Bonspielin' It

So we ventured to Boston two weekends ago for the curling bonspiel. The guys & Christen did great! They were playing against people who had been playing 5 years or less (they have only been curling for about 6 months) and they got 4th place out of 16 teams. Pretty impressive to say the least. There was some curling drama along the way.

We left on Friday afternoon for Boston. After getting to our hotel and settling in a bit we made our way down to The Country Club. Yes, it was called "The Country Club", very snobby and pretentious. At The Country Club they have a curling arena...very impressive next to the one we go to in Bridgeport. When you walk in you are on the ice level and then you can go up the stairs and there is a bar, a fireplace and a glass wall so you can watch what is happening below. Pish, posh! You were not allowed to wear jeans, so everyone is in the Sunday best upstairs, while everyone downstairs on the ice is in sweats and shirts.

The team had dinner to go to and Wendy and I (Wendy goes to school with Jeremy and her husband is on the team) went to dinner on our own...we weren't allowed to hang with the curlers. We had a great dinner, with a fab waiter and were very happy and then we went to The Club to be supportive wives and cheer on our men. All of us didn't really expect our team to go far since this was their first bonspiel...boy were we wrong!

During the gang's first game everyone was super excited because it was a really close game. There were 4 teams total from Bridgeport, so while our team was on the ice everyone was upstairs watching. If you don't know it yet, curling is synonymous with drinking. So everyone was upstairs, watching behind the glass, and enjoying some adult beverages. The curling peeps from Bridgeport were a little loud and rambunctious. They started getting really into the game, there was some yelling, there was some waiving, and then there was one really mad dude down on the ice.

Dan Nailor is a skinny little dude who got very, very angry. Like I said, it was getting pretty loud upstairs and the Bridgeport curlers didn't like the calls that our skip was making. I don't know if you could hear them down on the ice, but Dan looked up and shot us all the death glare and put his finger up to his mouth as to say, "Shut the hell up!" He would have actually probably yelled this if curling wasn't such a gentleman's game. Actually he looked like he was ready to run up the stairs and strangle someone. Needless to say, it was an extremely close game and came down to a single shot...Nailor's shot. Nailor ended up tying in that end and really even without the so-called "coaching" from upstairs, that is really all his team could have done. So it came down to one last end and our team pulled it out and won. Well, Nailor was such a poor sport and wouldn't sit with his team and our team after the match. This is simply rude. In curling, after the match is done, both teams sit at a table and the winners buy the losers first round. It was not a great end to an awesome game. Jeremy and his teammates didn't do anything wrong, but Nailor was just an ass. He tried to get the game overturned, but was unsuccessful. Really, the Bridgeport people were not coaching the team downstairs. They were loud and should have known better, but what can you do?

Anyways, we were pumped that our boys and Christen won their first game Friday night. On Saturday the team went back to the ice to play two more games. Wendy and I tooled around Boston and had a fabulous day. We were excited to learn in the early afternoon that they had won their second game and would be playing again on Sunday...possibly in the finals. The team lost their third game, but played well so they were happy. Fun was had by all in downtown Boston on Saturday evening. Sunday morning we all got up and went to the Country Club. This was a big deal. Our team was in the finals!!! It was very ceremonious. There was a bagpiper that lead all the teams down onto the ice. Everyone proceeded to march around the ice and then it was ended with a shot of Drambuie.

I have to mention that Jeremy was the sickest I had ever seen him on Thursday before we left, but he rallied and would not have missed this bonspiel for anything. Another teammate was sick as well. I don't think the shot did either of them any good. The team looked drained out on the ice. Wendy and I were frustrated just watching. Needless to say, they got creamed in their last game, but still came out overall in fourth place. Not too shabby for their first bonspiel!!! Everyone was happy with the way things turned out and then I got to drive a car of sleeping sick people home in the rain.

Since the bonspiel, life in CT has been pretty quiet. We just hung around last weekend and nothing exciting happened. We thought Spring was on it's way, but we just had another snow storm that came in Sunday night. Hopefully it is the last snow we will see, I really can't take any more!!!

It also needs to start warming a bit because I am sick and tired of running on the treadmill. I am training for a half marathon on April 5th and almost all of my runs have been done at the gym. Running for over an hour on a treadmill is not exciting in the least, but I just can't bear to run outside yet. It is still cold and snow is on the ground. I miss SD and the ability to run outdoors year-round. You really don't appreciate what you have until it's gone. Anyways, it's cold. I know...I need to get over it. Hopefully Spring will decide to start soon!!!

Keepin On

So...Happy New Year!! Wow, it's been a while since I've written. We brought in our New Year with a bang...well, I guess I brought it in with a bang. As in my butt making a large bang noise as I fell down the steps at our friend's apartment. My first fall of 2009! It was a good one. I had a large bruise on my buttocks for about 2 weeks. No, I didn't fall because I was drunk either...well, maybe a little tipsy!

We braved the snow and went to a New Year's party at our friend Erem's house. We celebrated the new year their last year as well. This year the festivities turned into an all out dance party thanks to my ipod mix! It was really fun. I actually only had 2 drinks because I was leaving for Prague the next day, but since I didn't eat dinner...I was good to go. Everyone had a great time and we counted down the ball dropping...such a silly holiday, but it was a fun one!

If you've been watching the news, you would know that the weather here has been super cold. Everyone in the area is saying there hasn't been a winter this cold in quite some time. Last year's winter was a joke in comparison to what we've endured this winter. The good news is...things may be looking up!

We had our first short taste of spring this past Sunday. We had a record breaking temperature of 50. I never in my life would have thought that 50 would be considered “warm” in my book. I was excited for days upon hearing that it was going to be 50 on Sunday, and sure enough…the weather forecasters did not disappoint. It was warm and lovely. I was excited because I could actually run outside. I am prepping to do a half marathon on April 5th, so it was nice to do a longer run outside and not on the treadmill. Today it is in the 40s, so I’m not sure how long this “nice, warm” weather will last. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible. It’s nice too because after two quite large heating bills, we have both decided to turn on the heater as little as possible. This means we are cold most of the time and I am now wearing my heavy coat indoors. It’s pretty hilarious!

January was a blur. I was in Prague for the beginning of January and Jeremy went to California almost as soon as I got back. The secret to our relationship is to keep it as long distance as possible. Ha ha! Actually, the past couple of weekends we have been enjoying some quiet time and catching up on Lost and seeing some movies. We are all caught up on Lost (it only took a couple months to watch 4 seasons), so now we can actually talk to people about it in real time! We have seen Slumdog Millionaire and this past weekend saw Milk. Both movies were great, but Milk really deserves an Oscar.

Jeremy is still curling. He’s had a couple weeks off, but on February 20th we are going to Boston. His team is competing in their first away bonspiel. They are excited, and Wendy and I (the supportive curling wives) plan to watch their tournament on Friday and then have some fun in Boston on Saturday while the curling continues. I’m sure there will be good stories coming up.

Recently, we went over to a friend’s house and watch Labyrinth. This was one of my fave movies from when I was a kid. Let me tell you…David Bowie and his tights were amazing! I had really forgotten most of the movie, but as I was re-watching it…it all came back to me. Jeremy had never seen Labyrinth before and I think he liked it. Some people there didn’t get it, but hey--their loss.

Here are some winter pictures along with some Prague pictures…enjoy!

Me with an ice-sicle from our roof

the astronomical clock-close up


approaching the clock

the city from above

old town square at night snowing

xmas lights still up

corridor in Prague

view from start of the Charles Bridge

We've got Flair

I know, I know…it’s been forever since I have updated. Life has just been busy. Anyways, a lot of stuff has happened since I last wrote so let’s get too it.

Jeremy and I competed in our first bonspiel at curling. A bonspiel is basically a tournament and the group we play with were stoked to play the girls against boys. Unfortunately the curling club put us all into teams, so we couldn't have our duel. The good news was, Jeremy’s team and my team both won our games and therefore won our first curling pin. We now pin our flair onto our shirts when we play and practice. It’s pretty awesome! The curling club had a Christmas party as well. There was curling, food, and fun. We did the Yankee gift exchange and I came home with a fabulous pair of Lamb Chop slippers, although Gideon and scary Judy kept trying to steal them from me. Not to worry, I prevailed!! The curling season has come to an end for me, but Jeremy has decided to continue on with the sport. I will now plan on being the team’s cheerleader along with another wife/friend. I just decided I do not like being cold, although I am SO glad I tried such a random sport. Here are some pictures from when our guys vs. girls grudge match actually happened. The boys handed us our asses on a platter...it wasn't fun.

preparing to throw

the release

the winners

the losers...they made us smile

We had our first big snow storm a couple weeks ago. In Fairfield we got about 6-8 inches. It was really pretty, but very scary to drive home in. I left work early to avoid the major snow, but Jeremy got stranded in New Haven because the trains stopped running. Here are pictures from when it started from our back porch.

Since it has been the holiday season, we went to our fair share of holiday parties. The best party by far was the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. Jeremy and I could not for the life of us fine ugly sweaters to buy. I looked everywhere—department stores, thrift shops, colleagues…so my bright idea was to make our own. I went to Michael’s and got the corniest Christmas décor I could find and the results were pretty amazing. What can’t hot glue do? We really thought our sweaters were the best. I also had a pair of antlers (pays to work for event companies) and a work pal lent me her light up Christmas light earrings. The earrings really completed my look. During dinner I decided that what my outfit really needed was a wind blowing machine to follow me around so it could blow my hair back and show off these fabulous earrings. Michael and Gideon decided to take on that job. I think their hard work really paid off and made me the belle of the ball. My sweater got more than one use out of it…I wore it Christmas morning. It was so festive I just had to show it off one more time.

Our lovely sweaters

Wind Machine in action

Christmas was really great, my mom came out to visit and I did what any good daughter would do…put her to work! I have been super busy at work preparing for our conference happening in Prague, so on Christmas Eve my mom got to come to work and help me out. Slave labor! Not really, she helped me check some lists and we went to lunch and then the day was pretty much done. After we got home from work I started preparing to make dinner. This was my first Christmas cooking a meal. This is a big deal considering I never use to cook and told my mom I was going to marry a chef and therefore I would never have to cook for her. Well, my mom finally got her wish…Christmas Eve dinner a la Angela. I decided to make a mushroom risotto and let me tell you…it was AMAZING! I’m not just tooting my own horn; this meal could have been sold in a restaurant…seriously! It did take forever to make so I was really happy it came out so good. Jeremy cooked for her on Christmas day…He made a turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and Brussels. It was really good too, but not as good as the risotto!

New Year’s Eve is tomorrow and we plan on going to a party in New Haven. It should be fun and then I leave for Prague on New Year’s Day. I will be gone until January 12th, so once I get back I will be sure to post some pictures.

I have also deleted my vegan blog, not because I'm not eating vegan anymore...I just don't have time to keep up the two blogs. Sorry to anyone who was riveted.

Pie Palooza

Last weekend was the 1st annual Pie Palooza at the Schacalieu house. Pie Night is a tradition of Jeremy's family. They all get together the night before Thanksgiving and everyone brings a pie. We thought it would be fun to get our friends together and have our own pie night early since we will be in Sacramento for Thanksgiving.

Everyone was really pumped to make pies. I had also planned to give out prizes for the best sweet, best savory, and most creative pies. There was some intense competition in the air. We had cards for everyone to write what kind of pie they brought and I made ballots and a voting box so that after everyone was done pie tasting they could vote.

I belive there was about 15 pies on our kitchen table. It was pretty impressive. We had everything from sushi pie to apple pie. All of the pies were very tasty too. Jeremy made an apple pie and I made an avocado enchilada pie. After the votes we tallied we gave out the awards....golden wooden spoons!

The winners were:
Best Sweet: Crapple Pie (cranberry-apple)
Best Savory: Sushi Pie (Eugenia was expecting to take this award & most creative)
Most Creative: Butt Pie (the pie was actually shaped like a butt and chocolate was coming out of the crack)

After the pie portion of the evening, the dance party started. At some point along the night, someone thought it would be fun to start some shenanigans. The next morning I realized that my Mr. Potato Head had been kidnapped!!! We sent out a missing flyer on Sunday. Yesterday, I received a ransom note in the mail, Mr. Potato Head's ear and pictures of him with a duct-taped mouth and his hands are missing.

From the pictures, some people are now more suspect than others. The ransom note said that instructions would follow. I will keep you all updated on the whereabouts of Mr. Potato Head. The people who have done this should be warned that they will have hell to pay. They have opened a bag of worms!!!

Officially a Nutmegger

So I took a day off on Friday so that Jeremy and I could finally make it to the DMV. This would be our 3rd DMV attempt. The first attempt ended in getting lost…damn google map! We were pretty peeved since we had to wake up early on a Saturday. Our second try was on another Saturday, but because of Presidents Day the coming Monday, the DMV was closed. Yes, DMV employees already have Monday off so when the holiday fell on a Monday they needed to take Saturday off. UGH!!! On this last attempt, we got to the DMV (first in line actually) and they opened on time. Things were starting off on the right foot this time! That is until we actually started the process. We told the man behind the counter that we were from out of state and needed a CT driver's license. He then asked for our ID and a bill or letter mailed to our address proving where we lived. SPEED BUMP. I said, "what?" He told us we had to have a piece of mail and I just about lost it. If I was a cartoon, steam would have been coming out of my ears. The very nice DMV man gave us the papers we needed to fill out and told us we would also need a passport or birth certificate as well. I was SO pissed! Of course, I had just cleaned the car out and got rid of any mail that may have been lying around. So, we drove home...me cursing, Jeremy not saying a word.



Alright, so I calmed down on the ride back to the DMV. Fourth time would be a charm, right?!? So we got there, got back in line...to our amazement there really was no line. Got all of our paperwork started and then we had to go and wait for our eye test. The only test we had to do was the eye test. Well, let me tell you....this is where all the waiting came. They only had one person doing the eye test and after he did one test, he went on a coffee break. We never saw him again and some other guy took over. After waiting a half hour, Jeremy got called up. I figured I would be next. Ten minutes later...I was still waiting, 20 minutes later...I was still waiting and Jeremy already had his new license. This sucked since we had to go wait in another line to register the car and since the car is in my name only Jeremy couldn't do it. 30 minutes later...still waiting. I actually met the girl next to me who was also from San Diego. 35 minutes later my name was finally called. Passed the eye test (guess that corrective surgery worked!) and went to sit and wait to get my picture taken. This took another 30 minutes. Just waiting while a whole line of people who were in a different line got their pictures taken. I met another girl from Hawaii. We joked about all the lines and how completely absurd this process was. She said in Hawaii they do it all in one line. So you wait and then after you get up to the counter you are done. Finally I got my ID. The girl I met from SD still wasn't done with her eye test.

Oh! I forgot the BEST part about the CT drivers license. So you pay a certain amount depending on your birthday. You either pay $66 and your license is good for 6 years or you pay $77 and the license is good for 7. Of course, Jeremy, the man who brought us here...away from everyone and everything...gets to pay the $66. I get screwed and have to pay $77. Add it to the list for ridiculous things in Connecticut. Damn nutmeggers!

When we originally came in with all of our forms we had everything for the car registration so they started processing that and we got a "jet pass". You would think having this "jet pass" would be like an express line. Maybe at Disneyland, but not at the Norwalk DMV. All this meant was that we waited in another line. It was a different line from everyone else, but as soon as we got in line, one of the 3 people working there went on break. We only had to wait about 15 minutes in this line, so I guess it wasn't that bad. walked out with our new license plates thanking the good lord that we would never need to go back there. Hopefully the Saturn makes it through this CT venture...otherwise we will have to go back.

Our new favorite sport

Recently, Jeremy and I were introduced to the amazing sport of curling. Eh? What's that you say? What the heck is curling?

Just in case you don't know, curling is an Olympic winter sport. You know...that funny looking game where they yell and are brooming while a circle thing goes down the ice? Yep, that is curling.

Now, I know you are wondering how in the hell we discovered curling. It all started when a new post-doc (Wendy) joined Jeremy's lab. Wendy is married to Michael and they use to live in Michigan where Michael was in a curling league. Upon moving to New Haven, Michael looked up the nearest curling league and lo and behold there was one in Bridgeport. Michael then convinced Jeremy and two other guys from Jeremy's lab to join his curling team. Quickly team names were discussed, among the favorites were...Sparkle Magic, My Little Ponies, and The Sweeping Beauties. Of course, they went with Sweeping Beauties. Face it...it's an awesome name!

So the boys were all geared up to join this curling league before ever stepping foot on the ice. Then one night, Wendy, Christen and myself decided that we wanted in on the action. The Nutmeg Curlers (the league in Bridgeport) was having a learning night. You could come, learn to curl, and then decide if you wanted to join the league. We didn't have a clever name yet, but were ready to try out this strange Canadian sport.

On a Thursday evening, not long ago...the group of us headed to Bridgeport. It didn't take long for all of us to realize that the sport of curling is awesome and we were ready to join the league!

On our first night we learned the basics of curling. The round thing that slides on the ice is called a "rock". When you are sweeping with a broom that is called "sweeping" (duh). The piece of plastic that you put your right foot in when preparing to slide the rock is called "the hack". The bulls eye design where you push the rock to is called the "house". The person standing down at the house yelling is called "the skip".

The basics of curling were pretty easy to pick up, but the finesse and strategy are truly complicated. The rock flies pretty fast down the ice, so finding the perfect balance of releasing it takes a lot of time to perfect.

Of course, after our trial of curling we all decided to join the league. We are now in the Greenhorn League of the Nutmeg Curlers. On Thursday nights and Saturday mornings you will find us on the ice. I (of course) am the only one freezing my ass off! I am hoping that once we start playing games I won't be as cold.

There have been a few tumbles on the ice so far. On your shoes you wear "grippers" that keep you from falling. When you are getting ready to throw the rock you put a piece of teflon shaped like the bottom of your shoe onto the ice and then you really slide fast. I was getting use to the teflon and decided to lift my gripper foot up...let me just tell you...I saw my feet go above my head before I crashed down onto the ice. My rear was quite a bit sore the next day!

Due to work I am forced to miss my first Thursday of league play, so I will have to let you know how that goes in a couple of weeks. It is great to be a part of a team and have some fun while meeting some new people and bonding more with the people we already know. It is also pretty cool to be doing a sport that not many people can say they have tried.

So there you have it, we have a new favorite sport. Maybe we will start training for the Olympics soon! ha ha!

Kickin it NE syle

A couple of weekends ago we invited our friends Phin & Carla to come down from New York so we could embrace the fall of New England and go apple picking.
There are a lot of u-pick farms here and this seemed like a lovely fall activity. Of course we added some healthy competition to the festivities by having an apple pie bake off after we picked about 20 pounds of apples.

The apple farm was really fun. We took a little tractor ride and the dropped us off in the apple orchard. There were a few different varieties of apples to choose from and everyone knows that an apple pie is only as good as the apples you put in it.

Jeremy ate about 3 apples while we were picking and they were all delicious! We had our game plan in place for picking the best apples, as did Phin & Carla. We went our separate ways in the orchard to find our prize apples.

Here are some pictures that re-cap the afternoon.

Once we got back to our house, the real competition began. Jeremy and I went with an old fashioned, no frills apple pie. Phin & Carla went with a fancier recipe that required a skillet, food processor, and all kinds of ingredients...apple cider, maple syrup.

While the pies were baking we played some horseshoes in the backyard. I have to say...I really suck at horseshoes. We would interrupt the game to check on the pies periodically. Phin was running up the stairs to check on his pie when the outside banister came crashing down. Phin put it back up and continued up the stairs (This piece of information isn't of much interest now, but it will be as you read on).

Here are the pictures of our pies. Our pie is the top one and Phin & Carla's is the bottom pie.


After dinner we had the official taste test. Although I we did not agree on a clear cut winner, my decision is that our filling was better, but their crust was better.

Sunday was a pretty typical day. We just relaxed and went to Best Buy to get a universal remote. We haven't been able to watch any of our VHS because the TV we got from Craigslist doesn't have a remote, so we can't get to channel 3. We had a gift certificate that we forgot, so I ran into the house to get it. As I was running up the stairs, the banister broke. I fell onto the stairs and slid down about 5 steps. It hurt pretty bad and it sounded even worse. I'm surprised my fall didn't break the rest of the stairs. Jeremy laughed when I told him I fell and called me Boomer, but this fall was not the result of my clumsiness (as most of my falls are). I blame Phin. He is a one man destroyer. I know Phin felt super bad when he found out and I'm sure I looked ridiculous. Jeremy and I were laughing about it.

So...that is the story of apple picking. Our day kickin' it New England style!