Spring is in full swing now here in the Lou. We had our first complete weekend of warm weather and sun. Well let me qualify that: Sunday was a full day of spring conditions. Saturday was a class day so I guess that doesn’t count. It was a complete weekend for us though.
We kicked it off Thursday with some grilling. I stopped at Straub’s to get some meat and ended up with two rib cut pork chops which were over an inch thick. The lamb chops were irresistible as well. We dressed these ladies up in EVOO (first press), kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and rosemary. On the side was roasted corn and grilled asparagus. The beverage of choice was New Belgium’s Springboard Ale. Tracey’s preference is red wine – not sure what she sipped on.
The beauty of Thursday was the warmer weather. While the fire was starting up I sat on the patio reading macroeconomics while sipping on my beer. Oh the joys of macroeconomics! Let me tell ya, when you work in the advertising business and you experience economic conditions right along with retailers, understanding economics doesn’t make it feel better. At least we know we’re in it together. A fascinating class none the less.
So it was a class weekend and I did manage to complete my cost accounting final – another class down. I really enjoyed that class and am sorry to see it behind me. On the other hand, I don’t want to do the final again. There were only three questions and all-in the exam took me about 5 hours, just what the professor predicted. I analyzed and analyzed the numbers though and perhaps overshot some things.
The operations management class is absolutely awesome. We’ve played two simulations in the class to get a handle on work flows and supply chain management. Our team won both so that obviously makes it enjoyable. All that means is that we didn’t screw up as much as the others did. Believe me there were plenty of goofs to go around.
Saturday evening we hit Senor Pique. This is becoming a class weekend ritual. I come home on Saturdays, grab the family and Tracey and I sip margaritas while the kids stuff tortillas into their throats. We are ultra excited that the restaurant has started construction on a deck. At their old location (recently moved) they had a quaint deck. We prefer the old location but now with a deck coming, we’re feeling better about summer being right around the corner.
Last summer I had a tree guy come out and bid on doing some work. He recommended I cut down our crab tree. This tree had been overtaken by ivy and it looked as though it was going down for the count. When I cut the ivy out of it I discovered why the previous owners had let the ivy grow up the trunk, the base appears to be rotting away. It isn’t a pretty sight.
I didn’t get the tree work done because something inside told me not to worry. This spring the crab tree is marvelous. As you can see it’s in full bloom with new growth all around. The trunk looks horrible but certainly it has plenty of life and we’re happy we didn’t remove it.
The birds have been going nuts and we’re noticing more and more kinds of birds than we did over the winter. We’re keeping our bird book handy and the kids and I look up the new birds as we see them. The finds this week have been a White-Throated Sparrow (our little guy has much more color and pronounced features than the picture in the link) and the American Goldfinch. Still no positive ID of the bluebirds, although it appeared we saw one zip by the grub cup for a snack.
The cardinals have been an absolute joy to watch. There are many more than last year. The males have been staking out territory and there are three that were battling for a stake of our back yard. They would tussle just feet from us while we were on the patio, race through the trees, and sing till there’s no tomorrow.
After mowing the lawn and spending some time in the yard Sunday afternoon, we threw more items on the grill. Tracey gave some chicken a bath in lemon juice, herbs, and EVOO. I do believe I enjoy chicken on the bone more than boneless. There’s something about the taste, texture, and the act of eating it that equates to more enjoyment. I guess it takes me back to when I was a kid and that’s how we had chicken. Actually now that I’m thinking about it I can’t remember there being boneless chicken breasts when I was a kid. Maybe it was just that Mom never saw any value in spending the extra money?
Well it only took me four days to write this post. I better quit before we get into next week. School and work take enough time as it is. Now that I’ve incorporated fitness back into the routine, there’s less and less. We are finding time to enjoy the season though…
