Slacker

Well, I have been putting off the blogging long enough. Things have been quite eventful in our house over the last two and a half months, and frankly, I just haven't had the energy to blog. But I'm making my comeback, and be warned, this post is kind of long:

1. Brad Pitt, David Beckham, and Derek Prosser

These three guys have something else in common besides their good looks. Brad Pitt played Achilles in the movie Troy, David Beckham tore his Achilles, and alas, so did Derek. The last week of February, Derek was playing basketball with some guys he had met and after taking a shot, took off to get the rebound, and well, let's just say he didn't go anywhere. Apparently, your Achilles is kind of important for purposes of walking (or pretty much anything). Long story short, he was diagnosed with a fully ruptured Achilles, had surgery, and then began the 6 to 9 month (yes, I said month) process of healing. This started with two phases of a splint for 2 weeks each, two different casts for 2 weeks each (all of which on crutches), and then finally a walking boot. Did I mention that we live in a three story townhouse? Awesome. The good news is that he has officially graduated from crutches and has started therapy, which now includes doing short amounts of walking (not to mention the fact that he can now make dinner again :) He goes back to the doctor this Thursday for an update and (fingers crossed) hopefully he can begin the phase out of the boot.


Phase 1 - Pre-surgery.


Edible Arrangement from his work.


Phase 3 - First hard cast.

2. Run On

I've officially been keeping up with my running now for almost a year. A friend of mine from work and I ran the National Half Marathon in March, and it was awesome. It was a pretty quick course, and the weather was absolutely perfect. My dad, brother, Adai, and I all ran in a 5K in Frisco when I was visiting in April -- the best part of which was having breakfast tacos after. My dad and I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon in October, so I started my new training program last week. I have a feeling that there will be some tough long runs this summer, but it will be worth it.

3. 1 Year Ago

Well, it has officially been a year since we moved into our townhouse (and a year since I started this blog). After taking a little time off of on the renovation front, we picked it up again -- this time with landscaping. We (read Kirk) tore out a bunch of old broken shrubs, and planted 20 new plants/bushes, laid down new edgers, and covered it all with 123 bags of pound pebbles (each weighing about 40 lbs a piece). Loree was here to help us pick out the right flowers (since I have no idea what I'm doing). I've actually done a pretty good job -- nothing has died yet. We also painted our living room and entry way, so I think we are ready for another break for a while.


The brains and the brawn.


Derek and Reggie supervising our work.

4. Family and Friends

March and April were full of family and friends. Kirk came back out here in March (Reggie is very excited) and Derek's mom came to visit in April. As usual, we put her to work on landscaping. Luckily, she got in some good sightseeing at the annual Cherry Blossom Festival and hang out time with everyone. Derek's brother Blake and his girlfriend Anna came to visit for a weekend, and at the same time, Derek's good friend Grant and his wife Katherine were visiting. We had a lot of fun grilling out, drinking margaritas, and listening to music.






Grant and Katherine.


Anna and Blake.


The Brothers.

5. Food

Here's a little view of what we've been cooking the last few months:


Egg, bacon, and cheese sandwich.


Pork chop with beer pancetta gravy and rosemary roasted red potatoes.


Apple pie for Kirk's birthday.


Lobster tails for Valentine's Day.


Bread pudding with bourbon caramel sauce.


Mint juleps for the Derby.


The best dessert on Earth -- aka Kentucky Derby Pie.


Bobby Flay Mesa Grill Margarita (watch out these are strong).


Bobby Flay Mesa Grill burger with grilled sweet potato fries.

Ok, well congratulations if you made it this far. I will try to do a better job of staying up to date.