Saturday's Adventures Play-by-Play

This past Saturday was so action packed that I had to write down the events for posterity. Some of these items may serve the public interest. You be the judge:

9am: Walked with Karen and Jasper to Carytown for coffee. Stopped at Cartwheels and Coffee, just west of the Byrd Theatre (coffee shop that is geared toward those of us with little kids). Drank coffee and played with Jasper in their infant area with some of the house toys. Read a bit of backstory on the coffee shop. Interesting. Hint: No wonder they're closed on Sundays. The kids play area is $4 per visit. If they stay open, we'll hit that up in a couple years. In the meantime, I recommend that they keep the half and half on the counter so they don't have to take it out of the fridge every time someone buys a cup of coffee. Whatever. The coffee was good. Are there more places like this one? Just curious. How long until they offer a baby-sitting service while parents shop in Carytown?

11am: Still on the same walk (stopped at Can Can for snacks, Agees to help Piet find a bike, and Walgreens for some new headphones for my iPod), headed to the Jonny Z festival (Bizarre Market) on Sheilds and chatted with old friends. Bought a painting of Zapatistas, handmade plush toys, and some local music CDs.

12pm: Karen craved huevos rancheros after reading my blog. So, I whipped up a batch.

1pm: In-laws arrive and I find work to do outside. Tangle with my withering tomato plants (found this cute squash was ready to pick) and some back-breaking dirt shoveling. You see, there's all this dirt in the alley up against my garage. Years ago, the home inspector said that we'll want to get it away from there or the wood will rot. Well, I procrastinated. Besides, where do you put 500 lbs of dirt? Not in a supercan, as it turns out. Anyhow, I saw a truck in the neighborhood that said stump removal, etc, so I called. The dude was just waking up around noon. He came by and I showed him the job. "Not interested." I couldn't believe how forthright he was when we hadn't even talked terms. "I do tree work. That's shit work." Alright, man. "But I'll leave my truck here and you can load it... um, twenty bucks." After coming to terms with the idea that I'd be shoveling in the hot sun for the next few hours, I made a brief attempt and then the wheels started turning. I put down the shovel and walked a block to the intersection where guys hang out by the convenience store and I introduced myself to a guy named Curly. He agreed to work along side me for an hour in exchange for $15, a cup of ice water and two cold beers. Come to think of it, I'd take that deal any day. With Curly's help, we knocked out the job quick: me breaking up the dirt/weeds and both of us shoveling it onto the truck. Three and a half years of procrastinating and the work only required $35 and an hour or so of sweat.

3pm: Started a long session of roma tomato grilling for my favorite salsa (recipe to follow in subsequent post). Drank two cold beers in order to weather the heat that goes with babysitting the smoldering charcoal.

6pm: Dinner with in laws. Venician shrimp, garlicky green beans, and heirloom tomato-heavy salad. We served some homemade peach ice cream too.

7:30: Went to the ABC store and bought my favorite bourbon: 10 year old Evan Williams Single Barrel.

8:15: Pureed the tomatoes, red onions, garlic, jalapenos, guajillos, cilantro, etc. Tasted, adjusted, and tossed it in the fridge. Did some dishes and hung out with Karen.

10pm: Drank a bourbon and coke and watched fighter Roger Huerta (one of my faves) lose in a boring bout on the UFC. Had to adjust to the reality that WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar is going to be a force to contend with in the heavyweight division. On the bright side, George St. Pierre proved to be one of the most dominant MMA competitors and all around athletes to ever get in the cage. And he's got class.

12:30am: Read in Urban Views about Nathan Burrell, City Parks Dept. Trails Manager. Really liked his point of view about the need to integrate more time in nature into our lives and into the priorities of our city. Turns out he's married (and has 1.5 children with) an old friend, Tracy Brockwell. Gotta say hey one day.