Table Party and More

My friend Peter recently purchased a bed and no longer sleeps on a futon. In order to show him we are more grown up than him, we bought a dining room table.


New table and new room arrangement.

Then we threw a wine tasting party.

Peter (not pictured) must have been so jealous he went out shopping for a table and skipped out on our party. Our plan is working perfectly.

Our friends Mandy and Dave have a child, Emeline, which means their bedtime coincided with the start of our table party. We had pre-party with them to taste some beer. The first thing I learned this spring when they had their baby was stouts are good for breast feeding. Interesting.


Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout. This is a seriously dark, seriously good beer. Looks like a can of oil. In fact a review I found online described this beer as an oil changed for your liver.


The bottom of last year's cans said "Dark is the Absence of Light." Upon reading this I held my glass up to a light, but all I saw was black. This time I just drank it and did not break out any AC/DC.

The Ten Fidy is a seasonal, so Sarah has the Jolly Roger and now I have the Ten Fidy. Jolly Roger Christmas Ale has been seriously delayed in its release because the Maritime brewery is in the process of moving. Sarah was jonesing pretty hard, and it was finally released recently. Her first taste was this Thursday at the Barking Dog; good thing she had Friday off. I also scored at Barking Dog thanks to Steve (no, not my brother but the guy we think may be the owner). I saw him pour someone a glass of scotch from a bottle not on display. All I saw was "29" on the bottle. I asked him if my eyes were correct, and it was indeed a bottle of 29-year old Cragganmore. We got to talking about scotch. Before I new it the bottle was back out, and he poured me a complimentary taste. Thanks, Steve! Definitely the best I have had in a long time.

Much snowboarding has already been accomplished this year. Baker had over 200" of snowfall in November, which is good news for an El Nino year (typically a year that is warmer and drier for us). We were all pretty worried, and one meteorology professor and blogger answered the question of "Should I buy a season pass this year?" with "Do you feel lucky?" Well I have used my pass 8 times as of yesterday (and ridden 4 out of my 5 snowboards based on the varied conditions), and I surpassed the break even point before Christmas. So, yes, I feel very lucky (and, yes, I do "need" 5 snowboards, Sarah).


Peter on our first day riding at Stevens Pass (before he was a pretentious bed owner). It was a very good powder day. The second day was a much better pow day, though. How do I know this? I did not stop to take pictures the second day.


At the top of Old Reliable.

Also, I passed the PE exam. That's a relief.

It's Been A While

Things are busy, too busy for quality blogging; so from now on I'll try to keep it up-to-date, but simple, and give people what they want. Pictures.


Doggie in the Window

Mike & Sarah's Great American Brewery & Brewpub Tour

Have you seen Beer Wars? Not only has it strengthened our dislike for the big three (Anheuser-Busch, Coors and Miller), but it has also inspired us to visit as many breweries and brewpubs as we can in order to support micro brewers. We've been to many here in Washington and try to hit up whatever is local when we are on vacation. We are going to be keep a list here on the blog of all the ones we (either both or one of us) have visited.  I feel like I'm forgetting some........

aloha

We just got back from an amazing week in Maui with Mom and Dad Swenson.  I am in love with Hawaii and can't wait to explore a different island on our next trip.  Since this was our first Hawaiian vacation we packed a lot of things into one week.  Our home base was a condo in Lahaina where the beach was just outside our door.   Excursions included the road to Hana, hiking to a crater at Haleakala, a luau, and relaxing on the beach.

Classic

Happy Halloween

scarves up

We went to the Sounders playoff game against the Houston Dynamo last night at Quest.  Tickets sold out in 30 minutes so they opened up 3,000 more seats, which also sold out.  The atmosphere was crazy, but the game itself was a different story.  Bad officiating and bad play by the Sounders made for a not so great game.  We squeaked out with a 0-0 draw.  We play the Dynamo again on November 8th in Houston. The winner will go on to the next round.

Check out this video of the guys!  I think it was my favorite part of the night.  I can't decide if I like Freddie or Sebastian's performance better!

Pay It Forward

Another botched post title. I thought this had to do with paying for an investment that will pay for itself in the future. Wikipedia tells me Ben Franklin described it as helping someone financially on the expectation you will not be repaid, but the person you helped will help someone else in the same fashion in the future. Well, considering this is an old post about a coffee machine, I suppose I should be embarrassed.

Seattle turned me into a coffee drinker, and not a tough-ass black coffee (known as "drip" coffee in Seattle) drinking truck driver type but a latte drinking one. What you may not know is the coffee stereotypes don't apply in Seattle, although they do apply to Seattle (compare this map to this map). For example, in Seattle, I may be the a "normal" sort of latte drinker because I only go for the non-fat latte (a.k.a. skim milk). My brother scoffs at me for drinking "non-fat", as he drinks 2% or whole or whatever they give when you ask for a tough-ass latte, but, since he still introduces me as his bigger little brother, I'll let it slide. Anyway, non-fat or not it's expensive. I bought a crappy home espresso machine and thought it was cool for a while. Then the high of saving money wore off, and I realized just how crappy my coffee was. So after a year or so of that, I stepped it up to a setup that would take ~250 lattes to break even, and I made it.


Say hello to Rocky (left) and Silvia (right). Apparently they are named after Giorgio's kids. I don't have any kids. I have a dog. A dog who, by the way, does not know how to make coffee or fetch beer.


Yeah, that's the one.

These Bearings Are Making Me Thirsty

I thought the title to this post was a funny Christopher Walken, Saturday Night Live reference, so you can imagine how upset I was when Google informed me it was just a Seinfeld reference (FYI - Google identifies its name as a proper noun and will call it out as a spelling error if not capitalized. I thought it was also a verb, but maybe we have proper verbs these days too). However, I had convinced myself of the title's hilarity for about a day and half prior, so I'm sticking with it, since I could think of nothing better before completing this paragraph. Don't get me wrong, Seinfeld was good, I just wasn't a big fan. I'm more of a Curb Your Enthusiasm kind of guy. In fact I was reminded of a Curb episode during the PE exam because I had to turn in my exam to the proctor every time I had to take a whiz (is this the proper use of the word whiz? or is it wiz?), and there was a security guard exam guy sitting outside the restroom to make sure no one talked or cheated. He was giving me some looks by my third trip, sort of like Richard Lewis' girlfriend, but coffee, Mt. Dew, and nerves have that effect on me.


I got these Swiss Bones Bearings as a Christmas gift, but, due to many circumstances, including too much work, hurting my knee, and studying for the PE, I did not skate them until yesterday. Now that I've tried them, I can say they are the shit. Thanks, Mom and Dad Miller. They're sort of like a rockered snowboard -- super fun it you know how to use it but dangerous if you're off your game and off balance.


I also purchased a bearing press, as fine swiss bearings require a precision, square setting. Otherwise, it's like buying a Porsche and putting snow tires on it, which is a comparison I first heard in reference to Jay Cutler (Porsche) and the Bears wide receiving core (snow tires). Speaking of the Bears, what the hell happened today? Why are the Broncos undefeated and people talking about Kyle Orton and Cedric Benson as MVP candidates. Whatever, at least it's not Favre.

PE?

That's no carry-on; that's the biggen. Probably would have cost $200 to fly it, too.

These are the books I brought to my professional engineering exam yesterday. Overkill, I suppose, but I did use most of them. I also learned that of the four foundations engineering references I did bring, I could have used a fifth. Anyway, eight hours later, I have to wait 3 months to find out if I'm a professional anything. Screw this, I'm going to Hawaii.

Listen to the Hand

While this post is late, the call was not. Happy birthday, mom.

four years

Leavenworth Oktoberfest

We went to Leavenworth this weekend for Oktoberfest. We went with the Gibsons and the Rices. We all camped out at the KOA. The night time temperatures were really cold, but it was a lot of fun. And a lot of beer and sausages and polka music were had by all.

SNP

Last Thursday was Stitch N' Pitch at Safeco. Same crew as last year - me, Lisa, Brianne, Jen and Mom Kranich (aka Jen's mom, Becky). Pre-partied at Elysian Fields, then bought some Hazel Knit yarn before the game, then drank some more beer while knitting. The Mariners lost.

Cousins Unite!

Where's yours?

How's it feel to be on the inside, Steve?

300s!

That ain't no marshmallow.


-Sarah

we've been busy

July has been too busy....and it is hot in Seattle! I thought I moved away from 90 degree weather. At least we don't have mosquitoes. Anyway, here is a little update:

Nollie turned 5. We had a BBQ to celebrate. She got some gifts....







We went to the Sounders vs. Chelsea game with Matt & Claire and Jen & Daren. After the game we went to Stellar Pizza in Georgetown....where I discovered Bacon Salt. I went to the No Doubt concert with Claire. I also went to the US Open Cup semi-final game with Claire. By far it was the best game I went to all season.....7 yellow cards and overtime. We won.

Mike's backyard project continues from last summer. Here is his trench for wiring up the garage.





The kitchen is green....finally. I bought the paint a year ago and just finished up painting, sort of. I still need to paint the refrigerator alcove and the back porch.



I expect August will be just as busy!

PAAAARRRRRRRRTYYYYYYY!!!

My kids will be real proud of this one someday; I know my parents are.


An arrogant bastard with a Tin Hat cozy.

Try not accepting the disclaimer for arrogant bastard. I found it amusing (particularly the "not" link).

How big is Lydia?

So big!

We also celebrated Lydia's 1st birthday while I was in Wisconsin. Mike and I gave her a pimp all-terrain Radio Flyer wagon (along with a couple other gifts). The party's theme was bugs (dragonflies, ladybugs, butterflies) and had a pink and green color scheme. Too cute! Here are a few shots from festivies.


Lydia & Aunt Sarah


first wagon ride


Lydia with her Mom & Dad


Cake!