Tag: jason

Thanksgiving dinner

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We had a great Thanksgiving dinner last night. First, we had everyone over at Mom and Dad’s: me, he110_sunshine, stubiebrother, Doug, Rachel, Ruby and Carson. This year was a non-traditional year for dinner. We had excellent crab legs, delicious prime rib, rice, and broccoli. There was plenty of food and it was all delicious. Doug and Rachel made dessert. We sipped drinks after dinner, it was a lot of fun.

I was exhausted soon after dinner, but we stayed up so that Mom, Jen and Jason could watch Gray’s Anatomy. Jen, Jason and I slept on air mattresses down in the living room. Lights were out by 10:30 PM and I slept really well.

We were up at around 7:30 this morning. I was hungry as soon as I woke up. Mom made me chocolate chip pancakes. I ate 6 of them and they hit the spot. Doug, Jason and I head off to our Scuba lesson in about half an hour. Meanwhile, Jen and Rachel are going to their spa treatments soon. I think they are going shopping later. Today is black Friday. But if you ask me, you’ve got to be crazy to go shopping today.

New York weekend, day 2

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[Written on November 13, 2007]

I was up early, 5 AM, and couldn’t really sleep thereafter. Norm and Vicky had some early errands to run and so I was up to see them off and say goodbye. I’d said goodbye to them the night before, and I would say goodbye to them one more time, as they returned sooner than expected.

A day in New York City

Happy Anniversary, Jen and Jason!

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Yes, today is the two-year wedding anniversary of he11o_sunshine and stubiebrother and writing those words makes me realize just how quickly time is flying by. Two years already? Jen and Jason spent a romantic weekend in Mystic, Connecticut to celebrate their anniversary.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, GUYS!

Hope you had a great weekend, and a great day today. Looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks.

Snails and Frogs and Creme Brule, Oh My!

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Posted at about 9:27 PM local time

When we last saw our Fearless Hero, he was about to kill a few hours after making his last post and before going to dinner. And so he did. I grabbed my book, ordered up an Ultimate Mai-Tai from one of the bars, and then headed out onto Deck 7, starboard side. It was quiet and warm outside and I quickly found a comfortably cushioned seat on which to relax. Drinking my Mai-tai, I tried to read my book, but the view of the islands in the harbor and the light blue water was pretty distracting, to say nothing of the approaching planes (of which I took several pictures). Eventually, I dozed off out there and by the time I woke up, it was nearly dinner time.

Read all about it

Take me out to the ballgame

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This morning, Jen, Jason and I headed to Plato’s Diner for breakfast. I’d never been there before, although I’d past by it many times. After breakfast, we headed up to Baltimore for the ballgame.

Jen headed to the Inner Harbor and Jason and I went to the game. We stayed for 6 full innings before we had to leave so that I could take them to the bus stop in downtown Baltimore for their ride back to New York. Jen managed to get some shopping done for our big trip, which is only about 3 weeks away.

The Orioles were losing 3-1 to Colorado when we left the game. The ended up losing 6-1.

Saturday in D.C.

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We were all up by about 8:30 AM and headed to IHOP for breakfast. After breakfast, we headed back to the house and then across the street to the park. Jason and I threw a ball around while Jen sat on a bench and read. It wasn’t too long before my right arm was aching and I needed to call it quits.

We walked around the neighborhood and through the gardens at the Riversdale Mansion, and then finally back to the house, where we watched TV for a while, while Jen took a nap.

Eventually, we headed downtown to Austin Grill, and sat outside, having some drinks and appetizers. The weather was perfect, especially in the shade, with a very nice breeze blowing and we sat around for a while soaking it all up. We had 5:30 PM tickets to see Ocean’s 13 and so after leaving the restaurant, we took a leisurely walk along the Mall, heading toward Foggy Bottom, and finally, Georgetown, where we saw the movie.

After the movie, we walked to the waterfront and eventually ended up a Sequoia, where we waited at the bar for about 45 minutes until our table was ready. We got an outdoor table, and had a leisurely, late dinner. I had the steak filet and it was delicious, as was the chocolate cake I had for dessert. By the time dinner was over, I think we were all pretty tired and we walked back to the Foggy Bottom metro station, and lucked out: we didn’t have to wait long for either of the trains we took back home. It was a fun day, but a long one.

A day in the city

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Jason left before 5 AM this morning to head to a NASCAR-thing that one of his client’s was sponsoring. Still, Jen and I were up pretty early and headed out for a walk in the park. We stopped to watch a few innings of a little league game, and then meandered through the park until we reached the Boathouse Restaurant, where we stopped for brunch. As usual, the Boathouse brunch was delicious. I had the steak and eggs, and it was the first time I can recall ever ordering steak and eggs off of a menu.

We continued through the park, finally relaxing on a bench for a while. Jen had called Jon and Hollie to see if they were around and they called us back while we were sitting, and we headed over to their place to visit. I got to meet William for the first time, who is a very cute, extremely well-behaved baby. And I got to see their place now that their kitchen remodeling was complete. We spent a few hours there and then headed back across to the park toward home.

We decided to stop at Mustang, and sat outside next to a large street fair on Second Ave. We had some drinks, and went through plenty of appetizers and desserts, spending a couple of hours sitting, talking, people watching. It was a lot of fun.

Jason got home later in the evening and we headed to a local Italian place for dinner and by that time, I was pretty beat. We watched some TV after we got back to their place, but it wasn’t long before we were getting ready for bed.

Dinner and dessert, NYC-style

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When I got to Jen and Jason’s the apartment was already filled with the smell of cooking. Jen was making dinner and it was worth the wait (we watched the Yankees game while we waited. When dinner was served, it was delicious. he11o_sunshine will have to describe exactly what she did, but she made a pork dish of some kind with an outstanding sauce, and a spicy broccoli side, both of which had me digging for seconds.

For dessert, we took the train to Union Square and headed into Max Brenner‘s. If you’ve never been there before, and you love chocolate, then you must make a pilgrimage. Almost everything on the menu is chocolate (Jason even had a chocolate beer!) and delicious!

The evening air was almost Hawaiian in it’s quality and we decided to see if we could walk from Union Square back to Jen and Jason’s place on 85th, and only stopped because Jason has to get up very early in the morning and needed to go to bed.

Heading to New York!

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I was up at 8 AM this morning, and headed to IHOP for breakfast. While there, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do this weekend. I had fun at happy hour last night, but had no plans this weekend. I wasn’t in the writing mood, and didn’t feel like going to see a movie. I put off any decisions until I got my haircut. When I got home, I called he110_sunshine and jkashlock and asked what they were doing. Not much today. So I decided to head up to the City.

I’m on the 2 PM Acela, so I have about an hour before I have to catch a taxi to Union Station. I’ve got a few things to take care of here and then I’m on my way. It’s warm here and in New York, and I’m packing light, since I won’t be gone for very long. But it should be fun. I called vickyandnorm to see what they were up to and to see if they might want to meander down into the City tomorrow and hang out for a while. They graciously agreed to talk about it and see if they could make it. Hopefully they can. I haven’t seen them since their second wedding back in April and likely won’t get to see them again until late July at the earliest.

He comes home a winner (Las Vegas, Day 2)

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Yesterday was a long day and today felt even longer. You already know that yesterday (Sunday) started at about 6 AM for me, when I headed to the gym for a light workout (arms and shoulders). Well, eventually, Jen and Jason got up and we all scrambled off to First Breakfast. I had a massive waffle with a hunk of whipped cream the size of a softball on it. After breakfast, we went back to the room, but with Doug still sound asleep, we figured we needed to be elsewhere.

Las Vegas, Day 2

Saturday surprise!

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[Written on May 27 and backdated to May 26]

Saturday was a long day! I was up at 5 AM because I couldn’t sleep any longer. I packed up the remainder of my stuff and headed off to LAX to catch my plane to Las Vegas. There were no lines. I checked in at the Premier check-in counter, went through the premium security “line” (there was no one in line) and was at my gate 10 minutes after arriving at the airport.

I had some time to kill so I watched the season finale of Heroes which I hadn’t seen yet, and which I thought was terrific! I made sure I was the first person on the plane because I didn’t want to run into Mom and Dad, who were taking a flight about 2 hours after mine. Mom was still in the dark about the big surprise in Vegas. She thought I was flying home today.

The flight was short and uneventful. So short, in fact, that I couldn’t complete the crossword puzzle in the magazine. When I got to the gate, I found that he11o_sunshine and jkashlock‘s flight was getting in early, so I walked over to their gate to meet them. We then headed to baggage claim so I could get my bag. We were also able to check into the hotel. All that was left was to wait for Doug.

His flight got in early but we couldn’t find him and he wasn’t answering his phone. Finally, at close to 11 AM, Jen spotted him wandering around upstairs. We found out that his phone was broken and he had been wandering around looking for us. We caught a taxi to the hotel, checked in, and then headed to another hotel for lunch so that we didn’t run into Mom and Dad prematurely.

Finally, around 2 PM or so, Dad called and told us to meet him at the Bally’s sports book. We walked over there (in the near 100 degree sun) and met him. He led us to where mom was sitting at video poker. He told her he had a surprise for her, while we all hung back. She closed her eyes as instructed and we all stood around her. Then she opened her eyes. From her reaction, I think she was pretty surprised!

Lots of activities the rest of the day. We had drinks at a bar in the Bellagio. Then we decided to go to the pool, which we did. I would be remiss to mention the fact that at one point, I was spirited away by a bunch of bachelorettes, as a part of a bachelorette party, which Doug and Jason would have no part in. I didn’t mind. After, I went back to the hotel room to rest for a little while. At 6:30, we headed to Emeril’s for dinner. More drinks. And excellent food. Doug and I shared some tuna steak tartare for an appetizer and I had–you guessed it–the copper river salmon for the main course.

After dinner people wanted to go gamble but I was beat. I headed back up to the room and went to sleep. I don’t even remember Jen and Jason getting back. But I did hear Doug come in just before 3 AM. He had lots of beads and he said he’d lost $100 all told. It was a fun day.

One Sunday, two breakfasts

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I was up sometime around 7:30 AM when I noticed that the power was out in the house. (Ironic, because the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN article I had been reading was called “Preventing Blackouts” by Massoud Amin and Phillip F. Schewe (May 2007)) Jen said she’d heard a gunshot-like sound and I figured it was a transformer. Later in the morning, I heard some repair trucks and after about an hour, the power went back on.

We had breakfast at IHOP and then headed to Buddy Attick lake for a walk around the lake, which was very pleasant. It was a beautiful day out. Afterwards, we headed back to the house and Jen packed up her things and we headed downtown.

We took the Green line to Mt. Vernon Square and then walked over the M and 10th, where Jason was staying with his friends. They were cooking a big brunch (thus, one Sunday, two breakfasts). We spent a few hours there and it was fun. We listened to retro-80s music while eating omelettes and hash browns and bacon and drinking mimosas and bloody mary’s.

At about 3 PM, Jen and Jason headed for their bus and I headed home. I spent much of the rest of the afternoon dividing my time between trying to finish up the May 2007 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN and napping. The remainder of the day ended up being equally lazy.