The Nats

Yesterday Jamie and I went to see a Washington Nationals baseball game. Dr. Sellers has shared season tickets with some other people. Last night he had 2 tickets and he was out of town, so he gave them to me and Jamie. THANK YOU!!!

So, we left at about 6:15 for a 7:05 game. Ha. At 7:05 we were driving through DC listening to the starting pitch on the radio. Sad, but next time we know better.

We finally got there at about 7:25 or so, parked, made our way in, and found our seats. It had been a stressful time, but hearing the sound of the crowd roaring from outside the stadium put a smile on my face that I couldn't wipe off. (Well, I got it off relatively soon - I didn't just have a silly grin on my face the whole night!)

When we found our seats we couldn't believe it. I mean, Dr. Sellers told me they were good seats, but these were amazing. Probably 12 rows back (the first row behind the super-important-people-who-get-their-snacks-brought-to-them) and right behind home plate. We could practically see the expression on the pitcher's face as he threw the ball. I've never paid attention to a baseball game in my life, but this was exciting and fun!

(Plus, there was the human interest aspect because I knew something about the pitcher. One of the ladies at work is married to the Nats' chaplain and this pitcher is their player rep and a REALLY good guy with a really cute kid who is known as "gwand swam boy" at work where we like to hear stories about him.)

So, anyway, we stayed for the whole game, got ice cream, popcorn, and the souveneir coke, and sang "Take me out to the ball game". We also enjoyed all the between inning stuff, like the "Presidential Race" where 4 "presidents" raced to home plate...and then walked out via the aisle right by us. We loved the whole thing!

The moral of the story? If you have a friend (or boss) who offers you 2 $50 tickets to a major league baseball game, DO IT!

Rainbo

I just got off the phone with my best friend from junior high and high school. We talked for THREE HOURS! Now I remember what it was like in junior high and high school when we would talk on the phone for that long every night. (Of course, that phone time also included lots of algebra, geometry, etc.)

We met during the summer after 6th grade at some meeting for talented and gifted kids. Then, in junior high we were in a lot of the same classes and things progressed from there. I'm not sure how we moved from classmates to best friends. Maybe from when our algebra teacher told us to exchange phone numbers so we could call each other for help with our homework (which we definitely did for almost all our math for the next 6 years). Maybe from the Odyssey of the Mind team that my dad coached and that we both poured our lives into. (We won a prize that year because our entire script was a "poem". "It was long ago and the years have gone. The creature is dead, but the story lives on. 'I am Maerona of this ocean place. I wonder what that is in front of my face?'" Ha ha. I can recite more if you're interested... It might even be from the shared experience of seeing our 7th grade English teacher cry for no apparent reason or from getting an "F for the day" almost every day from Mrs. Wymore - and then an A for the semester. (Don't ask me how that worked.)

So, it was a good conversation filled with catching up on each others lives from the past 10 months, discussion of how healthy churches should look and how this generation is going to pot (we're so old!), and sympathy and encouragement for living Christian lives even through our sinfulness. Ahhhhh. There's something good about a long conversation with an old friend...even if it does give me a headache and make my ear hurt!

I love the bond in Jesus that keeps us together even after so many years. Friends truly are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them. (That one's for you Rebecca! :) )

Barbacoa Follow-up

So, we finally got around to eating my concoction tonight. Last night we ended up going out to dinner with some friends, so the "barbacoa" actually cooked for more like, oh, probably 6 hours. I then stuck it immediately in the refrigerator minus some of the "juices" (ie southwestern flavored coke).

Oh, and the "meat" was beef.

Tonight, I heated up part of it in the microwave for 2 minutes. I had also stir-fried a red bell pepper and an onion together with some garlic (but so little that it couldn't be tasted). And I made up my own corn salsa type thing to replicate Chipotle. Mine had:
Maybe 10 cherry/grape tomatoes cut in quarters
Some green onion (chives type) cut up
About 1/3 small can of green chili peppers like you put in Patti's low-fat chicken enchiladas
1 can of corn (yum)
Pepper and salt
I mixed it all together and, waa-lah. Well, I didn't try it on its own, so don't blame me if its not that great.

Anyway, I put all the different things in different bowls, added some grated extra-sharp cheddar, sour cream, lettuce, regular salsa (in case Jamie wasn't a big fan of the corn type), and warm tortillas to the table, and we were ready.

I think it tasted ok. The meat's texture wasn't the greatest, but I think it was flavorful enough. The texture probably would have been better if it hadn't cooked so long, maybe? It could have been a bit more spicy, but the mixture of everything tasted good together. (It was like a fajita burrito, I suppose.) Mostly, I couldn't taste the meat because there were so many other flavors. But it can't have been too bad because Jamie ok'ed having the left-overs for dinner on Tuesday. (Monday is too soon for me!)

Barbacoa

My goal is to make barbacoa like they have at Chipotle. The problem? When I look it up online all I can find is special cooking methods like baking underground or something. (Ok, I looked it up awhile ago and don't remember the details - but I do remember it wasn't practical for me, an apartment dwelling suburbanite with not even a balcony to my name. :))

I decided to try it anyway.

Ingredients:
About 2 ziplock baggies full of stewing meat - mostly defrosted.
One can of coke
A little bit of butter
1.5 packages of dry southwest marinade
1.5 Tblspns of garlic

Smear the butter around your crock pot so stuff doesn't stick.
Put the garlic on the bottom
Put meat in
Pour marinade powder over top
Pour coke over top
Cook on high for 3-4 hours. (Lets hope, because that's when dinner is!)

I'll let you know how it goes. (And if you have a better way, please, please let me know because I kind of think this will fail! :))

Pennsylvania Mania

Here is the long awaited update on the Friday before last...and unexpected bonus information on this past Friday!

The Thursday before last, we drove down (up?...yes, up) to PA to visit our super wonderful friends. (Those of you reading on facebook might have already seen the photos. Just skip em if you want!) We arrive on Thursday just in time to eat dinner before Celeste and I headed out to see Izabella's orchestra and chorus concert. We were late (quite a bit:-/) so we missed the orchestra part, but we had a blast watching the chorus. What fun it is to watch 4th-6th graders sing the oldies! We laughed and sang along and generally got almost, but not quite, annoying.

The next (FRIDAY) morning, we intended to wake up in time to take the older kids to school, but accidently slept right through it. But Jamie did still get some cuddle time with Johnny in his jammies! And I showed Joshua how to make a photo book online that can then be printed. Ha ha. The only pictures he picked to be in the book were the ones of himself. Ugh. I think thats what I can be like on the inside too. Praise God Who is changing my selfishness to selflessness (slowly.)

I wish this one had better lighting because I think it is SUCH a cute one! ->

Here's Jon and John.

For a lot of the day we just played outside in the back and front yard with whatever kids were home. Joshua wanted me to pitch the ball so he could practice his batting. Oh man, I was bad...I couldn't even get it from the pitching mound over the plate. But he was a good teacher. He taught me how to throw the ball (under not over) and encouraged me ("I'm not that good at baseball either, but I practice so I can get better.") and let me step closer. :) It was really sweet and humbling in a way (but not at all humiliating - maybe because we were the only two over the age of two in the backyard.) The boys played in a bucket of water and the dirt, and a good time was had by all!

One of the major things that I learned by example from Celeste this weekend was that it is ok to let boys play in the dirt - and even eat it! And to just let them have their freedom within safe boundaries.

We also took Joshua to kindergarten and picked all three older kids up from school.

Jamie played catch in the front yard with Caleb while I took pictures of Johnny crawling on hands and feet (no knees) because he doesn't want to scrape his knees!

After a yummy dinner we went to Caleb's baseball game. It was dusty, small-towny, and wonderful. Johnny amused us all by "cheering" in a babble and clapping whenever we did. And Caleb's team won, of course!

The next morning we woke up early to leave and finally got a picture of beautiful Izabella.

And I'll leave you with one last cute one of our Godson.

And the bonus news:

Last Friday we painted Jamie's office "green tea". It looks great. He loves it. We don't have a picture yet.