We woke up this morning dead set on heading to Jackson Hewitt and landing a killer return. We were going to invest, do some home improvements, put back for a vacation. We were excited.
We walked out of the Jackson Hewitt office with a $1,600 bill payable to the US Treasury Department. Oh yeah, and two exclusive t-shirts.
My wife reached the glowing age of 30 at 12:35 p.m. this past Wednesday. To celebrate I took her out to dinner. Seeing how it was Ash Wednesday, our dining selections were limited. Elise said she wanted “Sushi, Italian or seafood”. I thought seafood sounded peachy so we went to Truluck’s.
After waiting for 20 minutes for a table, we were seated at a cozy booth adjacent to the on-display kitchen. Our waitress, Issa was prompt and very helpful in selecting wine, appetizers and entrees.
Issa returned after leaving us with a wine list and asked if we had come to a decision. I looked to Elise and said “What would you like, birthday girl?”
Issa quickly responded: “Oh, it’s your birthday?!” To which Elise replied: “Yes, it’s my 30th”.
I don’t know how it is that females know these sorts of things, but the astrology discussion ensued. “So you’re an Aquarius?” Issa pointed out.
“Yes I am!” Elise said.
“I’m a Capricorn!” said Issa.
“Tee hee” giggled Elise.
“Hee hee” chirped Issa.
“Oooooh, then your birth stone must be the Amethyst!” said Issa proudly.
“Yes, it is!” Elise applauded.
“Did you know that some signs actually have two stones?!?!” Issa proclaimed.
Not to be left out of this riveting conversation, I chimed in and said:
“I have two stones. Whaddya think of that?”
We all laughed.
Elise and I shared a nice bottle of woody Cabernet Sauvignon. I don’t recall the name and the website’s wine list isn’t up-to-date.
We forwent appetizers as we had some leftover cheese and crackers at the house earlier that evening.
For dinner Elise ordered the Seared Sesame-Crusted Tuna with Tamari wine sauce. I chose the Jalapeno Salmon Bearnaise with sautéed jumbo lump crab meat and gulf shrimp. Elise’s tuna was fantasic – sashimi grade tuna that melts in your mouth! My salmon was good. Halfway through the meal I remembered that it was supposed to be topped with a jalapeno bearnaise. I didn’t taste nor feel any heat from jalapeno.
After our entrees Issa brought us a complimentary Chocolate Bomb – a giant double chocolate truffle drizzled with white chocolate topped with a birthday sparkler.
After dinner we walked across the street to Ringers, a new upscale sports bar that our friend partly owns. Said friend greeted us at the door where we paid many compliments to the new establishment. Elise and I were treated to a couple drinks and lively banter from the bartenders.
Midnight came quickly and the birthday girl and I headed home. With the party this past saturday and a romantic night alone, I think Elise had a very nice birthday.
This past Saturday I threw a birthday party for Elise and our friend Michelle. Said party made for a lot of planning and preparation but it was all worth while. Jen and Kari drove in from Dallas (Kari flew in from Minneapolis!) late Friday and helped out a lot.
Although Elise was one of the honorees, she did most of the work. I guess that’s par for the course when you’re a caterer. Along with the help of Jen and Kari, Elise ordered most of the food, the margarita machine from Greg over at Party Machines, a keg and all of the decorations. I spent all day Saturday at Garden Ridge picking up tiki torches and at Central Market getting various noshes and stuff for sauces.
The party went well and although we haven’t talked to many of the attendees since, I think it’s safe to assume that everyone had a great time. Here are photos from the party.
| Note to self: Watching The Notebook with your wife’s head resting on your shoulder will render a very wet, tear and snot soaked shirt. |
Last Thursday was extra special for Elise and me. We went to the Y Bar and Grill for a nice dinner where John and Christine asked us to be Jack’s Godparents. We gratefully accepted the offer.
John and I go way back. We’ve spent countless hours talking, lauging, crying and spilling our guts to one another. We’ve done good things, bad things and things we still haven’t figured out. I feel as if we became family the day that we met.
Since Christine came into John’s life and Elise into mine, our family has become tighter. With the addition of Jack, that bond has grown exponentially.
Elise and I are looking forward to many, many more years with John, Christine and Jack in our lives!
“Mmmmm. Thank you. I consider myself a good cook, but I have to admit I still can learn from you.”
– Joanne Boeckman (AKA My 2nd Mom)
Now that’s a pretty cool message to get from my mom-in-law (aside from the undying love I get from the both of them!) And Joanne is a damn good cook!
“If you change three ingredients in a recipe, you can call it yours”
– Jeff Blank
I did just that when I made chicken enchiladas with a fiery Godiva mole. I’ve tried making mole in the past… not so good. It was so bad that my friend Victor couldn’t even eat it.
Mole is a complicated sauce that has endless varieties. I made mine with some awesome Sandia peppers that I picked up at the Austin hot sauce festival. I also used anchos, garlic, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, brown sugar, jalapenos, carrots, celery, Godiva chocolate, Vidalia onions, tomatoes, yadah, yadah and a lot of love. The best enchiladas I think I’ve ever had (but I’m biased). The mole was spicier than I expected but Elise and I can handle the heat.
I reached the age of 29 this afternoon at 2:51. I’ve realized a few things. It’s scary to find myself saying things like “Gosh, I remember 20 years ago when…” I’ve realized that things like tattoos, piercings, leopard spotted hair bleach treatments and funky clothes don’t suit me as well any more. I’ve realized that I don’t mind when the girl at Supercuts trims my ear hair without asking. I’ve realized that Profit & Loss statments, property taxes and fiber mean more to me than I thought they ever would.
But the most important thing that I’ve realized is that I don’t care. I’m not going to worry about how old I am. I’m happy with who I am and what I’ve accomplished in life so far. I know that I’m a good person and I have hopes and dreams that get me up in the morning.
I also have a wife that’s older than me. I’ll let her take care of getting old.
I treated myself to sleeping in this morning. It didn’t help that Elise and I stayed up until after 1 a.m. watching Metallica’s Some Kind of Monster DVD.
I got to work at 10 a.m. and met with my boss for two hours. I know he didn’t mind me showing up late because he knew of the shitty day I had yesterday. He and I went over outside sales stuff and other business. Kevin bought the office lunch from Russo’s and a bottle of Dewar’s for your humble narrator.
Later this afternoon our DHL guy showed up for his daily pick up and also had a package for me. Mom & Dad Boeckman sent me a sweet card, the American Chopper: At Full Throttle book and a bottle of Mr. Moto motorcycle cleaner. A very cool themed birthday present. I’m looking forward to reading the book and using the Mr. Moto to get the trusty Shadow spiffy for this Spring.
Yesterday I received one of my Mom’s signature customized birthday cards along with some cashola that I’m going to put away for Elise’s and my eventual trip to Prague.
This morning I woke up to a sweet card from Elise along with a box of Haribo gummi bears (I’m very particular about my gummi bears). This past weekend she bought me a Turtle Beach Video Advantage PCI capture card.
Unfortunately aforementioned wife has to work all night. I’m going to cuddle up with my bottle of Dewar’s and watch American Idol. See, when you’re 29, pop television becomes mainstay. As does fiber.
Just when I thought today couldn’t get any worse – it did. I answered one of our phone lines this afternoon because the girls were all busy putting away inventory.
“Hi, this is Josh, can I help you?”
“Uhhh, Josh, I’d like to place an order…”
“Okay, which pharmacy?”
“Actually, can I put my order in with someone else?”
“Uhhhh… sure. May I ask why?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Because last time I called to place an order, you took it and it was a confusing ordeal.”
That pissed me off and heightened my bad mood.
After work I went to TKD. Clyde and I sparred pretty hard. Now I feel better
Every once in a while my job really sucks. Today was one of those once in a whiles. Being in management sometimes makes me miss the days when I squeezed dog butts for a living.
A customer called and chewed me a new asshole. The gloves came off and I was made to feel like I was an inch tall. No punches were pulled.
It was one of those calls where you try every friendly customer service rebuttal but you might as well just say “Yes, yes, you’re right, I suck.”
So, being the person that I am (still 1 inch in stature) I have to look at this as a learning experience and generate an action plan. That’s business talk for crawl into bed with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and cry.
But really – I handled the call as best I could and took the exchange as constructive criticism.
My original Tae Kwon Do instructor always told me: “You never learn by winning all the time.” Meaning: when you get your ass kicked, learn how to prevent it next time.
I hate reading other peoples’ blogs – well, unless they’re someone that I know personally.
Elise has pointed out that I have a man crush on Andy Rutledge. I found Andy’s site after Googling “thunderbird drag and drop attachments“.
So I found a personal website that I’ll take the time to check regularly. Elise will probably start checking my Trapper Keeper for doodles of “Josh + Andy”.
I usually come up with my best recipes somewhere between the time that I go to sleep and the time that I actually start cooking. It’s a very complicated process.
On Sunday I woke up and announced to my wife and the slumbering cats that I was going to barbeque chicken. I did just that and I must admit, I did (I think) an awesome job.
For my sauce I reduced 24 oz. of Coke to ~ 5 oz. I then added 12 oz. of crushed tomatoes, sauteed onions and garlic, then some Worchestershire, Soy, Thai chilies, chipotles, a Cab Sav reduction, a splash of Dr. Pepper, another splash of beer, paprika and chili powder, salt and pepper. I let the sauce slow cook for a couple hours and then took the trusty boat motor to it.
I rubbed an organic whole chicken with 1/4 c. Johnny Beans coffee, salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika and thyme. I slow grilled it with a makeshift smoker (oak chips wrapped in foil) for ~ an hour.
I tossed a couple cans of pork ‘n bean in a pot with some sweated vidalias and brown sugar.
All made for an awesome BBQ chicken dinner and some good NFL playoff games. I wish I had written down my recipe for the sauce. Oh well… I’ll figure it out again (and hopefully make it better)
I usually come up with my best recipes somewhere between the time that I go to sleep and the time that I actually start cooking. It’s a very complicated process.
On Sunday I woke up and announced to my wife and the slumbering cats that I was going to barbeque chicken.
For my sauce I reduced 24 oz. of Coke to ~ 5 oz. I then added 12 oz. of crushed tomatoes, sauteed onions and garlic, then some Worchestershire, Soy, Thai chilies, chipotles, a Cab Sav reduction, a splash of Dr. Pepper, another splash of beer, paprika and chili powder, salt and pepper. I let the sauce slow cook for a couple hours and then took the trusty boat motor to it.
I rubbed an organic whole chicken with 1/4 c. Johnny Beans coffee, salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika and thyme. I slow grilled it with a makeshift smoker (oak chips wrapped in foil) for ~ an hour.
I tossed a couple cans of pork ‘n bean in a pot with some sweated vidalias and brown sugar.
All made for an awesome BBQ chicken dinner and some good NFL playoff games. I wish I had written down my recipe for the sauce.
