KC D's » Update
Just wanted to write a quick update on my tonsillectomy. The surgery went well, or so they told me. There wasn't much to it for me. Member and I got checked on at 9, about an hour ahead of the original time because of a cancellation. Then the fun began with a costume change, the nice skirt with a draft in the rear, Haha. Jenn was not quite prepared for all that would bring/show while I got situated. Then the doc paid me a visit and if I was nervous at all she definitely would have put me at ease. She said she spends more time filling out and signing paperwork than in surgery. The anaesthesiologost was next. He was the most normal anaesthesiologist I've met and another doc that would keep me feeling in good hands. Then came the first cocktail to put me in my happy place. I think I didn't notice too much of a change just because I was in a really good mood heading in. My good friend Reg came by to wish me luck, hang for a bit and keep Jenn company while she waited.
So finally the time came to head for surgery. I had a quick chat with the doc before the second cocktail kicked in and knocked me out. It's so amazing how quickly that stuff knocks you out. Needless to say I have no idea what happened from there. Next thing I knew, I woke up tonsil-less. I felt pretty good, a little groggy but not in much pain.
Jenn did share that the doctor said my tonsils were pretty nasty, filled with little crevices with bacteria. She confirmed that this was definitely overdue.
My first step to recovery was a bowl of jello, some ice water and march madness.
Since then recovery has been pretty good. Lots of cold fluid but I never thought I would enjoy cold eggs quite so much. It certainly helped to have tons of great basketball to watch. I think the irony of the whole thing is that it feels like I have a bad case of strep. Hopefully this is the last time I feel that way. Full recovery will be about 2 weeks. Doing my best to take it easy...with help from the fam. It was pretty hilarious when my mom brought over a white board and a bell to ring,hahaha. Not sure Jenn was that excited about the bell though, Haha.
KC D's » At long last
It's been over 15 years since I (my mom) wanted this to happen but the time is here. I go tomorrow for a tonsillectomy. Too many cases of strep in my life already but I hope no more. I am excited, as excited as one can be when they are told they will be bedridden for 3 days and can't eat solid foods for at least a week. I hope to be coherent enough to watch some hoops tomorrow.
Brian » Beer Madness 2010
The Madness begins anew, and alas, I am not a judge again this year. This year's competition goes global, featuring 32 beers from 22 countries. Previous competitions were more localized to beers that were at least readily available in the DC area. So, let's take a look at the contenders.
The Lager bracket features a diverse lineup of international stalwarts (Stella Artois and Heineken), Asian up and comers (Tsingtao and Singha) and last year's lager winner The Raven. The favorite would have to be Pilsner Urquell, one of the purest examples of lager brewing out there.
The Dark bracket at long last includes Guinness, but is extremely competitive. Kostrizer Schwarzbier, Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout and Brooklyn Brown are strong contenders.
The Pale Ale side has some intriguing first round matchups. Newcomer Nogne O takes on stalwart Fuller's ESB and Chimay Red goes up against Smithwick's Irish Ale. Any one of them could win the region, but my favorite is still Troegs Hopback.
Finally we have the Freestyle bracket, with everything from fruit to funk. This is always the most interesting bracket to me, and it's unfortunate that two beers like Ephemere and St. Louis Framboise have to go up against each other in the first round. I think Ephemere takes the region, but watch out for wild card Hitachino Nest White Ale.
Final Four prediction: Pilsner Urquell, Brooklyn Brown Ale, Troegs Hopback, and Ephemere. Winner: Troegs Hopback.
KC D's » Taylor’s First(pseudo) Gymnastics Meet
Taylor on the Beam 1
Taylor on the Beam 2
Taylor on the Beam 3
Taylor's Floor Routine
Award Time
Taylor had her first gymnastics meet...Basically it was just a mock meet with the other pre-team girls. It was a lot of fun to watch how her hard work has paid off. She even won some awards 2nd on vault, 2nd on bars and 1st on floor. She also won "Best Form" because of her pretty pointed toes.
KC D's » The Man
Austin and his Buddies at the Fire Museum
Austin and his Bakugan
More Hulk cake
Hulk cake
Wii fun
Austin smiley
Austin talking with his bird friend
We started with Monkey Bizness and ended with a sleepover. I would guard against Monkey Biz on a Saturday afternoon, it was a madhouse! But the little man had fun with his two little buddies...We just can't believe he's 6 already!
KC D's » A chance for more posts?
Got the WordPress Android app for the Hero. I like it already.
Brian » Summerland
Summerland by Michael Chabon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
After reading his Pulitzer Prize winning "The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" a while back, I knew Michael Chabon was a talented author. Here, he has created at once an ode to baseball, a fantastic tale of fairies and giants, and a creation legend. Oh, and it's a "young adult" novel too, so it's extremely readable. This is the one I'll be giving to my kids to read when they think I'm crazy for going off on the designated hitter rule. Again.
Next up is Chabon's Manhood for Amateurs.
Ellie » Ellie’s First Irish Dance Recital!
Would you believe she danced on Saturday night, and I already have the video uploaded and ready to go? Here it is. They actually danced twice. The music cut out halfway through the first take, so they came back out for a second try. They did pretty darn well both times, really. Ellie starts out in the back along the curtain, second from the right.
Brian » Scott Pilgrim (Volume 1)
Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What do you do when you've been slacking off with your reading due to the Olympics and other stuff? Graphic novels and young adult books!
I really wanted to run out and get the next volume of this series after reading the first one. This graphic novel sets up as almost normal (20-something slacker in a band obsessing over UPS delivery girl), but then blasts off into the bizarre (he has to defeat her 7 evil ex-boyfriends in battles, and there are also inter-dimensional portals involved). Too cool for words.
Brian » North Coast Pranqster
Golden orange color, head is mostly just light carbonation, doesn't stick around much.
Light aroma, not picking up much. A bit of spicy pepper almost, with some banana too.
It's got a bit of bite to it, but definitely cloves and some fruitiness to lighten things up too. The sweetness is what lingers on the palate, which is a good thing. Good Belgian flavor overall.
Overall rating: 4.05
Brian » Lowboy
Lowboy by John Wray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It took me a while to finish this one, what with the Olympics going on and all, and I do wish I would have been able to read it at a better pace. But even so, I felt it was pretty fantastic. The pacing of it, and the way the author handles the characters, and schizophrenia in general, I just loved all of it. It is a little out there though, getting into the head of a schizophrenic, of course. But it really is the voice that makes the book work so well.
Brian » Olympic Curling Preview
The long awaited curling competition gets underway today at the Vancouver Games. The men's side begins at 12 eastern on USA (and online) against Germany while the women will start off against Japan at 5pm on CNBC.
On the men's side, the clear favorite is defending world champion Kevin Martin. Martin is one of the best curlers in the world, if not the best right now. The US men, frankly, have little chance of winning it all. They're just too young and inexperienced, but hopefully they will be able to build from here and get even better. With some luck, they might be able to squeeze into the medal round, but I'm predicting a 6th place finish. Also, watch out for the Norwegian John Daly-style pants. Stylish!
For the women, Debbie McCormick has been there before. She won the world championship in 2003, and is ready to go in Vancouver. She should at least make the playoff round. However, the other teams in the field are strong as well. I look for Canada to win gold against China, and Sweden to take the bronze.
Curling is one of the high points of the NBCOlympics.com coverage. You can watch every game live online, so be sure to bookmark the curling page and come back at noon Eastern time today to check out the action. You can also check out FULL event replays of the men's downhill, among others. This way you can watch all the important runs, and not just what NBC thinks is important. They even bookmark the videos to mark the spots when the Americans are featured. Pretty cool.
Ellie » First Big Dentist Visit
About a week ago, Ellie managed to chip one of her molars, and needed to go to the dentist. What great timing, since the dentist wasn't open all last week! Sigh. But, she wasn't complaining about the tooth hurting, even though it sure looked awful.
Yesterday, they were finally able to get her in for a look, and she did awesome! Lisa had to stay up front to take care of Evan, and Ellie went back all by herself. They figured the tooth had a cavity near the back of the tooth, and that was why it had chipped. They patched her up, and the new tooth looks great. And she did it all by herself! Way to go, Ellie!
Brian » Bell’s Sparkling Ale
Pale gold color. Average head with a little lacing on the glass.
Yeasty, sweet aroma. Definitely throws me into a Belgian state of mind.
Very fruity, very sweet taste. There is a little bit of peppery bite, but the orange sweetness tends to dominate. Smooth going down too.
Wish I could be more descriptive, but getting over a minor cold is killing me. Even so, my senses were awoken by this beer. Very good.
Overall rating: 4.3
The D's » Snowmageddon!
Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. I barely have the time to put up pictures from the last snowstorm, and we're ready to get another one today! Sheesh! At any rate, enjoy these ones, and you can check out all the photos on our Picasa web album, including some videos that I wasn't sure how to embed.
So it begins. I got to work early so that I could leave and make it home before anyone got too crazy on the roads. Turned out it wasn't too crazy, unless you were at the grocery store.
And there's the minivan once the snow really got going.
Poor Saint Francis, buried again.
Our ruler only measured between 16-20 inches, depending on the spot, which I think is less than the December snow. The difference is that this one came mostly overnight, so I had to shovel it all at once, rather than a couple of inches at a time.
That pile at the end of the driveway will be seen again. That's how big it was after clearing just the very end of the driveway, about two shovels width worth of snow. It is as tall as me now.
Eventually the snow drove us back indoors, where we made a cardboard fort.
Scenes from the backyard.
Evan tried to help out a little bit, but ended up throwing the snow on himself more than anything.
At the sledding hill. The sled paths were good, but getting back up was a slog.
One of the cul de sacs near the school had been plowed, and the neighborhood kids made good use of the gigantic mountains of snow.
Where's Brian?
Building this awesome snow fort, that's where! All that snow I piled up from shoveling the driveway was the perfect starting point for tunneling out a huge snow fort. Our whole family could fit in there, but hopefully we won't need to.
Well, that's about all I have for now. The next snowstorm should be here in about two hours. Oh the humanity!
The D's » Farewell, Tai Shan
On Saturday, we headed out in the unexpected Snowpocalypse to bid farewell to the National Zoo's four-year-old panda, Tai Shan, aka "Butterstick." We first met him way back in December of 2005, and we've been back several times since then. The zoo's arrangement with China allowed for any babies to stay for two years, but we were lucky enough to keep Tai Shan for four. But all good things must come to an end, and Tai Shan will be heading back to China on his own personalized FedEx plane on Thursday. Saturday was the day the zoo picked for the official farewell celebration, brought to you in part, by Land O' Lakes, a fitting tribute to our Butterstick.
The snow was just beginning.
Ellie, Claire (Ellie's friend) and I waited in the snow (while Evan and Lisa were in a zoo class about monkeys) for the official opening of the farewell celebration. Why?
Giant stuffed panda! Free!
Tai Shan checks out his farewell "cake" and knocks it over trying to reach the apple on top, much to the delight of the onlookers. Alas, due to the snow, the zoo closed early, and we packed the frozen kids back into the van for the traffic-choked hour and a half drive home. Goodbye, Butterstick! We'll miss you!
The D's » Christmas 2009
Well, it's February, so what better time to relive Christmas 2009? Hey, I'm working on getting pictures up more quickly, give me a break!
The striped kids, ready to open presents on Christmas Eve!
Let the carnage begin!
Evan only got a toy motorcycle on Christmas Eve, Santa brought his "real" red motorcycle for Christmas. Ellie was happier than this picture indicates to get Barbies, and also got to bring home Mom's old Barbie clothes collection.
Evan checking out the tires on his motorcycle.
Ellie putting together her Playmobil fairy garden. Oh, the tiny pieces, how I loathe thee!
Up at Greenfield Village for their holiday nights, including a quick spin in the Model T.
Who's the weirdo? The guy with the crazy mask and getup, or the guy with the kid on his shoulders?
We were very glad there were bonfires scattered around the village. It was an extremely cold night!
On the way to the hockey game, Evan clutches to his favorite presents: hockey sticks, and his "trolley truck," a VW bus.
Having fun at the hockey game. Evan got a real hockey puck, and a toy zamboni! And best of all, MSU won 10-1!
Scenes from our annual Chuck E Cheese New Year's party.
Watching the ball come down in New York.
Confirmation, via the clock on the wall in the background, that the kids did in fact stay up until midnight.
Brian » The Unnamed
The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I see that I previously gave Then We Came to the End 4 stars, though it was probably more like 4.5 stars. So it may be hard to rate this higher than that, but I do think it comes close. Joshua Ferris steps out of the office, literally, and takes us on a road trip without the cars. But despite the focus on the "unnamed" disease afflicting the main character, what drew me in was the intensity of his focus on the people. Tim, the hardworking lawyer beset by his walking spells; Jane, his devoted and loving wife, who picks him up while trying to deal with her own problems and her own life; and Becka, his teenage daughter wanting his love and attention. The hardship his disease causes all these people and how it affects their lives is what really makes the novel work.
There was enough in here that I thought didn't quite work that I can't quite give it five stars, but make no mistake: it really is a standout novel.
Brian » Terrapin Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout
My wife's observation: "So what's the latest motor oil you're drinking?" That describes the look pretty well. Black as night, the head was about a finger, hung around for a while, but didn't leave any lacing for me.
Aroma really pops with the coffee. Good coffee too, not something that's been burning on the hot plate of your mechanic's all day.
Pretty straight forward flavor too. More coffee, a bit of burnt malt. Searching for something else, but not coming up with anything. Only the slightest bit of alcoholic warmth at the back of my throat, which is a good thing.
Unfortunately, the burnt flavor is what lingers to me, with that little alcohol burn too. I personally couldn't drink more than one of these at a time, that coffee is really almost overwhelming. I'd go with the Founders Breakfast Stout myself.
Overall rating: 4.05
Brian » Under The Dome
Under the Dome by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
You have to give Stephen King credit: he knows how to give his fans what they want. In the case of Under the Dome, he gets right out of the gate with some nice slicing and dicing, a few explosions, and keeps the pedal on the metal from there. Now, his critics would probably complain about the nice, neat ending, where the bad guys get theirs, and the good guys, minus a few casualties, "win," but I'm not one of those critics. This book may not have the classic horror aspect of some of his other books, but the absolute horror of human nature put under stress is far scarier than a lot of his classic horror.
Up next is The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris, book #4 of my 50 book challenge for 2010.
