#102

While still a bit delirious from this nasty bug, C-man just couldn't stay cooped up with us sickies another day. So, off we slid and plodded and trekked our way to 102 geocaches. Sorry, Mom, but despite everyone pointing to me as the competitive one in the house, and even with a fever, Beerman wasn't about to get beaten in the race to 100.

Cache #100

Cache #102

The good news is I think Beerman's fever has finally broken. Mine broke late last night/early this morning, so maybe we'll be able to half enjoy Labor Day.

What a crappy weekend

As I was crouched over the toilet last night, begging to be struck down by lightning, it occurred to me that this was one giant waste of a long weekend. Beerman brought home some nasty bug this week that is going to be the death of all of us. I'm sure we'll recover just in time to go back to work, though.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Vroom-Vroom of the Long Weekend

It's the 105th Harley Anniversary this weekend. And the bikes are here. Awesome. It took me an hour and a half to get from work past Miller Park last night - typically a 20 minute ride - because Sugarland and Bon Jovi were playing for Harleyfest. Thousands of bikers were choosing to just take a break on their way. Which I'm fine with, except that means they were on the SIDE OF THE INTERSTATE! Some were WALKING across the INTERSTATE! Are you freaking kidding me?!?! Since we live off the lake, we're in one of the direct "cruise" routes. Sigh. The boost to the economy is probably nice, but I could do without this. ******************* I'm looking forward to the long weekend. Beerman is sick. (Go figure, with this supposedly being THE week, and having to go to UW-Madison to get its new brewhouse going) C-man is tired and emotional from his first preschool week. And I always can use the extra time. Today's a half-day, so I'm going to try to play it low-key this afternoon. ******************* PS I really heart Obama. And I gotta say, after today's pick, I really heart McCain too. Really? A 44 year-old inexperienced governor from a nowhere state? I guess the Inuit vote was a critical one for the Republicans this year. HA! I twitch with excitement at her upcoming debate with Biden.

I Am Her

So the company I work for always refers to our target customer as "She" or "Her". I have to go be a part of a photo shoot today for some training program and needed to dress the part. So look out, world... today, I Am Her. On a good note, at least She wears jeans. And I've decided that She only works until 3 today. Those are both good things. ******************* Day 2 of preschool was splendid. C-man got to make green footprints on paper. Apparently it excited him so much, it gave him reason to poop in his underwear on 3 different occassions. Sigh... just when I think we've moved in the right direction. ******************* I continue to be a convention junkie. Last night even made me tear up a couple of times, I was so happy. One big democratic orgy, as a Congressman I used to intern for would say. Anyhow, I've got BIG expectations for tonight.

Fool Him With Goodness Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Recently I bought the Deceptively Delicious and one of the many Sneaky Chef cookbooks to get some ideas on how to get vegetables and fiber in C-man's diet. Since he's totally into muffins right now, I modified one of the recipes for him tonight based on what we had in the house. It turned out well enough, and I'm satisfied with the ingredients, that I'd make it a regular recipe to serve around here: 2 large eggs 1/4 C sugar 1/4 C oil 1/2 C white bean puree 2 t vanilla 3/4 C whole wheat flour 2 t baking powder 1/2 t cinnamon 1/2 C oat bran 1/2 t salt 3 overripe mashed bananas 1 C chocolate chips Mix everything, put it in a muffin pan (preferably with orange silly feet - thank you very much Big Sis), and bake at 375 for 25 - 27 minutes. Yum!

Wordless "You're Getting Too Deep!" Wednesday

The Wall Fell On Me

Remember when I said I'd jumped over the wall of hell when it came to working out? Um, yeah. My trainer noticed. And today I feel like the damn wall fell on me. To say he stepped it up a little on me is an understatement. My butt hurts so bad, I can only take little tiny steps. And he had me doing curls over and over again with impossibly large weights. Which, of course, has led me to starting flexing my "guns" at the dinner table like I'm 16 again, but narcissim is a whole different problem. ************* C-man had a lovely first day of preschool yesterday. He befriended one of the new little boys, which is good. Apparently the new boy was wearing all orange, so go figure. ************* I'm totally a convention-junkie. Night #1 got a B from me, but that's only because I think tonight's going to get really fun. I just hope it doesn't get all sappy and predictable.

Short Bits

Re-entry I've got vacation hangover. You know, when it's time for an afternoon nap, but you can't because, well, your staff would notice you pulling a Kastanza under your desk and your boss would then reconsider the validity of the recent promotion you just got. Sigh... Re-entry blows. *********** Preschool and Cameras Today is C-man's first day of preschool. He was soooo excited to go. Beerman is home because Big Uncle R is coming to do the house and roof plans today, so he got to take C-man to his first day. My final shout out as I was leaving the house was, "Be sure to take a picture of his first day!" I got a call a couple of hours later. Beerman couldn't find the camera. Sigh. Use your cellphone then, damnit! I guess we'll be taking a second day of preschool picture on Wednesday. *********** Books I'm reading Beneath the Marble Sky and absolutely loving it. It's the love story behind the Taj Mahal. The author (John Shors) is coming to the Mequon Schwartz to read from his new book in 2 weeks. I think when I'm done with this one, I'll read the next one and see if I can go get it signed. I'm also reading As Good as It Got, and she's coming to the Shorewood store mid-month. If I like it, I'll try to see her too. *********** I have personal training tonight. The bad news is I have personal training tonight. The good news is I've gotten over a wall in that I can now do more reps of more weight than I ever could before, and people are starting to ask if I'm working out. So, that's my motivation. Vanity.

What a Weekend

Family Reunion in Peshtigo We had a good time seeing everyone, going too deep in the water because the cousins were doing it, and learning what sparklers are (I know, hard to believe, but they are illegal where we live). Swimming with the cousins: Bonfire and fireworks at the farm: Finding the absolutely bizarre "Peshtigo Family Tree" while geocaching: Brewers game vs. the Pirates

We left in the 9th inning, despite it going a full 12. We didn't have a good place to sit, because a morbidly obese man was to my right, and the nastiest, stinkiest, drunkest long-bearded man who kept shouting "Cockroach!" to Adam Louch (who subsequently got thrown out for being a jackass) was to the left of Beerman. We'll be trading in our next game's tickets so we don't sit by either of them again, because it makes me so mad that we pay for tickets we can't use because other people don't know how to put the damn candybar down or take a freaking shower. So after wandering a bit, watching the game from around the stadium, and playing in the Kid Zone, Beerman declared he couldn't even look at me because I was in so much pain. So, we went home. At least JJ won the game for the Brewers.

JJ Bobblehead day:

Getting the hotodog we just HAD to have (now he just needs the giant foam finger):

Sliding down Bernie's slide:

Racing Corey Hart to first base:

Tomorrow my vacation is officially over, and C-man starts preschool. In the meantime, I'll listen to C-man declare "I lost my sausage!" while he looks for his hotdog. Sigh...

Zoo Day

He's officially my kid... the aviary was his favorite part of the zoo today. Look! A dinosaur!! ROAR!!! Petting the stingrays sounded like a really good idea until he saw them...

No zoo trip is complete without a trip for popcorn and ice cream.

Just look away for a second and the muffin's ALL mine

Vacation Day 4 - The Whole Family

We started the day with a home visit by C-man's (gulp) preschool teacher. She didn't even eat one of the 10 trillion specialty muffins I made. Oh well. Since Rileydog stole 6 just before she showed up, it's even. I still can't believe Monday starts preschool. Afterward, we went geocaching. It was pretty hot, but we picked up 4 in Estabrook Park. Man, that's a big park. I learned this week that I don't really like doing them alone very much. There's no one there to celebrate with. (Or to laugh at me for going the wrong direction). So this was way better. Until everyone got hot and ornery. That sucked. So hot and irritated, we knew it was time to go eat lunch at the TGI Fridays in Miller Park. Uncle T-bone was there playing baseball with the Brewers coaches for a cool special work thing, so we got to chat with him afterward. C-man got a Corey Hart shirt to complete his collection. Well, he still doesn't have a stuffed hotdog toy he NEEDS, but that's a whole different story.

Now it's time to put it in RE-lax for a couple of hours. I love this vacation thing.

Outdoor Movie Fun

We've been on a Movie-In-The-Gazebo kick, since the nights have been so fabulous. We've also been watching every baseball movie we can find. Last night was Angels in the Outfield. C-man really got into the final scene: And PS - my dogs are the laziest dogs EVER. 6 hours later... I rest my case:

Omnivore's List

The Omnivore's Hundred is an eclectic and entirely subjective list of 100 items that Andrew Wheeler, co-author of the British food blog Very Good Taste, thinks every omnivore should try at least once in his life. He offered this list as the starting point for a game, along the following rules: 1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions. 2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten 3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. 4. Optional extra: post a comment on Very Good Taste, linking to your results. 1. Venison 2. Nettle tea 3. Huevos rancheros 4. Steak tartare (once was enough, thanks) 5. Crocodile 6. Black pudding or blood sausage 7. Cheese fondue (Happy New Year!) 8. Carp 9. Borscht 10. Baba ghanoush (It always sounds like a good idea until it's in my mouth) 11. Calamari (Why do people insist on ordering this and then being SO sure that I'll love it? They're always wrong) 12. Pho 13. PB&J sandwich (Does every day of my high school years count?) 14. Aloo gobi 15. Hot dog from a street cart (Never sober) 16. Epoisses 17. Black truffle 18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes 19. Steamed pork buns 20. Pistachio ice cream 21. Heirloom tomatoes (The Green Zebras we are growing are DIVINE) 22. Fresh wild berries 23. Foli gras (Yes, but never understood the appeal) 24. Rice and beans (I lived in Brazil for one year...) 25. Brawn (head cheese) (See response to #24) 26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper 27. Dulce de leche (The first time I had this was on a street corner in Argentina. After that, no canned concoction would ever match up.) 28. Oysters 29. Baklava 30. Bagna cauda 31. Wasabi peas (I enjoy the wasabi peanuts more) 32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (I did it while in Boston, but yuk) 33. Salted lassi 34. Sauerkraut (There are 3 cans in my pantry that I'm trying to convince Beerman to chuck) 35. Root beer float (Summer heaven) 36. Cognac with a fat cigar (Habana, baby!) 37. Clotted cream tea 38. Vodka Jello (Again, never sober!) 39. Gumbo 40. Oxtail 41. Curried goat (Yummy!) 42. Whole insects 43. Phaal 44. Goats milk 45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/€80/$120 or more 46. Fugu (never worth the risk for me) 47. Chicken tikka masala (Super yummy!) 48. Eel (Sushi only, but yuk) 49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (are you kidding? I opened the one in Kansas City!) 50. Sea urchin (Sushi only, and again, yuk) 51. Prickly pear 52. Umeboshi 53. Abalone 54. Paneer 55. McDonalds Big Mac Meal 56. Spaetzel 57. Dirty gin martini 58. Beer above 8% ABV (clearly this guy never met Beerman) 59. Poutine (Ah, the memories of Nova Scotia) 60. Carob chips (but why bother?) 61. S'mores 62. Sweetbreads 63. Kaolin 64. Currywurst 65. Durian (anything that is described as smelling like dirty socks is a bit dodgy) 66. Frogs' legs (For some reason, this is a Detroit favorite) 67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (does every Saturday count?) 68. Haggis 69. Fried plaintain (mouthwatering) 70. Chitterlings, or andouilette 71. Gazpacho (This was the amuse bouche at the meal Beerman and I had after we were engaged. Sigih) 72. Caviar and blini (ick) 73. Louche absinthe 74. Gjetost or brunost (if you haven't, don't bother) 75. Roadkill 76. Baiju 77. Hostess Fruit Pie (it makes my teeth hurt just thinking about it) 78. Snail (GAK!) 79. Lapsang souchong 80. Bellini 81. Tom vum 82. Eggs Benedict (my favorite breakfast item, preferably with spinach and hollandaise on the side) 83. Pocky 84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (engagement meal) 85. Kobe beef 86. Hare 87. Goulash 88. Flowers 89. Horse 90 Criollo chocolate 91. Spam 92. Soft shell crab 93. Rose harissa 94. Catfish 95. Mole poblano 96. Bagel and lox (Um, I do live in Bayside) 97. Lobster Thermidor 98. Polenta 99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee (How else do you cure a hangover while on vacation?) 100. Snake

Happy Anniversary!

Congratulations on 19 years of wedded bliss.

Vacation - Day 1

I have too much bliss to take in today (and a much needed shower to take after working out), so here's a laugh from Irish Fest:

And my Sailor Jack Muffin Recipe (King Arthur Flour Cookbook) I made last night:

Raisin-and-spice mixture ½ C sugar ½ C brown sugar 4 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ground ginger ¾ tsp ground nutmeg ½ tsp ground cloves 1 C water ½ C raisins 2 Tbsp molasses Muffin batter 1 C whole wheat flour ½ C oat flour ½ C oats 1 tsp baking soda ¾ tsp baking powder 1/3 C vegetable oil 1 large egg Glaze ½ C confectioners’ sugar 2 tsp fresh lemon juice 1 tsp milk

1. Place raisin-and-spice mixture in saucepan and cook until mixture comes to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, remove, and let cool.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients of Muffin Batter mixture. Add cooled raisin-and-spice mixture, oil and egg. (don’t overmix!)
3. Scoop batter into muffin tins, and bake for 20 – 23 minutes at 375°.
4. Mix glaze, tip muffins out so they are bottom-side up, and glaze.

New Name, Muffins and $80

C-man was puttering around as usual, and I sternly said his last name. He responded with an of-course tone, "My name is C-man RISKE, Mom!" You see, he's now convinced he's an MLB pitcher. And don't try to convince him otherwise. ************** Yesterday, totally out of the blue, C-man said, "Mom, can we make muffins!" Sure. Well, now he's the muffin man. So I've broken out my King Arthur Flour cookbook and made some Sailor Jacks tonight. They're so good, with molasses, raisins, and oats. The best part is I can start sneaking in some vegetables while he's on this kick. Yippee! ************** On our way to Irish Fest yesterday, we stopped and got some stuff at the local grocery store. I paid with a $100 bill, and got $86 back. Well, I didn't check what I got back until I got into the car, because we were running late. To my surprise, I had gotten $166 back. She gave me the $80 twice. Since we were late, I called the store, told them what happened, and said I'd be back later to return it. I got an "Oh. Okay. Bye." No thank you, no "wow", no MGD ad cameras waiting for me. So, later in the day, Beerman returned to the store with the $80. They acted like he was nuts. I'd never keep an extra $80, but wow, after that experience it makes me rethink my desperate need to be on the up-and-up. So annoying.

You Can't Go Because You're Not Irish

We went to do the Arthritis Walk and Irish Fest. C-man told me I couldn't go to Irish Fest with him and his Dad because I'm not Irish. That's like telling me I can't live in a trailer because I have too many teeth. At some point, he relinquished his position, and ended up having a fun day.

Back to Work Friday

I was at a team retreat yesterday. A whole glorious day by the lakefront on one of the most perfect August days you can imagine. I had the pleasure of setting up a geocaching course for the team to accomplish. It took WAY more work than I had expected to set up 15 caches (I went a little overboard) and 2 people were WAY ornery (really, a beautiful day at the lake walking around and you're going to sulk because you're not winning? I found it hurt my feelings because I'd put so much work into it, but I'm getting over it now -- their loss), but for the most part people were really really happy with it. The good news is I think it's silencing those who make fun of me for geocaching. Today I had 3 people who ask how much a gps costs, and how easy it is to find caches in the "wild". It inspires me to go out for a few myself. Which is good, because today's my last day of work for 7 glorious days. Tomorrow's the Arthritis Walk to Irish Fest in the AM. I'm looking forward to getting this vacation started.