Valentines Dinner

Everyone knows that valentines day is a way to make you spend money.  I head that the average someone spends on a loved one on VDay is like 120 bucks.  Luckily for me, I have set the bar pretty low and now have a wife with realistic expectation.  That being said, my friend Chris thought we should put a dinner together last Sat. to let our wives know we care.  Since I had to work all day Saturday he was in charge of the shopping and then we would make the meal when I got back.

The mood was set and we really were in for a treat.

Always a favorite is scallops.  I have never really made these before and had them turn out good, but Chris had a system and scallops on a bed of leeks with a vinaigrette dressing was absolutely amazing.

Then we brought out the racks of Lamb.  I had never made this either, but found a recipe that I thought would work and it turned out so tender and juicy.  I had lamb one other time in CA and it cost like 40 bucks and I got food poisoning from it so this was a refreshing change.  Although it is a bit pricey to buy yourself, it was well worth it for a special event. 

We also had gorgonzola/pear/candied pecan salad.  Making the candied pecans was not that hard, and the salad was again....very good.

Bacon wrapped asparagus....need I say more.  Oh ya, dessert was Creme Brulee, which Chris did a great job with since it had to be made ahead of time.

This was by far the best meal I had ever had, and I actually made it. I have eaten out  at some nice places with Kobe and lobster and other pricey/delicious foods, but I would choose this meal hands down as the best ever.

This week I was home every night except for Valetines day.

James usually get a bath after dinner, and since I was home this week I got to do the honors.

I think his butt is red from being pinched to many times...it is so cute and I cannot resist.

He has a cold now and is coughing all of the time, but with his 9 month checkup on monday, we have elected to wait till then.  I fugure he will get over it eventually

So Cute.

This past week I got the frame and misc parts ready for paint. It took a few more cans than I thought it would, but I think that the final product is very strong and looks great (see below pics). 

Yes, motorcycle frames can be sexy.

I also got the engine mostly polished up and back together.  Notice the WD40 and the hammer, my two favorate tools.

An this is what the thing looks like currently....yes, sexy again.  I know there are a lot of odds and ends to complete and it will take a lot of time yet, but I was excited all the same to see what it looks like now.

Out to the San Juans

The weather  could not have been any better this past weekend as we headed out to the west side for some fun in the sun.  There was hardly a cloud in the sky all weekend which made for a great time visiting the rents. 

James is really loving pulling himself up and getting into everything.  He also seems to have some remnants of sweet potatoes on his face in this pic.

The classic flannel shirt which allows him to fit into the Greenacres cutting edge redneck scene.

We arrived on Friday and headed out to Friday Harbor on the ferry on Saturday.

You could see Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier at the same time as well as the Canadian Cascades and the Olympic mountains...it was as clear as could be.

James enjoyed the ferry and we always have a good time watching it dock and the cars load and unload.  It would be a great job to be a captain of one of these ships.

Another cute kid pic.

Brenda enjoys the scenery as well as the sun...she was almost getting as white as me this winter....me in summer that is.

We kept pinching ourselves thinking"is this really February?"

James getting a ride from Grandpa

Another stellar view

The grandparents.

We got a chance to check out the local art scene.  I know there has got to be about a million similar photos out there...what were the people thinking would happen.  I also have yet to reach full maturity, but that may never happen.

Then after fun and games we re-enacted the cruise chip hitting land by crashing a giant solid chocolate cruise ship into my mouth.  This has been in my parents freezer for a long time....15yrs to be exact and it had to go.  I think it was from when my sister went on a cruise with some friends.  Didn't taste too bad, but most of it got thrown out.

I kept trying to get James used to this view, but not sure if it worked.  He did think it was quite funny though.

Dont worry, he is not a commie.

James has been up to alot lately and has kind of been moving all over the place.  The other day I timed him standing all by himself for 18 seconds before sitting down.  He is crawling all over now and I think that so he will be running once he get the hang of it

Note the mark on the forehead.  No we are not raising a Soviet leader, but just a kid who bang his head sometimes. The same may have been said of Gorbachev though.   I think this damage could be attributed to us though.  It ends up that highchairs are aptly named and if you fall from them it can leave a mark.  He has learned he cannot trust us (better to find that out now and save yourself some disappointment).

I had a chance to go skiing the other day and it was epic conditions.  Brenda and James opted to follow along and take the longest gondola in the US to the lodge and hang out for the day.  We had a great time.

The next day I mustered the energy to go snowshoeing.  We borrowed a friends gear and headed for the hills.  The snow on 4th of July Pass was deep and we had a great time.  The weather was warmer than anticipated, which made it wet, but fun all the same.

James was loving the backpack a co-worker gave me and I liked it way better than the front pack.  Who am I kidding....that kid was way to big for that thing.

The happy family in the woods where we belong. 

Various low laying logs along the path we had to duck under and that can be a task with a backpack and kid, but we made it through without incident.

The friends who lent us the snowshoes also have a sled that they had outgrown and let us borrow so Brenda could pull James around the yard.

I decided I would build a seat for the bike instead of buying one, since they do not make the seat I had envisioned.  I created the mold and the covered with the foil ready for the fiberglass.

This is how it may look on the frame.

Then...after the fiberglass....it is awesome, but will need a lot of sanding and bodywork.

James, it's whats for dinner.  New way to show he is so cute I could eat him up.

He fell asleep for the night using his foot as a pillow....man does that look uncomfortable.  I straightened him out fearing his foot would fall asleep and the pain would eventually wake him up, although it never seemed to do so before.

James also stay with the normal routine which would include the following about mid dinner meal.

I don't care who you are....that is cute.

Motorcycle work cotinues

The saga of the bike continues.  Got to polishing some of the parts and getting prepped for paint on the engine.

Here is the engine as it sat over the week between Christmas and New Years

Just a little polish and this turns

Into this.  I love the polished look and much of the engine is going to be that way.

James is loving eating some more foods and hates peas while loving mom's applesauce.

Ben and Laura and the kids cam over for New Years  We had a great time and had a lot of time to just sit back and not do whole bunch of stuff.  You really get to enjoy your time off when you spend it with friends.

Ashton loves trucks but was a little bummed that the road construction was done around our house.  He loved to see the graders

My mom was out of town so my Dad also made the effort to come all of the way over here.  He had a good time and made us some awesome food

Addison and Ashton were a blast and we had a great time.  We also have learned that our island counter tops are going to have to be rounded out a bit.  All of the kids that come over eventually hit their heads on them and it never ends well.

Here is the cioppino my dad made.  It makes my mouth water just thinking about it again.

The main body of the engine is going to be gloss black and the top along with the sides will be polished aluminium.

This week James went to the Children's Discovery Center with Ella.  She made him a hat that she misspelled James by reversing the J.....which leads to Lames 

For some reason James loves to bite and chew on beer bottles or any other bottle for that matter.  Don't worry, I wash them out beforehand.

This kid loves food and when he wants it you know.  I guess he gets it...

...from his mother.  Wow, the resemblance is striking.

I borrowed a welder from my neighbor and went to town removing and adding things to the frame.  You may be asking "John, I didn't know you knew how to weld" to what I say....I don't, or a least didn't before I tried.  I figured how hard could it be and it turns out that it is not that hard.

I found a scrap piece of bed frame and built a battery box for the rear section.  I also cut a bit of the frame off to make room.

Those welds may not look that great, but I hit them with a hammer and they are strong enough.

This weekend we went for a short walk before the snow hits. Today, it has started to snow and I think it may be pretty bad tomorrow which means....more time to work on the bike. 

On a side note I am getting all mad about people on food stamps.  I guess this is coming to light because of the stuff Gingrich has said, but then the facts come out and they actually interviewed a woman who has been on them for 5 years trying to make the case for food stamps.  If anything this makes me want to cut her off more.  If she did not get the food stamps she said she would not be able to make it because of her part time job at the local diner.  WTH... part time job.  Man that would be nice.  Maybe if she was cut off from the food stamps she would be forced to get a full time job or maybe even a second or third one and get her ass in gear and earn her own money instead of asking for handouts.  I know the times are hard, but not for that long.  If they keep using these pathetic people wanting us to feel sorry for their lazy butts, I am going to puke.  On the other hand, I know some people cannot live without the short term assistance and have no problem with that. 

So of you are keeping blog score that is 1year lifetime maximum on unemployment and 2 year maximum for food stamps.  All other social programs are also on the chopping block.