Sunday, February 27, 2005

Party like it's....

We had a birthday party yesterday for Sara and it was good. My daughters are still young enough where there really aren't THAT many actual kids around, really just family and friends. We like to have parties at our house, and coming up with good ideas for food and the like. There are certain things we have learned from our parties:

- No matter how many people under the age of 10 are at the parties, having a lot of balloons present will result in all participants to behave like an 8 year old. We always figure that when it's the girl's birthday, having a lot of balloons will make it festive....then everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) starts beating each other senseless with them...and we haven't learned yet.

- Like I said, we try to come up with some good idea or theme for food. Rest assure, though, that our party will always include Chinese food cooked by my parents. People are thankful and tell them how much they enjoy their cooking, but here's the truth: They just want to make sure they have something to eat. Ever since our macaroni and cheese party, they just don't want to go hungry, and are good sharers. The menu for my next party could just be...Chinese food, but that would be no fun.

- I can always count on one of my friends to get my kids something either: loud and has no volume control or off switch, bound to get all messy and on my wall and/or carpet, or oversized clothes from the Roseanne line of clothes from Thrift Town. I cannot wait to exact revenge on them when they have kids...

Parties are still great though and we can't wait until summer to have bbq's in our backyard. I got some tiki torches that I just can't wait to use.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

...it even makes julienne fries...

I did something I almost never do on my President's day holiday: I went outlet shopping. I am not really a shopper as it is, and I am usually smart enough to avoid outlets on holidays (not to mention always being poor). I needed some new work clothes though so I trudged out with my wife and sister out to Vacaville. I ended up with one whole shirt that I probably won't wear until it gets warmer, but I did get caught up with the kitchen gadget stores...

Like most people who are just putting together a home, I have all sorts of cheap, hand-me-downs, and other random kitchen supplies. Ever since my recent renaissance in cooking, I decided that any new purchases would be of quality. Anyone that has been in my kitchen knows that nothing exemplifies that better than my knives. Aside from not being sharp, many of them have started to be....rusty. So boy was I excited to get a fancy (German made...there is a joke there but I'm not seeing it) knife. Was it hard to spend 70 bucks on one knife? Absolutely. But I consider the money I would save from having to buy one of those attractive hooks for my hand once I cut it off from the hundredth cutting accidents from a rusty knife made it worth it. I went home just looking for something to cut but we got home too late and I ended up eating at my parents. Finally, I was ready to wield my newly forged metal, a moment I will always remember....

I sliced a croissant to make a sandwich for work.

I know, anticlimactic. I followed that up by slicing a slightly frozen steak for stroganoff the next day, and that was a whole lot more fun. (Btw, that croissant didn't stand a chance either)

Friday, February 18, 2005

The Yeast of all...

After a few months, I think I am still getting used to having a blog. I find myself wondering what to write, like I'm expecting to be reporting on some important world changing event or something. Really, blogs are great because it lets people examine the little things. The little things that might otherwise be ignored and forgotten....but the lost entertainment would be a shame. Like this nugget that happened like a week ago...

I came home the other night from work and had a nice dinner prepared by my wife. My mom called and said that they had made baked pork chop rice and asked if we wanted to come over for dinner (a nice perk, living so close to my parents. Only rarely annoying...so far). I told her we just ate but I'll come take some leftovers to bring to work the next day. So after we cleaned up after dinner I drove over to my parents. I noticed something shiny sitting by rear tire but didn't think too much of it. When I came back 15 minutes later, however, I had to drive by the shiny object to park the car. It looked a lot like a plastic bag...with...a loaf of bread? Sure enough, when I got out, there laid a loaf of bread, sitting between the sidewalk and the rear right tire of my car. I was sure it wasn't there when I got home, so in the hour or so while I was having dinner, someone dropped a loaf of bread by my house...or maybe, divine intervention came and is feeding my poor family (kind of like Jesus feeding the masses with his fish and bread). So like the frugal Chinese guy that I am, I brought the "holy" in and it's currently sitting in my freezer. I figure I have at least a little head start with my holy sandwich than that Virgin Mary Grill Cheese....Holy Tuna, anyone?

Saturday, February 12, 2005

Potty mouth...

Little kids are funny. I love to talk to my kids just to hear what comes out of their mouths. And I'm not talking about Bill Cosby's kids say the darnest things. Kids are so imaginative that they don't need some weird adult talking about jello to them. My daughter Hannah does her best monologues...sitting on the toilet. Evertime I walk by she is talking about something...unique. Here is a sample:

"Ducky, you sit there and watch me brush my teeth later."

"Hi Strawberry Shortcake. You brought your family with you today?"

"Ribbit."

No gelatin can make kids say stranger things than that.

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

I'll stick with Jamba Juice...

I was happily flipping through my ESPN magazine when I ran into the ad for the latest offering from Budweiser. Now I don't really drink beer anyway but it shocked me. The alcohol isn't enough that we have to put caffiene it? Does it come in a can, bottle, or IV form? I can't wait to see Bud Crack......or Bud...well...bud. (low carbs!)...endorsed by Randy Moss...official drink of the NBA....