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.