....Honestly, I don't even know what that means, but it's always sung on New Years Day, so....
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Dear Casper,
It's the New Year! Here's the catch up--
My best friend, Double AA--I think I've mentioned him before once or twice--came down to visit over the New Year. He and his wife (of a year on New Years' Day), we'll call her Fate, for it's close enough and could be fate that they met...or something. Anyway, they rode the bus down from New Jersey for New Year's Eve celebrations. They came down and after some not very difficult planning, we decided on making dinner, staying in for the midnight celebration, and playing cards all night. It was a great night! We decided to do one main entrée together, and each person had a side or appetizer.
Entrée was roasted duck -- which may still have been quacking when we pulled it out of the oven-- fried brussel sprouts, beet salad, baked awesome potatoes (my side dish), and also awesome"fig jam flatbread" (Helga's side dish).
So I don't really know how to describe fig jam flat bread. It's got caramelized onions, fig jam, and blue cheese (it was a Rogue Creamery Smoked Blue---a $15 wedge of home), all on pizza dough from the pizza place down the street. It's gooey, and sticky, and pretty much an awesome mess.
Everything else looks pretty self-explanatory: sliced awesome potato (each slice filled with garlic and butter (more garlic than butter to be honest)). pink duck (which is supposed to be pink...but maybe not dripping blood when you pull it out of the oven), beet salad (which was delicious but if you eat too much you start to worry when you...well never mind), and the brussels sprouts were simply fried with some butter and garlic and then covered with cheese. Oh yeah, there was also garlic bread, which I'm pretty sure helps to make every evening meal totally complete. So that's the explanation that you didn't really need, since the foods are what they are, and since there's a picture here too....but i mean come on, that potato looks pretty awesome.
We played some card games, nothing too crazy. Then the New York Ball dropped (we're so proud of it growing up), and we celebrated the coming of the new year. Music was played (Double AA wanted to listen to his wedding music mix in order to start his own little tradition with his wife ('cause they were married on the first of 2010), it was very sweet). Sparklers were lit, and then swiftly burnt out.
I suppose that's the life of a sparkler though...brief, exciting, and dangerous when in the wrong hands.... beautiful and deadly! That's my love, Helga; Fate is standing behind.
That was our exciting New Year's Eve ...New Years' Eve ... which is it? New Years' Eve with apostrophe out, or New Year's Eve with apostrophe in? I guess they both work, I'm either comparing it to the plural Eves that are out there or the single one that we had, right? Whatever, if they both work, then they both work.
That was our exciting New Year's' Eve.
On New Year's' Day, we stayed in mostly. Helga had some work to do, and I wanted to keep her company. Double AA and Fate went out to some museums because it's DC and the museums are both spectacular and free.
Later on we went to the Zoo, for their final night of "Zoo Lights." As you can tell, there were two signs. One features a raccoon (which is a red panda) and the 2nd--actual Pandas.
To be honest, while I appreciate that there was no cost to the Zoolights attraction, for some reason I keep reading this first sign as either offering zoolights for the taking to any who want them, or as a political statement that Zoolights have long been unjustly imprisoned...probably because it seems silly to have the word FREE in Zoolights fashion. Then again, I suppose I'm not a Zoolights designer...which is probably why I didn't realize that the Red Panda is not a raccoon until Double AA pointed it out to me. Also, just for funsies, here we are in front of the dangerous Tigers!
Okay, so they're not dangerous....but there was a wolf that was crazy scary and howlin' at the moon...The moon was a little low in the sky that night. Well, you get the idea, there were lots of fun lights and lots of pretty shiny things.
---
So we had some good times on New Years. You already know that we had some dim sum, it was delicious (though i ate WAY too much). It was probably a good thing you called, otherwise I might have eaten two or three more sesame sticky balls....Hmm, can't tell you why that doesn't sound right, but I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be saying that I ate sesame sticky balls, much less two or three more of them. So in any case, here we are, 2011. The time for change...or maybe something like that.
---
So what kind of changes are we talkin' about? Well, this will likely be a big year for fun and different types of minor life accomplishments. I figure if I write them here, I'll definitely be committed to them. Resolutions? Sort of. Really, these are more like goals that I plan to accomplish and ...wait, i guess those are resolutions.
--> we talked on the phone, and I told you I was going to lose weight. Here's the plan, I'm rockin' the weightlifting scene and focusing on stamina and strength instead of size (hopefully it'll pay off). To set it out there, I started at 196.6 pounds. I'm being precise so that I can count each and every loss of a tenth of a pound. Losing a tenth of a pound of fat sounds significant (and like i'm paying attention). Although, i guess if I were to say out loud, I've lost ten tenths of a pound it doesn't sound like much at all. Well, whatever, I'm going to lose weight and get into some kind of shape (that isn't a pear). Totally saw a spare tire around my midsection in the mirror the other day. I was so disgusted, threw that mirror right out!
-Also in an effort to lose weight and get in shape and do something sweet, Helga and I are training for a half-marathon! Maybe a half-marathon doesn't sound as impressive as a full marathon (more commonly referred to as a marathon), but running 13.1 miles in a single go is nothing to shake your head at.
--> Helga and I are planning a wine tasting tour through Oregon and probably California as well. Sometime in beautiful August we're going to drive through tasting wines and enjoying each others' company. It should be a good time.
--> Helga will be working in New York for the summer, for some awesome firm, and as a result I'm doing what I can to get a job in New York as well. Send positive thoughts my way for that!
--> Later on I'll be headed out to France this year. I'm less excited about leaving Helga but am very excited about her coming out to visit me! Hopefully she'll be able to come out over Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years, and then for next year as well.
It's a little hard, I feel a bit like Vincent in Gattaca, "It's funny, you work so hard, you do everything you can to get away from a place, and when you finally get your chance to leave, you find a reason to stay."
--> well I didn't exactly work hard to get away, but I was trying to get into that France program, and now...well I'm going but it'll be really hard to leave (in September) when I'll want to spend more time with Helga (and having her help me through all the schooling).
--> I'm going to write you once a month, and that means at least posting here once a month.
--> Last but not least, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some things that are going on (like my good friends having a child!!!), but anyway, we're coming to see you!!!
We'll be out for our Spring Break, giving you a big hug and everything!
So be good. Prepare for our visit.
Love
Law Pal
PS. Don't forget, we're losing weight together so as I slim down, you will too!
I'll keep you updated as to each tenth of a pound I lose....
