MY LIFE AS SPINNER DUDE

Posted by admin at December 31st, 2008

I haven’t walked out of a movie with such on off kilter feeling.  Are things around us bad?  Are they good?  Is change good or does change bring about the worst in us?

Growing up in South San Diego, Catholic School was a very pleasant memory for me .  We had some fine post Vatican II nuns who saw to it that we received a good education. 

This movie captured the time period with such precision.  The role of the church was never questioned back then.  You just did what you were told.   But this movie….

With the recent course of events, “Doubt” will shed light on both sides on a very controversial subject.  Go and see it now!

Posted by admin at December 29th, 2008

San Diego….ah…the envy of the nation at the moment.  No snow, no wind, no cold…just warm sunshine and a gentle breeze.  It was a great day to host a parade.  The Holiday Bowl Big Balloon Parde featured the two teams playing tomorrown night in the Holiday Bowl as well as some pretty impressive big balloons.  Albeit not the grand daddy of big balloon parades (we bow to you Macy’s) it was pretty cool none the less.

The University of Oregon Ducks Marching Band…a classic example of getting your ducks in a row.

Not to be outdone, the Oklahoma State University Cowboys Marching Band had their turn on The Embarcadero today as well.

 Mr. Potato Head even made an appearance.

 
I’ll just leave this one alone.

Posted by admin at December 27th, 2008

I’m finally coming out of my holiday haze.  What with all the shopping, hustle, bustle, wrapping, cooking, dinners, company and eating,  one can get a little over done on Christmas cheer. 

We at Casa Citracado weathered the Kringle Storm with good results. 

We had some friends over for dinner on Monday.  Aside from a minor “forgetful” moment by me,  we did a great job.  The “decorate your own gingerbread person” game was back and it was  great addtion to wonderful evening.

Tuesday was spent down south with Mom wrapping lumpias.  It was so worth it as the delictable little darlings were all the rage at the A/K  midnight dinner and gift extravanza. 

We opened presents early on Wednesday, Christmas Eve. .   LD’s gift to me was a new handy, dandy Canon Powershot  I  loaded it up  go for the evening.  I love it.    Santa also delivered  an extra memory card and rechargeable batteries.  Sweet!  I took it to dinner on Wendesday night and was the paparazzi for our family gathering.  Diego liked it too.  We would like to welcome our new George Foreman grill to the household.  Double sweet!  The menu for the evening?  A nice prime rib, lumpia, pancit, mashed potatos, grilled veggies, green bean casserole, more lumpia and a nice collection of  California reds and whites.    Yummy!  My Secret Santa brought me the whole set of the Richard Attenborough DVD series “Planet Earth”.    Nice!  LD and I had to skidaddle out of there shortly after midnight but I am sure there were rousing card games  and  other board games going on at mom’s house clear into the wee hours of Christmas Day.

LD busy make Christmas Cookies. I'm in awe.

Christmas Day we hosted brunch for LD’s parents (C and L) and my mom (V).  We did presents with C and L and V came up later.  C and L got to meet my nieces and nephews which was really nice.  Some of the schwag included a new Harry Potter book, a Luch bobble head doll, some great reading material on Broadway shows and rocks, and LD’s fave…the Kitchen Aid Pasta Maker attachment.  Triple sweeet!   LD cooked up a quiche.  We put out some ham, bagels, cinammon rolls a la Pillsbury (great stuff, btw) and bagels.  LD and  I put a little bubbly into our orange juice just to help us keep things fun.  I got to play with the camera a little more and hooked it up to the new flat screen so that it turned into a live monitor.  Woa…nice, but a dangerous feature. 

I did nothing yesterday but sit in a post- holiday stupor.    Snacking on cookies and water and fruit was good.

So there we have it.  Christmas ’08 in a nutshell.  On to welcoming in ’09!!

Posted by admin at December 24th, 2008

Santa came early and new cameras, touch Ipods,  lots of fun SDSU Alumni stuff, aloha shirts, touch Ipod accessories and a batch of cookies from LD’s aunt have been added to the holiday schwag. LD is busy operating the cookie factory and Diego is relaxing behind my Lazy Boy.

Having grown up around a bunch of Amy Grant fans, I always liked the words to this song which I leave with you today. LD and I are incredibly blessed with great family, wonderful friends and a rich and happy life together.   Diego was a great addition this year and he really does make our house a home for our little family. 

Hopefully, 2009 will be a tad bit more happy. The powers that be will be gone and hope is on the horizon.  My wish is that we get to stay married. Keep wishing good thoughts for us around March 09, promise?

Amy Grant —  sing us out , my love!!!!

“So here’s my lifelong wish,
My grown up Christmas list,
Not for myself but for a world in need.

No more lives torn apart,
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts.
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end,
This is my grown up Christmas list .”

Posted by admin at December 23rd, 2008

I am diggin’ LD’s new iPod touch.

Posted by admin at December 21st, 2008

With all the interest about cooking and “foodies” these days, I had given up on finding fine dinning in North County SD.

How wrong I was.

LD and I were making decisions on dinner last night and were strolling Grand Ave. here in Escondido to get a sense of where we should eat for the night. We happened on “Tango On Grand” which was in the midst of other eateries in the area.

Last February, we had plans for “Tango On Grand” but my bout with a bug put the kibosh on that rather quickly.

Fast forward to last night. The nice hostess encouraged us to “give it a try” while we perused the menu. So…off we went into Tango Land.

Wow! It was quite the evening of gastronomic faire. Everything was prepared quite nicely, flavors were abundant, the service impeccable, presentation was fanciful and sophisticated, and the food was delicious.

If you go, remember to try the “Prix Fixe” menu which is only $30 per person.    Our first course was a very traditional Caesar for me (real anchovies and egg yolk) and LD had a yummy cheese souffle with toasted walnuts and cranberry sauce.  The chef sent over an “amuse bouche”  of toasted french bread, cream cheese and salmon which was quite the tasty morsel. 

Course II  for me was a  bold tri tip which melted in your mouth with two types of potato presentations — French milled and twice baked.  LD had a nice swordfish on top of bed a lightly steamed edamame. 

Finally, dessert was heaven.  I had a triptic presentation of  a lemon soufle, lemon meringue tart, and lemon ice cream.  It lifted the pallet and was a nice way to finish off an otherwise substantial second course.  LD had an apple crisp with a real apple fritter in a carmel apple reduction.    Wow. 

It was a great way to get our holiday week off to a rousing start.

Run, don’t walk, to “Tango On Grand”.

Posted by admin at December 20th, 2008

Tons of schwag…kitchy gifts….cookies…candy and loads of Starbucks cards. I love being a teacher during the holidays!

Posted by admin at December 19th, 2008

Sometimes you just have to wonder if animals truly grow attached to the humans they live with. LD had a case to tend to up in the northern hinterlands on Wednesday and returned yesterday. Diego whimpered and sat by the deck’s sliding glass door untill 11 pm on Wednesday night and even on his short, wet walks had to check out each car that passed for the elusive LD.

When LD returned on Thursday, I’m sure there was a huge welcome home celebration. Dogs, like humans (including me) miss people.

Oh and BTW to all my non-teaching friends…I officially will  make like a tree and “leaf” on a much needed holiday vacation.   Your tax dollars hard at work.  I love this job!  It does, however, come with some responsibility to spread some holiday cheer, Pinoy style.  As has been my tradition, I will present small gifts of deep fried Pilipino goodness to my teaching colleagues in the form of “lumpia” today.  LD will have it for breakfast, too!

Posted by admin at December 16th, 2008

LD cooked a very, very simple and uncomplicated spaghetti, marinera and sausage topped with parmesan cheese for dinner tonight. Simple….yes. Satisfying on a cold winter’s night? Yeah, baby.

He really does love me.

Posted by admin at December 14th, 2008

Baby, it’s cold outside!