January 3, 2009

• New Year Update

  Yesterday evening, I fell down the stairs to the basement.  I was carrying stuff in both hands so I wasn’t able to hold on to the bannister. I was in my socks so one or both of my feet slipped in front of me and bounced all the way down.   It was kind of comical but also scary.  

  I have bruises on my left thigh and my back on the left side.  My left hand knuckles are a little scraped up. You can imagines it was a little difficult to sleep on my left side last night.

  Today, I visited the local Toastmasters group.  I decided I needed a chance to meet new people in this city and also improve my speaking skills.  I felt very welcomed by members of the group, including the president.  I was also impressed at how scheduled to the minute the whole meeting was.  I even got a chance to speak in front of the group and receive advice on how to do better.

  After I got back, we did our errands.  The first task was to buy a bed for the guest bedroom, so I took advantage of a year-end sale at the Mattress World near the airport.  It should be delivered tomorrow.

  Afterwards we went to the store to buy non-skid strips for the stairs, as well as some other stuff.  I will be keeping my shoes on indoors for the time being even after we set them up.

  For lunch we stopped at El Burrito Loco #3.  It is good reasonably priced Mexican food.  I had a carnitas burrito.  Chuk had some tacos and taquitos.  We shared some chili cheese fries.

  In the afternoon, I made a butternut squash soup that was surprising easy to prepare.  I cut the squash in half, scooped out the seeds and put it on a foil lined tray.  I also put an apple and an onion, both whole, on the tray and roasted them all for 40 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheight.  Afterwards, I let it cool  down, removed the skins and apple core and put all the good stuff into a food processor.  I ran it until it was completely pureed.  Then I put it into saucepan with mostly stock and some milk, stirred it, added chili pepper, basil and cumin, and slowly heated it up.  It came out pretty well.

  Also I have been doing laundry, and cleaning up the house.  My parents arrive in less than a week and we going to have a party while they are here.  If you happen to be in Portland, OR on 11 January, please stop by for “Mama’s Country Breakfast.”  We will have Tennessee country ham, biscuits, gravy and lots of other tasty stuff.

  Tomorrow, more house cleaning…

  • 10:50 pm
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