My Life in the Pacific Northwest

A new experiment

2009-01-04T18:47:00.000-08:00

I've started a new blog on which I hope to chronicle and champion simple, inexpensive and healthy eating. Feeding Henry and I for $200 per month... Check it out

http://musingsonthepathtofrugality.blogspot.com/

20 May 2008; 1910

2008-05-20T19:14:00.000-07:00

Greetings Fair Readers,

It's been busy around Casa Hunger this week; charity bike rides, Mariner games, golf, etc, etc.

Let's see, Henry and I spent some time last week training for the 2008 Washington state Tour de Cure with a couple of rides from South Everett back home and another from the North end of Lake Washington to Seattle and back. Both went well and Henry is getting much better riding in traffic and understanding how we can ride together and how to avoid cars and also how to be assertive on the bike and take over the lane when it is appropriate to do so.

Saturday was the big ride. The weather was beautiful but hot; sweating already well before 8am as we worked on getting ready and getting some breakfast in us at the registration. Henry got to meet 3 time Tour de France winner Greg Lemond and had his picture taken with him (unfortunately I neglected to take my camera when I took him over) and I will do my best to get copies of those out here as soon as I can. We took off and Henry led the ride in the #2 position with Greg for the first little bit but fell behind as the stronger riders on their road bikes pulled ahead. At just over mile 5, he had a mishap with the gatorade bottle just as I caught up with him and he was drenched in it as the top had come off and he was very upset. Luckily, I had an extra bottle of water and was able to rinse him off and then rinse out the jersey so he didn't spend a lot of time in the stickiness. He was so frustrated that he wanted to turn back but we decided to continue on. We continued the ride and as it got hotter and we travelled further north we jus kept putting the miles under the wheels but as the hills grew longer and steeper and the temps rose it got harder and harder and a bit before the 3rd rest stop I felt like I was done and Henry was just about in tears. He solemnly said to me "we did our best" and "the next sag wagon that goes by I'm ready to hitch a ride to the end". Well, we talked to another rider coming the other way and she let us know we weren't far from the top of the hill and lo & behold after another 1/4 mile or so we crested it and had a long nice glide into the 3rd rest stop @ mile 27.

Once we arrived, we called for the sag wagon and as we waited we got some food, some drinks and some shade. After a few minutes Henry looked at me and said "Dad, I think I want to go on". I let him know the heat, hills annd the previous 27 miles had done me in but if we could find some other riders with whom he could keep up I was game to let him do it. We approached a couple of gals, Naomi and Robin with whom we had been chatting here and there over the past few miles and they were willing to have him ride along. I caught a ride back to the finish, feeling a bit low and also very proud of Henry for doing his best out there. I dropped my bike and grabbed a ride with the next sag wagon to head out to the course and saw by the thermometer it was now 95 in the shade. Henry had promised to stay hydrated, I made certain his camelback was filled with water and he had a full bottle of gatorade and some bagel and peanut butter before I left him but still I was worried so riding along in the wagon I could hear the reports over the radio of riders dropping off the course due to dehydration and heatstroke so still I worried. At the last rest stop, the driver and I decided to wait as we had just gotten a report of Henry at the back with Naomi and Robin and that they were about 15 minutes out and looking strong. Not long after Robin pulled up and said that Naomi had broken a spoke and Henry had stayed with her but they would try and limp in. Not long after that, here they came up the road slowly but surely and boy was I glad to see that kid. Strong and hungry and thirsty, he said he was going to finish no matter what. Well Naomi and he bike had had it by then so she rode back in with the driver and I and I got ready to go out and follow Henry in to make certain he made it but before I got too far out of the park where the start and finish line was, I found Robin and Henry pulling in; they had made the last 7 miles in record time and although they were the last two riders Henry had pedaled the entire 45 miles. He was sweaty and exhausted but the smile on his face was the widest I thinkI can ever remember seeing. I hugged him and let him know how proud I was and even shed a couple tears because that is my boy, my bike rider that raised over $1000 for diabetes research and finished the longest ride of his life in 95 degree weather and lots of up and down hills all on a mountain bike. WOW!

Just in case it's not apparent, Henry is my hero.

So then after all that Henry couldn't get on of the Chipotle burritos he had been craving all day as they had shut down the finish line food! Well, luckily there was a Chipotle nearby and I took him there and told him to order anything he wanted so he got a monster burrito but he was too tired to eat it all but after the olong drive home with a stop to se his Mum, Henry rallied and was able to finish his burrito and still didn't hit the hay until after 10 and was up again the next day by 7. We had a nice relaxing morning, drank some coffee, watched some cartoons, read the paper and then we were off to Hunter's 8th birthday party in Bellevue.

We had been warned of what was in store but as we arrived we found ourselves following a big black Excursion limo...

We loaded the kids and off we went to the Mariners / Padres game after a quick stop at McDonald's where Hunter's Dad Jason and I took the opportunity to get a few pictures

Can you say supersize me?

That's Henry poking his head out the sunroof

And a closeup of the squinty into the sun look

Watching DVDs on the way to the game with lunch

Drop off right in front

PLAY BALL!

As you can see, it was a great day for baseball and birthdays. It was a bit cooler than the previous day and the girls even got a blanket as we were in the shade all afternoon in right center field with hot dogs, popcorn and peanuts. The kids didn't pay a lot of attention to the game, they were more interested in getting back in the limo but they managed to make it all the way through and the Mariners even rallied in the bottom of the 8th to win. The limo picked us up right out front and we were off! But first we needed a group photo in front of the stadium (actually we took it before the game but I thought it would wrap this up nicely...

Wednesday 6 May 08 @ 1945

2008-05-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

Greetings,

Apologies for my lack of posts the past few weeks but I've been going through some stuff...

Feeling like chucking it all and trying to keep my head about me while keeping up with work, the boy, the dog, a kitty dying, being broke, getting the garden in, yada yada yada...excuses all but they're all mine and I'm not giving them up.

Work is pretty much the same, busy all the time and between the work projects, new suppliers, learning more about how I do what I do, setting up more processes and getting them accepted by all required parties, cutbacks, more work with less headcount, etc, etc, etc...and I'm very involved with the Memorial Day golf tournament once again which is to be held out in Bremerton and we have both courses this time so we are working with almost 300 golfers and enough volunteers to put us over that number. I am in charge of getting all our business partners set up both as players and as reps for their companies plus I help out with everything else like just today the chairman and I took a ferry ride over to meet with the pro and the food & bev director there to work out some of the last minute details and then back all with a couple hours work before and a couple more after so needless to say I'm keeping busy.

The garden is going well and I have some photos to upload but haven't gotten to them yet. Not happy with the strain of bok choy I have in this year but we'll see how that goes, everything else is going gangbusters and we'll be eating from the plot before we know it.

Henry and I are riding and getting ready for the 2008 Tour de Cure, this year getting ready to ride the 45 mile look up over the Sammamish plateau and then back up and over; it hurts just thinking about it but it will be good for us and I'm confident we'll make it. We start @ 9 and I'm hoping to be done in 4 - 4.5 hours. Henry has raised almost $800 this year and regardless of how much he raises he gets to meet Greg Lemond this year since he missed out last time. I have new tires en route for our bikes to reduce road friction from the knobbies on our mountain bikes and we're getting our 20 mile training rides in all of a sudden but it's been a crappy Spring for training and cold & rainy most of the time but we will prevail.

Henry has progressed to his yellow belt in tae kwon do and he was very proud that he was able to break a board the very first try. I missed it but I do have some photos of the belt test and ceremony as well as some sparring photos of Henry so as soon as I get them uploaded I'll get some up here and a link the rest out on the photo albums for all to see.

I've been reading alot lately, it's cheap and I do love it a great deal so I've been hitting the library pretty hard and reading about 4 books a week the past month or so. It has been a nice escape during my midlife crisis or whatever it is I've been dealing with. One really great thing that has come out of the last month is my lack of driving, I've been really trying to use my bus pass as much as possible and last month I drove a total of 210 miles. The goal for May is to get it under 200; baby steps...I'd love to figure out how to live w/o a car but I just haven't figured it out completely yet although I am considering going back to old beater Volvo wagons or something and then renting a car when I need something nicer to haul others around or go on a road trip. I'm tired of car payments and tired of being broke.

Not much else, Spring has been teasing us in between the cold and wet but at least I got the first of the season local asparagus last Saturday at our opening farmer's market; came home that afternoon and whipped up a porcini and asiago risotto with grill asparagus with a little cheap chianti I had hanging around and had to wonder what the poor people were doing, ah well let 'em eat cake I say. If they can't learn to cook fine foods for cheap then twinkies for everyone!

Hasta

Tuesday 29 April; 2025

2008-04-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

We buried Nina today. Her beautiful little body just gave out and she died in her Mum's arms about 3pm. She has been staying here with Henry and I for that past month or so and Henry, Kristin and I will all miss her very much, she is and always will be our sweet little girl. Vaya con whoever my sweet little Neens, I love you

Sunday 30 March 08; 2045

2008-03-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Henry is safe and sound having arrived in Washington D.C yesterday with his Mum and grandparents. He let me know that the first this he had planned for this morning was to hit the indoor pool at the hotel and then on to the Lincoln Memorial so I'm sure it will be a fun filled few days, they take the train up to NYC next Saturday and then more fun before they come home on 4/09. I am a bit envious having never been to D.C. and although I've been to Manhattan it was only for the day and he is going now for the 2nd time and gets to spend a few days there. Envious yes but excited for the wee fellow nonetheless.

Today I went down to the Ballard neighborhood just North of downtown by about 5 or 10 mins and went to the farmer's market and loaded up on some dried porcini and matsutake mushrooms, tasted what could very well be the finest cheese I've ever had (Mt Townsend Creamery Seastack) so bought a crottin of that and some braising greens then walked around the downtown area of the neighborhood, grabbed a couple slices of puttanesca pizza and wandered about some more. It'd a neighborhood I'm considering when I next move. Closer to work and the downtown life and still close enough to fetch Henry from school and feel a bit more of the urbanite. I feel like I'm headed through a bit of a mid-life crisis and I think what may help get me out of it is to get out of the suburbs and get back to the city where there is some life and excitement; I'm getting pretty tired of the "normal" middle aged lifestyle and all the trappings that come with...

I am headed out to a show tomorrow night; X, a seminal punk rock band out of Los Angeles in the 70s. I first saw them in SLC with my friend Bruce in the early 80s and I'm really looking FW to the show tomorrow night. Although I'm feeling very young going out on a school night, I do know my 48 year old limitations and I took Tuesday off since I know I can't stay up all night and make it to work anymore like the old days; no more all nighters for me...

The garden is still going great, the veggies are doing well. My cherry tree is about to burst with blossoms, too bad it's not of the fruiting variety but my plum trees will follow closely and once again I'll be up to my arse in Italian plums and with the local blackberries I'll once again be livin' large for free and I can't wait!

Not much more for now, I'll try and take some photos tomorrow while I'm overindulging in PBRs and Wild Turkey, WHOO HOO! so look for that :)

Bim salah bim

Sunday 23 March 2008; 2050

2008-03-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry all, I skipped a week there but I really just couldn't face it you know? I had a really naff week and really didn't want to think about it so I just didn't. Now you get the update for 2 weeks instead.

So two weeks ago, I had a check bounce and realized I had made a $1000+ mistake in my check register (not to my favor thank you) and the week just went downhill from there. Now to say that was the high point of the week is a bit of an exaggeration but not by much so I won't go into detail but suffice it to say I suffered for 24 hours from gastric distress that brought tears to my eyes, the woman with whom I've been keeping up for the past 6 months decided she won't be coming to visit as we planned (but we're still great friends so there is an upside there) and to top it all off I missed the bus a couple times and finally missed it enough by the end of the week that I had to drive into the city and ended up with a fucking parking ticket because I either wasn't paying attention or more likely since the sign was half behind the post missed it and ended up parking for the day in a 1 hour parking spot. Like I said, the week was naff, no let's go another level and just say it was a fucked up week and now it's over and this past week was far better! :)

This past week work has been good, I'm involved in a number of things in which I'm interested and have some skills and it was just all round a good time. Even found a new place for lunch that was really quite good and is even close enough to the office to walk so it made for a great Friday outing a couple days ago. For the most part the weather has been good and although today started out rainy and nasty the day ended up being a beautiful bright and sunny one for zombie jesus day after all. Henry was with his Mum and and they went north to her sister's for a big day of choccies and easter egg hunts to celebrate resurrected bunnies and stuff.

Henry was able to get the lawns mowed with the manual push mower (we're switching as another step towards sustainability and ridding ourselves of more and more power stuff where we can), I was able complete the planting in the raised bed (add broccoli, chiaggio beets, leaf lettuce, rainbow carrots and mesclun) and had a few more things pop their heads above the soil (we now have peas, carrots, bok choy, chard and lacinato kale sprouting), the forsythia in the neighborhood is exploding, my daffodils are bright and huge and I was able to get the entire rose bed weeded as well as the interior of the car detailed so all in all it was a good weekend.

I'm sitting in front of the tube and catching up on cooking shows from the DVR after a lovely meal of seared chicken breast topped with red pepper artichoke tapenade and mozzarella with gnocchi in brown butter with garlic and sage from my herb garden and 1/2 a bottle of Turley Vineyard 101 Zin. Hmmm, wonder what the poor people are doing for dinner tonight? Ah well, I suppose Marie A would tell them to eat cake so why rock the boat; let them eat cake as I deserve to treat myself this way once in a while no?

Henry is doing really well with tae kwon do ad we're just kind of putting in the time with bowling as he is beginning to lose interest pretty quickly as Spring pops up and the days are nicer. Tae kwon do is in the late afternoon and no weekends so it doesn't cut into nice Saturday weather nor do we have to get up to get there so I can see where it is preferred. We may not encourage it going forward as both his Mum and I believe he will get far more from the martial arts with discipline and the physical exercise and we'll see if we can find a set of music lessons to round things out for his extra curricular activities and we can keep it at that. Neither Kristin nor I (or Henry for that matter) are all that interested in his having activity after activity to attend every day and dining at 9pm every night. We both want him to have time to be a kid and play in the backyard and ride his bike and all the other accoutrement of childhood. We see all these parents running from one activity to the next with their kids all the time and there is no time to just be a family or for the kids to be kids and that's not gonna fly.

Anyway, not much more to write about right now, suffice it to say that once again life is good after the bumpy prior week so all's well.

Hasta until next week

Sunday 9 March 2008 @ 2100

2008-03-09T21:01:00.000-07:00

Here it is the first day of daylight savings time and as much as I believe we should leave time alone and let it run, if we're going to have it then I'm glad it starts earlier and ends later now. It was great that it was light until after 7 already except I slept until 10 today :). Couldn't be that bottle of wine that I drank with lots of Mama Lil's peppers and goat cheese last night...

The week was pretty busy, Henry started tae kwon do and although he went kicking and screaming he is really good at it and has shown a real propensity for it. He sparred Friday for the first time and he threw some really great kicks against the older kid the master had the younger ones sparring with (and taking lots of kicks). Henry got some kicks up over his own shoulder height and was really after it for a bit there. It is great exercise and he is sleeping well too. We also took Henry to his first appt with a counselor and he clammed up quite a bit but a few things came out that we can start working on and we will have Henry go back again in a couple weeks. I think we both feel it's a good thing right now but frankly we think the tae kwon do will do more for him. Good solid activity, something at which he can excel individually but also be part of a larger group as well but time will tell.

It was my birthday and the team went all out and brought in lunch on Thursday as well as decorating my cube and the wall above it. Here's a photo with me in my birthday crown because remember, Jim is King. I was also asked to facilitate classes for the corporate partners on how to make the perfect espresso so I trained both Tuesday and Wednesday and 3 of us ran the 200 or so people from our building through how to make the best espresso drinks. It was a lot of fun and I met up with a lot of people that normally I only see in the elevators or hallways so now I have more names and more networking going on as well and lots more people know me now as well so I guess I can't get away with quite as much as I have in the past :)

Henry and I went to the annual bike expo after bowling yesterday and that couldn't come fast enough as the kids were bowling poorly and then just kind of fell apart after the first game and ended up losing all 4 of the available point this week so it was not a high point. We did however have fun looking at all the new stuff in the bicycling world now that some bikes retail for as much as cars. We're starting to gear up for the cycling season and if the weather is not rain this Saturday I think we'll head up to Arlington for the first charity ride of the season called The McClinchy Mile. It's a nice 20 mile mostly flat ride to get us going and frankly sounds a lot more interesting than another Saturday of bowling/ Kristin and I talked about bowling now that we're a few minutes into the league and we agree that now that we are out of bumpers, the parents are all way too serious about this and not so interested in the kids having fun but more about their winning. Well, like any of them I would rather the kids win but someone has to lose and for hell's sake it bowling after all! Not something important and some of these parents are just too, too much. We may not encourage Henry to continue on if he gets into the tae kwon do; perhaps that and some music lessons or something and that is enough but he is going to go out and run track this year since his favorite teacher is the track coach. The 4th graders can't compete but they let them go out and workout with the team in the running events and then next year start to learn about the field events as well so that's plenty. Neither Kristin nor I are interested in being one of those families that is running the kids from one activity to the next and eating dinner at 9 pm every night and no time for homework.

Here is a photo of my front yard with the springy daffodillies popping up and my raised vegetable bed on the right. Although you can't see them, the shelling peas and bok choy popped up this past week and are growing quite nicely. this year I am keeping a gardening diary so I can actrually keep track of what works and how they are all doing based on the dates and varieties of planting.

Neighbors Susan and Steve out enjoying the Springtime evening and watching the world go by from their front porch.

Not much more for now and it's time to get ready to hit the hay so I'll sign off now. Until next week, auf wiedersehn

Monday 3 March 2008 @ 0657

2008-03-02T20:03:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

Here it is the beginning of March and we're well into the gardening season already. Although the weather hasn't been beautiful every day we have had our fair share of nice sunny days in the Puget Sound.

The week has been pretty odd as I was ill with a cold that would not allow me to even breathe at all on Friday so I stayed home rather than infect my coworkers and was able to get a few things done here before I finally at noon just hit the couch for a nap as I couldn't stay upright any longer. This has been kicking my butt energywise and I just couldn't keep up. I made it to work Wednesday and Thursday but as far as productivity I wasn't really there and all I could think about was hitting the bed when I got home those days. I'm finally starting to feel as if I may be on the upswing but still not there yet and breathing is still a challenge but I got out this weekend for a few tasks and the house isn't a complete wreck.

Henry and I were able to come to agreement on his chore list and we have entered into our contract now. He now has a list of the things he does daily, weekly and over the weekends he spends here at our house. He has the list, he gets to schedule the tasks (including his homework and reading tasks) and has even agreed to cook dinner once per week. He understands these are the tasks that are expected of him for both being a member of the household and also for earning his allowance and he is expected to complete these tasks prior to any gaming system play or TV. I think we will find some success here and feel that this is a step in the right direction for him to go.

Bowling went pretty well this week with Henry's team taking 3 of 4 possible league points and they are now solidly in 2nd place and only 2 points behind the 1st place team so he and his team mates are all quite excited. Although his Mum and I really don't care how they do we still want them to do well and pay attention and try their best and so far that's where they are. Henry will be starting tae kwon do this week and he is not very excited about it but his Mum and I decided it would be a good activity to have him in; it will assist with discipline (the master checks their homework, asks for reports from parents to know that the kids are being polite and respectful at home before allowing them to participate or test for advancement) and is very active. We have friends that have their kids at this dojo and their kids are flourishing and get excited when they advance and disappointed when the master does not allow them to test or have to sit out the practice sessions. Henry is also meeting with a counselor for the first time Tuesday and although he is not happy about this either (we think he believes he is in trouble) both Kristin and I are happy we have found someone with whom we believe he can confide and learn some tools to help him through some of the tough times he's been experiencing lately. We met with his teacher last week and all 3 of us think that a lot of his challenges come from not having the tools to break big things into smaller more manageable tasks. That's where the scheduling his tasks came from as he tends to look at his homework or his chores as this big job he needs to do all at once. I've also started trying to show him how we all break stuff down in everyday life. Last week I roasted a couple chickens for dinner and we had that with gravy and veg. The next night we took the meat from the bones and made BBQ chicken pizzas with pizza shells I had made the last time we had pizza, the following night we made chicken and cheese enchiladas and now we'll make chicken pot pies with the last of the meat, some leftover veg and gravy. We talked through how each of these tasks was completed a bit at a time in order to not spend all night in the kitchen and we have fresh and lovely dinners each night as well as lunches for Dad to take to work. I let him know that is the same way we can approach our chores and homework and everything else and that I use planning like that at work all the time so that big projects get broken down into smaller tasks that I can accomplish or delegate to other resources and they all come together in order to have any big project done completely and on time. I think he's getting it, YAY!

We planted a bit more this weekend, I put in both Olympia spinach and lacinato kale as well as two artichoke plants. I am hoping to see some sprouting of the seeds soon and have high hopes for the chokes as well as they are supposed to do really well in this climate and since we are so close to the water we should have some of the similar aspects to the weather that central California sees. I planted a sage in my indoor herb garden and also planted a couple of hyacinths for the kitchen window to brighten the aroma and add a bit of color. The 50 new daffodils I put in last fall are all up and about to pop so the borders out front are looking quite nice and the lilacs are all setting huge numbers of buds as well so we'll have the deep purple, white and lavender colors and the lovely scents we have come to expect here in just the next few weeks. We are really looking FW to Spring and have plans to attend the annual bike expo next week and the following week will be the first of the training sessions for the 2008 Tour de Cure ride for diabetes to happen in May (be on the lookout for my annual fundraising stump speech in an email box near you :)

Anyway, it's been a big week and it looks to be another one shaping up this week. Work will be busy ad I'm involved in a couple projects that need a lot of attention and this is the 2nd week of the month so that means performance reviews for all my suppliers; at last count that means no less than 15 hours of going over reports and listening to all these separate entities toot their horns and our teams letting them know where their challenges are and how we expect them to turn those challenges into opportunities for improvement. Happily this month I don't think I have to be an asshole to any of them for a change so they all get to see my happy face instead of my stern asshole face.

That's about it so sayonara until next week

Sunday 24 February, 2008 @ 20:20

2008-02-24T20:21:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

It's been a good week although eventful and busy. Layoffs at work, planting cool weather crops and a big Saturday with Henry.

Work is busy and a strange vibe has been going on since the layoff notice earlier this week. A couple of all hands meetings, communications from the executive committee and lots of friends asking about my current job status. All is well as my department was largely unaffected and there really wasn't that much of a reduction in the workforce here but more of a freeze on any hiring and the news that we would not be filling many jobs that had previously been out and advertised to be filled are now off the market. Not to worry, we'll all just keep on working and do our best to contribute where we can to turn things around and return to where we intended to be all along; at the top.

I went out with friends on Friday after work and ended up drinking too much. I have to remember I'm not in "shape" to do that lately with January being dry and even since then my intake moderately quite a bit. As I thought back I still had only had about a beer and a half and one bottle of wine since Feb 1 and there I was Friday dumping lots of beer in me along with a couple large glasses of Jagermeister (which I can blame on no one but myself as I order the first round to those :). I ended up with a big head yesterday and that was what disappointed me more than anything else as I had a big day planned with Henry and there I was hungover. Ah well, I lived through it and managed to keep my illness hidden for the most part but I did take a bit of a nap before we went out last night.

Saturday began with bowling as usual and Henry's team took 4 of 4 possible league points so they did very well and all individually bowled above their averages so all 4 kids were really happy. Henry and I went to the annual bike swap and it was underwhelming and we ended up leaving without anything new or finding anything we felt we couldn't live without. The annual bike expo where all the local and national vendors will be onsite with all the latest in new gear and news is in two weeks so that will be a vastly different event. We came home and planted chard, bok choy and carrots as well as getting some flowers planted and potted my kitchen herbs before taking a bit of a rest and heading back downtown to a rock music show at a local club. It was an all ages show so it was Henry's first show where everyone stands and watches the bands in a big cavernous space and he got to experience how loud these big touring bands get in these old warehouses. The show was The Hives and opened by The Donnas and he liked it and had a good time but wasn't really ready for a headliner band that didn't start until after 10:30. We only made about 35 minutes before he asked if we could leave because he was sooo tired. I definitely understand as 3 hours of standing around on a hard concrete floor it's definitely easy to tire out. We have some other shows we'll try and take in as I am all about encouraging him to experience all the music I can get him in front of but the next few we should have seats for.

It's been a pretty lazy day, got up late and got my bread baked for the week, cleaned up a bit around the house and finished the wash so we have clean clothes for the next while and now it's time to get ready to hit the hay. I'm not looking FW to work tomorrow as I've been feeling a bit off again all day but at this point I'm attributing it to a funky schedule the past couple of nights.

Not much more on the news front so I'll bid you all adieu and I'll do my best to keep the updates coming as boring as they've been lately. With Spring I'm hoping life will get to be a bit more exciting so I should have more news around the pike...

Hasta and don't forget to subscribe :)

Tuesday 19 February 2008 @ 20:00

2008-02-19T20:02:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

Henry and I have had a holiday weekend that is now coming to a close and I must take this moment to state out loud I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO WORK TOMORROW!

We've had a fun and productive weekend and the weather has been for the most part very good and conducive to getting a lot of yard work completed.

The weekend started out with henry having the day off school so he accompanied me to the office where I had a performance review with one of my accounts so I needed to be there for about an hour or so. We left the office and rode the bus up to the Pike Place Market for some lunch and a wander through the stalls just kind of sightseeing. We stocked up on some fresh spices and got a box of Market Spice tea for Henry's Mum and had a slice of pizza and some fresh mini donuts and then spent some time at Beecher's cheese watching them make some fresh curd and then wandering about in Sur La Table before wandering back uptown and onto the bus home.

Henry picked up his new bowling ball on Saturday and it is lime green and navy swirled and smells like limes. It is a weighted urethane cover and is 10#s now up from his previous 8# so between the reactive cover and weight as well as the new #s it created some challenges for him but he still bowled well and his team took 3 of 4 possible league points this week. The weather was sunny but cool so Henry walked up to have lunch with his Mum who is now working only a block or so away from the house and I trimmed my 14 rose bushes cutting them all the way back for the first time that any of my neighbors can remember in the past few years. They look a bit bare but I'm expecting them to be really great this year as I took my time and was very deliberate about how I pruned. I spent Sunday pruning my 3 plum trees and took off about 10 feet from the tops and thinned the lower branches and ended up with a completely full 60 gallon yard waste bin twice; it was emptied Monday and I filled it again today.

I have been researching Square Foot Gardening and I built a 2X6 raised bed yesterday and today filled it with a mix of 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss and 1/3 vermiculite so essentially it's filed with high quality potting mix and this is purported to be all the nutrients that my veggies will need. Next step is to build the trellis for my peas and get those planted in the next few days as well as some other cool weather crops if I can get away with getting them in the ground now; maybe broccoli or cauliflower but I may be able to get some radicchio or lettuce in. If this works as well as I believe it will I'll build another bed to go under the big cedar tree on the North side of the house for lettuces and spinach through the summer since it stays cool and gets only a couple hours of sunlight there. I bought two artichoke plants today to go in near the SW cornere of the house where it will get serious sunshine and another over at the North end of the front yard near where my neighbors have their raspberries. Henry has been planning some planter boxes for the desk in the backyard and I've been working with him on the planning of the lumber he'll need as well as the cost; trying to bring math home and show him that you need it now and then and that it is even part of having fun projects.

After reading The Unpredjudiced Palate last year and then attending a talk by Michael Pollan the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food and I am pretty inspired now to produce and forage as much of our food as I can this summer. I'm also beginning to bake all of our bread and making everything I can from whole foods. Some interesting things have really resonated with me lately about food and here are a couple of them that I have lifted from Michael Pollan. In his research he has simplified eating to just a couple of rules:

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
If your great grandmother wouldn't have recognized something at the grocer as food, it isn't.

Pretty simple, easy to follow and make a lot of sense. I baked bread from a mother starte today and Henry has proclaimed it as the best bread he's ever eaten. I can't get him to eat whole grain bread for the life of me but this was all whole grain and he ate it right up. Using a mixed mother starter I was able to bake two loaves with only 1/2 a teaspoon of yeast yet it still has a fully developed flavor and tender crumb with a good hearty crust and a light brown almost golden color.

Henry watched Alton Brown make homemade donuts the other day so that was one of the projects we did this weekend as well, Henry made the dough, his first experience with yeast and although it was a bit challenging and a bit more difficult than most of the things he's made so far and it was a lesson in the exactitude of baking from scratch the donuts turned out mighty fine! We made cinnamon sugar on Sunday morning and Henry took most of them with his friends to the swimming pool and I made the 2nd half as powdered sugar donut holes for Henry and his friend that stayed over on Sunday night when they got up on Monday morning. Henry had his first sleepover and the kids were still awake at 2am on Monday morning and then back up at 7. I was asleep well before them and could hear them playing video games and watching TV a few times and then again when I woke up to hear them talking in the morning. I wandered through Monday with a lack of good sleep headache and the kids just went about their day as if nothing was out of the ordinary then played all day at his friends house in the creek that runs through the property and riding bikes and skateboards. Henry finally passed out about 10 last night and slept 12 hours.

Anyway, we've gotten our yard cleaned up, gotten prepped for Spring gardening and had a really good time as wwell as being able to have a couple of lazy mornings just drinking coffee and reading the paper while sitting in the sun in my big comfy reading chair so all in all it's been a great few days off and still I don't want to go back to work tomorrow.

Best

Sunday 10 February 2008; 20:50

2008-02-10T20:51:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Here it is Sunday evening again already and almost time to hit the hay in order to get back up at 0500 for work. It's been some week, both Henry and I fighting off some sort of gombooh all week; we both stayed home on last Monday, Henry's Mum kept him home on Tuesday and then I stayed home again Thursday and Friday and still I haven't been all the way up to snuff this weekend either so it's been a pretty relaxing weekend as well. I did get out to the cinema this afternoon to see "No Country For Old Men" at the local theater and before that got Butch out for a nice walk as well when the rain broke and things dried up a bit.

Henry bowled his first 100+ game w/o bumpers yesterday and his team won two of 3 games. They went into the week in 8th place (out of 8 teams) and as much as we tell the kids they're there for fun and not really the competition it's always nice when they are in the top half of the league so they can keep their confidence up. They were doing really well yesterday after winning the 2 games though so I don't suspect there'll be too much problem with the confidence levels for the next week. We're also ordering a new heavier ball for Henry as it's time for him to start letting the ball do the work and carry through the pins. The 8 lb ball just doesn't quite do it for him.

As you can probably see I've put a couple enhancements on the blog page here; a slide show with the photos from past blog posts and also an email subscription tool so all you need to do is enter an email address and you'll receive notices when I post. I also linked Kristin's blog where she talks about her journey through her breast cancer battle and my friend's wine blog where they talk about their take on inexpensive wines they try.

Not much more going on, Valentine's Day is coming up I'm still keeping up with my far away friend. Henry is refusing to distribute class valentines but apparenly we're to take sugar cookies to school on Thursday but he can't remember how many; at least we got an advance heads up rather than at 8am on Thursday morning :)

I'll sign off for this week now and maybe we'll have some more exciting news in the upcoming weeks. We have a long weekend next week with Friday off for teacher work day Friday and then Monday and Tuesday the 18th & 19th for President's weekend in place of mid-winter break. Not a lot planned; Henry will go to the office with me on Friday and maybe we'll get some fun stuff in between pruning the plum trees and roses; ahh mid-winter garden chores - cold, wet and not at all satisfying :)

Until next week

Tuesday 5 February 2008; 1800

2008-02-05T17:59:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

I once again missed my update over the weekend but here I am with the latest in a not very exciting week.

One of our team members moved to another team last week so we all took off at 12.30 on Friday and attended a tour of the Theo chocolate factory in the Fremont neighborhood. We had a great time and we all got to wear hair nets which always sets the mood for a group of coworkers wouldn't you say? Well, they were very free with the samples and that was the start of a weekend that really didn't include a lot of good eating habits to continue on my health regime...If you haven't had Theo chocolate or don't know about it you can visit the website to learn more about one of only 14 chocolate factories in the US and the only one that is certified fair trade and organic (the 91% chocolate from Venezuela was INCREDIBLE! Not to mention the new milk chocolate with roasted hazelnuts, mmmmm). Here is the link: http://www.theochocolate.com/.

Once we had our fill there we adjourned to a very nice bar across the street that has a beer list the likes of which I have never seen before in all my drinking days! There must have been at least 30 tap handles and the list of bottled beers added at least another 100 labels. It was a fitting place for me to fall off the wagon after my 31 day self imposed dry period. I hopped off with a lovely draught Jamaica Red Ale from the Mad River Brewing Company in Blue Lake, CA and it was yummy: http://www.madriverbrewing.com/pages/brews/jamaica_red.html. So as I said, I made it the entire month of January dry and with a little perseverance I was also able to lose 14 lbs; a full stone! Yippee for me! Now that the weekend is over and I've had a couple days of not really worrying about it, I need to get back on the healthy lifestyle regime. My short term goal is 10 lbs per month so I'm ahead of the game going into month 2. The long term goal is 30 lbs for the year but I would like to take off about 60 lbs overall. I'm still having some trouble with the disc in my neck so lifting is out for the time being but I'm trying to be a bit more disciplined about getting some walking in and I can always go to the gym to use the treadmill on rainy days so I should be able to kick start this again and maybe even lose another stone in February but anything over 6 lbs lost will be gravy. Once Henry and I start training for the summer riding season as the weather gets nicer it should be even better and I won't have so much weight to pedal around either.

Henry was invited at the last minute to a birthday party Friday in downtown Seattle and he suffered from that the next morning during bowling. He has not quite figured out the lack of bumpers and although the first week of league he averaged a 74, he dropped down to about a 45 average for this past weekend. Ah well, it will pump his handicap up for this next week and his team can use that because they are all pretty skilled and thus have relatively low handicaps which doesn't help when it comes to league stats. They lost each of their 3 games this last week by less than 5 pins (handicapped). He still seems to be enjoying it so that's the main thing.

I signed Henry and I up for this year's Tour de Cure to take place May 17th so we have almost 3.5 months for fundraising. Henry has committed to us riding the 45 mile loop this year so this time around we need to do a bit more training and kill those butt nerves. I worked a table at our company mingle this morning and we had a good turnout with almost 40 people signing up for more info and we're hoping we'll get some good participation out of this. Greg LeMond is scheduled to once again lead the ride and I hope we can get Henry up to meet him this year since he had to cancel last year due to a family emergency. I'll update with the personal web page links here next week after I get this year's built.

Not much more going on other than Henry and I both fighting off the flu/colds that seem to be going around. We stayed pretty quiet on Sunday and then stayed home both of us feeling pretty poorly yesterday but we're better now. I'll sign off now and see if I can find some more ultra exciting news again for you all next week to keep you on the edges of your seats...

Hasta

Tuesday 29 January 2008 @ 1910

2008-01-29T19:10:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

I know I missed my last update on Sunday evening but I was fighting a Trojan on my computer but I was finally able to vanquish it (I think, fingers crossed). Well I'm back now and the past week has been pretty good. Work has gone well, I won a few online scrabble games and I have continued to lose some weight. I'm still on the wagon although that is about to end on Friday but I'm going to keep up some serious moderation. So far I've lost 13 lbs since Jan 1 and I'm choosing to chalk it up to no booze, no loss of will power due to booze and being able to keep the goal in mind when I choose my healthy foods the majority of the time again due to no booze. Hmm, I seem to be sensing a theme here...

Henry started his new bowling league this past weekend and it is the first without the bumpers and he still put up some pretty good scores; he didn't break 100 this first day out but he was close on 2 of the 3 games. He is on a team with another young man with whom he bowled 2 leagues past and they are doing really well together as they were prone to playing a lot of grab ass most of the time when they were in bumpers but both seem to realize they have to concentrate more now that they have lost the security of the bumpers. Kris is a really good bowler and in the last league where they were on the same team they were nearly always #1 and #2 each week. It's good they get to spend some time together again and the day went relatively well. Henry did have a bit of a meltdown and showed a bit if disrespect to both his Mum and I but we kept a united front and took off to the side and let him know we're not going to tolerate it an he was a bit embarrassed that we did that in front of his friends but it had to be done.

Not much more this week, like I said it was pretty good but it was also pretty uneventful other than spending the ENTIRE weekend fighting with the computer and the insidious crap somebody infected me with. Although it's probably my fault for surfing too much porn :)

Anyway, hasta la vista until the weekend

Sunday 20 January 2008; 2009

2008-01-20T20:08:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

Here it is Sunday evening once again and although I neglected to update you all last week I'm back now. It's been a good two weeks; busy at work, lots of email with my friends and many, many online scrabble games.

Work has been interesting as I've been earning my keep by analyzing and breaking down costs of support of the PCs we currently have deployed to the enterprise as I'm part of a team that is looking to determine the total cost of ownership of our current technology. These are the types of projects I really enjoy and can get deep into but I must say that I had a very difficult time getting my head around the project at first but the more I tried to pick it apart I just couldn't make any progress. It wasn't until I had an impromptu meet with my manager and the functional analyst on my team and we were able to break it all down and finally I was able to pull my weight and get my part completed last week and this week we finalize the presentation and put it in front of the VPs so they can take it to the CFO. A lot of shake ups going on these days and we're all about the cost savings right now here in North America.

Last Saturday I attended a murder mystery party where we were fortunate enough to participate in the murder and subsequent investigation of said murder of David Hasselhoff. It was a lot of fun and we'll do it again. The scene is set by a mail order company and they provide the name tags, the scenarios and the history of each of the party attendees. Each guest is provided the name of a relatively current pop culture personality or celebrity prior to the party and coming is costume is strongly encouraged. I was Tony Soprano and the other invitees were in no particular order Wonder Woman, Chuck Norris, David Beckham, Rachel Ray, Ron Burgundy, disgraced Miss America Tara Conner, Rocky Balboa, Pamela Anderson and Lucille Ball. The murder was committed by Chuck Norris because of a business deal gone sour where "The Hoff" and CN were to have introduced and distributed a new cologne call Kung Pow but "The Hoff" stole the fragrance the Chuck and his third fist took him out. All in all it was good fun, too much food and a great evening all in all. I posted some photos out on my photo site and will get a few more out from my work machine. Here's a sample of Tony -

Today is my 20th dry day and so far I've lost 7 lbs this month due to the new healthy regime. I'm trying to eat better, eat smaller portions, not drinking and just generally trying to get my overall health in order. I've also been working on putting myself on a budget as well so I can get my finances in order as well. A couple of my monthly costs went up at the beginning of the year and I just haven't been able to figure out where all the money has been going so it was time to get a better handle on things plus I want to start doing a bit more traveling. I want to take Henry on a good holiday this summer and I would like to get back to England sometime this year as well.

Henry and I have been working on purging a bunch of stuff, mostly his so far as we've recently been going through his room and his toys & clothes so I have a car load of stuff that is going to the Goodwill and we took a bunch of things that he has outgrown, both clothing and toys & games as well. I'm working on my office as well and trying to get a lot more organized; shredding old financial records, tossing old papers that don't mean anything that for some reason I've been holding on to and then getting rid of anything that I don't need. Although there are no immediate plans for us to move I would like to eventually buy a place in the next year or so and I just really don't want to move any more stuff than necessary the next time.

Not much more going on for the time being but I'll try and do better with updates than I have been the last couple weeks.

Sayonara all, have fun and go nuts

6 January 2008; 1845

2008-01-06T18:45:00.000-08:00

Here it is the first Sunday of 2008 and true to my word so far here I am with an update. Nothing like keeping those NY resolutions huh?

Well anyway, I worked on Monday 12/31 for a few hours and then our team at work went out for burgers and beers to the local sports bar across from our building. A good time was had bu all and even our Director John showed for some last minute frivolity for 2007.

NYE was a fine evening with a couple beers and in bed by 10.30, such a party pooper. I called a friend far away and we spoke for a long time and had a very nice long talk about the new year and the past year and how things are changing. It's been a good year and the new year is shaping up nicely already and we're not even a week in.

Henry arrived on the 1st about mid day and we have been having a tremendous time this week playing with his new Wii system, taking long walks with Butch when the weather permits and getting some things done around the house, a few movies, Henry worked really hard and has cleaned his room very nicely and has even done some purging on his own. Not a very exciting week but a lot of online scrabble with friends, a few emails back and forth and a nice restful few days of holiday.

We had a big windstorm the other night and we've had a few days and nights of rain. Even lost a few shingles off the roof in the last big storm.

Today we took down the Xmas decorations and now we're ready to tackle some more house projects and some more purging. A few things out to Craigslist or Ebay and a few more trips to the Goodwill and we'll be good going into Spring and Summer.

Tomorrow it's back to work and time to hit the diet hard; I'm shooting for 30# off this year, Today marks the 6th dry day of the year as I'm on the wagon and shooting for a dry January.

Until next time...

Saturday 29 December, 2007 17:47

2007-12-29T17:45:00.000-08:00

Greetings Fair Readers,

As you all know I have been somewhat lax with my postings, well here it is near the end of 2007 and I thought that you committed readers should hear once more this year from your not so committed correspondent.

2007 has been an incredible year with so many high spots; some of them you have read about here and some in just the past couple of months of which I have neglected to update you all so here goes...

Henry is in the 4th grade this year and is doing pretty well but has recently been shown to have some challenges with basic math (yep, the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree here) but at least he still likes it somewhat but Dad is now the tutor and we are starting work on basic math drills. Over the past week or so I gathered a few worksheets from the internet to see where he is and now I have some pretty good idea on where we need to go and in what direction. I have told him that no one likes this much but that Grandpa Don used to sit with me when I was in 4th grade and we worked this every single night. Once he completes a sheet I usually let him check his work with the calculator as he likes doing this and gets really jazzed when the calculator proves him correct. Just you wait and I'll turn him into the human calculator that his Dad is; figuring rough percentages in presentations, tossing out rough figures as the need arises and generally just being able to put a number out there when I need to. He'll be fine...

Here's a copy of Henry's 4th grade school picture, isn't he handsome? He's been spending some time with me at work this year as our team has moved into one of the historic buildings in the oldest part of Seattle in Pioneer Square and he has become quite popular there as he runs rampant and has all of my team mates as well as a lot of the other people on the 8th floor @ 83 South King street. He loves coming to work with me and he loves getting out with my friends and making them his friends but he still won't give any of the girls on my team a goodbye smooch when they ask for it when we leave :) we even drove down to have Xmas Eve elevensies with the group even though I had the day off. Henry wouldn't miss brunch with these guys.

Anyway, Henry is in a new center at school this year and it has been really good for him even though we have found some challenges but we're working through those. He will start running track this year and he is continuing with his bowling leagues and this winter league he will move out of bumpers and into his first league with gutter balls; should be pretty interesting and we'll see how he handles it.

I was promoted this year to a Sr. Analyst position and my job continues to get more and more interesting as I am called on for more large scale and diverse projects as we continue to conquer the world one wee brown bean at a time.

The last couple months have been very good on the personal front as well. A few months ago I met a lovely woman that has brought a new dimension to my life and we are taking a long time to get to know one another and have become good friends as we continue to talk and correspond. We know that we will be great pals for now and probably for a very long time and if it grows into anything more then it does but no expectations on either end for now.

Henry's Mum Kristin is doing well as she continues to go through her chemotherapy. Her strength and humor are pretty impressive as she continues to laugh, show up for Henry's bowling leagues and get through life. She thanks all of you who have sent your good thoughts her way. We continue to parent Henry and he is the most important part of both our lives and both Kristin and I are completely devoted to helping him become a strong, independent, free thinking young man and citizen of the universe

We had a tremendous December 25th celebrating a festival stolen from the pagans by an unimaginative Roman emperor to honor a made up birthday for a human revolutionary of proven Middle Eastern/African descent that has somehow lost all skin pigmentation in Western artistic representation; probably just easier to say Xmas huh? Henry got a Wii from Santa and Dad got a new computer from himself earlier in the month. Everyone is joyous and even Butch got a couple cans of salmon, chicken & lamb feast as Henry and I feasted on a nice 8.5# rib roast while I enjoyed a lovely 2001 Cuneo syrah. We have now survived another holiday and even I am none the worse for wear.

It's Saturday evening and I have spent the better part of the day cleaning, getting bills sorted and catching up on the laundry. I have a big fat cocktail in front of me; WHOOPS! it's empty! gotta sign off so I can refill.

Anyway, I'll try and keep you all updated a bit better in the new year (I know I say that every year) but for now I'll wish you all as many big fat cocktails you can handle in 2008!

Be Excellent to Each Other!

Sunday 14 October 2007; 1555

2007-10-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

Greetings fair readers,

It's been a pretty good week, Henry was out of school on Friday and was able o spend the day with me @ work. He actually spent the majority of the day with my friend Jen and the rest of the team (myself included) kept having to tell both of them to SSSSSSHHHHH because they were giggling and running around and yelling and having way too much fun. I spoke to Jen's hubby at her 40th birthday party last night and he said that she went to bed at 8pm on Friday because Henry wore her out. It was pretty funny...
Henry's bowling league was yesterday and he did all right, nothing like the week prior when he rolled a 141 game, his personal best. His team went up in the standings to 4th place from 5th and these guys are having a good time this time around because there doesn't seem to be as much competition between the members of the team this time like there was last season.
Henry stayed with his Mum today and will tonight although it is my weekend. He just wanted to hang with her he said. He's been good about her being so tired and she has been pretty good this weekend so I don't blame his wanting to see her more chipper. Probably best anyway, I've spent the day working in the shed and on the yard. I planted a 100 daffodils, mowed the dandelions in the front yard and got the last mow on the back. I sprayed some poison on the dandelions in back since they have started to come back wherever I dug them up earlier this summer. I'm hoping that they are tender enough the poison can actually affect them this time. I hate using it bu I haven't much choice with these gnarly things, they just don't want to die. I also repaired the fence where our lovable but not terribly bright dog broke through one of the posts last week. Yes, you heard that right, he broke off a treated 4X4 cedar post at the ground. He's just too darn strong and thinks he can jump up on the fence. Doofus
I've been spending some time getting used to my new MP3 player. Since the reopening of the bus tunnel under downtown Seattle, I have been losing radio reception as soon as we enter each day and the portion of the player that Henry had given me that played MP3s was very small and ate batteries very fast so I invested in another. Trying to figure out how to maintain the files w/o so much trouble but at least it holds a lot so I don't have to move anything on and off very often. I'm not sure how everyone has the patience for these things all the time. I know lots of people that move stuff on and off their players constantly

Not much more for now, think it's time for a cocktail and start relaxing before heading back to work tomorrow.

More later...

Tuesday 9 October, 2007; 1751

2007-10-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

I made it to the gym again! WHOO HOO!

It may seem like a small accomplishment but making it on schedule twice after months away is a good start and I'll take it any way I can. I do have to say it hurt a lot more today than it did Sunday and I'm sure it'll be that way all week but it does feel really good to be back.

Even with all the red meat, wine, beer late night Sapphire and tonics (Thanks Nics), goose fat and hi fat content butter, I lost 3#s while I was away. The French paradox at it's best. I've lost another 4 since I've been home too so the gym is fitting right in. I'm determined to drop another 8 by Halloween to be @ 15 lost.

I think I'm finally back on Pacific time, today it was difficult to get out of bed @ 0500 for the first time sine I've been home. Up to now I've been waking by about 0430 every day plus I felt like I was relatively focused all day @ work today which is a definite first since returning. Tomorrow is my least favorite day of the month where every 2nd Wednesday I get to work @ 6 and have back to back meetings beginning @ 0830 the rest of the day. To top it off these are the meetings where I have to be a stern and sober to the wireless carriers because we have come to rely on them so much with all the mobile devices we have in the company. Then Thursday and Friday we have more monthly performance reviews for our POS service, new store installs and end user HW support. It's really the only week I have to wok really hard so I guess it's not to bad bu it certainly cuts into my nap time at work :D.

I set out the pictures from Beziers today and I hope to hear from the everyone as they get the chance to see the photos.

That's about it for now, off to make a protein smoothie and then dig into some work I brought home.

More later...

Sunday 7 October, 2007; 1652

2007-10-07T16:52:00.000-07:00

Greetings,

Well,Scotland went down in a hard fought match today with Argentina. They put up a valiant effort and the 2nd half was very exciting but a few mistakes were made and the Argentine squad was just too tough. I don't have a kilt so I wasn't "kilted up" but I had my Scotland flag draped over my shoulders in the bar and waved it frantically when the boys scored.
I spoke to friend John today in England and he was back there earlier than he anticipated. I expected to find him somewhere between Barcelona and Montpellier but he had a family emergency that forced a long 13 hour drive back to London & then up to Newcastle. He was on his way out to watch the match as well and I'm sure he is quite unhappy. He was in Liverpool and let me know that although he would be at the match he needed to get up @ 0400 to get Laurie back to Heathrow for a flight tomorrow.
I'm getting more and more acclimated to Pacific time again but I still awoke @ 0430 today. Not too bad since I need to get up at 0500 tomorrow for work as usual but I would have liked a bit more sleep. The earlier nightfall isn't helping either as I thought it quite late last night but it was only about 9pm. The Kangaroo & Kiwi was running the early match @ 0600 this morning and I didn't think about it but I probably would have headed down to Seattle for it if I had. Probably better that I hadn't.
I made it to the gym today for the 1st time in months and it felt good. I hope I didn't over do it so I can move tomorrow. I let Henry know I planned to head back to a good workout regime and he was very excited even knowing he will need to go to the childcare the days I have him. He is being very supportive this time and I think his Mum's having cancer now has him a bit more worried than he will tell us. He has been pretty clingy lately and telling me that he wants me to get healthy again so I'll be around for a good long time. I'm sorry he is worried but it sure makes this old man's heart thump when he talks that way.
Been a pretty lazy weekend around here just catching up laundry finally from the trip, taking in the rugby and getting to the gym. Hangin' with the dog, catching up the neighbors on the travels and taking in the final farmer's market; had to get in on the last of the season's corn. I think I'll have some with some steamed crab legs tonight.

That's about it for now, more later

Thursday 4 October 2007; 0515

2007-10-04T05:15:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Dear Readers,

I'm home from Europe and the trip of a lifetime. I arrived home after a long journey that began in Paris @ about 0730 local time. The actual traveling did not begin until about 1130 local time but I wanted to walk the city a bit since the evening I arrived it was rainy and not very conducive to walking about.
After a quick metro ride to the new Arch De Defense, I wandered the large square there and then back to the Arch De Triomphe and the Champs Elysee before a quick walk to the Eiffel Tower which apparently had also been set up as the Rugby World Cup fans village until earlier in the week so much was going on as the village was dismantled. The fog was too thick to be able to see the top of the tower but there was a very large rugby ball suspended between the legs of the tower. Clearly France had been gripped in Rugby fever from that and all the large signs and murals I saw everywhere.

A quick walk along the Seine and another metro ride and I was back to hotel where I checked out and took the train to Aeroport Charles De Gaulle. I arrived in Seattle an hour late and by the time I retrieved my bag and then car and drove home it was after midnight and I had to go to work Tuesday. I was a bit tardy from my usual time and didn't arrive until about 0730.

This was truly the trip of a lifetime; I made tremendous new friends, visited parts of the world I had never before been and found a bit of myself of which I was convinced I had lost forever. I will never forget this holiday.

We stayed in the working winery in the Languedoc region, ate the local produce of cheeses, breads and wines. Some nights we cooked and others we dined out. Big breakfasts each morning and a lot activity with no evening ending that I can remember ending before about 0200 and one lasted until 0600. Drinking, carousing, dancing, conversation, music, hugging and most of all laughter, laughter, laughter. So much so it was the group that I didn't want to leave and not the place. I don't think that's ever happened to me before and I think I'm still walking around a bit brokenhearted at having to say goodbye to all these tremendous people. Here are some pictures:

The view from my bedroom window my first morning in Beziers

2nd night in Beziers at the pub for the US v Samoa

Diane and John @ the daily flower market in Beziers

Dinner @the Baronnie

Fun at about 0400

The Baronnie from across the vineyard

The front of the Baronnie and my apartment

The man responsible for it all, John

Thursday 27 September 2007; 1020

2007-09-27T01:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings fair readers,

I arrived in Beziers after a full day on the train from Amsterdam. It was quite a ride; up early to catch the train to Brussels and thinking I would be able to check out a bit of the city I left the station but this was not in the best area of town and was the newer station that can take the high speed trains, not in the center of the city like other European stations. The part of the city where I got off was really a pit and I hadn't slept well the night prior so was dozing off and worried I would fall asleep and miss my connection. Well at least I got on the next train and it was the high speed so only an hour to Paris Nord so I was able to get in about 30 minutes of sleep and felt better.
From Paris Nord I needed to make my way to Paris Gare Lyon and had 80 minutes to do so and was told it was a 70 minute transfer. I actually made it in about 30 thanks to my previous experience with the tube in London. I remembered that it's easy to get the right train platform but determining which track to get to is more difficult and it was the same in Paris. I'm thankful for my time in London using the underground as it made it a lot easier in Paris.
4 hours and 20 minutes from Paris to Beziers through Nimes and there were quite a few 200 mph moments where the train just kicks in and the countryside whizzes by.
Friend John picked me up with new friend Davey and we made out way back to the chateaus. I met the other chums; JP, Jimmy, Al & Jilly and we tucked into a fine seafood pasta and the local product from the onsite winery. Well. we dented the winerack in a serious manner and yesterday I awoke with a swollen brain inside a skull that felt abut 2 sizes too small. Made it through the day though and we were off to a pub on the town square for the US v. Samoa after Christopher and Heidi arrived.
Although the US lost the match, our brave boys did all they could to a much larger and seriously mean looking Samoan team. Samoa was up 22 - 3 at the half and the final was only 25 - 22. Truly we thought the Samoan team looked as if they were out to kill and eat the US team but we stood proud and it became a moral if not actual victory.
Today is a game free day so we will head to the open air market for dinner supplies and hang about the pool if it warms up but it is currently 12 C so 55 F seems a bit cool for the unheated pool. Probably more in line will be a long walk about the estate and maybe some table tennis or foosball in what used the be the stables or just beers and laughter in the main house where John is staying. John is picking up his Australian business partner as well as his daughter and neice today and we will have a full house. We are a big crowd from all over the world: JP is an forensic accountant from Melbourne, Davy a commercial real estate broker from Brisbane, Jimmy is a bar room singer from Spain, Al & Jilly just sold Al's business in Melbourne and are touring France for 4 months, Christopher and Heidi are are from Charlotte where he owns a SW company and she is in grad school but Christopher is originally from London as is John our host. A fine group we all are.
That's about it right now. We just tucked into a big breakfast of eggs, sausages, baked beans and croissant so we are just lazing about for a bit before we head for a day of adventure and more lazing about.
Signing off but will get on probably tomorrow for more updates. I'll work on getting some photos uploaded when I can.
TTFN

24 September 2007; 2150 GMT - 2

2007-09-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

Greetings All,

Amsterdam rocks!
It is a very interesting city and there are so many things to see that are so very old. Don't get me wrong I love London too but there is a certain raw intensity here. There is absolutely something for any taste here. Absinthe is legal and holds a place of honor at certain bars, one ofwhich is where I'm staying; 3 different brands behind the bar and by word of the bartender, each has it's own very special effects. Coffeehouses can't sell beer but they can sell their produce and it can be brought into the bar and the sweet aroma is everywhere. It is not to be partaken walking around but once night falls it is apparent not only when walking past an open coffeehouse door.
I got packed up as I have a 0730 train to Beziers tomorrow. I then took a walk through the red light district and it is a very strange phenomena. The ladies beckon and there is a different sort for everyone. Certain areas seem to cater to the various tastes as well. Women walk through the area alone, roaming packs of rowdy men, families, etc. I saw a man take his children into a sex shop yesterday and it seemed to be nothing new to the people inside nor the family as I continued my walk past.
My vice is still beer though and the Dutch like to drink int at all times of day and you can wander the streets here with an open beer. Although there is hard liquor in all the bars, I have yet to see anyone orderone and I've been in several including the one where I'm staying at the Bulldog Hotel (bulldoghotel.com).
My train is the regular to Brussels tomorrow and then the high speed to Paris Nord where I have to transfer across the city on the metro to Paris Lyon (70 minutes) and then high speed to Beziers again. Once I get in I'll call John and he will come and get me if they have not had too much to drink yet or I'll take a taxi to the estate apparently it's only about 10 minutes from the train. I found a grocery and bought a bottle of wine, a baguette, a couple apples and some farmer cheese for the ride. Although it will be a lng ride, I'm looking FW to it especially if the e\weather is clear so I can see the Dutch, Belgian and French countrysides. As interesting as the "culture" is here in Amsterdam, I still like walking and sightseeing more than anything.
Today I got up, had breakfast here and then walked to the Anne Frank House where strangely it was not nearly as depressing as I had thought it wou.ld be. Twisting hidden staircases and no ventilation (I think they kept it that way to remind those touring the house that was how it was for 3+ years) but it was a lot larger than I expected it would be even for 8 people living there. Then isstarted to drizzle so I ducked into a bar and had a big Heineken and waited out the storm. I toured the Rembradt House and then had a nap and a couple tylenol as I think the jet lag was doing me in. Caught the canal tour through the harbor and upthe Amstel River and through some of the main canals and two sea locks. I took a lot of photos and then stopped for some Indonesian noodles and returnedto the hotel. A full day again but it is a much nicer place than I expected. A friend had told me that amsterdam is a pit but I loved it, then again I love cities and all that comes with them.
That's about it for now kiddies, I'll see if John has a computer with him in Beziersand if so I can update daily, if not I'll have to wait until I can get into town.

Signing off now, it's 2230

Sunday 23 September 2007 - Amsterdam

2007-09-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

Greetings fair readers,
I am in Amsterdam at the Bulldog Hotel. Nice place just on a canal about 10 minutes walk from the central train station. I flew in last night on KLM and got a couple hours sleep so am fighting fatigue at this time but I will be up for a while, a shower after I was able to check in @ 1500 sure helped. I got tho the hotel @ about 14000 this am and they let me drop my pack and then I wandered around, got my reservations for the high speed to Beziers sorted. Wandered about, had some Belgian frites with mayo and then found my way to the Van Gogh museum. WOW is all I can say about that.
Truly amazing to be so close to so many incredible works by not only Vinnie but some of his contemporaries as well; Gaugain, Millet, Picasso, Sezanne, etc. I spent a few fascinating hours there.
Amsterdam is a whole new world, my hostel is associated with a chain of coffee houses where the main product is not necessarily coffee but as the website reads "vegetation and plant resins from around the world". I am sitting in the bar and there are people all around me partaking of that product where you order off a menu and sit with people and have fun. Also, my hotel is on a canal and there have been boaters heading up and down it all day it being a lovely sunny Sunday. Just on the other side of the canal the red light district starts and there are all sorts of shops that I can see that are advertising all sorts of assortment of various films and toys and private rooms and shows and, and, and... As one of the fellows I met in the bar here let me know, Amsterdam has anything anyone could want.
I've been chatting up a couple of fellows here from Dublin and they come over every few months for a "men's weekend" and appear to be pretty experienced with the various availabilities of this city.
I have taken some photos but do not have my camera to upload the images with me so that will come later, stay tuned.
I believe the evening is about to come to an end for me soon, I'll be heading out to find something to eat and then make an early night of it. Tomorrow I think I will take in the Anne Frank House if I'm up for it (hears it's really depressing) and maybe a canal tour where I can take lots of photos and if I have time the Ryksmuseum or the Rembrandt house.
Signing off now, more to come as I can find a login available

30 July 2007; 1148

2007-07-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

Greetings,
We are on our 3rd day of holiday and this was the first workday we got to sleep in. Feels great!
WE had a terrific Saturday with getting into the Edmonds Saturday market and sold 44 boxes of Woof World dog treats. We once again had a terrific response and saw a number of our friends during the day as well. We broke down the booth and and then Henry went for a sleepover at our friends the Norton's and made it through the night!
Sunday was pretty lazy. After picking up Henry @ 1100, we did a few errands, had Chinese food for lunch and then I slept the afternoon away while Henry played outside and with some video games. I caught up on the papers from the couple days prior and we were just very casual and lazy.
We are working on Henry's birthday invitation list and will head out to get some Buzz Cola for the attendees.
We have a few plans this week. We plan to catch up some kid films; Harry Potter, Transformers, etc. Not sure if anything will match the Simpson's Movie which was a real riot. Still a lot of juvenile humor but a lot of the jokes were quite sophisticated and meant for the mostly adults in the audience. We're working on getting into the Mukilteo market on Wednesday or the Snohomish Market on Thursday and then back to the Edmonds Market on Saturday. Then it's off to OR to see Grandpa Don for a quick trip. I think we'll go down via the long road on the coast on Sunday and head back early Tuesday with a side trip to Mt. St. Helens. Henry has never been over the big bridge @ Astoria but loves the Tillamook factory tour and ice cream shop and he has gained a recent interest in volcanoes so both of these routes should prove interesting and fun.
That's about it for now, will catch up later in the week

Tuesday 24 June; 1908

2007-07-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings Fair Readers,
Apparently it's been a few weeks since my last update. My how time flies.
Let's see...
Henry and I have been working on Woof World and after only 4 markets we are nearly out of debt and will be able to begin socking away funds for future and fun (50% of all profits are to be invested in Henry's college fund and the other 50% will become our "fun" or probably vacation fund. We have done markets in both the Seattle neighborhoods of Ballard and Fremont as well as Oak Harbor and have been successful in getting our name out and have even begun to receive inquiries regarding repeat orders. We are not up to 7 fantastic canine flavors with the addition of bacon (I think that Butch's eyes actually roll back in his head on this one) and will continue to expand in the future, even working on salmon flavor (for the NW tie-in) as well as kitty treats for which we've had a surprising amount of requests.
We had a 4th of July party on the front lawn of our home which as some of you probably know is right on the parade route to the Edmonds Kind of 4th Parade, truly an example of small town America at it's best with firetrucks, veterans of all the wars since WW1, drill teams and even Nordic Prices and princesses were on hand to help celebrate in all their glory. We had a good turnout and had terrific food and drink but most importantly to celebrate this birthday of our country, fine company. Much laughter, applause and cheering for the parade participants all was in vogue for the day.
Later on that night Henry was honored with an invitation to turn out the lights in the nearby Memorial Stadium here in Edmonds for a fantastic fireworks display. His timing couldn't have been better: the Star Spangled Banner concluded, Henry hit the switch and the 1st rockets headed skyward. Edmonds puts on a hell of a fireworks show and it was tremendous that Henry got to join in.
Previously in June, somehow I injured my foot and began to limp pretty severely. After about a month of this and an inopportune dash for the downtown bus transfer one morning I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis or a pulled/torn ligament in the arch of my foot. I have been babying that around and this has put a cramp in some of our summer fun, more markets and even just getting around. It is frustrating to Henry as I can't play well right now and for me as it has curtailed my gym time and both of us for the time it has taken away from pushing Woof World. The good news is after following the Doc's advice for the past few weeks I seem to be on the mend and should be good to go just about the time Henry heads back to school; rats!
Our wee town has been experiencing heat, rain and humidity; all of which are not the norm for July in the Puget Sound but nonetheless proves the adage that here we cannot trust the weather farther than we can see it.
Grandpa Don has been having a tough time of it lately and Grandma Joanne is understandably stressed. Grandpa Fred seems to be on the mend after his "stroke" scare last winter where it ended up being an infection that severely elevated his blood pressure and he is now being treated for sleep apnea and is reportedly a "new man". Grandma Deanie seems to be taking this in stride and is quite pleased with the progress he has been making lately.
My friends John and Carol will be here tomorrow from London and Edinburgh respectfully and Henry and I will be dining with them tomorrow evening. It is always good to spend time with them.
Henry won passes to the preview showing of the Simpsons Movie the day before it is released to the public so we will be attending that and foregoing dinner with our dinner party group but our friends all seem to understand that this is a big thing, especially to an 8 (almost 9; 3 weeks) year old. Not too far away. Henry has decided to host this years party at the local pool after attending another fiesta there and having a tremendous time. This is K's year to host but I said that I would procure sufficient supplies of Buzz Cola of Simpsons fame from the local 7-Eleven that is currently transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart from the show, right down to the pink donuts and uniforms on the staff.
I am currently working on booking travel to the 2007 World Cup of Rugby, this year to be held in venues from Edinburgh to Marseille. I will be staying with friend John in Montpellier where he has rented 2 chateau for 2 weeks and promises a good crowd moving in and out over the two week period and he has also committed to bringing his slow cooker so we might enjoy his delicious curries throughout, yum. He also has plans to attend the Scotland (his team) v. Italy match on 9/29 in Saint Etienne a short drive away as well as assorted matches in Montpellier and attendance at the local rugby clubs and surrounding pubs to take in the matches from further away. At this time, I am looking at flying all the way to Montpellier but may stop in Paris to switch to the high speed train running south. Also the flight at which I'm currently looking has a layover in Amsterdam on the way back and having never been there I could see about stopping for the night and taking a whirlwind tour.
Work is good, vacation is coming up and summer seems like it's barely started. Henry has been attending camp and has had a couple of fun field trips so far and is making new friends.

Well, that's about it for now but I promise I will try and provide updates more often than every few weeks.

More later...

Sunday 17 June, 2007 @ 2028

2007-06-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

Greetings Fair Readers,

Well, it's raining again. I must say the rain gods have done pretty well by us this weekend and kept the precipitation to the evenings and overnight. This is the 50th anniversary of the Edmonds Art Festival and like most other years there was little to get excited about art-wise. There were a few shining points but most exhibitors were the same old dreary lack of creativity hobbyists that tend to populate these local shows. It surprises me here though as this is a very large event here on the west coast and they claim it is juried for entry but we still see a lot of crap displayed. Maybe there just aren't enough "good" artists interested in coming to Edmonds.

As always this happy festival falls on Father's day weekend so it was that as well. Henry and I had a wonderful day and enjoyed each other's company for the last weekend before school is out. Henry came down with his Mum this morning and he and I did some shopping,helped his Mum pick up a new bike she purchased and he took me out to lunch at Panda Express. We came home, wandered up to the arts festival only a few blocks from the house and wandered about. Henry's class did a group tapestry and that was one of the shining moments of which I spoke earlier; not just his classes work but the student portion of the festival that was housed in the neighboring community center. There are serious talents among the young people of our community. I hope the local school systems can encourage and nurture it and not just beat it out of these kids before they reach their upper grades as is so often the case. We came home and watched a movie and Henry went back to his Mum's a bit ago. This actually works out for me a bit better as I have a lot on which to work this week to get caught up before I head out on holiday the middle of next week.

It's been quite a couple weeks for dining; I have had the opportunity to lunch @ Assagio (http://www.assaggioseattle.com/) where I had the penne ala vodka, Bai Pai (http://www.baipairestaurant.com/) and enjoyed the chicken larb we shared to begin and the green curry w/ chicken and then just Friday enjoyed Il Terrazzo Carmine (http://ilterrazzocarmine.com/) where I had the pennette con salmone with fresh local salmon and asparagus in a vodka cream sauce served with pennette. this coming week we are headed to Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizza (http://www.tuttabella.com/) on Tuesday and then it appears we will be celebrating my friend Eva's birthday with Ezell's Fried Chicken (http://www.ezellschicken.com/) for a picnic with the work team at the home of our team's manager and then a brunch at Eva's apartment on Saturday to celebrate Queerfest during pride weekend. Whew! It's a wonder I've maintained on the scale and hopefully I can get another week of the same with all this fine dining.

Today while out and about we ran into some friends we haven't seen in some time; Eric and Caleb. Caleb is a year younger than Henry and used to live on the same cul de sac where Henry and I lived when I was still married to Henry's Mum. Eric has started a new business renting pop top folding tent trailers (http://popuprvrentals.com/). This is really great news as Henry and I were looking at renting one of these fine rigs for a long weekend here or there this summer in between the summer markets and when last I looked there were no rental establishments for these trailers south of Bellingham any longer. It was good to see our friends and good to find out there is now a service for which I had been searching locally.

I spent a few hours working on our website this weekend and am frustrated by a couple of issue but am continuing on and hope to have the site up and running prior to next weekend. I was able to set up a PayPal account by which we will be able to accept credit and debit card payments for the cookies as we continue to grow. The site will have an upcoming events calendar I'll be using to update our friends and customers as to where we'll be over the summer as I'm able to procure reservations with the assorted markets in the Puget Sound so be sure and keep checking the URL http://mywoofworld.com/ for more updates.

That's about it for now, so just remember - be excellent to each other!

Wednesday 13 June 2007 @ 2121

2007-06-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

Greetings,

Another week half over and looking forward to the weekend. Still trying to get into a Saturday market this week but so far no luck. The Seattle Neighborhood market association decided they want to stick to people food only right now but I asked that they keep us in mind if the reconsider. We just made a commitment for the Oak Harbor market on Thursday evening the 28th and the market master was very excited to have us involved. If it goes well we'll try and get up there a couple more Thursdays over the summer. The same market master runs the Coupeville Saturday market and she has another dog treat vendor there already and although that does not preclude us from being there, she was very kind and let us know that he is pretty established and the first couple weekends might be a bit slow for sales. We'll still give it a go later this summer plus we have friends in Coupeville with whom we can visit while there.
This weekend if I can't get into a Saturday market I'll get some work done around the house and also try and work on the website. We are continuing to get an order here and there from friends and this could make things easier for everyone to contact us. Plus the idea of many different markets this summer hopefully will lead to orders year round over the website once I get it up and running. I am hoping to add a calendar so we can let folks know where we will be on any give dates this summer.
On the home front, we are starting to see some strawberries on the small plot we planted as well as some peppers and our bush peas are really taking off. We are hoping to get some weeding done soon before everything gets too overrun and we're hoping to have a July 4 party this year as well since the parade goes right in front of the house.
Henry is working on a biography of Henry Ford and finishing his final draft tonight. He is looking forward to the end of school after next week and we're working out a camp schedule to get us through. It appears he'll only have to attend about 4 weeks of camp this year and we're all happy about that.
Work is good at my real job, I was recently promoted to Senior Business Analyst and continue to work on bigger and bigger projects. I continue o enjoy the increased visibility as a SME but also continue to love the fact I have no direct reports. Analyst positions seem to suit that kind of work and I continue to consider myself lucky to be one.
Signing off for now, need to find some images of early and later model Ford vehicles for Henry. All the best

Sunda 10 June 2007; 2110

2007-06-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings Fair Readers,

Today was the first of our business ventures at the Fremont Street Market. As those of you fromSeattle know, Fremont is the self proclaimed "center of the universe"and is a very eclectic neighborhood. It has a tremendous streetmarket on Sundays that is part famer's market and part flea market. Today we had a lovely Spring day here in Seattle and were able to do our first market as Woof World. We were quite successful beginning the day with 115 boxes of K9 Kookies and selling 61. We more than broke even and have enough to pay back the seed money that I lent the business for the change bank and the market booth fee. I am headed to the local bank to open our checking acount and it feels mighty official. Here are a few pictures from the day.

From our booth up the street

You may know this fellow

Is that a happy face or what?

That's about it for today. It was a terrific day and we had a great time. We even had an inquiry for wholesale orders already. This could be the start of something big...

Bye for now

Saturday 9 June 2007; 10:34

2007-06-09T10:34:00.000-07:00

Greetings Fair Readers,
It's been sometime since my last post (over 6 months!) my how time flies?!?!
We had a nice winter, cold and wet but so far a fairly nice spring with a number of days of very nice warm sunny days here in the NW.

Henry and I completed the 2007 Washington Tour de Cure in May and Henry was one of the top fund raisers and was invited to a privte meet and greet with 3 time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond but Greg'sMother wastaken ill just prior to the event so he was unable to make it to that or the ride forwhich he was scheduled to be the leader of the 45 mile route. He did however send a signed yellow jersey for each ofthe two kids that were high fundraisers and Henry was one of those two. When Henry heard Greg's Mom was ill, he printed an 8X10 of himself finishing the last Tour de Cure on glossy paper and autographed it, "To Greg, From Henry". It was a high point of the evening when Henry presented that to Greg's manager who had delivered the jerseys. The day of the ride was very nice and although it began with rain, it ended up being sunny and cool to start but warm by the halfway point. We made some new friends, the Peterson's and Henry rode with another boy named Conrad most of the way.

Conrad rode with his Mom while his brother Nyk(the other high fundraiser and recipient of the other signed yellow jersey) rode the 45 mile route with his Dad, Kurt. Conrad's Mom Celeste was a much stronger rider than I so she held the front, the boys stayed somewhere in the middle and I brought up the rear most of the day so we were ableto let the boys ride on their own quite a lot and still keep an eye on them.

Once again it was a terrific adventure and between us, Henry and I raised over $3000.00 including the matching funds that are still to be tallied for diabetes research. It is a fun event and we will continue to participate in the coming years. Here are our Tour de Cure websites. Thank you all for your support of us and this great cause.

Henry - http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?px=3320838&pg=personal&fr_id=4393

Jim - http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=4393&px=3287783

Our newest project is Woof World. Henry and I have gone into business and will be touring the Puget Sound farmer's markets throughout the summer as purveyors of handmade tasty all natural dog treats. We are in high production mode and beginning to pack the car for our first foray into the market in the Fremont neighborhoold tomorrow. We are very excited about this venture and have completed many, many packages of our treats. We have put all 6of our curent flavors through extensive taste tests with our friends and have a number of testimonials to their goodness.

Here's one from our neighbor Gracie, "Woof, bark bark bark, grrrrrrrrr WOOF!"

And another from our founder Butch, "WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOOOOOOO grrrRRRRR".

This has been a lot of fun and we have begun making friends in the farmer's market community for advice and direction. The recipes are all original and we have been in development for a number ofmonths. I am taking this opportunity to teach Henry a few things about business and economics as well. We started with $300 in seed money and he is starting to learn about budgeting and operating costs; even taxes as we are now official and have a state business license and must collect sales tax. I will do my best to update this site with our new adventures throughout the summer and our successes and failures. We are now working on a Woof World website, http://mywoofworld.com/ check often as I am working on getting the site up and running as we speak and hope to have going by July 1.

In closing, let me provide a couple pictures that I think say it all as to why we're doing this.

Saturday 4 November @ 1930

2006-11-04T19:37:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are some photos of Halloween in Edmonds

The spooks were out! SPOOKY!!!!!!!!

Henry in costume with the little devil from the Starbucks Halloween marketing campaign. Both his Mom and I were very happy he went with something so original

Here's a "face" shot

And our last minute pumpkin ( we forgot to carve pumpkins over the weekend) with a little light on him

More updates later!

Wednesday 1 November @ 2000

2006-11-01T20:14:00.000-08:00

Greetings Fair Readers,

It's November and I realize now that I have fallen behind in my updates. Please accept my sincerest apologies...

A brief catchup of the past few weeks -

We turned the heat on today as we made it all the way through October (my goal this year) on our carbon diet for the sake of the planet. I was very happy we got to indulge tonight after school as this am the inside temp on the house was 49 and by the time we arrived home, it had only warmed to 51. It's good the for the planet and good for the pocketbook but there were a few times I was definitely tempted to give up on this quest for saving anything.

We signed Henry up for winter basketball today and he is excited to get started with that in the next couple of weeks. He is still bowling and is consistently one of the better bowlers in his league both in scratch and handicap but because there are such high handicaps involved on some of the other teams, his team the Bombin' Bowlers remains in 5th place of 8 after the past few weeks.

Stephen King visited the office today for a reading and book signing so I attended and yes he is everything we could expect of him; strange, eccentric and quite hysterical in his demeanor and stories.

Yesterday was Halloween and Henry was the devil from the 2006 Starbucks Halloween marketing campaign. Both his Mother and I were very proud that he was so original in his choice. We had a few last minute issues as the costume his Mom worked on wasn't exactly as he had envisioned but we worked through it and on to the downtown Edmonds merchants Halloween festivities where we all had a great time and even indulged in the Edmonds bakery yearly treats of fresh mini donuts...MMMmmmMMM! Henry had a great time and decided to stay with me for a couple hours while we handed out candy to the neighborhood trick or treaters. He was at first quite disappointed that we had so few although we purchased 4 bags of (good) candy this year. We finally hit the mark he set to be happy about it after 10 and we had a total of 11 kids. We spent the in between time finishing his homework to much bitchin' and moanin' but it got done nonetheless. I could not find my camera so pictures will be forth coming once I get them from Henry's Mom.

I kicked my fitness regimen into full gear about 4 weeks ago. At first, I decided to just get to the gym and workout 3 or more times per week and didn't really make much progress but at least I went. I made it 6 weeks and found that I was actually missing it if I didn't go.
At that point I enlisted a trainer and paid for a nutrition plan and have followed up for the past 4 weeks. Well since 10/02 I have done pretty well; Dropped 36# of fat, gained 18# of muscle and dropped total body fat from 38.7% to 29.5%. My lean body mass is 196#. I'm getting stronger everytime I go to the gym, my arms and legs are getting bigger and my waist and ass are getting smaller. I remain positive and am excited that at the age of 46 I finally like exercise and I'm paying attention to what I eat w/o being militant about it. I drink less but still indulge on occasion with pizza, beer, whisky and other not so healthy alternatives but these remain in moderation and even though I went a bit nuts yesterday for Halloween I counted it as a "free" day and I'm back to where I need to be in my eating today. Life happens so I just need to moderate when I can, indulge occasionally and then moderate some more.

I have a new manager @ work and things are going well. My work partner, Eva and I are moving out of the Help Desk and this is my first job move in 12.5 years working for another department. We're going from support to provisioning and will be responsible for managing not only service providers for all stores and support persons but will soon fold all phone carriers and hardware providers into our quiver. We will go from about 5 suppliers to almost 20 in the next 12 months. Gonna be busy.
I'm also still pursuing jobs in the International IT department with the blessing of my new manager and hope this will pan out. That is the direction I would like to go and I see more than ample opportunities for growth there but even if that doesn't pan out, I am excited about the direction of my current positions and the changes we are making as we look to the future.

That about wraps up the last month or so and I will diligently work to update more often as well as get some pictures out here of the past few weeks. It's getting cold, down to 31 @ night so winter is upon us.

All the best,

Jim

Sunday 24 September @ 1500

2006-09-24T15:09:00.000-07:00

Greetings Fair Readers,

Here we are already to the last post for September! Fall is upon us here in the NW and we have been enjoying the mild weather and the turning of the leaves. There is a lot of activity in the neighborhood as everyone is getting yard work done in anticipation of the winter months and the fall festival season is on us as well locally.

Yesterday Henry participated in a local event call the Running of the Balls as part of a larger Everybody Plays Day. The kids rolled numbered tennis balls down one of the steep hills in town for prizes and there were organized clinics in baseball, football, soccer and basketball for the kids as well as food samples and fitness booths and music for all. It was a sunny day and everyone appeared to be having a great time. Henry was one of the volunteers that worked to set up the event with his Grandmother through the Edmonds Rotary Club. During this, he was able to meet with Edgar Martinez (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Martinez) one on one as he accompanied his Grandmother as she worked with "Gar" to autograph some of the prizes for the event. A nice little side trip for Henry as he had no school on Friday and that helped fill the day.

Kind of a fall cleaning and chore day around the ol' homestead today, mowed the lawn hopefully the for the last time yesterday and today I've been doing some chores and enjoying the lovely weather with the sun out and a nice breeze coming off the sound so all the windows are open and I'm alternating between cleaning the house and yard chores to enjoy the day while getting stuff done. It's a tough day for me as I met with my trainer yesterday and he ran me through a new routine @ the gym that beat me up. I could barely get out of bed this morning but with some patience and stretching I'm actually able to move around and accomplish my chores today.

I got a new boss this past week and she is #3 in the past 6 months now. I have worked with her a bit in the past but we are getting along fine so far as we start to work together. My work partner took a long weekend so the beginning of this week will prove to be quite busy but as usual, I'm keeping my head barely above water. As September ends so does our fiscal year so this is the busiest time of year for me just as it is for most in the support center. We are expected to open 200+ stores in this month alone and along with that come the inevitable support headaches as we work with our suppliers (my job) to get this all done as well as support all the existing store.

One of the best parts about fall is the harvest season. I love the fresh food that is continuing to make it to the local farmer's market and the wines that are being released as well as the knowledge that all the holiday foods and wines and beers are right around the corner. The best part of fall is the cooler weather so we can actually cook some of the hearty meals that I miss over the summer. Don't get me wrong, I love the grill and will continue to use it numerous times a week throughout the winter but now is time for long braised cheap cuts, stews and roasts along with root vegetables and the other bounty of the late summer. Last night it was pan roast pork loin chops with grilled fingerling potatoes and green beans. I reduced the pan drippings with some fresh garlic, added in my Mama Lil's wonder sauce and fortified it with a hint of dijon mustard and it is great. I will use the rest on a grilled chicken breast tonight with a risotto of chanterelles w/ just a hint of chevre and a pinch of rosemary and garlic. Perhaps a salad of romaine, red bell peppers and hazelnuts to top it off. Last night I had a bottle of 2003 Turley Old Vines Zinfandel to accompany, I wonder what sort of plonk I can come up with tonight?

It's almost whisky season too but that's for another post...

That's about it for this week, so until next time may your glasses always be filled...

Monday 18 September @ 0454

2006-09-18T05:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings Fair Readers,

Well, another week gone by. I'm up early to go to work and thought I'd update you all on a very quiet week.

Henry began Fall league bowling and likes his one teammate so far. This is a 12 week league and so should be fun for all. He finally settled on the skateboard of his choice which was his Birthday gift from his Mother and I; it was a kit to build up himself and came with 2 decks so he had some fun with that and he is now getting used to this new ride. We spent 3 hours @ the local skatepark yesterday with him trying out the new board, me reading the paper and drinking coffee and both of us taking advantage of a non-rainy fall morning.

That's about it; I said it was quiet. Off to work for a couple hours before I get Henry up and off to school...

Sunday Evening 10 September 06

2006-09-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

Greetings Fair Readers,

Here I am viewing the world from my home office. I just wrapped up some stuff for our happy UK team members that I committed to having on their desks prior to their arrival Monday am so it's time for a bit of catching up and then some relaxation.

Although this was not a Henry weekend for me, his Mom generously allowed him to stay with me for some extra time as he has been with her for the past couple weeks and weekends so we had us some fun. The annual Edmonds auto show, Hot Autumn Nites, was this weekend so we had big doing's just around the corner from the house between that and the Saturday market both taking place. Henry, Kristin and I walked the car show on Saturday morning and saw some fine vintage steel, both stock and rods. There were even a few beater vintage rides for sale if anyone was interested in picking up a hobby piece but not being mechanically inclined and not really any more of a fan than to say "nice ride", I didn't walk with a new albatross, I have plenty about my neck already.

Salmon has been inexpensive lately so I have been enjoying wild caught Alaska silvers a lot lately. One night grilled with some Mama Lil's pureed w/ frsh garlic & white balsamic to make a sauce. The next night, again grilled with blackberrys pushed through a sieve and some whole butter to tighten it up. Some grilled yukon golds & sauteed carrots rounded out the meal with a bit of Eyrie 2001 reserve pinot. I did have to wonder what the poor people were doing for sustenance.

School started this past week after the holiday and Henry enjoyed seeing his friends and hooking up on a daily basis once again. He has made good friends with some kids within walking distance to our house and a few short minutes from his Mom's house so he has been socializing well this summer but he seems to already be back in the routine. There is a new teacher that joined his center's team, Mr. Stee and Henry likes him so far. He still has the same home room teacher, Mary Ellin and of that we're very glad but this will be the last year in this center then off to another group of 4th, 5th & 6th graders all together again as it has been these past couple and this year.

As always with the beginning of the school year, it's been hectic but we've managed to keep up. I got the house semi-clean this past week, still made it to the gym 3 times and even got Butch out for a long walk one evening so at least we're still on track.

I have been asked for some inside photos of the house so I'll add a couple and then sign off. I'll do my best to update this once a week or so going forward even if it's short or just a couple photos. Just double click on any of these to enlarge

All the best, J & H

Living room & dining area from the office

Two more views of the living room

The kitchen from the dining area doorway

And from the back door to the back yard and our alley parking. The door on the right is the laundry room

Summertime and the livin's easy; Sunday 3 September @ 1022

2006-09-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

Greetings Fair Readers,

I have heard from a number of you that is has been a long time since I have updated the outside world so I will now attempt to remedy some of that.

It has been a very busy summer and Henry and I have a lot of fun. As all of you will know that have read the last post here, we spent the first week after school was out in Puerto Vallarta with a stop in Utah on the way. It was a bit hectic to travel so shortly after the school year and we may rethink that in the future but we had a good time nonetheless.
Here are a couple photos from the trip

Henry @ the pool

Henry playing bocce

Henry with new friends Jen & Lizzie

Henry & Jim after the Fiesta night

Henry ( in the blue swim shirt) @ the dolphin encounter

As you can tell, we had a great time and both want to go back sometime, even if it is during the hot rainy season.

We were home for the 4th of July and the parade runs right past our new house on 4th Avenue in Edmonds. I set up the shade tent and set out some snacks and cooler of drinks, had over some friends, Henry and his Mom and the outlaws. All was well with the world and we had a great time. They all left for the rest of the afternoon after the parade but returned for fine view of the fireworks @ the nearby Edmonds Memorial Stadium from the comfort of my back deck. Our new house (we've been living here 9 months and I still think of it as "the new house") is convenniently located for many of the civic functions we enjoy here in Edmonds.

Here are the kids in the shade for the parade

We were lucky enough to take a bit more vacation time later this summer as well. We went out to the Olympic Peninsula and camped for a few days n the coast and took in a few music shows back here in the Seattle area.

Henry lost a couple of teeth this summer

We loved the beaches...

...And hiking in the rain forest

...visiting new places...

...And taking in a little music

Los Lobos @ Woodland Park Zoo

Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile...Too bad summer's comin' to an end but we did manage to fit in a birthday party for one 8 year old. Yep, it's been 8 years now. We had a bouncer in the backyard and Henry invited some friends. A good time was had by all

A feast for an 8 year old king

Butch

Presents!

Last week we went for a sail with our roitating dinner party. Much fine food and wine but more importantly great friends out yachting...

Henry at the helm as we raise the sails and head into Lake Washington out of the Montlake Cut

Margaret & Cara

First Mate Dixie w/ Mark & Joe in the background

Captain Tori

Paul & Cassie

Lenard

Well, that about wraps up summertime for us. I hope to settle back into our routine since school starts Tuesday. I'll work tomorrow and get some stuff done and my work partner is on vacation this week so it will prove to be busy no doubt but I'll try and be more timely in my updates to you all. For now, may all your pains be champagnes...

28 June @ 1957 Puerto Vallarta Time

2006-06-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

It is the rainy season and the heat here is oppressive w/o a breeze and that is where we are tonight. Henry has made some new friends over the past few days and they offered to let him spend some time with them this evening and I amsitting in the mall near our hotel using the internet cafe and the lavanderia so I can get some dry clothes. Everything is wet ans sweaty so we spend the majority of our time poolside or in the pool itself.

We arrived on Saturday and standing in line for customs was as always a treat. Lots of people and no air conditioning. Even stepping off the plane was like a blast furnace. We spent that first eveing poolside and swimming for a few hours and then unpacking, did a little shopping and figured our the thermostat and ceiling fan controls. The room is very nice, small but well laid out and easy to spend a week in.

The next day we spent 9 hours @ the pool with about an hour break for lunch in the room.

Monday we spent another 9 hours pooling w/o a break this time and then took in the Mexican fiesta. All you can eat and drink for about $30.00 US for adults and $18.00 for Henry. He had a couple quesadllas and some chips + a sprite and I tried to make up for him by eating way too much and then on top of that sucking down the margaritas and shots of blanco tequila as the pretty girls from the activities team came by to refill the shot glass hanging around my neck (everyone gets one, so dont say it). Then it was a show of traditinal dances of mexico iinterupted occasionally for the activities team to lead us in various dances such as a conga line and pour even more shots of tequila. Miraculously, my head was still normal size the next day...

Tuesday we took a trip into Old vallarta and getting off the first bus, Henry left our bag with our hats in it on the bus and we didn`t discover it until the bus was already out of sight. He was devastated and seems to think it`s all his fault but the heat was so bad neither of us was thinking too much about logistics. We found some water and some air conditioning after another bus ride and we visited the Hard Rock as Henry loves those places and likes to collect the t-shirts from the ones where he has visited. We did a little souvenit shopping and then waled to the pier south of downtown nd took the water taxi back directly to the hotel and saw a giant turtle and lots of pelicans on the hunt but the best part about it was Henry`s big smile, the first one I got out of him since leaving the cool of the hotel a few hours earlier. We took a nap and then spent the eveing @ the pool until about 2100, went to Henry`s friends room and the kids and Mom played dominoes and Dad and I dranks frosty Coronas.

Today we were at the pool by 0930, swam, played beach volleyball, some water polo and didn`t leave until 1900 Henry hasn developed a rash so we went to the Dr and he got some cream and Claritin and he should be able to get isn the salt water again by Friday. We had booked a dolphin encounter for him tomorrow but rescheduled due to the salt water restrictions.

Tomorrow will probably be more of the pool stuff and fun and games.

More later

24 June 06 @ 0720 Mountain Time

2006-06-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

Been awhile since the last update but we've been in Ogden Utah for the past day and a half and leaving for Puerto Vallarta in a couple hours. We visited a very large aircraft museum @ hill AFB yesterday and that took a few hours and then I had a bellyache so I laid down and the next thing I know woke up after 6pm. It gave Henry some good time with his Gma and Gpa that live here and they had a good time. Back to packing, I'll look for an internet cafe in PV. Hasta

Saturday 13 May @ 1537

2006-05-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

Greetings,
Henry is off to NYC today, he's very excited. I'm sure he'll have many stories to tell as he sees the sights and experiences the city that never sleeps.
I'm taking care of Nina while he and Kristin are away and she howled all last night making sleep an interesting endeavor for both Butch and I. I have the front of the house blocked off for her and Butch stays outside or in the back of the house. Today she has been coming to see me a lot and has been very needy. Here she is exploring her digs for this week

I wish I had both the kitties for a week as I have missed them but you'll recall her brother Cole left for kitty island a few weeks ago. She seems none the worse for wear but like I said is very needy.

I picked up my new bike today and it's a doozie. Here is a photo. It rides great but with the suspension it is definitely a new experience. You hit the front brakes and it dives forward as your momentum carries through the stop and the back end has suspension as well so it seems a bit "loose" or almost as if the back tire is low on pressure. I'll get used to it and should be able to withstand longer more challenging rides with the suspension being somewhat forgiving to my 45+ year old bones ( at least that's what my Doc told me, he's been on a similar bike for a few years now and sez it doesn't take near the recovery time).

I brought it home and took it for a short ride and now I'm working on dialing in a few adjustments. Tomorrow will be my first ride of the season so I'll keep it short to about 10 miles or so to start killing the nerves in my tush. I do not look forward to this but I'm going to try and ride nearly every day this week while Henry is gone so I'm ready to ride with him when he gets back. I'm sure we'll take our bikes to Oregon with us for Memorial Day weekend so I need to be able to keep up with him.

I was able to book our summer vacation yesterday. We're headed to Puerto Vallarta for a week, whoo hoo!!! I found a deal on a nice resort (http://www.paradisevillage.com/) and had enough miles for us to fly free although I had to settle for first class and I've now used all my miles in one trip. Oh well, it's worth it. My friends have a time share at this resort and I know others that have been with their families and all reports are tremendous. We fly through SLC on the way there and in order to make the flight, we would have to spend the night before there so I set it up that we'll have two days there and we'll get to see the Utah contingent of friends and family. Henry's very excited about that as well, one trip and we get two trips out of the deal. I think I'm most excited about some long first class travel and a hotel with 3 pools, a kid's pool and activity program with a zoo onsite and a program to let the kids pet the baby lions and tigers and bears oh my! A big beach with watersports rentals and paragliding, etc. Throw in a bit of tequila and lime and I'll be happy as a clam.

It's a beautiful day today so I'm working in the yard and just doing stuff around the house this afternoon, here's a couple picture of the backyard for everyone.

The first is from the north side of the shed on our parking area on the alley. You can see the deck and this is the entrance we use most often. W have some flowers planted in containers to liven up the place and have a nice back lawn.

The next photo is the whole back yard from the driveway across the alley. You can see Butch to the right of the car and just a peek of the 20' high and 20' wide beautiful and fragrant dark purple lilac as well as the very large sitka spruce just to the south of the back door. The entire south side of the house has lots of windows and there is a skylight above the kitchen on that side of the house in the middle front to back so the house is very light and even stays warm in the Spring before it gets warm outside. All the windows have blinds and there are strategic deciduous plantings on the corner of the house up front that are starting to shade the brightest sun while still allowing much light. We're planting our herbs and sunflowers along that side of the house along with a hill of zukes to keep me in grilling fodder for the summer.

Not much more for now, got some really nice greens @ the farmers market this am, baby arugula and mizuna. Asparagus is up to $3.00 a lb already! Yikes! Ah the passing along of the cost of fuel, even Costco was $3.08 on Thursday so I'm still trying to minimize my driving and wile even experiment with the bus to work some this week since I don't have to pick up Henry at a certain time.

Monday 01 May @ 1718

2006-05-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

Greetings Fair Readers,

It's been some time since my last update and since I rceived another from a friend (you know who you are, Scott), I figured it was time for another.

I had a root canal today and it hurts. I think it is time for alcohol and some sort of narcotic but since all I have is the alcohol, I guess it's alcohol and tylenol. It is very windy outside but still avery sunny day here in the PNW. This portends some sort of weather coming on usually and since the weather man is saying we should have some falling moisture tomorrow am, this seems to be right about on time.
Took Butch to the vet today as he has been feeling poorly as well and apparently he has a scratch on his eye. This was done during a fight with the neighbor's German Shepard last week during a block party. Some sort of territory thing although most of the time these dogs get along OK, this time Butch wandered into the neighbor's house and that touched it off. Rolf drew some blood on Butch but Butch got his licks in as well and Roldf slunk away to nurse his bruised ego, I don't think he had ever had another dog stand up to him before and Butch rang his bell quite well short of opening any wounds.
Spring has finally come to the PNW and I have to cut the lawn twice a week now to keep up as usual here is sunny Edmonds. The flowers are peeking out, the lilacs in the yard are in full bloom and the exeter azalea in my front yard is stunning.

I am barely keeping up with the growth of the yard at this time but I have killed a great many weedies with my trusty sprayer and the assistance of Ortho, Bayer and Roundup.
Last Thursday was Bring a Child to Work Day and once again Henry accompanied me to work for the day. He started out a bit slow and cranky but we finished the day well and then attended a farewell luncheon for a co-worker that has gone on to manage a B&B on Orcas Island he just purchased.
April has been pretty good to us all in all and we are sure ready for some Summertime. Henry is heading to New York City with his Mother on 5/16 to attend his Auntie Jenna's graduation. He seems somewhat excited but when asked what he wants to do while there, he asked "Is there a Target?". I was thinking they should try to get on the Emeril Live show since his first word was "BAM" afterall.

Above - Planting and decorating coffee trees

Left - A travel mug decorated in coffee stamps

Henry broke his arm falling out of a tree early in the month and had the cast on until the evening of 4/27. He's good to go now although he was none too happy to have to wear the splint for the weekend so the Dr and I suggested we put another cast on so he shaped up.

Off to find something soft for dinner and watch Anthony (Scott, I can't believe you just found this show). For the rest of you, check this out - http://travel.discovery.com/fansites/bourdain/bourdain.html
Bye for now

Wednesday 5 April @ 0818

2006-04-05T08:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it's back to work today. Took a couple days off to spend with Henry the first days of Spring break. Just caught up on the work stuff and getting him ready to go to his Mom's for the rest of the week. We had a good few days and were able to fit a couple of special things in as well.

Monday we went to Mt Vernon to see some of the tulips although not too many out yet but we brought a few cut ones home to sprice up the place. It was an overcast day and not many flowers to see except @ the Roozengarde display gardens but we had fun lookint at those all the same.

Yesterday we worked a bit around the house and then went hiking @ Saint Edwards State Park over in Bothell. We walked down to the lake and after playing around a bit, Henry fell and broke his arm and I lost my cell phone so we hiked back out and spent the rest of the day @ the Doctor. It was a buckle fracture which I take to be relatively minor as fractures go and quite common in children. He is in a splint and will probably go into a cast later this week for a couple weeks. We don't know if it happened during that fall or another spill he took from his skateboard on Sunday @ his cousin's Bday party but we do know that the fall yesterday at least exacerbated it enough to mean no jumping around and no hard playing for a little while. Here are some photos from yesterday

Sad Sunday - 26 Mar

2006-03-26T15:13:00.000-08:00

Kitty Cole died yesterday. I can't seem to stop weeping

Rest in peace best kitty friend ever and fare thee well

Sunday 12 Mar @ 1846

2006-03-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a busy week.

Monday I was taken to lunch @ Lola (http://tomdouglas.com/lola/lunch.html), always a treat. We ate so much I was not hungry the remainder of the day. Henry still wants to take me out for a Bday meal but it's not too high on my priority list but we'll get to it.
Wednesday we tried a sushi place called Sushiland near the Seattle Center. It was my first time to a kaiten sushi place where the dishes are sent past the diners on a conveyor and you pick out what looks good. Each dish is a different color representing the cost of that dish. Once it's over, they total you dishes and you pay. Easy as California Roll. All I know is the fish was fresh and tasty, they made decent stuff and a big sushi lunch was only a bit more than $20.00.
Henry wanted to stay an extra night with me so he stayed Friday and then I dropped him @ bowling with his Mom. He bowled a 96 and a 101 raw score, his best scratch series so far in league play. He was really excited with his progress. I'm really proud of his sticking to this and getting better and better all the time. His skills are definitely developing rapidly and he is already talking about participating in Summer league as well.
I had my last appointment with Katherine on Saturday. She is retiring and I am now starting the search for a new therapist. She has been such a great addition to my life these last 8 or so years and I will miss her. She is sending a list of referrals for me and I'll be working w/ my GP as well in my search.
Yesterday afternoon, Kristin called to let me know that one of our cats from when we were married had a small stroke. He is diabetic and has been on insulin injections for almost a month now but took a turn for the worse and she rushed him to the vet where they also discovered a large tumor in or near his intestine. He is too old and his diabetes makes him not a good candidate for surgery but he is happy and purring and still wants attention. I was pretty sad so I stopped by this afternoon and spent some time with him and let him know I love him and that he can go when he's ready. He used to be so big and he has lost almost 50% of his body weight so he is really bony and doesn't move much but he still gave me kisses and head butts and obviously recognized me. I remember when I really did not want to get cats but this big boy really turned into my cat; always choosing my lap or sleeping between my legs in bed. I'm tearing up as I write this because I'm so sad but he's been a good cat and I've missed him these last 3 years or so. I'm planning on stopping by to see him a couple times a week until he goes. The vet gave him about 2 months but after seeing him today and listening to Kristin talking about how he earlier lost some of the movement in his back legs in the back yard, neither of us thinks he'll last 2 months. If he needs to go to kitty island, Kristin told me I can be there with them when he goes but as bad as it sounds, we are hoping he just goes to sleep soon and has an easy time of it. He deserves it.
Last night I returned to Sushiland as it is only 3 blocks from the opera house where I attended the Seattle Opera's closing night performance of Cosi Fan Tutte. This was my late Bday gift to myself, an evening of musical theatre and it was brilliant. I'm glad I got out to do it.
Not much more for now, please send good kitty thoughts for Cole.

Wednesday 1 Mar @ 1730

2006-03-01T17:26:00.000-08:00

Here it is, the first day of that most hallowed of months. Yes it's true ladies and gentlemen, the ,moth that you were all given the gift of me is on us once again and I will be 46 years of age. When my boss found out that my B-day is Monday, he asked where I wanted to go for lunch and I replied, "Paris, I've always loved Paris in the Spring...". He suggested that we hit the crepe stand in Pioneer Square. Well, it was worth a try.

Onward...

I've been experimenting with Thai food @ home. I made a green curry last night and the first pass turned out too salty as I used far too much of the curry paste. Not to bright of me to try going by color huh? I cut it with more coconut milk and it is fine now, in fact it made a fine lunch today. I will endeavor to perfect this going forward. Soon I will be on to mussaman curry, another Thai stew. This is a red curry with cinnamon and I had a lamb version while in the UK and it was terrific. I like the fact that lamb was on so many menus there even though chicken seemed to be an afterthought on many of those same menus. I've seen other references to lamb mussaman curry so it must be somewhat authentic. I'll try it here as I have a reference for that and then probably switch to chicken. I found both of those curry pastes relatively easily but another I'm searching for I have found only online, kaeng par or jungle curry. This is a coconut milk free curry as it is considered a peasant dish so the lack of the coconut milk makes the stew less expensive. It is very spicy and is basically a curry broth with lots of vegetables, very yummy as well.

Now that Spring is almost sprung, I'm starting to get the cooking bug and even the grocery produce is starting to look far better for the most part. This happens to me a lot this time of year, I think it's the beginning of availability of affordable crisp fresh asparagus. I can use it in curry! and so many other ways as well.

I've also been experimenting with expanding my knowledge of tea. I find that it makes a nice afternoon pick me up w/o the coffee buzz that so often accompanies coffee or a shot of espresso. I was able to lay hands on a couple of single estate Assam teas while in London ( the cute girl behind the tea counter @ Harrods didn't tell me the jumbari estate was $27.00 for the 100 grams I ordered!) and they make a nice afternoon cuppa. In fact I substituted tea for coffee last Saturday morning (not sure I'll intentionally do that again but it was worth a try). I also picked up a tin of Assam TGFOP from Fortnum & Mason as well as a couple of their coffees to taste out with the kids in my department. The coffee so far has been retched (that's as nice a thing as I can come up with to say) but the tea has been lovely. I have also asked that I be a guinea pig for the new yea master program that will be unveiled @ work next month. Much to learn...

Back to my birthday, I think I'll get a ticket to the closing night of Cosi Fan Tutti w/ the Seattle Opera. It is a new production and sounds tremendous according to the reviews. I haven't been to the opera for a while and would like to attend again. I've found that attending the theater alone is a very enjoyable experience. It allows for much pondering and always the ability to sit in the shadows and watch all the funny people.

I have Henry for the weekend and we're going to try and hook up with a couple of his friends so he can see some he hasn't for a while. We're back on the regular treadmill now until we have a 3 day weekend together for St. Patricks Day. We're thinking of Oregon if we can get it put together. If not, maybe Vancouver or something else. That weekend will be followed on Monday the 20th by the 2nd Annual Great Protest of the Great Meat-out. The Great Meat-out is the day those Vegan types would like to see us all give up eating meat, however a group @ work has decided to make a tradition of last year's observance and eat nothing but meat. At this time we are still accepting ideas for the largest plate of meat we can find in the Seattle area for lunch. At this time the leader seems to be the sampler platter @ Mac's Smokehouse. Apparently we can measure the amont of meat on the plate not by mere ounces but by pounds. This could be this year's winner.

Well, back to the grind. Have a lovely March

Sunday 26 Feb @ 1230

2006-02-26T12:36:00.000-08:00

Last day before returning to work. I had a great week with Henry and we did lots of fun stuff and even got a few things done as well. Bike expo, getting a new MTB on layaway for myself, bowling 3 times, snowboarding lesson and a day in the mountains, tried out Fu Man Dumpling House as I've been wanting to do for a while now (yummy too!, might have to return for lunch today), got the furniture in the family room rearranged, the counter in the kitchen cleared off for the firt time since we moved (it's been a staging and dumping area since then) and got the stereo and home theater hooked up and in place finally and last but not least unpacked a few more boxes in Henry's room and my office. Things are starting to take shape, just need a few pieces of furniture to round things out and it'sll be excellent.

Today's plan is to finish the last of laundry, get a curry on for the week and get to Costco so it's off to biz I go. More later...

Thursday 23 Feb @ 1125

2006-02-23T11:24:00.000-08:00

Snowboarding was a big success! Henry did great! His instructor said that he was a bit reluctant @ first and actually pretty negative but perked up once he could stand up a bit. He has graduated and is now considered a level 2 for further lessons. However, what makes me the most proud is that after the lesson, he thought that was it but I told him his lift pass was good for 2 more hours. He jumped right back on and used up his entire time practicing and he got better and better with each of his successive 10, yes I said that right, 10 runs on his own. By the end he was back up the magic carpet lift in under 10 minutes including lift time. He stuck with it and took a few tumbles as we all knoew he would but he kept right on getting up and trying again. Here are some photos:

These guys have it pretty easy as there are no longer t-bars, rope tows or poma lifts to maneuver on the bunny hill. They have a moving sidewalk called the magic carpet and it may be slow but it sure is easy for beginners. The last photo doesn't look like much as a still but he is actually sliding pretty well and making a real turn. Pretty good for end of first day. I think a l,ot of the success came from the fact that this is his, nonw of the rest of us do this and he can proceed completely at his own pace. As much fun as this looks like, I think I'm going to just give him this for a while at least and maybe I'll try it next season so he can keep going on his own. I can always ski with him once he progresses to the lifts.

Vacation is coming to a close, sometimes too soon and sometimes I actually have a hankering to get back to work for a bit. I miss the pace sometimes...We're taking today pretty easy, yesterday out oin the snow all day took it out of us so we're once again enjoying our holiday be being pretty lazy. Bowling later this afternoon and we need to get to the bank and the PO but other than that, we can use up some time on around the house stuff. Plenty to do around here...

Henry & Butch

Tuesday 21 Feb @ 1935

2006-02-21T19:39:00.000-08:00

Still home on holiday. Not a lot to add but Henry bowled 5 games this afternoon and put up to 100+ raw scores. He is having a lot of fun with this and it is a really great afternoon diversion for him a couple times a week. He rolls for free and gets free shoes since he is in the kids league so it is even a very cost effective way for us to get out of the house and get some activity time in as well.

Tomorrow is Henry's first snowboarding day. He is signed up for a 2 hour lesson @ 1300 and then gets 2 more hours of practice time. He's pretty excited but was a bit reluctant when I told him I had signed him up for a lesson. He seems to think he can do anything if he just gets out there and tries since he "already knows how to snowboard". Right... I decided this time to sit it out, let him spend some time with kids his own age that are just trying it for the first time as well. He gets pretty frustrated if he doesn't immediately grasp any activity when I am doing it with him but seems a lot less frustrated when I just surreptitiously watch from the sidelines. I'll take my book and wander out from time to time to take photos but otherwise stay in the shadows to let him concentrate.

That's it for now

Lazy Sunday - 19 Feb @ 1210

2006-02-19T12:09:00.000-08:00

Lazing on a Sunday afternoon...

Had a big day yesterday, Henry bowled 2 consecutive 81s in his league games yesterday and his team rolled a high score of 475 with the 183 team handicap (one of his teammates rolled a raw 128! Way to go Mat!). Here are some photos:

Henry

Mathew

Elizabeth

Together they make up the Mad Strikers. They have fun together and his teammates are great kids, really nice.

Henry and I then spent the remainder of the day @ the Cascade Bicycle Club Bike Expo. We watched the trials riders (Henry finagled an invitation to Fluidride to try out one of the beginner trials bikes) a couple of times and then a couple of BMX exhibitions. Henry was mesmerized throughout. Ran into a friend Michael @ one of the exhibit booths for Axley glasses and it was good to see him. Now both Henry and I are a bit stoked to get on our bikes but the weather has been too cold for any windchill addition. We were @ the bike show from just after 11 until 6 last night and had a great time.

Read the paper and now that I'm home, I feel like I need to be doing stuff but I also need a plain old lazy day. Henry took Butch for a walk for over an hour today and we'll go together later this afternoon. Still feeling pretty lazy but need to get moving and finish the laundry and clean the kitchen.

Strangley enough, since I've been back from England I am craving Thai food. I ate Thai more than any other and now I feel like I need it every day. I had been going through an Asian food stage before I left where I am craving Asian every day but now it is more specific, I want Thai curries especially the jungle curry I had the last night in London. Packed w/ veggies and w/o coconut milk as most Thai curries, this stuff was spicy and good. Called kaeng par but I'm having trouble finding a recipe or mention of it on the internet other than to say it's spicy and w/o coconut milk ( I know that!). I'll need to experiment. I did find the large Thai aubergines fresh @ Whole Foods but need to try and find a Thai grocery for the Thai pea aubergines, these were totally new to me and although they look like a large English pea, they are hard skinned and POP when you bite them. I thought they were just raw English peas when I first encountered them in the UK but they are something else entirely and really good. I saw them listed in every rendition of green curry I saw in England.

signing off for now...

Now on Holiday - 17 Feb @ 1817

2006-02-17T18:15:00.000-08:00

Back to work today for a while. It was good to be back although I didn't get a lot done other than catching up on some approvals. Many of the peeps had questions about the trip, I took UK coffee passports to our department coffee masters and delivered the souvenirs I had committed to as well. Kim wanted some TyPhoo tea, Daniel wanted some Chelsea Football Club memorabilia and Alissa wanted something from Lush that she couldn't get in the states; all delivered!

Yesterday was a bit difficult, some jet lag but had a good time with the kids at the Childrens Museum @ the Seattle Center. We'll be spending some time downtown this next week as long as the weather holds. I've been talking about taking Henry up the Space Needle and he loves the Fun Forest with all the rides plus we both love the Pacific Science Center. One thing we now know, we don't really need a season pass to the Children's Museum, it's fun for an outing but it's not large enough or diverse enough to hold Henry's attention all that long where the Science Center never gets old for him. Here are some photos from the field trip:

Henry @ the drum kit in the sound booth

More drums ...A budding John Bonham?

Cool music machine where the balls drop on tone bells

Henry & Brandon ticklin' the ivories

Today, after work we ran a couple errands and Henry frosted some brownies he made last night and they are truly a wonder to behold. Here are some pics:

Working hard

Caught in the act

A future food stylist? You be the judge...

Back home again - 16 Feb 0630

2006-02-16T06:51:00.000-08:00

Here it is early Thursday morning. Suffering from a bit of jet lag; passed out before 2100 last night and woke up @ about 0350 this am (converted to London time, that would have been asleep just before 0500 on 16 Feb after getting up @ 0800 on 15 Feb with a lot of travel in between and then getting up just before noon on 16 Feb) so yesterday was a long day. I did sleep for a fitful couple hours on the plane just to make it that long but didn't want to over do so I could go to sleep early last night to start recovery ASAP.

Last night I made it home too late to pick up Butch from the kennel sadly and finally was able to pick up Henry from his Mom's house just before 1800. I went for the big hug and it was terrific to see him smiling so wide as I drove into the driveway, we were both very excited to be reunited. Henry too was quite sad that we didn't have Butch for our family homecoming and wept a bit but he'll be fine. I was able to get Henry a coule shirts while away; a Harley Davidson from a London dealer with a great logo of waving Union Jacks and saying "London, England" in big letters, a tshirt from the Chelsea football club ( we were right by the stadium as you might recall rethinking earlier posts) and a Scotland t-shirt; all were happily received.

We didn't have much food and I was tired so we went out to the Mexican place a block away and then came home for a bit of talk and cuddling up in front of the TV.

Today I'm to spend as a chaperone on a trip for Henry's class @ the Seattle Children's museum. A day of that and a Tylenol PM and tomorrow I should be back on schedule.

Since I'm up, I've been catching up on some work email from the past couple days, man there has been a lot of traffic. I'm in the office tomorrow and then taking a weeks holiday to spend w/ Henry. Might try to get a snowboarding lesson in if the finances will tolerate it.

Here are some of the photos of the trip running chronologically:

The river Thames from near our hotel

The massive Queens Street staion in Glasgow

The railway bridge over the Firth of Forth

The British Museum

Big Ben and the House of Parliament through the rainy capsule high on the London Eye

The London Eye from the corner of Waterloo station

Last night in London - 14 Feb 1815

2006-02-14T10:15:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is. I just stopped @ Lush to get the last of my obligations (they have products in the UK they dn't have in the US). Almost forgot as I haven't seen one in a while but I left Dave and Steph @ Leiscester Square and they're off for a nice Valentine's evening. They have tickets to The Mousetrap, the show has been running in the same theatre for 54 years now. Had I known the history, I might have gone earlier in the week but I'm ready for an early night tonight. I went out to lifet a couple with the UK manager last night and didn't get in until late again. I'm very nearly packed as I woke up early today and frankly I'm so excited about going home I got packed before going to the office today.

We had a great day, said goodbye to the team and toured 4 stores with last year's district manager of the year. His stores are all central London and all very busy with many challenges but they always make them work. Good to meet some of the field partners as well adn listen to what they have to say, both the positive and the negative as they speak of their experiences using our group. We're taking back quite a lot of information.

I walked up to Covent Garden and went through the Lush there, apparently it is "the Lush" so I've been to ground zero for you Lushies out there. Now I'm about halfway back to the tube and decided to update one last time from here before going home. I think I'll stop and get a curry and then spend some quality time with the Olympics.

This is a brilliant city and now that I'm leaving I look forward to coming back. If it weren't already so darned expensive, I might think about the 2012 Olympics but I can't even fathom how much it will be then.

Signing off for now...next update from Edmonds

London Office - Tuesday 14 Feb @ 0930

2006-02-14T01:24:00.000-08:00

Here we are, the last day in the office. We'll be catching up with the UK support team this morning and then doing some store visits with a retail district manager this afternoon. We'll be visiting the busiest store here, Leicester Square and then others and discussing the challenges the stores have and how we can turn those challenges into opportunities.

We need to find a Lush store and hit the Chelsea team store as we're out today and all my obligations are done. I got tea for Kim last night on my way to the hotel. Henry has a sack of souvenirs even though I've truly stayed my shopping hand as I've been out.

I am really ready to go home, as is Dave. We talked a lot about it as we walked to the office this morning. I woke up early today and I am completely packed except for the clothes on my back and what I need to take in my carryon. I really miss Henry and my slobbery crazy assed dog. I'm really looking forward to just taking some time and laying on the couch petting the dog and hugging my boy.

The flight tomorrow is @ 1405 GMT and we arrive just after 1500 PST.

Monday - London 13 Feb 1725

2006-02-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are at the end of another day in London. Again I believe we have accomplished quite a lot on this trip. Today we did the wrap up we had scheduled for tomorrow as the retail team will meet with us tomorrow and take us on a store tour so we can see for ourselves some of the challenges the stores face each day. We are especially looking FW to back room tours as thy tend to be quite eye opening. We will also ask of the store partners and their DM that will be tourin us what we can do better to assist them in overcoming their daily challenges.

After the last update Saturday, I walked up the King's Road to Sloane Square. It was great to see the place where the 60s swinging hipsters hung out and be in the neighborhood where some of the old pop stars of the day still keep houses and flats.

I made it to the British Museum and spent the majorty of the day in the ancient civilisations wing w/ the Eqypt, Assyria and Greece exhibits. What an amazing place and so much to see. It is amazing the pieces of the Parthenon and other exhibits such as the Rosetta stone that are all here. I spent some time in the Americas wing as well as the reproduction of the King's Library and found these to be wondrous exhibits as well. After the museaum, I wandered a bit more and found my way into Chinatown. I must have wandered into a werewolf because I found myself @ a place called ...

...and considered a bowl of beef chowmein (the blessed among you will understand the importance of this).

Another walk round and found myself again in Piccadilly and Leicester Squares, tried for a discount ticket to the We Will Rock You show but none available so headed back to Chelsea and stopped in a reat Thai restaurant called Jim Thompson's named after an American silk exporter that was a purported spy in 60s Thailand. Had a bowl of beef randang that was sensational and had a walk back to the hotel. Brutally cold it's been...

Raining these past couple days and even with the weather I got out and did the London Eye opposite the House of Parliament on the Thames on Sunday. I'll let you read about it here for yourself http://www.londoneye.com/. I have to say, 145 metres did not seem that high to me even when I was on the ground but even with the weather the views were very impressive and the people with which I rode the capsule were very nice and took pictures of me as well to show you all. Here you can can gaze upon my visage over London w/ Big Ben in the background

In all, this was one off the best things I have done in London and I'm glad I did it even in the rain.

After the ride, I hopped the tube back from Waterloo and grabbed a bottle of wine (Gemstone Shiraz from McLaren Vale, quite tasty) an my host for the afternoon collected me @ the station for a traditional Sunday in England. We had a Sunday roast of beef rib, yorkshire puddings, oven roast tatties, peas and a parsnip mash (heavenly, mashed w/ creme fraiche, butter, salt and pepper; MMM MMM GOOD!) with wine and beer before the Scotland v. Wales rugby (Scotland los but I did wear my Scotland jersey I picked up last time here, glad my hosts were Scotland fans!). Here's a picture of my friends in London

And one of me with my friends (Thanks Liam)

What a tremendous way to spend the day in a city far, far away with friends, food, bevvies and rugby.

Tomorrow is our last day here and although I'm having a tremendous time in London and can't wait to return, I'm ready for home. Think of living in what's referred to as a "function" hotel (along the lines of a Motel 6 or Super 8; bed, bathroom, tv) for 12 days. I'm trying not to complain but it is tiresome. The bright side is I'm in London, a vibrant city where everything is moving all the time and there are lots of things to see and do

Edinburgh airport; airside 2/10 UPDATED 14 Feb

2006-02-10T06:25:00.001-08:00

Just finished a vendor visit in Edinburgh. Waiting for the return to London. Updating from an internet kiosk in he airport. Last night in Glasgow, very interesting visit.

More to come later, my travel mates are waiting.

*****UPDATE 14 Feb*****
OK, so I need to talk about the evening in Glasgow. We worked with NCR @ the call center until about 2030 and the director we worked with was taking us to the hotel in a city with which he was unfamiliar. As his frustration grew, he was driving faster and faster, jerking around corners and we saw quite a lot of Glasgow by night. Mark was in the back sandwiched between Dave and Pete and asking for someone to crack a window, I was trying to read tiny print on Graham's map while sitting in the (wrong or left) passenger seat trying to help navigate while being thoroughly confused about being on the left (wrong) side of the road and left (wrong) side of the car with a map that was not marked with North and funny names (Scotland remember). Finally Graham jumped out to ask directions @ a convenience store (where apparently neither English nor Scottish were even a scimilie of the attendant's language) and we asked Graham to find a somewhat inhabited street with restaurants and drop us off. We could get a cab from there. Humorous at best but vomit inducing at worst I must say. None of was feeling all that well and Graham still had to drive for a hour to get home out in the countryside. He dropped us on Sauchiehall Street and we found an Italian restaurant and ordered 4 pizzas and ate every last morsel.

The best part of the whole thing was that when the cab driver dropped us we realized we had driven within a block of the hotel but didn't see the sign. A good laugh was had by all after all was said and done but I think that Graham will be rethinking any offers of chaufferring for some time. He sent me a mail the next day apologizing and jesting about a promise to have SAT NAV available for our next trip. Obvioulsy feeling bad about it but no harm done, in fact quite a funny story to tell everyone.

Next day a beautiful train ride just after the sunrise to Edinburgh. Our vendor had a cab waiting for us and we felt like stars with the suited driver holding a Starbucks sign and showing us to a Mercedes people mover.

We learned a lot about the manufacturing process and the future of one of the devices we use and then had a tremendous lunch (my first steak and ale pie, between that and the bangers and mash the a couple nights before I think I can say I had some native food this time around) overlooking the Firth of Forth. We were then chauffered to the airport and given a gift of Michael Jackson's Guide to Malt Whiskys. Another successful day

Worlds End - London - 1210 GMT

2006-02-10T06:25:00.000-08:00

Made it back to London last night and after a bit of a rest, met up with some friends for a few pints and a good curry. What a tremendous London experience. Many beers, many glasses of rioja (I'm told most people drink red wine with curry, just another thing to like about it) and layers upon layers of tastes. Some of the dishes I remember:
Plain and spicy popadums
Pickled lime
Yogurt and coriander
Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicken Biryani
Green garlic chicken chilly
Lamb madras
and other assorted lamb, chicken and vegetarian dishes just coming at you from all sides. A great evening with friends and coworkers with a definite London bent to it.

One thing about the culture here; there are still a great many smokers and the pubs and restaurants are all very smoky. My clothes end up impregnated to the point I have to put them in plastic bags as far from the bed as I can get them in the hotel room and then shower before I go anywhere near the bed so as not to get the pillows and bedding smoky as well. I was in a grocery today getting food for my walkabout today and thought it was still me but it was little old ladies walking by me.

Today I'm in a neighborhood called Worlds End (how can you not like a name like that?) in Chelsea and walking East up King's Road. I don't have a destination in mind at all, I just thought I'd take this in and then head to the British Museum for a bit this afternoon and try and catch the England v. Italy rugby later this afternoon. Not sure if I want to get all smoky in a pub or pick up a couple beers and snacks and spend it in the hotel to avoid some smoke for a day but I'll probably end up in the pub, after all how often do you get a chance to take in rugby in London surrounded by real fans?

Tomorrow, I've been invited round to John and Mary's for a Sunday roast and wine then the Scotland rugby (big supporters they are; John one hopped down to NZ just for a match between Scotland and the All Blacks and they hold season ticket to Murrayfield in Edinburgh for the games although they live in London). I have to be careful though, they hurt me last night and I have a bit of a hangover today even though I slept until 0930. I thinks it's time for a pint...

Not much more at this time but I'll update you all again soon

London Wednesday 2/6/06

2006-02-08T06:54:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 2/8/06

In the office working today, gave a 3 hour presentation for my British colleagues and was well received. Even my co-workers that traveled with me did know I had so much information and had developed so many tools to help me do my job. All impressed. Well enough of the patting myself on the back, I don’t need an injury before we head to Scotland tomorrow.

I’m well acclimated now, even woke up before the alarm this morning for the first time. Feels like I’m on a regular schedule now. We’ve been very well received and very productive since we started work Monday morning. There have been many “ah ha” moments since we’ve been here, on both sides. All I really need to leave here with is a good sense the UK team knows what we do and how we do it so they know they can leverage us for assistance in supporting our stores and field partners. We have also learned a lot about the challenges as well as the opportunities that exist here for us to help out.

Sunday after my last update was pretty tame, avoided most of the post football crowds as they left the pitch and made it to the hotel where I settled for an underwhelming burger and a couple pints of Guinness. Every pub including the one at the hotel over a km from the pitch were packed as there seems to be a bit of bad blood between Chelsea and Liverpool; just glad the locals won so I avoided any difficulties.

We’ve been introduced to a fine deli near the office for lunch each day; expensive but terrific fresh foods as well as gourmet items and fresh fruit from the Mediterranean. Quite a find and although I sometimes wish for a place like his close to the home office, it would be terribly dangerous as I can’t seem to get out of there under 7GBP. That’s indicative of the cost of everything here in London. When we got the bill for ~35 GBP for dinner last night and felt it wasn’t bad, we knew we’d been in London a while already. 35 GBP is ~ $61.16 for a plate of pasta, a steak sandwich w/ chips and bangers & mash. Granted the food was decent but adding only 2 sodas and a beer still would have been a lot less than that in most neighborhood bars at home. It was the least expensive dinner we’ve had since we arrived though. Most have been ~ 45 GBP so it’s a budget buster.

Well, that’s about I for now, I’ll do my best to add some updates soon

Saturday 1740 GMT - London

2006-02-05T09:44:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it. Pretty uneventful flight and darn comfy as well. Got about 5 hours sleep on the way over and was still able to watch all of Walk the Line. Terrific movie and very impressed with the portrayals by Reese and Joaquin. We managed to get tickets to The Producers last night and it was tremendous. Funny, fast paced and incredible scenes. Last minute tickets were even relatively reasonable in cost. The theatre was the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and it too was very impressive. Built in 1682 by Sir Christopher Wren, the first governor was Lord Byron and even it's current direction has a pedigree, the Managing director since 2000 is Andrew Lloyd Webber. Pretty impressive bit of history and not far from the Covent Garden tube station, Leicester Square and the Covent Garden Market. We got our tickets with about 2.5 hours before curtain and were able to walk around the area and get a nosh and coffee. After leaving the theatre, we were all very tired as it had been 32 hours through 8 times zones with only a few hours sleep. We made it back to hotel and I ended up sleeping until noon unfortunately it was a very nice day (read "not gray") here until about 3pm. We all decided to head off on our own today anyway since no one had any idea when we'd have enough sleep.

I walked for a couple hours along the Thames and then up the road to Parsons Green where I hopped the tube to Oxford Circus, wandered for a couple more hours with a quick stop off for a cask IPA mi afternoon. I picked up a few souvenirs for Henry as well as some coffee and tea to take back to work for tastings. I hit Harrod's (open Sundays now) when first came up to the central city area, and then up to Piccadilly Circus for a bit of wandering, a quick shop @ Fortnum and Mason. I took lots of photos and will post some here when I get to a computer where it's easier to hook up the camera

Internet access at the hotel is Â£5.00 so I found an internet cafe close to the tubestationn where I can update everyone about our trip. I'm just outside the Fullham Broadway stations and it's right around the corner from the Chelsea football pitch and the game is about to end. There are police everywhere; walking, in paddy wagons, in riot gear and on horseback. I wonder if I'll get to see some of the football hooliganism so famous for the UK, I'm hoping not.

I'm off now, get a bite and a pint or two and take it easy before we start work tomorrow.

All the best from Chelsea

Xmas come and gone

2005-12-29T09:38:00.000-08:00

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

2005-12-13T17:33:00.000-08:00

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

2005-10-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

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

2005-09-20T17:43:00.000-07:00

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

2005-09-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

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

2005-09-10T14:59:00.000-07:00

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

2005-09-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

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

2005-09-07T17:16:00.000-07:00

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

2005-09-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

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

2005-09-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

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

2005-09-03T14:13:00.000-07:00

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

2005-09-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

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.