Accidental Feast

Last night I got a phone call from Nick the Mighty Brewer, seeing if I wanted to bottle some beer on Saturday and maybe do something. Soon enough, he and M were arranged to come over. Then we realized that if they were coming, shouldn't we invite these other two people, and by this time I was planning a dinner party. It wasn't long before I was inviting over Jenn's cousin into the bargain, and so now we are having a dinner party for 6 on Saturday without really having ever meant to.

The menu is secret, but suffice it to say that there will be meatloaf.

The extra fun will come from the fact that Jenn is teaching flute for, like, 6 hours on Saturday, and I will be prepping it all myself, which will be fine, since I really am the cook here, I mean really, like, most of the time.

Saturday

The first Saturday we have to ourselves in about 4 weeks. What do we do with it? We clean the house. We have floors! There are counters under all that stuff! Hey, what's this thing? Why, it's the vacuum cleaner! Well, as long as we have found it, we may as well use it.

Hey, what are these Parmesan rinds doing in the freezer? Time to make soup. Yum yum yum. Whoops, time to do the laundry.....one load, two loads, white load, blue load. Boy, I wish we had folded laundry from the last time we did it two weeks ago. Now we have a months worth of laundry to fold. What fun.

Hopefully we will have enough spare time to go to the Bay and spend my gift cards. I need some shorts for going to the gym.

Maybe Sunday will be more of an "us" day. Who knows.

Jenn's New Job IV - The Phantom Lunch

So this weekend, our plan was for Me to pick Jenn up after school at 3:00 and go for an early supper. Three hours later, we decided to go and come back and finish the work the next day. We came back to the school Saturday at 10, and didn't leave until 9:30.

All the kids have been assigned instruments who it is possible to do it for. That leaves, um, lemme see, half. Jenn needs to assess each and assign an instrument and do the necessary paperwork to get that in place. This means that I will be coming to her school after I am done practicing law for the day and doing her administrative work so that she can get all these instruments assigned before the kids have their "how to play ______instrument" Field trip on Wednesday. Assessments will therefore be taking place Monday and Tuesday at lunch and after school.

Sunday night Jenn gets an e-mail stating that she is on lunch monitor duty all but one day per week until further notice.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr

Not supposed to happen to teachers who are doing after-school activities 3-4 nights per week.

First year teacher on a temp contract - good idea to make a fuss?

Grrrrrrrrr

Jenn's New Job III - Revenge of Jenn's New Job

So now, in addition to her position as a full-time teacher for Edmonton Catholic, Jenn has a very part time gig directing the Edmonton Homeschool Band once per week. The pay isn't huge, but it is welcome for two young people who are, even now, embracing the lifestyle.

More exciting news from the people who brought you Jenn's new Job!

Jenn's new job the sequel - Owen's new Job!

Yes, you heard right, Owen has a new job. Starting in October, Owen will be doing the exact same thing as before, but for almost twice as much money. At the same time, Jenn will be doing different stuff than before, but for more than twice as much money.

All in all, When it comes to money, we will have more of it. What will we do with it, you ask? Pay off our scary-big loans. That and a trip to Scotland. And maybe some DVDs.

Oh yeah

One other thing has been keeping me from posting for the last week. I have been enjoying the first bicycle I have owned in 18 years. I grew out of my last bike at about 12, knees hitting the handlebars at every turn, and never got another, suburban Calgary being rather a car kind of town, and me being a teenager. A bike couldn't have hurt, though, what with the getting fat between 10 and 27.

Anyway, I cheaped out and bought a discounted floor model from Walmart (I know, I know, if you are going to buy a bike, support local business and buy a decent one or your life will suck and boils will break out all over your body and the poor Mexicans who assembled your bike will all die in a factory fire). I didn't have the money for a good one, and I haven't ridden a bike in 18 years, so I figured I wouldn't blow a ton up front in case I hated it.

I bought a CCM Commuter, which is a hybrid bike, an ungainly tall thing with sticky shifters and a tendency to steer wide on fast corners. Maybe that's just my not having ridden a bike in 18 years.

Anyway, I have been taking advantage of the excellent bike trail system in Spruce Grove just near my house, which leads down through a series of lovely parks. I can also get to work quite quickly as long as I don't have to go to court, which would require a motor vehicle.

Anyway, I'm having a ton of fun with it.

woot

Sorry for the long absence

Jenn and I have been wildly busy, I have been knocking myself out getting all my ducks in a row so I can take a week off without having my brain explode when I get back, and Jenn has been working like a dog getting ready to teach 11 non-semestered classes in fall.

Over the weekend, we went down to Calgary to visit my parents, move old furnishings from next door to my folks house, make fabulous Chinese feasts, go shopping for my dad's birthday present, make a dozen or so jars of homemade relish, go for a beer with some friends who Jenn hasn't seen in over a year, and see the Mousecat's new townhouse and what they have been doing to it. Not a bad amount of stuff to do over the course of two days, not the most relaxing vacation, although since I didn't have to get anyone divorced in that time, it was swell. For all of you in Calgary (and I know that some of you are) who might feel put out that we didn't get together this weekend, well, We spent approximately 90 minutes the whole weekend doing non-family stuff, so chill out. So there! At some point, we will plan for a weekend in Calgary more than 3 days in advance, at which point we will try to get together with everyone. Right now that looks like Christmas.

So what do I have planned for the upcoming week?

Bottle that blonde ale, and maybe brew up a batch of something on Saturday. That's about it. Keep Jenn company at her school and help set up her classroom a bit.

Anyway, that about wraps it up for this entry, although if the Mahones Western tour stops at Saskatoon (a two night stand at Lydia's in early October) I may just have to impose on the hospitality of the FabSuz and Cheruby for one of those nights. I haven't been to a Mahones Concert in 3 years, and it is starting to get on my nerves.

Finished yet another draft

except for double checking the footnotes, which I can't really do until I get home, I have finished my latest thesis draft. This one went really slow because I was also practicing law full time throughout. Sucks to be me. Happily, I expect to be DONE SOON!

To celebrate, Jenn and I will go to a hole-in the wall curry joint we know tonight for supper. It's cheap, but very good, just like me.

Details

Now that I have a lunch hour to myself, I will tell you all about Jenn's job saga.

Months ago, Jenn interviewed for a job at a Jr/Sr. high in the Edmonton Catholic system, with a teacher who was going on sabbatical for a year to take his place while he was gone. She was supposed to be interviewed by the principal and the board after that, and find out about the position.

Months passed, and the only contact was weekly phone calls and e-mails from this teacher asking if she had been contacted by the principal or board yet.

Monday, seems he snapped. He calls, asks, Jenn says, "No, still no word, and now I've applied to Calgary Board, because they seem to have jobs available."

20 minutes later Jenn gets a call from the board for an interview the next morning as early as possible, which happens to be 11:00. Five minutes into that interview, it is cut short and she is shipped to the principal of the school for another interview. By 1:00 PM, she had been offered the job. Full time 7/8 band with a small portion of Social 9 into the mix. Celebrations started Tuesday evening, and will be continuing until Monday night. Jenn's last day at the bandstand is expected to be August 10, in order to give her time to set up and get ready for her program come fall, so in 2.5 weeks, Jenn will be enjoying an actual summer holiday. Mine doesn't come until the last week of August, when we will be going camping in Jasper.

What does this all mean? Career advancement, money, the satisfaction of knowing that 6 years of education will actually be put to good use, Jenn maybe de-stressing a bit.

All in all, a good early anniversary present.

Got a job

Details to follow.

Can't find a Job

So it seems I can't find a job here, not in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain or any other part of the Edmonton or the Greater Edmonton Area. Nothing came open up here this year. By job I of course mean teaching music for a school.

I have applied to the Calgary Board of Education, which means a move to Calgary or the Calgary area is possible. I really would rather not move again though, and Owen would REALLY REALLY rather not move again.

Camping

Last weekend on the Canada day thingy, Jenn and I went camping with her parents, and a half-dozen other folks from the church. Mostly we were supervising the youth group. We drove up to Jasper and stayed at the Whistlers campground, which is huge, but doesn't seem that way when you are in there.

We hiked, we soaked in the hotsprings, we hung around the campsite, we spent Canada Day in Jasper shopping, attending parades and ceremonies, and watching fireworks. We had a blast.

The main downside is that I was right outside the Jasper Brewing Company, and I didn't get to go and try the beer because as a youth sponsor, God help me if I have a pint.

Other than that it was nice to get out away from the city and just relax for a couple of nights. I would consider doing it again.

Just for Kelly

Cheers to Kelly for his comment on Yoo Hoo. Just for you I will let everyone know that I bottled Treewhale Old Ale today, and it promises to be a stunner. I anticipate it to be around 7% Alcohol, at the low end. I would have an accurate number, but the recipe was lost and the hydrometer was broken when I made it.

For those wanting to try a commercial example and drink along, try Theakston's Old Peculiar.

Why Victoria is the Classiest city in North America

when I saw this link, I thought milk would come out of my nose. This is the coolest hydraulic semi-permanent instalation for public urination I have ever seen.

Yoo hoo

I have decided to ask the potentially depressing question - "How many people actually read my blog?"

Notwithstanding the fact that I mostly blog for myself, I wonder how many people check it. A handful comment, but many others have mentioned it in passing who I would never suspect.

My request is that if you read this blog, even occasionally or in passing, that you post a comment on this entry, so that I can get an idea of who is watching (and adjust the content appropriately)

The house is now clean.

Two weeks after moving in and after untold hours of unpacking, cleaning, de-cluttering, throwing crap out, and stacking boxes in the garage, we are now living in a clean and tidy house with no boxes lying around.

We are unpacked.

To celebrate (admittedly we did this before finishing) I made Jenn and I Eggs benny with homemade hollandaise sauce for breakfast. I can feel my heart failing as we speak.

I discovered in the process that hollandaise sauce is actually really easy to make, like most things, you just need to pay attention to what you are doing and have your ingredients ready when you start. I've been making homemade mayonnaise for a year, and it is way more work (although a little less tricky).

Tonight we are having a barbecue for Jenn's practicum class, and tomorrow, Jenn's family are coming over to see the place now that it is presentable. What a full weekend we have planned.

Yesterday, though, we went shopping with a $500 gift card at Home Depot. We got all kinds of things that we decided (in our wisdom) that we needed as new homeowners. A couple of fire extinguishers, CO detector, big garbage can, rake, weed eater, fertilizer, weed killer, hose, attachments, bbq cover, a hand-held shower head to make cleaning beer equipment a snap, and a few other little items along the way. We only managed to get through about $350 of the $500, though, which should leave us enough money to paint at least one room, once we decide on colours.

Oh, and on Friday I took the day off to finish editing my thesis, and I did. Now all I have to do is to input the changes on the computer and hand it it, and I will be close, oh so close to finished my three year odyssey and putting another 3 letters behind my name.

I think I will celebrate with making beer. As soon as I bottle Treewhale Old Ale, I will have to make something else. I just wonder what.

Report on that soon.

Beer 2 weeks ago

So 2 weeks ago I made some beer. I was too hung over the next day to post the recipe, and I can't find the notes we made. Here's my best guess:

Treewhale Old Ale

13 pounds Rhar 2 row pale malt
10 Oz Crystal Malt (80 L)
6 oz Dark Munich Malt
1 tsp gypsum
1 tsp Irish moss

24 g Warrior Hops (90 minutes) 16.4%
14 g East Kent Golding hops (10 Minutes) 4.6%

Wyeast London 1028

We boiled that sucker up for 90 minutes and mashed at 156 degrees or so for an hour. I have no idea if it converted because Nick the Mighty Brewer left the Iodine at home.

I have no idea of the OG because I broke my hydrometer when I moved. (I have a new one now)

So it smells real good. I might bottle this weekend if the gravity is close to reasonable.

That's it.

Jenn's Convocation

Today, Jenn convocated with her BMus class, while I wallowed in human misery for money. Then we went out for the supper that Jenn has been bugging me to take her to for over two years. We went to Jack's Grill, an Edmonton institution (not that Edmonton Institution, the one without orange jumpsuits) that serves up hella good food for hella lotta money.

We started with small tender squid, which was served tossed in very good olive oil with a confit of roasted tomato, nicoise olives, calamari tentacles, and fennel. This, for lack of a better word, was fabulous. We followed the squid with two entrees. Jenn had the Chicken breast stuffed with bacon and shallot with potato and spinach gnocchi and puree of squash, and I had the grilled duck breast with blackcurrant sauce and potato hash with duck confit and steamed baby fiddleheads.

Jenn described her chicken as the best chicken she has ever eaten. I had a bite. I believe her. My duck was outstanding. The danger of duck is that it will be either overdone and yucky or too rare and fatty. It wasn't. The sauce, a blackcurrant demi-glace was fabulous.

Because we had shown restraint with the appys, we went whole hog on the desserts. Jenn had a remarkable tarte aux citron, and I had a bread pudding with brandy and rum sauce with creme Chantilly, and coffee.

Then I came home and ironed and cleaned the cat box.

Many people writing online reviews of Jack's Grill have gone on at length about how rude the service is. Dismissive. Cold.

Hogwash.

The reason that the busboy doesn't speak as he refreshes the bread basket or your water or coffee or removes your plate isn't that he doesn't like you (he doesn't) or that he thinks you are some hick redneck in from the country in your threadbare Sunday go-to-meeting clothes (he does). He doesn't speak to you because it would be inappropriate to do so. You aren't there to chat with the help, and they shouldn't spend their time chatting with you. This ain't earls. The waiters are middle aged men who have clearly been doing this for a long time. Corks are extracted from wine bottles without drama, drinks are mixed and poured without fuss and in appropriate portions. No patrons are subjected to any description whatsoever of the personal lives of the staff.

In this overheated economy, they have found that most remarkable of things - staff who know what the hell they are doing and don't make a fuss about it.

Jacks Grill gets five perfectly chilled dry martinis. Plenty of classics here, well executed.

The Joy of Weather

So today from my office window, the staff and I watched a tornado touch down about four miles south-west. Then I went home, closed the windows on the upstairs bedrooms, and soaked up the rain that had gotten in. Happily, I have two fans, one for each soaked patch of carpet.

On the up side, the basement seems very dry. That is nice.

Last night, I got a phone call from Jenn at about 6:00, and all I could hear on the other end was Big Bad Voodoo Daddy live in concert. I sure do love it when I don't get to go to awesome concerts, but instead hear patches of them on a static-y cellphone while I drive on highway 16A.

Tonight, I had planned to get some work done, and hopefully that is what occurs. Whether or no, I should take this time to actually make myself something to eat. Off to supper I go.

My computer is now set up

And my wife is out of the country until Thursday.

The cats are agitated, and I have my very own laundry.

Soon my whole office will be set up.

And Yesterday I made beer. And drank beer.

I am tired, but not as tired as I was on Friday.

I am looking forward to getting back to normalish this week.