Thanksgiving Weekend

I love November. The six weeks from mid-November through early January are chock full of friends, family, fun and food, and frankly we love it! Case in point: Thanksgiving. Football, food, more food, and film...
Sadly, Jen had to work on Thanksgiving so I was on my own. Luckily I had plenty to do...

Turkey Bowl

About a week prior to Thanksgiving, my buddy Nate hatched a brilliant plan: a Turkey Bowl game of touch football. His plan was to see how many people we could round up (girls... ahem, women were welcome to play as well, of course) and get together in the early afternoon to get our blood up and burn a few calories prior to packing on the pounds at dinner. I didn't know what the turnout would be, but I was pleasantly surprised. We all met up at the park near my house, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and a bright sun made it a balmy 80 degrees, and at the planned kickoff time we had 8 people; definitely enough to play a friendly game of touch football. We played for about an hour before disaster, sadly but inevitably for a bunch of not-as-young-as-we-used-to-be players, struck. Chris rolled his ankle fairly severely and after we realized that he wasn't just hamming it up, we stopped laughing and went into first aid mode as he lay on the ground writhing in agony. I immediately hopped on my cell phone to call Jen and get the nurse's directions, but I couldn't get a hold of her (she was probably dealing with a real patient at the time), so I ran back to the house to get some ibuprofen, water and a camp stool so Chris could elevate his foot. When I came back Scotty had broken out two of those blue jelly cold packs and a bandanna so that we could ice his ankle down. They were originally meant to keep the beer cold, but we decided Chris was worth the sacrifice (really, it just meant we would have to drink the beers before they got warm). Once Chris was all situated, we decided to start the second half of play. At first we felt a bit remorseful, but Chris allayed our fears, saying "don't worry about me, guys. I've got beers and chew, so I'm good!" Probably not the right answer from a medical standpoint, but his cheery disposition comforted us, and so we retook the field. Nick, Cohen, Jamie and Laura joined us for the second half, and as the game wore on it became increasingly obvious to everybody that our levels of energy were waning quickly. Since nobody had a good idea of what exactly the score was, we decided that the next team to score two touchdowns would be the winner. The goals came quickly, and after picking up after ourselves we all headed off to our respective celebrations...

Dinner with the Woogs'

Adam (aka Torquemaster), my "combat crew" on my last deployment and a genuinely good and fun guy, invited me over to have Thanksgiving with him, his wife (they jus got married last month), and his family, and I decided to take him up on the offer. It was really nice to sit down and have a family Thanksgiving; the food was great, and the company was even better. After we gorged ourselves, we moved to the living room for a rousing game of Beatles Rock Band. What a great time.

Thanksgiving, Take 2

Since both Jen and Patty worked on Thanksgiving Day, the SD crew decided to get together on Black Friday to do our big Thanksgiving get together. We had a great crew, a huge spread (My personal favorites? Everything I put in my face...), I brought my guitars for a little entertainment, and Chris went to the store and brought back a miniature sized bottle of Rumplemintze to fill us all with a little holiday cheer. Of course, we all had a great time, ate more than our fill, and laughed and sang into the wee hours. And the hero of the night award goes to Jen for pushing through the effects of the flu she was battling to attend!

Lebowski under the stars

The final event of our Thanksgiving weekend was a trip to Mission Hills to Cinema Under the Stars (CUTS) with Pete and Jen (P&J). (My) Jen and I almost feel bad when we hang out with P&J because it seems like every time we do they introduce us to some new fun and exciting San Diego attraction. What exactly do Jen and I bring to this relationship? Hmmm, I'm really not sure, but I hope they keep hanging out with us! This field trip of discovery was an invitation to join them for a showing of "The Big Lebowski" at CUTS. I'm an instant devotee. For $13 you get either a recliner or a private booth at the back (I don't recommend the second to last row of non-reclining chairs. Call ahead and reserve either a lounger or a booth!), a free bag of M&Ms from the owners (score!), and a show. The "theater" area is open to the elements, save for an overhead cover on the back half of the floor, and although it was chilly (by San Diego standards anyway) they have plenty of heaters and hand out blankets, so Jen and I never got cold. The sound system and projector are really high quality too, so the show was great. Sadly, this was the last show of the season, but we'll definitely be back in the spring when they open back up.

Thanksgiving '09 is now just a fond memory, and we're left with only pictures and a little leftover potatoes to remember it by. We had a blast. Can't hardly wait to see what the rest of November and December have in store...

Livin' la dolce vita

Most of you probably already know that Jen studied abroad in Florence, Italy (that's Firenze for all you hard core Italo-philes out there), and if you've ever talked to her about her experience, you've undoubtedly heard stories about Father Bruno Segatta. Equal parts Bear Grylls, Michaelangelo Buonarroti and Mother Teresa, Father Bruno could be the patron saint of self discovery. Throughout the year Jen spent in Italy, Father Bruno took her and her fellow Florentines on a myriad of excursions throughout Europe, from multi-day hikes through Cinque Terre (ask Jen about sleeping on the helo pad), to a marathon bus trip to Poland (24 hours straight), to wandering through ancient ruins in Turkey (her friend Alissa had a broken leg so they wheeled her around the crumbled pillars and statues). Talk to students that studied with Bruno, and he takes on an almost larger than life persona; in your mind's eye you can imagine him tromping across the hillsides of Tuscany with a walking stick in one hand, a bottle of wine in the other, and a sleeping bag and pack strapped to his back. I first met him at Matt and Cara's wedding a few weeks ago in Spokane. After our introductions, Bruno told us that he would be performing a wedding in LA in a few weeks, and Jen convinced him to come stay with us for a few days prior to heading north for the nuptials. He accepted, and I'll be honest, I was a little apprehensive about the prospect of a 3 day visit from a 67 year old priest I'd met only once. It was amazing. Each morning and afternoon Bruno would take us on a walk to Starbucks for tea and coffee, and on Wednesday Bruno and I went with Dan, Alex, and Jess to Cardiff State Beach for a surf. Bruno didn't surf with a board, but he did bodysurf after an hour long run. The guy's amazing.
Hands down, my favorite part was the cooking. Or maybe the eating. Okay, so it was the eating. Each day Bruno would take us to the store to procure the ingredients for that night's feast. The first night: hand-crafted pizza with toppings chosen by our guests (Patty, Krissy, Jenny, Nate and Laura), home made bread, and our cups ran-eth over with vino rosso. Night two: home made spinach and ricotta ravioli with a delicious meat sauce, more home made bread, and more vino. Night three: sausage with potatoes and tomatoes, repeat on the bread, and repeat on the wine. For three days, we ate like Italian royalty, but the best part was our friends coming over to enjoy it with us. It was great to have an excuse to have everyone over and to break out all the platters and bowls we we received as wedding gifts but have never actually found an occasion to use. The best part of Bruno's visit, though, was that he painted us not two, not three, but four paintings! He's an extremely talented painter, and he sells his paintings to raise money for a number of causes, most often and most notably an orphanage in Uganda. Jen and I couldn't have been more excited to receive the paintings, and we're so happy that we could support his work! Thanks for visiting, Bruno!

Burgers, brews, and tunes

Last night Jen and I met our friends Pete and Jen out downtown for the Matt Costa concert at the Casbah. We decided to grab a bite to eat in Little Italy beforehand, and we were going to meet at Filippi's for pizza, but it was slammed so instead we wandered down to Burger Lounge. I'd never been, but Jen had been once in Coronado, and she said it was good. It's a trendy little burger place with modern orange lighting, microbrews on tap, a minimalist menu (just beef burgers, turkey burgers, and veggie burgers), and hefty prices. Jen and I each had a burger and a beer, and we split an order of fries/onion rings. The total price tag: $33. Yowza! It was a good burger, though, and the company was great, so it was well worth it.

After dinner we shot over to the Casbah for the show. Doors were at 8:30pm, which seemed late, but we figured the opener would go on around 9:00 or so, so it didn't seem to late. Once we got inside the doors we headed to the little bar in the back to hang out, have another beer, and wait for the show to start. And we waited. And we waited. The opener, Wire Pony, finally went on around 11:00. They were a pretty good alt-country band that sounded a lot like Ryan Adams. The coolest part of their show was that the lead singer was the rhythm guitarist's dad. Matt Costa finally came on around midnight. He played the first 5 or so songs acoustic, by himself. I was extremely impressed. He's eccentric, but more than anything he's an entertainer and extremely talented. Over the course of the set he played the guitar, piano, trumpet, and harmonica, and his bandmates swapped instruments after almost every song. They played a bunch of new songs, and I'm really excited for his new album. It reminded me a lot of The Shins last album; very few of the new songs have typical poppy 3 or 4 chord progressions, and the instruments, even live, layer in an interesting way. The Casbah's a great place to see a show anyway, since it's such a small venue. We were probably 15' from the stage the entire night. The sound was less than great, but it was a great show, and I'll trade a small venue with crappy sound that gives you a great experience for a large venue with great sound that keeps you disconnected from the artists. If I wanted great sound I'd play my iTunes through my stereo. Thanks Pete and Jen for a great night. We'll have to do it again some time.

Marine Corps Birthday Ball!

Semper Fi, Devil Dog!

It's that time of year. Halloween's a quickly fading memory, Thanksgiving's just around the corner, and smack dab in the middle? The Marine Corps Birthday Ball.

The ball is the quintessential example of "mandatory fun": slightly annoying prior to the event, but well worth it once you get there. It inevitably perturbs me that I have to spend time, energy and money getting my uniform set up, from having medals and ribbons mounted to drycleaning. Meanwhile, Jen's annoyed that she has to expend the same to get her hair and nails done, buy a dress, buy shoes, buy a new purse (okay, so I don't think she minded getting the new shoes and purse). Here's a funny story. As part of preparing for the ball I ordered Jen a corsage. Nothing big, just a little wrist corsage made with mini red roses. I thought it would be sweet since I'm pretty sure the last time I've seen her have fresh flowers to werar for an occasion was our wedding. I guess that should have clued me in. So here I am thinking I'm going to score all kinds of points because she's going to think it's so cute that I bought her a corsage. I walk upstairs where she's getting ready, hiding my hands behind my back so she can't see the present. I told her, "I have something for you." She looked me quizzically for a second, then said, and I'm not making this up, "That better not be a corsage."! Bummer. Needless to say, she laughed for about an hour at the fact that I thought it was socially acceptable for a grown woman to wear a corsage to a formal event. I laughed along with her at myself, how could I have been silly? Secretly, though, I was sure that at least one other woman would have a corsage at the ball and that once we were there Jen would wish she had her beautiful floral bracelet with her after all. I was wrong. No corsages anywhere. I checked.

But once you're there, it's all worth it. For those of you who have never been, every Marine Corps Birthday Ball has two constants. The first is the pomp, circumstance, and tradition that permeates the entire affair. A full band (I'm talking trumpets and drums not guitars and keyboards, here) sets the evening into motion and paces the ceremonial proceedings as the colors (translation: the Marine Corps flag and the US flag) are marched up and down through the ball room. Part off this ceremony is the birthday cake; the first piece goes to the oldest Marine present (they read his birthday aloud and snickers and chuckles arise from all around) and the second piece goes to the youngest Marine present (punctuated by groans and everyone present mentally calculating his/her age to see just how much older than the youngest Marine they really are). After the cake cutting, the guest of honor, typically a General or some such VIP, gets up and gives a little speech, and then we watch the Commandant's video message. Over the few years I've been in, I've really enjoyed the messages. They're generally very well produced, and alays avoid being too cheesy or corny. We've been at war the entire time I've been a Marine, and each Commandant has generally used the message as a way to recap the combat operations of the preceding year and to emphasize the stories of individual Marines sacrificing for each other. This year's message included the stories of Cpl Jonathan Yale and LCpl Jordan Haerter, two Marines who gave their lives in Ramadi, Iraq when a suicide bomber driving a vehicle borne improvised explosive device attempted to breach the gate of their compound. Cpl Yale and LCpl Haerter stopped him, but in doing so they also lost their lives. This particular story hit especially close to home because I lost some good friends this year. As always, the message reminded me why it is that we sacrifice as Marines.

The second constant is that everyone always looks so good! All the Marines look sharp in their blues (the best looking uniform our military has to offer, if I do say so myself). Their dates are all dressed to the nines, and by and large the dates are always shockingly better looking than their Marine counterparts. It never ceases to amaze me that my Marine buddies, with their ridiculous haircuts and oft exhibited neanderthal tendencies, manage to land such friendly, intelligent, well-adjusted, and beautiful women. I'm the prime example of this phenomenon. Jen, of course, looked jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and more impressive to me, she always seems to be so at ease in these social situations. The ballroom is filled with acquaintances she hasn't seen since the last Birthday Ball, and even then that she met only briefly, yet she's friendly and endearing to everyone I drag her through the room to talk to. Watching her interactions with all my coworkers and their spouses is probably my favorite part of the entire night.


Last year we cut out of the ball pretty early, but this year we closed it out. The DJ closed up shop around midnight, with about 80% of the dozen or so people that were left in the room all crowding the dance floor. All in all it was a great time, and the best part was, we took some pictures for once!