This Week in Chess

Dork update: After a fantastic, nail-biter of a match the other night...Ryan is still up 4-2.

A Day in the Life of Gracie

This may appear to be your average, everyday quilt on a couch, but lurking below the surface is...Gracie! This is one of her favorite places to hang out. You'd think after the third or eighth time she got sat on, she'd stop, but that's Gracie for you.


Next in her busy day...a little philanthropic activity. Here she's helping to raise awareness about the plight of the homeless by sleeping under some newspaper.


Later in the day, she continues her selflessness by making sure the bathroom is clear of buggies. She waits patiently, cleverly concealed by the table, for the sight of a spider or other creepy-crawlie. Not one dares set foot in the bathroom with Gracie on patrol! Good work, Gracie!


All of her valiant efforts finally get rewarded at the end of a hard day with a head-rub from her favorite cat-hater, Ryan. What a day! Sleeping under the quilt. Knocking over newspapers. Chasing imaginary buggies. She deserves a good rub!

1201

If you get the chance (and have a day that is deserving of dropping a ridiculous amount of money on dinner) go to Twelve O' One some time. We went last night after the hilarity at Jr.'s. We had a great meal and a great time.

Some times when we go out, I feel like I could have made a better meal for way less than we spent. Today, I feel challenged. I had the most amazing avocado bisque with butter poached lobster. It was a risk for me. I don't really like avocado all that much...or lobster, but it sounded good. Ryan was my out on this gamble. He told me he'd trade me his arugula salad if I didn't like it. That's a landmine he didn't have to step on. It was amazing. I'm now on a mission to create something that even approaches it. I'll see what I can do.

We both had fantastic entrees. Kobe-style beef tenderloin for him and ribeye for me. Mine came with a shitake and spinach gratin that is competing for the best use of spinach ever.

We had a Godiva chocolate fondue with bruleed bananas, strawberries, and angel food cake. Ryan ate the chocolate with a spoon (health freak, my foot!).

Not to mention the wine (it is a wine bar, after all). I had a great Riesling, my favorite...the sweet, German kind.

Tonight we're having barbecue chicken pizza.

Many of you might think that would be a big step down, but it is one of our all-time favorites. We both move effortlessly from wine and Kobe beef to beer and pizza. That's just one of the reasons we're a great match!

Happy

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!

We're headed out for a night on the town! Ryan already got his present (the chess set...get your minds out of the gutter!) and he loves it.

Dork update: Ryan is still up, 3-2.

In Training

As Ryan prepares for the 2008 season of various combinations of swimming, biking, running, and changing clothes...it appears that I, too, am in training.

I can already change my clothes pretty fast and we all know I'll never run very fast...So, we thought we'd start with the biking. Here's my brand-spanking new Trek girl bike! Hooray for "Women Specific Design" and watching E! while you ride.


Ginger is my pit chief. Here she checks the trainer before I put my bike on. She likes to make sure that things are secure. Helps keep me safe! What would I do without her?


My ultimate goal is to kick Ryan's butt on the bike. Because heaven knows I'll never outrun him!

I'm Down, 2-1

What began as a random Saturday at Matthew's became the inspiration for what might be the dorkiest Valentine's Day present ever.

We were having a drink at Matthew's and there was a chess board on the bar. Ryan won, but the next day I found the perfect gift for him. A wooden chess set. Ryan, being a giant dork, loves it...just like I thought he would.


If you count the game at Matthew's, I am currently down 2-1 overall. Which doesn't say much because neither one of us is all that fantastic.


Ryan is officially the black and I am the white, from now until the end of time. I don't know if he thought about this very hard. That means I always go first. Such a gentleman!



We're both pretty competitive, so I imagine we'll get better pretty quickly. We seem evenly matched (we both suck), so around the time we're in our eighties we'll be at 1,689-1,687, give or take.


All in all, a great present for nerds like us. We just need a better way to keep track of who's ahead.

Bear Rug

Very early on, Ryan and I got into a conversation about interior design and home decor. We both agreed that a library was an absolute necessity. It needed big leather chairs...the kind with the brass buttons. It needed one of those "slide-y ladder things." It needed a fireplace.

I was with him up to this point. Then, he decided it needed a moose head over the fireplace. I agreed, as long as he killed the moose himself (I figure I'm safe on that count).

He also wants a bear rug. I'm not really sure how to get out of this one. Maybe I'll tell him he has to kill it and skin it himself.

He didn't like what I came up with...


I think it's cute. That'll look great in front of the fireplace.

Ginger is the Normal One...

According to Ryan, Ginger is the normal one of my three cats. I don't think he has any idea what he's talking about. She is, however, the funniest of the three. (please ignore the commercial in the background for Taylor Dane's greatest hits!)

She, apparently, has a love/hate relationship with this particular dish towel. She nuzzles it and then she kicks it. I think she might be mad that it's on her face!

Yeah, that seems normal.

Cute Kids

This one is for Grandma Sitter! Thanks for setting out the pictures!

It goes without saying that Ryan and I will likely have reasonably intelligent children. We're both pretty smart and I (oh, I don't know) only teach Child Development, so I like to pretend I know a thing or two about kids even if the thought of my own is a little intimidating.

I think they have a pretty good shot at being cute, too!


(Did everybody have that couch?)



I keep telling Ryan...because he wants boys, he's going to end up with a whole crew of frilly pink, unicorn-loving, ballerinas that look just like that. I've even threatened to teach them how to pout.

I Made My Own Dinner

So the other night, I made pork chops (shake n' baked, of course) along with green beans, corn and the famous garlic parmesan mashed potatoes (with the skins in, yummy!). I handed Ryan a plate with a pork chop and he spooned the rest onto his plate.

"Look. I made my own dinner," he said.


Uh-huh. You made your own dinner, eh?

What he didn't know was that there were hungry kitties waiting to be fed. They were even sitting at the table like big girls.


Side note: Ryan did actually make the salad Sunday night and it was pretty darn good!