Thanksgiving Pancakes/Lars and the Real Girl

I guess the idea of getting stuffed off of pancakes before a huge Thanksgiving dinner doesn't rank up there on the "good ideas" list...but...

That was the breakfast I just had.  Cezanne only had one pancake although I always try to convince her to have half of one of mine and when she says no, I just eat it all.  We used to get the "buckwheat" pancake mix from WholeFoods, but we recently tried the whole grain mix from Trader Joes (I know, you're on the edge of your seat...).  They're really good!

This time around we put banana, strawberries and blueberries in them.  Excellent.

No breakfast would be complete without a cup of Peet's coffee.  The first pot after opening up a fresh bag always tastes the best so today's pot really hit the spot.  Major Dickason's is the kind we get out here since there are no Peet's stores where we could get "Arabian Mocha Java."  Most of the grocery stores have French Roast, House Blend and Major Dickason's.  I did order a couple of pounds of the "Holiday Blend" from Peet's and it should get here next Wednesday.

Cezanne and I are excited for Thanksgiving.  We are all going over to my brother Greg's (near BWI).  There will be about 12 adults and all of Jon and Jen's little ones (4 of them!).  We recently dropped off an oversized chair at Greg's and saw my Dad for the first time in over a year!  

We dropped the chair off because it was a match with the sofa we had the moving company drop off at Greg's.  That sofa didn't fit into the apartment we are renting!  It wouldn't make it through the door no matter how hard the the movers tried to "bend" it...

So, they took it back and the next week they delivered it to Greg's at no additional charge to us!  I've had that sofa since my days in Jacksonville.  It was my first real furniture purchase after I bought my house in Jacksonville.  In some ways it doesn't feel like that was 7 years ago, in some ways it does.

We recently restarted our Netflix subscription since we got settled with a new address.  We started watching "Lars and the Real Girl" last night, but didn't make it through the movie.  Usually it's Cezanne falling asleep, but this time it was me.  So, we finished the movie this morning.  It's a great movie.  It is weird, about a guy (Ryan Gosling) who is anti-social, but orders a realistic doll and pretends she is real.  The whole town goes along with it and it winds up being a little touching, but definitely not sappy.  It has an independent feel.  2 thumbs up.

My other most recommended film/documentary is "Long Way Round."  It's the best film I saw last year.  It's a documentary of Ewan McGregor and his buddy driving their motorcycles around the world.  It comes in 3 DVDs with several episodes on each one.  The episodes are each about 40-50 minutes, so they are quick watches.  I didn't think Cezanne would be particularly thrilled with the choice, but she actually really liked it.  We found ourselves getting excited for each new episode.

Below you can see Bono chilling on Thanksgiving morning and a scene from "Lars and the Real Girl."  She's in a wheel chair since she couldn't walk...

And you can see we still have a little organizing and cleaning up left to do in the apartment.

Cezanne's Birthday!

Yesterday was Cezanne's Birthday.

It started out with banana and blueberry pancakes (same as today).

The first part of the day was a little rough for me.  I was going to my first Cat 4/5 ride and skills clinic (I call it) at Hains Point in D.C.  First off, every road I tried to turn down was blockaded and when there was an open road, it was quickly closed off by a cop turning in front of traffic and turning everyone around.  

So, it took me over 45 minutes to go 6 miles and there really was no traffic, just detours.  I showed up late and the ride was just getting underway.  Hains Point is on the Potomac, just across the way from Reagan Airport.  It was 28 degrees F with winds gusting to 35 mph.  Not fun.  I've been fine on rides in the mid 30s, but this was a whole new experience.

It wasn't too bad when we had a tailwind and were actually riding.  We stopped a few times and the leader explained wind, drafting, echelons...  then we rode a little more then stopped to do bike handling drills, like picking up standing water bottles off the ground and putting them back down while riding...I left before the ride/clinic was done.  I left partly because I was shivering and partly because although I respect people wanting to learn and get better at tactics, etc, I just want to ride at this point and that's not what we were doing.

The day got better from there!  Cezanne's brother came down from Hagerstown with his Great Dane and we all went to the dog park.  Then we enjoyed Chipotle for lunch, relaxed, then Cezanne and I went out to dinner for her birthday!

We went to 1789 Restaurant in Georgetown and it was awesome.  They have a dress code, so I had to wear a suit.  I can clean up when I need to.  It was a great night!

Long time no post...where to begin

One of the toughest things about writing a blog entry after not writing one for a while is knowing what to post, especially when so much has changed.

I'm writing this entry mainly to satisfy my Mom (one of my 3 readers) who says she doesn't want that creepy mustache picture to be the first blog entry anymore.  It's also for you JW!

The story of the cross-country trip will have to wait for another time, but Cezanne and I are mostly settled into our new apartment in Northwest DC (near the National Cathedral).  The finishing touch will be our new sofa to be delivered this Saturday (the one we moved from San Diego couldn't/wouldn't/didn't fit through the door.)

I've been on 2 Sunday rides with the National Capital Velo Club (NCVC) which have been fun.  It's a quick 2.5 mile ride down Wisconsin Ave. to Georgetown where they start the ride.  The feel is a little different out on the East Coast.  "LT Andy Baldwin" from "The Bachelor" fame was riding with the group the first time I went.

I was riding the metro to work, but thanks to experiments by Cezanne my 1 hour plus commute by metro will now be turning into an 18-22 minute drive.  I love it.  That's not bad for commuting in D.C.  I hope it continues!

So we've been to a couple of Navy Football games already and we'll be going to Army-Navy.  The below pic is from the Navy-Temple football game.  I thought it was a cool sunset.

The rest of the pics on this post are of the apartment we are renting.  We decided to go with NW DC because we liked the neighborhood and the apartment the most.  I'll post pics once is fully moved in to.

Bono is chilling below.

Cezanne hard at work before the movers arrived...

The bay window...

So that's it for now, a mini update and the "mustache" is no longer the first post!