Latest best sandwiches

I love a good sandwich, and I've had two great ones in the last week.

Time: last Saturday
Scene: Eats Market Cafe, Westwood Village
Sandwich: can't recall the exact name, but basically it was a BLT with a fried egg and chevre
Comments: (I've already twittered about this so excuse the double plug...) Seriously people, this is one durn good sandwich. I'm not a fried egg person per se, but it just seemed to fit with the bacon and tomato, and the chevre added a nice little flavor with out over-powering or cheesifying the whole thing. It was delicious, and I told the Eats people as much.

Time: today, 1 pm
Scene: Cafe at the SAM Sculpture Park
Sandwich: super special Grilled Cheese...carmelized onions, apple, gruyere on grilly potato bread.
Comments: Wow. This was a lunchtime phenomenon, so good I made it for our dinner. Here's my DIY adaptation (serves 2)...

4 slices dill rye
several slices Colby-Jack and some mystery cheese in the fridge
1 slice bacon, minced
1/3 onion, sliced
1 Red Delicious apple, thinly sliced
butter

Get the bacon going in a saute pan, and then throw the onion slices in. Cook up until onion's nice and translucent. Remove from pan. Butter outsides of bread, put in still hot pan, and layer apple, cheese, and onion. Grill on both sides. If you're doing the tomato soup thing on the side (I recommend Pacific Organic), then reserve the cooked-up bacon pieces and toss them in with the soup while it heats. Delish!

Da-da da da dah...

Vote for one. Only one.

This is a toughie. Which would you choose? (Found on ParentMap...)

Would you rather:
- Be 15 pounds thinner
- Be 15 IQ points smarter
- Have $25k more annual income
- Have 1 extra hour in every day
- Have a closer, more romantic relationship with your partner, OR
- Have a chauffer
__________________________

Wow. I just remembered that I could add a poll thingymajig to my side-bar. I'll add a question now to test it out. Go vote.

Sammy for President

Filler

I love answering questions. Thanks Sheila.

1. I've come to realize that my legs...are probably my best physical attribute.

2. I've come to realize that my job...(in two months) is going to be the most rigorous and low paying 5 years of my life. But I think I'll really like it most of the time.

3. I've come to realize that when I'm driving....I love to turn the stereo up really loud.

4. I've come to realize that I need...to have regular swim and creativity fixes in order to stay sane.

5. I’ve come to realize that I have lost...my interest in going on most carnival rides, excepting those at Disneyland.

6. I've come to realize that I hate it when....I can't remember what things mean, like for example, when people refer to Rube Goldberg or Machiavelli.

7. I've come to realize that if I'm drunk...I'm going to be depressed and sick for at least a day afterward and it's no longer worth it.

8. I've come to realize that money...is more fun to spend on services than stuff.

9. I've come to realize that certain people...are just not friendly, and I shouldn't take it personally.

10. I've come to realize that I'll always be...resisting the habit of getting out of my swimsuit while toweling off, which could be dicey if done in a large public venue.

11. I've come to realize that I have a crush on...the Gilmore Girls, which is I guess better described as an addiction than a crush.

12. I've come to realize that my mom...is always going to be stoic and practical.

13. I've come to realize that my cell phone is...more phone than I really need, what with the little keyboard and all.

14. I've come to realize that when I woke up this morning...I was late to the open-water workout.

15. I've come to realize that last night before I went to sleep...I love clean sheets and a freshly made bed!

16. I've come to realize that right now I am thinking about...how I don't know how to make decent hashbrowns from raw shredded potatoes.

17. I've come to realize that my dad...is only going to get older.

18. I've come to realize that when I get on my blog...I'm going to feel pressure to post something interesting.

19. I've come to realize that today...we almost adopted a new dog, though I found his home, so instead I want to go out to lunch and hit the baby swings at Lincoln Park.

20. I've come to realize that tonight...is wiiiiide open! I'm thinking cocktails on the deck.

21. I've come to realize that tomorrow...I'm seeing a friend I haven't seen for 6 months.

22. I've come to realize that I really want to...adopt another dog, though it's really not the right time with Sammy being so old and me starting school up again.

23. I have also come to realize that...August is not napping at all, but playing in her crib and squealing in delight.

Coming up on a year

In a few short weeks, August will turn one. This, my friends, is very hard to believe. This time last year, yours truly was stuck on the couch, watching the Tour de France and wondering when they'd make the baby come out. (They meaning doctors, not professional cyclists.)

Anyway, I'm working on a photo/blog book for August's first birthday, so I want to sum up the year for posterity; something nice that she'll scoff at when she's 12 and appreciated when she's 22.

The first surprise about August was her hair. I knew she'd have a lot of dark hair when she arrived (since that's the story with her dad), but had anyone ever seen black hair with brown highlights? Now she has brown hair with black highlights, and either way you must admit it's a cool color. Someone who came to visit August in the hospital remarked, "People pay tons of money at a salon for hair like that." Too true.

August is a happy baby -- an easy baby some have said. We often look at each other and wonder how we got so lucky. She was laid-back newborn and a content infant. Since early on, she has almost always been ready to laugh. She has never cried without good reason. She has lots of energy and likes to squirm and wiggle when getting her diaper changed or buckling into the car. TV has yet to appeal, but she loves books, and we've even caught her "reading" them to herself. Sometimes when she doesn't feel like sleeping, she has long conversations with her teddybear and monkey, her two best companions in her crib.

Since so far I've been terrible about keeping up a baby book, I really need to record August's firsts somewhere.

First smile -- 4-6 weeks
First laugh -- 2-3 months
Slept through the night -- 3.5 months
(funny how I recall exactly when that happened)
Rolled over -- 4 months
Sat up -- 5-6 months
Crawled -- 7 months
Stood up -- 7-8 months
Played peek-a-boo -- 8-9 months
Ate baby food -- 5 months
First steps -- 10.5 months
(though she still find crawling more efficient)
First word -- any day now
(though sometimes we're sure she's said Mama or Dada with intention, and several times we've swore she's said Teh-deh-deh for teddybear)

A few weeks ago, when we were over at the Kleitschs' for a "photo shoot" and dinner, Karsten and Britta were singing the Winnie the Pooh song with a cd. I remembered the song, so I sang along. August decided to "sing" along with us and clap her hands. It was one of those tiny moments when I realized that August was not going to be a baby much longer. She's really starting to join in with things like a little person. And I can't wait to see what kind of little person she becomes.

Tough weekend

I think I need a weekend to recover from my weekend.

On Saturday morning, I slowly swam from Denny Blaine to Madison Park along with the other Fat Salmon. My time was horrible, and though I was duking it out at the end with another Salmon, I'm pretty sure he was swimming side-stroke most of the way. I guess this is what happens when you swim sick, and unfortunately the swim seemed to have made me sicker. Overall, I'm glad I did it and hope I can do another open water swim later this summer to remedy my slow time.

On Sunday, Jana and I got together for our long-ago planned birthday day. We were gonna get all crafty and work on projects at her place. Unfortunately, Lupe the dog had other plans. While the old guy had rallied several times in the past, yesterday was a really bad day -- the day. Karsten and Britta were sweet in bringing him their old toys during his last hours. They even asked the neighbors to "bring Lupe something old to you." Many tears, many rubs and kind words...Lupe knew how much he was loved. He was a truly great dog.

Good-bye buddy. You will always be remembered with a smile and chuckle.

Jeckyll and Hyde

Bad dress rehearsal

I'm hoping that little theatre adage might sometimes be true for swimming. I finally got back in the pool this morning after more than a week hiatus (vacation + cold). Man, was I slow. Really slow. And it didn't help that I'm still congested, though not as bad as earlier this week.

Because today was so bad, I'm hoping tomorrow's performance is stellar. To be honest, I'd settle for mediocre at this point. And I will be taking cold medicine...the day-time version this time.

On another note: You know that whole droopy drawers style that some guys have held on to far too long? It is especially unattractive when they droop their swim trunks. While I don't care to see your boxers, buddy, I really don't want to see what they cover.

At loose ends

Stupidness #1
Our house is beautiful greenish-gray with white trim, but I'm concerned -- they finished in 2.5 days. I wasn't around all day today, but I don't think they did a second coat. I went back to the itemized quote and it doesn't mention a second coat anywhere. Hmmm. I'm feeling a like a big stupido for assuming they'd do a second coat. Maybe they used quick-drying paint and did actually do another coat? I will find out tomorrow when the contractor comes by for the walk-through and touch-ups. Thankfully the job they did looks great...lots of nice details and precision work.

Stupidness #2
I am finally feeling like I'm getting over my latest cold. It was mainly in my chest today, so I was hacking and wheezing all day, but less nose-blowy. I'm annoyed because a) why isn't my immune system doing its job this year and b) am I going to be able to do the Fat Salmon swim as planned on Saturday? Swimming when you have a cold is both difficult and disgusting, for me anyway. Maybe some super swimmers out their have figured out the whole breathing/water thing while congested.

One thing I do know: I will not be taking sleepy cold medicine before this race. But I might just take an hour to finish.

Stupidness #3
I was discussing the foggy/unfocused/ditzy post-pregnancy brain thing with another mom today. I am continually relieved to hear that others experience this same annoying phenomenon.

S: "I'd really like to know -- is it age-related hormones, birthing-related hormones, sleep deprivation, focusing on parenting small children?"

Me: "It's probably some of each."

S: "Well, I'd like it to be just one of those things so I could do something about it. Like drugs."

Me: "Until then, we have coffee..."

11 months old

August's first photo shoot. Thanks Jana!

Paint colors

Opinions?


Gray-gray



Purple-gray



Blue-gray

or

Green-gray (WINNER)

Waiting for the painter

The painter is supposed to be by sometime today to put up 4 samples on the side of our house. We're going for a darkish green-gray, blue-grey, purpleish-gray or gray-gray. I'd always envisioned a dark gray house with white-white trim and bright red door. But I'm compelled by this interesting dark greenish gray that I found at the paint store. It's kind of like the dark green water you see while riding the ferry on an overcast day. (How's that for a Seattle reference.)

Anyway, while I've seen the dark gray around on other houses and I love how it looks, I might want something a little different.

Ray has wisely steered clear of this decision-making process thus far.