June 11, 2012

School's out for summer! Today was our last day, and it was chillen free. I'm tutoring two kids over summer, one of my former students and Ava.

Steve did a triathlon this weekend and did an awesome job! He did the Olympic distance, which was almost a mile swim, a 28 mile bike, and 6 mile run. I had five other friends competing, too, so we all went up for the weekend to Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin. It was gorgeous weather, and after the tri was done, we lounged by the pool, drank pina coladas, and played lots of volleyball and euchre. Good start to the summer :)

Thailand is this Saturday! We leave at 1:30, have a layover in Tokyo, then get to Bangkok on Sunday the 17. We stay there until the 21st, when we go to Chiang Mai in the north for some Thai cooking classes and to meet elephants. Then on the 25th, we fly to Koh Samui, which is an island in the south. Back to Bangkok on the 29th, then leaving on the 30th, with layovers in Tokyo and LA. I feel like now that school is done, this is all I'm thinking about. Very very excited.

Memorial Day weekend ~Dad

Memorial Day weekend has so far been spent with lots of family. On Saturday night we had Connor, Uncle Duncan, Aunt Ginger, and the Eshelmans (Bob, Jeanne, Zack and Eryn) visit. We cooked out w/ grilled veggies (beets and asparagus), burgers and salmon. I had to run to Lowes to get a fresh tank, but everything still turned out great. Jeanne brought a cucumber/mango salsa that went over the salmon, very delicious. And we ended up playing some games: Rock Band (the guitar wouldn't connect so we were left with vocals and drum); Apples to Apples Jr (no spontaneous combustion); and Bananagrams. Notice anything missing from the game list? Can we still call ourselves Galecki's without pinochle? We will have to redeem ourselves next time out.
Sunday we visited Vicki's parents (and Karen). Grilled some pork chops, and enjoyed the afternoon with them. Dick is presently in a wheelchair, he has problems walking. We are trying to visit them more often, like every other week.
Today is chill day. Grilling some burgers in the afternoon, playing with the computers, maybe cleaning up the house. Have a great day!
Dad

Saturday is now improv day ~ Josh

I've been doing some improv Wednesday nights, as previously mentioned. I've decided to try to get everyone from the classes together for some 'improv in the park' kinda deals. I get to hang out with awesome people AND see cool places around the Bay Area. Win win.

I organized our inaugural meeting at the Sutro Baths, the ruins of a coastal bath / poolhouse from the start of the 20th century. I'm not sure if they count as ruins, being so young, but they look cool. Observe:

The day was a great success. I saw the Pacific for the first time. Yay!

Yum!

I am looking forward to the next time all of you are home, since I won't have to do anything except sit around drinking delicious wine that is discovered during wine tastings in Michigan and enjoying delicious meals prepared by children.  I don't think I'll need a lot of practice preparing for this, but I'll try to get some in when I can.

We've had the windows open for the past few days and turned the ceiling fan on at night to get some cooler air inside.  The birds are eating like there's no tomorrow.  Not sure why they're so hungry, when so much is blooming outside.  The other day we saw a female rose-breasted grosbeak (or red-breasted crosby, as Josh says) practically attack a female cardinal that was on the same feeder.

The ferns are hanging on the front porch, and of course a finch nest is already in the one by the door.  I imagine there are eggs inside, too.

Only a few weeks till the Festival.  If you were home you could help me prepare ticket envelopes.

14 more days of school!

You'll notice that because I am awesome, you can now subscribe to this blog by email :)

I also don't know how many of you were aware that I have a classroom blog, too. If you ever want to know what I'm doing in school or see pictures of my chillens, you can go here.

We finished up First Communion, which I teach to the third grade, last Saturday and had the kids' May Crowning yesterday. Hopefully, that marks the end of weekends I will need to work for awhile. We only have 14 more days of school left, and I'm trying to find lots of projects that involve minimal supervision. Right now, the kids are writing research reports and taking notes, which will last us all our writing classes and some of our reading for the next two weeks.

I have also been whipping up some delicious meals. We had some friends over Friday and I made plantain and pork enchiladas and a no-bake strawberry pie. Steve also broke out his new fire pit, which, unbeknownst to me, had a broken leg. He managed to not burn the house down, though. We also did some gardening. Have lots of flowers planted, and tomatoes, basil, parsley, mint, dill, peppers, and green beans.

Our three year anniversary is this Wednesday, so we're going to Michigan this weekend to celebrate and do some wine tastings. Hopefully, it will be sunny and delicious!

New house and first week ~ Josh

It's been a busy few weeks for me. At work, my boss gave his two weeks notice and is moving on to another company. We've been in a bit of a scramble, figuring out what's gonna happen with everything. He was a good manager, so it's sad he's leaving. He joined me last Tuesday in taking a day off of work to play Diablo 3. Don't ever change, California.

I also registered to vote when I took the day off of work. I feel patriotic.

The big news du jour is that I've moved into a new place. Enjoy pictures:

My roommates are, for the public record, completely awesome. I'm with three others, all a year or two older than me. There's Brian, a mechanical engineer PhD; Kate, an English and Econ grad student; and Ben, a carpenter. They're all fun, friendly, and clean. Yay! We've done more together in the last week than I did in two months with my old roommate. We've already had a good number of evenings on the porch, drinking good beer and having good conversation. Just yesterday, Ben and I brewed up a batch of beer.

I've won them over quite readily with my cooking skill. My new favorite cookbook, "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home", just arrived last week and I've been happy with the results so far. I made my first dinner for everyone tonight - salad with a homemade vinaigrette, a phenomenal potato and leek soup from the aforementioned book, and cheese steak sandwiches. Everything turned out awesome.



One of the perks of living here is definitely the kitchen. It has just about everything I want: cast-iron skillets, a six-burner range, an immersion blender, awesome knifes and cutting boards. I'm gonna be doing a good bit more cooking here :)

Here's my song of the week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1m3XncKyL0

(To those of yous playing some Diablo 3, my id is Ozymandias#1734)

Just a little addendum to Mother's Day. 10 adults, the Swarm (4 boys from 6-11), 3 dogs (one COG - Jasmine who is a dog who acts like a cat; one beagle, and one quiet Doberman) and one very old and unsteady cat. Really enjoyed the beautiful day and the expansive patio. Had great food, everyone contributed something, great weather and conversations. Some of us even got exercise when the Beagle broke free of her restraints and took off after a scent - typical Beagle. As the area is rustic, Kate was worried about losing the dog in the woods but after everyone was chasing her (the dog, Zoey) - and it was great fun for that crazy Zoey AKA Puppytime, until Z. decided she was done. She just stopped running and dropped to the ground from sheer exhaustion. She was properly punished with no Facebook for a week. Just ask to "friend" Puppytime Shelton and you'll catch up on her antics. Jasmine and Angel, the Dobie, got along great - just kind of ignored each other after the initial sniff and greet. But every time we were outside, as Steven relayed, Jasmine broke for the car. Too much fun for her! But it's nice to see her acting like more like a dog and less like a cat. Mom and Dad are doing fine and we were glad to celebrate the day with them.

Sorry, no pictures from this past week, we were too busy having adventures!
Friday night saw my first sand volleyball game for the summer. We have a couple of new kids playing plus the other members of the team had played indoor volleyball over the winter. So we were not only getting the ball over but doing so with three well placed hits. We were looking over the teams on the B net (yes, I play C net) wondering if we were in the wrong league. But there are still many other teams to play before we let our heads get that big.
Saturday: 20 mile bike ride to the beach while Vicki was getting her nails done. That evening we cooked salmon on the grill and shared dinner with friends. Afterwards we went to see the Avengers, in 3D. Good movie but I find the 3D a bit distracting. I think my glasses get in the way.
Sunday was Mother's Day, so I escorted Vicki to Christian LIFE church. Afterwards we got together with the Bowler clan in Independence and honored all the mothers there. We even brought Jasmine, which will be the last time we do that. All she wanted to do was go home. Every chance she had, she ran to the car. I even put her in the car for awhile but took her out after she drooled over the rear seat. (It should be dry by the time I get to drive any of you.)
One piece of news from the Bowler's was Jared's wedding date: the weekend after Easter in 2013. In Puerto Rico. While the Galecki kids may not get invitations, maybe we can get together for a few days there afterwards. Something to think about....
Love to all,
Dad

Ditches to you

Josh may be posting his next entry from a ditch, since he didn't send me this link until today.  He claims he did, but I think he has been attending too many beer festivals.

Like Rachelle, we had to have AT&T come out this morning since we had no internet, TV or phone -- but unlike Rachelle, ours was due to Skipper chewing through a data cable.  Tom will be putting more protective stuff on the wires when he gets home from work today.

I will likely go to bed early tonight in anticipation of being kept busy all day tomorrow opening presents and taking phone calls from children.

Cinco de Mayo Chicago Style~Rachelle (and maybe Steve)

Thailand! Thailand! Thailand! We managed to book a hotel for Bangkok before our internet decided to start hating us again (we're having AT&T come out for the second time in a week tonight), and it's very snazzy. I expect to be riding many elephants soon.

We had our young adult fundraiser for Old St. Pat's on Saturday, which I helped to organize. I got to be in charge of decorations and trying to make it not look like a church basement. I did not take any pictures, but it was at least a partial success. There were many Christmas lights and colorful decorations. We had a live band, taco bar, and Corona donated beer, plus lots of silent auctions and raffles. Steve won tickets to a Cubs game and a free dental exam from a friend (because he shuns my dental insurance).

I went to a reading conference on Monday-Wednesday of last week and met a ton of authors. Most of them are writing more recent books, but I'm sure you all remember R.L. Stine of Goosebumps fame. He looked pretty much exactly like I thought he would.

Cinco de Mayo in Concord

Josh, thanks for initiating this forum. We just had a great weekend with Dennis and Margaret here in Concord Twp. Kicking back, enjoying the beautiful weather, celebrating Cinco de Mayo at La Mesa's for lunch. As you can imagine, lots of margaritas, vino, Great Lakes beers and PINOCHLE! Can't wait to hear what everyone else is up to these days! God bless and Love to ALL!

Cinco de Mayo ~ Josh

Hello Family!

I've decided to do some improv. There's a 10-week class I've auditioned for and joined up with. The teacher really seems to know what he's doing, so I'm hoping to learn a lot. I've done improv before, but on a more casual level and without very much guidance and teaching. At the very least, I'll improve my "invisible object" work. I think that right now I'd be the world's worst mime.

I've found out that one of my coworkers is a huge beer geek - he's one of the admins on beeradvocate.com, one of the top beer-rating websites in the country. He organized a tasting on Thursday and was kind enough to invite me to it. There were many good beers and a few terrible ones as well. One of them, Idiot's Drool, has a flavor that I described as "exactly what Tom Waits would taste like."

I went to Dolores Park in the city for the Cinco de Mayo festival. It was much more sober / family-friendly than I had anticipated. Still, it was fun to lay in the grass, enjoy some sunshine, listen to the mariachis, and watch the dogs play. So many dogs! :D

Josh

Hello Family!

Being in several thousand miles and time zones away from Ohio, it's a little bit tougher to keep up with everyone. So, I've created this blog. The idea is that, once per week, we'll each create a post - a life update, fun photos (limit 5 per post), rants against the evils of prescriptivist linguistics, or anything else you feel like doing. The exception to this once-a-week limit shall occur whenever someone is on an adventure, such as a trip to Thailand. Then, he or she shall be required to post daily.

If you need any help with blogger or you are having problems of a technical nature, send me an email and I can help you out.

Josh