NYC - Final Day

Got up early and walked to Central Park - enjoyed a picnic breakfast - then back to the hotel to pack - cab to the airport - flight back to Charlotte and a drive home. Good times.

NYC Day Three

Yankee Stadium. The Yankees hosting the Blue Jays, and the Yankees win! The-uh-uh-uh Yankees win! In dramatic fashion too - the Yanks were down by a run with one man on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth - Giambi came in and went deep - an upper decker that went right above our heads. It was awesome!!!

NYC - Day Two

Breakfast in the hotel....Subway downtown....Ground Zero....Trinity Church....Wall Street....NYSE....Battery Park....Ferry Ride....Statue of Liberty....Lunch on Liberty Island....Pizza and Hot Dogs....Exploding mustard dispenser....Anxiety attack in the statue....Subway uptown....Museum of Natural History....Funny waiter in a diner....Roof top pool closed....Movie in the room....Early night. That about sums it up. We're having a great time!!!

NYC - Day One

We made it! We had an uneventful flight, apart from a delay on the runway, and two in-flight trips to the john by DP. We hit Times Square last night - ate at the Brooklyn Diner (see Mark's leaning tower of potatoes, below) and visited the Toys R Us store - they had a really cool Lego display and, of course, the ferris wheel (which we didn't ride, but did gawk at). And then there was The Lion King. I can't tell you how amazing that was. AMAZING. I cried during the opening, it was so awesome.

Zucchini Bread

So I'm watching the Contessa one afternoon not too long ago, and I'm trying to think of what to cook for supper. Namely, I'm trying to think of something new and exciting to do with some zucchini I have in the fridge that is about to go bad.

The Contessa goes off, and Paula Deen comes on. She's making...you guessed it...zucchini bread! I watch the spot, and sure enough, I have all I need to make the bread.

I had never baked zucchini bread, and really couldn't even think of a time when I had eaten zucchini bread, so I decide to give it a shot.

As you can see from the photos, it didn't rise all that well (but neither did Paula's) and one of the loaves broke in two when I turned it out of the pan, but it was darned tasty. I had it toasted with butter every morning for about a week.

Combine Dry Ingredients:

3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups sugar

Combine Wet Ingredients:

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup water

2 cups grated zucchini (about 2, average-sized)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix. Add:

1 cup chopped walnuts

Pour into two prepared loaf pans, and bake at 350 for one hour.

Don't thank me, thank Paula.

Guerdon

guerdon - noun - \ˈgər-dən\ - something that one has earned or gained; reward, recompense


This was the winning word in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Let's use it today, shall we?

Baseball

Ben has been watching the Baseball tapes. I couldn't be happier.

Many baseball fans site one person as the reason they love the game. "I'm a fan because of Mickey Mantle," or "I'm a fan because of Ted Williams," or even "I'm a fan because of my grandpa." Well, I'm a fan because of Ken Burns.

My friend and boss-at-the-time Jennifer K first recommended this documentary. My mom was looking for something to buy Mark for Christmas in 1996, and Jen and her husband had recently watched Baseball on PBS. I passed that advice on to my mom, and Mark got the nine-tape set for Christmas.

We randomly picked one tape from the set to preview on Christmas morning. It featured the story of Roberto Clemente. I was spellbound.

See, I wasn't a fan of the game. I found it rather boring. But earlier that year - in the spring in fact - we discovered that our back-woods-locally-owned cable company, for some reason unknown to anyone, piped in WPIX out of New York. Mark had been able to watch his Yankees play all season.

1996 was a good year for the Yanks. They had a rookie shortstop - you might remember him, Derek Jeter - and they beat the Braves in a six-game series that had me on the edge of my seat every night. Me, who didn't really like baseball. Found it boring. But I liked this Jeter guy, and I liked the way the Yankees played.

And then there was Ken Burns. Mark and I started watching the documentary, and watched about half a tape each night. For those not familiar, this long history of baseball was laid out into nine-innings - each inning looking at a period in the game, usually about a decade, and each inning lasting about two and a half hours. John Chancellor narrated, and tons of people provided commentary. It was the most well-presented documentary I had every seen, and it made me love the game. The history, the magic, the curses, the underdogs, the House that Ruth built - all of it. I was hooked.

And Ben is getting hooked to. In a time when steroids are killing the game, and the Yankees are miles away from the team they were in 96, it's good to remember the positives. It's good to cook dinner and hear Buck O'Neil's voice talking about Jackie Robinson and what it was like to play with him. And to hear Billy Crystal talking about going to Yankee Stadium for the first time when he was a kid and thinking Casey Stengal was going to call him in to play.

My kids are going to Yankee stadium for the first (and only) time next week. I doubt they'll be called in to play, but who knows, maybe one day they'll be on TV talking about their visit. Great things can still happen in baseball.

What's For Dinner?

My mom is in town this week, so we tag-teamed dinner tonight. She made a grits casserole, and I grilled shrimp and sausage. Delish....

What I'm Reading Now

World Without End, by Ken Follet.

I cannot even tell you how pumped I am about this book. It's the follow-up to Pillars of the Earth, one of my all-time favorites. If I remember correctly, my brother read Pillars first, then got me to read it. I read it right after Mark and I got married - I always associate it with our tiny two-room apartment, which was barely big enough to hold the thousand-page tome. It's one of those books that you don't read as much as you experience - you get absorbed in the characters and the places and the stories, and you can't put it down, but when you're done, you miss it.

World Without End takes place two-hundred years after Pillars ends, and focuses on four characters with ties to characters in the first book. Not a sequel, from what I understand, just a follow-up.

I haven't even started it - it just came today - but I can't wait to crack it open. I think I'll do that now...

Decoration Day

Ben and Daniel presented the colors this morning during our Decoration Day service. They did a great job!

May Movie Recap

I blogged a while back about summer movies I was (and still am) pumped about. I have seen three of those movies in the last two weeks, so I thought I'd offer my thoughts for those of you considering a fun flick for your Memorial Day festivities:

We begin with Iron Man. I am a big fan of the Marvel Universe, but Iron Man has never been one of my favorites. But I really liked this movie! I know the first movie for a new character is usually slow, what being tied to the back story and all that, but this one was action-packed. Maybe because I didn't know the storyline very well, I was more into it.

Robert Downey, Jr. was an awesome Tony Stark. He was just likeable enough to play an unlikeable character and make you like him. The special effects were great - the final version of the Iron Man suit (red and gold) was wicked cool.

If you're considering taking the kiddies, there was the obligatory violence, but nothing over the top. Also, a couple of racy scenes, but they don't last long. The big thing with this one is whether or not the younger crowd will follow the storyline. DP loved the movie, but was totally lost for the first half. Ben really loved it - he's since been reading all the Iron Man comics he can find - and I think he followed it pretty well. Not for the younger kiddies, but the older ones should be fine.

Overall, a strong showing. Two enthusiastic thumb's up.

Next up, Prince Caspian. We all loved the first one, and it was so loyal to the book. I couldn't remember enough about the book in this one to know if it followed the story as well.

This one was definitely darker, and had lots more fighting. That was a big plus for DP - he lives for battle scenes - but more of a detractor for me. There wasn't as much "magical" stuff in this one, but I did like it. Standing on its own, not being compared to its predecessor, it was a good movie.

It had a good message, too. One line has really stuck with me: they were discussing why Aslan had not come back to save the day, and one of them says "Why doesn't Aslan prove himself to us?" And Lucy says "Maybe we should be proving ourselves to Aslan." Maybe we should.

Since this one is technically for the kiddies, I'm guessing most of you will be taking the kiddies. Two words of caution for the younger kiddies: one, very hard to follow, and two, there's one scene where they are trying to conjure the white witch, and these two wicked creepy things show up. Might be a little unsettling. I was unsettled, and I'm 37.

Overall, a good flick. I think the franchise will continue.

And finally, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I think the working title was Grandpa Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

All kidding aside, I was surprised to find that an old Indy worked well. But it really did. Harrison Ford was still great in the role.

This one had all the same plot devices as its predecessors. Same basic story as well. Indy gets dragged into an adventure involving some ancient thing that we've all heard of, but don't really know much about. Could be historical, could be bunk, who knows, but it works. The effects were good, but not over the top. It had the same look and feel as the others. There was also the obligatory "large amount of something gross" - in the others, it was snakes, insects, rats, and now.....I'll let you watch.

This one would be fine for the kiddies, I thought. Some bad words peppered in here and there, but nothing over the top in the violence department. One kind of disturbing part involving the "large amount of something gross", but it's brief. Both my kids LOVED this one.

Definitely a winner.

To sum up, I am thus far enjoying Movie Summer 2008. Ranking these three in relation to each other, I would have to go with Iron Man first, then Dr. Jones, and finally Prince Caspian. But you can't go wrong with any of them. Fine summertime fun.

Roasted Chicken

Roasted chicken is one of my favorite meals. I got the recipe from the Barefoot Contessa. I LOVE it. A 4-5 lb chicken costs about $5 and feeds all four of us. You can beat that...

Start by brining the chicken overnight. About two and a quarter hours before you need to eat it, take it out of the brine, put it in a roasting pan, and let it come to room temp. (You don't have to do this, or do this completely if you're rushed, but it helps.)

Meanwhile, quarter a lemon and slice a head of garlic in half (so that each clove is sliced in two). Stuff the lemon and the garlic into the cavity and tie the legs together. Drizzle with olive oil (I brush it with a basting brush as well). Salt and pepper it. Cover loosely with tin foil.

Cook at 425 for thirty minutes. Remove the foil, and cook for another hour. Let it rest for 15-30 minutes before serving.

We eat it with mashed potatoes. Everyone is a fan. I have also subbed an onion for the garlic - it works as well. I don't worry with carving it perfectly - I just get the meat off the bone. It may not look all Southern Living and whatnot, but it tastes gooooooooooood.........

Just a Normal Friday Night at Our House

Mark and I are deep into Season 3 of Lost. Last night, we got the boys in bed, watched an episode, and called it a night.

About 2:00, I woke up. There was a noise in the corner of the room. It sounded like something rattling paper. We had a fan going, so I thought something might have gotten caught in the air flow. I gave it a minute. More rattling, then ZING! WHAP! The distinct sound of a mouse zipping across the floor and into the wall. Great, I'm thinking, I hope we have some D-Con under the sink - I can just put some out in the morning.....

Then I feel something fly very close to my head. I sit up. I hear more flapping sounds. I grab Mark. "Wake up! Something's flying around the room!"

Mark sits up. "Whah....." Silence in the room. He sits there stunned for a minute, then rolls over and goes back to sleep.

Now, in thirteen years of marriage, I have never woken Mark up in the middle of the night and sent him off after a noise. Not once. It's just not how I roll. And so it surprised me that he did not find anything alarming about my behavior. He just went back to sleep. Had I not been so scared, I might have smothered him with his pillow.

But I sat there, sure that our talking had frightened our guest and it would be on the move again if I was quiet long enough. I was right. I started hearing movement in the curtain by the bed. I smacked Mark and said "Wake up! Something's in here! I'm not making this up!" And I turned on the light.

We both saw a bird flying across the room. While I'm thinking "How in the heck did a bird get in here?", the bird turns upside down and hangs from its feet off the ceiling. Oh *&$#. Not a bird. A bat.

I learn something new about myself every day. Last night I learned that I am abnormally afraid of bats.

I wigged. I got down under the covers and started crying. "Whatarewegonnado Mark! Whatarewegonnado!" Mark cowered down there with me. Every now and then we would peek out, and that little bastard would be right there staring at us, or worse - flying at the bed. I was in hell.

Finally, Mark says "We've got to open a window and get him to fly out. If we open the bedroom door and he gets out into the house, we'll never get him out. So...go open your window."

"I'm not getting out of this bed. Why do I have to open the window? You open the &%$#&*! window!" I hear a smack behind my head. "What was that?!?!"

"He flew behind the headboard. I think he's under the bed." Needless to say, I got out of the bed.

We opened the window, but couldn't get the screen to budge. For some reason, there was a screwdriver on my nightstand, so we took turns trying to pry it loose. It's very difficult to concentrate on a task when you're constantly jerking your head back and forth, watching for flying bats.

I finally got it loose, pulled it out of the window, and leaned it against the wall by the bathroom. We yanked the bathroom door open, and hid in there while we waited for our plan to work.

Mark quickly realized that if we did not see the bat fly out the window, we would never know for sure he was gone, and we would have to sell the house. So he decides to go out there. "Give me something to hit it with. Just in case."

I gave him a big loofah on a stick. This was apparently not what he had in mind.

He went into the closet and came out with his racquetball racket. Not quite a weapon, but better than a big loofah. He goes back into the room. He runs back into the bathroom. "He's stuck in the screen. We knocked it over when we yanked the door open, and now he's trapped under it." We stand and look at each other, like two deranged fools. Mark says, "OK, I'll go back out and move the screen. Maybe he'll get loose and fly out."

Mark goes back into the bedroom. I hear the screen move. I hear sounds that are not at all human, but that have to be coming from Mark. Then I hear a loud THUNK. Mark says "I got him! I knocked the crap out of him. But I don't know where he is."

So Mark and I very gingerly tiptoe around the room, he with the racquetball racket and me with the big loofah, poised and ready to attack. Mark finds him. He's lying stunned just under the end of our bed. Mark slaps the racquetball racket down over him and traps him underneath. "Now what do we do?" Mark looks over at the nightstand. "Bring me the screwdriver," he says, calmly. Too calmly.

So Mark stabbed the bat with a Phillips-head screwdriver, twice, through the racquetball racket netting. When we were sure he had breathed his last, we scooped him up with the back of a magazine, threw him into a trash bag (double-bagged for safety) and tossed him outside in the garbage can. Game over, man. Game over.

We had too much adrenaline to go back to bed. So we watched another episode of Lost. It was the one where Hurley found the Sweet Pickles van and they miraculously got it running. Good times. Nothing like a quiet night in front of the TV with your spouse.

Carry Your Candle

At Ben's Graduation ceremony, they had a candlelighting ceremony. Each fifth grader with a younger sibling lit a candle, then the younger siblings came up and lit their candle from their brother/sister's candle, then the fifth grader's candle was blown out. It was symbolic of the fifth grader's impending doom in middle school, or something.

No, no, it was all about the passing of the torch and all that. I got it. And it was quiet lovely. But anytime you have a large number of children in a small place and open flame is involved, things don't always go poetically. Each fifth grader lit their candle from a central candle in the middle of the gym. As the kids went to their assigned spots, about half of the candles went out. Rather then turn and obtain flame from the person two inches away, they all went back to the central candle. Quite the log jam insued. Then the younger sibs descended on them like a swarm of locusts - elbows were thrown, I think two kids got trampled - it was rowdy.

But once all the candles were lit and everyone was in place, it all went off without a hitch. Well, almost:

It's hard to see, but Ben is standing to the left of a boy with glasses (the glasses reflect well, that's why I use him as a reference) and Daniel is in front of Ben in a striped shirt.

DP's Highlight Reel

As promised, I have spliced together three short portions of Daniel's class play. It was actually more of a collective dramatic reading....enjoy!