Did You Feel That?

Wow, pretty good quake out here. Shook me quite a bit.

Makes you wonder what the long term effects of a little shift will be, for surely when the earth shakes like that it must push you off your intended path at least a little. What little coincedences will arise from that little shove that will permenantly alter your life's path?

None?

That's what you think...

The End of the Weekend has Come

Back from a wonderful weekend spent in Michigan meeting up with friends I haven't seen in a long while. One of whom I see fairly regularly and in fact saw last summer, another I last saw at my wedding (2001) and several others I haven't seen since the early 90's.

But the prize winner was a friend I haven't seen since 1989.

Yep, 1989. A half-life ago.

I was born in 1969. It is now 2009.

It boggles the mind.

I can't even begin to relate all the fantastic stuff that happened over the weekend and you wouldn't believe me if I told you.

Suffice to say: Best. Weekend. Ever.

Bones Review

Have you seen this yet?

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A Spanking Good Review

Just got wind of this review of nibble.

CHECK IT OUT!

Fried Oreos

Did you know?

One fried Oreo has:

100 Calories

6g of Fat

1g of Sat. Fat

8mg of Cholesterol

Seriously, that's not so bad and the calorie-to-deliciousness ratio is pretty damn good!

Best Weekend Ever? Part III, Sunday

Since the kids didn't get to bed until after 11pm the night before (see previous post), we had another late morning. I didn't get out of the house for my run until almost 9am.

Again, didn't leave the house until after lunch...and a late lunch at that.

Took the kids to the Lawrence Hall of Science on the campus of UC Berkeley. A very cool museum the kids really dig. The highlight (at least for me, I think for the kids as well) was the small animal room. Most people visit the hall and never find this little room just bursting with little critters. It's in the basement, down a long, seemingly endless corridor, but totally worth the trouble. If you ever go, don't miss this room.

In the span of about 20 minutes, we got to pet a chinchilla, a tarantula AND a corn snake. The kids finally agreed with me that a snake would be a cool pet and I think we might be making a trip to the East Bay Vivarium this coming weekend. (Heck, we already have a 20 gallon fish tank gathering dust in the garage that would be perfect. Snakes only eat once every 10-14 days. Super easy pet!)

Then, after a snack, it was off to the Animal Grossogoly exhibit: "Enter the world of the gross: a larger-than-life adventure that will require all your senses—including humor. It’s a whole-body experience that brings to life the gritty, engrossing facts behind—well, behinds, and other animal body parts."

Yes, lots of displays about animal poop and other slimy grossness. Obviously the kids love this stuff. Having seen this exhibit about nine times, I was less than engrossed. Took the time to make a couple phone calls and play a little Texas Hold 'Em on my cell phone.

Then home again to another incredible meal off the grill. A couple recipes out of the "Boy Meets Grill" cookbook, a father's day gift. Alice has been trying for years to get me interested in cooking, to no avail, but the grill adds a whole new element and I have to admit that I'm getting into it. Perhaps something to do with cooking over an open flame in the out-of-doors. Well, at least outside of the kitchen.

Plus, when you're grilling, it's pretty much required that you have a beer in your hand. Open flame, grilling animal flesh, beer...tough combination to resist, really.

I don't know, but I think I see a tradition emerging here: Friday at the Fair, Saturday at the Fireworks in Moraga and lot's of meals off the grill.

Yes indeed.

Best Weekend Ever? Part II, Saturday

Well, as expected we woke with a bit of a fair hangover on Saturday (see previous post). Lazy morning for the most part. Didn't get moving until late morning, didn't get out of the house until after lunch. And then did nothing worth writing about. Until dinner, that is.

For once, we decided to eat dinner at home. What's on the menu? Grilled pizza.

Yep.

Pizza cooked on the grill. Oh man, makes me wonder what we were doing wasting time with that stupid oven. Everything really is better when it comes off the grill. It's true.

Then it was off to watch the fireworks in Moraga. We did this last year, drove to Moraga, the town park or square or some such thing...it was packed, tons of people there. We set up our blankets, our chairs and...

...watched the fireworks that were at least 1/2 mile away and slightly obscured by a tree. AND! AND it took us two frickin' hours to get our of Moraga! Small town + tons of people = major traffic snafu.

But not this year. This year we camped out at the local golf course. Maybe 300 yards from the launch point of the fireworks. The things were literally bursting over our heads. It was incredible.

At one point, a firework exploded on the ground. Not only did we see it go off, we could see the little brushfire that it ignited. My six year-old said, "Well, even professionals make mistakes!"

Nice.

He was a little Howard Cosell, giving us the color commentary all through the show. And like all good reporters, he spoke in a very loud voice so that he could be heard over all the booming and the oooo-ing and ahhhhh-ing.

Along with the gem about mistakes, the best comment was probably this one, given in response to a huge, very high firework that exploded in long golden tendrils:

"It looks like long fingers...like God is attacking us!"

Priceless.

It was a great show. We all agreed that we should do it again next year, to which Cameron added: "We should come here EVERY year."

And it only took us 25 minutes to get out of town!

Best Weekend Ever? - Part I, Friday

I don't know, but it was pretty damn good.

I mean, any weekend that starts off with a holiday from work on a FRIDAY is set to be pretty darn good, right?

So, instead of going to work, we went to the Alameda County Fair. I would have to say that's like looking at an 8 hour plane flight in coach, but then they bump you up to first class and then just as you are about to get on the plane they bump you up to teleportation and BAM! you're already there.

Then we get to the fair and kids are free on Fridays! Ok, that's pretty sweet. So we do all the fair things that you have to do: we watch the miniature dog races, the kids go on some rides, we pay money to throw darts at balloons to "win" prizes we could have gotten at Target for about 1/3 the price, we watch the horse racing (just caught the last race of the day), we eat food on a stick: chicken for me, beef for Alice and Shrimp for Cameron. Henry declares that he is not hungry, but he polishes off 1/2 a brick of fries. (Yes, a "brick" of fries, literally a brick shaped mass of fries, only this would have been the biggest brick I'd ever seen in my life). Next, of course, is dessert. But there are WAY too many choices. Cameron goes with the classic: vanilla soft serve in a cone. Henry and Alice split, but fail to finish, a funnel cake. I can't resist the idea of a fried Oreo. Four for $4. And a bargain at that price. I ate two. Alice ate a half and Henry had a little bite. Cameron was too stuffed from his soft serve to try either the funnel cake or the Oreos and he officially wins the "smartest person in the family" award for the day.

In the background we can just barely hear Night Ranger playing their 6pm set. Anybody remember Night Ranger? I do, but can't remember any of their songs. Maybe I'll Google it...nah.

So then, when we can move again, it's off to see the animals! Cows and pigs and goats and sheep as far as the eye can see. We even found our neighborhood 4-H club and their pigs. Man, pigs stink. Seriously. Sheep and goats not so much, but pigs? Whoo-weee. Stink.

Then the kids, who've waited patiently for their "souvenirs" can wait no longer. So we stop by a little row of shops and they pick out some junk that under normal circumstances I wouldn't let them have at any cost, but it's the fair. You go for it, right?

By this time, the kids are exhausted. Time for one more thing. The Ferris wheel of course. What a wonderful way to finish the day. Whizzing through the gathering dusk, looking out over the midway and the entire fair!

Have Ferris wheels always been so fast? Seemed to be whipping around at a pretty good clip. Anyway...

That was the fair. 7 hours of overpriced fun that you just gotta have once a year. Just once. Too much time at the fair the polish begins to fade, reality creeps in a little too close and it could get ugly.

But one day? Perfect!

Almost forgot one of the best parts: got up early and went for an hour long run! Great way to start the weekend. Plus, I knew there would be some hefty calories coming...

Wow, this post is getting long.

More later.

July 23rd

Could someone please wake me when it's the third week in July?

You see...I'm going on vacation and I don't want to forget to pack. But I'd like to sorta FF the days in between NOW and THEN, if you know what I mean. The kind of FF were you can still see the picture and you can stop the movie and watch the good parts, but you don't have to wait through the boring bits...like, I don't know, WORK!

Ok. Here we go. It's too early to really pack, so I'll just pack virtually:

Swimsuit? Check.

Sunscreen? Check.

Flip flops? Check.

Snorkel and Mask? Snorkel and Mask? Damn, where the hell is that thing? I'll have to find it later. Somewhere in the depths of the garage, I bet!

Umbrella...umbrella? Yep, I'm going to Michigan and it could be 100 degrees or it could be 60 and raining. Let's hope for sun.

Running Shoes (you bet your ass I'm gonna run!)? Check.

Anything else?

Hmm...toothbrush would be good, toothpaste of course, clean undies...something to write with and something to write on...maybe a book or two, my i-pod...sunglasses (let's HOPE I need them)...what else, what else...

Duh! A towel. You never travel without a towel.

There was one more thing.

I know I'm forgetting something...