Weekend Part Deux

Went to my dad's last night for dinner - something we try to do at least once a month or so. It was my turn to cook, so I made Corned Beef, Cabbage, and Red Potatoes in honor of St Patrick's Day.

Went very basic on the corned beef - just baked it at 325 for about 3 hours, covered but for the last few minutes. It was pretty AND delicous.



Went pretty basic on the potatoes, too - just olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and a bit of rosemary.



Had to use the convection microwave, which I wasn't sure about at first, but it worked great.

Got a little fancier with the cabbage, using something akin to this recipe from Orangette. Super easy, and super yummy.



While dinner cooked, we played some cribbage


(Yeah, my dad is sort of a goof, but we love him)

(Nice hand!)

Dinner was all done about the same time (score!) so we dished up





And after a couple of helpings each, this



turned into this



I loved corned beef before, but I have a new respect for it after baking it (instead of the all-day slow-cooker method). It's cheap, easy, and provides leftovers (sometimes) so this is going to become a staple in my house. I even made Dad run me by the grocery on the way home so I could buy a couple more :)

My 5-Day Weekend, Part II

The hit counter at the bottom of my blog is over 700. Who are all you people reading about my life?

Part I is here.

Part II starts with Saturday, when we packed up the Wubsters and headed to the Lloyd Center Ice Rink to celebrate Chyanne's 9th birthday. Thankfully we didn't actually have to skate, just watch. I did have my first Jamba Juice experience, which was pleasant if a little pricey. Something pomegranate, strawberry, yadda yadda. Yum, but nothing special that I couldn't do at home with a high-powered blender. After skating, Jen and Annie and the girls went to Red Robin for lunch, while my dad and I went back to The Perfect Condo.

Dad's $0.02 was that if I bought a studio, it might be harder to sell when I was ready to move on, but if I bought a 1 bedroom it would be easier to get rid of. Plus, the 1 bedrooms were on the first floor - no stairs. It sounded good at the time, so I broke down and agreed to the bigger space. It would end up being a bit more than what I'm paying now (and barely making it from one payday to the next), but in all the chaos I didn't really think about that. I did take some pictures though. That night, post-chaos, I realized that it would be better to for sure be able to afford the place now, and maybe have a little trouble selling in the future, so I'm sticking with the studio.

(View from the front door)

(View from the "living room")

(View from the "bedroom")

(View of the kitchen/bath from the front door)

That night was part II of Chyanne's birthday - pizza and a giant chocolate chip cookie-cake. It was loud, fussy, and chaotic, but Jen bought beer so it was ok. I gave Chyanne the hat that I made and meant to give her for Christmas, and she seemed pleased. Plus it's way big enough for her to wear it for several years.

Sunday my dad and his wife took our friend George and me on a road trip up to Astoria, the long way. We drove up Highway 30 through St. Helens (where my mom grew up and some of my family still lives) past Columbia Meadows (where hundreds [thousands?] of rock/chaos lovers converge every summer for RockFest), and up to the Wahkiakum County Ferry. I would have enjoyed the ride more had I not been desperate for a bathroom. Once we got to the Washington side of the river, we drove through Cathlamet, Skamokawa, Rosburg, and Naselle, and then crossed the Astoria-Megler Bridge back into Oregon. We stopped for lunch, appropriately, at the Fort George Brewery and Public House. The food was good, but not great. The beer, on the other hand, was delicious. Cranberry Peppermint Wheat is not nearly as scary-tasting as it sounds. Next door was a bakery where we each stopped and picked a sweet - mine was a Pear Tart with some sort of white cheese baked on top. It was good except rather than tart dough it was made on something akin to pizza dough. Then it was all over but the drive home. The day was perfect though. High temp that day was 60 degrees (F) and the sun shined (shone?) all day. I'm ready for spring to come back for an extended stay.

Ok, Seriously? That's enough.

• The father/step-father of two good friends of mine had a heart attack on Christmas


• Annie's dad is having heart and kidney problems, and will likely be going on dialysis and having a pacemaker of sorts put in.


• My own father was in the hospital for a weekend with what could eventually, if he's not careful, turn into cancer of the esophagus.


• Annie's grandmother was in the hospital for her first three days of dialysis, which she'll now be doing three days a week.


• My own grandmother has been having some health issues and won't go to the doctor.


• Last night my dear friend Ben's great-uncle passed away.


• Also last night, Annie's mom was admitted to the hospital with chest pain. She's had two heart attacks and 5 stents put in previously, and they'd be doing another angiogram as I type if she was stable enough, which she's not.


• Plus the whole Heath Ledger thing.

Seriously. Enough. This is all since Christmas. NOT ok. Quit it.

My Garden

I don't do well with plants. Never really have. This past spring, Annie and I planted lavender and sunflowers (started from seeds and sprouted in mini-greenhouses made of 2-liter bottles) and the sunflowers got about 5 inches tall before they died. The lavender barely poked their little heads out of the dirt.

But this is totally a garden I could get into:

**Yes, again with the crappy cell-phone pictures.

Have I mentioned how obsessed I am with this pattern? I think the lower left corner, with the black background, is the one I'm going to send to Krystal for her charity project. I don't get as excited about the black and white backgrounds as I do about the colors.

On another note, just want to give a shout-out to my dad, Mykall :) He was in the hospital last weekend, but he's home now and getting better. Poor guy doesn't get to have alcohol or spicy foods for a while (two of his favorite things), so have a drink and something with jalapenos in it for him. He's the only person in my family who actually talks to me about my blog so I know he reads it. So, Hi Dad! Love you!

Not such a productive weekend...

I was going to be REALLY productive this weekend. Really, I was.


Here's what I didn't get done:
I didn't finish copying Interview with the Vampire
I didn't track the 45-minute chunks that I'd already copied
I didn't clean the kitchen
I didn't host 6 tournaments
I didn't exchange the pants from Catherines that I so desperately need to exchange
I didn't work on Mom's poncho
I didn't sit down with Annie and figure out what we're doing with what's left of her financial aid check.



Here's what I did instead:
I finished crocheting Mom's Christmas present (yes, I'm aware we're half way through January)
I blocked Mom's Christmas present (yay!)
I went grocery shopping (twice) on an empty stomach (not a good idea)
I finished two Daisy Squares
I visited my dad in the hospital (he was rushed to the ER late Saturday night, vomiting blood, but we think he'll be ok)
I visited Annie's grandmother in another hospital (twice - she was there Friday to Sunday for her first three days of kidney dialysis)



If you are NOT my mother, you can see a picture of what I made for her here. It turned out much larger than I anticipated, but I'm still pretty pleased. I am no longer scared of filet crochet!

Christmas, Part II

Well, all that's left is Mom & Grandma Sally!

Christmas Eve I was able to get off work 2 hours early. Went home and relaxed for a while, listened to Christmas tunes, goofed off, made some Curry Crab Dip, and headed to Jen's for the evening. Shylent (our roommate) joined us, and Matt (Annie's brother), and eventually Tim and Darin as well. Lots of food, good company, a few gifts to open (for those who weren't going to be around Christmas day), and one very late night. We didn't get out of there til about 11, but it was still a good time.

Christmas morning I got up early (but not as early as I should have) to get showered and dressed and start making the WBGBC (if you don't know what this is, you need to start reading my blog more often!). I used fresh green beans this time, which was much more time consuming but did create a nicer texture than frozen. We ended up leaving the house nearly an hour after we intended to, but it was alright. We stopped by Jen's to pick up some presents and food to transport out to Don & Nancy's, then had to drop Matt off at Jim & Cece's house (that's Annie's Dad and step-mom). Finally out to Sandy to Don & Nancy's... almost 11am and still none of us had gotten anything to eat! But once we got there and got settled, we got some food in our tummies and were all much happier.

Then the chaos began. 7 adults and 3 children's worth of presents to unwrap - and every one of us spoiled :) Gifts of note include Phantom of the Opera tickets for Annie and I, Bright red low-top Chuck Taylors for Annie, a bunch of kitchen stuff for me (including a mandoline, silicone baking cups, and pyrex custard cups), and of course dishcloths for both Jen & Carolyn's household and Don & Nancy's :) Nope, still no pictures.

The best part was that just before we started to open presents, it started to snow. Not inches, but enough that it accumulated on the ground. We got some pictures of that, and I'll upload them later today. After all the presents we relaxed for a while and then started to get dinner ready. Delicious, as always. I was a little heavy-handed with the garlic in the WBGBC but everyone enjoyed it anyway - even Don who is not a vegetable fan!

There was sad news in our day, though not for our family. I have a dear friend, Joey, who has been my favorite boi since high school. Her step-sister, Miracle, has also been a great friend though I haven't seen her recently. Miracle's father, Joey's step-father, was found dead of a heart attack (I believe?) on Christmas morning. Miracle, who has had several rough years since we all got out of school, is not an easy person to reach and I don't even know if she's heard about her dad yet. So if you have a moment, please say a little prayer for my friends, their mental/emotional/physical health and peace for them and their families.

Hope you all had a nice holiday - thank goodness it only happens once a year!!

Christmas - half way there

Well we're about half way through the Christmas celebrations, and things are going well so far!

Saturday night we went with Jen & the Wubsters to see Maryann & Don (Annie's paternal aunt & uncle) and Grandma Holly (paternal grandmother). On the way out there, we all sang Christmas carols. Got a fine rendition of Jingle Bells from Rhionna (Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, jingles all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a once open sleigh, HEY!) and Santa Claus is Coming to Town from the hit group, Tootie and the Wubsters (aka all three girls). I've got recordings on my phone, so if I can figure out how I'll post them.
*UPDATE!* I did figure out how to get it from the phone to the computer. Rhi's version of Jingle Bells is here. It's late and I'm going to bed but I'll upload the other one tomorrow or Wednesday.

Maryann enjoyed her dishcloths (nope, we didn't get pictures of hers), and Annie and I will certainly enjoy the goodie bag we got from them that had a mixed bag of regular popcorn, cheese popcorn, and caramel corn, a bag of cheesy poofs, and a box of almond toffee chocolate. It was really good to see Grandma Holly, though she's not in the best health and will be starting dialysis soon (hopefully after the holidays). And Maryann made her famous (to us at least) manacotti - YUM!

Sunday morning we went to the Bridge and I spent the time trying to finish up Dad's Amigurumi Dancing Bear ala Grateful Dead. I ended up finishing it at his house before dinner, and no, we didn't get pictures of that either. Anyway, sang some Christmas carols at the Bridge (Annie was not impressed) and got to hear three amazing people talk, and best of all got a free turkey out of the deal.

Sunday afternoon we went to Do Jump! with Dad & Marcella. Think Cirque du Soleil meets a sidewalk carnival meets a toned-down version of Stomp. It was neat! Lots of gymnastics and acrobatics, juggling, dancing, etc. Very cool. We then headed to Dad's for dinner and gift exchange. Dinner was a hit as always (lamb shanks and roasted artichokes with olive oil & balsamic vinegar) and the gift exchange was great too! I think Dad liked his bear, and Marcella liked the dishcloths we gave them. I got this fabulous page-a-day calendar, a new desk fan (yay!), a beautiful Zebrawood and Maple cribbage board with brass and steel (I think?) pegs, and a new gargoyle. Annie scored with a flexible tripod and a frosted glass bowl that matches one we got as a wedding gift.

Next up is Christmas Eve at Jen's tonight, with the gang plus Shylent and Matt (Annie's brother). Appetizer potluck including Curry Crab dip (drool!!). Tomorrow we'll head out to Nancy and Don's (maternal aunt & uncle) with Jen, Carolyn and the Wubsters, which I think Shylent is also joining us for. That will be an all-day adventure with brunch, presents, relaxing, then dinner (gotta love food!). I will once again be making The World's Best Green Bean Casserole, which I highly suggest you try if you haven't yet. It's not as hard as it looks and it's delicious!

Past that, the only Christmas left is with Mom and Grandma Sally. I am so thankful that they don't fuss about whether we get together ON Christmas, or only near it. Rumor is we'll be going to Chang's Mongolian Grill for our Christmas dinner - gotta love it!!

Wubster Wednesday

Yesterday was Wubster Wednesday. I love Wubster Wednesdays. I'm glad that they're close enough that we get to spend one night a week with them pretty much every week. Not that we couldn't see them pretty much any time we liked, but having a set day gives us all something to look forward to. Usually we pick the kids up, have dinner at Jen & Carolyn's, and watch Kid Nation. Last night was a little off because Carolyn was recovering from eye surgery and we had to leave before the show started to head to my dad's birthday party. Chyanne learned a new word, "hospitable" and Baby learned to correctly pronounce "envelope" (she was having trouble with the V sound). This weekend is Rhi-Rhi's third birthday. They're growing WAY too fast.

The birthday party was alright, nice to see Dad and Marcella and a few of their friends. Plus Dad's always good for a shot or two of scotch or a pint. We celebrated George's birthday too (which is today) and he got the coolest kitty-dragon t-shirt. I gotta say, for 55 years old, my dad's not looking too bad. He's got the memory of a 70-year-old, but he's still having fun so I'm happy for him.

I've got about 68 hours left to finish my Halloween costume. I'll spend at least probably 11 of that at work, and about 24 of it sleeping. That leaves just 33 hours. I've got to be able to finish it in that time! All of the small parts are done, so all that's left is the cape, but that's taking the longest (duh, it's the biggest). I thought I picked a pattern that wouldn't take very long, but I guess I was wrong. When it's all done, I'll post pictures and probably the pattern (which I made up along the way).

Until next time, Wubsters!