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Thursday, 12-25-03. Partly cloudy and cool.
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Christmas was pretty cool this year. Though I had to get up far earlier than I had otherwise hoped to, it was nice to hang out with the fam, plus my grandparents and sister's boyfriend. After opening presents some of us went for a long walk down the golf cart paths, then later on my mom made an excellent prime rib dinner. This afternoon I also managed to finally finish the end table I've been restoring for my folks. Here's some photos of the project.
German word of the day: Weihnachten - Christmas
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Saturday, 12-20-03. Overcast and cool.
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Today I was cleaning some organic lettuce I bought at the local market, when I started noticing these little aphid-like bugs appearing on the counter. After washing a few more leaves I discovered that the entire head of lettuce I'd been cleaning was virtually infested with said creatures. Following repeated rinsing and spin drying, I was able to rid the lettuce of its occupants, though I will still be looking twice whenever I make a salad...
This evening I finally finished sanding the legs for the table I'm restoring for my folks. The work was a bitch, but they are done at last. When I came home this evening I was greeted by a large cricket sitting right outside my bedroom door. I guess this means I will have good luck coming my way soon? I carefully relocated the cricket outdoors...
Smut's Waffle Art
German word of the day: Schürtze (f) - Apron
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Thursday, 12-18-03. Partly cloudy and cool.
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Today marked the last day of work until early next year. I bought 2 bags of candy to pass out to the students in commemoration of that milestone, but when I arrived at work I was surprised to find the 2 back tables covered in donuts, soda, cookies, and marshmallow candies. My supervisor apparently had a brainstorm last night, and threw together a virtual tooth decay buffet for everyone. Not surprisingly, after most of the soda, cookies, and candy were gone, about 3/4 of the students left.
I finally managed to finish the CD rack I've been working on for the last 2 months. It rocks.
German word of the day: Hengst (m) - Stallion
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Sunday, 12-14-03. Partly cloudy and cool.
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Well, in the words of Paul Bremer, we got him. Unfortunately, I still can't say I believe or support the Bush administration's motives and reasoning for the war in the first place. What I really want to know is, when and why did Saddam grow that massive beard? It looks like he's been growing it since before we invaded...
While sifting through the news this evening, I was also puzzled to find the words "Fresh Violence" in the top headline. Does this mean there is such a thing as stale violence, too?
I finally was able to glue on the rest of the trim for my folks' cherry table this evening, and I also sanded the first coat of lacquer on my CD rack. In other news, my Christmas wreath is finally making my place smell like Christmas.
Über Onion?
German word of the day: Zwiebel (f) - Onion
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Saturday, 12-13-03. Rainy and cool.
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After yet another wonderous night of waking up every half hour for no reason, I pulled my ass out of bed this morning to go meet my folks across town. They had an appointment to review family photos we had taken a few weeks back, and, though I was a couple minutes late coming in, I got my two cents in. Reviewing the countless dozens of generically posed photos only seemed to solidify my interest in having photos taken of myself where I have the control to create a more representative image, as I wasn't particularly happy with how mine came across... too damned cheery and relaxed. These photos were mainly for the folks though, so what can a man do.
This afternoon I helped out a guy from my woodworking class with a landscaping job, shovelling and wheeling topsoil around the site for some extra holiday cash. The setup he had for the wheelbarrows was a bit tricky, but we made it work after I made some modifications. I got a healthy dose of some much-needed exercise, as well as several annoying blisters.
German word of the day: Blase (f) - Blister
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Friday, 12-12-03. Rainy and cool.
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I did something odd today. I performed a favor for an associate of mine through work and sat in with his band (he's a student and a faculty member) to play a couple songs to open and close his high school's seasonal pep rally. It went moderately well, playing both an original tune he wrote, plus a truncated version of Metallica's "Seek and Destroy"... and I even did the vocals. After the rally it was a bit awkward, as almost all the students I work with came up smiling to us like we were rock stars, voicing general praise. This lead to us all taking advantage of the tasty post-rally barbecue, and then hanging out in the school's cafeteria talking boisterously about random topics. It was a highly amusing experience overall, being that I haven't been exposed to that much high school society and culture for a few moons, and when last I was, it was never even half that interesting. My job continues to bring me all kinds of strange surprises.
German word of the day: Sanft - Gentle
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Friday, 12-05-03. Rainy and cool.
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Following 2 weeks of doing scattered loads of laundry (only about a quarter of which actually got put away), last night I finally finished getting it all folded and stowed. My couch can breathe now.
A while back, I ordered a 12" Christmas wreath from a student at work (they were having a fundraiser), and yesterday I finally got it. It looks nice and smells good, though I'm sorry to say I think it's no match for the odd smells my apartment perpetually seems to eminate. At the very least, I'm hoping it will make the region around my front door smell nice.
Speaking of smells, tonight I made myself the dinner of kings. Barbecued steak marinated with rosemary and worchestershire sauce, baked beans, green leaf salad with croutons, and buttered sourdough bread. I actually think I've been losing weight lately so it's a welcome meal in more ways than one.
German word of the day: Liegesitz (m) - Reclining seat
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Monday, 12-01-03. Rainy and cool.
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I drove back from Lake Tahoe this morning, where I've spent the last 3 days with the fam. The drive was long but nice, due to the awesome scenery south of the lake, the crazy weather coming back, and NPR keeping me company the entire drive back.
While up there, I went skiing with my dad and my sister's boyfriend and played monopoly twice, among other things. I won both times, though my mom almost had me on several occasions. Only about a third of the runs were open due to the low snow depth, but the snow that was up there was surprisingly good. I did discover, however, that a lot of my cold-weather ski gear is inadequate... one of these years I'll replace it all.
Thanksgiving (Turkey Day, for us omnivores) was pretty traditional this year. Big turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc... the whole sha-bang. MY freezer is now in possession of a bag of turkey leftovers.
German word of the day: Reste (pl) - Leftovers
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