Fits and Spurts

I've been lazy about posting recently. And really I don't know why because I've got a lot to put up for all to read. Good photos too. Maybe the long weekend will provide ample time for housekeeping, blogging, sunning, dog walking and yard work. Oh and maybe a day trip someplace new.

Chapstick Girl

Lip balm is not something that Tiernan needs. There are 11 different varieties of lip goo in her pouch. The organization is something to envy.

More Fun

Tiernan and I took our second annual trip to Six Flags during her spring break. We had to wait in line for a while to sort out the discount ticket sitch. Which worked to our benefit, she was free and my ticket was $30. So off to a great start.

Next on the agenda, COBRA. Its a smallish roller coaster, not quite a kiddie coaster but certainly not an upside down Vomitron. We had been on this coaster last year so we knew what to expect, it started slow and got a little faster. Overall good start to the day.

We saw both the killer whale show and the dolphin show and chose not sit close enough to get wet. Maybe next time when the weather is warmer. Tiernan took some great pics at the dolphin show.

The best part in my estimation was the last roller coaster, ROAR. Its a wooden coaster with a steep ascent and a fantastic drop. Tiernan's description is that its really slow as you go up that really big hill and then you go down really fast and then its just fast. I would say her description is accurate. While it doesn't do corkscrews or anything upside down it is pretty fast. Tiernan still tells me that it was a little bit scary. I wonder if she'll want to ride it again next year.

Oh and we also drove the Go-Karts. Well, I drove with Pea as my passenger. We crashed into the tire barricades a couple of times. My turns were a little wide at times. He he. Anyhow, Tiernan thinks that I'm a pretty good driver even though I don't practice as much as Uncle Cam.

Manhattan's

After a night of brown cocktails (and delicious food) at Piperade, Cam and Jon traded places and Cam mixed Jon a Manhattan.

I believe Jon's comment was something like, "Not bad."

Way to go bartender. Cam can also make a tasty Margarita for those interested.

New for March

So I was able to come up with a couple of "new" adventures for March.

• Travese: To celebrate "The Cams'" birthdays this year Alicia suggested we go to dinner in Los Gatos. As many of you know I'm not a fan of a drive to the South Bay on a Friday night, but it was a special occasion so what the hell. Honestly, for a restaurant with a Michelin star I was expecting the food to be out of this world delicious and it was not quite that spectacular. But what do I know. I think Marcello's on Taraval is fine cuisine. What Travese does have going for it is the bacon ice cream. Yes, you read that correctly, bacon ice cream. It was the absolute best part of my meal.
  

• The other first which was great for me...I worked a half-day on St. Patrick's Day. I'm not Irish, but I like the idea of the holiday. Wearing green, drinking green beer, corned beef, Irish soda bread, Irish coffee. So I left work around 1, got on a train and came home to drink a couple pints of Guinness and enjoy the corned beef and cabbage that had been in the slow cooker all day. Ahhh, lucky day.
  

Moles, gophers and other vermin

When Cam and I first moved to the Sunset we were told about the horrible gopher problem. We heard horror stories about disappearing bulbs and new sod lawns being turned into obstacle courses. I guess we got lucky on 40th Ave, we had a gopher for about a minute. We came out one morning and there was a massive mound in the front yard. It was huge but since we didn't have any real landscaping at that point it was a none issue. We flattened the mound and that was that.

Fast forward two years and now we live on 41st. When we moved into the house, the lawns, both front and back, were lush and green. It was fantastic. That lasted about a minute.

At first it started in the back yard. Dirt piles everywhere. There went the lush green lawn. And if you've never had a gopher, not only does it make big mounds of dirt that kill the lawn because it doesn't see the sun, it all makes holes about two inches in diameter all over the lawn. Little gopher peaks and valleys if you will.

After some discussion and a trip to Home Depot we returned with sticks of gas. Yes, there was a lot of talk of Caddyshack and dynamite, which is ultimately why the sticks of gas were purchased. Since we weren't willing to risk blowing up the house to kill the gopher, we decided to gas him from his abode. Basically, insert wick in the stick of powder, light wick, cram lit stick in gopher hole. Bye bye gopher. You hope.

We thought it worked, until about two weeks later when the first mound appeared in the front yard. Ugh little bastard. The yard already looked like crap, what with half the lawn dead from a lack of water and the clover and dandelions taking over. And then add to the fact that the plumbing debacle had a pile of dirt sitting on part of the lawn for nearly a month. So really what did I care about this landscaping redesign. I CARE you see, because we are actually planning our own redesign. A great no lawn, low water yard and the last thing I want is to spend hundreds of dollars on plants just to have this gopher think he's hit the jackpot and dining at Fleur de Lys.

So off I go to Sloat Garden Center to discuss in great detail what can be done to encourage our furry friend to move along. After a 30 or so minute conversation I learn that I'm waging war on this little critter and I'm going to need to employ a multi-faceted strategy if I intend to win. Rather, hope to level the playing field (pardon the pun.)

We are currently in abate mode employing both the noxious gas and the poison granules. Yes, I said poison. I want him to go away. Don't fret though, the poison granules have not seemed to work. When little buddy was poking his head up in the neighbors lawn we quickly grabbed the can of "food" and sprinkled away. However the next day, he was at it again, this time in our yard. He was treated to yet another gas stick. I'm happy to report that it's been 72 hours since the gas stick and there are no new mounds. Perhaps he's moved on.

At any rate, the fine gentleman at Sloat also informed me that when I begin MY landscaping project I will want to put down a layer of chicken wire about 18" below the surface. This is the deterrent part of the war against these pesky creatures. Apparently he won't be able to poke his fuzzy little head up through the chicken wire. Therefore keeping my plants safe from demolition.

Let's hope it works.

By the way, Tiernan has named our gopher Gus. At first there was some guilt about eradicating Gus, but it's since passed.

Little Gus on March 15, 2009

Cookies, Cookies, Get your cookies

Here are some more pics from the Girl Scout cookie fun.

Tiernan had her first booth sale on Sat, 3/5 on West Portal. It was supposed to be at Cole and Carl, but when we arrived some other scout (and her mother) had set up camp. When Chrissy asked Mother to present her papers, permit, schedule...something anything to confirm that she'd reserved this space, NADA! What can you do though...with the smiling scout selling her heart out, you can't really tell her to pack it up because her mother decided to break the rules.

Anyhow, Tiernan was reassigned to West Portal right near the tunnel, across from Squat and Gooble (great for me because I needed coffee) and we sold a ton of cookies. Matter of fact, I think it was a better location than the first spot for a number of reasons...

• parking right in front of the booth
• proximity to coffee
• hardware store 1/2 a block away (i needed to have keys made)
• Lots and lots of foot traffic

A successful venture for all.

Little Red Mercedes

As promised here is a pic of my little red Mercedes.

I turned her in on March 7. Farewell seat warmers.

February Firsts

Well, sadly I couldn't think of anything new for February.

I've thought it over and over and nothing. Not even a new restaurant.

What can I say, it was a short month. Not much time to try something new.

Thin Mints Anyone?

Tiernan's Girl Scout cookies have landed. I went downstairs and there they were. All 48 cases.
She sold over 250 boxes in the pre-sale period, with the remainder to be sold on Monday, March 9 during her booth sale.

I'm so proud of my favorite Brownie!

Oh Canada!

A special shout out to JLo!

Saw these and thought of you and the Capilano Bridge!

xoxo

Settled

We heard from the insurance company today. They are not going to cover any part of the repair to the Poop Pipe. That's that.

Hopefully it is dry this week so that Bob and his crew can replace the pipe, fill the hole and repair the driveway.

I have to admit, I'm so sick of looking for street parking. I look forward to parking in the garage or in the driveway.

Speaking of parking, that reminds me...on February 26, 2009 my relationship with Mercedes Benz will end. Its bittersweet. Its such a good looking car and seat warmers are a gift from God but car payments suck.

Given the state of economy, Cam and I have decided to hold off on a new car purchase. I didn't know what I wanted as a replacement car, plus now we'll be paying out-of-pocket for the Poop Pipe.

As luck would have it though, I was adamant about keeping the Integra so White Lightening is getting a new lease on life. First things first, some new tires and then the removal of the old car alarm. It has a short and drains the battery. After that though, the sky's the limit. There has been discussion of a moderate restoration and there has also been discussion of a full pimping out. I do know this, from a practical perspective it needs a new timing belt and some other mechanical work. The tint on the windows must be dealt with. Its impossible to see out of the rear window. The speakers also need to be replaced. Ideally the entire sound system should be revamped to accommodate my love of bass. A new paint job would be quite nice too but it's not critical. She sounds like a POS, but I love that car. I'll put a picture of White Lightening up soon.

I'll post Red Rocket too.

Seattle Rain

This past Friday, Cam's cousins drove down from Seattle. It's been a couple of years since we had last seen them, so I was quite excited for them to visit. Plus other than parents, they were our FIRST overnight house guests in the new house. I was excited that we could offer them their very own bathroom for the duration of their stay (little did I know how critical it would be to the visit.)

Anyhow, Friday night was mellow, we stayed in for dinner since they'd been driving since four in the morning. Saturday morning started with breakfast at home and then we took off for some shopping. Kelly, came armed with a list of booze that needed to be purchased at a California Costco. For those of you not in the know, only state run stores sell hard alcohol in Washington. So most Washingtonians travelling via automobile to California are asked to bring back some goodies...

(In case you are wondering, Kelly and the boys have visited before which is why we were not doing any of the touristy stuff.)

After a very fruitful trip to Costco, Kelly was kind enough to join us for a trip to Home Depot. This was a trip for purely for me. You see I have been dying to procure a gas grill and since Kell has a MONSTER truck, I asked him if he'd help us get it home. I'm thrilled to say that we now have a gorgeous stainless steel grill that has a rotisserie and an oven. Yes, an oven. It's so awesome. It is my dream barbecue. Sadly, though since it rained the entire weekend, the grill is still in the box in the garage. Have no fear though, the next dry weekend I'm going to grill something with bacon.

After we dropped the barbecue off at home, we headed to Park Chow for some dinner. We needed to find a place the would feed the meat eaters and the vegan in our crew. Dinner was great (although they didn't have mint, so NO wine mojito). We were seated right away and enjoyed a long relaxing meal.

But the night was just getting started. We went back to the house and decided to do a vodka taste test. Kelly bought some of the Kirkland vodka because he'd been told that it was actually Grey Goose. Scarily enough, Its pretty good. Comparable to Grey Goose for sure! Kelly may have enjoyed a little too much of the distilled Kirkland beverage, as he spent several early morning hours in the loo.

Sunday, the boys (Cam, Kelly, Austin and Max) spent the day watching tons of television about cars. Including the Daytona 500. The testosterone levels in the house were unreal. I'd never felt quite so feminine.

Kelly and the boys left for San Jose on Monday morning. They were picking up the interior from Cam's old Bug. They are restoring a sixty-something Bug among other cars. Its a good thing since the seats, headliner and other interior items were collecting dust my in-laws garage.

After that they were planning to drive back home to Washington in the rain and snow. It was a short visit, but I was happy to see them.

Plumbing Update

We still have that big pile of dirt in the driveway. The insurance company came out last week to assess the situation so hopefully we'll know this week if they'll pay on the claim. It will be an exciting day when we can pull into the garage. Keep your fingers crossed.

Stolen

I'm a thief. I admit it. But Mir told me to do it. She did. No lies.

Back in December she and I were talking and discovered we had pretty similar new years resolutions:

• Reduce stress
• Lose that extra weight
• Exercise more (well that's mine since sweet Mir is running like a mad lady)
  

But then she suggested I add something FUN to the resolution list. She had decided that she was going to try at least one new thing a month. A new restaurant, a new author, a new beer, go someplace new. You get the idea.

So I thought not bad, it WOULD be something fun and a resolution that I might actually keep.

Here are a few of January's adventures (in no particular order)

• Bolinas. Yes, I visited the tiny coastal Marin County town of Bolinas. It was a spur of the moment adventure and well I can honestly say I would not go back. I'm not sure if it is because there wasn't really anyplace to hang out or if it is because I was asked if I would make a beer purchase for an already extremely inebriated gentleman. Anyhow, it's always good to check out a new place.

• Poggia. I can't remember the last time I dined in Sausalito, but another spur of the moment decision and this one I would repeat. This charming Italian restaurant is part of Casa Madrona in Sausalito. My dinner started with fresh warm bread, followed by a beet and arugula salad, Orecchiette with fennel sausage complimented by a light red wine, and ended with a pear tart. Mmmmm. It was all delicious.
  

• Pho. Yours Truly had never had a bowl of this famed Vietnamese soup. That was until Nathan took me for lunch one day when we were both in the office. "Pho Fridays" are a bit of a tradition within BAS. Typically any and all that happen to be in the office on a Friday head out for socializing and soup. It was soooo much better than I expected and quite filling! I didn't need to eat dinner that night.
  

Thanks Mir for the fantastic idea. More new things in February.

Plumbing Attractions

It’s been a while since I had the time and honestly the desire to post. What a nutty year. Chrissy and Tiernan moved in with us. Then after eight months of four people, two cats and one bathroom, we moved five blocks to five bedrooms, four bathrooms and best of all, a dishwasher. I started a new job. NO MORE TAX! But those are just some of the highlights.

That was until Monday, January 19^th at 1:30 p.m. I’m in the office when my phone rings. Caller ID tells me that my sister is calling. Since I think it’s a “Hey, I’m going to Target, do you need anything?” call, I answer the phone! It goes something like this:

Steph: “Hello.”

Chrissy: “Hey, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but it seems as though the drain the garage over flowed.”

Steph: “Huh?”

Chrissy: “Yeah there is some black sludge surrounding the drain…its looks like its receded a little. Oh and some of your stuff got wet so I moved it out of the way.”

Steph: “Uh huh, ok”

Blah blah blah

Chrissy: “oh and at first I didn’t think it smelled, now that I’ve walked from the driveway back into the garage, it smells pretty bad.”

More conversation about calling a plumber, timing, who can be at the house, etc and we finally decide that I’ll call her back after I talk with Cam.

I’ll spare you all the boring stuff about leaving work, meeting the plumber, calling Cam to come home because it seems to be bigger than we both expected.

The next day the plumbers come back to begin the repair, because we are getting a new POOP PIPE!

That’s right, apparently when you completely remodel a house it doesn’t include removing the 70 year old terra cotta sewer pipe. Cam watched as they put a camera into the pipe, of course after they cut the concrete and removed a massive amount of dirt and sand to uncover the collapsed portion of the pipe, but I digress. The camera revealed (and as an avid HGTV watcher I’m soooo sad to have missed this part) that our old poop pipe is cracked and has plant roots growing through it. Guess there’s only so much sh*t one pipe can take.

We are waiting to find out if our homeowner’s insurance will cover part of the repair costs. Until then, enjoy the photos of the hole and the big pile of dirt, ok sand, in the driveway.

Resolutions

I'm not nailing those resolutions. One of them was to post to my blog regularly. I missed the entire month of January. Ooops. What's that saying...time flies while you're having fun. Yeah that's it. At any rate, I do have some things to post soooo maybe during the Super Bowl later I'll update on January's excitement. For now I need to get my sticky buns in the oven.