Our goofy girl Hazel turned 4 on Monday. She is still very much a puppy at heart. To celebrate she got a party hat, a skunk toy, some cookies, a walk, & ice cream. Also, lots of love and belly rubs. Spoiled rotten, this one. Bekah even sang happy birthday to her. She appreciates her gifts. She is a good girl.
Well most of the time. I had to give her a bath 4 times last week. She has developed a habit of rolling around in the dustiest dirtiest spot in our yard. Always while I’m on my lunch break. Usually 5 min before I need to head back to work. Let me just say that I was frustrated. Thursday I returned to work looking like maybe it was I that got hosed off and not the other way around. I forgive her, but she is testing my patience. I guess that part of being a parent. My adorable little angel can also be an irritating little b****.
This was Bekah and my 5 year anniversary. 5 years with the one I love. No one ever thinks that they will meet “the one” at a bar, do they? I mean, I didn’t know where I would meet “the one”, but is certainly wasn’t happy hour. Life is just full of surprises. Chance encounters & such. That was a hell of a weekend. This years anniversary we unfortunately didn’t go anywhere like all past ones. Usually it’s a week off in October. This year it just felt like it got here before we knew it. Plus so many unforeseen things kept coming up that required money I guess our minds were not on it. I doesn’t matter though. I can have just as much fun with Bekah in our house as I can on the beach or in the mountains. We went to our anniversary spot, The Wharf. I got my usual. I don’t deviate much. Blackened Hawaiian chicken, jalapeño soup & bottle caps. I left stuffed. I don’t know how I ate all that. So delightful. Bottle of wine? Sure!! It was a nice dinner. One that made us release we need to go on dates more often. Afterwards it was time for a movie. Do we stick with the horror that we have watched all month or something different? Horror movie! And drinks. Probably a little too much of the red wine. We had to re-watch the movie. I know, that is sad. All I can say is that we had a nice night.
The next morning I had to get up early for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. I was not feeling my finest. I had a wine hangover. It’s been a while. I dragged myself to the walk. I was told my eyes looked “rough”. Glassy glazed over? Yes! Blood shot & Broken. Lacking spirit. Well, thanks a lot. I’m glad to be here too. Thanks for the encouraging pep talk. . I’m happy everyone I’m meeting for the first time got to see me in my finniest form. Yes, I feel like I look. No, this is not my normal condition. What a number this had on my confidence. Is Chick-fil-A open yet? I could really use some breakfast. I toughed it out.
Once free of my tormentors I had breakfast w/ a little hair of the dog to invigorate myself with the courage I needed to make it through the day. I was to spend the day with my brothers and nephew. Never show weakness to a 3 year old. For that matter, never show weakness to my brothers. They will take it and feed off it. Leave me a shell of a man. I had to soldier on. That meant suck it up and have a beer with my middle brother for lunch while youngest is at a birthday party with kids. It didn’t take me long to realize middle brother was in much worse condition than I. The moron. Hard night at the bar, that guy. Got himself cut off. Tried to order drinks and fell down, they say. Acted a fool. Was being “unruly”. Bummed a cigarette off some guy and proceeded to call him an idiot and some other more offensive names. At Whataburger a cop approached my youngest brother asking him how the middle brother was planning on getting home. “Uber” he said. He was later found asleep on the bathroom floor with his eye open. Contacts dried up and crusted to his cornea. Upon hearing this, I wondered what condition I would have been in had it not been our anniversary & I’d gone out with them?
Over drinks, that we both needed, we discussed the merits of presentation or lack thereof. Is a pina coldada served in a Dixie cup just as good as one served in a pineapple? Does the presentation make the drink? Do we let the aesthetics rule out life? Whatever. We both felt better than we had before that drink. Off to see the nephew.
I swear, kids are exhausting. He is just a bundle of energy. And SO smart. His vocabulary has improved immensely since I saw him last. You can actually engage in conversation with him now. After running around with his aunt Bekah be sat down next to me and we watch Brave together. Fun times. It was really great seeing everyone and hanging out. The only part of the weekend that was a bust was Saturday night dinner. I had my first and last Panda Express. No thank you.
Sunday. That hangover I had forced away decided to reel its ugly head again. This time two fold. It’s no surprise & I was anticipating the beast to bite back. Drinking with the brothers will do that to you. If you have any experience with hangovers you must know that the worst usually come from consuming an abundance of vino. Like Dionysus, the Greek God of wine, we could not quench our thirst. Wine became water. So Sunday morning I pulled my miserable a** out of bed, winced at the sunlight, & proceeded down the halls to find rehydration and nourishment. The day was mostly spent on the couch with the comfort of old horror movies to keep me distracted from my pain. At some point I said f*** it, I’m going to have a beer. This isn’t going away on its own.
Jalapeño!!!!
Hoisin pork loin. I grill everything else with that sauce, why not try it on a nice loin. It was pretty delightful. Bekah thinks I’ve mastered cooking pork. I don’t want to pat myself on the back here, but I have gotten pretty good at it. Never dried out and always juicy and tender. One misconception is that pork has to be well done. This is not true.
Beef tenderloin filet with a balsamic reduction. One of the best ways to serve a steak.
McCormick’s chipotle season packet and chicken. I’m glad I found out about these.
Pre-seasoned hickory pork from Market Street. It was pretty bland, really. I added some BBQ sauce to liven it up some. Bummer that it came as a 4 pack and I have 2 more in my freezer that I’ll have to work with again.
Date night at the Wharf! I discussed this meal briefly above. I must say, they rarely disappoint. The bottle caps had a nice spice. The blackened seasoning on the chicken was amazing. Pretty sure it is a mix of black pepper and chipotle. I actually got a bowl of the Jalapeño soup this time around. Usually I only get a cup. I felt like a glutton. I don’t know how I walked out of the place. Good think we declined bread.
Cocktail of the Week: Tempranillo. Actually let’s add Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon & Pinot Noir. There was a reason I wasn’t in my best form. Mixing of red wines. Oof.
En Fuego 