing two vegetable dishes and I don't think we will have enough time to bake them tomorrow. So that's that.

Again, I wish you safe travel and a fantastic holiday.

Detroit Disciples December 7th at The Tradewinds

Someone left the kennel door open. They are back at it again.

Can't let sleeping dogs lie. Or teach old dogs new tricks. They are throwing us a bone here, and dog gone it, if you are in the neighborhood, or can make it to the neighborhood, you just gotta be there, you just gotta.

Look, I even shot this video. When I turn away, it's because I am doing my Tommy Miller impression and forgetting the words...



But I got the date wrong - it's NOT the 5th. It's December 7th. Tradewinds. Cotati. Mark it on your calendars now. Don't wait or you might forget.

I would suggest dinner at Sweet Lou's beforehand, but alas, Sweet Lou's is no more.

Hope to see you there.

Post 370...

I just noticed that on Wednesday it will be two years of blogging for me.

So let's see, that's 370 posts and there's 365 days in a year so that's...Glenn, help me with the math here - I post how many million percent times more often than you?

TiVo Idiocracy, Glenn. And watch it twice like I did with Anchorman on your recommendation.

Anyway, come Wendesday (typo for you there), I will probably find myself in the exact same situation - too much to do and making Lola's stuffing.

But I am on vacation this week. I put in to take the whole week off back in October because a.) nothing gets done in my business this week, and b.) Rachel was going to be going back to work the Monday after the holiday.

My work is OK- I got a lot done last week. But Rachel won't be going back to work next Monday. Although she is improving, her doctors are not happy with her range of motion and pain levels. Also, sitting for long periods causes her pain. So she is now out until at least January 16th. Which is a bummer. And worse, we're not sure what, if any job, there will be for her when she is ready to return to work.

I am trying to focus on the positive - yeah, she loves her job, yeah she put her heart and soul in to getting things going at Bottle Rock, and she did such a great job of getting things going that it was easy for someone to step right in, and her whole world changed because of one woman's carelessness and...

Oh yeah, the positive. Well, it's nice to have my woman around all the time. It would just be nice if it was a choice we made and not a situation that was thrown upon us.

And she's walking, you know? There are a lot of people a lot worse off than her from similar accidents. So sorry, for the pity party I just threw for myself there. It just sucks. But we're getting through it, and we will keep getting through it because this is the way we roll (we roll).

Anyway - that's it for the Rachel update. On to recent events...

This has been going on for a while. One rotten neighbor with a dog moved away, and then another neighbor got a dog. And she used to take it with her everywhere. But then I guess it peed everywhere. So it gets left home now and does this...



This went on for a while, and I mentioned it to her once and it hasn't happened since. Thanks, neighbor.

Last week we went over the hill for Jake's physical and to get his blood work done for Remicaid. And then we went to LensCrafters to get my eyes checked. And good news, my eyes have "stabilized" and my vision is no worse than it was when I last had them checked 3 years ago. So maybe Lasik is an option. But for now, I just got some new specs, and a pair of Wayfarer sunglasses (total throwback) and got new lenses put in my old frames that were scratched up and such. Oh, and contact lenses. Expensive trip.

Here's my impression of me if I were a Nara print, or for Joe, anime-me.


No, I wasn't out clubbing, officer, I was at LensCrafters - Dilated pupils, for about an hour.

Also, pardon the eczema - Wisconsin really dried out my skin. And made some of my hair gray. I'm sure it will turn back to brown soon.

And we took Laurie out to dinner. And it was fun goofing around at the mall with my Sis.

What are Aunties for if not to spoil their nephews and buy them things like hats their parents would never buy for them.

Look at that look - that Laurie look. Submissions for a caption are welcomed.

Mmmmm- Rubio's! No better Mexican food...unless you leave the mall and walk a half a block in any direction.

On Friday, we had two doctors appointments for Rachel - the ones where they pushed out her return to work date I mentioned earlier. And we had just enough time between appointments to get some lunch. And I saw this Thai food place. But Rachel didn't want Thai. But there was this consignment shop between us and Thai and well...

...instead of lunch, we got a couch. So the next time you are here, you will be much more comfortable. It is awesome and has a giant ottoman and the price was right. I think.

This is one of those purchases where I really don't know what constitutes a good deal. I know it cost about 4 times more than the first set we bought together back in San Ramon. And it is 30 times more comfortable. So I think it was a deal. And we've been debating - couch or car, couch or car. And since Rachel isn't going back to work any time soon, we can get by with one car for a while.

And you know, I've been stripping for tips down at the Twin Pines Casino on Tuesday and Thursday nights. For about six months. So just 12 more years of that and we'll have this sucker paid for.

Oh, and this lamp...

I felt like Steve Martin walking down the street with it, only I didn't have a Thermos.

And on the way home we saw some Extreme (ly stupid) Parenting...




Yes, there was a baby in there on a dangerous windy narrow road. There's a Darwin Award waiting to happen.

On Saturday, we had to cancel our plans to visit Scott and Kimra and the kids because Rachel was in too much pain. That sucked. I really wanted to see them. And I had this dread about calling and canceling. I think because we used to be pretty flaky, and since they have moved away and come back, we are not like that any more. But it felt like a flaky thing to do. But Kimra was very understanding and that made me feel better. And we will see them soon, just not soon enough.

Tomorrow, Jake has Remicaid. Wednesday I'll be cooking a thing or two. Including Lola's stuffing. And Thursday, we're going to Rachel's parents house for Thanksgiving. This week Paul's back is worse than Rachel's because he just had surgery. So we are going to med her up, alternate ice and heated seats and make the trip to Petaluma.

I love every precious moment of my life, but I have to be honest- I am really looking forward to putting this year behind us. I almost wish we could enjoy Thanksgiving and then fast forward until New Year's Day, or maybe the Super Bowl.

Shout out to Glenn for getting a post up after two months.

Shout out to Elise for getting out there and doing something instead of just typing about it all like I do.

And in case I don't post again until I get over my turkey hangover - safe travel to everyone going anywhere. Let go of what's lost, be thankful for what you've got, and for Gosh Sakes, don't fight over the drumsticks! Life is too short, and there's plenty of stuffing for everyone.

Cloudscape...

This last system brought some interesting clouds pouring over the mountains.

Rachel B-day and the rest of the weekend...

So Frank and Marla came over to celebrate Rachel's birthday. And it was Tony's just a couple of days ago, too. So we raised glasses to both of them.

Tony, er, um, Frank brought over a great big pork roast. He got here early, so we hung out upstairs making a dent in one of those Heineken kegs that he also brought while I cooked the rest of the meal and the roast roasted. I made those Martha Stewart potato cakes.
And I found a recipe for stuffed acorn squash. And I took a risk because I watched Ratatouille last night and added pomegranate.


And here's Rachel's birthday dinner...

And there was pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.

And Dre got all Cirque de Soleil on us with a peacock feather. It was pretty cool.

So that was yesterday.

And then there was today. Cuz clobbered me in fantasy football despite me looking way better on paper. And the Pick 'Em league was a disaster. I just can't seem to get the hang of the new rules this year - no point spreads, but there are confidence points. So you have to pick the obvious winners and also the underdogs to win. I'm not doing as well this year as I've done in the past. And everyone in the league is all grumpy about the new rules and it isn't much fun.

Jake has been coughing for over a week now. We've got him scheduled for a physical for school athletics tomorrow, so hopefully we can figure out what's wrong with him and get him cleared for wrestling. And it seems that there are a lot of sick people and kids out there right now. It's normal for kids to get sick this time of year and all with the weather changing, but it seems like more than usual this year.

And, I'm sorry, when did he get to be old enough to read his own medicine labels?

Rachel's craft therapy continues...

Tonight she was doing relief printing, or block printing or something. She cut a pattern in to this rubber pad and then rolled it with ink and made a print. Here's her first one.


She wanted to make sure I mention that she copied the print from a design she found on line. I'm sure before long she'll be coming up with her own.

Also, we had our first fire tonight. It was great. And Moe quickly remembered her favorite place to be in Winter.

I've got to get to bed. I've got to get up early and get my work in on Chicago time tomorrow so I can take Jake to the doctor in the afternoon. I've got a call at 9:00 with WPS to finalize our system design. Then I plan to code like a fiend for the rest of the week so I can enjoy Thanksgiving week. Jake's off, too. So I'm looking forward to a nice long family vacation at home. Of course, we'll still have physical therapy in there. And then there's a couple of doctor's appointments for Rachel. But we'll all be together and it will be great.

You're not going to believe my trip home...

First, it was a little bit of Santa Rosa out in Minnesota...

Not sure what the George Schultz connection is there, but there was a bunch of Peanuts related things there.

Anyway, you might remember the ordeal of my last trip as it was only a couple of weeks ago. TSA wrecked my luggage and my barbecue sauce, line jumpers, dangerous plane malfunctions, and so on. Well this last trip was everything that trip home wasn't.

I was sort of worried that filing a TSA claim might be one of those things that assures me of "random" additional security checks from now on. But now I'm thinking there must be some sort of central database that has kept track of how crappy my last few trips have been and somehow I won the weary traveler lottery. For no reason I can think of, I was bumped up to First Class.

When I saw 3-D I thought, "Well, at least I got an aisle and I'm not in the middle." And then I boarded and saw the 3-D is a window in First Class. And I double checked my ticket. And then I thought, "Did I screw up and accidentally select the wrong seat? But I didn't. I just got lucky.

And now that I've been there...


...I don't ever....


...want to go back.

It was awesome. Two seats per row, lots of room to stretch out, and you could work, if you were so inclined. Even the widest laptop will fit nicely and you don't have to worry about the seat in front of you smashing it up when the guy leans back.

I chose to read and write in my journal. And it was great - it's been a while. And they bring you whatever you want to drink. Oh, and next time I get to fly First Class, I'm going to wear a sports coat just so the flight attendant can bring it to me on final approach with a friendly, "Your coat, sir."

Got down in Sacramento, got my luggage, and Rachel was there for me. We had a nice long talk on the way home and it was awesome.

Even though it was a great trip, I was still really tired when I got home. With the time change, I was up at 2:30 AM and then flew all day, then worked and did my expense report, then did some chores, then despite being exhausted, I couldn't fall asleep.

Friday was also really busy - lots of work to get done with some barely manageable deadlines.

But today I feel great. Rachel and I watched Rattatouille last night. And I slept in this morning. And then I went to the store. Frank and Marla are coming over for dinner tonight, and I am going to go spend the next couple of hours cooking. Frank is bringing some pork chops and a tossed green salad. I'm making Martha's potato cakes and stuffed acorn squash.

It might be party because of the weather, and partly because I had to go to Clearlake and then Wal-Mart on top of it, but I feel raw today - I'm experiencing what the Shambhala tradition calls "The Genuine Heart of Sadness." People were driving like maniacs on wet roads in beat up cars with balding tires and cutting me and others off only to slam brakes and turn without signaling. You know, the usual. And then a scrawny dirty Dad grabbed his son and yelled, "Aw, now where the fuck did yer Mom go!?" And a little later, I was standing in line at the pharmacy, next up, with people behind me and some total meth head sort of staggered and swayed up to the counter. And the lady asked, "Are you next?" And he said he was. And I was angry about it. And then I felt sorry for him. And I realized that I'm pretty lucky, and this poor guy is in the late stages of suffering a miserable existence. So I felt good, and sad.

And then a wannabe cage fighter in a "Tapout" T-shirt wanted to get up in the miserable guys face, perhaps to do some violence. And he had his girlfriend with him. And he was all puffed up and she was trash talking Mr. Miserable, and I got up close to them and said, "You know, that really pissed me off too. But I look at him, and I look at us, and I figure that whatever this guy is suffering from is way worse than what we are suffering from and we should just take a deep breath and let it go.

And it worked. I put myself out there and diffused a bad situation. And it made me feel better. And that led to me making it a point smile at everybody. And later when I was in the 20 item or less line with 19 items, I let a guy with two items go ahead of me.

So what's puzzling me today is, do I get sad because the world is often a sad place, or does my own mood affect the way I perceive the world? I know this sounds like the sort of thing I should have figured out in my junior year of college or something. Or maybe sooner as it is something of a sophomoric realization. But it really struck me today.

Maybe this is something I learned long ago but forgot?

Whatever. I came home. And I started this blog post. And then Tony, I mean Frank showed up early. And we went upstairs and sat around the kitchen drinking wine and talking while I cooked, waiting for our girls to come home. And then we had dinner and celebrated Frank and Rachel's birthdays.

Happy Birthday wife. I love you.

I'll post some pictures of what I cooked tomorrow.

Last Day...

This was a good trip. We got through everything we needed to.

And the good folks at WPS were fun to work with.

Tomorrow I drive for twenty minutes, then I fly for 6 hours and 26 minutes and then I drive for two hours and then I will be home. About 1900 miles all told.

I'm gonna go finish packing and then get some sleep. 6:40 AM flight.

Long day spent with Jake...

...only it was this Jake...



...and not my Jake.


We did what we do - with a white board and a couple of laptops.



And we got a lot done. Tomorrow and Wednesday, we present what we worked on today to the customer. We should get sign off by Monday and then spend the next couple of months building this thing we've designed for the last couple of months. About the only person I know who will use this system is Gary. And it's nothing amazing - but it's a big system that a lot of people will use.

I talked with Cuz tonight and told him that I feel good about tomorrow. I feel like I found my "On" button in Florida and I will know how to flip the switch tomorrow in front of the customer.

It was a long day - got back to my hotel around 10:00 PM. Now I need to go switch off and get some sleep.

This makes it easy...

...to keep on hating Joe Torre.

I sure hope the Giants put something together in the off season and come out strong in Spring.

Beat L-A! Beat L.A.!

On the ground, safe and sound (again)...

Well, it started out a little rough. I set the alarm for 7:00. And when it went off, we hit snooze. And when I woke up, it was 8:00. And I freaked. Got coffee going, started packing, drank a cup, went for the shower and then saw on my cell phone that the time was 7:39.

7:39? Oh yeah -the clocks went back. That was a lucky break. Hopefully a harbinger for this trip.

Rachel ended up taking me to the airport. I drove there and she drove back. I talked to her and she says she feels fine. Nice to see her improving after all of the hard work she has been putting in with her rehabilitation and physical therapy.

I slept most of the way. Seats on Northwest give you way more room than seats on Southwest. And by "way more" I mean 5 inches or so. But it makes a big difference.

I got down in Minneapolis-St. Paul just in time to watch most of the 4th quarter of the New England-Indy game. Bummer, that. I was pulling for the Colts. Saw the Raiders lost to Houston and I don't even feel like reading the wrap up to find out how and why. But I've got Sports Center on. I had a quesadilla made with a potato tortilla - a little like roti in Trinidad.

It is a little late in life to be figuring this out, but I think I get sports now. I mean, I've always liked them. But I didn't get how people could be so in to scores and players and stats and such. I realize now that it feels good to be an "expert" about something. And it is a nice feeling to be able to voice a reasoned opinion. And to make predictions and see them come true. And if they don't, well, it's only a game.

Anyway, This picture is a little blurry...

But it's a Starbucks and then Rock Bottom. All this time, I thought that Starbucks was the worst place on Earth, but it turns out it's just the last stop before rock bottom.

Then I hopped another plane for the short flight to Green Bay. I slept again.

Then to the Hertz counter where I picked up the keys to my Chevy Impala with Neverlost. Got my bags and Neverlost got me to my hotel. Called Rachel. Then got the laptop up and running to check my fantasy team and Pick 'Em league picks and called Cuz. I won my fantasy game. Quin Gray came through big time. And I kicked myself for dropping Cromartie who ended up returning a field goal 109 yards for a TD. Not so great in the Pick 'Em league.

And then it was time for the first night in a new city ritual...


Iron your shirts for the week.

So far, it's been a nice trip. Not a bad day of travel. I'm here and I feel pretty good. I'm gonna do some work and then hit the rack.

Saturday Evening Post...

We had a great family movie night again last night. This time is was Spiderman 3.



I like the message about having a choice - you are the choices you make. So, you know, I think America is great, and we've made some poor choices. And as soon as we stop making bad choices and start making some good ones for a while, maybe we can marry Kirsten Dunst.

My favorite thing about family movie night last night was that I leaned my head on Rachel's shoulder out of habit. And she reached over and rubbed my head. Now this may seem like no big deal, but it's the first time she has done this since the accident. The last few times I've done that, she's winced. But last night, it felt almost like normal, and normal is a nice change.

I cooked up a yummy dinner of three cup chicken, sticky rice, and wok-steamed vegetables. Found yellow cauliflower. It was a nice touch of color.

I was wearing the awesome tie-dye shirt Kimra made for me and my apron from Hugh's Culinary School. A few of Jake's friends came to the door while I was cooking. After they left, I realized what I was wearing and asked Jake if he was embarrassed that I answered the door looking like a dork. He said, "You don't look like a dork, you look like a hippie." And then he paused and said he wasn't embarrassed, and that a hippie is better than a dork.


Here's my iced tea with some of those light up ice cubes. Still haven't invented, or even really experimented with the "Seizure" cocktail. I'm starting with grenadine, but I don't know where to go from there. Maybe clear rum? And maybe Red Bull on top of that?


The pool is coming down - and in a controlled way this time. I don't think it has another season in it. Maybe next year we'll get one of the metal sided pools or something. And maybe 15 feet instead of 18.

Here's a shot of Moe in action and Cody inaction.

And here's one of the 5 or 6 crafting projects Rachel is working on.

Her Dad had her grandfather's old trunk from his military days. He built it himself and it has all kinds of great things in it from Jeff's baby shoes to a Masonic bible, a straight razor, and tons of pictures. She's putting together 3 shadow boxes, one for her Dad, and one for each of her uncles. I think it's a great project.

Here's one of the cool things. It's a diary designed for people in the military to document their experience. It's a little hard to read...


...but it says:

Dec. 23 - 1943
Munda, N.G.

Dear Diary:

I have just been assigned a very hard task, that is to fill this book with the last five years of my life. Well to make it simple, I'll do it this way. In war time it is against regulations to keep such a thing so that's that. Immediately after the war is over I'll write a 300 page book titled "Six Years Behind the Bow."

Admiring you,

R.E.B.

That was Peggy he was writing to, I guess.

This next thing is my favorite thing in the whole box. It was a note written on the back of a receipt:

He couldn't reveal where he was during the war, so this was his code to let Peggy know. So if he was in India, he'd write, "I'm visiting Johnny." And if he ran in to Hank, it meant he was in Pearl Harbor.

We also found documentation that he was at Pearl Harbor on 12/7/41.

Like I said, it's a great project.

Tomorrow I fly to Green Bay. I am not looking forward to it, but I am doing better than last time I flew. I am bummed that I won't have time to see Gary. And it is going to be a really intense trip. Lots of work to do in a short amount of time. So I know it's going to be rough, but it will be great to make a lot of progress on this project. Hopefully it will wrap up before December and I can move on to the next one.

Before I go - shout out to Brother Paul who is going under the knife on Monday for back surgery. Thoughts and prayers are with you, and I wish you a speedy recovery. It's going to be great to have you back at the pool table and kicking my butt all over the place again. And the Hotel Yorba hot tub is waiting for you as soon as you're able.