February 02, 2008

Dad

Sorry for the long period of nonblogging. I had written something on 11/11 or so, but my crappy hosting service didn't let me post it. Then, in a series of events that still seem incomprehensible to me, I lost my Dad suddenly, and since then my world has been a little different, and a lot more sad. Impossibly sad. He had a heart attack the Saturday before Thanksgiving. At the hospital, doctors discovered a small hole in his heart. The subsequent surgery wasn't successful, and we lost him on Thanksgiving Day. I've posted a bunch of photos on Flickr of Dad from the collection we displayed for the memorial service. I'm not really equipped or ready to write about it here. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around it. Still, life goes on (as Dad would say), and I have some things to say, so I'm hoping to start posting again.

Posted by csageday at 04:16 PM | Comments (2)

July 26, 2006

Little Frog

Last weekend we played host to D's adorable one-and-a-half year old nephew, Xander. While his Mom and Dad went out for a night on the town, Xander careened up and down our hallway, collected styrofoam and cardboard packaging, and practiced playing the guitar and piano with "Uncle D".

We also took a trip to the (rather wet) playground. I didn't know that we had such a nice playground -- it's kinda swanky, with the musical instruments, four different slides, and a sandbox. As a non-child-wielding adult I hadn't been privy to this information. The only downside was that because it had just rained, the slides were all soaked, so we had to convince a heartbroken Xander that the slides could not be slid down. The message didn't quite get through, and Xander protested loudly, but we managed to distract him with the large metal harp in the shape of a woman, which he was oddly drawn to (he kept hugging it). The workings of a toddler's mind are a mystery, but I'll surmise that it had something to do with wondering where Mom was. Here's a photo (more on Flickr).

As he got used to our very long apartment, Xander got brave and started climbing up the furniture. For a while, he designated a spot between the plants and the wall on our dining room table as his own. He also rather liked the Space Invaders coffee table, with all the pointless buttons and the joystick. Derek will make him an 80s video game connoisseur yet.

Posted by csageday at 12:45 AM | Comments (1)

March 20, 2006

Shrimp with Lime and Cilantro (and Orange Marmalade)

As per usual, here's another post about food. Shrimp, specifically. Not only is it a food post, it's a food post with a recipe. A plagiarized one, but nevermind that. Here's what you need:

1 lb. shrimp, peeled (except for the tail) and deveined
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. salt
juice of 3 limes
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 t. soy sauce (more if you like)
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
pepper

Mash the garlic up with the salt. Whisk it together with everything but the shrimp, then add the shrimp (actually, the recipe says to reserve a third of the mixture for dipping sauce, but I forgot and the extra sauce in the finished product was fine). Throw it all it in the fridge for 15 minutes. Then throw it in a skillet and cook for 1.5 minutes on each side (don't overdo it). Serve over brown rice. Thank me in the comments.

I'm going to go whip some more cream now. Oh, and since I'm on a whipping kick, it's only a matter of time before I make one of my favorite childhood desserts, merengues meringues.

Posted by csageday at 09:18 PM | Comments (1)

January 21, 2006

Cake!

Xander turned one last month, and celebrated appropriately.

To be fair, he was egged on by several adult relatives to do this -- he was really adamant in the beginning about using the fork and all, since he's ONE now, you know. We think he liked it, though.

Posted by csageday at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2006

Baby Xander

We were lucky enough to have nephew Xander all to ourselves Saturday afternoon, and we had a ball ... he loves exploring and testing things out. Balls of yarn, things that make noise or rattle, cork coasters, and our retro globe-style lighting fixtures were a hit (he thought they were balloons and kept pointing at them). Even though we were just playing around the whole time, we were exhausted about 20 minutes in, and my arms are still sore from carrying him around. I have a new appreciation for the job of parenting a kid full time. It's just completely insane. I'm not sure how new parents function at all. Well, actually, I do -- because I'd babysit again in a second -- he's just amazing (for photographic proof of Xander's uber-cuteness, see additional photos on Flickr).

Posted by csageday at 01:54 PM | Comments (0)