Tasty

Andrew and I enjoy beer.   Not in the "bring me home a 40 of Bud Light so I can drink it in the backyard while all my beaters are in the wash" kind of way,  but in the "good beer is actually really good" kind of way. 

I judge people who drink crappy beer.   It's okay, I can accept the hate mail that will be coming my way for that.

I'm very guilty of trying a new beer and not remembering a thing about it later.   I couldn't say if I liked it,  what it tasted like,  what kinds of beers are like it,  or any other useful information.   I've decided to keep tabs of my  beer adventures here so I can reference in the future and maybe help some other adventurousbut not TOO adventurous beer drinkers out there.

Our recent tasting party consisted of 3 beers from 2 different breweries  that were new to both of us. 

Rising Tides Brewing Company out of Portland ME,  and Slumbrew out of (where else?) Somerville MA.   For those of you who are not from the Boston area,  Somerville (pronounced Summa-ville) is affectionately known as "Slumma-ville".   It's full of college students,  recent grads, and hard working blue collar families.   Hence Slumbrew.

From Rising Tides,  we sampled Ursa Minor.  This is what the company says about it:
Dark as squid ink and moody as the sea, Ursa Minor is our take on a winter wheat beer. Starting with a German wheat-beer yeast and a base of malted wheat, we added a blend of dark crystal and roasted malts to create a wheat stout. Redolent of dark fruit, weizen yeast esters, and roasted barley, Ursa Minor is perfect for an icy winter’s eve. Availability: September through April.
(original description found here) 

I'm not a huge fan of the stouts,  but I tried it anyway.  When they say "dark as squid ink" they mean it.  It looked like diet coke in the glass.    It's a winter wheat beer and it's extremely heavy - to me it's a slow sipping beer,  but again I don't always love dark heavy beers.   It had a heavy nutty smell too.   My personal rating of it is B.   Good beer,  but not my cup of tea.    I enjoyed my 6ish ounces that I tasted, but I let Andrew finish the bottle.

We tried two from Slumbrew,  Happy Sol and Flag Raiser IPA.   Andrew is on a huge IPA kick right now,  he could probably devote an entire blog just to them.

Flag Raiser

This is what Slumbrew has to say about it:
Flagraiser IPA is a big, hoppy tribute to the unfurling of the Grand Union flag atop Prospect Hill in Somerville, MA on January 1, 1776. This ale celebrates our passion for hop aroma and flavor balanced with just the right amount of malt.
Huge aroma and resin-y flavors from the elusive Galaxy hops are the signature of this beer. Built on a solid base of pale malts, this double IPA makes generous use of hops from Columbus, Crystal and Galaxy with the Galaxy hops taking the lead during ten days of aggressive dry-hopping.
original description here
It was very hoppy, as you expect from an IPA and it was slightly bitter.   I'm an ESB girl so bring on the bitter!  IPAs in general are sipping beers for me,  I could never look down and have accidentally drank 3 of them.   But this one was really good,  I had my 6 ounce taste and then Andrew and I split the rest of the bottle.   I think he wanted it all to himself,  but no dice!  My grade:  B+

Happy Sol

A refreshingly tart and crisp hefeweizen brewed with local MA wildflower honey, orange peel and coriander, and fermented with the juice from over 1,000 blood oranges. It’s a cloudy, yet effervescent beer, with lingering banana and citrus notes balanced against a healthy wheat backbone and hoppy finish from Mt. Hood and Crystal hops.
Original description here
It must be said that I could happy drink Blue Moon for the rest of my life.   Any serious beer drinker who made it this far has probably just pounded his keyboard in disgust but that's okay.   I like my Belgium white ales.  Please note though:  Blue Moon and Shock Top, though similar,  are not the same.   When I ask a server/bar tender if they have Blue Moon on tap  I don't appreciate the answer "no, but we have Shock Top".   While I will usually order the Shock Top,  it's still not interchangeable!
okay, rant over.
I really enjoyed Happy Sol.    Andrew described it as "Blue Moon on crack with all it's flavors".   You can definitely taste the citrusy flavors  but they are not over the top sweet/fruity like you would find in Sam Adams Cherry Wheat or Wachusett Blueberry.   Andrew,  who would never drink a fruity beer,  enjoyed his 6 ounce tasting as well.  I didn't let him have any more though,  I finished that bottle.   Clearly gets an A from me

Now I really want to try My Better Half,  they say it's a limited seasonal release but I'm not sure when that season is.   Anyone know?

changes

You may have noticed Andrew is now an official contributing author to A Day In the Life.   I'm reasonably sure he'll still be posting once in a blue moon (mmm.... Blue Moon.....) but this will make it easier for him to do so.

That's all.  Continue surfing.

I can't find my marbles

We're getting ready for a Life Changing Event here at Casa de O'G,  mainly the addition of the 4th member of our little family.   Part of the preparation is living on Andrew's salary as much as we can (another part is me drooling over the Beco Gemini.  drool.  want.) in order to boost up our savings.   He does earn a liveable wage,  but we are used to having two incomes and we're quite spoiled.  I don't want to tell you the amount of money we have spent on take-out over the course of our marriage.   Living on one salary has had its share of challenges,  mainly accepting the fact that we can't go out to dinner once a week and I can't drown my work sorrows in Italian subs and wine anymore.   I've been more stressed out and full of rageful hate at work because of this unfortunate turn of events.

We don't have any ink in our printer, and I'm still not convinced that using a coupon to buy something I wouldn't have bought in the first place will save me money so I'm not couponing (yet.... once I get some ink and someone explains to me how spending more money saves me money, I'm sure I'll join in on the fun).   I am, however, watching sales quite closely.    I have two main spreadsheets,  one to track the weekly specials at my local grocery stores (of which there are only 3.   Sad... No Market Basket,  Trader Joes, or  Price Chopper near me!) and the other to track what we are spending on a particular item over the long term.   I live for Thursday when Shaw's and Stop & Shop release their weekly flier.   Hannaford and Target don't release theirs until Friday and Saturday respectively.    Every Thursday and Friday night I can be found sitting at the computer going over the fliers (does anyone actually use the paper ones anymore?  what a sad waste of a tree) and updating my spreadsheets.   I'm sure you are very jealous of my super cool life.

It may not be the most fun way to spend 25 minutes on Thursday and Friday nights,  but I have cut our weekly grocery bill from $100-$120 per week to around $75-$80.   If I can sustain that saving and keep the grocery bill to the $75-$80 range,  I can save in the ballpark of $1500 PER YEAR.   That's a lot of money that I didn't need to be spending before. 

That's like 190 Italian subs.

ugh

As you may be able to tell, the laptop is still unusable. I mentioned that I would go to Walmart and buy a new cord, but Andrew was very against that idea and said he would buy one on Amazon. Clearly that hasn't happened... I'm giving him till Friday and then I am stopping at Walmart on my way home and picking up a new power cord. I don't understand his reasoning, or his delay in getting a new one and enough is enough! My blog is suffering!

That's also why there is no new picture up for August. At this point, I plan on putting one up next week when the laptop is up and running again. I had the same picture up last year for July and August and it still haunts me, I can't do that again. It will just be a little late.

I have no idea what is going on in the world. The last I checked, the debt ceiling bill had passed in the House, but the Senate hadn't voted yet... I wonder if the world is coming to an end. I'm willing to be the Senate passed it though. And on that note, can we talk about how batshit crazy those tea party nutjobs are? Seriously? I mean, I can get behind some Republican ideals, and I can at least understand the reasoning behind others, even if I don't agree with them. But those tea baggers are just crazy people. CRAZY PEOPLE.

Also... I shouldn't be looking forward to this since I am so far behind on my summer shows, but fall TV starts up in about 6 weeks! I'm so excited. I'm going to be watching Pan Am... and maybe the Playboy show too, I haven't decided on that one yet. Oh... the cold dark endless winter nights filled with TV!

Okay, I can't deal with this computer anymore - it has frozen up no less than 7 times while I have been trying to write this post. I will be back soon, despite Andrew's unexplained reluctance to have a power cord.

Hump Day

So close to the weekend, yet so far away.

Lately, Baby Girl has been kind of tired and cranky. She's teething and not getting the naps she needs during the day, despite ample opportunity to nap. When she is tired and cranky, she pretty much only wants her Mama. This does not always make Daddy happy. I try to explain it's biological - sick, tired, cranky kids want their mother. Hell, I still want my mother when I'm sick (she actually did come when I had my teeth out - and brought me presents!).

But we still love you Daddy!

Break on through...

I have been extraordinarily grumpy over the past week, due to this wisdom teeth extraction FAIL that has been going on. The pain has seriously been worse than childbirth. For labor I was in active labor for about 6 hours and made it to 10cm with zero narcotics. For this experience I was in active hellish pain for 7 days and made it zero hours with no pain killers. At the end of labor, I got an adorable baby girl! At the end of this hell, I get to do it again! So yeah, worse than childbirth.

But - the pain is getting better, and my mood is improving. To anyone who had to deal with me over the past week, I truly apologize for my grumpy outlook on life. I was in so much pain and so sick from the percosets that I'm sure I was an absolute nightmare to be around. It's times like this I am truly thankful for the man I married! He took such great care of me and put up with my nasty outlook on life for a week. Thanks babe!

Oh. My. GOD. The percosets. Medication has never made me sick. Not even the first time I took percosets - after my surgery when I broke my arm. Wasn't sick. But those percosets... I took them Monday and Tuesday and it was fine. On Wednesday they started to make me sick. By Friday they were making me so sick, I honestly wanted someone to put me in a medically induced coma to get away from the pain and the dizziness, nausea, wooziness, and headache brought on my pain medicine. It was such a joy for all involved.

But, this is a new week, the pain is diminishing, the sickness is gone, and I'm done complaining about it. I'm sick of it myself! I can only imagine everyone around me is sick of it too.

New topic:

All these earthquakes - is that normal? I'm no expert in seismology (is that even the correct word?), but something isn't seeming right. Is it because the quakes are hitting highly populated areas that we are hearing all about them right now - or is this just another sign that the world is coming to an end? Does anyone know if this is normal or not, and care to weigh in on the matter? I'm curious. Should I be working on my bucket list, even though I don't care for the term "bucket list"?

hmph!

Andrew's little guest post was not approved by me. He broke into my blog and went to town! But I'll keep it up; he made good points. I don't know why, but every doctor's appointment I go to - I always have to wait. ALWAYS. Yesterday was the worst, but it always happens!

So yeah... yesterday sucked. I couldn't get all 4 out because of one nasty root that was wound about a nerve and it took an hour to get it out. Now I have to get the other two out in a few months once they are sure there are no side effects from it. I can already feel and move everything I should be able to feel and move, so I'm not worried at all.

Andrew was very good to me yesterday and took great care of me. It was so hard to have the baby home last night and not be able to play with her, but hopefully I'll be back to my regular self tonight. I feel awful guilt over the fact that she is at daycare today and I am home laying on the couch. Rationally I know I cannot take care of her like this, so if she didn't go, Andrew would have to take the day off. I know it is in her best interest safety wise to send her. But sending a child to daycare when her Mama is at home is not right!

tired

I'm SO TIRED. Wednesday is my day to "sleep in". By that I mean my alarm doesn't go off and I get to sleep as long as the baby sleeps. On days I go into the office (ie every day besides Wendesday) Sometimes she makes it till 7:00! I live for these days. This morning Andrew had a meeting on the other side of the state. Even though we live in a teeny state, it still takes a few hours to go from one end to the other, so he had to get up and out early. He was walking out the door around 6:15 and he came in to say goodbye to me (I will still 95% asleep) AND HE HAD THE BABY IN HIS ARMS!!!

Are you kidding me? She hadn't even made a noise! He said "well she was perpendicular to how she was when I checked on her before". Oh. Okay. So that must mean she's ready to get up! Even if she had been awake, she still wasn't making any noise! Maybe she wanted to go to sleep too!!

MAYBE I COULD ADD MORE EXCLAMATION POINTS TO GET MY POINT ACROSS!

Fingers crossed she sleeps till 7 this weekend!

Mad props to AJG

For reals.

Okay, here's the story. After I got the turkey meatloaf all loafed up, I preheated the oven to 350º, waited till it beeped, popped in my over priced Food Network loaf pan in the oven, set the time for 30 minutes and went back to watch the Gilmore Girls (yes, I watch it every night at 5, despite the fact I own the entire series on DVD. What's your point). 30 minutes later my buzzer beeped again and I mosey on into the kitchen. Hmmm.... odd.... you can't feel the heat of the oven when you're touching the top of the stove. Huh. I open the oven door. Not blast of heat warming up my face. Even odder. I then touch the racks with my bare hands, and conclude that the inside of the oven is NOT actually 350º. I thought I was being a dumbass and somehow turned off the oven when I turned on the timer. So I did the whole thing over again. 30 minutes later, by which time Andrew had come home, I went back. No cooked meatloaf. Crap. Meatloaf went into the fridge.

We called the management company to see if maybe they had shut off the main gas line into our building. Usually whenever they have to do any work they give us a few days notice, and we hadn't seen any fliers. But we called anyway, because we were hoping they just forgot. Nope, they haven't touched anything. So we call Bay State Gas. (we were hoping we hadn't paid them in awhile, and they turned off our gas, but no such luck. We're paid up). They said they'll send someone out within an hour. So I trot off to D&E to get subs for dinner (silver lining to the gas mess - take out for dinner!) and Andrew waits at home. Two and a half hours later the gas man arrives (he said he was caught up in a gas leak in Brockton. I think he was watching the Sox). He and Andrew fiddle wit some things knock on people's doors and do their manly gas man thing (okay, so the gas man was doing his manly gas man thing, Andrew was wandering about). Final story? I have no idea what the technical terms are, but some ball that is supposed to be on the inside of the building is on the outside of the building and it melted, limiting the gas to all the units inside. Apparently we were the only ones to try to use our stove today, because no one else called the gas company. So thanks to Andrew calling Bay State Gas and having them come out here, all our neighbors can use their stove tomorrow.

They should all thank Andrew with a nice bottle of wine, beccause I went to Crate and Barrel today and replaced our wine glasses, since we were down to 1. Yeah, we break a lot of wine glasses.

wow

As of today, Andrew and I have been together for 7 years. 7 years! Wow. The story of us getting together is so funny looking back. I'll never forget the conversations Jenn and I used to have around this time sophomore year:

Jenn: We have to be good tonight
Me: Absolutely. I'm going to be good
Jenn: Me too

a few hours later..

Jenn: Were you good last night?
Me: um..... no.
Jenn: Me neither

aahhh... young love. Though to clarify, to us "being good" meant not staying out until 4 am wandering around campus with our gentlemen callers. Get your mind out of the gutter, we were kids! Though we since have both married the men we were trying so hard to be "good" with when we were 19 year olds living in Saint Mary's. With a homage to Eminem on our closets and a handle of vodka hidden inside the closet (hey, I didn't say we were angels, I just said we weren't ladies of the night!).

Sophomore year was probably the worst one for my mental health. All of my friends lived on the same floor of our dorm. We had thought that would be so fun. We were so wrong. But we lived through it and amazingly are all friends again. It took a little while, but we learned a lesson. Don't live with all your friends. Sophomore year will probably always remain vivid in my memory because it was so great and so terrible at the same time. It has so many memories.

Like Katie and I sitting across from each other in the study lounge not wanting to say a word to each other, but I had such a story for her! IAN AND CHRISTINE BROKE UP!!!! Finally I couldn't keep it contained any longer and it burst out of me. We immediately forgot whatever unimportant thing we were bickering about and plotted an intricate plan to steal him. (thankfully we were successful). Looking back at it now, I just have to laugh. It's just one of many memories from that year.

Like when Andrew and I stayed up all night the night before reading day at the end of first semester just talking. And when the sun rose we decided to go eat at Davison and head to Keene. Yeah, that was the first time I met Andrew's parents and we ended up falling asleep together on the couch in their playroom. We were up for like 35 hours by the time we finally fell asleep! His parents must have thought I was a hussy. :)

And all the hours Andrew and I spent hours in the lobby of Saint Mary's. We talked about everything under the sun while chilling in the lobby of my dorm, because it was past parietals.

The further away from that year I get, the happier my memories become. Sure, putting a close knit group of girl friends on the same hallway was a terrible idea - but without all the stress, fighting, bickering and bitching, we would never have had the laughter, late nights, bonding and memories. Sophomore year is special - and October 26 of sophomore year is the day I finally agreed to have a 'casual friendship' with the man who became my husband. =)

I love Banana popsicles

If a you were to be a fly on my wall at home, you would be amazed. First of all, you wouldn't understand what Andrew and I were talking about, or you might need us to build you a logic bridge from point A to point B. Last night for example, Andrew was helping me with my finance homework (thank you!!) and here are some excerpts from our converstations...

Andrew: I am beginning to hate that woman
Meghan: Yeah, you would hate her, she has annoying hair

Andrew: I don't know what she means by that
Meghan: Did you check the page with all the hhfs?

Andrew: Then you have to scrolly-doo
Meghan: Um... that was a draggy box, not a scrolly-doo (said with a hint of derision)
Andrew: Wow, you're right. Okay, so you draggy-box over...

Sometimes we'll have a conversation and even I am amazed at the lack of English words that are peppered throughout our scentences, yet we understand each other. I don't know if that is common after you have been together for 6.5 years like us, or we are abnormal. I don't want to the believe the latter, but something tells me we aren't like regular people!

Speaking of regular people I did some people watching this morning at the gym. I couldn't do anything else since I forgot my iPod and at 5:45 am my brain can only function at a low level. So I started at people. I was absolutely amazed by the energy these people have. Don't they KNOW it's 5:45 in the morning?? Don't they know they should be asleep and if they are at the gym they should plug their iPods in and exercise while still being half asleep? I never really notice other people at that time in the morning, but they frighten me. There wasn't one half asleep person in the bunch (except for me, of course). That just isn't normal. I wonder if they are all on speed and just won't let me in on the fun!