Sunday, May 29, 2011

Sickness

Sorry it's been a while. Nothing interesting happened, so I didn't want to bore you with the details.

Yesterday morning as I was watching the Family Guy Star Wars episodes (I'm only allowed to watch Family Guy when the wife is sleeping or gone), my kid threw up all over the wife in bed. That started a fun-filled day of trying to comfort and console a sick kid while staying out of his spray zone.

Then I went golfing with my brother and while I was gone, the baby upchucked again while the wife was holding him. I again managed to stay clean, while my wife was again showered in infant vomit.

Finally last night as we finished watching Morning Glory, my wife was preparing to feed baby and he puked on her and on himself. I remained spotless.

All in all it was a great day for me, and a not-so-awesome one for the wife. But today is a new adventure, and baby is currently hanging with me on the couch as the wife sleeps in bed, so we'll see what happens.

Needless to say we're taking baby's illness as a "Get Out of Church Free" card, so if you need us, we'll be at home watching movies in our bathrobes.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Personal Space

Baby and I are having some personal space issues. Allow me to cite two examples:

1 - Baby usually wakes up around 6 or 7 in the morning and I bring him back to the bed for breakfast. After the wife finishes feeding him, we are both too exhausted to take him back to the crib, so we allow him to sleep between us. "Between us" usually turns into "underneath me." The kid always ends up on my side of the bed, no matter where he starts. The wife says it's because I weigh more than her, so he just naturally falls into me. I think she's secretly pushing him to my side.

2 - Last night I was using the restroom (#1) with the door open (wife's pet peeve) when all of a sudden I hear baby heading my way. So I'm standing there, doing my thing, when baby crawls between my legs and lifts himself up on the lid of the toilet bowl and starts looking in. He must've been fascinated by the bubbles. Well this is a pretty awkward situation for me, as I'm coming to the end of my flow, and trying desperately not to pee all over my firstborn's head. With a few deft maneuvers, I was able to wrap things up mostly without incident. I think I may have inadvertently sprinkled him a little, but he's doing fine today. I guess I should listen to my wife and close the door. Or get a urinal.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Confessions of a Bad Dad - Sickness

Forgive me Blogger, for I have sinned. It's been 29 days since my last confession. But then again you, Blogger, were broken all day yesterday, so it's not like you're perfect either.

My baby is sick and I love it. Does that make me a horrible father?

I noticed on Wednesday that baby was sleeping for abnormally lengthy amounts of time. Then he slept through the night Wednesday night without a problem and when he woke up yesterday morning, he was warm to the touch. So I took his temperature (which is no easy feat with a baby who won't sit still - especially since I refuse to do the rectal thing - it's an 'out' hole). It was 100.8 degrees, so I called the doctor. The nurse said to bring him in (of course she did - more money for them), and the doctor said to give him fluids and let him sleep.

So he slept all day yesterday and all morning today. It's beautiful to have a baby that sleeps during the day. For a brief moment last night, I forgot that we even had a kid. How awesome is that?

He just woke up and is no longer warm. He seems to have his appetite and rambunctious demeanor back, so I guess that's the end of that. It sure was nice while it lasted...

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Spicy Face

I guess this post could be titled: "Confessions of a Bad Cook," but the food turned out to be really tasty.

So we're back home and I'm back to preparing nightly dinners. We've been doing this Bountiful Baskets thing, which is awesome. Normally I wouldn't be into it because it's so MormonMommyScrapbookingOrganicMakeYouOwnLaundryDetergentGreenSmoothie-esque, but it appeals to my sense of frugality. Basically for $15 you get a ton of random fresh produce each Saturday morning. The catch is that you have to go pick it up and you never know what you're going to get.

So last Saturday we got a ton of crazy stuff, including Anaheim and jalapeño peppers. The wife and I aren't crazy about spicy things, but are somewhat adventurous and are usually willing to try new stuff. So for dinner I stuffed the Anaheims with a sausage/jalapeño/cream cheese/garlic/onion mix and used another jalapeño in a tomatillo soup. The preparation of these meals required me to cut up two jalapeño peppers, which I had never done before.

I've always heard that when you cut peppers you should avoid touching your face or eyes before washing your hands, but I always thought that advice was similar in importance to peeling onions underwater so that you don't cry. I peel and cut onions all of the time and I never cry. So naturally I can ignore the advice about preparing peppers. Right?

Wrong. I must have run my hands through my hair/face/eyes/lips/inner ear because within 20 minutes of finishing cutting the peppers, everything above my neck exploded in pain. I tried washing my hands, the knife, the cutting board, my head and neck, and nothing soothed me. I took off the clothes I was wearing and put on new ones. I opened all the windows and doors in the apartment. No relief.

The pain lasted 30-45 minutes and then subsided. Since then I have not been able to put in my contact lenses without being bombarded by searing eye pain. I cut the peppers on Monday and yesterday (Wednesday) I was blinded by pain for the first 20 minutes I had my contacts in. I even put in new contacts - no difference. The venom is in my eyeballs.

But it may have been well worth it because the stuffed Anaheim peppers and tomatillo soup were both really good.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

The Last Cheesesteak

Yesterday morning we went to Campo's Deli on Market for a last cheesesteak before flying back to Utah last night. I got one with onions, peppers, and mushrooms and finally added the whiz instead of provolone. It was awesome. The whiz adds a juicy, greasy, and flavorful component that really adds to the sandwich.

We also got ice cream at the Franklin Fountain - a way cool olde ice cream shoppe with employees dressed like olde tyme soda jerks. The ice cream was a bit overpriced, but very good. If you dine in, the ice cream comes in real glasses and bowls and they don't even use plastic straws. It's quite the experience.

Both places only take cash - but there are plenty of ATMs around, so make sure you've got a great bank like Ally or USAA that reimburses random ATM charges.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Reading Terminal Market Cheesesteaks - Carmen's v. By George

We dined at the market again today for lunch and thought it would be cool to order some cheesesteaks from two different places and compare them. So we did.

By George - Referred to me by the dude at DiNic's that made my tasty Roast Pork sandwich on Wednesday. He said the By George cheesesteak is the best in the market.

Carmen's - When President Obama came to the market last fall, he ordered two cheesesteaks from Carmen's. If it's good enough for him - I should give it a shot.


We ordered a cheesesteak with onions and provolone from each location. By George takes credit card and the total came to $9.25. Carmen's only takes cash and the total was $8.15.

By George - This cheesesteak was significantly bigger than Carmen's. The roll was harder and had seeds. The steak itself was tougher than Carmen's and took longer to chew, but may have been more flavorful.

Carmen's - Though the cheesesteak was smaller than By George, it was very good. The steak was very juicy and the roll soaked up a lot of juice. The cheesesteak was easier to eat than By George and both my wife and I finished this sandwich first.

I don't know that we can declare either sandwich the winner. They were both excellent and the wife was impressed with them both. Tomorrow we'll try another at Campo's. This time we'll do it with the whiz.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Today's Food

This morning we had brunch at Sabrina's in Philadelphia. I had the blue cheese and bacon frittata and the wife had the stuffed french toast. Both dishes were excellent. We had originally planned on heading back to the Reading Terminal Market this afternoon for a late lunch of cheesesteaks (we had planned on comparing Carmen's with By George), but decided instead to visit Bobby's Burger Palace up by UPenn.

I ordered the Bobby Blue Burger with onion rings and my wife ordered the Crunch Salad with sweet potato fries. My burger was excellent - just enough crumbled blue cheese for the taste to come through without overpowering the other flavors. The onion rings and sweet potato fries were also quite tasty. My wife's salad however was pretty pathetic. We had a conversation like this:

Me: Hey, how's your salad?
Wife: Eh, it's OK. Pretty forgettable.
M: Well, that's why they don't call it Bobby's Salad Palace.
W: True, though you'd think Iron Chef Bobby Flay could put together a decent salad.
M: Touche.

My one gripe about BBP (other than the lame salad), was the service. We went around 4:00 PM so there were only about 12 people in the restaurant and it took a really long time for us to get our food. Once our food came, our sweet potato fries took another 10 minutes. A guy next to us waited even longer for his meal - and then even longer for his fries. If it was that slow on a late Thursday afternoon, I don't want to see it on a Friday night or weekday lunch. And it's not like the employees were busy - they were just standing around talking.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Mountain West Burrito Review Backlash

So a few days ago I went to Mountain West Burrito and wrote a review about my experience on my blog. I thought it was a pretty fair review and in the end I mentioned that I prefer a Beto's burrito to one at Mountain West Burrito.

Well the next day I was surprised to see that Mountain West Burrito posted a link to my review on its Facebook page. It's impressive that a restaurant will post a link to a review that doesn't completely gush about how amazing it is and how its food is the best thing since sliced bread. I think that says a lot for MWB and the people that run it.

Well evidently MWB has a very loyal fan base, because as soon as my review was posted, I read some interesting comments on my blog and below the posting on the MWB Facebook page. That's cool - I have nothing against people voicing their opinions. The comments made my wife a little mad (she's very protective of my opinions), but she knows that she can't be objective until she's tried the food. So as soon as we get back to town, we'll be heading back to Mountain West Burrito for another round.

We'll also finally get around to trying Pizzeria 712, to see if it really is better than Pizza Hut...

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Flights 15 and 16

Today we flew from MBS to DTW and from DTW to PHL. These were baby's 15th and 16th flights and he did great. The Midland/Bay City/Saginaw airport is awesome to fly into or out of. It only serves two airlines (United and Delta) and accordingly only has two ticket counters, two jet bridges, and two baggage claims. It only has one security line and x-ray machine. No body scanners here. It's the way flying should be.

The flight to Detroit was short and sweet. We were at the Detroit airport long enough to switch planes and go to the bathroom before our flight to Philadelphia took off. We flew on a 737-800 and it was less than half full. It was a newer plane too, so the wife and I played In-Flight Trivia on the headrest TV displays. I beat her 2 games to 1. Baby slept pretty much the whole flight and the hardened businessmen in the seats around us were very impressed with him. They admitted to us that when they saw us board with him they were less than excited to sit near us, having experienced flying babies in the past. Our baby though was a joy to fly with.

We couldn't agree more.

Bone Daddy's BBQ Review

Today we had lunch at Bone Daddy's BBQ in Midland before heading to the quaint MBS airport to fly to Philadelphia. The restaurant was pretty highly rated on Trip Advisor and we'd heard good things from my wife's brother, so we figured we'd give it a shot.

The wife ordered the pulled pork sandwich and I got the beef brisket sandwich. Both sandwiches were well under $10 and came with a huge pile of meat and a side dish. My brisket was piled so high that I had to eat 5-6 slabs off the top with a fork before I could fit the sandwich in my mouth. The brisket was fork tender and smothered with some of the best BBQ sauce I've ever tasted. The sauce had a rich smoky flavor and had the perfect amount of spice. I've tried a lot of BBQ in my day, but the beef brisket at Bone Daddy's is by far the best I've ever had. I ordered the onion rings as my side and it came with 7-8 large battered and fried rings. I tried the wife's pork sandwich and it was also very good. I'm not a coleslaw lover, but my wife said the blue cheese coleslaw that topped her sandwich was very good.

The restaurant has a 1940's-1950's fighter pilot theme and has lots of interesting pictures and memorabilia on the walls.

This plaque was above the urinal in the men's room
The service was a little lacking, but we were there around 2:30, so they weren't in the high gear of the lunch rush, so that may have explained it. Our two meals and soft drinks ran us around $20-25 which is amazing for the amount and quality of the food we got. Next time we are/If we're ever in Midland again, we'll stop at Bone Daddy's at least once.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Cafe Zinc Review

This evening the wife and I dined with her brother and his wife at Cafe Zinc in Midland, Michigan. The Cafe Zinc is located in The H Hotel and is the #1 rated Midland restaurant on Tripadvisor.com. Between drinks (non-alcoholic), a soup or salad, entrees, and dessert, a meal at Cafe Zinc will run you $45-50 a person.

I ordered the H Salad and Steak Frites and my wife had the French Onion Soup and Bolognese. My steak was cooked to a perfect medium and served with an herb butter. The fries were good and the dish also came with a side of peas with bacon and onion. My salad was very fresh and the herb-lemon dressing was just the right amount of lemony. The wife enjoyed her soup and her ragout was very tasty (she let me try it), though a little spicy for my taste. I am a wimp when it comes to spice though.

The wait staff was very attentive and our food arrived very quickly. The ambiance was nice, though the restaurant was a bit noisy. We ordered fruit tarts and creme brulee for dessert and thoroughly enjoyed them.

So if you're ever in Midland, Michigan and you are looking for a nice place to have a semi-expensive dinner, try Cafe Zinc.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Blogs

Sometimes when I'm on blogger I like to click the "next blog" link at the top of the page to see where it will take me. Today went like this:

1. Family blog with kids named "Macade" and "Braxton." Try and tell me they aren't Mormon.
2. Asian teenage girl with a lot of angst.
3. Born-again Christian website.
4. Family blog with "4EverFamily" in the title. More Mormons.
5. Family blog of a young family that recently relocated from Rexburg, ID to Des Moines, IA so that the husband can attend podiatry school. Additional Mormons.

So based on that scientific survey, 3/5s of the blogs on blogger are Mormon family blogs. Correct conclusion?