17 posts tagged “family”

Three three

Mar 24, 2007
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I had a nice birthday yesterday. I had to work, though, which made it a not-so-exciting day until work ended. First, I walked down to the Jolly Roger Taproom for a first beer with

beer_retard. They have this deal on Fridays where they cap a limited-edition keg and sell $3 pints until they run out. We each had a pint of their Islander Pale Ale.

Firkin Friday

Then, we met up with

decadentscholar and

negihama for some food (caprese platter, three orders of fish and chips, and a side salad) and drinks (I had two more beers, but they were of the high alcohol variety). Afterward, we walked up to the house and served cake. The cats came out and made friends, and we had a not-so-late night. It was a good birthday.

The big present from Elizabeth was tickets to the Sasquatch Music Festival (day one, Saturday). The lineup: Host Sarah Silverman; artists Björk, The Arcade Fire, Manu Chao, Neko Case, The Hold Steady, Mix Master Mike, Mirah, and a bunch of others. Now I need to investigate the latest photo policy (what does "professional cameras" mean to the gate security?), see if it's worth it to get "Premier Parking", and start getting hydrated now.

In a little bit, we're heading over to my folks' to see some relatives, have more cake, and generally take it easy.

The Ides

Mar 15, 2007
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I guess that in the next few days, we're going to pick our caterer. Next on the list are the DJ (I guess DIY would be too much work) and the officiant (two of our top choices can't do it). And I need to call the potential groomsmen. We met with a caterer yesterday afternoon, and we might end up going with them. It would have been nice to taste some food — by the time we left, we were famished.

Things are quiet-ish now, but they're going to pick up soon. Friday is a pie party (two days late). Saturday, I might do some barleywine sampling at Brouwer's; we're also going to try to start some yardwork and early garden prep. Sunday, I'm going to see Night Canopy do a free in-store at Sonic Boom. And then next week includes meeting up with my Aunt Angi, who's in town for a conference, we may have houseguests for a few days on the weekend, my birthday happens (I have no idea what we're doing that night), and I suppose other things will come up, too.

A year ago today we flew to Italy.

Recollections

Feb 27, 2007
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The trouble with getting older and relying so much on your personal blog's archive to remember things is that if you don't document what happened ASAP, you're liable to forget. That, or nothing actually happened to document. It's probably the latter for the weekend, but I dunno.

I do know that we went out and did a little beer "research" with

beer_retard on Saturday afternoon, went to a party on Saturday night, and watched the Oscars™ on Sunday night with my parents. Somewhere in there we slept a bunch and ate stuff, too.

Life is going great, though. We are finally seriously making lists of caterers for quotes, we have more ideas for the wedding day than we have the energy to implement, and the Save A Date cards are going in the mail soon. Tonight it might snow (I used to never believe this in Seattle, but now I believe it until proven otherwise), and Saturday night I say goodbye to my friend Chris, off to D.C. and then the west coast of Africa in June.

Also, I am working in a coffee shop for the first time in at least two months, and I'm slightly wired. I don't usually have coffee in the afternoon, and I'm feeling it. Uh oh!

Limbo like me

Feb 2, 2007
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I don't want to jinx things or anything, but I think we may have figured out a good wedding date. It all depends on when the reception site folks gets back to me and how fast I can call the wedding site folks. Then The fun of making a guest list and making "save the date" cards and/or invitations begins! ~~The reception site has limited office hours, so we're sort of in limbo.~~ Edit: The wedding is in late August!

Julie, we will still ask you for any information you have about vendors. We're just trying to lock down the date so the rest of the process can start!

In other, non-wedding news, well not much is going on. This week, I read some comics (the new LSH chief among the floppies, plus the final Seven Soldiers TP) and am halfway through my latest prose book, which I will post about when I'm done. Both of us made our mixclub mixes, and mine went into the mail yesterday afternoon. I'm back to swimming, finally, after some laziness and cold recovery. I still have an itchy throat, but my head is pretty cleared up.

Saturday, I want to get some errands done, and Sunday I plan to see my old college friends for (maybe) a soccer game (for old-times' sake, although fewer of us still have cleats around) and definitely the Superbowl. I'm going to see my old suitemate/roommate Che for the first time in I don't know how many years, which should be cool. And Monday is my Dad's birthday, so we're going out to dinner with my parents.

l00t

Dec 30, 2006
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Thursday night, we had the fourth of what will be five-ish separate Christmas gift exchanges this holiday season; this one was with my parents. In the interests of preserving my memory and to remind myself that I am both blessed and too materialistic, I am putting behind the cut the things that I gave and got before I forget everything.

Exchange 1: me and E

Gave
2 Japanese Dunny toys
Japanese chocolate candies and mango gummy candies
The Cake Bible
Eames-designed paper/envelopes
More that I can't remember

Got
ThermaRest camping pad
Camping pillow
New bowls for the kitchen
Liqueur-filled chocolates
More chocolates
Snow globe

Exchange 2: Elizabeth, her step-mom, her dad, her brother, her sister-in-law

Gave
An assortment of west coast/Pacific Northwest beers for her dad
A lot of things that Elizabeth picked out
A necklace/earing set for Elizabeth

Got
A GorillaPod from Elizabeth
A Best Buy gift card specifically to buy the Neko Case Austin City Limits DVD (her dad couldn't remember if I liked her or not. I do.)
Other small, cool things

Exchange 3: Elizabeth, her mom, her brother, her sister-in-law

Gave
(Elizabeth took care of it; whenever I remember what it was, we can add it. Her brother got a gift card, her mom a gift certificate for a massage at a spa)

Got
Sweat pants
Socks

Exchange 4: White elephant exchange with Elizabeth's mom's side of the family

Gave
"Music" gift pack:
- Book on the history of music
- Yanni Live at the Acropolis CD
- Toy accordion
- Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon t-shirt

Got
Razor and shaving cream (happy to get something that didn't take up much room in my bag)

Exchange 5: Elizabeth and my parents

Gave
Mom: Soaps from LUSH
Soapstone statue from La Tienda (from Kenya)
The Anthology of American Folk Music (for her birthday)

Dad: The Week-End Book
Movie Lust
Very nice olive oil imported from Italy

Got
SIFF "goodwill partner" membership for me and E!
Scarecrow Video Movie Guide
Omelet/frying pan
The Complete Peanuts 1959-60/1961-62 two-pack
LEGO Star Wars II: Classic Trilogy Edition for Xbox

In an hour or so, the family is going up to Bellingham to do yet another Christmas with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. And Sunday night, my friends are doing a white elephant gift exchange prior to the New Year's festivities. So there's a potential for more stuff. Whee!

I am quite happy with what I've got so far; I can think of maybe one or two things on my family-requested "list" that I didn't get but sort of really want now. And I might get one of those things today.

Happy Christmas (The War Continues)

Dec 24, 2006
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Deck us all with Boston Charlie

We had a fun Christmas Eve Christmas with

negihama's father, step-mom, brother, and sister-in-law. I got a Gorillapod, among other cool things. Tomorrow morning, we do another Christmas with Elizabeth's Mom, and then we go over to her relatives for a White ~~Christmas~~Elephant Christmas. Afterward, we pack up our presents as best we can and try to get sleep before an early flight on Tuesday.

We brought six bottles of beer with us in our checked luggage (wrapped in bubble wrap and two plastic bags each) and they survived. I hope we do the same on the way back.

I know that not everyone is celebrating Christmas; maybe even some of you have to work. But I hope you have a good day on the 25th, regardless. Happy Holidays, whatever that means to you.

Hack

Dec 11, 2006
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This is getting to be a bad habit: I get a cold (sinuses clogged, running nose, headaches, coughing, etc.); most of the symptoms disappear in a week; an itchy, scratchy throat that causes me to cough with no discernible pattern lingers for at least a week afterward. My guess is that the throat/cough trouble is caused by the cough drops that I use to stop coughing. However, without the cough drops it seems just as bad. I think I might experiment and not use any cough drops tomorrow. Maybe it will help. In the meantime, Throat Coat tea is my friend.

I've been negligent in posting for the last few days. The highlights of those lost days:

- We've gone through most of season two (first 9 or 10 episodes) of The Wire. We are addicted.
- I've made substantial progress on Christmas shopping or brainstorming for Christmas shopping (for me, figuring out what to get is tougher than doing the shopping). The biggest deadlines are getting presents sent to my sister and possibly something for negihama's dad in the next few days. I need to do a little more shopping first, though.
- I sampled three more winter beers at Brouwer's Cafe in Fremont. We joined socialretard and decadentscholar for some frites and libations. Brouwer's has a massive amount of beer on tap, and we will definitely have to return sometime.
- Elizabeth made a cake completely from scratch yesterday. It got finished late, but it was excellent.
- It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. We got a tree and decorated it last night. Tonight, I hope to put up more lights somewhere around the house.

So it goes

Dec 6, 2006
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The news about James Kim is so sad. Just because I don't mention it in my journal doesn't mean I'm not thinking about. Sort of the same deal with other journalers' travails and even birthdays. (I posted some blanket "happy birthday!" statement a long time ago and it still applies. If I don't mention your birthday, it doesn't mean that I don't wish you a happy one!)

We finished watching season one of The Wire last night, and now we're taking a breather before getting into season two. I can see now why everyone raves about it. I like how almost no one is perfect and completely good or bad. And the ending was neither an ending nor wrapped up in a neat little bow: Some bad guys didn't get caught, not all good guys were rewarded, and life largely goes back to normal despite everything that happened. I know only a little about season two (and a very spare description of the latest season) and am looking forward to being surprised.

I need to get serious about Christmas shopping very, very soon. I'm buying for more people thing time, including something small but not insignificant for all of negihama's family members I'll see in just a couple of weeks. I did make a couple of present purchases in the last week, so that's a start. And no one knows what to get me this year. I need to make a list for everyone else, too.

Craft

Dec 4, 2006
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The cold lingers, but I'm mostly OK now. We had a pretty full weekend. On Saturday, we went to Urban Craft Uprising, a huge craft expo where scarves, hats, and other cute hand-made or knitted things reigned supreme. It was only fair that I went, since I dragged negihama to not one but two comic book/small press conventions within a couple of weeks in October. We ended up not buying much at all, but it was really cool to see all the different creations.

Next, we went to the Winter Beer Fest at Hale's Brewery. I didn't buy a ticket ahead of time so I added five more "3-oz" (more like 4 oz) drinks to my initial 6 tickets (I got an extra along the way for "happy hour," I think). Anyway, I had four tastes of extra-strong winter ales, and then socialretard and decadentscholar showed up. By the time I finished, I was right sloshed. Still, I found a number of beers that I liked quite a bit. Thank God that Elizabeth could give me a ride home!

On Sunday, I raked up all the stray leaves in the yard (finally!), and we went over to my parents' for dinner/one last time seeing my nephew (they fly home today).

In between events, we've been renting DVDs of the first season of The Wire, and it's everything people have been saying. We're just late to the party. This show is great, and we stayed up a little late last night just to fit in episode 9 before bed. So we're hooked. At least we're almost done with the first season...

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Snow, snow, snow

Nov 30, 2006
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I've spent most of this week alternately recovering from a cold (coughing, blowing my nose, being stuffed up) and keeping out of the cold. The snow we got on Sunday evening stuck around and froze, and then last night it snowed a little more. The temperature is rising, so the ice on the streets is now slush.

We got outside last night after a bunch of the wetter snow fell and took more photos.

Snow people

I work from home, so we haven't had a single snow day. Even the Microsoft campus closed at least one day, but I didn't get a chance to take a day off. I called in sick on Monday and couldn't even enjoy the weather. I was busy napping and taking it easy. Meanwhile, the temperatures outside plummeted. I haven't been outside more than a few minutes except for two trips down to downtown Ballard on Monday night (for coffee) and last night (for Indian takeout to clear my sinuses). The last couple of days, my brother-in-law came over to replace the shocks on my car. Those shocks have been lousy (pretty much useless) since I got the car, so I'm looking forward to driving around a little. I don't envy him standing outside for hours in the cold working on my car. He wanted to do it!

Anyway, that's what's going on with me. I hope you guys are surviving the winter. I broke out the Christmas music a few days ago and am trying to take it slowly. I got a lot of CDs from the library over the last month or so, and I've been scouring MP3 blogs for cool new songs, too. I reactivated my eMusic account to get the free Carpark Records holiday song sampler, and I need to download some more songs in the next month to make the account activation worth it.