Sunday, December 14, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Magical Small Town Mountain Evening
After a challenging evening last night with the kids...
(instead of doing their Saturday chores while I was out working most of the day, they elected to play instead. When evening came and I still required that they get their chores done by the end of the day, what resulted resembled a cross between a courtroom drama and back alley cat fight.)
By the time Bunni got home from work I had had more than my fill of the noise and constant whinning so as soon as she hit the door we grabbed Puddy and headed out for an impromptu date, (Puddy goes on most of our dates these days...well has been for the last 3 years.) leaving the rest of the kids to squable amongest themselves in solitude - leaving them to figure out what they will do for dinner on their own (oh and they had better have the dinner mess cleaned up by the time we get back.)
I told Bunni right away that I didn't want to go to Chili's (our standard last-minute restaurant of choice) especially since they had removed the faboulous Blue Cheese Chipolte Burger from their menu...a mistake of huge, HUGE proportions! :-) Trust me it was a great burger. Without a standard to fall back on we pointed the minivan towards downtown.
Now you should know that we live in a pretty small mountain town...when I first interviewed for a job here it reminded me of a smaller version of Cedar Falls in the mountains. Except we get the perk of being a bit of a tourist town, not like Vail or Aspen, but just enough that we get the benefit of small town living with just a touch, a light touch, of more metropolitian living which is just the way I like it. So instead of downtown being over-run with bars there's a plethora of great places to eat. I really dig that it takes only about 30 minutes of driving if you really want to get away from civilization and that you can be downtown in 5 for some great food.
Niether of us was sure where we wanted to eat, I just knew that whatever we had I wanted to have a small cup of soup with it, so soup was a basic requirement of wherever we landed. Parking the Sedona along Main street we got out of the car only about 20 feet from two great restaurants May Palace, a small and under appreciated Asian fair eatery, and Atmosphere one of our French bistros. The place is awesome! Not only does it have that old world ambiance but the food is extrememly tasty and just exotic enough to be very memorable. The goat cheese salad with candied pecans is not to be missed, and the French Onion soup is rumored to be some of the best in the West. Don't snicker until you've tried it.
Now one of the other things I really dig about our downtown is that in a 3 block radius, 3 block not 3 city block, there are dozen restaurants, not counting the bar/grills, none of which are a part of a nation-wide food chain (a BIG plus in my book) or someone's afterthought of a business venture...these are all wonderful places to eat.
The convience of tightly clustered locations is further enhanced by the fact that all but one of the establishments posts their menu on a wall or window right by the entrance, so not only do you get to decide if you have the cash to spend before entering (a couple of these places being pretty upscale with evening entrees starting at $35.00 a plate) but you can feel out if the offerings are the kind of taste that you are looking for at the moment. Considering that it's now November in the mountains the weather last night was beautiful, the temperature hovered in the mid 30s, there was just a hint of crispness in the occational wafting breeze and the sky was washed in high thin clouds backlight by a mostly full moon...the feeling was magical. With smiles on our faces we decided to make all the rounds and hit the crosswalk. (Teaching Puddy about crossing lights and letting her guide us on our way was just another nice memory to add to the evening.)
As we rounded the blocks there was cuisine of all kinds, from your basic pizzeria to an upscale sushi bar. Each menu listed great things to try, but as you might have guessed without any particular craving to steer us in any particular direction we ended up right where we started...of course Puddy occationally prodding us for Chineese food didn't have anything to do with our final selection. At May Palace the three of us split a appetizer sampler and their orange beef, and I got a cup of egg drop soup on the side...Puddy of course had to follow suit and have what "Daddy" was having. : ) She's such a sweetie. After finishing our sub-divided meal, that was just enough to satisfy and still left room for desert we paid our bill and cross the street to Atmosphere.
After some encouragement from me Bunni ordered the lavender...yes I said lavender...creme brule, I ordered mine in French vanilla, while Puddy got the chocolate moose. Watching over Puddy to make sure she didn't break or tip over the tall champaign flute that hers came in added a bit of adventure to sampling each other's selection. Both of the brule were prepared to perfection with your spoon making the slightest crackle as it broke the crust of the melted sugar. The vanilla was fabulous and while Bunni didn't quiet get into the exotic flavor of the lavender as I did what was really suprising was how much I enjoyed the chocolate moose.
When it comes to food I'm pretty picky about texture and I generally don't like whipped deserts because there's nothing there to contrast to the fluffy ball of air sitting on your tounge, not so with this moose. Not only was the chocolate they used very tastey but it was laced with chocolate syrup, chocolate shavings and ribbons of melted sugar, all of which made for a delightful treat. The gooeyness of the syrup playing against the velvety texture of the moose itself, broken up by the crispness of the sugar ribbons made this no ordinary treat.
Alas with our tummies full and the night air getting ever more the chilled we slipped back into the minivan and made our way home. Not only was the food excellent tonight, and the company simply wonderful and as an added bonus the kids had actually worked through their squabbles and we came home to a clean and quiet house....magical.
(instead of doing their Saturday chores while I was out working most of the day, they elected to play instead. When evening came and I still required that they get their chores done by the end of the day, what resulted resembled a cross between a courtroom drama and back alley cat fight.)
By the time Bunni got home from work I had had more than my fill of the noise and constant whinning so as soon as she hit the door we grabbed Puddy and headed out for an impromptu date, (Puddy goes on most of our dates these days...well has been for the last 3 years.) leaving the rest of the kids to squable amongest themselves in solitude - leaving them to figure out what they will do for dinner on their own (oh and they had better have the dinner mess cleaned up by the time we get back.)
I told Bunni right away that I didn't want to go to Chili's (our standard last-minute restaurant of choice) especially since they had removed the faboulous Blue Cheese Chipolte Burger from their menu...a mistake of huge, HUGE proportions! :-) Trust me it was a great burger. Without a standard to fall back on we pointed the minivan towards downtown.
Now you should know that we live in a pretty small mountain town...when I first interviewed for a job here it reminded me of a smaller version of Cedar Falls in the mountains. Except we get the perk of being a bit of a tourist town, not like Vail or Aspen, but just enough that we get the benefit of small town living with just a touch, a light touch, of more metropolitian living which is just the way I like it. So instead of downtown being over-run with bars there's a plethora of great places to eat. I really dig that it takes only about 30 minutes of driving if you really want to get away from civilization and that you can be downtown in 5 for some great food.
Niether of us was sure where we wanted to eat, I just knew that whatever we had I wanted to have a small cup of soup with it, so soup was a basic requirement of wherever we landed. Parking the Sedona along Main street we got out of the car only about 20 feet from two great restaurants May Palace, a small and under appreciated Asian fair eatery, and Atmosphere one of our French bistros. The place is awesome! Not only does it have that old world ambiance but the food is extrememly tasty and just exotic enough to be very memorable. The goat cheese salad with candied pecans is not to be missed, and the French Onion soup is rumored to be some of the best in the West. Don't snicker until you've tried it.
Now one of the other things I really dig about our downtown is that in a 3 block radius, 3 block not 3 city block, there are dozen restaurants, not counting the bar/grills, none of which are a part of a nation-wide food chain (a BIG plus in my book) or someone's afterthought of a business venture...these are all wonderful places to eat.
The convience of tightly clustered locations is further enhanced by the fact that all but one of the establishments posts their menu on a wall or window right by the entrance, so not only do you get to decide if you have the cash to spend before entering (a couple of these places being pretty upscale with evening entrees starting at $35.00 a plate) but you can feel out if the offerings are the kind of taste that you are looking for at the moment. Considering that it's now November in the mountains the weather last night was beautiful, the temperature hovered in the mid 30s, there was just a hint of crispness in the occational wafting breeze and the sky was washed in high thin clouds backlight by a mostly full moon...the feeling was magical. With smiles on our faces we decided to make all the rounds and hit the crosswalk. (Teaching Puddy about crossing lights and letting her guide us on our way was just another nice memory to add to the evening.)
As we rounded the blocks there was cuisine of all kinds, from your basic pizzeria to an upscale sushi bar. Each menu listed great things to try, but as you might have guessed without any particular craving to steer us in any particular direction we ended up right where we started...of course Puddy occationally prodding us for Chineese food didn't have anything to do with our final selection. At May Palace the three of us split a appetizer sampler and their orange beef, and I got a cup of egg drop soup on the side...Puddy of course had to follow suit and have what "Daddy" was having. : ) She's such a sweetie. After finishing our sub-divided meal, that was just enough to satisfy and still left room for desert we paid our bill and cross the street to Atmosphere.
After some encouragement from me Bunni ordered the lavender...yes I said lavender...creme brule, I ordered mine in French vanilla, while Puddy got the chocolate moose. Watching over Puddy to make sure she didn't break or tip over the tall champaign flute that hers came in added a bit of adventure to sampling each other's selection. Both of the brule were prepared to perfection with your spoon making the slightest crackle as it broke the crust of the melted sugar. The vanilla was fabulous and while Bunni didn't quiet get into the exotic flavor of the lavender as I did what was really suprising was how much I enjoyed the chocolate moose.
When it comes to food I'm pretty picky about texture and I generally don't like whipped deserts because there's nothing there to contrast to the fluffy ball of air sitting on your tounge, not so with this moose. Not only was the chocolate they used very tastey but it was laced with chocolate syrup, chocolate shavings and ribbons of melted sugar, all of which made for a delightful treat. The gooeyness of the syrup playing against the velvety texture of the moose itself, broken up by the crispness of the sugar ribbons made this no ordinary treat.
Alas with our tummies full and the night air getting ever more the chilled we slipped back into the minivan and made our way home. Not only was the food excellent tonight, and the company simply wonderful and as an added bonus the kids had actually worked through their squabbles and we came home to a clean and quiet house....magical.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Puddy's First Surgery
Today, well actually right now, Puddy is in surgery to have the "blue plate special" or so the doctors call it, she is having tubes put in and her tonsils and adnoids taken out. Bunni and I thought this might be a good way to help pass some of the time and anxiety while she is out of our immediate care.
Today started started out...well let's backtrack a little. Yesterday and last night Alley Cat, who isn't exactly known for chipping in around the house was a huge help to Bunni yesterday....
**FLASH**
Well it must have worked pretty well, the surgeon just came in to let us know that Puddy was out of surgery and that things went very well and that we'll be able to see her in just a couple minutes. We'll have to come back and fill you in on the last couple days a bit later on.
****
Today started started out...well let's backtrack a little. Yesterday and last night Alley Cat, who isn't exactly known for chipping in around the house was a huge help to Bunni yesterday....
**FLASH**
Well it must have worked pretty well, the surgeon just came in to let us know that Puddy was out of surgery and that things went very well and that we'll be able to see her in just a couple minutes. We'll have to come back and fill you in on the last couple days a bit later on.
****
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Rhinestone Cowboy loves Still Beautiful
Bunni and I were out late tonight picking up Drama Queen from her high school's homecoming bonfire when Puddy asked, from her car seat in back, for us to play "her song" on the radio. Her favorite song happens to be Still Beautiful by Jessica Simpson. We were only a block or so from home so Bunni had to act fast. About 15 seconds into the song we pulled up in the driveway, but we all just sat there listening to our little one sing along to her favorite tune until the song ended. It warms my heart to sit back and listen to her sing along with what Puddy calls her sunshine song. Tonight though triggered a nice memory of my own from when I was about her age.
Maybe it was because we were on a night drive that triggered this memory (night time being my strongest impression of this memory) or maybe I was just really relaxed, I don't know. I just remember that when I was 3 or 4 my favorite song was Rhinestone Cowboy. I remember sitting in the back of our car on one particular night driving through the back country roads of Iowa, my mom at the wheel, trying to sing along to the chorus and that I would often ask my parents to let me finish listening to the rest of the song if we arrived at our destination before it would finish playing. And now I wonder if my parents have a fond memory associated with listening to me sing along to my favorite tune when I was just a little guy.
Maybe it was because we were on a night drive that triggered this memory (night time being my strongest impression of this memory) or maybe I was just really relaxed, I don't know. I just remember that when I was 3 or 4 my favorite song was Rhinestone Cowboy. I remember sitting in the back of our car on one particular night driving through the back country roads of Iowa, my mom at the wheel, trying to sing along to the chorus and that I would often ask my parents to let me finish listening to the rest of the song if we arrived at our destination before it would finish playing. And now I wonder if my parents have a fond memory associated with listening to me sing along to my favorite tune when I was just a little guy.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
How did that happen?
For the first time in my life I'm struggling with something computer related, or more accurately, web related; and it feels a bit disconcerting. Maybe its because I'm trying to learn something new in the pre-dawn hours following a very poor nights sleep, but nonetheless I feel like a fish out of water.
Last week my sis wrote me about a tool she uses to keep up with blogs called Google Reader. Now the tool itself is pretty straigth forward, you tell the "reader" what blogs or news or whatever digital content you want to keep up with and it goes out to the web and gathers up new information into a tiddy little (depending on how much to subscribe to) package for you to read through. What wasn't really apparent to me is that when I was setting up my reader I associated it to my comcast email account. No big deal right? When I did this I thought I was telling the software that I wanted the "reader" content to an outside independent email address, but what appears to have happened is that I now have a Google account with my comcast email address as a user name instead. That didn't make any sense to me at all. It almost feels like if I want to use the Google tool I have to be "in" a Google account to use it. After a few minutes of trying to setup things the way that I wanted to, with no real results, I got frustrated and decided to write about it instead.
You may be asking yourself, "What's the big deal? I do that all the time." The deal is I can't remember the last time I was working on something computer/web related that I couldn't either fix in no time flat or at least be able to persevere (Cripes! I actually had to look up in a dictionary if that was -se- or -si- argh!) until I had accomplished what I set out to do. I think I'll just chalk it up to being overly tired...but its still disconcerting to someone who feels like they are normally pretty sharp with all things computer related.
Is it too late to try and go back to bed after 5AM?
Last week my sis wrote me about a tool she uses to keep up with blogs called Google Reader. Now the tool itself is pretty straigth forward, you tell the "reader" what blogs or news or whatever digital content you want to keep up with and it goes out to the web and gathers up new information into a tiddy little (depending on how much to subscribe to) package for you to read through. What wasn't really apparent to me is that when I was setting up my reader I associated it to my comcast email account. No big deal right? When I did this I thought I was telling the software that I wanted the "reader" content to an outside independent email address, but what appears to have happened is that I now have a Google account with my comcast email address as a user name instead. That didn't make any sense to me at all. It almost feels like if I want to use the Google tool I have to be "in" a Google account to use it. After a few minutes of trying to setup things the way that I wanted to, with no real results, I got frustrated and decided to write about it instead.
You may be asking yourself, "What's the big deal? I do that all the time." The deal is I can't remember the last time I was working on something computer/web related that I couldn't either fix in no time flat or at least be able to persevere (Cripes! I actually had to look up in a dictionary if that was -se- or -si- argh!) until I had accomplished what I set out to do. I think I'll just chalk it up to being overly tired...but its still disconcerting to someone who feels like they are normally pretty sharp with all things computer related.
Is it too late to try and go back to bed after 5AM?
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
SwrWABALala
So this will be my first attempt to just put it out there. No going back and editing, just writting as it comes from my brain to my fingers, and I'm already overthinking this.
So...did I really use that again? Today was pretty interesting. After starting out pretty low key, I got a call around 2:00 (that's right I'm not going to use AM/PM.) and our gutter crew called in to let me know that their truck had broken down coming down out of Snowmass...that's about 45 miles away from our shop. Hoping to not have to run out there I called one of our new found mobile mechanics to see if he had anyone in the area. No luck. Not that I mind going up to Snowmass, I always enjoy the scenery along the way no matter what time of year.
So I gear up throwing a tool kit into a van, a jack and jack stand and head on up to find out what is really going on. All I can really get out of my Spanish speaking workers is that something is knocking on the driver's side front wheel and they have almost no breaks. Not a good sign.
About 45 minutes later I find them pulled along the side of a long winding road with their little orange hazard triangles strung out 50 feet or so behind them to warn other drivers that they are pulled off on the side of the road. The guys don't seem to anxious other than they have been waiting around without much to do (bored workers are their own worst enemies) but chat on their cell phones. At first glance things don't look too bad, no wheel sitting on the side of the truck or smoke eminating from anywhere around the vehicle. So I get out of my van and ask the driver to tell me where the noise is coming from.
We get down in the dirt and gravel in front of the truck and he points to the inside of the driver side wheel. At first glance I don't really see anything out of the ordinary, no signs of brake fluid that would point to a leaking or burst line. Nothing obviously broken or hanging off the axel. At this point I'm thinking that maybe they just have a loose break pad so I get ready to pull the wheel off.
Thankfully the gravel and dirt we are on is firmly packed and after setting up the floor jack that I had put into the van I drove up there was almost no shifting of the vehicle as the weight came off the front wheel...and yes I had already broken the lug nuts loose. Taking a few more minutes to pull all the nuts off I pull off the tire. At first glance things don't look too bad, something strikes me as odd but I can't quiet put my finger on it. Wanting to check to see if I just had a problem pad I rotate the wheel mount, not good!
Not only does it drag as I turn the mount but its wobbling. Wobbling!? That would only happen if, DAMN the freeking mount is coming off the axel! How the heck? Taking a sec to let things sink in...we had alerted a tow company that we may need a tow back into Glenwood Springs on a BIG flatbed truck...I called my boss and appraised him of the situation. I let him know that I hadn't really started to dig into things but so far the situation wasn't looking good. After a brief conversation I hung up and got back to work.
Pulling off the cap, sure enough the wheel bearing assembly is a mess. The cotter pin is just barely holding the main nut on the axel and there are cylindrical bearings stuck in thick wheel bearing grease all over the place. Not what I was hoping for, but at least I knew what we were up against, so I call my boss again. The situation isn't great, but if he's willing to let the vehicle sit overnight I can save us several hundred dollars in towing and mechanics fees if I can come back in the morning to do a wheel bearing job. He's not happy that our driver hadn't reported any problem with the truck, but he's more than willing to let me take care of the problem and was really pretty cool with the whole deal.
With a plan to return in the morning and the truck partially reassembled for an overnight stay on the mountain we packed up everything and started out for our return journey to Glenwood, in a Ford panel van with me in the driver's seat, one of my shop workers in the front seat (who came along as a spare driver if we needed one) and three more guys packed in back with their tools and materials for a days worth of work without our gutter truck. Fun, fun, fun. At least since I was the driver I got to choose the music, and no there will be no south of the border musica on this trip home. I love the people and the food, but I can't stand the music!
Tomorrow...barring any major disasters...My Hat
So...did I really use that again? Today was pretty interesting. After starting out pretty low key, I got a call around 2:00 (that's right I'm not going to use AM/PM.) and our gutter crew called in to let me know that their truck had broken down coming down out of Snowmass...that's about 45 miles away from our shop. Hoping to not have to run out there I called one of our new found mobile mechanics to see if he had anyone in the area. No luck. Not that I mind going up to Snowmass, I always enjoy the scenery along the way no matter what time of year.
So I gear up throwing a tool kit into a van, a jack and jack stand and head on up to find out what is really going on. All I can really get out of my Spanish speaking workers is that something is knocking on the driver's side front wheel and they have almost no breaks. Not a good sign.
About 45 minutes later I find them pulled along the side of a long winding road with their little orange hazard triangles strung out 50 feet or so behind them to warn other drivers that they are pulled off on the side of the road. The guys don't seem to anxious other than they have been waiting around without much to do (bored workers are their own worst enemies) but chat on their cell phones. At first glance things don't look too bad, no wheel sitting on the side of the truck or smoke eminating from anywhere around the vehicle. So I get out of my van and ask the driver to tell me where the noise is coming from.
We get down in the dirt and gravel in front of the truck and he points to the inside of the driver side wheel. At first glance I don't really see anything out of the ordinary, no signs of brake fluid that would point to a leaking or burst line. Nothing obviously broken or hanging off the axel. At this point I'm thinking that maybe they just have a loose break pad so I get ready to pull the wheel off.
Thankfully the gravel and dirt we are on is firmly packed and after setting up the floor jack that I had put into the van I drove up there was almost no shifting of the vehicle as the weight came off the front wheel...and yes I had already broken the lug nuts loose. Taking a few more minutes to pull all the nuts off I pull off the tire. At first glance things don't look too bad, something strikes me as odd but I can't quiet put my finger on it. Wanting to check to see if I just had a problem pad I rotate the wheel mount, not good!
Not only does it drag as I turn the mount but its wobbling. Wobbling!? That would only happen if, DAMN the freeking mount is coming off the axel! How the heck? Taking a sec to let things sink in...we had alerted a tow company that we may need a tow back into Glenwood Springs on a BIG flatbed truck...I called my boss and appraised him of the situation. I let him know that I hadn't really started to dig into things but so far the situation wasn't looking good. After a brief conversation I hung up and got back to work.
Pulling off the cap, sure enough the wheel bearing assembly is a mess. The cotter pin is just barely holding the main nut on the axel and there are cylindrical bearings stuck in thick wheel bearing grease all over the place. Not what I was hoping for, but at least I knew what we were up against, so I call my boss again. The situation isn't great, but if he's willing to let the vehicle sit overnight I can save us several hundred dollars in towing and mechanics fees if I can come back in the morning to do a wheel bearing job. He's not happy that our driver hadn't reported any problem with the truck, but he's more than willing to let me take care of the problem and was really pretty cool with the whole deal.
With a plan to return in the morning and the truck partially reassembled for an overnight stay on the mountain we packed up everything and started out for our return journey to Glenwood, in a Ford panel van with me in the driver's seat, one of my shop workers in the front seat (who came along as a spare driver if we needed one) and three more guys packed in back with their tools and materials for a days worth of work without our gutter truck. Fun, fun, fun. At least since I was the driver I got to choose the music, and no there will be no south of the border musica on this trip home. I love the people and the food, but I can't stand the music!
Tomorrow...barring any major disasters...My Hat
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
I Wonder If
Last week I was listening to NPR report on Denver's preperations for the National Democratic Convention. As part of their story they were chatting with some Rublican representitive from Denver (sorry I don't remember his name...not only am I lowsey at remembering names, but I think he would be grateful that I can't directly attribute my observations to him.) The discussion started out as things not to miss while in Denver. Not something that you would think would garner further thought or interspection on my part.
What struck me as odd was the mocking tone he used to describe some Democratic views. For example, he said he would want to make sure that he took his vegetarian Democratic colleagues to such and such restaurant for a nice juicy steak, or to the papermill (he didn't use this specific example...I'm filling in for my faulty memory) so that his "tree-hugging" Democratic friends could see how we make paper...etc., etc., etc.
Now that he took such a tone wasn't surprising to me, and it didn't offend me per se since I'm not a Democrat, but I remember it provoking at least these few thoughts in my own head...which I'm sure I will fail at expressing in a coherent way.
Why did he use such a self-congratulatory manner that seemed to boast, "Look at me, I'm so clever and whitty?" (Sis, you'll have to help me with my punctuation there.) Which made me think futher, is that just part of the political landscape, and expected behavior on both sides of the isle, for those who participate in governmental affairs (whether they be local, state or federal)? Was he trying to make points within his own party? Which led me to this final question...
I wonder if he really thought his comments were actually helpful? I wonder why he felt it necessary to be condescending. I wonder if he honestly thought that being a cut and dry Repulblican is the only way to be. I wonder if he really doesn't see the value of the views and arguments to be made by either political party. Most of all, I wonder...did he really think his comments were going to make things better in the sphere of responsibility that he has?
I wonder why...
What struck me as odd was the mocking tone he used to describe some Democratic views. For example, he said he would want to make sure that he took his vegetarian Democratic colleagues to such and such restaurant for a nice juicy steak, or to the papermill (he didn't use this specific example...I'm filling in for my faulty memory) so that his "tree-hugging" Democratic friends could see how we make paper...etc., etc., etc.
Now that he took such a tone wasn't surprising to me, and it didn't offend me per se since I'm not a Democrat, but I remember it provoking at least these few thoughts in my own head...which I'm sure I will fail at expressing in a coherent way.
Why did he use such a self-congratulatory manner that seemed to boast, "Look at me, I'm so clever and whitty?" (Sis, you'll have to help me with my punctuation there.) Which made me think futher, is that just part of the political landscape, and expected behavior on both sides of the isle, for those who participate in governmental affairs (whether they be local, state or federal)? Was he trying to make points within his own party? Which led me to this final question...
I wonder if he really thought his comments were actually helpful? I wonder why he felt it necessary to be condescending. I wonder if he honestly thought that being a cut and dry Repulblican is the only way to be. I wonder if he really doesn't see the value of the views and arguments to be made by either political party. Most of all, I wonder...did he really think his comments were going to make things better in the sphere of responsibility that he has?
I wonder why...
Typical
Oh its only been four months, give or take since my last post. Anyone who has spent any length of time with me will understand that such results are pretty typical for me. When I start out working on something new I quickly dive into a new project, gobbling up as much information as I can about the subject, experiment with it for a time, and then quickly get bored. So you should find it as no suprise that our blog hasn't been touched in months. However, I guess I'm changing because I'm updating the page, because something in me has recently changed. Not a life changing (well maybe I should reserve that qualification for later) but nonetheless a change.
Recently, I've wanted to start recording my thoughts. Not so much because I have something earth shattering for the world to read, but because its important to me that I record my thoughts for others to read. Now I'll warn you some of my ramblings will be a very mixed bag, as you will see soon. But isn't that me? A mixed bag?
For my loved ones. Some things that I'm going to write may make you wonder if I'm OK, and I think I am for the most part, I just think it will be 'interesting' to explore some of these thoughts...pardon me that I do so publicly.
Now it won't be enough that I record my thoughts on a blog to share, though I hope you will enjoy them, my real goal is to keep a print or electronic version...seeing that websites are about as enduring as glow sticks.
So without further adieu. (I love that word)
Recently, I've wanted to start recording my thoughts. Not so much because I have something earth shattering for the world to read, but because its important to me that I record my thoughts for others to read. Now I'll warn you some of my ramblings will be a very mixed bag, as you will see soon. But isn't that me? A mixed bag?
For my loved ones. Some things that I'm going to write may make you wonder if I'm OK, and I think I am for the most part, I just think it will be 'interesting' to explore some of these thoughts...pardon me that I do so publicly.
Now it won't be enough that I record my thoughts on a blog to share, though I hope you will enjoy them, my real goal is to keep a print or electronic version...seeing that websites are about as enduring as glow sticks.
So without further adieu. (I love that word)
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
My First Bike (a.k.a. A Tribute to My Parents)
Sometime the year before I started Kindergarten we lived in a small apartment in the Midwest. In that apartment complex I had a friend that had a new dirt bike of his very own (well considering the circumstances of the day it was more likely "new to him"). I can't remember my friend's name but I remember him graciously letting me use his bike to teach myself how to ride. In one of my few acts of all out determination I decided that I was going to learn how to ride...that very day, without training wheels mind you, or work to exhaustion trying.I spent hours on a small patch of lawn in front of our apartment getting up and falling down, over and over and over again...until near dark I finally was able to ride that bike. I was so excited that I ran into the house and shouted to my parents of my triumph. I could ride a bike, without training wheels or anything! I drug them back outside to show them my new found skill, and of course now that I knew how to ride a bike I wanted one of my very own.
It wasn't but a couple days later that my dad had a surprise to show me. I was excited, if not a bit disappointed, at the bike he brought home for me. Instead of being a cool dirt bike like my friends it was a little boys road bike made back in the 60's. I remember its odd blue color and the big wide white seat it had...not sleek and black like my friends. The chain guard, that was completely absent on my friend's bike was rickety and barely attached to the frame. I'm sure my Dad could see the look of partial disappointment on my face, but to his credit he didn't say a word, when he could have rightly scolded me for being ungrateful and completely oblivious to the sacrafice that he and Mom had made to get me a bike of my own out of the blue.
Now you might mistakenly be thinking that this story is about a bike, and you would barely be correct. You see this story is really about my parents. At the time they were still pretty young, in their mid 20's, trying to raise a family of four on the kind of meager income that was common to the Midwest in the latter part of the 70's.
Today I was out raking up the lawn from hundreds of small twigs that fall of this grand old tree in our front yard every spring. As I was raking up the lawn Puddy came out on her plastic toddler tricycle and started riding it down the driveway. As she turned around and tried to peddle back up the other way against a moderate incline I was thinking to myself that she really needed a "big girl" bike with training wheels and that we could probably come up with an extra seventy or eighty bucks on payday to get her a new bike. As I thought about that I was reminded of my experience of learning how to ride a bike, and how even though my parents could barely afford it they scraped together what they could for the unexpected expense of giving their son a bike of his very own.
I love you Mom and Dad.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Reconnecting
When Blondie and I started this blog it was more of a way to reach out to our families than anything else (see Why 'Forgetfully Yours'), but recently it has been a chance to reconnect with old friends...and it's hard to believe that it's even theoretically possible...that I stay in touch with even less than blood relatives. While I don't have much time during the week (12 hour days, 5 days a week with no breaks is draining), I am working on reading through each of your own blogs to catch up on what's been happening with you before I chime in.
Until then, it's exciting to hear for you and we'll be in touch soon. ;-)
Until then, it's exciting to hear for you and we'll be in touch soon. ;-)
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Sharing Time
I thought I would share a couple photos that I've taken over the last few years that I'm pretty proud of. Hope you enjoy em!
A Fan
I took this several years ago at the Denver Zoo, during that time of year that the Girl Scouts do their annual cookie drive. The city had allowed a couple troops (is that the right term?) to setup tables and sell their wares at the entrances. Well it didn't take much time at all before the park was just littered with these annual treats.
We had arrived at the zoo pretty late in the day so the cookie litter was especially bad.
As we were heading out of the park this little guy darted out from under the bushes that line the walkway to grab this Thin Mint from off the sidewalk. He was so enamored with getting his sugar fix that he didn't care how close I got to him...that or he was in a sugar educed haze from a day of binging. At any rate I was able to get right up on em for this photo.
I took this with a little pocket 3.1 MP camera that had no zoom on it at all...I really was able to get that close.
Bee at Aurora State Park - July 2004
Should I find it a bit odd that some of my favorite photos are ones that I took when I was just getting into photography and had only very basic equipment? Haven't I improved at all over the years?
The title pretty much tells you the relevant details of this photo. I was out biking on a Summer afternoon on a weekday that I had taken off of work. This was early on in my journey of learning some of the basics rules of photography. One of them, that I didn't really agree with, is that mid-afternoon...especially during the summer...is a bad time of day for shooting photos. The general consensus is that the light intensity is way too strong and the sun's position doesn't make for flattering shadowing. Well I think this photo flies in the face of that convention. Although I have to admit that I did wait for some cloud cover get sunshine on my subject while softening the lighting on the flowers around it.
This was taken with the same pocket 3.1 MP pocket camera...but the lens was set to "macro" instead of "landscape."
Ruedi
I have always admired photos like this, great scenes with very moody lighting and I could never seem to reproduce results like this for myself, until I tried some very early morning photography.
This was taken last summer when my boss and I got up very early, 3:00 AM to be exact, to drive an hour up to the local reservoir to do some boat fishing before putting in a full day's work. (He was happy to finally find someone who could keep up with the feverish pace he sets for himself, and still be able to sneak in some fishing before starting the day.) Normally we would go up and try a few spots on the lake without much luck and pack it in by sevenish. This particular morning was pretty cold, windy and cloudy. In fact, it start to snow as we pulled out of the water...that's Summer in the mountains for you. : ) Just as we were pulling up to the dock I looked behind me and saw the scene that I had been trying to recreate on camera for a couple years. I took several frames of this scene but the one I liked the most was just a tad underexposed.
I really like not only the lighting but how the deep reds, greens and blues play against each other. I'm really proud of this one.
I took this on my Canon 10D. (After a couple years of getting into photography I took the annual ski pass that the company I was working for gave to us and turned it into cash. I love this camera it is just below professional grade and has an all metal frame...which is hard to find in a digital camera without shelling out some serious dough.)
Three Stairs
While this isn't considered by some to be a "photo" this did start out as a regular old picture, but it has gone through some heavy post-processing in Photoshop...and I think it's so much the better for the trouble.
I took this during my "looking for patterns" phase of learning. I wish I still had the original photo for comparison to see how much more interesting the final result is with the intensifying of the colors, a slight impressionist treatment, and really cranking up the blues in the windows. I can't really tell you what I "like" about this photo other than it just works for me.
I took this one with my Canon 10D on a Saturday while at work. This building faces the balcony of the 2nd floor of an office building that I used to work at. Needless to say Saturday's were normally slow and boring and it was no big deal to wonder off a few feet away from my desk waiting for the phone to ring.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Happy Birthday Sis!
Well FatherOfFive grows up a bit this year...I actually remembered my sister's birthday on my own...even though several reminders were much appreciated. Hey can I really blame anyone that they felt the needed to remind me this year? Not one bit...I would have done the same thing in their shoes. Although I do have to admit that I intended to send a birthday card, so I guess I still have some progress to make.
When I realized that I had missed the window to send out a birthday card I asked Mom to scan a picture of me and Sis when we were little. I don't have any specific memory of taking taking this picture but I'm sure sometime soon afterward I was pulling your hair. "Sorry Sis." And I'm reminded of all the times I wasn't the nicest brother in the world growing up...and while you weren't always sugar and spice either, I am reminded of how kind you were to me.
I still remember when I first started dating Blondie that I tried to describe her to you and I could only come up with...'She's a lot like you...only better.' High praise indeed.
The years have marched on and while I wouldn't say that we have 'grown apart' we have definately centered our energies on raising our own families...and it doesn't help that we live 951 miles apart (according to Google anyway)...but I'm glad to know that you are, and always will be my little Sis...who's more like my big Sis in many, many ways.
So here's to MomOf5Gents! Happy Birthday!
Oh by the way...you are 70% younger than your house. Here's to hoping that when you turn 117 that your basement pipes aren't clogged up and that the local repair man doesn't think you are diffcult to deal with. : )
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Sorry Girls - This One is for the Guys
One of my favorite programs is on the Food Network, called "Good Eats", that I record regularly. It's like a cooking show for geeks...like me. It's basically a traditional cooking show but goes on to explains some of the physical and chemical properties of the foods we eat, and why it makes them taste so good.
A couple weeks ago one episode was titled, "Man Food". It had a really funny introduction and segways from the commerial breaks. The host posed as if he were teaching us unsensitive men how to make a very special breakfast in bed for our wives. Whenever they would return from a commercial break there would be some fru fru item that he would have as a sight gag...like a napkin swan, etc. etc. And as soon as he would reinvite the ladies to leave the room he would toss his gag into the garbage or pull a chilled beer out of some "hand squeezed" organge juice or in the case of the swan...blow his nose into it. Very funny stuff.
At any rate I have been saving this program because I was determined that one of these weekends I was going to embark on whipping up some "man food". Homemade corndogs and beef burritos were the menu this evening. Tomorrow it's hot wings!
In keeping with the theme for this weekend I'm posting this commercial for the guys out there. An aquaintance of mine emailed it to me and I just had to share.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iBY7Yirq60
A couple weeks ago one episode was titled, "Man Food". It had a really funny introduction and segways from the commerial breaks. The host posed as if he were teaching us unsensitive men how to make a very special breakfast in bed for our wives. Whenever they would return from a commercial break there would be some fru fru item that he would have as a sight gag...like a napkin swan, etc. etc. And as soon as he would reinvite the ladies to leave the room he would toss his gag into the garbage or pull a chilled beer out of some "hand squeezed" organge juice or in the case of the swan...blow his nose into it. Very funny stuff.
At any rate I have been saving this program because I was determined that one of these weekends I was going to embark on whipping up some "man food". Homemade corndogs and beef burritos were the menu this evening. Tomorrow it's hot wings!
In keeping with the theme for this weekend I'm posting this commercial for the guys out there. An aquaintance of mine emailed it to me and I just had to share.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iBY7Yirq60
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Of Service
A few months ago our church Elder's quorum received new home teaching assignments. After many attempts to meet with the one active family on my route, this Sunday I was finally able to make my first visit. Meeting with the family went well and we went over some basics of what they were looking for from their home teachers.One thing that I thought was funny was that they want to keep our visits to an hour or less, which I thought to myself, "Why wouldn't our visits be an hour or less?" When they told me that the home teachers from their previous ward would stay easily two to three hours...they never knew when their home teachers were going to leave. Well after assuring them that I had no intention of "staying for a movie" I let them know that I wanted them to feel like I was the kind of home teacher that they could call with any kind of problem any time of day. I shared with them that on more than one occation I have called my home teacher in the middle of a night to ask for a blessing when really sick. Well it just so happened that today I was able to be of service.
During our visit on Sunday the father of this family shared with me that the flu has been making its rounds around their home and that he was taking his turn battling the bug. Sunday and Monday came and went, when he called me early this evening to ask if I could stop by to give him a blessing. I glady told him that I would be right over as soon as I wrapped up a few things at work. It just so happens that I work with the President of the Spanish branch in our area and we went together to give a blessing to this husband and father.
Still dressed in our work clothes we knocked on the front door. After a few moments someone on the other side tried opening it but for some reason the latch on the door was stuck and we were let in the side door. After telling the family how glad I was that they called me to help we gave the father a blessing. As we were starting to depart I mentioned that if they wouldn't mind that I'd like to take a look at the problem they were having with their door. They gave each other that...Well if he wants to...look, they consented and they gathered up some rudimentary tools. It was pretty apparent that while this couple was by no means an uneducated couple, they certainly weren't the handy type.
Taking the doorknob apart I was able to open the front door and the problem was obvious almost right away. The door knob had a poor fit to the latch...it didn't look like they were a matched pair...but after some generous application of WD-40 I had the latch working as best it could. After a few more minutes of re-assembly we were ready to part company, when the father made a sweet comment. Having just been through PPI's this last Sunday (this being my first in oh, about ten years) he told me that when I reported on my home teaching for this month to let my Priesthood leader know that I had earned the Super Home Teacher award (figuratively) for the month. I smiled and laughed, shook his hand and bid him a good night.
Reflecting on the visit on the drive home I thought to myself how nice it was to help someone out with something, that for me was a simple task, really solved a problem that may have been very frustrating for them. But more importantly I had that sweet uplifting feeling that I had been of service, and reminded me of the following quote:
“As we love our God, as we love our neighbor, we can be the recipients of our Heavenly Father’s love. Of all the blessings I have had in my life, one of the sweetest is that feeling the Lord provides when I know that He has answered the prayer of another person through me. As we love the Lord, as we love our neighbor, we discover that our Heavenly Father will answer the prayers of others through our ministry” - Thomas S. Monson
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Still Blind
This Friday Blondie and I had plans to celebrate Valentine's Day. Yep, that's right we didn't celebrate on the 14th of February with everyone else...and we haven't for the last ten or eleven years. We decided long ago that we didn't like competing with everyone else for dinner reservations, paying outrageous prices for flowers, etc. etc.
At any rate Blondie, who normally works Friday nights and Saturday/Sunday afternoons, got a rare opportunity to have Friday night off. So plans and reservations were made, clothes were laid out and I actually got home at a reasonable hour so we would have the entire evening to ourselves. When I got home Blondie hadn't returned yet from the last minute errands she was running, but we had high hopes for a rare night out together. As I sat at home waiting for Blondie to get home my energy, that was unusually high at the end of a long week at work, started to wane a bit and after about an hour of waiting for Blondie to get home I started to feel a bit ill, but soon Blondie arrived home and the energies of getting ready for the evening were back in full burn. I started to put on my freshly pressed pants and shirt but as I started putting on my socks I really wasn't feeling well. Reluctantly I told Blondie that I really wasn't feeling well and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go out.
Needless to say she was disappointed and put off that after all of her efforts to get the night off that I was going to ruin our plans for a romantic evening. The more time she tried to convince me that I would feel better once we got out, the worse I felt. Finally she told me that if I needed to stay at home, she was still going out even if she had to take one of our kids with her. I was in no position to tell her otherwise but by this point I was feeling downright awful and although I knew it was going to be a great disappointment to her I really had no choice but to go lay down and try to get some rest. I went into our bedroom, got into my PJs and turned on the T.V. to see if I got my mind off of how I was feeling that I might be ready to go out in an hour or so.
I woke up several hours later to find Blondie double-checking my temperature and blood pressure (she loves to worry)...which was just fine. I learned that she had taken Alicat and Puddy to dinner with her and she started going about her nightly routine of tidying up the house before going to bed. I felt terrible that I had let her down but couldn't help but fall back asleep. After yet another couple hours of unconsciousness I woke up to the sound of Blondie doing the dishes and sending the children to bed. In my mind I thought to myself how nice it would be to have her come to bed with me in just a short time. But as I lay there waiting for her I could hear her turn the T.V. on in the living room and queue up Fraser that she has saved on our DVR. I knew that while she knew I was sick that I had still hurt her feelings, first by missing out on our date and then letting her be responsible for the normal nightly tasks that she handles every night...not much of a rare night off from work.
Sheepishly I came out to the living room and apologized that her evening hadn't gone as planned and vowed to make it up to her Saturday night, since she had already arranged to get off early that night as well. She gratefully, but disappointingly acknowledged that we would try for a romantic evening together the next night.
Saturday dawned cold and cloudy as I got up at 6 a.m. to get E-Bear to church by 6:45 so that he could meet his Scout leaders for the Klondike. It wasn't really a big deal for me to get up early since I'm normally up at 5:15 during the week. After returning from dropping off E-Bear I was in an especially good mood, the clouds had cleared and the morning was turning out to be sunny and warm. I really wanted to go back into the bedroom, kiss Blondie awake and start getting ready for the day, but I decided instead to let her sleep in an unusually quiet house with the boys gone for the day. As the morning passed she got up and we made plans for what we needed to get done before she needed to get ready for an abbreviated day at work. Thankfully, my only chores for the morning were cashing my check and getting Blondie a special Valentine's gift.
I had just the thing in mind. Something romantic and reflective of the years that we have been married, but as I went about the relatively few vendors in our small mountain community, what I wanted to get her wasn't to be found on any of their shelves. One merchant offered to order in the gift but it would be a couple days before it would come in...and I needed a gift today! As I went from store to store I felt more and more dejected. Not only had I spoiled a perfectly romantic evening together, but now on my make-up chance I wouldn't have a special gift for her. After some time sulking and panicking about what I would do other gift ideas came to mind.
More often than not when we choose a restaurant to go to, one of the deciding factors on where we will dine is what the dessert menu is like. The establishment with the greatest depth of dessert selection more often than not wins out over another with perhaps a better dinner menu. With this in mind I stopped into one of our local bookstores and searched for a no holds barred dessert cookbook. Finally with one selected I went on to another store to wander the isles for another gift idea. After some time I ended up in the DVD isle at a local chain store...I know not very romantic or original, but it just so happened that they had a box set of Fraser. A rare find any time of the year except Christmas, I grabbed the package and it just so happened that the offering was for the one season that Blondie liked the most in the whole series. I thought to myself that I was saved and quickly checked out and started heading to the local electronics store where I was going to pick up a new DVD drive for my computer to replace an old unit that had been giving me trouble for months.
As I hastily selected the drive that met my requirements at the most reasonable price I remembered that I hadn't gotten a card to go with Blondie's gifts, and I was pushing the time when I needed to be back at home to watch the children before she would head to work. Then it came to me, a custom card. So I went into the stationary isle to look for some really nice paper and as I thought about what I would write another idea came to me. I was going to write her love notes instead with a redeemable coupon on each. I quickly picked out a pack of fancy looking blank business cards and ran home, just in time to hide my gifts in the house before Blondie showed up to drop off the kids before heading to work.
Once she was on her way I went about my normal Saturday routine and let the idea of making custom love notes fall into the back of my mind. After a time I was done with my normal chores and sat down to play a little computer when I noticed the time, Blondie would be home in about two hours and I hadn't even started on her love notes. I quickly turned on the computer and brought up the manufacturers website where they were to have a custom template just for the business card I had chosen to help me with layout so that the final printed versions would look their best. When I found out that the particular card I had chosen was so new that a template wasn't available from their website I was even more worried that I wouldn't be able to finish Blondie's gift before she would arrive home. After some trial and error using a basic Microsoft template I finally had a blueprint that would work nicely. With little time to spare I put on each card something I loved about her and a coupon item that she could redeem for a special service from me.
I had just finished printing the final version of the cards as she pulled up into the driveway. I quickly gathered my gifts to present them to her, but realized that in all of my shopping and preparation I had completely forgotten to get any kind of wrapping paper or gift back. Hastily I found a little plastic container that Puddy uses to keep some of her toys in threw in Blondie's gifts and garnished the top with red confetti paper. As she took off her shoes and pulled her into our bedroom to present her with her gifts. I let her know that the cookbook wasn't just something for her to use as a reference but pledged that once or twice a month we would pick out a dessert to cook together. As she dug deeper into the plastic box she found the DVD set of Fraser, which she loved. As she wrapper her arms around me to give me a Thank You hug I let her know that there was still a little something more in the box.
The love notes were a hit! She loved them. Not only that she could redeem them, but what I put something unique on each one that I loved about her. There were ten in all, and on the tenth the thing that she could redeem on that coupon was another set of ten "Things that I love about you"...the title phrase on the top of each card.
Now that things were going nicely we quickly readied ourselves for our Valentine's night out, even Puddy wasn't upset that we would be leaving her at home with her older brothers and sisters for a rare night out by ourselves. Blondie decided that she definitely wanted to go out for a dinner and a movie, but that we would have to be swift if we were to get in dinner before the movie started. As luck would have it the restaurant that we had selected for the evening, a French-American bistro on Main Street had no waiting and we got right in. After some time going over the menu we selected some wonderful sounding items that were just a bit exotic. The imported cheese platter and vinaigrette salad with breaded goat cheese were magnificent! As we completed out salads it was apparent that it was getting late and that we would have to hurry through the main course if we were going to be able to also fit in a dessert.
Unfortunately the fillet minion with pepper sauce that we decided to split took much longer than expected and as it was served we only had about fifteen minutes before the movie was going to start. We thought that we would be OK with time since the theater was close, but it was obvious that we weren't going to be able to stay for dessert. The fillet was perfect, although a bit underdone for Blondie, but she made the best of it and I thoroughly enjoyed the extra pieces that Blondie passed my way that we too underdone for her taste. As we rushed to finish our dinner and get a check the restaurant that started out only partly filled had ended up completely packed. While our waiter did his best to get our check and change to us quickly it was fifteen after seven before we got our coats on. Making a seven o-clock movie on time was already out the window but we decided to make the best of it, we would only really miss out on the previews and opening credits if we hurried.
We made it to the theater in good time and we hadn't missed much of the movie, but we had poor seats in a small cramped theater...which we thought was a bit unusual since the movie had only opened the previous weekend. The first thing we noticed was how badly the picture was distorted as the movie that should have been shown on a wide screen was crammed onto a screen that had to have easily been built in the 70s. The picture was horribly clipped and each character was stretched into unnatural proportions. About five minutes into our sitting down I asked Blondie if she wanted to stay and 'watch the Gumby show' or if she wanted to leave and get a rain check for another time. After already missing out on our evening together the night before and having put that much more emphasis on our going out THIS evening we decided to stay. Not only was the movie badly distorted...which we eventually became accustomed to but it was horribly boring. There wasn't much to be admired in the show.
As we left I told Blondie I was so sorry that things didn't turn out the best for our Valentine's date together. She simply smiled at me and said that she had had a wonderful evening with me. We went home determined to see at least one good movie that evening and decided to stay up extra late and watch a movie that we rented that we were really looking foreword to seeing together. What we thought would be a refreshing romantic comedy turned out to really be a drawn out melancholy drama...that I fell asleep on about half way through. Tired but happy to have spent the evening together we retired to bed.
As we woke up this morning I again apologized to her for the unwrapped present, the rushed dinner, a distorted and boring movie and a depressing video at home. After having a good laugh together Blondie told me what a wonderful evening she had the night before, and you know what I had too.
Which makes me realize, that even after almost fifteen years of being married...we are still bind to the little disappointing things around us...and just love the time we have together.
At any rate Blondie, who normally works Friday nights and Saturday/Sunday afternoons, got a rare opportunity to have Friday night off. So plans and reservations were made, clothes were laid out and I actually got home at a reasonable hour so we would have the entire evening to ourselves. When I got home Blondie hadn't returned yet from the last minute errands she was running, but we had high hopes for a rare night out together. As I sat at home waiting for Blondie to get home my energy, that was unusually high at the end of a long week at work, started to wane a bit and after about an hour of waiting for Blondie to get home I started to feel a bit ill, but soon Blondie arrived home and the energies of getting ready for the evening were back in full burn. I started to put on my freshly pressed pants and shirt but as I started putting on my socks I really wasn't feeling well. Reluctantly I told Blondie that I really wasn't feeling well and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go out.
Needless to say she was disappointed and put off that after all of her efforts to get the night off that I was going to ruin our plans for a romantic evening. The more time she tried to convince me that I would feel better once we got out, the worse I felt. Finally she told me that if I needed to stay at home, she was still going out even if she had to take one of our kids with her. I was in no position to tell her otherwise but by this point I was feeling downright awful and although I knew it was going to be a great disappointment to her I really had no choice but to go lay down and try to get some rest. I went into our bedroom, got into my PJs and turned on the T.V. to see if I got my mind off of how I was feeling that I might be ready to go out in an hour or so.
I woke up several hours later to find Blondie double-checking my temperature and blood pressure (she loves to worry)...which was just fine. I learned that she had taken Alicat and Puddy to dinner with her and she started going about her nightly routine of tidying up the house before going to bed. I felt terrible that I had let her down but couldn't help but fall back asleep. After yet another couple hours of unconsciousness I woke up to the sound of Blondie doing the dishes and sending the children to bed. In my mind I thought to myself how nice it would be to have her come to bed with me in just a short time. But as I lay there waiting for her I could hear her turn the T.V. on in the living room and queue up Fraser that she has saved on our DVR. I knew that while she knew I was sick that I had still hurt her feelings, first by missing out on our date and then letting her be responsible for the normal nightly tasks that she handles every night...not much of a rare night off from work.
Sheepishly I came out to the living room and apologized that her evening hadn't gone as planned and vowed to make it up to her Saturday night, since she had already arranged to get off early that night as well. She gratefully, but disappointingly acknowledged that we would try for a romantic evening together the next night.
Saturday dawned cold and cloudy as I got up at 6 a.m. to get E-Bear to church by 6:45 so that he could meet his Scout leaders for the Klondike. It wasn't really a big deal for me to get up early since I'm normally up at 5:15 during the week. After returning from dropping off E-Bear I was in an especially good mood, the clouds had cleared and the morning was turning out to be sunny and warm. I really wanted to go back into the bedroom, kiss Blondie awake and start getting ready for the day, but I decided instead to let her sleep in an unusually quiet house with the boys gone for the day. As the morning passed she got up and we made plans for what we needed to get done before she needed to get ready for an abbreviated day at work. Thankfully, my only chores for the morning were cashing my check and getting Blondie a special Valentine's gift.
I had just the thing in mind. Something romantic and reflective of the years that we have been married, but as I went about the relatively few vendors in our small mountain community, what I wanted to get her wasn't to be found on any of their shelves. One merchant offered to order in the gift but it would be a couple days before it would come in...and I needed a gift today! As I went from store to store I felt more and more dejected. Not only had I spoiled a perfectly romantic evening together, but now on my make-up chance I wouldn't have a special gift for her. After some time sulking and panicking about what I would do other gift ideas came to mind.
More often than not when we choose a restaurant to go to, one of the deciding factors on where we will dine is what the dessert menu is like. The establishment with the greatest depth of dessert selection more often than not wins out over another with perhaps a better dinner menu. With this in mind I stopped into one of our local bookstores and searched for a no holds barred dessert cookbook. Finally with one selected I went on to another store to wander the isles for another gift idea. After some time I ended up in the DVD isle at a local chain store...I know not very romantic or original, but it just so happened that they had a box set of Fraser. A rare find any time of the year except Christmas, I grabbed the package and it just so happened that the offering was for the one season that Blondie liked the most in the whole series. I thought to myself that I was saved and quickly checked out and started heading to the local electronics store where I was going to pick up a new DVD drive for my computer to replace an old unit that had been giving me trouble for months.
As I hastily selected the drive that met my requirements at the most reasonable price I remembered that I hadn't gotten a card to go with Blondie's gifts, and I was pushing the time when I needed to be back at home to watch the children before she would head to work. Then it came to me, a custom card. So I went into the stationary isle to look for some really nice paper and as I thought about what I would write another idea came to me. I was going to write her love notes instead with a redeemable coupon on each. I quickly picked out a pack of fancy looking blank business cards and ran home, just in time to hide my gifts in the house before Blondie showed up to drop off the kids before heading to work.
Once she was on her way I went about my normal Saturday routine and let the idea of making custom love notes fall into the back of my mind. After a time I was done with my normal chores and sat down to play a little computer when I noticed the time, Blondie would be home in about two hours and I hadn't even started on her love notes. I quickly turned on the computer and brought up the manufacturers website where they were to have a custom template just for the business card I had chosen to help me with layout so that the final printed versions would look their best. When I found out that the particular card I had chosen was so new that a template wasn't available from their website I was even more worried that I wouldn't be able to finish Blondie's gift before she would arrive home. After some trial and error using a basic Microsoft template I finally had a blueprint that would work nicely. With little time to spare I put on each card something I loved about her and a coupon item that she could redeem for a special service from me.
I had just finished printing the final version of the cards as she pulled up into the driveway. I quickly gathered my gifts to present them to her, but realized that in all of my shopping and preparation I had completely forgotten to get any kind of wrapping paper or gift back. Hastily I found a little plastic container that Puddy uses to keep some of her toys in threw in Blondie's gifts and garnished the top with red confetti paper. As she took off her shoes and pulled her into our bedroom to present her with her gifts. I let her know that the cookbook wasn't just something for her to use as a reference but pledged that once or twice a month we would pick out a dessert to cook together. As she dug deeper into the plastic box she found the DVD set of Fraser, which she loved. As she wrapper her arms around me to give me a Thank You hug I let her know that there was still a little something more in the box.
The love notes were a hit! She loved them. Not only that she could redeem them, but what I put something unique on each one that I loved about her. There were ten in all, and on the tenth the thing that she could redeem on that coupon was another set of ten "Things that I love about you"...the title phrase on the top of each card.
Now that things were going nicely we quickly readied ourselves for our Valentine's night out, even Puddy wasn't upset that we would be leaving her at home with her older brothers and sisters for a rare night out by ourselves. Blondie decided that she definitely wanted to go out for a dinner and a movie, but that we would have to be swift if we were to get in dinner before the movie started. As luck would have it the restaurant that we had selected for the evening, a French-American bistro on Main Street had no waiting and we got right in. After some time going over the menu we selected some wonderful sounding items that were just a bit exotic. The imported cheese platter and vinaigrette salad with breaded goat cheese were magnificent! As we completed out salads it was apparent that it was getting late and that we would have to hurry through the main course if we were going to be able to also fit in a dessert.
Unfortunately the fillet minion with pepper sauce that we decided to split took much longer than expected and as it was served we only had about fifteen minutes before the movie was going to start. We thought that we would be OK with time since the theater was close, but it was obvious that we weren't going to be able to stay for dessert. The fillet was perfect, although a bit underdone for Blondie, but she made the best of it and I thoroughly enjoyed the extra pieces that Blondie passed my way that we too underdone for her taste. As we rushed to finish our dinner and get a check the restaurant that started out only partly filled had ended up completely packed. While our waiter did his best to get our check and change to us quickly it was fifteen after seven before we got our coats on. Making a seven o-clock movie on time was already out the window but we decided to make the best of it, we would only really miss out on the previews and opening credits if we hurried.
We made it to the theater in good time and we hadn't missed much of the movie, but we had poor seats in a small cramped theater...which we thought was a bit unusual since the movie had only opened the previous weekend. The first thing we noticed was how badly the picture was distorted as the movie that should have been shown on a wide screen was crammed onto a screen that had to have easily been built in the 70s. The picture was horribly clipped and each character was stretched into unnatural proportions. About five minutes into our sitting down I asked Blondie if she wanted to stay and 'watch the Gumby show' or if she wanted to leave and get a rain check for another time. After already missing out on our evening together the night before and having put that much more emphasis on our going out THIS evening we decided to stay. Not only was the movie badly distorted...which we eventually became accustomed to but it was horribly boring. There wasn't much to be admired in the show.
As we left I told Blondie I was so sorry that things didn't turn out the best for our Valentine's date together. She simply smiled at me and said that she had had a wonderful evening with me. We went home determined to see at least one good movie that evening and decided to stay up extra late and watch a movie that we rented that we were really looking foreword to seeing together. What we thought would be a refreshing romantic comedy turned out to really be a drawn out melancholy drama...that I fell asleep on about half way through. Tired but happy to have spent the evening together we retired to bed.
As we woke up this morning I again apologized to her for the unwrapped present, the rushed dinner, a distorted and boring movie and a depressing video at home. After having a good laugh together Blondie told me what a wonderful evening she had the night before, and you know what I had too.
Which makes me realize, that even after almost fifteen years of being married...we are still bind to the little disappointing things around us...and just love the time we have together.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Mission Accomplished
Dare I say it, and possibly jinx ourselves? After a great deal of effort and a lot of praise by Blondie, Puddy is 'officially' potty trained! I haven't changed a diaper of any kind in about two weeks. What's more is that she hasn't had any trouble with wetting the bed, in fact the first time Blondie brought Puddy to bed without a diaper I put up much protest about not wanting to "Wake up in a puddle." (Puddy still sleeps in our room in her own bed, but 99% of the time ends up crawling up into ours in the middle of the night.) Hard to believe that our house is once again diaper free...well not quiet.
When Blondie asked Puddy if "Mommie could give away her old diapers to a little girl or boy who needed them.", Puddy replied, "No. They're mine." I guess we'll be working on sharing next. : )
Monday, January 28, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Why 'Forgetfully Yours'
Anyone who knows me knows that I am absoulely horrible at keeping in touch with friends and realatives...little alone keeping up with correspondence. Need an idea of just how bad?
"What's that, what did you say?"
"Did I receive the letter/e-mail you sent me last month?"
" I sure did! It was great to hear from you!"
"....Oooooh so you wanted me to write back. Riiiiight."
Forgetfully Yours
- While in grade school I had three different pen pals...out of their nine different letters to me I wrote one of them...once.
- While on a two year mission to Idaho I wrote home maybe twelve times and I'm pretty sure that six of these were the direct result of bribery. If I ever needed a little extra money my parents would send along a check with a reminder that I wasn't to endorse it until I had written home.
- This year I completely forgot my Mom's birthday.
- I did the exact same thing last year.
- I didn't even call my Sister and her family this year to wish them a Merry Christmas.
- Or last year.
- ....I'm not even sure if I did the year before that.
"What's that, what did you say?""Did I receive the letter/e-mail you sent me last month?"
" I sure did! It was great to hear from you!"
"....Oooooh so you wanted me to write back. Riiiiight."
Forgetfully Yours
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
