Bunk Bed Restoration

When I was a kid I had a hand me down bunk bed that was my dad's when he was a kid.  The bed is made of solid oak and can be configured as two  separate beds or as on bunk bed.  The bed also has a ladder that simply hangs over the edge of the bed rail. The bed has a simple light colored finish (semi-transparent).

I have had the bed in storage in my garage for the past few years and I knew I ultimately wanted to eventually restore the bed for my son.  Well, Tyler is definitely ready for a big-boy bed, so I started the process of restoring this bed two weeks ago.

Tyler's Finished Dresser

This is a Woodcraft Industries dresser that I bought unfinished.  I spent about a week and 1/2 finishing it.  The finish is a shaker maple water-based stain with semi-gloss water-based polyurethane (3 coats sanded between).  It was fun to complete... unlike the rocking chair you see beside it.

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A cup of coffee is just that, right?

A cup of coffee is how I start my day.  I grind my own beans and use a finer grind to achieve a darker more flavorful brew. I enjoy the taste of coffee, and I thought grinding my own beans was enough to enjoy a great cup.  

I have been a member of the monthly coffee club, which is far from a great cup of coffee,. Its a bitter, shallow flavored, commercial grind that claims to be good to the last drop (yeah right).  It is a good source of caffeine and cheap, but that's only pros.  So I stopped paying and drinking the stuff.

Recently, I was reading a post on a friend's blog about making the perfect cup of coffee.

Summer time in the city

Its funny how summer time keeps people busy and outside... I guess that is why I haven't been posting any new entries.  My sister told me I was being lazy.  lol

Anyhow, Casey and I have been enjoying the summer.  We went to Alexandria, VA this weekend for a bachelor and bachelorette party.  It was fun.  The party/gathering was at Dave and Busters.  We had never been to a Dave and Busters, but it is basically a Chucky Cheese for adults.  We had a good time.  

Casey and I did dinner at P.F. Changs which was right around the corner from Dave and Busters.  Casey loves P.F. Changs because it is the only Chinese food that Casey can eat that is gluten free (normal soy sauce is bad news).  We shared a bottle of riesling wine, some chicken lettuce wraps, and both of us had Ginger Chicken Broccoli entrees.  

After Dave and Busters, the group decided it was time to venture into the city for some fun.  We all headed to a little bar called the Madhatter.  It was a small bar, but a favorite of the bachelor and bachelorette.  Casey and I left the bar at around 1:30am and caught a ride on the Metro back to our hotel.  The Metro ride was interesting since neither of us had ever ridden the Metro by ourselves.  We managed to figure the ticket machine, hopped on the train, and made one switch to a different line, and finally got back to our hotel. woohoo.

I will try to post more frequently, or maybe not since it is summertime.

Dinner with Friends

This evening, I had the pleasure of cooking for my good friends from college; Chris, Jim, and John.  I prepared some excellent tenderloins and salmon on the grill for my guests.  Their taste buds were pleased and their bellies full after dinner.    I setup  my friend John (the mojito master) by buying some mint and limes.  I was hoping that he would show us his mojito skills and he sure did.  His mojito's were so delicious.  Thanks John and Dorota, Chris and Loretta, and Jim for the great evening!

Enjoyed Our Visitors

Kyra, nephew Paulie, and my mom left yesterday after visiting since last Tuesday.  It was so nice seeing them, especially baby Paulie.  This was the first time I had saw him in person since he was born 5 months ago.  He is such a pleasant little man, not fussy at all, and so happy.  Thanks Kyra for making the trip with the little guy.

Kyra and my mom spent a lot of time here at our house, but they also visited with GG and took Hailey out and about with them.  My dad stopped over on Thursday to see Paulie.

While our guests were here I made sure to keep their bellies full with yummy food.  I cooked breakfast, but I mostly took care of the dinners (Gluten-Free of course).  Some of the things I cooked included homemade pizza, an apple pork tenderloin dinner, rosemary balsamic chicken kabobs w/ mac n cheese, and apple crisp for desert.  Below are a few of the photos.

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All in all, I think Kyra, Paulie, and mom had a great time and we sure hope they come visit again soon.

Links/recipies for the foods shown above are listed here:

• Pork Tenderloin with Apples


• Gluten Free Mac and Cheese


• Gluten Free Apple Crisp (Book: Gluten Free Baking Classics)


• Rosemary Balsamic Chicken Kabobs (Wegmans prepared or by their marinade)

Now on Facebook...

Yeah, so like I said in my previous post, it wouldn't be long till I was on Facebook.  So far I can see why people get sucked into it, getting to see old classmates, etc, its fun.  I hope to use it to keep in touch with my friends and catch up with old friends.

Casey on Facebook

Casey  joined the gorilla of social networks this evening, Facebook. Thanks Kyra! Looks like she is going to easily be able to connect with her old friends, co-workers, etc. Maybe I should join sometime soon, we'll see...

Happy New Year

We are blessed!  Casey and I were able to enjoy a night out as adults without kids, thanks to Casey's mom.  Casey and I were able to enjoy dinner tonight at Zolas.  It is one of our favorite places to catch dinner together.

 

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At Zolas, we both enjoyed a 2007 bottle of Amayna's Sauvignon Blanc.  Casey enjoyed her dinner which included a salad of Apples and Dried Cranberies and grilled Chilean Salmon.  I enjoyed a dinner which included the same salad and a jamacian jerk pork tenderloin.  For desert, I had the pumpkin cheese cake dumplings and Casey had the Crème brûlée sampler.  Yummy.  Zolas is a great place to enjoy great and uniquely prepared food.

After dinner, we caught up with some of my co-workers (Andy and Tom) and enjoyed drinks at Champs. 

Happy New Year!

iPod Touch Ordered

I ordered a 16GB iPod touch today with some of my Christmas gift money and Apple gift cards. The Apple store tells me it should be here between Dec 30th and Jan. 5th. I hope it comes sooner than later, I really want to spend some time playing with it before I have to go back to work on Jan 5th.

Does anyone have any favorite Apps I should check out/purchase?  If so, comment this post.

Update:  It shipped today (Monday Dec 29th) from China. According to FedEx, it should be in my hands on New Years Eve.

Christmas 2008

This year's Christmas was great! The kids had a lot of fun opening their gifts from Santa.  Hailey and Tyler were so excited to see all the gifts that Santa left and they had even more fun opening them.

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Christmas day events...

Opening Santa's Presents

Of course, first we opened Santa's gifts.

Lunch

I took my grandmother out for Christmas lunch at Toftree's.  They had a nice buffet consisting of breakfast and lunch foods.  Her and I had a great time and really enjoyed everything they had to offer.

Grandma Presents

Casey, Hailey, Tyler, and I went to my grandmother's house so we could exchange gifts with her.  The kids had a great time and really enjoyed their gifts from GG (great grandmother).

Casey's Parents Dinner and Presents

Casey, Hailey, Tyler, and I went over to Casey's parents for a wonderful dinner (Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, Corn, and Cheese Cake).  After dinner, we exchanged gifts.  We all went over to Casey's aunt and uncle's house to visit.

 

Christmas Eve 2008

We went over to my Dad's place for Christmas Eve dinner again this year.  My aunt and uncle were also there, so we got to spend some quality time with them.  The dinner was great, we had turkey, mashed potatoes, and green beans.  For dessert, I made a gluten-free pumpkin pie and my aunt made her awesome cookies.  After dinner, we exchanged gifts.  It was great time and the kids were pretty good for the most part.  Tyler kept pointing for another one of my aunt's cookies, it was cute!

Cold Winter Day

This morning I woke up and noticed the digital weather station with a very cold outside temperature reading.  Yes kids, that is 5°F outside,

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That also didn't take into the fact that we had 40mph wind gusts, so just think what the windchill must have been.

I warmed up the car for 30 minutes before driving to work.

Sick Times

Well this sure has been a fun week!  Casey and Hailey both got some sort of Stomach flu Monday and it lasted through the week.  I was on a business trip Monday to Boston and that evening I also developed the same symptoms as Casey and Hailey!  I spent all day Tuesday in my hotel room.  Luckily, my sickness was only for 24hrs.  

We are all doing better thanks to a trip to the doctor office and lots of fluids.

New Host and Site

I finally moved my domain to a host (bluehost.com) that provided some sweet options and for $1 less per month than my previous host.  As you may have noticed, the site is powered by the blog engine, Wordpress.  I chose Wordpress for its ease of use and large community base.

My goal is to actually keep the site fresh with updates and information about my life; family, friends, cooking, wine, etc.  My wife Casey has celiac disease, so there will also be lots of posts related to gluten-free cooking. 

So come back soon and I hope you enjoy the new site.