Saturday, July 05, 2008

I got 27 out of 30.

Our quiz is made up of 20 questions found on the actual citizenship test with a few curveballs in the mix.  The last ten questions may be a bit harder, but a score of around 24 out of 30 is considered a passing grade.

The three I missed could have gone the correct way, if had guessed otherwise of course. They were part of those last 10 tricky ones.

... And Jesse decided it was time to par-tay.

We had a good day yesterday. Nice and relaxing. Got a nap in the afternoon.

We attended a birthday party for a family friend in the late afternoon. I took Roasted Orzo and Shrimp, which was super easy to make and delicious. We bought home about 1/3 of it, so I’m happy for the leftovers.

Oh, the sauce for the pork was not used. Mom reported that the pork tasted great, but could have used a sauce. But I bet the rest of the diners wouldn’t have known the difference. So I’m glad it was good. */non sequitur*

We saw The Director at the party, he left shortly after we got there to go par-tay at the White House. Totally cool.

It rained for most of the party, which was a shame. But a good time was still had by all, I think. After a nice lull in the wet, the rains looked to be coming back so we headed home. Jesse was mud spattered so he got a quick bath before bedtime, which turned out to be his normal bedtime.

I have no clue what woke him up, but through the monitor we heard him chattering happily. I figured it had to be around 5am and rolled over to look at the clock. It was 2:12am. What the? So we lay there for a minute and then Beau got up to turn off the monitor. We have no clue how long Jesse played in his crib before falling back to sleep, but he slept hard until about 10 minutes ago (8:00am, by the computer clock). He usually wakes up between 6:30-7:00am. Funny kid.

Speaking of funny kids ... Jaynee posted the latest adventures of CootieGirl yesterday. I find it hilarious.

It feels like Sunday.

Friday, July 04, 2008

From the National Archives website:

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation’s most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson’s most enduring monument. Here, in exalted and unforgettable phrases, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. What Jefferson did was to summarize this philosophy in “self-evident truths” and set forth a list of grievances against the King in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the colonies and the mother country.

Happy Independence Day, my fellow Americans.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

To our troops in harm’s way, thank you for your service. To your families back home, thank you for your sacrifice.

Let freedom ring!

Thursday, July 03, 2008

This is for the 3 of you interested in this meat cook-off thing for my church. The dinner is tonight. I still had to make the accompanying sauce for the meat for Beau to deliver today. So I put it all together this morning before I left for work - in both crock pots - and with instructions for Beau for checking thickness before heading over to the church.

Now, last weekend I needed to make more marinade because we ran out with about 24 tenderloins left. So I made a half batch, of which I used about 1/3 to 1/2 as marinade. The rest I bottled up and put into the frig to use for the sauce. So that stuff sat for about 5 days. One of the ingredients is red pepper flakes.

Beau called to ask if I had tasted any of the sauce. I said that I had not because it wasn’t at that point when I left this morning and I was trusting that it would be OK. He said it was blisteringly hot (spicy). Oh no!

Turns out the batch of marinade turned sauce had infused the heat from the peppers quite well and it is now so hot that it won’t work as sauce. Fortunately, I put that batch by itself in one crock pot. The other crock pot has the fresh batch that I put together this morning, so I had Beau taste it and he said there’s a kick but it’s edible. He’s going to strain the pepper flakes out now before it gets ruined, too.

This means there will be half of the sauce available, but it’s not like the pork needs a drenching. And we’re warning the woman in charge to taste it before using it so that she can determine if it’s too hot for use.

We’re keeping the first batch to try as a marinade. That could be a disaster in the making but we’re talking about a gallon of stuff here.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

For those who are interested…

The Great Meat Cook-Off of 2008 went very well. Mom and I managed to get all of the pork roasted by mid-day on Saturday. And then we stuffed the church freezer full of it all when we got their (I know how to spell - this is what happens when you post and run) there for the Saturday PM service.

The woman organizing the meal was very pleased. The dinner is tomorrow night and my parents are going, so they will be able to give an honest assessment of how it turns out.

I am making the sauce tonight and Beau will deliver it to the church tomorrow - pre-warmed to help the food prep folks have one less thing to worry about in our moderately small church kitchen. Note to self - take home the crock pot that is sitting in your office.

Also, Mom and I loaned our rice cookers to the cause. I hope to get mine back tomorrow when Beau goes to the church. I’m lost without my rice cooker.

1. My resume and other appropriate documentation is submitted for the promotion opportunity. From my reading of the requirements, it seemed slightly tailored to my skills. There’s one skillset that neither of my competition have exactly - the budgeting portion. There was one small item that I don’t have actual experience, although I’m aware of how to do that particular task and it’s relatively minor in the grand scheme. So now we wait and pray. I’m hoping that a decision is made before we leave for California.

2. I want Petrozza to win Hell’s Kitchen. I like Christina, too. But I think Petrozza has more experience and the maturity to take on Ramsey’s restaurant. Plus, I just like him. I’d love to cook with him and have a good conversation about food. Of all of the HK contestants, he is the most interesting and likeable.

3. We’re probably going to start looking at houses again in the next week or so. And I’m also starting to think about how I’d like to decorate our new house - color schemes, styles, etc. The easiest thing to start with is paint, so I’m already starting to think about colors I want in particular rooms. And I’m starting to think about how to redo Jesse’s little boy room since he’ll be ready to transition out of the crib - I’m leaning toward bypassing the character room idea and go straight into a slightly older scheme, but include fun toddler-ish elements that can be removed later as he gets older.

4. We’re able to leave early tomorrow, so that will be nice. I’m happy for the long weekend, although it is packed. We have a birthday party on Friday afternoon/evening. I’m on worship team this weekend, so we’ll have practice Saturday afternoon before the service and then I’ll be there Sunday morning. But I’m excited to sing again - I’ve started to miss it.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

1. Our landlord finally came to the house yesterday to deal with the roof issue. Supposedly he had contacted someone to come out on Saturday - that person was a no show. Also a no show on Sunday. Anyway, it was nice to meet him and he got our roof fixed and also a sagging gutter in about 30 minutes.

2. We all got our ears lowered yesterday at Cartoon Cuts. Jesse did much better this time, but he did cry the whole time. There just wasn’t the squirming around in the chair and he had a death grip on my hand. He looks so different with his hair shorter and all of his teeth now - so much like a little boy. And still super cute. I’ll try to take pictures tonight.

3. I made my mother’s delicious zucchini imperial casserole last night. I figured a gooey casserole was a good way to introduce a new vegetable to Jesse. He scarfed it down happily. And the baked chicken and rice pilaf, too. I think it was the first real meal he has eaten that didn’t include any jarred baby food. Progress! It makes me hopeful about being able to feed him well on our California trip, although we plan to take some of his jarred favorites for the plane on the way out just in case.

4. I think our house hunt is back on now that we know we are not moving. Also I think the promotion position for me in my office is finally being opened this or next week. I need to update my resume. I wonder if we should keep the house hunt on hold until that position is filled so that we know whether or not we have more salary to play with?

[UPDATE (12:30pm)]: The job opp has been opened and posted. I’m working on my resume. The potential pay raise will be very nice indeed and will definitely increase our buying power for a house. If I get the job.

5. I’m really glad we have Friday off.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Beau got the official rejection in the mail today for the job in Dallas. Now that he is no longer a candidate, I will tell you that it was a job as one of the archivists for the George W Bush Presidential Library. I think it is safe to say we are both very disappointed.

For the foreseeable future Beau will continue as stay at home dad while he reevaluates his career options. Please pray for him.

While Beau was at church parking cars, I managed to watch Failure to Launch on cable.

It was much better than I expected - very cute. Although there was one incredibly disturbing scene with Terry Bradshaw (those who have seen it know exactly what I’m talking about). I’m not a huge fan of Sarah Jessica Parker, but she was less annoying to me than usual.

3 stars out of 5.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

I hadn’t planned on watching The Kingdom because I figured it was just one more Hollywood portrayal of Americans as pseudo-good guys who really end up being bad guys. But then I heard director Peter Berg interviewed by Laura Ingraham and I moved it up on the queue. He’s directing the movie adaption of Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell, and based on what he said about that movie, I plan to see it.

Anyway, I suppose some can take that thought away from the movie - Beau sort of did with the way it ended; I didn’t.

When a terrorist bomb detonates inside a Western housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, an international incident is ignited. While diplomats slowly debate equations of territorialism, FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury quickly assembles an elite team and negotiates a secret five-day trip into Saudi Arabia to locate the madman behind the bombing.

The movie is very good and I like it a lot.

4 stars out of 5.

[UPDATE 6/30]: I updated the post because there was a whole thread that I forgot to include when I was posting yesterday. I got distracted and never came back to fix it.

A new update is up at Whiny Complaints - he feeds himself with utensils now.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Just got back from hauling the dog and the cat to the vet. Fortunately, both do well in the car. We waited a full hour to be seen by the doctor herself, during which time I considered saying something to the receptionists about maybe calling to let patients know that things are delayed and that the 1:20pm appointment could be pushed to 2:00pm or something, but I decided against it. So on to the reports:

Mr. Kitty is a healthy, thriving cat at about 15 lbs. He has lost 1 pound since his last appointment. He will need to go back in November to get his distemper updated, but other than that he’s good to go. Oh, except that I need to start brushing his plaque-y teeth. She assured me that a pediatric toothbrush (even one about to be discarded, which is handy because I just broke out a new toothbrush for Jesse last night and I happen to have a discarded pediatric toothbrush) will do and gave tips on how to get the cat not only compliant but into getting his teeth brushed.

Annie is a healthy, amazing, thriving old dog of 19 years, who also lost a bit of weight since her last appointment. There was slight concern about it, but explained by her rotten teeth that probably hurt a bit when she eats. There was the gentle suggestion of getting her teeth cleaned, to the tune of about $500, that was declined equally gently. I asked about the 4am wake up calls and the doc said that OTC melatonin may help a bit - she’s not unlike an elderly human whose cognitive wiring goes a bit off as they age. So I’ll get some of that. She also gave me samples of some anti-inflammatory drug to give for her arthritis, but that 81mg aspirin will work, too. So no go on the sedative idea. Oh well.

Both got their rabies vaccinations updated, so if you get bitten by them you will be fine.

Oh, and the chart that shows how old your dog really is said that for a 25 lbs dog of 19 years, it is the equivalent of 101 to humans. So old Annie is OLD.

The Pork Cook-Off: Mom bagged all of the tenderloins with marinade yesterday. She got 3 tenderloins into each gallon bag with 1 cup of marinade. With 8 bags to go she ran out of marinade. That’s 2 gallons of marinade. So I made a new batch of marinade for the rest of the meat and realized that I’m out of the red pepper flakes that are part of it, so Beau went to buy some for me. Then I’ll add the new marinade to the bags of pork still needing to soak - they’ll get cooked tomorrow so that they have the full day to soak up the flavors.

The cooking of the mass quantities of meat has begun. The first batch is done - 6 tenderloins took 1 full hour to get to temp. Since Mom has the majority of the meat to cook in her 3 ovens (jealous, aren’t you?), we’ll easily get them all done before church tomorrow night.

I will say this - they smell delicious.

The Supreme Court: One really good decision in the midst of some really bad decisions this session. They showed us just how important this presidential election is for determining the course of our country’s legal future. I fear the justices that a President Obama would appoint. I fear the justices a President McCain, too, sadly. We don’t need another Breyer, thank you.

The House: Two things about the house - we are working on a clear division of household chores in order to get things back the way they should be in terms of clutter and cleanliness. We both reached a point of disgust that I hope means we’ll get our butts in gear.

In other house news, I had Beau check on the leak bucket in the attic this morning. Good thing, too. As he headed up the steps, I asked if he needed a flashlight. He said, “No, I’ve got daylight!” What the?

Turns out that during the last thunderstorm that involved significant wind, the flashing thingy that covers the peak of the roof came off. We’ve got an open section of roof right at the peak that’s about 6 feet long and a few inches wide. Landlord/homeowner can’t come look at it until tomorrow AM at the earliest, so Beau is out buying a tarp and weights to cover the hole since we’re expecting thunderstorms this afternoon and through the weekend.

Jesse: Jesse has a mouth full of teeth now. All of the rest of his teeth came in over the past week or so. Poor kid. It means it’s time to make the first dentist appointment for him, too.

With the California trip coming, I was looking for a child-wearing carrier similar to the Ergo we borrowed from the Sleepys since they need the Ergo back for their own travels next month. I love the Ergo, but it’s out of our price range. I found this, which I’m hoping will work well enough with Jesse and then any future babies we may have. (No, I’m not pregnant.)

Thursday, June 26, 2008

I have a few thoughts rolling around my head, but I’m too lazy to actually do the work of formulating them into something coherent for the public. So I’ll spare you for now.