Tag: mom

Just one more thing…

A post of Short thoughts:

  • I was sad to read of the passing of Peter Falk today. (Read it first on Twitter from one of the webcomic artists I follow. But quite a few others on my Twitter feed mentioned it as well.) One of my favorite actors.

  • Well done, New York, on allowing gay marriage!

  • The folks and I watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince tonight, so only one more movie to go before the last movie comes out!

  • Last Friday night, the folks and I went to our first concert in Downtown Troy for the summer season. A fun Motown group called Touch.

  • Last Saturday was the Louisiana Boil at the Fishers. Gary even ordered 20lb of live crawdads for the boil. Well, they were live until I dumped ’em into the boiling water. Then they were delicious.

  • I’m registered for my summer survey course in Organic Chemistry taking place in mid-July. Should be fun!

  • Next weekend I’ll be in Chicago – woot! Here’s hoping judiang has a better trip home from the UK than her trip there was! Would be nice to visit her and her actually there to be visited. Heh.

  • Spending the night at the folks’ so I can go to the farmer’s market with ’em in the morning. I’ve eaten most of the cheese I bought last week.

So anyhoo, several thoughts there. Perhaps I’ll do a proper Tribute to Falk write-up later when I can organize my thoughts better. Maybe I’ll watch Murder by Death and The Cheap Detective in honor of the guy. Nah, I know… The In-Laws. I’ll bet dad would watch it with me. “Serpentine!”

Festival Season Still Continues

I had a relaxing first week off of school (lots of swimming at mom’s place, too much going out to eat).

On Thursday, the folks and I started rewatching the Harry Potter movies in preparation for the last one coming this July. We accompanied this with some Papa John’s pizza (which, to mitigate some of the impact, I walked over to pick up).

Friday, I returned so that we could go to the first summer concert in downtown Troy. Only when I got there, the folks had discovered it was also the night of the Art & Garden show at Lost Creek (which isn’t looking as lost thanks to all of the rain). We decided to go there instead. Turns out we made the right choice – I think the concert might have been moved due to the weather. And we did get rained on some at the garden show, but it was still nice. Mom got a few nice additions for her home.

Since we decided not to go late to the concert, we picked up Chinese food en route and then watched the second Harry Potter movie at their home.

The plan for today was to go to the Yellow Springs Street Fair. But first, we hopped over to the new farmer’s market in downtown Troy. It didn’t have a lot of farmers there, but mom found a new source for her free range eggs (from friends in Pleasant Hill, of all things!) and the maple syrup people might be getting some maple cream one of these days. Woot! I suspect the farmer’s market will grow as the season continues.

Yellow Springs, OH, is an interesting town. When the 1960s moved onto 1970, Yellow Springs didn’t. One of the shirts we saw (being sold by the community center or somesuch) said “Keep Yellow Springs Weird” which we all found amusing. The Yellow Springs Street Fair is a wonderful collection of craft (and food) vendors selling all sorts of neat things. That being said, the folks only bought 1 thing and I bought none (apart from a lemon shake-up which had been made with the most chemically tasting water I’ve had in years). Still, it was neat being at a craft show where it wasn’t full of American flags and OSU memorabilia. Mom commented that the show may be crowded, hot, and miserable, but it was always fun. I definitely agree. 🙂

Dad had hoped to eat at the Tavern in Yellow Springs, but there was an hour wait (at least). The second place we tried, same thing. And none of us wanted to eat street food since there really wasn’t any place in the shade to sit and eat. So once we finished seeing all of the booths (and I think we did see them all), we returned to our car and headed back. I suggested eating in Fairborn, and the folks agreed. And since I recommended Tickets Pub & Eatery, I also popped into the Bookery for my Doctor Who magazines. Heh.

So the fairs and festivals and art shows continue. And tomorrow I head to Indiana for training for my college-level high school chemistry class. IU has a hotel in their student union – ain’t that a kicker? They’re covering the cost for me to stay there Sun-Wed, which is nice. No idea what sort of ‘net capabilities that I’ll have on campus, but I’m pretty sure that off campus I’ll be able to find some wifi. 🙂

Mmmm, Strawberries

I spent the weekend at mom & dad’s place. Saturday was a day to swim in the pool and to have grilled burgers. (Earlier in the day, though, we had lunch at Taco Bell.) Sunday was our trip to the Troy Strawberry Festival.

We arrived shortly after it opened at 10am and walked to the levy from the high school parking lot. We started down one side of the levy checking out the crafts and deciding what we’d eat later when we’d gotten hungry. My first purchase, as usual, was a strawberry lemon shake-up. It’s tasty and gives me something to savor while perusing the festival.

An hour or so later, we had gotten to the far end and decided anything we saw at that point that we wanted, we should buy (so we wouldn’t have to go all the way back again). My second purchase was a strawberry empanada (basically a fried strawberry pie). We all agreed it was pretty tasty.

We saw folks we knew at some of the booths, and while the folks were talking to some of their friends at one booth, I bought a strawberry cupcake. Small and tasty with a nice icing (and a slice of strawberry on top).

I was hoping one of the vendors was doing the 1/2 bbq chicken that our firehouse does each Memorial Day Sunday. But since I always have my friends around, I never get to have it anymore. (Silly judiang and elsaf don’t care much for it. No accounting for taste! 😉 Heh.) Alas, none of the booths seemed to be selling it this year, so I went with the winner from last year – the grilled pork chop sandwich. I also bought another container of their rub since I’m running out of the one from last year. The booth was also selling strawberry smoothies, so I got one (the shake-up long since gone).

Mom and I ate our sandwiches (she’d ordered the same) and drank our smoothies while father waited in line for his bourbon street chicken, beans, and rice. When it did arrive, it turned out to be worth the wait. Next year, it’s going to be a harder decision if both the pork chops and the bourbon street chicken are back again. Our final strawberry treat of the festival was a strawberry pizza from Fox’s Pizza Den. A nice and tasty combo of cinnamon’ed pizza crust, fruit dip, and strawberries.

Having spent two hours at the festival, we waddled back to the car (actually, none of us actually felt stuffed, just full, so that was good) and returned to their home. Mom and I returned to the pool and I vegged there for awhile (reading my BeBook or swimming) before finally returning home.

My intention was to do laundry, but I was sleepy, so I had supper and then took a nap. When I later got up, I at least got my sheets and undies cleaned before bedtime. Heh.

If you ask me, this was a good (and tasty) start to my summer vacation. 🙂

Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

Today marks the 43rd anniversary of my parents’ wedding. They’ve been sweethearts since junior high school, which is really quite nifty. To celebrate, I’m taking ’em out somewhere tonight for steak. Hopefully they’ll have picked a restaurant by the time I get there. 🙂

Anyhoo, feel free to join me in my virtual toast to the greatest parents a weird kid like me could have ever hoped for.

<toast>Thanks, mom & dad, for falling in love, getting married, and having me & Amy. It’s been a great ride thus far!</toast>

Paul

Apologies to the SMASters – they’ll see this in the forum as well as here.

Today (well, officially yesterday now), Mom and I went out to see a movie together (been ages since it was just the two of us – back when I was little, we did it from time to time – I remember Superman and Snoopy Come Home in particular). Originally she wanted to see Rango, but I’d mentioned a hankering to see Paul. She read the premise and decided to humor my British-obsessed self.

So we paid our $5.25 (sheesh, the price at Piqua just keeps getting higher & higher!), sat in our comfy chairs (the main reason I prefer Piqua over Troy for movie watching), watched our 15+ minutes of trailers, and eventually got to laugh mightily while watching Paul. Quite a treat and, IMO, Simon Pegg’s best flick yet. I was still remembering bits & chuckling to myself when we returned to mom & dad’s house.

I twigged on who The Big Guy was early on, and mom figured it out too before the flick was over. Amy (my sis) would be proud of us. She has us well trained. Best pay-off line was near the end. I almost stomped my feet in delight. :-)(Mother, of course, fwapped me. Though it wasn’t the first time she did it in the movie. I apparently laugh quite loudly.)

Anyhoo, Simon & Nick (Frost) did a great job on this flick. Although you get more out of it by being a scifi geek like me (the bar scene with the big brouhaha? listen to the music playing and I bet most of you will recognize it), even folks only on the fringe of scifi geekery (like mum) can enjoy the movie as well.

Done with Shopping!

Well, no, I’m not done with all shopping, ever. That would be sad. But I am done with Christmas shopping. This might be the earliest I’ve ever been done shopping. Weyhey!

This weekend was a particular productive one, both in shopping and in other things. On Saturday, Bruckner Nature Center had their Winter Arts Fair, which was excellent. (And it was especially lovely since it was snowing the whole time we were oot & aboot.) We (the folks and I) were there over an hour looking at all the booths and buying quite a few things. And seeing a fair number of people that we knew. Last year was the first year we attended and I can see this becoming a yearly tradition.

Afterward, I took the parental units up to Piqua for a bit of shopping there. I found a larger wreath for my porch and got new window lights as well. Then at the Sears in the mall, I found an air purifier that was actually quiet and energy star compliant. After I dropped the folks off at home, I went to Lowes and picked up some cabinet pull-out drawers for my kitchen and some blinds for the library and bedroom. Once I was home, I finished my Christmas shopping online. Phew!

Sunday was Productivity Day wherein I did laundry and rehung my outdoor decorations and got the tree upstairs and made more ornaments and stuff. And last night I got one set of my cabinet drawers installed (the two-tiered one). This will definitely make getting stuff out for cooking/baking MUCH easier.

Still much to be done. Finish decorating the tree. Decorate the house. Make the home-made Xmas gifts. Install the blinds. Install the other cabinet drawer. More stuff that I can’t think of right now. 🙂

Hope things are going well with your holiday plans (if’n you have holiday plans)! Hard to believe there’s only 10 more school days of 2010!

And December Begins!

Today was our first half-decent snowfall of the season. Yay! This evening we were without power for about half an hour. Boo! But I spent the time reading on my cellphone, so that was OK. Yay!

Been busy of late, so I’ll do a quicky summary.

  • Had the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off. Got some stuff done in the house, such as installing my blinds, which had been sitting around for ages. (Need to get more for the other winders.)
  • Thanksgiving was very nice. Made Thanksgiving cheeseball (which I also took to the staff carry-in the previous Tuesday) and sweet potato souffle. I also prepared two Market Day pies – Apple and a chocolate pecan cream pie that was quite a hit.
  • We held the Short gathering for Thanksgiving at the Clubhouse at mom & dad’s community. Most of the family was able to attend – yay!
  • Didn’t rush off to stores on Black Friday, just hung out all day with the parental units. I did some actual Christmas shopping after I got home that night and hung out at Amazon.com, Edmund Scientific, and other stores.
  • The weekend was a nice relaxing one with some exterior Christmas decorating (which has since fallen down – guess I didn’t have the right sized Command strips…)

Keeping busy and avoiding productivity at home of late by playing World of Warcraft (and I’ve already pre-ordered Cataclysm!) Hopefully I will start productivity up again soon!

Back from MN/House Update

We’ve actually been back a couple of days (returned home on Tuesday), but I’ve been lazy about posting. We definitely had a ball with the girls. I miss ’em already!

We did wind up going to Hell’s Kitchen for breakfast. I had the French toast, which was very yummy, but also got to taste some other foodstuff. The rosti potatoes were tasty, and their signature peanut butter was – wow. The girls told me it was wonderful, but I figured "how different can this peanut butter be?" It was very very tasty – so tasty that I bought some for me, the girls, and my cousin who was checking on the kitties.

We dropped Rachel back at the house and then we visited Half Price Books (where everyone found something to buy, except me, alas!) and then returned to Home Depot to return some fittings that we’d bought thinking they were for a sink, only they were for a toilet & didn’t fit Amy’s new faucet. While we were at the bookstore, Amy realized she’d left her wallet on the sofa at home. So dad, impressed with a new excuse, paid for Amy’s CDs. (He’s heard ’em all, though usually from me. Heh.) Still, no wallet at Home Depot made the return trickier than it should have been. But let’s hear it for store credit!

We returned to the house to fiddle about, but it was soon time for Rachel to head for work. Yes, she was going to work a 6-hour shift even with her sprained ankle. Amy & mom took her to Seward Co-Op so she could work (they provided a stool for her – they treat their employees nicely) and so Amy could shop.

While the girls were off at the grocery, dad worked on putting up a second clothes line in the basement. Only the cinder blocks that make up the walls must contain diamond dust in ’em. The carbide bit was dead before he could get the second brace in place.

Mom & Amy brought back a nice assortment of groceries, including stuff for lupper. We had rotisserie chicken and salad. Mom & I did the dishes while Amy & dad went to the hardware store. Once dad was back with the new bit, he successfully got the new line up.

Amy decided to try and put her new faucet in, only to discover that removing the old one was going to be a PITA. She didn’t have the right tools to do the job, so she’ll probably get a handyman (or handywoman) in to do it. Leverage – it’s what you need to remove old faucets.

We had wine time after awhile, though it was actually mohito time. Amy made mohitos for me & mom & herself, dad had a beer. We had brie and baguettes and grapes. All yummy. Us ladies then tried to play Amy’s old board game (actually a RPG) Cloak & Dagger, based upon (loosely) the movie by the same name. Though we made a few mistakes, we all agreed it was pretty fun to play. But we didn’t get to finish because it was time for Amy to pick Rachel up from work. We all loaded into the car & Amy dropped the folks off at the hotel. Then we went to Seward to get Rachel.

We were running early, so Amy took a scenic route to Seward. And were still early, so we popped into the new video rental place, Filmzilla. It’s actually a film rental place that Amy loved which had replaced another rental place which she’d found handy. It’s right across from a Thai place and a liquor store across the street makes for a perfect trio. She figures Friday Night Date Night is a go once again in their household. 🙂

We got Rachel and returned home, in time for cookie time. We munched on cookies (or cinnamon bagels in Rachel’s case) and chatted. It was here that Amy & I realized we’d been playing Cloak & Dagger incorrectly. Whoops! Rachel was ready for bed after her 6 hour workday with sprained ankle. So to bed we went.

Tuesday morning, Amy got up before us and got donuts from their favorite bakery. Very yummy cake donuts – she got plain & cinnamon. She also made us scrambled eggs. After awhile, she picked up the folks and they also had donuts & some coffee. We had a leisure morning in the house, but far too soon it was time for us to move on.

Amy drove us to French Meadow Bakery & Cafe for lunch. I had a curried chicken salad sandwich and creamy tomato basil soup. Very tasty, even though the sandwich was on rye. I then bought dessert for folks and decided to try the Tres Leches (three milks) cake. It was very yummy – and the cake was actually damp because it was soaked in evaporated milk before it was iced. We also had an almond & lingonberry cake, which looked like a giant chocolate petit four, and a carrot cake. Oh, and I’d also ordered a vanilla French soda, which is like an Italian soda (soda water, flavoring, simple syrup) with milk. A tasty treat to end our trip.

We were once again ahead of schedule, so Amy decided to take a more scenic route to the airport. Which turned out to not be the best idea since there were a few detours & other issues on this route. Still, we got there an hour & a half before our flight. Only to spend most of that time trying to get through security. Probably the longest I’ve waited in awhile. Still, we were on time to our gate and soon boarded our plane.

In Milwaukee we had a 2+ hour layover. I decided to watch ep 3 of Shelock and probably would have finished it except we went to a bar for booze & treats. I tried a mixed drink of theirs with Malibu rum, peach schnapps, and cranberry juice. Pretty tasty. The folks tried the local beer – spotted cow. We also got some pizza dough knots and some calamari, both with a marinara dipping sauce. Tasty stuff.

The flight to Dayton was uneventful and when we got outside, there was a shuttle waiting. It wasn’t long before we were in Troy, then I was soon home. The kitties were happy to see me. Happier when I gave ’em a treat. 🙂

Yesterday, I got to see my house properly now that it’s mostly done (it was dark when I got home). It’s really cute. 🙂 I also got to get into my classroom and do a recce. I also took some carts from the girl’s locker room storage to my room (though the chemicals are still in there). But it was too overwhelming to start unpacking.

I had a late lunch in Troy at Chipotles, then decided to visit mom & dad. It looked like they were out, but then I got a call from mom on my cell phone. Turns out they were at my house. Heh. They both like the changes to my house and think it’s cute. So yay! I am not alone in thinking the place is cute.

Today I returned to the school, but with minions in tow. My little cousins (one of whom looked after the kitties for me) agreed to come & help me unpack. I had taken all of the stuff I was storing in my basement to the school. Then we got all of the glassware boxes unpacked and stuff put into the student lab drawers (which are smaller than what I had in the old building). I treated them to Panera for lunch. (Strawberry poppyseed salad for the win! I also had the chicken & noodle soup.) We also worked after lunch and headed home near 4pm. Haven’t decided yet if I go in tomorrow.

Anyhoo, I suspect you’re anxious to see the near-final photos of my house. So, what do you think?

Front of house, nearly done
Front of house, nearly done

Angled front of house view
Angled front of house view

South side view
South side view

Garage front view
Garage front view

Garage side view
Garage side view

Accident-free Days

Rachel called a moratorium on accidents for Saturday, so thankfully no one got hurt then or yesterday. Originally Rachel was going to work on Saturday, but her urgent care doc said no way Jose. So we got an extra day with Rachel – woohoo!

Amy made a nice breakfast for everyone (which was a second breakfast for the parents who have free breakfast at the hotel) which included sour dough coffeecake, scrambled eggs, and really yummy hashbrowned potatoes. Actually, it was all really yummy.

We decided that after the leisure lunch, we’d go see a movie. Although I’d seen Inception already, I was willing to see it again (it’s a fun movie) and everyone else was eager to see it. Amy drove us to a neat theater in a part of town I’ve not been before (can’t recall the name offhand) and we shared popcorn & watched the flick. I think everyone enjoyed it.

Amy drove us to Punch (think clowns) after the movie and we split some pizzas and a salad and an item they call the Pulcinella: a salad stuffed into a pizza crust that has bubbled up. It was all very tasty. We left Rachel playing Tetris on my phone in the restaurant while the four of us went to the liquor store nearby. I picked out an assortment of dessert items in the liquor store’s cheese shop while dad, mom, and Amy bought wine & beer & tonic water.

We returned home for some napping and then gameplay. Dad read while the rest of us played two games of Ingenious. Rachel won the first & I won the second. A fun game. We also ate the desserts I had bought, which were quite yummy.

The folks returned to their hotel (they’re experts at bus travel now) and we went to bed.

Sunday was to be Dim Sum & Winery day. We got up at a decent hour and had intended to be at Mandarin Kitchen before 10:30, but we got there at 10:30. The place was packed (literally – I felt like a sardine waiting to hear our name called) but we were seated in half an hour. The joint didn’t have an atmosphere so much as a cacophony (as dad noted). But the food was tasty and the five of us ate for $77 incl. tip. It was dad’s first Dim Sum experience and he wasn’t wowed by the food. But the rest of us enjoyed ourselves, despite the din.

Amy then drove us to Hastings, MN to the Alexis Bailly Vineyard. They have wine tastings for $5, and they give you a lot of wine for that fiver. They had 4 whites, 2 reds, a rose, sangria, and several dessert wines. There were actually a couple of wines that I liked (one even reminding me of the Granello I had in Italy that I liked). The folks who own the winery are very friendly and the place would be ideal for picnicking, if it hadn’t been so bloody hot that day.

In the gift shop, the girls bought two bottles of wine and I bought a baguette, a really nice Gran Queso (from Wisconsin), and some cheddar cheese curds (also from Wis). We returned to the house for some resting.

Since there was a heat index of around 100F, Amy decided to grill some veggies for our wine time. Apparently she didn’t need to salt anything, her sweat did the work. (No, not really, but damn was it hot). I was working on A & R’s computers to get my To Do list whittled down and got quite a few things accomplished. I may get it all done before I go – woohoo!

Wine time was wonderful – lots of yummy grilled veggies, cheese, beer bread & baguette slices, all of it tasty. While we were eating a cold front moved through, so we sat outside for awhile, until it threatened to rain. The folks returned to their hotel and the girls and I sat in the living room and looked up pets on adoption sites. Then it was bedtime (actually, past bedtime).

We’re all up now and getting ready. Looks like we’re going to Hell’s Kitchen for breakfast. The girls assure me that the homemade peanut butter is excellent, so maybe I’ll buy some for home. Gonna go brush my teeth now, then I’ll be good to go.

A visit to the girls

The folks and I are visiting Amy & Rachel this week. It’s been a fun, albeit interesting, trip thus far.

Amy’s 15 year old cat (which she’d had for 9 years) had been very sick and not eating. She and Rachel made the difficult decision on Tuesday to call the traveling vet to have him put down. Very sad. So after the folks and I arrived on Wednesday, I stayed with the girls & the folks checked into their hotel room. The vet was supposed to get there at 4:30pm. So we were all sitting with Fruvous upstairs in their bedroom. But she called at 4 to say she wouldn’t be able to make it until 6:30. Gah.

The girls decided to nap, so they napped and Fuvous slept with them. (Very cute – I got a photo.) After a bit he decided to wander. He wound up downstairs by the back door, so the girls decided he should have some outdoor time. So we spent the next hour or so following Fruvous around the yard. He wound up in front of the house, just resting & watching people go by. Around 6, Rachel carried him back into the house and he decided to sit in the basement for a bit. The vet didn’t show up at 6:30, however.

Fru returned to the main floor after a bit, and eventually back up to their bedroom. The vet arrived shortly before 7:30. She apologized for the lateness and removed the housecall charge from their final bill. She was very respectful of Amy & Rachel and Fruvous. The process went by pretty painlessly for Fruvous and the girls. They got to say their farewells and pet him during the process. He was a good cat.

We decided to get out of the house, so Rachel drove us to mom & dad’s hotel to pick them up, then took us to the Birchwood Cafe for a late supper. I had the Heirloom Tomato BLT, which was very tasty. The folks were returned to the hotel and we girls headed home.

Yesterday, like today, I had a blueberry bagel w/ cream cheese and a glass of milk for breakfast. Then Amy dropped me off at the hotel on her way to work. I spent the day with the parental units, having a working lunch with one of dad’s friends from Westar where I pitched using Drupal for Westar’s website to make it more immediate & interactive. We ate at Brit’s Pub, where I had very tasty fish & chips.

Amy was done with work around 4:30 and picked us up soon after. We then spent the evening at their house, having wine time in the kitchen and ice cream on their back deck. A very fun night. The folks then took the bus back to the hotel (successfully, on their own!)

Today started out nicely, except that Rachel had to go to a meeting, then work on a cover letter & update her resume. The folks made it back to the house via bus (but had to wait over 40 minutes for said bus) and then Amy took us off to Grumpy’s where Summit Brewery was having a cask of their beer for folks to try. Not being a regular beer fan (unless it’s beer bread, beer soup, or beer batter), I had a Mike’s Hard Lemonade. But the other’s tried this triple fermented beer (a golden ale, I think they called it) and seemed to enjoy it. Rachel was able to join us afterward, eating a little something from each of our plates (we all had far too much food) and having the Summit beer. She then rode her bike on home to finish up her typing and we went to Home Depot for a new faucet and then to Magers & Quinn bookstore.

It wasn’t until we were nearly to the bookstore that Amy remembered the Uptown Art Fair. But she found a place to park despite all the people there and we went to the bookstore. I picked up two books and met the folks perusing the fair. We were all a bit tired and headed back home.

After some napping, Dad decided to start working on Amy’s shelves in the basement. Amy joined him soon after, then later Rachel bounded down the steps – only to miss the last step. She fell & twisted her ankle, badly. Poor Rachel! After awhile, she was well enough to scoot backward up the steps and Amy drove her to Urgent Care. So the folks and I worked on those shelves, getting them completed only to find out they STILL weren’t stable when built. Dad declared them unsafe, so we took them apart and have since recommended to Amy to take ’em back.

Mom and I made beer bread (which by the end of the evening we were calling Brother Bob’s buttless bitter bundt beer bread) which we wound up putting in a bundt pan when we couldn’t find a bread pan. Then we had wine time from last night’s leftovers. The girls got back from Urgent Care around 9pm and had some beer bread, cheese, and ice cream. Then the folks took the bus back to their hotel. The girls and I chatted some, deciding that despite the twisted ankle, we’d had a good day, and headed for bed.

Here’s hoping tomorrow will be less eventful.