Xmas come and gone

Greetings and and salutations all,
Once again the holiday season draws to a close here very soon. Henry and I wish a wondrous New Year to you all.

Now that that is out of the way, we've just been hanging around the house this week after Xmas. Henry is catching up with some friends from the ol' cul de sac and I've been slowly but surely working towards putting away ever more stuff from the move. Settling in is quite unsettling if I do say so myself. Buth has been pretty crazed with all the activity and he sometimes is the furry whirling dervish which tends to leave lots of fir needles on the ground around the Xmas tree with his big ol' tail. But he keeps us amused and happy so we like keeping him somewhat wound up anyway.

Henry and I are both fighting colds and although we were supposed to go to Oregon this weekend for New Year's we're staying home, taking care of ourselves and catching up a bit. It didn't help that the cars 3rd cylinder started misfiring a couple days ago and I didn't feel good driving that far especially in the kind of weather we have been experiencing between here and McMinnville. They had snow over ice last week and there has been driving rain between there and Edmonds for the past week or so. It was a good excuse to stay home but today dawned pretty clear and cold, supposed to have a high around 45 or so.

New House & Various Updates

Well, we moved. We're only a couple blocks from where we were and closer to downtown. The house is great although much of it still in boxes a couple weeks after the move but at least we have internet and tv left over from the last tenants. Hen ry likes it here and likes that we are near the friends we made over the past few years in the cul de sac. I like being so close to downtown and it being very convenient and our new landlords are terrific.
The holidays are here and I am once again far behind but this year I believe I have a good excuse with the move and all but we have the tree up as well as some
the dog and played some computer games. He made it 2 hours which really impressed me and everyone else without any other kids to play with.
Henry will be with his Mom the week prior to Xmas and then with me the week after. I am looking FW to having a down week to finish unpacking and get his gifts ready as well as get the house ready for Santa's visit. He keeps telling me he wants and IPOD but that might be a bit much. I think I want to cater to his creative side and get him some more art suplies and I'm looking at a travel easel that I'm sure he'd love.
We are starting to talk about the ADA ride again this year and have already received the signup information. I'm pretty sure we'll do it again as we were so successful both in reaching our goals of finishing and in fund raising as well.

I'll do my best to get some photos of us and the new digs up here as well as be better about moe updates going forward. I miss doing it and I've heard some of you have missed the updates too.

Bye for now

No Work / No School Friday

Well, it's been a while since my last update. Guess I just kinda lost interest there for a bit. Today, Henry and I are home on a no school day so it's a good day to take a day off and spend some quality time just being our wee family.
Updates of late...
Henry has put in the first few weeks of school, he is thriving after a bit of a personality issue with one of his teachers. Kristin and I were ready to dive in and get some face time w/ the teacher but Henry has now asked that we wait until the scheduled conferences in a couple weeks anyway. He is doing better and seems to a be a bit more engaged and that's all I want. Both Kristin and I understand that the teacher cannot teach to each individual student but certainly can work a lot of different techniques into the lesson plan in order to engage a lot of different individuals and their learning styles. I'm not a teacher and I don't know best how to handle these challenges but I do know that most students (like me) always do better if they are actively engaged and challenged which is where the problem seemed to lie; Henry was being taught to (taught WHAT to learn, rather than HOW to learn) thather than being taught. We'll still discuss this with his teacher over conferences and feel it's still very important and valid to get this to this relatively new teacher.
Henry's school fundraiser is going along nicely, he has done well but needs to get out and spend some more time this weekend in the neighborhood as last year he found great success with our friends in the area.
Work for me is good, just had my yearly performance review and came out of that OK. I have a few things to work on and I knew what these were going into it and with a bit more focus I feel I can really excel. I kinda lost track of things workwise and lost my focus for a while and I will work on getting that back now. There is a great deal of opportunity and I need to reach out and take it. I'm just about to my 13th anniversary here and still can't really get too excited about the prospect of moving on or doing anything too different as I still what I do just about every day.
Nothing too new on the food front, I did try using the guanciale with fried fresh corn w/ onions, garlic and jalapenos but it adds such an earthy note to the dish I'm not quite sure where to use it again. Probably with something really hearty such as a lamb or pork ragu w/ gnocchi or polenta. I'm sure I'll figure out something. I did open a 96 Silver Oak Alexander Valley last weekend and had it with a oven roated parmesan chicken breast, steamed broccoli and a nice pilaf, killing the remainder of the bottle Monday night with a sublime burger with bacon, Maytag blue cheese and Mama Lil's peppers and salt & vinegar potatoe crisps. Had to wonder what the great unwashed were up to at that point, I must admit but sometimes I just need to spoil myself. Sometime this weekend Henry and I will be baking a batch of King Rufus' Doggie Biscuits for Butch, Henry loves to make them and Butch loves to eat them. Tomorrow we are attending a world record attempt for largest cinnamon roll in a nearby town, Mill Creek. The bakery is hoping to bring out a roll topping 250 pounds!!! I must admit it sounds pretty wild and Henry is pretty excited about it as it sounds just crazy enough to interest a 7 year old. Hopefully we can get there soon enough for at least Henry to get a taste of this biggest in the world thing anyway.
Not much else so I'll sign off for now but here's a couple of pretty recent pictures of Henry just for fun:

Tuesday Tuesday

Got home and took the dog for a walk and I'm enjoying a lovely Evesham Wood pinot as I contemplate the lovely evening and what to have for dinner. I stopped @ my local cheese shop and picked up some special order guanciale they got from Salumi for me, mmmMMM! Nothing like yummy pig parts but now I need to figure out what to do with it. Check it out here under the product listing; http://www.salumicuredmeats.com/.
Last night I whipped up some gnocchi w/ fresh sage cream and opened the Evesham Wood. A fine meal but would have been better with some crispy rendered guanciale I'll wager. I may just settle for goat cheese w/ some hot soppressata from Salumi and Mama Lil's tonight.
Henry will return tomorrow for a couple days and I'm looking forward to that time with him. We spoke last night and he seems so positive about everything right now, it's really wonderful to see the difference in him this school year. I have another weekend without him this week so I'll get some more stuff done around the house, trying to catch up on fall cleaning and then on some movies and such that Henry can't see.
I'm reading so many articles you've all been kind enough to forward my way regarding the New Orleans debacle. Pleased understand that my rant earlier in this blog still stands, those reporting that it is not the Feds responsibility but the responsibility of the local and state gov's are partially right but after the feds saw that the local and state dudes were unable to render assistance and come to the aid of the people who were following the rules and staying out of trouble, the feds should have stepped in. Taking 4 days to get drinking water to these people was reprehensible regardless of fault. If the feds had moved in after 48 hours and pushed the locals out of the way and took over, I'd say it was the locals problem, but the fact remains that the blame falls on everyone associated with any authority from the locals to the feds. I am very ashamed of Louisiana and my country regarding how this was handled.
I am however very proud to say I'm an American when I look at how the common people of this great land of ours have come together and worked for the greater good. Many putting aside long help prejudices and ingrown morality to help those around them that have been affected. Many have given what they could not have even imagined giving only days before and so many people are reaching out. I find that many companies are matching donations just like my employer and the show of support I last heard from the "charity" football game last night (11 million! Way to go NFL fans!) has been truly awe inspiring. These are great times to be a parent as we can share this overall sense of giving, sharing and goodwill with our children. What a tremendous lesson they can take through life

Happy Thursday

I've been off the keys for a few days but I'll catch you all up.

Henry is here and we have been having a good time this past couple days. He ate well tonight and is busy putting together a birthday gift from Gene (Thanks Gene!), a Lego monster truck. He's pretty concentrated and working very hard. He knows he'll be back at his Mom's the next few days so he is working to finish it tonight but I don't think that'll happen.
I'm busying myself with a glass of 03 Broadley Estate and I must say it's mighty fine juice. I have a large Turley order to go in tomorrow, didn't get it all sold but most. Too expensive even for many of the high rollers I have on the distribution. Coffaro should be coming soon so I'm happy about that but I only get 3 bottles this time around. Life is hard. Looking forward to more Broadley after turkey day. Tonight was grilled chicken breast with a drizzle of Mama Lil's kick butt oil and marinated cannellinni beans left over from the neighborhood potluck on Sunday. What a great party!
Henry and I attended the block party and he had a great time with the kids from the 'hood and I met a bunch of the people that I've missed along the way over the past couple years so it was a great success.
Tried a new hangout up by the zoo called El Chupacabra with Gene and Lenard Tuesday and they make a fine Patron margarita. I thought it was a bar but it is really a restaurant and Henry has been asking if he can go and it is now good to know he can, in fact he was disappointed he didn't get to go Tuesday as he likes my friends. We got some dinner and then topped off the evening @ a little Italian place that Lenard knows (he was the first customer through the door when they opened so he's a bit of a celebrity) for an aperitif and I am now in love with the bartender Amy, she pours a fine cocktail and looks good while doing it. Now I have to go back and try to food, it looks great. Chef Don came out and asked us to taste a couople of wines he has recently blended in Eastern Washington to serve as the new house reds. Both were very good but we unanimously picked the smoother blend even though the other was a bit more acidic and tannic more like a supertuscan or a Chianti classico. Check out the menu here http://www.volterrarestaurant.com/
Henry is really enjoying school and the difference so far this year even after just a couple weeks is astounding. His friend Brandon was moved to another classroom and both he and Henry are very upset but I think it is for the best especially seeing the immediate change in Henry's attitude towards school. The boys still get to see each other at circle and during lunch and recess but for most of the day they are separated and I think that will end up being better for them both. They feed off each other and are a big distraction plus Henry came home last year many days saying things like "we hate this" or "we hate that" and when asked who we is, he always said "me and Brandon". Now already he talks about his day more and what "I" did rather than the "we" that was so prevalent. He has other friends and he is starting to talk about them more as well. He stayed at after care yesterday for a play date and while he was disappointed his friend Logan went home early, he made a new friend Spencer. He likes getting to go to aftercare once or twice a week and it allows me a bit more freedom for work or errands for a nominal price. It's a great program and like a playdate for him. He was ready to hit the hay by 8:30 last night and that's a bit earlier than usual so it wears him out as well.
Signing out now so,

Have fun and go nuts

Another Good Saturday

Yesterday was our good Friend Gene's 63rd birthday. Henry and I picked out a Lego Enzo Ferrari for him to build (I expect Henry will help a bit) since he has been dropping hints for the past couple years. Henry wrapped it and signed the card and made another card for me to give him and we're on our way over to his house to drop it by today.
It was a nice relaxing morning, poppin' fresh cinnamon rolls and coffee with the paper this morning. Henry let me sleep until after 9am. After breakfast we hit the Saturday farmer's market for corn and bread, made our way to the cheesmonger (Delice de Bourgogne and hot soppressata) and today there was a car show downtown so we spent some time there and ran into Henry's Mom and Grandmother.
Fresh bread with goat cheese and Mama Lil's while Henry spent some time with his Mom.

Today is a Good Day

I'm proud to say my company has committed to a 5 million dollars over the next 5 years donation to the long term relief efforts of the Red Cross following hurricane Katrina. I like working for a company that put the care and well being of our employees immediate needs first as well as sending water and coffee for all of those affected by the devastating loss as soon as it happened but it makes me even more proud to work for a company that can then make a thoughtful decision to send an enduring donation to be used by the Red Cross as the area and these people work to rebuild.
I am sad I will never see the New Orleans of before but I know that with assistance such as this we can one day see and visit a new New Orleans with the hope that is is rebuilt with the same spirit as before.
In reading the letters to the editor in the Seattle Times today, it seems quite a number of people believe as I do that it is unconscionable of the Boeing Machinists to be going on strike not only after they have helped the company lose it's #1 aeronautical sales ranking to Airbus (a French company, by the way) but also that while many people have lost everything these people see fit to complain about offers of more money and benefits over the next 3 years as not good enough. I feel bad these people might actually have to buy their undies at Target instead of Nordstrom like the common folk but in the face of the disaster in the gulf states, I find it repugnant.

Wednesday w/ Henry

I picked up Henry @ school this afternoon and he was waiting outside with his teacher. It was noce to see Ellin again and talk a bit about Henry and school. He is in great spirits and seems already to be very positive about school after only 2 days. He told me about his day and was genuinely happy to tell about it.
We went to get ice cream and since it is the first week, I splurged and got him a shake, he loves them but most of the time I say no in the late afternoon but it was warm and kind of special since I missed him so much the last couple days.
Last night I made Gnocchi with goat cheese and Mama Lil's kick butt peppers and it was good but I need to puree the peppers first and make a sauce since after they were sauteed there was little pulp left and just mainly skins so the texture was a bit off. I'm half through with the 1st quart jar I bought last week. The other pepper guys and I all stand around gabbin' about how we used our peppers the night before. We'll be ready for another order in just a couple weeks I'll bet. We need to try the peppalilli and pickled asparagus. Everyone is excited about those as well. I'll try them on pizza tonight!
Here's a bit of fun @ the latest gas prices:

Henry's First Day of 2nd Grade

Well, today Henry went back to school. He wasn't too excited as I reported before but I could tell he wanted to see his friends and teachers again.
He said he missed some of recess because he "wasn't following the rules" and apparently was not being quiet when asked. It was probably tough being with his friends again and the excitement of the first day and reporting his summer adventures to everyone. He said his teacher Ellin was glad to see him back and he liked seeing his cronies.
He'll be back with me at our house for a couple days starting tomorrow after school and I can't wait. Even though he spent a couple of extra days with me last weekend and I saw him over the past couple weeks he was with his Mom, I missed him like crazy. It will be nice to spend some time with him at home instead of rushing around and having to share him with others for a couple days. It was certainly fun to see everyone and catch up with their lives while celebrating Grandpa's birthday and I'm really glad we got to be a part of it.

Labor Day Weekend Day 3

Well, the trip to Oregon was an uneventful 500 miles of driving but it was worth it. Henry had a good time and so did Grampa Don. He got to visit with almost all his kids and 4 of the grandkids and some of us were even a surprise. I'm glad he was so happy to see and spend time with everyone.
We had some pu-pus of salami, cheeses and nuts with wine last night and dinner of grilled tri tip, roasted garlic rosemary spuds and green beans with a couple of really special wines; a Cuneo Cana's Feast Red Mountain Bordeaus Blend and a Witness Tree Benchmark Pinot Noir.
Breakfast was kind of a quick get together this morning and back on the road for all of us, back to Seattle and Eugene.
Here's a couple photos:
















Henry Starts school tomorrow and he says he's not excited but I can tell he's ready to see his friends and be a big man in the classroom this year, beside the fact that he didn't want to take that job I found him cleaning fish :)

Labor Day Weekend Day 1

Today I slept in, read the paper, drank coffee and played with the dog. Finished the laundry and got some great fingerling potatoes @ the farmer's market, the same as last week. These are great roasted w/ a little olive oil, S&P with whole cloves of garlic. Yum, yum melt in your mouth kind of stuff.
Visited the local cheese shop for treats for our trip tomorrow to Oregon, picked up some Rogue River Blue, Old Chatham Ewes Blue as well as some Salumi mole and hot soppresatta for nosh time w/ the folks tomorrow. They supply the wine.
I'll pick up Henry and we'll be driving to celebrate Grandpa Don's 80th birthday on Monday. Big drive but it's worth it and I'm sure we'll have some fun both on the way and the short time we're there.

Hurricane Disaster

Today I am ashamed of my country.

I have never before felt this way. Whether agreeing or disagreeing with the current or past administrations, disgust at people feeling the need to force their own beliefs down the throats of others and the christian right in general (wasn't the idea behind the original european settlers coming to America about religious freedom?), sadness because of the general lack of simple courtesies we show one another and lack of regard for those around us and much, much more. All of it is difficult to see and to understand but nothing has ever made me as angry as the lack of response to the people affected by hurricane Katrina.
People who following instructions by the local authorities proceeded to the relative safety of the New Orleans Convention Center where they had no food or water available. These people were turned back from the kitchens and stocks in the convention center by the National Guard (not blaming the individual soldiers) and continued to believe that help would come. Local military bases were stocked and available to move precious supplies but claim they were encumbered by the posse comitatus act from acting as a police-like force on US soil. I call bullshit to this and do not understand how providing basic food and water to stranded people could be construed as a police action. We are all members of the greater family of Americans.

I feel helpless and ashamed that we as a nation do not have the infrastucture in place to take care of our own people while we continue to take care of the rest of the world. I am a supporter of the war on terrorism and feel that the US and our allies need to fight the good fight even though this does not seem to be the popular view. However, the fight must begin here, in our own country as we strive to preserve our own freedoms and way of life. How do we preserve our way of life if we cannot even provide drinking water during a natural disaster of which we had warning?

What if the levees in New Orleans had been targeted and destroyed by terrorists, would we have been able to respond in that case?

I am ashamed and this makes me sad.