Knees suck

Humans should never have been born with knees. They just cause too many problems.

As I posted earlier, my knee was giving me some pains. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with tendonitis in my hamstring tendon where it insertd into the knee. Basically it was a pain that I experience some time after running, usually the next morning. I went tp physical therapy and had ultrasound done, did my icing after exercising, stretching bfore and after exercising and too anti-inflamatories. After about 1-1/2 months the PT cleared me to run again.

Went for a light 1-2 mile jog for two days in a row and BAM the pain is right back. UGH....the frustration!! So I had an MRI done on Tuesday to determine exactly what the deal was. I thought "It can't be tendontitis, I've licked this thing. I must have originally torn something."

Well, the MRI came back negative. In fact, everything looks great especially for someone my age who's as active as I am. No tears, no deterioration of cartilage. Everything is just as it should be.

So where does this leave me besides frustrated? With tendonitis still. Basically the Doc says that I can still exercise but that I need to monitor myself and if the pain starts to come back, then take it easy. Taking anti-inflammatories, icing and stretching before and after exercising will cure this.

More of the same I guess. It's just annoying as all hell.

The New Deal, cont.

I've been thinking all afternoon about my last post. It reads that I wouldn't want to go to Ken's game unless bribed. If I were Ken, I'd be irritated and say something to the effect of 'don't do me any favors.' But, that's not the case at all. I posted it because I found it humorous that I was getting a reward for doing something I would have done anyway (although I think it's safe to say that the 8:30 AM part isn't my favorite). Alas, the importance of coffee. That post has just been bothering me all afternoon and I needed to clear the air (read: my conscience) before I got home or talked to Ken.

The New Deal

They always say marriage is about compromise. So here it is: I go to Ken's football game with him on Saturday morning (8:30 AM). In return, he goes with me at the plant sale after his game.

Recycled Gardens plant sale takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 3 and April 4 at 6995 N.W. Cornelius Pass Road. Plants are $3 per gallon container. This is a nonprofit group devoted to statewide pet spay-neuter referral and assistance.

A girl I work with bought her blueberry bushes there for $3 each last year. Wow. Blueberry bushes. Pancakes. Syrup. Smoothies. Did I mention pancakes?

I guess 8:30 AM it is.

The Green Room

I mentioned before that our guest room is a nice heinous green and that our first house guest will get to make the call if the color stays or goes. Looks like that offer has been snatched up. We got a call last night from Taryn saying she and Paul are heading up this way in early June. It will be awesome to see them.

Others have mentioned passing through, too. Very fun. We're excited to see whoever is in the area.

In the honor of T&P and hopefully the many more visitors who will be making it this way over the years, we've started a little houseguest itinerary on the right side of this page (below the festivals). Now you can take a peek who's coming and if anyone will be visiting at the same time you were thinking about.

Now all you have to do is book the ticket.

Ding Dong

The ants are dead. Our countertop is a ghost town.

The Dark and Light of Easter

Easter is my favorite holiday. When we were in Tucson, we'd always throw a big bash and have about 20 people over. Egg hunts, pinatas, bloody marys & mimosas... everyone would get dressed up and bring a side dish. I loved it. It meant springtime.

This was my first year without the Easter celebration.

The dark of it came when we woke up to find our basement flooded under a small (but extensive) amount of water. Actually, we found the problem the night before. Ken was up at 5 AM tearing out sheet rock, digging trenches and locating the problem to be a clogged leader that empties into our dry well that's buried in our yard (a dry well is a giant perforated cylinder filled with gravel into which our gutters drain. it being clogged means the water backed up and sopped the ground next to the house -- forcing water into the house via hydrostatic pressure). When I woke up, I saw Ken out in the pouring rain with a shovel -- two giant holes in the middle of the yard in his wake. He found the buried dry well, unclogged the debris from the pipe and watched the massive amount of water pour into the dry well. Success. He hung plastic sheets to the side of the house to prevent more water from accumulating in the soil next to the house. We went to Home Depot and picked up a wet/dry shop vac to suck up all the water (note: a mop and ringing-out bucket costs the same amount as a wet/dry vac -- crazy). Ken said he aspirated about 90 gallons of water from our basement (10 trips at 9 gallons a piece). We've had the fans on downstairs ever since. It's supposed to rain for the next couple days, so it's a good thing he fixed it when he did.

By the time Kristen and the crowd at Jana & Rob's called, we were filthy and cold. Very far from the warm weather & sundresses in Tucson. We hadn't even had breakfast yet. Not a mimosa in sight. It was a very different Easter. However, we were in the middle of replacing our front porch light with the glass star we bought in Mexico. We wished them all well while our arms burned from holding up the star and attaching the wires. Good friends and our light of Easter.

Tonight we're going to the store to stock up on plastic eggs and easter goodies on sale, in hopes that next year's Easter will be filled with more of the light and less of the dark.

Hope you can make it.

Well, I know what I'm doing tomorrow

Fruit Tree Giveaway
Date: Mar 26, 2005

Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Location: Friends of Trees

Description: Friends of Trees will distribute hundreds of bare root fruit trees and some native trees for a suggested donation of $5 to $10 to help fund Friends of Trees' tree planting and tree care programs.

Directions: 3117 NE ML King Jr. Blvd.

Contact: Chad Honl

Phone: 503-285-8842

Email: chadhonl@hotmail.com

Black Friday

The massacre at our house has begun...

2 tablespoons boric acid
1 teaspoon sugar
4 oz water

Dissolve the sugar and boric acid in water (takes some time) moisten a cotton ball or 2 and place in the trail of the ants. Keep away from pets. You will have to keep the cotton moist. A colleague put out the stuff and saw swarms of them for a day...hoping they were taking it back to the queen.

Then they were gone.

Eat, my preciousessss

Dress Success

Whitney's bridesmaid dresses arrived - very cute and simple. Tried the smaller one on last night and it fits great (I'm going to try the next size down too though, just to be sure).

Nice to have a little black dress for all sorts of occasions.

Dinner and a movie

After a long weekend away our fridge is, um, lacking in the grocery department. Imagine my delight when Ken asks last night "want to go to a movie?".

Usually I don't really care about movies. They're expensive. I hate waiting in line. But that has changed since moving a block from the Laurelhurst Theater. This place is wonderful: $3 gets-you-in, they show recent movies (i.e. Ray is playing now) and they've taken out every other row of seats and replaced them with tables because they also serve hot slices of local pizza and several microbrews by the pint or pitcher (not to mention glasses of wine, pizza & candy).

For $20 bucks, you get dinner and drinks for two... including the movie. Wow.

Good thing I love this place so much because we saw The Life Aquatic... which incredibly boring except for the music. Ken fell asleep. We were happy when it was over, but had a great dinner nonetheless.

For Whitney, the dress saga

Whitney has asked me to be in her wedding. I am quite honored; I met her in college and then met her husband-to-be at my wedding. (Whitney was the one who did our wedding invitations and painted the awesome picture of Charlottesville I love so much:



They're both a trip; Ken particularly loves Greg because he toured the casinos in Tucson before the wedding.

I am sure her wedding will be stunning and fun (knowing Whitney and that Rachel's also in it as is Sarah VanEpp). For bridesmaid dresses, Whitney has picked a black strapless dress from White House Black Market (note: the dress isn't on the website). I haven't seen it yet, but knowing whitney's taste, the dress will be stylish yet simple.

The store isn't a bridal store, so I know I have to get the dress before the season changes. Whitney offered to pick one up for me, but since there are three stores in the Portland area and no sales tax in the state, I figured I can try the dress on and just pick it up myself. I get a frantic call from Whitney saying all the dresses are gone in Richmond.

crap.

OK, I'm in NY now but I call the closest store in Portland. They're out.

I call another store, they have two... both in my size and the next size (up or down, who knows). I have them hold the one. They can hold it for 24 hours, but I won't be back for another three days.

I call the store on Long Island, figuring I can just try on my size and then buy the dress. Here's the conversation:

WHBM: Hello, White House Black Market.
Lisa: Hi, I'm calling to see if you have a dress in stock.
WHBM: (In a panic) Oh, I thought you were my boss. We're closing now. We have a carbon monoxide leak and are evacuating the building.
Lisa: Oh, OK. Um, will you be open tomorrow? (What? Is this really what comes out of my mouth?)
WHBM: Um, I don't know!? I have to go now. (Thinking I'm a retard).
Lisa: OK, bye.

I'm an asshole. I let the dress situation go for the day since I'm embarrassed for my inconsiderate-ness.

Yesterday, I called back that store in Portland. They tell me I can buy the dress and they can FedEx it to my house for free. OK, so no sales tax or shipping fee. Awesome. I have them send the other dress in the neighboring size too, since I'm allowed to return the dress to any WHBM store (about 40 blocks away) with no problem. So the dress should be here in a couple days and I can try them on in the peace of my own house; Hughes can pick which one he likes best.

So never fear Whitney, the dress is on its way.

Trip to New York

We had a great time. Ken left Wednesday and got to see his old buddies back in NYC the following day. He said there were about 15 people who went to lunch from his old company. He loved it. I came a day later; Ken and his folks picked me up at the airport in Islip and we stayed with his Aunt Dianne, Uncle Ray & cousin Colleen (Dianne and Colleen were both at the wedding and many of you probably met them). Had a great pasta with meatsauce for dinner that night; probably the best meat sauce I've ever had (great amount of sauce-to-meat-to-spice).

On Friday was the wedding (Ken's step-sister). Had some NY bagels in the morning, got dressed and went with Randy (it was his daughter getting married) and Ann to meet Meghan and for them to get pictures. Was fun to see the whole bridesmaid/bride getting ready from the other side (note: both sides are very fun for totally different reasons). She was nervous but looked beautiful. She cried all the way down the aisle. Their son was the ring bearer (he's two) and was hilarious -- very handsome in his tux but without a clue what was going on. The reception was very fun and held at a Mediterranean restaurant. They had a cocktail hour with a huge buffet -- they even had ice carvings and all sorts of animals carved out of fruit. I wanted to steal the orange/carrot/pineapple rabbit and send it to Jana and Kristen for Easter. After the cocktail hour, we went to another room for dinner. Sit down. About 120 people. We sat with Ken's family, which was really fun. Got to meet Bevie's daughters and her husband (who I hadn't met before). I had a great salmon; Ken had prime rib. Danced afterwards and had a slice of cake. They also had (which I'd never seen before) an ice cream sundae station and a liquor station. Ken's and my eyes lit up. He made a beeline for the ice cream while I headed toward the liquor station. They gave you a chocolate mini-shot glass and filled it with whatever you'd like. I tried the Metaxa since I've seen it before but never tasted it (it was ok; tasted like alcohol, go figure). Instead I got a cup of decaf and had them add some baileys, frangelico and fresh whipped cream. NOW, we're talking. That was goooooood. More dancing. We were the last ones to leave. Got to talk to Randy a bit and then Ken & I went to sleep.

Saturday (aka the Day of Food): more bagels. Yum. Had the 'everything' today (yesterday was 'french toast bagel in the morning -- crusty sugar, yum; and then an onion bagel and a bite of ken's pumpernickel in the afternoon -- pumpernickel was pretty good, the onion wasn't very good since it was way too eggy for my taste and didn't have the crunchy onion bits on top). The 'everything' bagel was amazing. Crunchy yet chewy with flakes of salt on top that burst on your tongue like mini-geysers. Had half with a honey walnut cream cheese and the other half with salmon spread. Wow. This was what I ate for breakfast every morning after. And one in the afternoon. Yum. Lazy day. Stayed in PJ's until 4 with everyone else. Then showered, got dressed and went to the Chowder House with Ken's family. Split the seafood bisque with Ken, which was awesome and then had mussels sauteed with wine & garlic butter for dinner. Yum. I love them. Well cooked and had a great sauce. After dinner, stopped by some of Ann & Randy's friend's houses from Guide Dog (where ann used to work) for another friend's birthday. Actually, it was Mary Marrotti's house -- who was also at the wedding. She had two beautiful labs that were very sweet. I think i'm sold on the dog now. Thanks for nothing, Mary. :) After the grown-up party (ha ha), we met up with Ken's buddies at a bar (Tommy, Nicole, Rob Muroff, Rich, Courtney, Colleen and some friends of Tommy & Nicole that we met in the Dominican Republic at their wedding). Had a great time but drank too much, as did everyone else. Took a cab home later that night.

Sunday: An everything bagel in the morning, lounged around until 3ish and then went to visit the Michalski's (Nicole & Rich's parents) who Ken has known forever. After that, we met up with Eddie & Lisa and KT & Kathy for sushi. Great sushi, better company. I hadn't met KT nor Kathy before and really liked them both. It was fun seeing everyone. Went to sleep early that night since we had an early flight out the next morning.

Monday: Colleen took us to the airport (with everything bagel in hand, of course) and 12 hours later we got to Portland (via BWI & a layover in Vegas). Was nice to be home. I turned the heat off before I left without thinking (hey, I lived in Tucson) and so we were a little worried about the pipes, Hughes and plants freezing while we were gone since it was supposed to be cold. Luckily all were fine and the house was a balmy 56 degrees. Thank you old house being built like a fortress.

I think Ken said it best when he said the weekend was 'relaxing yet tiring.' We had a great time.

I got it!

Just received an email --

Dear Lisa:

The Steering Committee of the Reproductive Biology Training Grant at OHSU has met and considered applicants for the post-doctoral stipends available on the training grant, and is very pleased to offer stipend support to you for this year. We would like to initiate your support on the training grant on April 1, 2005...

It's going to be a nice weekend.

March Madness

Anyone who hasn't signed up for picking the brackets in the March Madness tournament and wants to join, let Ken know ASAP.

Upcoming Weekend

It's only Tuesday and we're already planning for the weekend. Mainly because Ken leaves tomorrow for NY. His step-sister is getting married on Friday. I leave Thursday morning.

Looking forward to see all of Ken's buddies, many of whom came to the wedding. However, I'll also get to meet a lot of them that couldn't make it out. Should be fun.

However, right now I'm stuffed up to my ears with a head cold. ugh. The extra day here will probably work out pretty well for me -- considering how much fun it is to fly when you're congested. I am nervous though about having to get up on my own to make my flight. I am not a morning person. I have slept through my alarm multiple times. I even slept through a fire drill in college once. I weave the sound into my dream. Lately, I've had Ken to wake me gingerly and help me not miss important morning meetings. But alas, this Thursday I'm on my own.

Flight's at 7:10 AM. Anyone want to bet on whether I'll make it?

Neighbors Squared

We've met a lot of our neighbors so far and have gotten along quite well with all of them. The ones next door just had a baby and we've taken tours of each others houses. The one diagonal/left used to live in our house in the sixties. The ones across the street gave us a loaf of bread when he first met us and took in our newspaper when we were gone. All very friendly.

But there are two houses whose occupants we haven't met and nobody seems to be making any attempts. We can see both getting in and out of their cars, walking their dogs, etc. But despite our waves, we've haven't gotten a smile in return. Maybe they haven't seen us.

But now it's springtime. People are outside more.

Lo and behold, this weekend we met the elusive woman who lives diagonally/right. She parked the car outside our house and was getting groceries out of the car while we were gardening. Finally, introductions were made.

Her: "So you moved in last month, right?"
Us: "No, in November"
Her: "Oh my gosh, that long ago? I'm a terrible neighbor".

We heard from our neighbors next door that she and her husband work at OHSU but I didn't know where. Alas, she works in the LAB ACROSS THE HALL. Seriously. Less than 10 feet from our lab door. The labs share common equipment. A kitchen. A bathroom. I've been in the lab and the house since November and have never met her either place. Retarded. She even works on the brain doing NTS stuff.

I saw her today in the lab for the first time after our introductions.

We said hello.

Weekend plans

I bet you think sitting in the sun, playing with flowers and drinking beer sounds good this weekend, but I guess you didn't get roped into volunteering for this.

Doh.

St. Patrick's Day

is coming up. It will be my first one in a long time without a carbomb with Brian Hawkins. sniff sniff. Brian, I will think of you. And you too, Kristen, as I curse you for that Pita Jungle stop.

On my way home yesterday, I saw Pioneer Courthouse Square will be having a Shamrock Ale festival next weekend to celebrate. I love that this town marks every holiday with a beer festival. Alas, Ken and I will be in New York for his step-sister's wedding so we'll have to go next year. Hopefully with some of you cactus-heads in tow.

Sunshine and Ice Cream

It is beautiful here right now and has been this whole week. The forsythia and cherry trees are in full bloom, the Portland streets are lined with flowering daffodils and tulips. Yesterday it was 75 degrees and sunny. You can smell the fragrance in the air. I couldn't stand being inside yesterday, so I left work at 3:30 and headed home. Everyone was outside. I've never seen the streets so busy with people just walking about. It was wonderful. Did a little gardening when I got home and poured myself a glass of pinot grigio -- sat on my rocking chair on the front porch and read a magazine. Hughes came out too. That cat loves the front porch. He knows not to walk down the stairs or go outside of the railing else he has to go back inside. So we both relaxed outside for two hours and watched everyone come home from work.

Since I got home early last night, I got to play around the kitchen a bit. Made dinner and while the chicken was in the oven, I made ice cream (whole milk and eggs were on sale this week at the grocery store). Made a double batch of sweet cream base (have linda's recipe from the restaurant - yum) and then divided it into thirds to make three flavors:

1. Orange -- use the microplane zester and allow just the zest to steep in the warm ice cream base. It picks up a really subtle, wonderful flavor. Kind of like a creamsicle. I've done the same protocol with lemon before and the result is even better. Kristen, I bet your meyer lemons would rock in this recipe.

2. Caramel -- I have issues with caramel. I looooove it in all its slendor -- sauce, chews, filling inside of chocolate as well as cajeta, that awesome mexican caramel made out of goats milk that I put on apples, tortillas, in my coffee or just eat by the spoonful out of the container. (Um, unless you find that repulsive because then I don't... especially if we were in mexico together. Note: if anyone goes to mexico again, pretty pretty please pick me up a container of that cajeta and mail it to me. I will trade you oregon coffee or other.) Kyle, I still dream about your caramels too. You did such an awesome job on those -- what a great consistency. Anyway, I have a hard time making caramel since it always tends to crystallize on me or I overcook it. I added some water this time as well as some acid, both of which seemed to work in preventing crystalization. I did overcook it a bit yesterday, but it was still fine. Let it cool just a bit before carefully stirring in the base (caramel can be 350+ degrees. water in the milk boils at 212. you can envision the wild eruption that can take place if you're not prepared for it). Turned out well (at least tasting the liquid form); am freezing this batch tonight.

3. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough -- used linda's sweet cream base and then dropped in small chunks of fresh homemade cookie dough when I transferred the ice cream from the machine to container. Read Ben & Jerry's recipe; they recommend waiting until the end else everything becomes a sticky mess. Made this last night and am allowing it to fully freeze before we dive into it.

All in all, yum.

Now it's friday and still sunny! Hooray!

"I ate them all in one sitting"

was the response I got for these cookies when I gave four to a guy at work. Found the recipe on epicurious and adapted the recipe based on the comments (i.e. double the recipe, use more flour and drain the carrots). Here is the resulting recipe:

Note: If you love carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, this recipe is for you. If you're in doubt, make them. they're awesome.


INSIDE-OUT CARROT CAKE COOKIES
Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 45 min

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cup coarsely grated carrots (4 medium), drained of excess water
2 scant cup walnuts (3 oz), chopped (optional)
1 cup raisins, used golden
16 oz cream cheese (I used 10 oz)
1/2 cup honey (I used 1 1/2 c confectioner's sugar and a 1/4 cup of milk instead)

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 baking sheets.

Grate carrots onto paper towels to allow them to dry out a bit.

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3-4 min. Mix in carrots, nuts (didn't use them), and raisins at low speed, then add flour mixture and beat until just combined.

Drop 3/4 tablespoons batter per cookie 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total (12 worked for my oven). Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth. (OR: make a cream cheese frosting used for cakes by mixing the cream cheese with confectioner's sugar and a little bit of milk, the latter to acheive desired consistency)

Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling in between.

Makes about 26 cookies.
Gourmet
April 2004

The Send Button

Just sent in my first grant application via email. With all of this technology talk lately, it has occurred to me that hitting the 'send' button is just like that feeling you had watching your college applications drop down the mail slot at the post office ten years ago.

gulp.

Urban Iditarod

Is Portland becoming a little version of San Francisco?

Sad we missed it. Next year.

Hints from Helo-isa

Place your nasty baked-on burner grates in gallon sized ziploc baggies and allow them to soak overnight in ammonia. By morning, all of that gunk will wipe right off in the time it takes to foam milk for your latte. (Note: we've been trying everything to clean those bastards before we got this tip from the stove company -- works amazing and is the cheapest solution too. $1.39 for a big bottle. Wear gloves!)

Also, check out before & after pictures of the house!

Garbage Disposal Happiness

When we moved in, we were so excited to see there was a garbage disposal in the double sink. Downside, it was on the left small sink rather than the big main one, meaning we had to still physically remove food scraps from the trap whenever we washed dishes.

But no more. Ken has pulled the old switcheroo and now the garbage disposal is on the right main side of the sink.

Happiness.

Friday!

We finished painting our bedroom last night meaning tonight is wonderfully free of paintbrushes and tarps. Instead, we're going to happy hour with some people from work. I have never seen a martini list so long. Glad they'll be at happy hour prices; this place looks too swanky for me. I'm wearing jeans and a ponytail. I hope they let me in.

The award for being ahead of the legal curve

goes to Taryn for her long-time assertion that sperm is a gift. Yep, the courts agree. Well done, TJ. I couldn't believe it when I read it in the paper this morning -- you called it so long ago. You should sell that dated contract on ebay.

Waste away the afternoon

Finding out Which Historical Lunatic Are You?

March Birthdays & Anniversaries

March Birthdays - Max the Neigbor (3/4/5), Laird (3/23)
March Anniversaries - Stew & Krista (3/16/02), Meghan & Michael McCall (3/18/05)