The core of the inner circle

Spring has officially hit Seattle. When I arrived at the house, all was quiet so I made my way to the front deck. Grandpa and Ted were sitting outside, enjoying the weather! This is big news, people. We can start using the deck again!!!

It was a super small crowd this week, especially considering we had a pretty big one last week. We had happy hour on the deck - hooch limeade for me, white wine for Jessie - and then moved inside for dinner. Our little foursome was Grandpa, Ted, Jessie and me. We even ate in the kitchen nook, a first for family dinner. 

It was decided that this was the first dinner Charlie dog missed. She greeted Jessie by throwing up when she got home from work. Ted decided it was because Charlie was so excited for family dinner. Whatever the cause, Jessie made Charile some rice and left her and Mark - who is in the depths of thesis writing - home to rest and write, hopefully. Good luck Mark, the offer for editing still stands.

Dinner, of course, was delicious. We had super meaty split pea soup, grilled cheese sandwiches and a big, leafy salad. There was a lot of job talk this go-round, since I am in my first week and Seattle Children's. It's interesting the difference in mentality between generations about careers. Jessie and I are of the same thought that staying at a job for 20+ years is basically unrealistic. we both agree that to make any financial strides, staying put is not likely the best strategy. 

We also talked about being content with work vs settling. The latter part of the 20s is a really interesting time. There's been so much transition, but (hopefully) by now, we have a sense of what the future looks like. AHHH grown-up talk!!!!!!

We also talked a lot about transportation last night. There are some pretty serious commuter perks at my new gig and my commute now is a 25 minute walk!!! Sionara 3/4 bus! While you did provide great bar talk, I spent way too much time with you these last few years. We were talking about percentages of walk/bus/bike vs car commute and here's an interesting article about commuting in Seattle and Portland.

Here are a few interesting stats if you are too busy to click the link:

"in Seattle, about 21 percent of workers got to their jobs on transit from 2006 through 2010. But in Portland, the figure is just 12 percent...Portland has more bike commuters than Seattle—which comes as no surprise, given Portland’s robust biking infrastructure and flatter terrain. But Seattle has more walkers than Portland; on net, the two cities have nearly identical rates of muscle-powered commuting. Similarly, the two cities have very similar rates of carpooling. The only substantial commuting difference boils down to this: Seattle has more transit riders, and fewer drive-alone commuters, than Portland."

But seriously, you should just click the link, there are pretty graphs.

Family dinner wouldn't be complete without dessert and Jessie brought another great one. We still haven't had a duplicate after seven or eight months. Amazing! She made oatmeal cookie bars with lemon cream filling. Topped with a dollop of vanilla ice cream, it was tasty! We also sampled Ted's latest batches of kombucha and ginger liqueur. They were delectable. If you haven't tried kombucha before, it can be pretty bad, and I think Ted's latest recipe proves he has figured something out.

Johnnie joined The Core around 9pm, after a long training at work. Ted set her up with a beer and a bowl of soup and soon she was relaxing after a challenging day. It's nice to know that all it takes is a beverage, a little food and some family to make things better.

chick pics

 Four chickens brined for 20 hours, smoked for three.

 Steel can beer.

 Comes with an opener.

 First Tomato Marinade of the season.

 Dessert Thesis.

One of each and some ice cream.

Eddie is the ultimate hipster

Not only was he sporting Ray-bans and a flannel, but he brought a sixer of flat top, steel can Churchkey Pilsner to the party. Complete with it's own opener, the packaging is great and the beer tastes good! As Eddie cracked open a can, I learned about the different types of beer cans Ted and Eddie experienced back in the day. At the same time, Ted mixed me a Ginger Lemonade Hooch cocktail. I was double fisted within the first 10 minutes! They really know how to hook a girl up.

I got to spend an hour or so with the guys - Grandpa, Ted and Eddie - before anyone else showed up. They were kind enough to listen to me vent about the oddness that is being a short-timer. Tomorrow is my last day of work at the diabetes study before I move on to a brain research gig and this last week has been a challenging one for me. If you know me at all, you know that I hate wasting time and that's what the last few days feel like, but I guess that's how it goes. So, thanks guys for giving me cocktails and letting me bitch!

Ok, back to the good stuff. People trickled in around 6:30pm - Jessie, Mark and Charlie arrived first. Shortly thereafter Morgan and Chelsey made their way into the kitchen. Ted pulled FOUR brined and smoked chickens off the grill and side dishes made their way to the table. Nate, his girlfriend (Ahh! I'm spacing your name!!!!) and Moto had perfect timing, knocking on the door just as we were settling into our chairs.

So what started as a small foursome turned into a full table of finger-licking good chicken, tomato marinade, pasta salad, brown rice, wine, 10 people and two happy dogs. Jessie informed us that it is ok to eat chicken with your fingers, according to a friend of her's who has and extensive knowledge of etiquette. Not that anyone was concerned about breaking rules, but it's nice to know where we stand.

After dinner, Mark presented us with his Thesis: One of each cookie and a scoop of vanilla ice cream HAHAHHAHA Mark is finishing up his grad school thesis, so the slip of the tongue made everyone laugh. At least we know he is thinking about it! Jessie made the cookies - GF oatmeal peanut butter, some with chocolate, some without. Charlie did a test run of them last night, coming to Jessie with crumbs on her mouth and a guilty look that only a lab can make. We all agreed with Charlie that the cookies were great. Grandpa gave the thumbs up. 

Topics discussed included electric cars and motorcycles, craigslist, pinterest, travel and food, bike racing, segmented sleep, phone apps that monitor sleep patterns, horse racing and betting strategies, camping, Suncadia, The Brick (of course), Obama's support of gay marriage and Dan Savage's response, hooch, the Lake City Elks Lodge, Dog Fiction, and on and on. We were a chatty bunch. OOh! That reminds me! The term 'chatty Cathy' came up and Grandpa asked if anyone knew the origins. Let me google..."Chatty Cathy is a doll manufactured by the Mattel toy company from 1959 to 1965. The doll was first released in stores and appeared in television commercials beginning in 1960. Chatty Cathy celebrated her 50th birthday in 2010." Well, now we know.

Isn't it incredible what we learn at Family Dinner? I feel smarter by the sip. I took a couple photos, will post them soon.