Ella and Francisco

In September Ella and I traveled to Irving, CA to attend Mason-Julia Chen’s first baptism. Her parents, Gloria and Tony, hosted a great brunch at a local chinese restaurant where we destroyed a multiple course meal. Later that night the parents and friends congregated at Malarkeys, the bar where Gloria and Tony first met. Basic decency and a reluctance to undermine Mason’s image of her parents prevent me from telling the story of their first meeting, but all of us who went back to the bar attempted to recreate the historic atmosphere. We all tried the famous 9-1-1 shot, which appeared to be a mixture of whatever hard liquors were situated closely to the barkeep’s hands.The pictures below are the only ones appropriate for showing here. I intend to save the others for future blackmailing needs.

Ella and I visited Rome and Siena from 5/4/08 to 5/18/08. We had a great experience visiting this amazing part of the world for the first time. Every day we walked extensively in both places. We also made use of the local bus and train systems to get around in each city and to journey from Rome to Siena and back. Some of the highlights of our trip included:

• The food, which required constant sampling. I had a wonderful stuffed-pepper dish in Rome at an osteria by our apartment in Trastevere. Ella had an amazing pasta alla carbonara in Rome. The gellato overflowed everywhere we went. And the coffee was truly good, including every capuccino we sampled in bars and restaurants.
• All the big site in Rome, including St. Peter’s square and the Basillica, the Vatican Museum, the Circus Maximus and Coliseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Villa Borghese,  and every piazza we discovered just by turning the corner.
• In Siena, the Duomo and the Piazza del Campo were the big sites. The Campo is the site of the annual horse race, the Palio. We could not enter the tower at the campo because they were filming the next installment of the James Bond series (the Quantum of Solace, whatever that means).
• Our neighborhood was the old Jewish ghettoe in Rome near the river Tiber. We crossed the river everyday to get into the ancient part of Rome.
• The view from our agriturismo in Siena was like a painting. At night we could see the lights of the villas all over the Chianti countryside. We actually ordered pizza on our first night in Siena.

Some life lessons I learned on our trip to Italy include:

• A combination of English, Spanish, high-school French, and phrase-book Italian does not compensate for not speaking Italian. Most people seemed less frustrated if I just spoke English.
• Deodorant does not last on a multi-leg flight. It just doesn’t.
• The pasta is truly better in Italy.
• Every ill can be cured by taking an afternoon walk while eating a scoop of gellato.
• You can get tired of seeing amazing sites every day, so you need to space it apart with doses of pizza and wine.

Next time we plan to visit other areas of Italy in order to keep sampling the gellato and write a paper on the regional impact of gellato manufacturing processes.

The link below will take you to the hundreds of pictures we took during our trip:

Italy Pictures

Some of our favorites are below.

It was not long after Katya came into our humble home that she needed some medical attention. Katya had a case of puppy pyo (a small staph infection), a little mange around one eye, and a wound on her tail that the vet determined might require amputation of the tip. The treatment for the infection was easy; oral antibiotic once a day and apply antibiotic ointment twice a day to her hot spots on her belly. And the mange required a little cream once a day.
The tail was another matter entirely. The vet initially bandaged her tail to see if it would heal on its own. When we returned a week later, the vet wanted to put her on the antibiotic for both the puppy pyro and the tail. He also advised us that we should give Katya hydrotherapy for her tail; basically, put the tail under running water twice a day for ten minutes. The running water apparently promotes skin growth around the wound. Sounds easy enough but along with the antibiotic ointment and the mange cream, we now had to drag our little girl into the scary bath tub and force her to sit still for ten minutes while we held her tail under the tap, twice a day. Additionally, she had to wear a plastic cone so she wouldn’t pick at her tail or her hotspots.

If dogs could write journals, I would not want to read her entries during this fussy time when her masters seemed to be obsessed with topical creams and bathing her tail. Katya began communicating her displeasure about her medical treament by:

• Dragging her plastic cone across every wall in the house producing a horrible tearing sound
• Using the cone as a means to scoop up dirt in the backyard and bring it into the house
• Jumping into and lying on the ferns and other delicate plants in the backyard, thereby crushing them
• Splaying out spread-eagled on the floor so we couldn’t pick her up and place her in the tub (I call this maneuver her anti-hydrotherapy defensive posture)
• Farting

Ella and I quickly found some toys and activities that seem to put her in a better mood. These include:

• Walks
• Roofball (throwing a tennis ball on the roof and waiting for it to come back down so she can jump and catch it)
• Belly rubs
• The Kong (a little rubber ball that contains a compartment in which we place a treat so she can try and fish it out with her tongue and teeth)

After two weeks of struggling with Katya to avoid surgery on her tail and clear up her puppy pyro and mange we finally took her to the vet today to determine if the treatments were a success. I told Ella before we met Dr. Newton that if it turned out Katya would still require surgery, I could not be held responsible for my actions. I instructed Ella to hold me back, and if need be, to slap the cone on me.

Lucky for everyone, Dr. Newton is an animal genius because the hydrotherapy fixed her tail without the need for surgery. Today, Katya is a healthy, hot spot-free, tail-wagging maniac.

This year for our wedding anniversary Ella and I spent the day at Mandola’s Winery in Driftwood, TX. Central Texas has a burgeoning wine country and we selected Mandola’s because of the beautiful pictures on their web site and they have a nice outdoor Italian restaurant. The winery began only a few years ago so their stock is low and consists mostly of wine made from grapes from other nearby wineries. Eventually they intend to import wine varieties from Europe and in 5 years hope to have their own blends. We toured their wine pressing and maturing facility, learned a little about wine-making, then bought a bottle to enjoy with our meal.

The atmosphere evokes a Tuscan setting, with lots of Italian folk music and, of course, Sinatra, wafting throughout the grounds. I don’t know if it was because it’s a 40 minute drive outside of Austin or the spectacular setting, but we felt like we had flown somewhere and forgot about work and home for the day. Our dinner was wonderful, culminating in a dessert of Italian donuts with honey (Woohoo!).

As our friend John put it, “Look who’s rockin’ the Austin Winter League flyer!”

Ella and I are playing ultimate Frisbee on Sundays in December, January, and February. This is a fun league started by our good friend Gary who has incorporated many fun elements like food, beverages, and a weekly showcase game that everyone can watch while enjoying the food and the day. Last year’s theme for team names was Classic Rock and Roll. My team was called “Deep Purple Lays”. This year’s theme is the TV show “the Office”. I’m hoping for “Wrestle with Fear” or “So Shall I Plant my Seed in You” or “I Hope It’s Urine”.

In case you’re interested, the web site for winter league is:

http://www.austinultimate.org/winterleague2008/

A new member of the clan has arrived. Our niece Aubrey was born on July 16, 2007. Follow the link to see pictures of the baby girl and her proud parents.

Aubrey Nicole

Crystal, Brian, and Aubrey Nicole

Ready for the Photo Shoot

Tita Ella and Aubrey Nicole

Back in June Ella and I went to Michigan for Eli’s, my father-in-law, 60th birthday party. Myrna, my mother-in-law, organized a secret birthday party at Hong Hua, a great Chinese Restaurant in Farmington Hills. I can attest that my father-in-law was truly surprised. I followed him into the banquet room where he first noticed the immediate family at a big table. Then I saw his eyes widen as he took in the three extra larger tables of additional rowdy attendees, realizing that his party was a lot bigger than he previously understood.

Ella and I had just flown in a couple hours before the big dinner. My mother-in-law warned us not to eat anything that day, and when I get this kind of warning from one of Ella’s family, I take it to heart. The pictures below of each course do not do justice to the deliciousness and presentation of each course. What a great time! My tummy was happy for many months, and severely misses the non-stop entree action of that evening.

The Onion has broken a story that just happens to dovetail nicely with my earlier post concerning the demonic breed of dog known as the pug. According to this highly respected newspaper, the 2007 model of pug is being recalled by the American Pug Breeders Association. Check out the link…

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/dog_breeders_issue_massive_recall

To me, the revelation is not that pugs are defective. I mean, one look tells you that this is not a highly efficient running bio-organism. What floored me was finding out there is an American Pug Breeders Association. Who is dedicating their time to pair up two sickly dogs hoping that their unholy union will usher forth a new generation? And then creating membership cards that certify that they have reached a high level of proficiency in this practice?

My mind is blown.

In any case, be sure to view the slideshow in the article showcasing pictures of real pugs and their defective features. The captions are hilarious!

A couple weekends ago we had our grimy carpets and old vinyl flooring removed from our three bedrooms and the kitchen. In their place we stained the concrete slab underneath, a trendy practice here in Austin. The results: FABULOUS! Now, despite some chilly moments rolling out of bed onto concrete, we have new floors befitting our southwestern locale.

Ella and I spent an incredible two weeks in Mexico City thanks to my Dad, Luz-Maria, and her family. This was Ella’s first time in Mexico and as you can see from the gallery below she made the most of the trip by trying everything: food, drink, sites, and more food. Being the considerate man that I am, I couldn’t let her embark on all these sights, sounds, and food by herself. Especially the food.

For the full set of photos check out the entire album at our new online photo gallery.