It's been a busy few days but not for me. Kinda. Regularly-scheduled P&R meeting on Wednesday with some real progress, I think. This board is picking up velocity since LMT's switch to First Class status and it's fun to participate in that. I also got summoned/sent to KNL's Chicago showroom on Thursday. It was a long travel day - the second longest in a month - but successful and packed with surprises. Surprise the first: missed a police shootout outside the train station by about 5 minutes and was nearly run down by cops on quads. Surprise two: Doug F's travel plans overlapped with mine and we caught a round at the O'Hare Hilton. It was one of those things that will be a great story for a long time; it's always fun to catch up with friends and always better face to face. Tonight we're headed back to Emmaus Theatre and contemplating other ways of staying out of a Danny-induced rainy weekend. I don't mind hurricanes and tropical storms but I do mind them arriving on a Friday night and lingering for two or three days.
posted at 7:24 PM - comments
Sunday, August 23, 2009
I've got basil thumb... you know, the deep green stain under the thumbnail(s) of somebody who just picked a couple hundred basil leaves. It's pesto tonight with insalato caprese!
It was kind of a busy week but I can't remember why. I do recall eating spanikopita on Tuesday, a trip to Allentown to donate a bicycle and a P&R budget session on Wednesday, another rousing game of ulti on Thursday, and stepping out Friday night to pick up Jenelle's new glasses. Then we were out late last night having dinner and playing cards with Ryan and Petra. We continue to be not great at cards but it was a really fun night and a perfect atmosphere to be not great at cards. I imagine we'll spend some wintry weekend evenings with R&P doing exactly that. Maybe some Euchre and probably some more accoutrements - a great time.
Lake Day! We spent Saturday at Mauch Chunk Lake Park west of Jim Thorpe and in Jim Thorpe itself; fresh water and animal crackers on a blanket in the sun made for a lazy afternoon. I think we both missed the big clear-water rollers and hard-as-cement sand at the water's edge of a Lake Michigan beach but trucked-in sand and the murky deep of a PA reservoir sufficed. Sunday we managed to go berserker on both garage and house AND go to Rave to check out Julie & Julia. It was a good show but a major subtext of the whole (true) story went unresolved and I couldn't get past that. Tonight we cooked big as in days past: spanikopita from Moosewood, gourmet-cheesed salads (bleu for me and Parmiggiano-Romano for Jenelle), and apple tarts for dessert fashioned from leftover phyllo and applesauce.
posted at 10:13 PM - comments
Friday, August 14, 2009
Bruce was singing "10th Avenue..." when I skated from work a bit early at the end of a surprisingly less frantic Friday which capped a surprisingly more frantic week. Jenelle and I headed south for errands then back home in time for an evening.
I played a very competitive pick-up session of ulti yesterday in the deep sod along Little Lehigh, and thoroughly enjoyed it. If Ryan Purcell were still around I'm sure he'd provide some coaching for my forehand flick but I feel pretty confident playing DB or WR with anybody who wants to throw deep or over the crowded middle. Maybe ultimate is a way to extend football-playing days behind high school for people who wish they could have?
More long days + late nights at work. I've been spending a reasonable amount of time being 'practical' as my Webb career dubbed any experience not involving software or higher math, and that is leading to good exposure. Of course exposure isn't always good but I maintain that risk + reward is better than the no risk + status quo.
Off the clock, we (mostly Jenelle) painted the garage and worked on little odds and ends. I strategized with another P&R Board member about budget time. Jenelle made a great, fire-y stir fry, and I have continued to do Important Home Owner things on the phone. It's been busy.
It's the end of a pretty muggy weekend in the Valley. We didn't do much but don't blame the weather for that. Friday night, despite a weird start to the day wherein I landed at EWR at 6am and was at work before 9, lasted into the wee hours for dinner and drinks at Rave/Melt with Ryan and Petra. Saturday we scoped out Musikfest, where the musik seems to be less important than the fest these days. We had fresh lemonade and an Aw Shucks ear of corn anyway and then headed out. The balance of the weekend was a little of this and little of that: Cold Stone, Prairie Home, scrapbooking, garage prep, sweating in the ridiculous humidity, cooking, phone talking, and some Sunday-night wrapping TV.
posted at 10:32 PM - comments
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Live from Portland. Wait, what? Portland where? What? Who is this? It's a trip conceived, executed, and completed in less than 36 hours, and PDX happens to have free wireless. Resolved.
Different-feeling week at home as we cleared the garage (again!?!) and focused on cooking a bit more than usual. Wednesday night was volleyball time, though cut somewhat short by my need to mini-pack and get ready for almost exactly 24 hours of travel. With this trip giving Thursday the slip and Friday a hazy start in the EWR parking garage, it's pretty much weekend already.
It's garden bounty time. The cherry tomatoes are coming in thick, a dozen every day. The basil is leafy and beautiful. Combining those two with a little olive oil and garlic tossed over fettuccine was the perfect dinner to ring in the harvest season.
Non-descript weekend but that was perfect. As in years past, NWA conspired to get things off to a later-than-planned start but we persevered. Saturday we headed south for a few things and kicked at home in the evening and at Valley nightspot Pistachio late into the night. Sunday we avoided the rain at Wegman's and in the garage & basement. We also made icebox cake and watched a movie. It was a low-key summer weekend at home and that was just right.
Friday, August 28, 2009