Beatin the heat

Apparently I like to rhyme in my blog titles. I hope you like that. The weather started getting hot down here and June has had me super busy. Two weeks ago, I went to Lake Anna for the weekend for a reunion with my Leadership Training team from college. For those of you who don't know, I was a Young Life leader at Virginia Tech. I was responsible for helping to prepare college freshmen for their time in college, both in college ministry as well as in their personal lives. While the members of my team changed each year, the team from my last year decided it would be a great idea to have a reunion. We were right. My buddy Josh's (also a member of team LT) parents are in the process of building a lakehouse on Lake Anna. All they have so far is a garage with an unfinished loft above it, so essentially my weekend was glorified camping. We had a roof over our heads and electricity, but that was it. It turns out that was all we needed for a fantastic weekend. It was so good to catch up with, learn from, and encourage each other as we have all moved away from Blacksburg. I am truly blessed to have such a great group of friends. Here is a picture from our weekend:

This past weekend, Mom came down and helped me move. Move you ask? Yes. Two guys from church, Tyler and Jeremy, proposed moving in together somewhere in Norfolk. After realizing that I drive to Norfolk about 4 times a week already, I thought it would make more sense to just live where I'm already going. I must be honest: Saturday was hard because of rain. It was also hard because while driving down the highway, my mattress and box spring became airborne. That's right. I look in my rearview mirror, and my comfy mattress and box spring are flying away from my car. Since I'm a man, I take pride in my ability to properly load and secure goods. My pride was dashed and now I was soaking wet and trying not to get hit by highway traffic while reattaching my bedding goods to the truck. Fortunately I had bags over them so they weren't damged very much. The rain continued almost all day but mom and I pulled through. Sunday was sunny but not too hot so Mom and I loaded the last vanfull of stuff into the new house without difficulty. We went out to a nice seafood dinner followed by the standard trip to WalMart. I hope you will come by and visit this summer! Let me know and I will accomodate.

In other news, my hockey team is still not good at hockey. But after having not scored a goal in a little over a season of ice hockey, I finally scored my first goal! It didn't make much of a difference in the game, seeing as I scored with 1 minute left and we lost 8-1. It was still exciting to know that I am not a complete idiot on skates. My team is a great group of guys and I am priveledged to play with them.

I will be gone again this weekend as I take a trip to Rockbridge to visit some friends and a wedding in everyone's favorite place: northern VA. I hope you can taste the sarcasm there. I will do my best to enjoy NOVA. At least the people there will be awesome.

I hope you are well!

Shake n' Bake!

Memorial Day weekend calls for American activities. To that end, I filled my weekend with family, racing and overeating. While you may not agree that every American embraces these ideals, I decided to partake in these this past weekend.

Starting on Friday, I went to Dixieland Speedway, a dirt track in the sprawling metropolis of Elizabeth City, NC. Each Friday, the 300 residents of Elizabeth City gather to watch their friends race modified cars around a dirt track. Different heats involve different cars, each heat bringing something special to the table. The race was fun, but the activity in the stands was even better. Not only did I see mullets and a tuxedo T-Shirt, but there were even 2 fights to be observed. Let me set the stage. Fight #1: Some guy (Let's call him "Mr. Jorts") was mad about something and there was a large scrum. During the scrum, another guy (Let's call him "Mr. Wife Beater" due to his attire) decided he wanted to jump in and hit Mr. Jorts. After things settled down, I was enjoying the races when I felt some thumping on my bleacher seat. I noticed Mr. Jorts was running behind me with an angry look on his face. He ran down the bleachers and sucker punched Mr. Wife Beater. Mr. Wife Beater was none-too-pleased and the two engaged in another healthy scrum which attracted the attention of the local law enforcement. Keep in mind all of this happened about 8 feet in front of me, close enough I was able to take in all the dialogue. As Mr. Jorts was pulled off of Mr. Wife Beater, Mr. Police Officer pulled out his tazer and suddenly a red beam of light appeared on Mr. Jorts' chest. Mr. Police Officer said, "I'll taze your butt". (That quote was edited in order to keep this blog PG.) I had never heard those words uttered and since Mr. Jorts was inebriated and angry enough to require a good taze, I became excited to witness my first tazing. Unfortunately, Mr. Jorts finally came to his senses and realized that handcuffs were a better deal than handcuffs plus tazing. All in all a great week at the Dixieland Speedway.

After about 3 hours of sleep, a trip to Indianapolis was in order. So I hopped abord a plane and went there. I got my first taste of the swine flu experience as a woman at the airport donned a protective mask. I laughed to myself. Once in Indy, I soaked up some good family time as Dad, stepmom Marj, and new stepbrother/sister drove up from Blacksburg. I also got to hang out wiht my uncle, aunt and cousins which is always a blessing. My family is crazy fun and I love spending time with them. I also had the privelege of enjoying a 6 man golf game. As for the race, the first lap was as exciting as always. It is such a rush to see the cars come around turn one and hit full throttle. My dad was smart enough to capture my adrenaline rush on video and once I have that video, it will appear here. Unfortunately, during all the excitement my favorite driver, Marco Andretti (Mario's Grandson), crashed on the first lap. Boo. It was a fun race with many spectacular but safe crashes. Helio Castroneves won the race for the 3rd time and performed his traditional "climb the fence" routine. Many in Indy are skeptical of Helio due to his recent accquital on tax evasion charges. I confess I don't know the situation and Helio is always so happy and loves the fans so I'm ok with him winning. After the race, I hung out with my cousin and her friends. I got to bed around 1230, just in time to get 3.5 hours of sleep before my plane was destined to take off at 545. Now since I only got 3.5 hours of sleep, it was a shock to have a news camera shoved in my face at the airport by a local reporter looking to interview a tired traveler on his way home. I obliged and hopefully my dirty, confused face and bumbling speech made it onto the local news. I made it home at 10 am, early enough to spend the day relaxing at the beach.

Speaking of airports, I have a beef with moving walkways. They might be a huge waste of energy. I admit that I use them on occasion, but still. If normal walking speed is too slow for you, perhaps you should open up your schedule. I know you may be thinking a bunch of race cars going in circles may be a waste of energy too. Maybe you're right. If nothing else, the Indy 500 allows me to hang out with my midwestern kinfolk.

back after a break

Oh hello there. I haven't talked to you for a few weeks. My deepest apologies.

Bad news for blogging. My computer crashed last week so I am constrained to blogging while at work. Don't worry, Uncle Sugar said it was ok. (That's what gov't employees call Uncle Sam because he pays the bills.) Speaking of bad news, my hockey team still sucks at hockey. If we finish poorly enough, we get sent down to the "C" league. That's hockey talk for "back to the minors." A nice large slice of humble pie. At least hockey is fun to play and keeps me from getting fat.

Enough bad news. Let's move on to how I'm really doing. Last Friday, I had the priveledge of leading my first brief. Let me explain. Whenever a big procedure is done at work, the sailors must be briefed to ensure that they know what they are doing. This brief is performed by the engineer I'm in training to be, so as part of my training, I lead the brief. I used to be unintimidated by public speaking, but now I'm in the real world I do fear looking like a complete idiot in front of people. The brief went well and I supervised the work all day. It feels good to be productive.

Another bonus of life right now is I get to visit my cousins, uncle, and aunt in Indianapolis this weekend. And, since it is Memorial Day weekend, Indy 500!!! It is that time of year when I yell myself hoarse and get super pumped by a bunch of loud cars drivin in circles. Also, I just learned my roomate from VT, Justin, is coming to visit on Friday. That's reason enough to celebrate.

I tutored a bunch of kids again yesterday. It was crazy fun. I tutored 5 girls. Academically I felt confident tutoring them, but socially I felt like an idiot. Somehow, the girls got angry at each other halfway through and their drama turned into yelling. I didn't know what to say or do. Fortunately, one of the workers came in and handled the situation. The girls and I learned about zooanimals and their habitats, long division, reading, spelling, hammer pants, and tadpoles. It was epic. I was going to get a haircut afterward but got sidetracked by some of the children in daycare. They taught me how to do this dance called, "The Stanky Leg". Basically you stand on one foot and rotate your free leg. I also attempted to teach a young man how to play rock, paper, scissors. I also learned that if you are a large adult, don't sit in little kid's chairs. It don't fit right.

Enjoy your memorial day weekend!

A good Friday

I think today is going to be a good day. I think I have figured out what ZZ Top does when they aren't touring and rocking so hard as to change the physical properties of things. They work at the shipyard! I am pretty sure I saw a guy walking out from night shift who looked exactly like ZZ Top. Too bad we aren't allowed to bring cameras to work or I would totally have a ZZ Top picture. Also, I saw one of the rarest mullet breeds. The Femullet. That word is a hybrid of a female and a mullet. Good stuff. I also have a great lunch of leftover wings, a garden vegetable wrap with ham, spring mix, carmelized onions and spicy mustard, and some cajun spiced mixed vegetables. Tasty. In addition to all this, I think I'm going to a comedy club tonight and you know how much I love to laugh. I hope your Friday is awesome.

A lame end to an awesome weekend

Dad turned the big 63 last week. Happy Birthday Dad! To celebrate, I went down to South Cackalacky for the weekend to celebrate with my sister and Dad. Unfortunately, Bam and the kids I mentioned last week couldn't come because Connor had a soccer game. Who knew my family was full of jocks? I'll expound on the wide world of sports later.

My trip down to SC was eventful. Because I'm a fat kid and there isn't a Chik-fil-a near my house, I decided to hit one up on the way. So I went to www.chick-fil-a.com and found a few sites along I-95. After realizing I wanted to drive until it got dark, I passed all of my proposed chikin sites. I then started looking for bbq, also a favorite. After realizing I would have to sit down for a long time and wait for bbq, I stopped at Zaxby's. It was tasty and the girl behind the counter had an awesome southern accent. This paragraph was completely unnecessary and I apologize to you the reader for having to sit through it.

I then took 3 wrong turns in SC before ending up at my sister's at 11 pm. Fortunately, I had alot of great friends to talk to both on the way down and the way back. If you were one of those, thanks for keeping me sane and awake. The actual visit with my fam was great and it felt so good just to relax, talk and play with my sister's dog, Bella.

I had a hockey game last night, which I went straight to from SC. Nothing like a 5 hour road trip culminating in a hockey game. The tables were turning. We were up 2-1 late in the 3rd period and had dominated the whole game. With time expiring, the other team scored, tying the game. We went straight to a shootout and lost. Awesome. It felt like that Boston College game a few years ago at Lane Stadium when VT dominated the whole game and then lost. I guess I will always be a fan of teams who tend to choke at the end of games.

I thought I would get to lead a meeting today, but I was unable to discuss what I was doing with the important people, so I didn't lead it. Good thing because some stuff went wrong and I might have wet my pants if I tried to handle it. So here I sit, eating lunch.

If you have anything you want on this blog, please let me know and I will accomodate. I will be getting my camera fixed/new camera soon so pictures will start appearing. Text gets boring. I hope you are doing great and be sure to let me know how you are doing.

that didn't last long

As quickly as the playoff beard appeared, it was eliminated along with the Philadelphia Flyers. They lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 yesterday in a game which I didn't get to see because I thought it stated at 7 pm. Scheduling is not one of my gifts. I trust that next year I will be able to grow a full playoff beard long into the month of May as the Flyers make a push towards the Stanley Cup.

This week saw another loss for the Chesapeake Whalers, as we got obliterated 8-0 by some team that consisted mainly of teenagers. The game didn't start until 10:30 and I guess older guys don't perform well on ice after 9. The kids we played against were really fast and outskated us most of the game. I had fun and got a great workout so I guess that means I'm a winner.

It sounds like with both hockey teams that my emotions are invested in that I have had a terrible week. This couldn't be further from the truth. It was pretty outside all week, the pollen is starting to subside, and one of my best good friends, Josh Nicoletti, came down to visit me. We joined a bunch of people from church and went to a large yard sale where cheap goodies were purchased. Also, we hung out on the beach for like 4 hours, which reminds me of a funny story. Before my hockey game Thursday, I decided to take a long nap outside after work. It was warm and sunny, so I thought this was a good oppurtunity to catch some rays to help cure my pastiness. I used adequate sunscreen and then fell asleep. I thought I applied the sunscreen evenly, but later that night I noticed an oddly shaped sunburn on my back which had a handprint in it. One thing I have learned: make sure you reach around everywhere when applying sunscreen or you will look funny.

I also introduced 3 new people to the awesome movie that is Hot Rod. I have now seen this movie 12 times and it still makes me laugh real hard. Today Josh and I joined up with my buddies Jake and Amanda and played some beach bocce. Have you not heard of bocce? I feel sorry for you. I could struggle to explain the game here or provide a link which will save you time. Learn about bocce here.

I hope you are doing well. Enjoy this beautiful weather that is here and I hope to talk to you soon. I will have plenty to talk about here next time as I get to hang out with my Dad, my 2 sisters and my niece and nephew, Jenna and Connor. If you have never seen a picture of the two awesomest kids ever you need to.

Clockwise from left: Yours truly, Connor, my sister Bambi, Jenna, my other sister Bronwyn.

Jenna again, this time super excited.

What's in a name?

So here I sit at work, contemplating important things. I have realized that I haven't named my car yet. The name "guapo" was good for awhile (good looking man), but I realized I think I want to give the G a proper name. So I figured, why not let my faithful blog readers have some input? I ask you to go to babynames.com and find a name that starts with G. I haven't figured out which sex my car should be, but I think it's a girl. If you have input, let me know. I think the G deserves a name that is strong and powerful, possibly a warrior, rock, something like that. Here are some good names thus far, starting with girl names.

Girls:
Giada
Guinevere
Gertrude
Geraldine
Grazia

Men:
Gavin
Ghazi
Gideon
Gunter/Gunther
Gunner
Guillermo

These are suggestions. Feel free to add input.

Back to work.

Gentlemen, start your playoff beards!

That's right. It's spring which means one thing. Flowers. False. It means it's hockey playoff time! With the onset of the hockey playoffs, I have begun my playoff beard. Fortunately, it is a far cry from 5 years ago when I first began playoff bearding. Back then I had the nickname "patches" for my inability to grow any sort of legit facial hair. I'd like to think my beard has some substance nowadays. I was reminded today that I am not married and therefore I celebrate that freedom by growing a sweet beard. The beard will remain until the Philadelphia Flyers lose or win the Stanley Cup, hopefully the latter. Since my camera is broken, I will rely on my friends with cameras to provide pictures of my beard for me to post here.

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to spend the weekend at one of Young Life's awesome camps, Rockbridge. There is a large retreat held there by the PCA church once a year for senior high school kids. My buddy Marty asked me to go and since I regretfully struggle to say no to Marty, I went. (Usually Marty convinces me to do pseudo-embarrassing things, thus my regrets for saying yes.) It was a great weekend, not only did I get to hang out with some awesome high school guys, but I also got to see some friends I don't see often. Among these was my roomate from college, Justin. He's really cool.

Last week, I mentioned the ridiculous people I see at the gym. I thought it couldn't get weirder than fanny packs and mouthguards, but I was wrong. There is a room at the gym where you can stretch, do abdominal exercises, or jump rope. I was doing abs in there and an older woman walked in. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then she took off her sneakers and replaced them with a pair of tall, clear heels. Now I don't know much about women but I don't think they are supposed to work out in heels. That doesn't makes sense. By this point I am really confused. She continues the weirdness by walking around in a pair of spandex pants and top. Needless to say I am beginning to rush through my workout, trying hard not to laugh. I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she was training in front of the multitude of mirrors in the room for a fitness competition and not a stripper routine, but I did not remain in the room long enough to ask any questions.

Now last week, I promised you a recipe. This recipe is courtesy of my favorite chef, Giada de Laurentis. This recipe is perfect if you have a bunch of extra potatoes around that are about to start sprouting. I hope you enjoy!

Gnocccgi with Thyme Butter Sauce
4-6 servings (54 Gnocchi)

2 baking potatoes, such as russets (about 12 oz each)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup shaved Pecorino Romano or Parmesean cheese, for garnish
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

To make the gnocchi, pierce the potatoes all over with a fork. Microwave the potatoes on high until tender, turning once, about 12 minutes. You can also bake the potatoes at 375 F for 50 minutes, or until tender. While the potatoes are still warm, cut them in half and scoop out the flesh into a large bowl. Discard the skin. (Or make potato skins.)Using a fork, mash the potato well. Stir in the egg, salt, and pepper. Sift the flour over the potato mixture and stir just until blended.

Scoop out a large spoonful of gnocchi dough. Roll each scoop on the work surface into about a 1/2 inch diameter rope. Cut the dough into 1 inch pieces. Roll each piece of dough over a wooden paddle with ridges or over the tines of a fork to form grooves in the dough. Set the formed gnocchi on a baking sheet while you form the rest of the dough.

To make the thyme butter, melt the butter with the thyme leaves in a medium, heavy skillet over medium heat until the butter is melted, about 2 min.

Working in 2 batches, cook the gnocchi in a large pot of boiling salted water until they have all risen to the surface, about 3 minutes. Scoop the gnocchi into a colander eith a slotted spoon while you cook the second batch. Reheat the thyme butter sauce over low heat. Transfer the cooked gnocchi to the skillet with the hot thyme butter and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and fresh pepper and toss again. Serve with cheese sprinkled on top.
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I hope you enjoy the above recipe. It is healthier without the butter so if you prefer, just make the gnocchi and use in any other gnocchi recipe. I hope you are doing well and I can't wait to speak to you. Have a great week!!!

It's been too long

I must apologize. It has been over 2 weeks since my last post. My bad. There is much to be blogged about. First, I am now officially not cool. I learned last week that my dad is the proud owner of a Wii. I haven't owned a video game system since the nintendo 64, back in like '97. Now my own dad, wearer of short jorts (jean shorts) that even I can't look at without making a face, is bowling/golfing/boxing like a pro. I guess I am out of the cool circle.

Another piece of exciting news is that the Peru trip is coming together nicely! I have put in for a full 6 days of leave from the shipyard in July which promises to be awesome. I can't wait to see how the Lord is working outside of my own little world. The trip is July 17-25. My original plans for summer vacation included a trip with my buddy Josh to the Colorado Rockies to hike and enjoy this gorgeous earth. It is amazing how city life and all that is included in that forces you to appreciate the God's creation. After learning about my church's plan to go on a trip to Peru, I decided maybe that would be a great way to spend vacation. Hopefully Josh's job will allow him to come.

Speaking of work, I have learned that the shipyard is a great place to people-watch. Mullets gallore, plenty of crazy beard/mustache/sideburn combinations, everybody with their different colored hardhats (mine's green), and not to mention people at the gym. Oh my. There are folks with fanny packs, headbands, and people who scream when they lift. I even saw a guy wearing a mouthguard the other day while lifting. Who needs to lift that hard that they need a mouthguard. Seriously? While I laugh at these men on the inside, most of them are twice my size and would break me in half instantaneously. I have added basketball to my workouts and there are crazy people there, too. Some guys take pickup basketball way too seriously. Accuse them of doing anything wrong and they yell and pout. It's really funny. I guess alot of those guys assume the NBA is the next logical step after playing Navy basketball.

In other sports news, my hockey team is now 1-4. I have yet to add anything productive to my team aside from effort. I have earned the nickname "Dino" after Dino Cicerelli who wasn't that good at hockey but tried real hard. Our next game is tomorrow, hopefully it will be a winning effort.

If you know me well, you know that my vocabulary stinks and I am a poor listener. To combat both of these inadequecies, I have started taking a dictionary to church. Jack (the pastor @ Trinity) is really smart and well read and uses alot of really big words I have never heard of before. John Herbst, I know you are a follower of this blog and appreciate a good dictionary. Bringing a dictionary to church was all well and good until Jack saw the dictionary one Sunday and asked me about it. I had to humiliate myself by telling him that I'm too stupid to follow him during church. A nice hearty slice of humble pie.

I also owe you a recipe this week, but it will have to wait. It's 4:30 and Giada's on the Food Network. That means I'm going to go watch that now. Bye!