SolstTHIS!

Some new friends helped us thumb our noses at the arrival of the first day of Fall by taking us out on some ridiculously overpowered jet skis. Cruising around Puget Sound off of Shilshoe, with the sun making a perfect midday arrival, I came to think that every day could be like that and things would be just fine.

You can take the girl out of California, but you can't take the Cali out of the girl.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get a few pix to throw up here sometime soon from that grand watery adventure (resulting, I might add, in multiple sore limbs, whiplash, and a new appreciation for how stupidly cold water can be before it even thinks about freezing), and I owe a shout out of appreciation to the fellas working on the Alucia who let us come play with their toys!

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ALSO....
This weekend Paul attempted to make Mexican coffee, as we saw it done in Akumal. For those who don't know, this is a flaming drink with rum, brandy, coffee, and Mexican 'crema'(a delicious artery clogging dairy product that has me fully in its grasp).
Here's the set up.
And please note that the fire extinguisher is nowhere to be seen in these pictures because it's right next to me


















Going for flame...


















ANY flame?


















It was not to be... so sad. :-(





We'll just have to try again later.

Toast for all!

I love toast, always have. I've gone through phases with more or less butter, jam, apple butter, or cinnamon and sugar. But always toast is da shizzle.

So, I'm paging through the fashion section of a recent Esquire where they have quotes from this actor guy, and he says that toast is the perfect food. It gives you energy, makes you feel like you've eaten something substantial, and won't weigh you down.

So, here's toast for us all!

(Folks, I'm posting this at around 1 am. Toast can seem really profound at 1 am.)

Webcam Really Working Now - Woo Hoo!!!

Click on the Webcam link on the upper right of this blog page ("View Webcam") to see if the light's on.

Light ON = Come on over...pop by...swing through...drop in...hang out...loiter around...lounge about...crawl, um, under(?)

You get the idea.

I am what I eat

...and so today I am a dark chocolate truffle with gold on top from Fran’s.

I've been worse things.

"Okay, okay, I get it! I didn't get the job!"

So I'm applying for a bunch of federal, state, and local jobs. All in all, the application process isn't too bad since a lot of it is automated.

Kind of nice, really, to live in an age when employers prefer to get resumes online.

Anyway, the flipside of that automated convenience was highlighted yesterday when I opened my email and saw multiple messages about a job with DHS I'd applied for. Not 1, not 2, not 3, but 6 separate messages letting me know I didn't get the job.

I think the funny part is that the messages weren't all duplicates - there were 3 different versions! One version said I was qualified but not the most qualified, one said I was qualified but not selected and that my resume would remain on file, and one said that I was not qualified and why don't I go jump off a cliff or something.

One job, 6 rejection letters, no waiting.

The bigger question this brings to mind is this: should I be concerned that for a single position, a federal agency appears to have three different HR departments making decisions? Can such an agency really be adequately handling the security of our borders, ports, imported commerce, and so on in conjunction with other federal agencies? And aren't Republicans - who created DHS - supposed to be in favor of smaller government??

Eh, what do I know. I can't sleep because I'm stressed about trying to start up our cookie business, so I'm watching Women's World Cup at 5 am...

Go USA!

Webcam Update

Okay, the first attempt didn't work, so we're trying something else, which involves wirelessly networking our laptop with the main 'puter, and setting up the webcam through the laptop to capture images live... but we still haven't figured out how to get it all on to the blog live.

If you have knowledge on how to do this, we will reward your assistance with cookies. Or cake. Or maybe something healthier.

In any event, stay tuned.

Mortality, marriage, mom; y' know, every day stuff

Yesterday was our 5 year anniversary. It was a pretty chill day, we didn't really do anything special to celebrate (had a friend over for dinner for unrelated reasons), and I'm coming to think sometimes that the simple act of making it for any length of time together is remarkable, much less doing so happily.

As a nod to how tenuous things can be, I should note that he saved my life a couple weeks ago when I choked on dinner. I remember thinking at the time that it would be a really dumb way to die, and that I had no control over what happened next. Strange, but I was nowhere near as panicky as one might expect of a control freak like me - at least, I didn't feel panicky. Not really sure how I looked.

That and developments concerning other people both just made me sit back and realize that even finding someone to share a few laughs with is a big friggin victory, much less making it to 34 years old (35 this month!) with almost 9 years with that same someone.

So, I'm declaring this whole life endeavor a success, and everything else that comes next is bonus.

Unrelated, but cool nonetheless:
How cool is my mom? She just let me drag her through setting up a gmail account and a blog over the phone because I want her to start writing about all the books she reads. I think it's so cool that she's only days from turning %*# and she's joining the blogosphere! Check out her blog at the link at the bottom of the page.

Soccer and sleeplessness

Argh, so tired.

Womens World Cup (WWC) is currently going in China, and we stayed up until after 4 am this morning watching games broadcast live.

High point: watching the German team set a new WWC record by scoring a high of 11 points against Argentina in the opening game. 11 points!! (Sure, that meant that Paul and I lost a bet to John on how many goals would be scored overall, but what a wild game.) That kind of thing just doesn't happen in soccer often, so it was a fascinating cringe-fest, especially since the Argentine goalie was solely responsible for two of those goals.

She had a bad, bad night.

Low point: Watching the US women play to a 2-2 tie against North Korea; Since when did DPRK have enough food to feed 20 women to play a sport, and how did they get them to play so well? Here's hoping the US team is able to pick it up in later games.

Either way, our neighbors must wonder what we're cheering about so loudly at 3 am. Yeah, we're THOSE people.

Finals on September 30th. Games on espn and CBC... possibly other channels that I don't know about.

This ain't no deep fried sissy soft shell crab

My spousal unit is happy.

Really really happy.

For those of you not familiar with the bounty one gets with King crab, these pictures are a good illustration.

That's right, those are just the legs. He got those at the grocery store today, brought em home and cooked em up. A little bit of butter....mmmmmmm.

In other news ---------------
Absolutely perfect weather today, which was fortuitous because I had a soccer game in th early evening. It felt really good to get back out there after 2 weeks off. Getting psyched about Women's World Cup starting up tomorrow; Germany vs. Argentina. We're going to try to make some German or Argentine food.... but it could always end up being pizza if we're lazy.

Had a work meeting Friday night on our porch swing. Mixed up some froofy drinks, set up a tray of chips and salsa, and had a grand time swinging in a late summer evening discussing next steps for Jet City Cakes. So THIS is why people go into business for themselves.

Well, that and the night sweats. We're starting to think about making cookies a more key part of the business, but we have a lot to think about on that. Lots of friends have offered their help and insight; that support has been unexpected and pretty cool.

Finally, this is a cake we did last week. It's of a friends' house, and I contributed a good amount of the detail work. (That's code for "admire the detail on the brick chimney and penants")

Come on over if the light's on!

I'm totally excited: we just set up our webcam so anyone can check if we're up for visitors.
Check out the link at the right ------------>>>>>>>>
If the neon cocktail light is on, come on over!

Welcome to the first posting!

I've some new-found freedoms of late, and have decided to enjoy them by putting together a blog.
The title - A Small Slice - is meant to suggest that this won't be a dumping ground for every minor event. Rather, this space will be for jotting down small slices of life, the key moments or developments that resonate.
Links and comments are welcome and appreciated!