turns out

you can get it all done so long as you listen to hall and oats

all over the place

i am supposed to be packing for way way way too many things.

first, i gotta get all of paulette's stuff packed up and ready to go. including paperwork o'plenty. (that is mostly done)

then myself. i hate packing generally, but this is daunting. 4 climate and very different activities. arizona regular clothes, camping in the freezing touche arizona mountains (gear, clothes, etc), salt lake city tourist and church stuff, then st. lucia.

i mean, there are worst things that one could have to do.

me & denise

yesterday, denise austin was at HHS for a kick off healthier feds. we happedned to be in the bathroom at the same time. i was walking out, she in. she is really nice and about my height. she said "wow, you are in good shape." i blushed and said thanks. i have been feeling quite the contrary lately (which has made me quite contrary). she asked what i did. "for work or work out?"
"workout of course"
"um...i am a triathlete and i do yoga"
"i'll say! you look awesome"

later my intern was out getting signed photos and stuff and denise asked her were she worked. alyson told her and i guess denise remembered me and said something about "the triathlete"

denise- a heart felt thanks for making my day. it was a pretty awesome day already and that was a nice bing cherry and whipped cream on top. i mean, a healthy piece of wheat bread and a carrot.

lindsay's big three ohhhh

lindsay turned 30 this last saturday. in a powerful send off to her twenties she went to bed really early on friday night...much to my grey's anatomy loving dismay.

saturday morning we had brunch:

french scrambled eggs
caramelized onions, salt, ground pepper cooked with olive oil and butter

hash browns
cube red potatoes
boil until soft
fry in evoo and butter
season with tony chachere's


muesli
soak oats overnight with pressed organic apple juice, cinnamon, 2 T yogurt and 1 C rappadura or cane sugar

french toast casserole/ bread pudding:
i basically cut up a loaf and a half of french bread
made an egg mixture of 12 eggs, 3T good vanilla, 2 T cinnamon, 1/2 C rappadura, 1/2 C maple syrup.
butter (heavily, i actually used honey butter) a 9x13 glass baking pan
dump cut up bread in pan.
pour egg mixture over bread and soak over night
before baking place dollops of butter on top
bake at 350 degrees for 40 mins. broil for 5
sprinkle with powdered sugar



then

daniel came over and helped make carrot orange juice

these hoodlums thought that being handsome and happy was enough
in the kitchen: wrong

the spread and the kick off of the 30's!

lindsay tried to smooch eli, he was more interested in dancing
sorry linds
30 or not, you gotta work on your skills

she just puts them all right to sleep

i treated lindsay to mani/pedis
it was the best mani/pedi place i have been to in this area.
the chairs were heaven

they kept wanting to cut hair. why in the world would
they think that?
can someone say medusa?

we stopped by a furniture store after we pigged out at our
favorite Vietnamese restaurant.

lindsay feel in love with this secretary.
i did too
now we have to arm wrestle.
it will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine

mom, should i buy this secretary?
that is a lie, she was talking to mitch, her little brother

we went to costco to by our turbo tax and
miraculously ran into the tillemann clan
PAR-TAY at costco

and ran home to start the poetry slam d'LinZ

everyone one brought awesome poems.

i don't think i can write them all, i am supposed to be packing paulette's stuff...so here are some tastes...

from the desk of Kimber Cook

If lindsay were a piece of fruit,
well, I would surely pick her
And if she were a Popsicle
I'd simply have to lick her

If lindsay were a movie
she's be sold out every night
And if she had a nuclear bomb
Even Ghandi'd say "all right"

If Lindsay were a fancy dress
I'd definitely wear her
And if she were a chocolate bar
I might not want to share her.

If Lindsay were a loaf of bread
She'd be warm, whole wheat, and crusty
And if she were a doggy,
She'd be sweet, shed-free, and trusty

If Lindsay were a small, green plant,
she'd be a five-leaf clover
And if she were in Christian Pop
you can be that she'd cross over!

If Lindsay were an opera star
She'd make every note a WOW!
If she were the Grim Reaper
you'd so "OK, I'm ready now.

If Lindsay were an airline
she fly direct to all the cities
And if she were a cow
she'd get extra milk from extra titties

If Lindsay were a can of beans
her farts would never smell
I guess the bottom line is
We think Lindsay's pretty swell

this is frank reciting:
A Series of Haiku's for Lindsay Workman that Probably Only I Will Find Hilarious
(excerpts)

Without Question
The greatest oratator
of our time - George W

I wrote that Haiku
to fight poem terrorism
Right here in 'mer-ca

Once a handyman
I still fear the fan above
Now I'm retired

I slept in your bed
As did I in Kimberly's
I chose Kimberly's

A man's dream come true
Watching Office Space in bed
With two hot women

A man's dream come true
Watching 24 in bed
With two hot women

Lindsay- [sic]
I've dated many
And each time you were helpful
Giving me advice

Shalise and I have
An announcement for you all
HAPPY THIRTIETH!!!!

i want to share more poems and will but i am really being beckoned. more later. but check out these videos

if you watch this next view closely you will notice that marc is walking out of the house with my comforter. his son, issac, decided that he loved my bed so much, he PUKED on it. so you will see naked issac going out the door with mom and my comforter going home with them to get cleaned.

then liz spread some 30-year old cheer


madison channeled aerosmith and

cooking and the csa

a few months back, lindsay and i joined a CSA (community support agriculture group). CSA’s aim at a new farmer-consumer relationship where consumers partake in the responsibility of the food growing process. by financially supporting the farmer in advance for crops expected each season, we sharing in the bounty and risks of the farmer’s labor. (click here for more info on CSA's)

we had to pay upfront what amounted to $25/wk. it would only be worth it if we really ate the stuff. if we did, it would be awesome because we would be eating all these really great veggies. so, we made a deal with each other that if we were going todo it, we had to eat it. and we have. it has been really fun.

tonight i made a really yummy soup and i thought i might share. a few days ago i realized we had all these winter roots and stuff from the CSA and we had to eat them soon. so i roasted them up. about 8 beets, a butternut squash, some sweet potatoes, 8 turnips, and a celeriac. we never got around to eating them. so tonight i decided to turn them into a soup. now, if you were to do this at home, you don't need to have all these ingredients. any root veggies or winter veggies will do. and i really think you could do it with just one kind of a veggie...anyway...

belly's roasted winter vegetable soup:
3-4 C of roasted vegetables
1 chopped onion
1 clove garlic minced
2 T olive oil
1 T minced fresh ginger
2 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (use whole nutmeg that you grate if you can)
3 cups organic pressed apple cider

Butternut Squash Soup Method:

roast winter vegetables. cut them into bite size pieces. place them in a flat sheet pan. drizzle with olive oil. bake at 425 for about 20 mins or until tender.

in large saucepan over medium saute onion and garlic in oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. add ginger, curry, cinnamon and nutmeg and cook for 1 minute. make sure the onions are coated in the spice

add roasted veggies and apple cider. heat to a boil. cover and reduce heat. simmer for 5 minutes. puree with a hand blender until it is smooth. you may need to add more juice. once it is all blended heat it just a bit and serve.

if you don't have a hand blender, you should get one if you can. they are awesome for smoothies and soups! if you don't have one, you can use a blender or food processor puree soup in batches until smooth.

this recipe made a bunch, probably 8 servings or more.

i was surprised at how yummy this was. it has a nice sweet and spicy flavor and doesn't have that "healthy food" taste. but it is awesome and totally vegan, if you are into that.

if you try this, please let me know what you think.

lindsay's b-day sushi

tonight we went to sakana for lindsay's b-day sushi, or at least one of them. lindsay, caroline, and i always go to sushi for our birthdays. it is a fun tradition we have been doing for a couple of years now. i was supposed to take photos to put on this blog but forgot. so, here is the wash po review of the place. if you go, get the sakana tempura sushi. it's crazy delicious.

and this is the image i found when i did a search for sakana dc using the google's image function
we weren't with any cute asian men. it was about 30 degrees outside, so we were wearing WAY more clothes and would have gone real crazy if someone threw water on us. but it that is pretty much how we felt.

les sans culottes

oh just one more thing...though there are times when i love to be je sans culottes. this is not what i am asking you to do...

you can demand that les san culottes, the band, come to washington dc. they like to make fun of the french... and so do i. just hit this button...

federal holidays

in l'année de l'amusement you are not allowed to let federal holidays go by without doing something special. so for the first of the 10 holidays i threw a huge party with some friends. i was asleep at the camera, to disturbed by scott and marc fighting it out on the dance dance revolution pads and madison smith's two-year old rendition of "girl on the street" by areosmith. if you were at the party, and had the presence of mind to take a photo or two, please send them my way.

but for federal holiday #2, MLK day, i went with lindsay, brigham, and jennie to nags head, nc on the outer banks. you can see brigham's photos here. mine will be forthcoming.

i have to go earn some money for this trip to st. lucia i am planning. more later.

welcome to l'année de l'amusement

as 2006 was the year of responsibility, short-term parenthood, frustration, disappointment and miracles, i christened 2007 as l'année de l'amusement (the year of fun). this is where i will post the fun stuff that happens this year. i am sure meaningful things will happen too and i might post that. but mostly, this is going to be my journal of fun. so the next time a year like 2006 happens i will know that there is a l'année de l'amusement just around the corner.