Ugh...I should NOT have worn such a 'blouse-y' top. I look huge!
Stirring the bloomed yeast for the pizza dough...
Kissing break, 'cause we like to make you gag.
A good cook tastes EVERY step! So do fat kids...
Pulling the pizza crust dough...
*Gaaaaaaaaag*
Sauce McGauce. Homemade, 'cause that's how I roll.
Show this to me if I ever complain that Jean's not a good sport.
Handwashing the dishes. It's as much a part of cooking in our house as garlic, or carbs.
Who's a pimpdog?! Emmett is, that's who...
Emmett enjoys being on the couch (no-no!)...
...sticking his tongue out and looking possessed...
...playing - and peeing - in the snow...
...and watching his dad play.
Pimpdogs Extrodinaire!
Case #2: Our good Lord above started dropping stutterers from the sky and into my life one day, and I listened to every blocked and repeated word He was using to get to me. I joined the National Stuttering Association at the same time Jean and I started dating, even though he was not even a member. For months I volunteered and busted my butt and got us to the 2010 Annual Conference in Cleveland. I pushed, I prodded, I wrote, and I did a hell of a lot of editing and social networking, and now I work for the NSA, one of very few paid employees. I believe in it, I love it, just like I love my stutterers. (Check out the animal growing on Jean's chin!)
Birthday week saw us traveling up to Manhattan to see a one-off show of his at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and to meet up with several other fan friends who were coming over from the UK for the show. Duke (aka Peter) had been working tirelessly for months writing 12 original songs based on photographs from The Met's photography exhibit 'Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand'. For the days before and after the show we were able to meet new friends, catch up with old ones, see some sights, and eat a lot of pastrami.
Leaving a Duke Special show always leaves me a bit...sad. They are always such moving experiences that a return to normalcy seems so...normal. This time, however, I knew that I would be seeing him and some of our UK friends (Woot, woot Fizzys!) in just a few short days when they traveled down to DC for another show. God must have been smiling on me, because despite their hectic travel schedule, the rain, and the unfortunate task that is driving in the Northern VA/DC area, they drove out after Duke's gig to attend Jean's gig and my birthday party. They even brought pie.
Grilled BBQ chicken, kielbasa, potatoes (sweet & white), and avocado
