Category: General

Family get-together, & beers with a friend

Post author By ryan
Post date December 23, 2007
2 Comments on Family get-together, & beers with a friend

Woke up around 8am today after crashing around 10pm last night. I guess I’m still feeling exhausted from the work week (and I might be fighting a bug, feeling generally blergh). I spent most of my day tinkering about the house, cleaning up music files, and playing ‘tech support’ for a friend.

This afternoon Kelly and I went to my Aunt’s house for a Christmas gathering, where I got to visit with with some family I rarely get to see, including my cousin “J” whom I had a really fun time chatting with, something that rarely happens.

After leaving my Aunt’s place we met our good friend JB at the Mash Tun for some drinks and some fun conversation. While there I got to try the Tun’s current brews, including the Watership Brown and a stout (the name escapes me), both of were pretty good. The barkeep had at one point poured himself a little sample of both combined and said it was really good, so I had my next pint a half-n-half of the brown and the stout, and it was pretty delicious. Ended up having another couple of those before Kelly and I went home. 🙂

I still need to wrap gifts. I keep getting distracted. Hrmph!

It sounds like Kelly and I will be going out to my folks place tomorrow night and staying through Christmas day. I think I’m going to bring my old WiFi router out to my parents and leave it there, so I can bring my laptop and get online without being stuck in the back room. I will probably blog again from my folks house tomorrow night. If not, Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to y’all.

Day at home, night at the Moon

Post author By ryan
Post date December 8, 2007
4 Comments on Day at home, night at the Moon

Got up early today. Well, early by my Saturday standards (8:30), and spent most of the day being somewhat productive. I continued cleaning my office, cleaned the kitchen, the garage, the car, etc. You know, super exciting fun stuff. Oh, I also IM’d all day with my loser friend Martin. What a loser! (yes, I expect a response from you, you loser).

Tonight Kelly and I met our friends Ty and Aymie (as well her sister and brother-in-law) at Moon & Sixpence for some dinner and drinks. We were joined later by Miranda & Brian, and even later by my brother Travis. Had a good time hanging out. Had the cottage pie. Still full. Gruhhh.

Oh, today I also created my masterpiece. My friend SD sent me a mix CD (the prize for winning a blog contest: closest guess to the birth date of his son), which arrived in the mail last week (the CD, not his son). Naturally, a home-made mix CD doesn’t have cover art. I like cover art (so does my iPod), so I created one. The CD had only the phrase “Van Man” written on it, a fairly common nickname due to my long Dutch last name. I grabbed an oddball image from his blog and created this: Behold the awesomeness.

Beer Entertainment General Movies

Missing in action

Damn it’s been a while since I’ve written. There’s no real reason for my absence other than a combination of laziness and a general malaise I’ve been feeling with regard to personal projects. Where to begin…

It seems I’ve not written since my birthday, so I suppose I’ll break it down by day/event as best as my feeble, aging mind can manage.

Saturday, October 27th:
Kelly and I hosted a small gathering at my house to celebrate the my birthday, which was a lot of fun, and involved my friends bringing me copious amounts of beer. My friends know me so well.

Sunday, October 28th:
My family and I went for dinner at Wan Q’s, a Chinese restaurant in Beaverton. Had a fun time celebrating both mine and my father’s birthday (we share the same birthday). I remember feeling very full as we left, and dreading going back to work after so many days off. 🙂

Tuesday, October 31, 2007:
We had a few little-un’s come by for Halloween, more than the past couple years. Later that night Kelly and I watched Stir Of Echoes, one of those good ‘ghost story’ movies I like quite a bit, along with The Changeling.

Thursday, November 1, 2007:
Went to Moon & Sixpence with my brother Travis, and was met later by Miranda. Had a great time hanging out, though remember being out a bit later than I’d intended.

Friday, November 2, 2007:
After working form home, Kelly and I met our good friends Rick and Amy at the legendary Goose Hollow Inn for dinner and drinks (mmm… reuben sammich). Yum!

Saturday, November 3, 2007:
Went out to Beaverton to hang out with a friend and ex-coworker of Kelly’s and her boyfriend, where I was fed delicious BBQ’d steak & shrimp, and got to play a little Call of Duty 3 (trying hard not to be frustrated that I have no experience with console controllers, and that I still wish that game was released for the PC). Had a really fun time hanging out with both A and S that night.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007:
Went to Kennedy School with Snooks for some beers, and conversation ranging from sci-fi TV shows to politics.

Tonight:
After work met Kelly at Rose & Thistle for a few beers before heading home.

That pretty much catches y’all up. I’m sure I’m missing something, but whatever. Hopefully I don’t let my stress / laziness keep me from posting a bit more frequently.

Beer Entertainment Food General Music

Birthday, part 33

Had a nice, chill birthday today. It was very nice, 2nd day off from work, spending time doing whatever I feel like (which, hasn’t been much, and it’s been glorious).

Yesterday Kelly and I went for a late lunch at Tin Shed, I had the delicious “Cajun Kicker” burger, and despite the drizzle of rain, the covered patio area was nice and warm to sit in. Last night I met Snooks at Kennedy School for some pizza and beers, and got home early enough that I started cleaning the garage up. What a mess it had become after a few months of neglect (cobwebs, empty boxes piled up, etc).

Today I played around on the computer most of the day, some video games, backing up some files, and made my first Amazon MP3 purchase (a great one-man act out of Seattle, Tim Seely). What a great experience; buying high-quality MP3 files for a reasonable price (the full album only cost $6.99). Tonight Kelly and I went down to Moon & Sixpence for dinner and drinks. Had a great time hanging out with my best friend. 🙂

Not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow, perhaps finally get around to the yardwork I hope to get done while the weather holds. Or, maybe not. To be continued…

Beer Food General

Friends for dinner

Tonight we had my good friend Sean and his family over for dinner. Kelly made some delicious BBQ pulled pork and home-made mac & cheese, and we got to spend some time hanging out in the back yard catching up while Sean’s kids had fun coloring and playing with the little Halloween toys Kelly had picked up. Had a great night, despite the fact that the fire I tried starting in the fire pit thing only smoldered (which admittedly, kept the insects away). Sean & Co. left around 9pm and of course right about then the fire started burning, so I spent the rest of the night sitting out waiting for the fire to burn down and sipping on beers. It was quite nice.