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.