2008 in Review

This is becoming a yearly tradition...

1) Drinking Buddy of The Year?
Vanessa! Maia wins wine tasting buddy of the year.

2) Lifetime service award - Longest friend
George is probably always going to win this award, but Bret gets special honors tonight because today is a 10-year friend-a-versary!

3) High Point of the year?
Hmmmm... I think the San Fran trip in April was pretty freakin awesome.

4) Low point of the year?
Without a doubt - finding a bald spot on my head, only to get dumped an hour later. Man that sucked.

5) Best holiday?
Vacation holiday = Tied between San Fran in April and San Diego in November.
Holiday holiday = It hasn't happened yet, but I'm already saying New Year's Eve!

6) Anthem for 2008?
"By and By" - Brett Dennen ...Not really an anthem, just my favorite song at the moment.

7) Any Regrets?
Hmmm. None whatsoever!

8) Best Night out?
Trivia nights with Vanessa were always fun. Especially in January after our company holiday party, since that's pretty much when our friendship started! Outdoor cinema night at 858 was AWESOME. (Not really a night out I guess, but close enough.) Going to the lobby bar after my sister's wedding with Mom hair in full effect! Christmas Carol>Catacombs>Cosmo's>Stranahan's whiskey late night>no sleep ... that was a good night! Also any night involving Roller Derby or Rockies. Oh, and the night at Lakeside Amusement Park was super fun too. And Election Night!

9) Worst Night out?
Being woken up at 8am to "Can you come pick me up from jail?" Fail!

10) Who did you spend your valentines with?
Hmmm... Probably my roommates. This year it will be chocolate covered vicodins! ;-) (My surgery is Feb. 12th.)

11) Best relationship?
I don't like this question and will be omitting it from future years. If you have multiple real relationships in one year, can any of them be considered "best"?

12) Worst relationship?
Same as above.

13) Best concert?
Cake at Chautauqua followed by Vampire Weekend at the Bluebird.

14) Best New Relationship/Friend?
Vanessa of course! Brian, you definitely get an honorable mention! Also, Kelsie, Alex, and the whole ES crew.

15) Best decision made all year?
Go to San Diego and visit Maia. (This is a complicated answer... ask me for the explanation sometime.)

16) Best new album that you have gotten this year?
Pandora! haha

17) Most proud moment?
Getting a raise, promotion, and bonus all in the same day!

18) Most reliable person?
Kaplow wins this one for always being there via email, facebook, and text!! I think you also win the award for "most emails from Kezza ever".

19) Best job of the year?
Wedding-dress-holder-upper-while-my-sister-pees. haha

20) Best Film?
This is tough. I watched a lot of movies this year. Especially once both George and I got netflix. I'm gunna go with Charlie Bartlett, just because that's the only one sticking out in my head right now.

21) Biggest Bitch?
Having to pay the bills. (God I sound old.)

22) Biggest pain in your ass?
Oh wait, this is not the same as #21? Hmmm... How bout, missing the bus to the airport and having to chase it halfway to Denver? That sucked.

23) Person you wish you never met?
I really cannot think of anyone.

24) Catch phrase of the year?
GooooOBAMA!

The absolute best picture from Christmas 2008:

And the last of the Christmas pics...

Kaplow! Where are you?? Look what Meg got us for Christmas!! It's even pre-baked! I'm totally saving it for April.




Click here for the 11SW Gingerbread House Reprise

Snow storm - Before and After

Here's some before and after shots of our recent little snowstorm:

Friday 12/19/08 - Noon

Monday - 3:45pm

Monday - 9:35pm

(It actually got worse than this by Tuesday morning, but by the time I went to snap a pic, it had started melting already.)

Christmas in Bangkok

Well, kind of. Checked out a few Thai restaurants in my hometown, and a nearby suburb. It is unfortunate that Boulder can't manage to have Thai food this good. At least I have something to look forward to every time I come home!

More snow!

Yes, it's true... I have no car and we're getting 3 inches of snow per hour... so I have nothing better to do than take videos of it. This is the Syracuse I remember from childhood. Good times.

Back yard:




Front yard:

Syracuse!

Just some shots I've taken the last few days here in my humble home of Syracuse, NY. Enjoy!

Brian's Steamboat Pictures

Brian's awesome pictures from last weekend:



(My captions, not his.)

Tahoe Open Mic?

Come on Hoa... you know you want to let me sing this with you!




Love this song!

Steamboat weekend

Here's some pictures from my weekend in Steamboat/Keystone with a couple of the San Fran crew. Such a great weekend!

Highlights include:

• Thursday night Catacombs = empty? Sweet.
  
• Getting stuck in a snow-bank on the drive up to Steamboat, and getting pulled out by that random dude with a truck and chains who just always happens to drive by.
• Going straight to the hot springs - What 5 hour drive?
  
• An awesome day of riding with the boys at Steamboat. Team Ramrod!
• Getting about 5 hours of sleep between Thursday and Sunday.
• Jackass = "Oh wait, that rule I told you guys about before. That's a lie."
  
• "Breaking and entering" into a house-of-political-scandal in Keystone.
• Red Rocks covered in snow. Drinks and football.
• Nachos and duck fat fries!
  
• Hot tub.
• An almost-missed flight! ;-)

CANNOT wait for Tahoe!!! I'm so glad it's only a month away!

This weekend....

This...

and this...

Woohoo!

You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone...

The following conversation took place about an hour ago, at my local Safeway:


Clerk (holds up carton of eggs): Do you want to get a dozen instead of these two half-dozens? The half-dozens cost twice as much.

Kezza: Ummm... that is a dozen.

Clerk: No, this is two half dozens, see? (Points at two bar code stickers, and hash mark across the top, used for cutting said dozen in half.)

Kezza: Can't you just ring that one in as a dozen? (Points at "dozen" bar code printed on carton.)

Clerk: Nope, the register won't let me. Do you want me to get someone to grab a dozen for you?

Kezza (looks at the dozen he has in his hand, confused; Looks at line apologetically): Sure, I guess.

Other customers in line also making confused faces. Clerk pages for help. Help arrives.

Clerk: William, can you go get a dozen instead of these two half-dozens? (Hands William carton of one dozen eggs. William also looks somewhat confused, but leaves.)

Five verrrry long minutes later, William arrives with an identical carton of eggs, minus two barcode stickers. There are now 5 people in line behind Kezza. Everyone is still confused. Clerk scans barcode printed on carton and Kezza leaves with "Twilight Zone" theme stuck in her head.

Fashion Show

Checked out a fashion show at a club in Denver Saturday night. Interesting scene. It seemed that most of the regular patrons were Eastern European, and the employee dress code for women was "Clothing Not Allowed". Some chicas were wearing fancy lingerie, which looked appropriate I guess for that kind of club. But other girls were simply wearing bras and underwear and it was awkward. I felt like I was in someone else's nightmare where they show up to work without clothes on. My instinct was to take off my jacket and offer it to the girls. Shortly after a girl in a bikini got on stage and started dancing, I left, went home and read my book club book. Yeah, I'm cool.

No climb? :-(

The flatirons look like this. It's 24 degrees. It looks like climbing it out of the agenda for tomorrow. :-( Maaaaaaybe on Sunday??

French Bunion Soup - it's a thing.

My sister sent this to me. This is awesome! Go to this link, and fast forward to 18:10. French bunion soup. It's a thing. Tell your friends.

What I'm climbing this weekend

Third Flatiron
Boulder, CO

It is the holidays after all...

Everyone knows you don't stay on your diet during the holidays. So if you're gunna indulge, you might as well go all out. Try this simple, but decadent and oh-so-delicious tasty treat I whipped up tonight.

1. Toss broccoli and asparagus with olive oil, salt, pepper and powdered garlic. Roast on 400 until desired doneness (10-15 minutes).
2. Cook chopped bacon in non-stick skillet. After a while add chopped mushrooms. Cook for for like 5-10 minutes?
3. This is where I started improvising, so bear with me.... Throw in a couple tablespoons of butter, and some pinot grigio (or other white wine)... maybe half a cup? Reduce.
   
4. Now you need to thicken the sauce. I used about a tablespoon of cream cheese, but I'm sure whole milk or cream would work great too. I may have also thrown in some more butter. ;-)
   
5. Cook until desired thickness. Take veggies out of the oven.
   
6. Throw in some left over egg noodles or whatever other pasta you have on hand.
   
7. Toss sauce, veggies and noodles. Add pepper, salt and parmesan cheese to taste.
   

VOILA! It's kinda healthy cause it has veggies right?? ;-)




Post Script - Be sure not to drop the leftovers on the floor! (Luckily there weren't too many!)

It's official

I'm going to Tahoe 2009!!

(Group shot from Tahoe 2007)