A lot of updating...

Holy hell! Was my last post really on September 30th? WOW. Well, my only excuse is that I've been madly cooking and blogging over at Scraping the Skillet. I do have a lot of things to update y'all on, though. Really, there should have been a bunch of posts between September and now...here's a brief recap of what's been going on:

NINI AND ADAM GOT MARRIED! Yes, my little sister is married! I have a bunch of photos posted on Flickr, but here's one to get you started...

I was back in Chicago for a glorious 10 days around her wedding. It was great to spend time with family and friends - we don't get to see them enough! Highlights? Bocce ball in Merrimack Park. Glorious fall leaves. TO DIE FOR Italian food (by an Irish chef, no less). Oh yeah, and the wedding. That was pretty awesome too ;)

2. I took a new job. Actually, I did this before the wedding by a few months. It just didn't seem top of the list. It's not an exciting or challenging job, but it is flexible and the people are nice. Now you know why I've been flakier than usual about returning e-mails, etc. Job + Food Blog = crazy busy.

3. Dylan and I have made a new resolution to go hiking more often. I mean, we live 5 minutes from a National Park but we haven't hit the trail in over a year? Crazy. The first hike was The Bellota trail up on Mt. Lemmon. Gorgeous scenery and a relatively easy hike. Amazing views after just a short hike to the ridge. Here we are:


This weekend we hiked up and around Sabino Canyon. It was also beautiful and we got to see lots of cool stuff, like a desert box turtle and a desert kitty cave. Check Flickr for pictures soon (D took the camera with him to Miami).

4. Speaking of Miami, the Canyon Ranch Miami project that D has been working on since we moved here is opening! He's there now for the soft soft opening. I was starting to wonder if this would ever happen!

5. Caleb has been battling some peeing issues. He's gotten all blocked up twice and had to spend the night at the Vet (he relapsed after the first drain). To help him manage better in the future we have officially put him on the Weekly World News Juice Diet. Mrow.

That's all the news that's fit to print.

I'll leave you with this thought:

another belated...

I know it's just an excuse, but I'm going to fall back on that push button functionality thing again. Here are posts from the last month on Facebook...

• Only in California...the land of milk and honey (People's Grocery makes using food stamps easier)
• More reasons to think twice about eating that beef...and using ethanol as an energy source (Cows fed ethanol byproduct have higher rates of E. coli)
• Time magazine covering up bad, no, horrific journalism (Mr. Klein)
• Poor Americans, blindly trusting the FDA (Under-funded and looking to really screw things up)
• Fake Steve Jobs (A Book!)
• Say it with me: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! (Take Back My TV!)
• Water in the desert (Those Phoenixians sure are crazy...)
• Just Say NO (To an overstressed holiday season)
• Once upon a time...the Democrats actually did something (Congress Delays War Money)
• Monkeys, monkeys everywhere! (Monkeys all over the darn place in New Delhi)
• Concentrated Solar Power (read all about it)
• Ethanol Plants (the farmers don't love them)
• Craziness (PA Bans use of Hormone Free label on milk)
• Green Building in Chicago (Expo)
• Pollan's update on the Farm Bill (he votes for no subsidies, I vote for encouraging diversification of farms)
• Lime wedges (and recycling of beer bottles)
• No (Steven can't run in South Carolina)
• Dr. Bronner (A true wacko - the movie)

I suppose that does it...I'll try to be better about posting this stuff here in the first place, though I'm honestly not sure anyone actually reads this blog anymore :)

Arrr....

Avast! Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Toast yer grog in honor of dis day!

Secondly, I realize that I've been naughty about keeping my blogging up to date. I must admit, the ease of sharing interesting/absurd/horrific news articles on Facebook has wooed me a bit. Push of a button is just too easy...

In any case, below are links to some articles I've recently posted on Facebook (for those who aren't involved in the whole social networking online thing).

• The Bicycle Theif (seriously?)
• Seamus Heaney: He's Seen It All (shared with me by my cousin(ish), Nik)
• The Lowdown on Blockbuster Total Access Plan Changes (This is for all the Blockbuster Total Access users...See...Netflix really is the way to go!)
• The Ford Edge with HySeries Drive (cool!)
• 'A Wrinkle In Time' Aughor L'Engle Dies ("Suddenly she knew. She knew! Love. That was what she had that IT did not have. She had Mrs. Whatsit's love, and her father's, and mother's, and the real Charles Wallace's love, and the twins', and Aunt Beast's. And she had her love for them. But how could she use it? What was she meant to do?")
• Federal Court Cancels Patriot Act's Wiretap, Gag Orders (YES!)
• Non-Doping Cyclists Finish the Tour De France (Love It!)

Okay, I feel a little more caught up now...