Wildcats Win 45-6

What a great weekend - football season has finally begun!

For tonight's game, we had the 810 WHB broadcast streaming over the internet. Hopefully we'll get TV coverage of a few games this season. So far we just know of the Louisville game.

Jason has been enjoying his new NCAA Football 09 video game (his Wildcat team has already defeated North Texas and next week's opponent Montana State). I enjoy seeing KSU Stadium on the big screen - the graphics are very realistic and they play the fight song in the background!

The Windy City

We enjoyed a three-day weekend in the Windy City of Chicago. It really was windy the first day; a little stormy (and then hot) the second day; and gorgeous the third day!

Of course we spent time with my brother, Ryan, who recommended several great restaurants. No surprise, Agave was the name of my favorite! Their margaritas and homemade guacamole were fantastic! I was thrilled to finally meet my nephew, Ernie, the furry feline. Loved him (even though he kept biting me)!

Since I didn't get out my camera much this weekend, I have decided to post a favorite from a previous Chicago trip. This is the underneath of "Cloud Gate" (aka The Bean) in Millennium Park.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

No, no, not the band. I'm talking about the garden again! Deciding to be creative with my otherwise boring dinner last night, I added ONE of our (no exaggeration) 100 Tabasco chili peppers from the big plant (see pictures in earlier post) to my "Skillet Lean Cuisine" teriyaki stirfry bag. All I did was cut off the top of a one inch long, 1/4 inch wide pepper, slice it lengthwise, and add it to the bag's contents while cooking. After cooking, I pulled out both pieces and threw them away. Although the stirfry didn't taste extremely spicy, my lips were burning after eating it. I'm eating the leftovers for lunch right now which has prompted a repeat and this post. Considering their potency, does anyone have suggestions on what to do with the large volume of remaining ones? We can't possibly eat all of them straight off the vine.

Bye-bye Bicycle

After our fabulous dinner out, we made a disappointing discovery: my bicycle was stolen from inside our parking garage yesterday where it was locked up on a bike rack. Jason's also had the lock cut, but the bike was still there. No more posts about the beautiful bike rides on the Mount Vernon Trail for awhile as we figure out what to do about replacing my bike. . . .

Restaurant Week - Round 3

It's August again and Congress is in recess, so the restaurants have to lure in the non-expense account types with their $35 three-course dinners.

Friday we went to Ruth's Chris in Dupont Circle again (see January Restaurant Week post). Same menu, same deliciousness.

Saturday we went to DC Coast on K Street (the official address for the city's lobbyist lawyers). We will definitely be back again even if we have to pay full price! The service was awesome, which is often a complaint during RW. The food was really fun.

Here's what I had to eat in addition to my peach bellini:

• Soup du jour: corn chowder finished with guaucamole pico de gallo
• Tower of Crab: soft-shell crab and crab cake over sweet corn succotash
• Almond creme brulee

Here's what Jason had to eat in addition to his 21-year Balvenie Portwood:

• Warm balsamic glazed shrimp with wilted spinach and crostini
• Peppercorn-encrusted yellow-fin tuna with Asian rice and stir-fry
• Chocolate pound cake with vanilla ice cream

Happy 30th Desiree!

My dear, younger friend, Desiree, doesn't turn 30 until Sunday, but I know how my home internet works and wanted to get these good wishes posted early instead of late. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Desiree and her family. If these pictures were greeting cards, here's what the insides would say:

May the Force Be With You for a Happy Birthday!

It's Your Birthday. It's Your Cake. It's Someone Else's Mess to Clean-up!

You can tell why I'm an accountant and not an editor at Hallmark, but I enjoyed looking through my pictures and finding these! Hope this birthday is your best yet!

Assateague Island

After the baptism on Sunday, we drove about 30 miles south to Assateague Island National Seashore near Ocean City, Maryland, to see the wild ponies. This is one of two wild pony herds on the barrier island. The other is on Chincoteague Island, Virginia. The two herds are divided by a fence at the state line. You may remember reading about them as a child in the Marguerite Henry "Misty" novels.

This pony was along side the main drive as we entered the park. We watched it pull a branch off of a tree.


The day was overcast and windy but some people were still at the beach. We didn't see ponies on the beach but there was "evidence" that they had been there.

Wild ponies from a distance on the marsh side of the island.

Rehoboth Beach

We spent the weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, with Jason's extended family. The highlight of our weekend was the baptism of our new niece, Lily, on Sunday. The new parents were nice enough to plan the weekend at the beach so their friends and family could also work in a vacation! :-)

Saturday was spent at the beach - where the water was freezing but the sun was shining. And today I've spent all day itching my sunburned back. . . .

Sunday started with torrential storms but briefly cleared right before the baptism. The storm picked back up by the end of church with thunder, lightning, and downpours, but the guest of honor slept through everything!

National Harbor

On Friday, Jason's parents flew in from Indiana for the weekend. While Jason and his step-dad were golfing, his mom and I toured the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Old Town Alexandria and then took a 25-minute water taxi ride across the Potomac to Maryland to the newly built National Harbor.

View of the Gaylord Hotel and the National Harbor development from the water taxi

The Awakening sculpture which was moved from Hains Points to the National Harbor. There is also a knee and foot buried in the sand.

How's this for scale?

Guarding the Garden

The garden has made great progress:

Rachel guarding her flock in early June.

Rachel guarding her flock in early August.

Wii Got Game

The Shields household has joined the Wii nation! After a few months of, "hey, maybe we should get one of those," and three weeks of, "did you check at the other Best Buys and the other Game Stops, too?" Jason finally found one this week.

We played our first games tonight: bowling against each other, my Mii against the computer in tennis, and Jason's Mii in golf. I'm not sure if I should be proud or embarrassed to admit that I actually broke a sweat - well, at least a really sweaty palm - during my five-game tennis match!

Jason winning in his boxing match.