This weekend was Tania’s birthday. So on Saturday we went to the International Festival at Soka University of America. I have never heard of Soka University before this. It is located in the hills of Aliso Viejo. It is a non-profit liberal arts college that focuses on international studies. All students have to spend at least one semester abroad. We went to the festival just because we were looking for something to do with Tania’ parents for her birthday. The college hosts a lot of events and Dan (Tania’s father) has always wanted to see the college.
The weather was perfect, not too hot, and not too cold. They had three different stages with something always going on; either a dance performance, choir or music. They had a lot of the typical booths you see at these things, arts, crafts, etc… Tania always like checking out the different jewelry people are selling. What made this festival stand out was the food. A lot a different student groups had booths selling food from their home country. I bought a lot little snacks here and there just to try things. Lunch was a combination of Greek, India, Korean, Thai, and Turkish food. However, Dan had a hamburger (reminds me of dad).
After spending a few hours at the International Festival, we headed over to old town Orange to walk around the antique shops. The art gallery on the corner was having a show, so a few artists were there along with cheese, fruit and crackers. They had good water color paintings a lot of different types of glass art. But the best part of the whole day was that there was no traffic on the way home. We have had that hour trip turn into three many, many times.
Happy 37 years honey.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
I'm Back
It’s been a long, long time since I’ve posted something. I got tired wondering if anyone was reading this. So if you want more, make sure to post comments. It gets boring talking to yourself. Even on a blog.
Back surgery update: I had my first one-disc fusion about 1 ½ years ago and my second two-disc fusion about six months ago. While I am definitely better off now than I was before the first surgery, I am no where near pain free. I still have at least six month of rehab so it would be expecting too much to be pain free at this point. I was taking 3-4 pain pills a day (24 hr period). I am now down to only one. On most days, I can get by the whole day without a pain pill, but it is nearly impossible to fall asleep without one.
I do physically therapy three days a week in a pool and do daily basic core exercises at home.
I can keep the pain down pretty well by being sedentary, but that’s not my style. Even simple things like grocery shopping can cause pain. The hard part is that I don’t get pain when doing something. I usually don’t start hurting until the next day or two. I have had a few set backs here and there, but all in all, I am seeing slow but steady improvement.
Conejo Valley Chili Cook Off
I went to the Conejo Valley Chili Cook Off and Car Show this weekend. (Conejo Valley is the area where I live; Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills). I was thinking that it would be fun to participate so I thought I would go this year to see what the competition was like. I was expecting a lot a very spicy chili, but it was actually the opposite. There were some excellent chili, but there were also a lot of ho-hum recipes, no better than Hormel.
So everyone can expect some chili on the family get togethers. I’m going to be spending the next 12 months playing with different recipes and spices. It’s always a dangerous thing with I play around like that. Sometimes it comes out great, but disaster also frequently strikes. I have a bad habit of under estimating the power of hot spices.
I need to get some tips from Ruth on how to use a pressure cooker. The tricky part of these chili cook offs is that you only have about 3-4 hours to cook your chili. Ideally, I would like to slow smoke some shredded pork to put in the chili, but I won’t have the time. My plan is to try to get a smoked pulled pork flavor from a pressure cooker and add it to the chili towards the end of the cooking process.
Amber’s Volunteer Work in Costa Rica
Amber singed up to do some volunteer work in Costa Rica this summer. She will be working with disadvantage children and get college credits for her time, so it’s a win-win situation. She nearly didn’t get to go because her Spanish is not quite as good as they prefer. Amber’s resume was so good on everything else that they decided to let her go anyway. They want all the volunteers to try to help raise money for the cause, so you can all expect to be getting something in the mail. The money is not to pay for Amber’s way (we’re paying that), it is to help the charity buy equipment and supplies like books, etc.
Back surgery update: I had my first one-disc fusion about 1 ½ years ago and my second two-disc fusion about six months ago. While I am definitely better off now than I was before the first surgery, I am no where near pain free. I still have at least six month of rehab so it would be expecting too much to be pain free at this point. I was taking 3-4 pain pills a day (24 hr period). I am now down to only one. On most days, I can get by the whole day without a pain pill, but it is nearly impossible to fall asleep without one.
I do physically therapy three days a week in a pool and do daily basic core exercises at home.
I can keep the pain down pretty well by being sedentary, but that’s not my style. Even simple things like grocery shopping can cause pain. The hard part is that I don’t get pain when doing something. I usually don’t start hurting until the next day or two. I have had a few set backs here and there, but all in all, I am seeing slow but steady improvement.
Conejo Valley Chili Cook Off
I went to the Conejo Valley Chili Cook Off and Car Show this weekend. (Conejo Valley is the area where I live; Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills). I was thinking that it would be fun to participate so I thought I would go this year to see what the competition was like. I was expecting a lot a very spicy chili, but it was actually the opposite. There were some excellent chili, but there were also a lot of ho-hum recipes, no better than Hormel.
So everyone can expect some chili on the family get togethers. I’m going to be spending the next 12 months playing with different recipes and spices. It’s always a dangerous thing with I play around like that. Sometimes it comes out great, but disaster also frequently strikes. I have a bad habit of under estimating the power of hot spices.
I need to get some tips from Ruth on how to use a pressure cooker. The tricky part of these chili cook offs is that you only have about 3-4 hours to cook your chili. Ideally, I would like to slow smoke some shredded pork to put in the chili, but I won’t have the time. My plan is to try to get a smoked pulled pork flavor from a pressure cooker and add it to the chili towards the end of the cooking process.
Amber’s Volunteer Work in Costa Rica
Amber singed up to do some volunteer work in Costa Rica this summer. She will be working with disadvantage children and get college credits for her time, so it’s a win-win situation. She nearly didn’t get to go because her Spanish is not quite as good as they prefer. Amber’s resume was so good on everything else that they decided to let her go anyway. They want all the volunteers to try to help raise money for the cause, so you can all expect to be getting something in the mail. The money is not to pay for Amber’s way (we’re paying that), it is to help the charity buy equipment and supplies like books, etc.
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