Goodbye, Uncle Buck

My Mom called this morning, and my Uncle Buck (one of her brothers) passed away yesterday.

Uncle Buck was someone special. Stubborn as all get out, but that stubbornness got him through a Korean prisoner of war camp, a forced death march, and the death of two wives. It couldn't stop the Big C, though.

I think I have some of that same stubbornness, and it's served me well through some tough times. I like to think I inherited some of that from him. Rest in peace, Uncle Buck. I love you.

Later that day

I won't focus on sadness.

Another beautiful day. We made a trip to Lowe's today and got some deck sealant and other stuff. Ken powerwashed part of the deck (it's a big deck, so he got about half of it done...it's surprising how much gunk builds up), and it looks so nice. It'll dry overnight, and he'll put sealant on it tomorrow. If he can get the rest of the deck washed, I can put sealant down later in the week, when I'm off. We honestly didn't think it would be such a big job.

We also bought a nice new grill on sale. We'll store it this winter and break it out next spring. The old one is on its last legs, so it was time for a new one. We hope to use the grill a little more often this winter. We often have some mild days, and it will sure taste good to have some grilled meat this winter! Especially since we decided to buy a half a beef later this fall. The past couple of years, we've bought a quarter from a guy Ken works with, and this year, we decided to go whole hog...so to speak. Craig raises cattle and hogs, and uses no hormones or anything like that. It's some of the best beef I've ever had. I fixed a chuck roast the other day--usually chuck roasts are really fatty. Once you pick all that fat out of there, they're good, but it really is a lot of fat! The one I fixed the other day, one of Craig's, was as lean as some of the nicer cuts of roasts. Tonight we're having Porterhouse steaks. We thought we'd eaten them all, but as we're cleaning out the freezer, we're coming across things we didn't know we had. What a pleasant surprise to discover Porterhouses! As I like to say at work, the only thing better than beef is beef wrapped in bacon!

Game day!

Yippee! Football is finally here!

Ken is golfing this morning, and I'm puttering on the computer, as well as doing some laundry. I want to get my chores done before kickoff at 3:30.

It's a glorious day for football, too! Sunny, high 70's this afternoon falling to low 70's by the end of the game. I bet there will be some parties going on tonight--yikes! One thing about ND home football weekends: we try to stay home. The restaurants and bars are just crazy, but that's good for the city. Apparently the home football weekends bring in about $6 million per weekend to the city. Can you imagine? It's just crazy.

I got all the stuff for our game day dinner. For a lot of games, we love to have snack food: a variety of cheeses, peppers, olives, pickles, crackers, that kind of thing. I also like to bake a brie. It's really easy: Put a small wheel or wedge of brie in a pie pan. Top with caramel sauce and sliced almonds. Bake 10-15 minutes at 350° or until cheese is melty. Serve with apple wedges. Yummy!

I also put together some salsa last night. That was easy, too, it just takes a while to chop everything up. I chop up several tomatoes; a good-sized onion; and several jalapenos (and banana peppers if I've got them). I add a small can of tomato sauce to make it all come together, then add some salt, garlic powder and/or garlic salt. That's it! (Let it sit in the fridge overnight--it's much better if it has time to sit and blend.) I know most people put cilantro in salsa, but I'm not a big fan of the cilantro for some reason. I just like the fresh veggies all blending together. I don't make it real hot, because I don't like it hot, but Ken usually adds some Tabasco sauce to his bowl.

Gee, you'd think that I'm more excited about the food than I am the game! Not so, my friend. It's fun to put out a spread of snacks like this, but the game is what's really exciting. And with all the hype about Charlie Weis and his excellent recruiting, we're all anxious to see some results. Again, I don't think this will be a stellar season, but as long as we see some promise, I think we'll all be fairly happy. Oh, one thing I've read is that Golden Tate is going to be one of the return guys. Like I've mentioned before, with a name like that, he's gotta be good! Maybe we'll get to see him run it back for a TD. That'd be cool!

Post Game Show

Ouch. A rough day for the Irish and fans. We got spanked!

Demetrius was indeed the starter, and oh my...the poor guy. He couldn't get anything going, and the worst thing was that I don't think he completed a pass. He has promise, but it was not a good day for him. I felt bad for him. Charlie rightly put in Evan Sharpley, and he looked a little better. He completed a few passes and moved the ball, and they were able to get a field goal (so at least it wasn't a shutout). But Sharpley doesn't seem to have a lot of mobility. In the fourth quarter, Charlie gave Jimmy Clausen the nod, and he played a couple of series. I think I can sum up my feelings by saying that I was pleased, astonished, and hopeful all at once. He doesn't have it all together yet, but the kid's got chops. He was firing some passes that were dead on. One of the best omens was that right before Clausen took the field, he was talking to Charlie...and Clausen was grinning. That tells me he's got some confidence and poise, and that he was ready to play. I don't know if he'll get the start next week, but he looked pretty darn good today.

Tags: Notre Dame, Jimmy Clausen, Charlie Weis

O happy weekend!

Whew, I have to say I'm ready for a fun weekend. These past two days at work have been crazy-busy (although today wasn't as bad as yesterday), so I'm ready for some fun and some football!

I also finally got all of the Dandy Warhol discs ordered. I had 4 more to get, and I got good prices from various sellers on Amazon. I'm fairly sure that I won't like any of them as much as "13 Tales from Urban Bohemia." Isn't that always the way it is? "Oh, I love this! I'll get them all! Oh...this isn't as good...." That's usually my experience, but I've read pretty good reviews of all their discs, so I'm sure I'll find some stuff I like in there. Also got some gifties for Ken (shhh...it's a secret), so I'm well on my way with Christmas shopping!

Hey, I got my pictures that I ordered from AOL Pictures. I'm so pleased! The ones that aren't as good are completely my fault--I forgot that in a couple of places, we used the disposable waterproof cameras (like in the, you know, water), and I had scanned those in, so it was my mistake to order them. However, I got three 8x10's of pictures I took with my digital camera, and I must say, I'm impressed. They look very crisp and clear, the color is excellent, and I will have no qualms about ordering this way in the future. Digital cameras are so great for people like me--I take so many crummy photos, and it's a lot of fun to just experiment and try to get decent results. Plus, you can look at them right away and see what's good and what's crap. It's immediate gratification!

GO IRISH!

Notre Dame quarterback scoop

I have it on good authority (hey...I've got my sources!) that Demetrius Jones will be ND's starting quarterback this Saturday. In talking to my Dad yesterday, he was pretty certain that would be the case, but it was good to hear it confirmed. For some reason, there's been a lot of secrecy about who the starter would be, but I'm hearing that Jones will get the nod.

So after my almost idyllic day off yesterday, I went back to work today, or perhaps "entered the belly of the beast" would describe it better! Criminy. We were already short-staffed, so I'd been assigned to do a couple of additional hours of work along with my bench assignment. Then we had a person call in sick, so I got to do their bench, too! My coworkers were equally as busy. It was a little rough there for a while, but I have to say that we all worked very well as a team today. I was actually quite proud of us! We rock! We ARE microbiologists, working hard to keep you healthy! <grin>

When I was leaving work, I realized that I had not left the department the entire day. That's kind of sad...I didn't even go get a drink of water! No wonder I feel sore, because it was a couple of hours of sitting at the microscope followed by sitting at the bench, going through cultures, and doing computer entries. My back hurts. Perhaps this cool beverage in front of me will help matters.

Actually, I have to say I feel pretty good about the day. Yeah, I worked hard, but I only had to stay over about 45 minutes, and there's something to be said for working hard and knowing that you definitely earned your pay. I guess it's the satisfaction of a job well done. (Not that I'd want to work that way every day--that would be exhausting!)

Tags: Notre Dame football, Demetrius Jones

A most excellent day

Ahhh, I have thoroughly enjoyed myself today!

I ran errands in the morning, and on the way home, I had the windows down, it was a hot and sunny day, I was driving a cool car, and I was singing along to "Superfly." I thought to myself, "Life is good." I was pondering things a little as I was driving, and I feel that no matter what life throws our way, Ken and I are a great team, and we'll be just fine. I'm very happy.

I got all DEET'ed up, and went out to the garden, where I was pleased to discover that I had plenty o' beans! Definitely enough for a mess for us tomorrow evening. Which will go perfectly with the BLT's I'm planning on fixing. I did okay this time with bug spray application, because not one single mosquito bite! Wahoooo! Oh, and I asked the rhetorical question the other day about whether mosquitoes have ANY redeeming qualities. I thought of one: they are food for bats and birds. We love our bats and birds here, and if the mosquitoes mean more food for them, then okay. I just wish they'd leave me alone.

It was SO hot and humid, and I had DEET all over me, and I can't remember the last time a shower felt so good! Then we got a nice rain, and it cooled things off a bit, and then the sun came out again. I talked to my folks, I got lots of stuff done, and the hummingbirds have been hanging around all day. Great day! Sometimes it's the little things. Oh, and I love this little guy--isn't he cute? They make such a pleasing sound on  summer nights (and they eat mosquitoes):

Later

I am absurdly pleased with myself. A while back, I found a blue jay feather in the yard, and I thought it was so pretty, so I saved it. I thought I could frame it, and it would look really nice, and a nice natural addition to our walls. I found a white picture frame on sale today, and I thought it would look neat if I distressed it a bit, so after a little work, here's what I came up with (the blue of the feather is much more vivid than in this picture). I like it.

 

Step on it already!

Maybe I was just feeling cranky, but I thought I was going to lose my mind driving home from work today. People were doing 5-10 miles below the speed limit, and that's just not right. What the heck? I'm happy I get to drive a V8 Mustang, because there is great satisfaction in gunning it to get around people like that. Not only does it make a nice ROAR, it responds very quickly, and I'm on my merry way.

I'm happy to have a day off tomorrow. Work hasn't been stressful lately, although we had our weekly meeting today--meetings are never fun, no matter what your profession! I'm just ready for a day off. A nice hot day is ahead, and besides the usual stuff like laundry, I'll be able to putter. I love to putter. Ken and I also have this weekend off together, so we're looking forward to that. He's playing in a golf scramble Saturday morning, then it's Fightin' Irish football in the afternoon. Oh yeah, babe! Football football football football...I'm singing a little song to football. I love you, football!

I'm excited to get the pictures I ordered in the mail. I've had a digital camera for years, but until I got my new one, I've never printed or ordered photos. I went ahead and ordered a few through AOL Pictures, so it'll be interesting to see how they look. Ken and I were talking last night, and although we have a nice printer, it seems like it would be more expensive to buy photo paper and ink rather than just order them online. It wasn't very expensive at all, so I'm hoping for nice pictures.

A comedian on Bob and Tom was talking about how oil is 60-some dollars a barrel, which is, I think, 60-some gallons (I could be wrong about that). But ink cartridges are like 60-some bucks for 3 ounces of ink! What a valid point. What is it, liquid gold? (Texas tea?)

Tags: Mustang, Fighting Irish football

Hummy and friends

I'm not sure why, but the hummingbirds are very active right now. Perhaps we have some younguns, and perhaps they're starting to gear up for their flight south, but they're really fighting at the feeder! It's fun to watch. There was also one just sitting on the deck railing--how often do you see this?

Here's another one (warning: I got several, and I'm putting them all up now!).

And another--look at this one's throat. I think this might be a young male. He hasn't developed his ruby throat yet. The females' throats are just white with no speckles.

Last hummy pic, this one in motion--they're just a blur!

I'll hate to see them leave for the winter. The past few days have been especially fun. I was standing on the deck, by one of the hooks, and a hummy flew up onto the hook, maybe a foot from me. I think we were both startled! They really are the cutest little things.

At the other end of the spectrum, check out Bad Sheeba. We stuck the strips from stamp booklets onto his ears, and he was none too happy. A couple of belly rubs later, though, and all is forgiven.