Last night was a great game. It wasn't a well played game but for anyone who doesn't think baseball is capable of being exciting, that game could be used as example A to disprove them.
That being said, as much as I love the Twins and were pulling for them to win last night it was the Tigers, who are the more complete team, that would have had a better shot at beating the Yankees in a short series. I do think that both Pettite and Burnett are beatable though so if the Twins could somehow steal one tonight from C.C. they'd have a pretty decent chance to take this series.
I hope I am wrong, but here are my annual MLB playoff predictions:
Award Predictions: AL MVP – Joe Mauer and it won’t be close. He had it pretty easily either way but last night’s win cemented it. NL MVP – Albert Pujols will win easily too. There were some great seasons by NL first basemen but he was definitely the cream of the crop.
AL Cy Young – Zack Greinke but I am not sure why no one cares that the Cy comes from a losing team when it’s such a big deal for the MVP too. Then again, I don’t believe in pitchers winning MVPs so that is probably the difference. Greinke was the best pitcher in the AL and deserves the award based on the logic that the voters use.
NL Cy Young – Chris Carpenter had a bigger impact on his squad than anyone else in the NL from a pitching perspective and that’s why he’s going to win.
AL Rookie of the Year – Andrew Bailey
NL Rookie of the Year – Chris Coghlan
AL Manager of the Year – Mike Scioscia (Gardy will finish second)
NL Manager of the Year – Jim Tracy
I think my blog is turning into a recipe site. Oh well. I love goulash because I think there is a million different ways to make it. I feel that if it is to be a true goulash it must have noodles, hamburger and ketchup. Just my opinion.
Hey, guess who's taking a break from homework to finally update this - wait, what do they call it again? oh yeah - blog? That would be me. Sorry about the extended absence; my free time tends to get sucked up by chores or trying to get as far away from my computer as I possibly can. (Preferably somewhere outside and oceany.)
Anyway, here's a quick rundown and some of what you missed in the past three months (or at least what I can come up with right now):
- My week-long break from school at the beginning of July was nice, if way too rainy. I didn't do much of note (that was the idea), although Shane and I went in for a couple's pedicure at one of the fancy spas on West Fourth (the yuppie part of town). That was a riot, since it's very much not the norm for either of us.
- When my second term of school started, I made a point of sitting in a new seat. That change has been really good, as it's allowed me to get to know more students and feel less isolated. The program has finally been getting into the web design/development in the past couple of weeks, and I have really been enjoying that. (Even JavaScript! Who knew?)
- After spending the first half of the term in the (required) video class for my program, I realized two things. One, I was not going to learn ANYTHING new. Two, I was going to waste WAY too much time on projects for that class. I went out on a limb and asked the program head if I could drop the course, and it turns out I could! Now I am just waiting for my St. Thomas credits to transfer, which hopefully will go through fine.
- For my birthday, Shane and I went out to eat at a new Thai restaurant here called Maenum. Both the food and drinks were amazing, and I can't wait to go back and try more of the delicious curries and cocktails. (Mmm, coconut-flavoured anything.)
- At the end of July, my mom and brother came out here to visit for a long weekend. Shane and I had fun being hosts for the weekend (we don't get to play that role enough!), and we made a point to get out and be active. We biked and hiked around town (the weather was perfect), although probably not enough to burn off all the food we ate over those three days. My family also got to experience a rarity that weekend: a Vancouver thunderstorm! Even better, a Vancouver thunderstorm during the annual Celebration of Light fireworks show. Awesome.
- In related news, Shane and I came home from the final fireworks show of the summer to find six people trapped in our (small) apartment elevator. Our landlord was not around, so we helped keep everybody calm until the elevator repairman could arrive through all the post-fireworks traffic. We managed to crack the door open, pass in ice packs and playing cards, and set-up a fan to blow some air in (did I mention this was happened during a heat wave? it was HOT here). It took about 75 minutes for the guy to get here, but eventually everyone got out.
- My latest obsession is with the bagels from a local bakery here called Siegel's. They are not kidding about having "possibly the best bagels in the world." Seriously. We've been buying a dozen bagels a week, meaning I have pretty much been eating a bagel a day for the past two months. DELICIOUS.
- Shane bought a new laptop recently, and thus my 2005 desktop PC was finally put to rest. Or at least put into our basement storage until we can figure out a place to donate it.
- Last weekend, we went out to BC's equivalent of a state fair: the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition). You may recall we went with Carrie to this event last year, when we saw the Superdogs show for the first time. (Okay, nobody but Carrie probably remembers that.) Well, we went back to the Superdogs show again this year, and it was even more hilarious. One of the performers this year was a tiny, tiny Yorkie named Pocket Rocket. Every time Pocket Rocket came out on stage (to compete in the obstacle course or just run around), the contrast between her and the other, bigger, built-for-agility dogs made me laugh until I cried. I cannot even tell you how much that sight tickled my funny bone. Good times.
That's about it. Now back to my regular homeworking...and counting down the days until my next week-long break (in October, when we will be joining Jon, Shannon, Joe and Carrie in California for a long weekend, yay!)
With Molly moving out this weekend, it's very probable that our days of having cable are coming to an end soon. While there are things I will miss (mainly the Twins and shows like Deadliest Catch, Paranormal State, Dirty Jobs, How It's Made, Mythbusters and Good Eats that we would catch here and there during the year), I've never been addicted to the TV so it's not that big if a deal to me. Surprisingly though, I do have six shows on primetime that I will at least try and keep up on this season (a much higher number than normal). Much of this stuff below is new to me (as of this summer) so many of you probably have already developed your opinions on them. If you haven't, however, I suggest tuning in if you get a chance.
The must: The Big Bang Theory
Holy balls this show is good. It's worth watching for Sheldon alone (best character on TV) but add in Howard and the rest of the crew into the mix and you have the best show on television...it's not even close. Add in the fact that I'm a geek at heart and I'm quite drawn to this show. Thank you Jason/Crystal for borrowing us the first season this summer.
The nice to haves: How I Met Your Mother and The Mentalist
How I Met Your Mother is a very good show. Episode after episode I find myself being entertained (though we are still watching season one and have a lot of catching up to do). It's no Big Bang Theory but Neil Patrick Harris is amazing as Barney (second best character on TV). Marshall is great too.
The Mentalist is quality entertainment as well. Simon Baker's portrayal of Patrick is a lot of fun to watch (third best character on TV) and the cast as a whole is pretty solid. I also like Kimball a lot.
The here and there's: Glee, So You Think You Can Dance and The Office
Glee looks like fun but I am not sure I will get into or not yet. Gina will be watching it for sure though. It will likely be a show that if I don't have something pressing going on I will sit down and watch with her.
So You Think You Can Dance should not be on this fall. It's hard enough keeping up with it in the summer when we are watching nothing else. I am not pleased with any show that is on multiple nights each week. I want to at least know what is going on with it but I am not going to go out of my way by any means to keep up on things.
The Office is definitely good. But, I mainly watched it because Molly was addicted to it. I'll catch episodes now and then but only when it's conventient. It is a huge season for me with where the show goes though. I could easily get bored after a couple of episodes and not watch anymore. If they do something creative with the plot line though, I could get reeled back in. And, well, Dwight is delightful (fourth best character on TV).
My new favorite lunch:
When Natalie was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, I signed up to get daily recipes from Gluten Free Club. I didn't have to sign up for the club to get the recipes, so, game on. Every once in a while they will send a recipe that uses mostly "regular" food. Yesterday they sent a meatloaf recipe that is amazing! I changed it a little, but it was still very good!
1 1/2 lbs. ground pork
3 eggs
1 cup cooked rice
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar
cheese
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons dried
chopped chives
2 cloves chopped garlic (or you could add onion)
1 teaspoon dried basil
+ 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 cup ketchup
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.
Mix all ingredients together well in a very large bowl.
Press mixture into a loaf pan (the temps and times are for glass loaf pans.)
Bake for 55 minutes.
**I put the mixture into jumbo muffin tins (greased) and filled them with the meat mixture 3/4 full. Individual serving sizes are fun! They may not need to be cooked 55 min. I think I cooked mine for 45-50 min.
Remove from oven and pour off some fat.
Cover tops of meatloaves with a generous layer of ketchup.
Bake 15 minutes longer.
Cool 10 to 15 minutes before cutting loaf.
Mistake #1: Yesterday the mailman put a piece of my mail containing those awful blank checks from the credit card company in someone else’s mailbox.
Mistake #2: The person who received my mail opened it.
Mistake #3: Same person then attempted to throw the checks in the trash container by the bank of mailboxes but they landed on the floor where anyone could pick them up.
Luckily a kind neighbor found them on the floor and decided to turn them in to the association office (which is what the person who received my mail should have done) and the manager left me a message telling me to come pick up my mail. I had to sit through a small, well-meant lecture about the dangers of throwing away blank credit card checks in a public place before I could explain that I hadn’t picked up my mail since Saturday and that someone else must have received and opened my mail. I then ran back upstairs and placed a call to the credit card company in order to warn them of possible fraud (since I don’t know if there was another page of checks included) and to change my account number.
No wonder I had such a bad stomach ache last night.
Click on the picture a couple of times to take a closer look. Check out the guys circled with Morneau and Pujols from our recent trip to STL and KC to follow the Twins.
June was quite a good month to be Shane, as several exciting things happened during that time. First off, we had our yearly company satisfaction survey at work. To encourage as many employees as possible to take it, they distributed a raffle ticket to each employee and had a daily prize drawing. The winner each day got to choose an item from the big box o' prizes. I won on the third day and selected a very nice Port Metro Vancouver jacket. It came down to that or a foot-long Toblerone bar...I think I made the right choice.
On June 12, I ran in the Longest Day 5K, which took place on the UBC (University of British Columbia) campus. After my half-marathon earlier this spring, I decided to take advantage of being in good running shape and attempt to break my PR (Personal Record) in the 5K, which was 22:45. My goal for the race was 22:00, and I ended up running a great race and finishing in 21:24, blowing my previous time out of the water.
I probably won't try for another PR in the 5K, only because running a race that fast is not really fun. You're pushing yourself the entire time and concentrating hard to maintain your speed. There's really no chance to look around and enjoy yourself. Longer races are more up my alley. Still, it felt really good to finish that fast!
Finally, I flew back to Minnesota the last week of June to go on the annual baseball road trip with friends. Details (and pictures) are coming soon in a separate post. Stay tuned!
