Sunday Dinner

I grilled dinner tonight.  It's kind of a big deal.  I've never grilled before.  

It all started when John said he didn't want to grill tonight but he wouldn't mind if I did.  I figured it was a good excuse to learn how to grill.  It was also a good excuse to by a new kitchen gadget.  I picked up a chimney starter at the hardware store and headed to the grocery store.

I have been wanting to learn how to grill for a long time now.  Why?  Because you get to stand outside and drink beer while making dinner.  That is the sort of activity that I'm very good at.

I decided to jump into grilling with both feet.  I made fingerling potatoes with onions, grilled garlic bread, and swordfish with a mango salsa.

It turned out great.  It was the best meal I've had in a long time. I was shocked at how it all came together.

It turns out grilling is really easy. I don't know why I have never done it before. I'm looking forward to grilling again.  I'm thinking I might try grilled pizza later this week.  Before long I'll be like my Dad and I'll able to tell you how many beers it takes to grill my favorite items (Dad is 1.5 beers for pork chops, FYI).

Summer

I've been very busy lately. Too busy to blog. I'm going to try to catch up over the next few weeks. For now I'll leave you with a photo of one of my favorite parts of summer: sitting on a patio hanging out with John.

Iowa State Fair

Last Sunday Ivy and I walked the Fairgrounds 5k. It was a beautiful day for a walk. Walking around the fairgrounds reminded me of the fun I had at the fair this year. I also realized that I never shared that fun with you.

John and I went to the fair on opening day. His company had a gathering in the Bud Tent so we headed there after work. It looked like a beautiful day.

It may have looked like a beautiful day, but it really wasn't. The heat was oppressive, with the heat index well over 100. It was so hot I could barely finish my beer on a stick. John only ate three corn dogs.

Three days after that I headed to the fair with Hot Toddy and Ivy. It wasn't quite as hot that day, but it was still the type of weather where you sweat sitting still. Todd had a tenderloin.

And then a frozen banana with Ivy.

After that we headed to the air conditioned buildings. After checking out the 4H exhibits we went to the Equestrian center where Ivy pointed out her family's plaque. We sat in the air conditioning and enjoyed a horse show before deciding it was too hot to stay at the fair.

I was back at the fair a third time on the last day. Carla, Stacey, Sarah and I went to see Sherly Crow. We had a great time hanging out and dancing at the Depot before heading in to the show. We'll be going to another concert in 2011.

The fairgrounds looked a lot different last Sunday when I did the 5k. I enjoyed the quiet, but I'll be back for the crowds again next year. And for the veggie corn dogs. And the mini donuts. Thanks to the 5k I'm better informed about fair food. At every mile they had signs that told you how much you burned off. 1 mile was cotton candy. 2 miles was a caramel apple. 3 miles was a corn dog. John was not happy to learn that you need to run 3 miles to burn off 1 corn dog.

Happy Hour with Mark

This is my friend and co-worker Mark. He is a great guy to work with. He's funny, answers my questions, and doesn't mind when I swear when telling him a story. He's also a UNI fan, so he's all around good people.

Mark is a Major in the National Guard. When the latest group of Guard members was sent orders to go to Afghanistan he didn't get the call. He got the call to provide support. He's on active duty for a few months. I'm glad he's not headed overseas, but I sure do miss him.

There are three people on my team in Des Moines. Rand and I are left with only each other to talk to face to face about projects. Rand is also the only person by me that I can talk to from my desk. I drink a lot of coffee. I talk a lot. I'm pretty sure Rand misses Mark as much as I do.

Jim joined us for happy hour too. Jim used to be on my team, but moved over to Property soon after I joined. I don't think it had anything to do with me, but he sure does drink a lot of beer when I'm around.

Cumming and Going

Yesterday John and I rode to Cumming with Jeff. It was a beautiful day. Once we got to the Tap we enjoyed some Fat Tire while watching football.

We didn't stay too long because we wanted to get back in time to see the Iowa game.

On the ride home John's bike hit 10,000 miles. Luckily I had my camera at the ready to capture the moment.

The weather was perfect for the ride. I don't remember the last time it was that nice out. Knowing how the Iowa vs. Iowa State game went I could have kept riding. It wasn't too much of a game.

Q: How do you keep a Cyclone out of your yard?

A: Put up a goalpost.

Taco Tuesday

On Tuesday John and I rode to Cumming to check out Taco Tuesday at the Tap. It was a beautiful evening for a ride. It wasn't too hot, and we missed most of the rain.

I haven't been biking during the week this year. It takes up a lot of the night when I ride, so I have been sticking with running mid-week. Only one thing could get me to ride 30 miles on a Tuesday - free tacos. I won two free tacos from a contest on Twitter, so I figured some tacos and beer would be worth finding batteries for my bike light.

These weren't just any tacos. These were the best tacos I have ever had. We're talking hand pressed corn tortillas with vegan chorizo (pork shoulder was also an option) and slaw. They have ruined other tacos for me. I hope to spend many Tuesdays at the tap enjoying these tacos. Do yourself a favor and go see Sam for some amazing tacos next Tuesday.

Flooding and Biking

It has been a rainy summer so far. The rivers are up around Des Moines. When the rivers are up the trails are under water. A couple of weeks ago John, Foster, and I decided to bike to the tap even though my favorite way (the Bill Riley Trail through Waterworks Park) was under water. Normally I would avoid biking through downtown and on busy roads on the south side, but I had really cool new UNI bike socks and I wanted to try them out.

See! They say GO PANTHERS! on them. Wouldn't you want to ride?

It was a fun ride. We rode slow so we could catch up. When we got to the tap we split a couple of pitchers of Boulevard and some salted nut rolls (my official candy of riding bikes).

Foster tried on my sunglasses and proved that he can pull of any type of sunglasses.

It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. I hope it cools down enough to get out again this weekend.

Claire and Gjergji

I missed the McCarty family reunion this year because I was in Cedar Falls for Sturgis Falls. Luckily Claire and Gjergji were in town before the reunion so I was able to catch up with them.

Gjergji is a beer fan, so we took him to El Bait Shop which has 105 beers on tap. The beers were good, but the company was even better.

John and I are going to head to Williamsburg later this year to visit C & Gj. Gjergji has promised lots of wineries and breweries. Claire has promised a yarn store. I'm excited for both.

Maker Monday: week 23

This week I made a UNI bottle coozie out of leftover sock yarn. It's short enough to fit a Boulevard bottle yet long enough to cover a Maple Nut Brown Ale.

I also worked on Christmas projects, which you don't get photos of because that would sort of ruin the surprise (although by December you may have forgotten about this post).

Stacey's Birthday and Derek's going away party

Saturday night was a busy night. We had two parties to attend. First up was Stacey's birthday party. Stacey was my trainer when I first started at Nationwide 9 years ago, so we have been helping each other celebrate birthdays for almost a decade.

After Stacey's party we went to Derek's party. Derek and I met back when Carissa and I spent a lot of time at CABCo. We lost contact for a while, but met up last year when he started working at Nationwide. Since then we have grabbed coffee a few times a month.

A few months ago Derek decided he needed to make a change. He didn't like his job, and was ready to make a commitment to a new life. So he joined the Army. He's signed up for eight years, and because he never finished his degree he is not going in as an officer. Next week he ships off to basic training. I'm really proud of him. I think this change will be good for him. And I'm not just saying that because I want to visit him if he's stationed in Europe.

Beers of Colorado

I recently returned from a vacation in Summit County, Colorado. I'll be splitting up my vacation into a few posts, instead of writing a really long blog.

One of the things that we did in Colorado was visit breweries. The first one we stopped at was Tommyknocker Brewery in Idaho Springs. It was our dinner stop on the way to Jeff's apartment in Keystone. The food was great, and the beer was even better. After a sample of their beers we picked up a few for Jeff. I would give this brewery a solid A. Their beers were all very good.

The next day we headed to Breckenridge Brewery. I'm a big fan of their Vanilla Porter, so I was excited to check it out. Unfortunately, the beer was not as fantastic as I imagined it would be. However, even with average beer and food it's hard not to love being in Breckenridge.

The next day we took a hike after breakfast and ended up in Frisco. Frisco was a great town; heading off of the trail and into town we hit up a local coffee shop, a knitting store (Jeff and John were really excited about finding some yarn), and then headed to Backcountry Brewery. It was by far the best brewery we went to. After a sample of them all I decided on a wheat beer. It was the only time I had more than a sample of beer at any of the breweries.

We sat on the patio and enjoyed the beer. It was colder than Iowa, but nice enough to enjoy the patio.

Backcountry Brewery is Jeff's favorite in Summit County, so it was nice that we got to hang out with him there.

And if you needed further proof that this brewery is amazing, check out the view from the bathroom. That's right....the bathroom.

Our last night in Keystone we went to the Dam Brewery for happy hour. It was a disappointment. Think of all of the pun possibilities. Unfortunately, after noting hints of cauliflower in one of the beers all I can say is that I don't want another Dam beer.