Christmas 2007

The holiday is finally upon us and as usual while we are mostly ready everything must be wrapped today. It feels very odd for me that this is the first holiday in a long while that I have not been on call or working in the days before and after Christmas. Somehow with the young people in the hospital pharmacy they all want the time and half holiday pay so I get to be home with the family. One of the those rare advantages to being old.

I spent some of yesterday looking after Gavin. For me that means time to get out the camera and take some wonderful pictures. Wish I could say that its my ability with the camera but I think Gavin just has a way of making most every picture I take look cute. I did have to touch up a few things. He is cutting teeth daily and drools a lot. Nothing I can't fix with some photo software. It sure is fun getting down on the floor and following him around.

Edward left yesterday to spend the holiday at Grandma's. We will hook up with him on Christmas day at Grandma's for dinner and gifts. He and I have had some good talks lately and I am working on getting him to wear pants when we are outside for winter functions. I will keep at him and see how it works. He is funny he makes a list and wants no presents that are not on his list, but will not discuss if he believes in Santa or not. Very practical that one you bring me presents and I will believe. I was able to make some suggestions for gifts that where not on his list and work him up to being excited about them. More on that after Christmas.

Teddy, Amber and Gavin are doing just fine. Teddy has completed his first semester of his senior year. We have not heard from the two colleges that he applied to but his preliminary SAT scores were excellent. He scored very high in the math but wants to major in Philosophy. A little help here family, it would be a true waste to see his ability not be put to good use as an electrical engineer or something in the physical sciences. If you see him this holiday season get on him. Gavin is motoring very well on his four wheels. Check out the picture of him on the go. He really is a great, good natured and healthy baby. We have been very lucky.

Revel got his Xmas present a day early so that I could work with him on not chewing it up and learning to enjoy it. Its been easier than I thought it would be. He seems to really enjoy the bed and while he does not sleep there 100% of the time, it is not uncommon to find him on the bed in the afternoon.

Hope that you all have a wonder Christmas and I will post again before the new year.

December 13th 2007

Teddy is honored at school.

Aptos High school choose 60 students today to be honored for there civic and academic achievements. The Visual and Performing Arts department selected Teddy as there senior for his work with the drama department.

December 9th 2007

The First Polar Express Train Ride

Today, Sunday December 9th, 2007 Dorothy, Edward, Aunt Sue and I took a ride on the Polar Express. We did this at the Train Museum in Sacramento. Edward spent to weekend at Aunt Sue's in San Francisco. Dorothy and I spent Saturday night at a bed and breakfast in Sacramento. We met up at the museum on Sunday had a very fun ride on the train. While the train was not much to look at on the outside and the destination the other side of Sacramento was nothing to write about the entertainment on the train was really fun. All the characters from the movie, hot chocolate and cookies were provided.

I made this for a potluck with some Tennis friends the other night and it was great. Not a lot of work, it takes a long time but most of it is just simmering on the stove. Made great left overs after the party to take to work also.

Spaghetti Bolognese

6 oz bacon slices, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 yellow Onion, Diced
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 Garlic gloves
2 lb. Ground beef
6 oz tomato paste
1 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Fresh ground Pepper
1 lb Spaghetti, cooked , water reserved

In large pot over medium high heat, cook bacon until crisp 7-10 minutes. Spon off all but 1 tablespoonful of fat. Add Onion and 1/2 tsp salt; cook until tender, 5-7 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute. Add ground beef and 1 tsp salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until beef is no longer pink. about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, milk and 1/2 cup of cheese.

Cook on Low until sauce thickens about 4 hours. Skim fat off sauce. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.


Add cooked spaghetti to sauce plus enough pasta-cooking water to loosen sauce; toss to combine. Transfer to individual bowls; sprinkle with cheese. Serve immediately.

November 25th, 2007

Good to my word the outside of the house is ready for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving. We arranges the lights all the way around the fence, the door and the front of the house. Then we added a nice white deer next to the fountain.

In two weeks we have tickets to go to Sacramento and ride the Polar express train. Edward will spend the weekend at Aunt Sues in San Francisco while Dorothy and I have what looks like a wonderful room for Saturday night and then Sunday we ride the train.

Thanksgiving 2007

We had a wonderful visit with the Murphy's and Mom for Thanksgiving. Turkey, Mash Potatoes, various vegetables and then the usual assortment of desserts. I am trying a new feature of the blog that should allow me to show you more pictures without having to place them in multiple places on the blog. Please let me know if you can see them. You can double click on the picture to see a larger version from Picasa. In this batch are a series of pictures from Thanksgiving dinner and two pictures one of Revel on the beach in Aptos, the other of Barbara's dogs on the driveway of LaMelpa, quite a difference.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

November 15th 2007

The attached video is a very short clip of Teddy acting in his first play called "The Dining Room". It was tonight through Saturday. Dorothy is hoping to catch the Saturday performance if her flight back is on time. He was amazingly good in the role of father in the scene's he was in. I hope it works its a video from my phone and my first in the blog. Let me know if you can see it.

November 11, 2007

On Saturday we had get together with Oma, Elda, Tara, Kenneth, and Nathan. The kids didn't really play together but its a start. We all went to the Train Place Deli for lunch, for the kids but mostly for Edward. then we took the dogs to the beach for a walk. Let me just say that I did not push anybody. They did walk about 3-4 miles, with a few hills in the way. I did feed them a Pumpkin cheesecake when it was all done.

I had a wonderful time and my dog was very very tired today.

November 2, 2007

After 30 years with a beard I have decided to be clean shaved again. No real reason but in the interest of decreasing the shock value here is a current picture. Needless to say the family is taking some time before rendering an opinion. I presume the skin on my jaw will eventually get darker. I look like I am wearing sunscreen on my face.

October 31st, 2007

Halloween

Here are some pictures of our little Turtle. Understand he was not happy about the hat.

An update on the Pet Insurance. If your pet has not been seen by the Vet in the last year they will require a visit. My Vet wants $50 for a physical for Winky. I decided not to put him on the plan.

Pet Insurance

After some careful consideration and talking with friends who all have story's about vet bills in the 800-1500$ range I have broken down and added Winky and Revel to a VPI Pet Insurance policy. I stuck to the basic policy as the vitamins and flea medications are not my concern. It's the 1000$ surgery that would follow revel eating a pair of socks. Not to mention the game of chase that ensued into the street where Winky glanced off a car managing to only nick his chin in the process (he's down to 8 life's or fewer). Could have been much worse and I am not going to be the one to say we cannot afford to put either of them right.

Here's the details cost about 24$ per pet. Pay two months up front. Covers all major illness and accidents at least to about 75%. You pay the bill and submit it on a paper form you can download from the web. If you have a pet and know your going to do what ever it takes to keep them healthy I would recommend it.

October 28th 2007

The weeks over and several things have happened. Wednesday was my last, last day at AdvantaCare. I turned in my badge and called it quits. While I really love building up the extra cash, the time is hard on all of us. I am working 40 hours a week and no more from now until I retire.

Saturday was fun, played tennis in the morning, took Edward for a drive, then spend a few hours looking after Gavin. Gavin and I went for a walk then came home to do a quick photo shoot in his cute little "My First Halloween" outfit. Many of the photos are available in larger format in the Picaso web site.

In the afternoon Teddy and I worked on adding a new a new plug in one of the kitchen walls. We also had to move the cable TV from the island to the same wall. It took several hours and Teddy did all the wiring. I was most impressed, and very happy to do the ugly work (I crawled under the house to move the cable wire).

Sunday Edward and I went bowling as we do every other weekend. Edward has gotten very good. He has bowled as high as a 158 this month. His current average is 124.2. You will notice in the one picture that we record all scores into my IPAQ pocket Excel. He has learned what an average is an how to manipulate the scores in Excel to find the highest, and lowest scores.

It was a very nice weekend. Got some small walks in with Revel but Dorothy was out sick with a very bad cold so we had to stay close to home.

October 14th, 2007

Its been over a month since my last post. Sorry to all those of you who live for this. Hard to believe but I think there are one or two of you. Not much new around the house. I have been working AdvantaCare and Watsonville Hospital. Dorothy and the Teddy are back in school. Teddy is very involved with the drama department. Even being in the next production, hard to believe for the shy kid in the class. We are looking forward to the performance. Edward has been working with Community Options and he is doing very well there. Amber and the baby are here pictures of Gavin later. We did a bit of a photo shot today. Kid really is easy to photograph.

On the 30th of September Elda and I took a hike with my friends Mary, Marybeth and Crystal. We all really enjoyed Garland ranch. Revel and I have done several hikes of 4-6 miles. Capitola, Santa Cruz, and Manresa. The house is holding up fairly well. Revel has won the battle over the bench cushions. They will only be used when we are there to watch them. I will be replacing at least two of them. The curb on the front of the house is attracting skateboarders. I have turned my mean sadistic side to this problem and come up with several options intended to stop this activity.

On October 10th we took Teddy and Amber out to dinner on his birthday. He turned 17 this year. He is growing up very very fast. He is really a wonderful father. Over the next year I hope to work with him on the financial responsibility involved in having a family. Hopefully he will embrace this challenge as well as he has the other parts of fatherhood.

I will try to be better about future posts. My job at AdvantaCare is ending next week. I am turning in by employee badge and taking the temptation to work extra out of my life.

Last shot Revel after his favorite activity of the day. Six miles to Manresa beach and back. "A Tired Dog is a Happy Dog"

September 4th, 2007

It was our first quiet weekend to enjoy the new deck. Saturday Dorothy and I played tennis and then went shopping for a new light fixture in the kitchen. The old one was not working at all and was already on the list to be replaced. In typical fashion Dorothy informed me at the very last minute that since the fixture she selected was half price we really should get a matching one to replace the tacky one in the dinning room. I am afraid that once again is succumbed to her flawless logic. (see the quote at right "Wife happy, Life happy!) So I spent the rest of my quiet Saturday installing light fixtures. We then had a wonderful dinner at our favorite new restaurant "Curuso's in Capitola". Should also say Edward spent the holiday weekend with Sue and Grandma in Monterey. The kids had the usual array of teenagers in and out most of the weekend.

We went to a really nice wedding on Sunday of our tennis buddies Aaron and Kim, the wedding was really nice and casual in a restaurant. We had a very good time got a chance to catch up with some of the tennis members who we play with but don't always get much time to talk.

Monday was another very relaxing day. Got Revel into the ocean for a swim since the weather has been pushing 80 each day. Sue brought Edward back up and stayed for lunch on the deck we got some pizza's and watched some of the US open. It was really nice of the Kids and Gavin to join us.

I never got around to posting the lunch we had on Tuesday of last week when Elda and Oma brought up Aunt Elda from Texas and cousins Judy and Arnette. We had a nice lunch with them and talked a while. It was a little on the foggy side so was not as nice as it might have been but it was great to see the family and catch up a bit.

August 19th 2007

Dinner had a very special end to it this evening. I bought Mom some Strawberry's at a farm in Castroville and she raved about them so I decided to try to make a Strawberry cheesecake. Well this thing is special. Not only does it look beautiful but the taste was something Dorothy and I have been looking for since leaving New Jersey. Its more cake than creamy. Thats the way they make them on the east coast. I did modify the recipe a bit and will have to make some notes about how it got done.

Renate and I got out for a walk along the beach in PG on Saturday. That was fun but I think Libby and Revel are forming a really close thing. They are incredible buds.

Nathan Charles English

It's a BOY!
He was born Friday 8/10/2007
He really is beautiful! He was 9lbs 15oz and 20 Inches long.

Nature shots of Huntington 2007.

Nature shots from the 2007 Huntington lake trip

Mushrooms found at the base of a tree on the trail to Mary's Meadow.

A Coyote passes through the meadow.

This was some fun with the Macro feature of the new camera.The lake area is home to many Peregrine FalconsThis is Mary's Meadow on the trail to Nellie Lake.

A few good Revel pictures since he is so photogenic in the wilderness.