Because…
I thought that today/night being Halloween that I would show some of you food lovers (mainly chocolate lovers) what I want to experience some time when I do a wedding……
I was watching a special on Food Network, and they were talking about all kinds of foods and this one was all about chocolate! Now I love chocolate…not as much as some of you women out there I am sure, but this is one I would love to experience….
The Chocolate Fountain (this is not a cake but a constant flowing fountain of chocolate!!!!!)
Now these fountains cost to rent something like $400 and the small fountain costs to buy around $2,300.00! Now if anyone does buy one of these please invite me over and I will bring the food for the fondu fountain, but please PLEASE invite me!!!! (I promise I will not put my finger in it, heh.)
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Jay Update:
Well, sometimes it is impossible to get a hold of Jay because they are using the room’s phone line to connect to the internet….(Sheila works a lot…and besides….Jay has to check on his own update via this blog, heh.)
My parents said he talked to his grandmother (Nanaw) today during lunch, but he is starting to get his mucus problems where his mouth drys up and really hurts him with all the sores in his mouth, tongue, and throat, buuuuuuuuuuut he is doing good, and his Spirit is amazingly great.
Tomorrow will be his 5th day of Chemo and his Stem cells will be inserted on Tuesday, and they might even send him home the same day on Tuesday.
But, even if they send him home he will have to go back to the hospital every other day for 15 days to make sure everything is OK and his body is accepting his stem cells.
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Well, for the Halo2 fans out there Japan’s #1 video game magazine (Famitsu) gave their rating of Halo2 and they were very happy with it! This is amazing since Japan is the largest gaming country in the world. Here is a link to the article.
And here is even a new screen shot from the review:
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Well, that is about all I had to say except, please KUTP and Happy Halloween! Enjoy your parties and have a spook filled night! Take care and God bless you all!
May you all experince love and grace flowing from the arms Jesus has wrapped around you!
Well, I don’t have too much time because I have to get to my accountability group, but I wanted to tell yall that Jay is doing very good…can’t sleep sometimes, but doing good.
I also wanted to tell yall that I have very fond memories of some home made pickles that my family received one time when I was a kid and I think I will try to reproach them. All I remember was they were in a huge jar and there was all kinds of herbs and stuff floating around in the jar. I can’t remember if we received them from Nan or one of my name’s friends or if it was someone else that my Dad knew, but I am asking any of you to start your SEC’s now for the best DILL Pickle recipe that you can find and let me know the receive. I have no idea why I am craving Pickles (isn’t this something that pregnant women do? Maybe my body is thinking that it is my job to do all the baby work, instead of Tiffany, ha ha). What ever the problem, I really would love to have a great dill pickle recipe! Well yall have a great day and God bless you all! I will leave you with my dreams…ha ha ha
Oh, and sorry about no posts yesterday and maybe the day before, I have been crazy busy trying to get ready for the church events that we have been having. The first one was on Saturday where the church came up with a new vision statement (actually it is not necessarily new, but it is up-to-date, ha ha (this way the people who are still around who came up with the old one can’t get mad, heh) That took all of Saturday morning and then I help decorate the church for Rally Aloha Day which is our church’s kick-off day to say, “OK summer is over you can stop skipping church now lets start coming back and enjoying ourselves by worshiping God in fellowship, etc…) It was a blast on Sunday and every one was wearing “lays” (sp?) and fun shirts. I even got to wear a fun shirt (untucked) and sandals!!!1 Woo Hoo It was lots of fun, and I truly believe that I am called to serve a church some day that does not care about a dress code (even if it is just an understood one) and everyone can be comfortable in their worship to God. But I better not get on my soap box now. Yall have a great week and know I love ya! Take care and God bless, and even though Jay is feeling good….Please KUTP!
But first……
I know this is not the new of news, but I don’t think I ever pointed it out and wow this just amazes me.
It is said that the new Extended Edition DVD of he Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King (LOR:ROTK) is 50 minutes longer than the original film (which was 3 something hours long to start with) and added something like over 3000 more effects shots to the movie. That is amazing, and now if you want to have a DVD marathon (which I would love to do) it looks like I could have everyone over to eat breakfast @ 8:00 am and then what the first one(Fellowship of the Ring (little more than 3 1/2 hrs.), then have lunch, watch the second one (The Two Towers almost 4 hrs.), and then eat dinner and watch the third one (Return of the King over 4 hrs.) and I think everyone could be home around 11:00 pm. How is that for a movie marathon?!!!! Start it @ 8:00 am and end it around 11:00 pm. Oh yeah, that will rock, but I better make sure to tell everyone to bring over pillows, heh. I might need to put some chairs on my kitchen table for room, heh. Oh and this will have to be for there most dedicated of Tolkien fans….(in other words….no talking Tiffany!!!…even if it is questions) heh heh.
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Also you have all got to see what I saw today while eating lunch @ The Bobcat Bite here in Santa Fe……
That is a 1928 Jag!!!! I should have taken a better shot of the front emblem, but I did not want to be rude. When the guy came out of his truck, I told him that everyone sure was in awe of his car. His response? “So am I.” ha ha ha ha. That is just amazing! Apparently after talking to one of the ladies @ the Bite she told me he used to own a shoe store in Santa Fe and eats there 2 times a week, and kept telling her that he would bring his car by to show her, and today he finally did. heh. Wow that is just cool…and I am not into cars.
Also, I have to say the best Green Chili Cheese Burger in the world is @ the Bobcat bite. They cut their own meat for the steaks and what is left over becomes the hamburger meat. Oh and they cook it perfectly, and use Hatch Green Chili. The only Chili to use. Oh and you must remember if your ever in New Mexico and ask for Chili then you will be asked green or red, because there is no meat and sauce with this, because they are talking about chili peppers not the meal. But oh man I have been taken over and am now addicted to the stuff, and it will be very hard for me to not have it. (I wonder if there is an influx of cocaine to Hatch, New Mexico and they just put it in the fertilizer when growing the chilis, because I just have to have my fix every now and then. Hoooo Doggie! (heh, love making up words)
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Well, I have told you about it and it is finally is here it is your turn to vote on my hair styles and facial hair. I have three different pictures of me for you to vote on. (It is not all about me, I just thought this would be fun…and maybe some of you would actually post a comment instead of just read the blog, ha ha. Anyway…..
The three pictures are: #1 me bald with goatee, #2 Me with more hair (but you can’t see it) and a soul Patch, and the last is taken from Christmas ‘02 (only one I could find, heh) so…on to the pictures:
Bald goatee
little more hair (on head, but you can’t see it) and soul patch (thing on my chin) heh
DG with hair Xmas ‘02 (and a little skinnier, heh) (now the cute Nanaw must not influence your decision)
Ok now to vote some of you might not know this but you can make comments to me and others at the end of each post. You can click on the blue text that says “comments” just below the text of this post. once you have done that then you can type a message anonymously or you can sing up/in and let everyone know who you are with your words…if you choose not to sign up, then just sign the end of you comment with your initials etc…
Ok, so lets start the voting… Let me know which one you like best and we will have a winner. Now if you think I need to take another photo of any of them just let me know and I will do the best I can, but for now these are the ones you get to choose from. So, how to you like your D.G. prepared? heh. Have fun and I will post again maybe on Monday (my Parents are coming up so I might be with them and might not have time to post, but I will try. I look forward to all your comments and thoughts on the evolution of D.G. and his hair, heh. Have a great night!
Jay Update: same, waiting on Friday to go get the next Chemo treatment. KUTP!
Well, I cooked Indian food tonight Lamb Tikka Masala (not sure about the spelling), and lets just say that the Sushi was better in my book. heh. I got the recipe from Foodtv.com and I loved the Saffron Rice (I added green peas to it), but the recipe from the Chicken Tikka Masala was just not what I have had in the restaurant. So, I will try that one again some other time.
The lamb was great! and the rice was good, but the sauce for the tikka masala was just not what I would call wonderful. So I will save that one for another day! The lamb though, was very good. I grilled in and it was marinated in rosemary and mint. Oh yeah really good stuff!
Well, not much happened today. I was planning on working on my sermons all day today, but I had an interruption, but just as Dr. Kalas 
(one of my fav professor’s in Seminary) used to say, “Some of my best moments of ministry were in the interruptions.” Amen Dr. Kalas!
Well, I got some GREAT news today! Al Gwinn (Tiffany and I’s Sr. Pastor in Lexington, KY @ 1st Church Lexington) was elected Bishop today, so that is great news. I will spare you all on what that means in the Methodist church, but it is a huge honor and you don’t go up the ladder as a pastor any higher than Bishop. For example, there is one Bishop over the entire panhandle of Texas and the State of New Mexico. Our conferences are a little different, but still they are the big wigs, and I can not think of a better man to receive this honor and responsibility. May God bless the conferences he serves!
Oh, yeah I almost forgot our cat Sushi (yes yes, my dog loves to eat Sushi…not the food, but our cat, ha ha ha) can not eat anything after 9:00 pm tonight. You know why?……… Well, lets just say there are two parts of his anatomy that he will be missing after tomorrow…OUCH!
You know when we took our dog Halo in the Vet for that procedure I thought they would tie them up just like they do to us humans, but no no no, they take them right out…no mistakes are going to happen here, heh. Well, I just stayed home with him and loved on him the entire day that day, I felt so bad. Well, Tiffany is not going to be back until around 7:00 pm tomorrow so it looks like it is going to just be us boys again and this time Halo and Sushi will be with me. I wonderful Halo will be nice to Sushi after the surgery? Lord please be with them both.
Jay Update:
I talked to Jay today and he was feeling very good and talking lots, just still hurting from the mouth sores all in his mouth, tongue, and throat. So….please KUTP! He had a Dr.’s visit today and nothing new, except this time he had to wait 7 HOURS to get in to see the Dr…..7 HOURS! And this is a Dr.’s visit in a Dr.’s office, not the hospital, but the office. Man that is a long wait time. But he was home and watching Deep Space 9 with Sheila and doing good. Thank you for your love and prayers!
Tiffany will be home tomorrow!!!!!!!! Woo hoo I can not wait!!!!!!! Man, I miss her!!! It seems like the more we are apart the harder it is to have her leave…shouldn’t be the other way, where you get used to it? Oh well, we are not the typical couple, heh. I love her soo much…more than I could ever express in words, so that leaves me actions and I do the best I can there too….even though it can never be enough. SHMILY!!!!!!!!
I also talked to Tyson Edwards…best friend of High School and college, and He and his wife live in Las Vegas, and are doing well. It was great talking to you both! Love yall!
Please continue to be in prayer for Jay and Sheila, of course, but for someone in KY also who is really in need of your prayers! Please lift this person up to God and allow this person to really get back on track with God during this time of trial in their life. Thanks!
Hey the blog now has cool format options, so be looking for those in the
future
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Love you all take care and God bless!!! (P.S. did you spend time in your hiding place yet?)
Well, tonight I made my own sushi!!! And guess what……..It was darn good! heh. Let me show you what I ate:
This one was the first one I made…well actually the first California roll I made was WAY over stuffed, and I just had to eat that one in one big roll while I was making it. (oh darn, heh) Well this plate was the first one I made and that is a Cali roll with a few Tuna pieces.
This is the second one I made and this one is all spicy Tuna roll. There was a second spicy tuna roll, but I decided to actually eat the sushi I made instead of taking pictures of it.
This is the place setting of everything except the last plate of the second spicy tuna roll. Man this was a lot on food, and I just barely got it down, heh.
Well from what I have learned in this wonderful experience is:
1. I can actually make my own Sushi, and it is MUCH cheaper!
2. It took me a total of 2 1/2 hours to make it all, and it was just barely still cold when I ate it all…in other words, next time I will make it with other people.
3. Real crab meat in a Cali roll is much better than the imitation you get in the restaurants.
4. I love rice cookers
5. I will probably only do this for special acceding due to the amount of time it takes and the number of dishes I had to clean, hew
6. Sushi is still a love of mine!!!!
throaty is Indian food, so I will let you all know how that goes and hopefully that is be a little less time consuming, hew.
Oh BTW: I am not sure if you noticed the drink on the table, but it is my favorite soft drink made here in Santa Fe!!! The company is Blue Sky Soda and the Drink is
Cherry Vanilla cream!!!! Oh man it is good, but I found in Whole Foods three new flavors that I have fallen for and one of them is on par with Cherry Vanilla Cream! They are, Orange Cream (wow this Orange Cream is not listed on their website…And I do know you can only get this Orange Cream @ whole foods here in Santa Fe, so it makes me think this is a special one, heh), Prime Lime Cream, and the one that is on par with Cherry vanilla is Very Berry Cream!!!!!
Well, I found Cherry Vanilla Cream one time in West Texas, and then I found it one time in KY, but that was a rare thing, but now I know they have this organic stuff, if you have a Whole Foods anywhere near, then you might have a good chance to get these!
Jay Update:
I talked to Jay this afternoon and he was doing VERY good! He said that yesterday was the last Rituxan treatment for that course (course II), so that means he has 4 more (21 days long each) treatments to go. KUTP!!!!!!
Thank you again. I wrote a devotional that I will put up soon, but I wrote it a while ago and I wonder if it will post it on today’s date or if it will post it on the date I saved it as a draft..well, just be looking for it in the future.
Yall take care and God bless you all!
Well, I worked long and hard on a post on Friday and then I did not save the post and came back to it later on in the day and spent even more time on it, and then tried to post it only to find out that my session timed out and I lost the entire post…. Needless to say I was not a happy camper. Well, it took me this long to calm down enough to come back and post, heh.
What I was going to talk about was the program called Weather Bug This program puts the temperature in your systems tray (lower right hand corner for those non-geek people, ha ha) Well, this program will make a cricket type noise as soon as the National weather service has issued any form or weather watch or warning for your county. (A huge benefit for those of you who live in West Texas) Well, it works much better when you have a DSL, Cable modem, or wireless internet, (it will also work if you have dial-up, but it will only show the temp, ect, when you are online/conected to the internet. It even has your forecast, radar, etc… Highly suggested for all you weather lovers like me.
Well, I was also going to tell you the channels other than local channels that I love to watch on the telli:
HD Net
HD Net movies (same link)
Discovery HD
G4 Tech TV
Food Network (this site even lets you pick your fav recipes and then store them for free on their website…never use a cookbook again…well only to a certain extent)
PBS HD
And of course the regulars but I really do love the HD over the air that these provide…except NBC out of Albq…man this station better get the HD in gear….especially for this years Olympics! They really have disappointed me. But here are those, CBS, ABC, NBC.
So ther eyou have it, if you walk in on my watching TV then you can now guess what I will be watching. (I am sure you all care so much, heh)
Well now its time for (drum roll please)………The famous Jay Update!!!!
I talked to Jay Yesterday and he was feeling better but the day before he was feeling the effects of the chemo, and said that he would never wish chemo upon anyone, but today he went back the hospital for the Rituxan IV chemo and tonight he was talking quite a bit even though he said he was tired, so that is very good news. He seems to be doing very well considering how much chemo they are shoving into his body, so we all thank you all for your prayers and hope that you are blessed by giving to Jay as much as he and our family have been blessed by your prayers and support! Thank you!
Oh I forgot to tell you all that I went to Albq. today and I went to a grocery store that I fell in love with!!! (I am my father’s son I guess) The market was called Talin World Market. This place has every kind of world food that you can think of. I got the real Japanese Kewpie Mayo, and all the fixn’s for sushi and Chicken/lamb Tikka Masala!!! Oh man I can wait to make my own food, and save a ton of money on my car insurance….uuuuhhhhh I meant save a ton of money on eating out. Ha Ha.
So now none of you have any excuse you now all have to come to my house and eat Indian or Japanese food, heh!
Ok, well all of you have a wonderful night and wonderful Sunday!!! God bless you all…and remember…prayers, prayers, prayers…please 
Well, I was blessed to have my parents along with Tiffany to pick me up at the airport Saturday night, and after a quick run to Burger King we headed home to Santa Fe! It was very nice to get back home and I called Jay and Tiffany at every airport I was at, heh. It is so wired how some airlines make you go all over the place to eventually get where you wanted to go. I went from Pittsburgh to Detroit, to Cincinnati, to Albuquerque! That is wired, but I got home with my bags, heh.
Well, today was tiring for all of us since we got home and went to bed around 2:00 am Saturday night, but we all ate breakfast and got to church on time. Tiffany sang a song in church (and literally sight read the whole song (playing the piano and singing at the same time) for a solo! She cracks me up, but amazes me, and I really wish I could have been at her church to hear her, but I have my responsibilities @ St. John’s too.
It cracked me up today! We took communion today @ church and it was by intinction (big word, and not sure if I spelled it correctly, heh) That is just a big word for receive a piece of bread (the body of Christ) and dipping it into the cup of juice (the blood of Christ) Well, I Always give the piece of bread to the church members and then they take the piece of bread to the cup when receive communion….. Well, I had several church members take the piece of bread then rub my bald head and then dip the bread into the juice and eat it…. For a second there I thought the saw me as something similar to the Blarney Stone except rubbing my instead of kissing it…or maybe it is more like the Buddha figures that you rub his stomach for good luck except in my case it is my head, but what ever it is it cracked me up that all these people wanted to rub my head! I even had the sweet old ladies of the church walking up to me and rubbing my head, ha ha. It is good to know that they felt comfortable enough with me to desire to do it, and I was honored…
(Now I know what you go through all the time Jay, heh)
Well, after the service we came back home and let the dog out, then ate @ Sonic and drove to go show my parent’s Tiffany’s church in White Rock. They enjoyed the views that come with that drive and then we helped Tiffany’s youth group sell some food for a mission trip fund raiser! Their church is about one block away from the best look-out point I have seen around these parts and so the Los Alamos Country has a Fireworks show every year right off the lookout point. After they finished selling and raising money we all got in the cars and went back to Santa Fe to grill some BRATS and hot dogs. Oh man, it was not until Tiffany and I moved to KY that we had brats, and I will never eat another hot dog if I have a choice between the two ever again, man I love brats!!! If you have not ever tried one, dang go get one now! Grill it and eat the tasty treat! Or even better…. boil the brats in the cheapest beer you can find, then grill them on your fancy grill, and while they are grilling saute some onions with a little garlic salt to taste and then pour just a little of that bear on the onions and then go find some Hebrew National Sauerkraut, and maybe a little mustard, and mmm mmm good eaten!!!
My Dad and I also went to Whole Foods Market Place to try to find some Hebrew National Sauerkraut, but no luck because it was “probably not organic enough” (the stock boy told me) so we bought Bubbies Kraut instead, and dang if that was not some very good kraut! The reason I love Hebrew National is that is the only kind you will find @ the Chicago Cubs Stadium Brats! So, it brings back memories as well as good flavor! I am also trying to find some real Japanese Mayo for me to make my own Sushi, heh…but no luck there either…but if you like food stores or just want the best of the best that a grocery store can offer, then Whole Foods is the place for you…but you might want to save up some money before you go, heh.
Jay Update:
I called Jay several time (due to my cell phone cutting out a bunch) But this morning he was still feeling sick to his stomach. We just all thought this was going to be the bad part of the chemo because it is getting to be about that time for the blood count levels to start dropping and such, w=so we went to church after talking to him this morning thinking that the bad stuff was about to hit….then I called him this afternoon while we were in a grocery store (my Dads favorite places in the world are grocery stores, heh) and Sheila answered the phone. I asked how Jay was doing and she said, “Really well! He is being very much like a pest and giving me a very hard time”. I never knew one sentence could make my so happy, heh. I then proceeded to talk to him and he was feeling very good! So please keep the prayers-a-coming! It was so good to hear him laughing and joking with me on the phone! Thank you, thank you, thank you, for your prayers! They are each and everyone meaning so much and showing God’s effectiveness!
Well, we did not get to call him again tonight, but hearing him sounded so good to me, and I still miss him VERY much!
Oh BTW….some of you have seen this picture, but others of you have not, so I just thought I would blog it. This picture is the view I see every Sunday in church! It is not a bad view, but “someone” seems to constantly get in the way, when I am trying to hear the sermon. So here you go for my attempt to make a joke of the associate pastors Sunday morning view!
Thank you for Namiqa’s humoring her Associate Pastor, heh.
Well, yall have a good night, and hopefully I will get around to telling you about my airplane ride. Oh for those of you who are interested here is the chemo course load that Jay is taking/has taken/will take:
Jay’s Chemo:
VERY Approximate Dates (Assuming there is no course III or V…Jay and Sheila seem to think there is a course III and V, so I have no idea if those are the same or different.):
Course II: July 1-5
Course IV: July 22-27
Course VI: Aug 11-16
Course II, IV, VI (Approx 21 Day’s Each)
Days 1,2,3,4,& 5:
Ifosfamide
Mesna
Vincristine
Methotrexate (this is the large dose one….given at a high rate via IV over the course of 24 hours!
Dexamethasone
Central Nervous System & LP (lumbar Puncture) (yes this LP is on top of the Chemo and roids given via IV):
Vincristine
Methotrexate (again), cytarabine, hydrocortisone
Day 2 only:
Leucovorin
Day 4 & 5:
cytarabine, Etoposide
Day 7 until ANC > 5000 microliters
Filgrastim
Day 8, 10, 12:
Rituxan
Course II:
Rituxan on Days 8, 10, & 12
Course IV, & VI:
Rituxan on Day 8 Only
Now As soon as I get more information on courses “III” and “V”, I will put that up for you to read and find out more on too. As you can see above with the drug links, some of these things are Chemo, and others are Steriods (i.e. see hydrocortisone), and others are meant to stop the chemo so it only destroys the cancer and if left in any longer it would kill all the good guys too. So, they pump Jay full of Chemo (i.e. see Methrotrexate) and then some of the drugs stop it from just killing the entire body (i.e. see Leucovorin)
Ok, well it is now 12:30 am and I have to go to sleep. I am crazy doing this blog sometimes, but It is nice just for me to have all this medical research done so I can use this blog as reference too. Hope your day (today) is a good one, and God bless you all… please keep the prayers rolling off the mind and tongue…they are truly bringing God’s presence into the lives of our family and Jay, and Sheila’s family, and Tiffany’s family, and…, and….and….
Love you all take care and God bless ya!
Well yesterday could have been better, but we survived the LP (lumbar Puncture) Chemo. Jay had a roiugh time of it because he said that the Dr. that does it went fast this time and it really caused him some serious pain in his legs, but madr it through OK. Jay talked to the Dr yesterday before the Chemo and told her about him having lots of night sweats. She was concerned that he might be getting a feaver due to the Cancer. He told her that he was starting to get some feeling back into the side of his face that has Balse Palusy, he could move it a very little bit, but he felt it was improvement. He also told her that he was starting to feel a little bit more pain back into his jaw, and that worried her too, because she did not want him to start to have the same stuff with the cancer coming back again while they are treating the nervous system right now with the LP Chemo treatments.
So… after she went away she called the head Dr. and now she has decided to not do the LP anymore and treat Jay’s entire body in single treatements. Thisd means super high doeses of Chemo! This will effect the entire body, and not just his blood only or not just his spine and brain only (which is waht they have been doing) Now they will do the high dose Chemo Methotrexate that will hit all parts of his body and even go into the brain.
The problem with all of this is that this is the stuff that will really kick Jay’s butt. He will be admited on Thursday for 5-6 days and they will (as the Dr. calles it) “Whip up a nive Chemo Cocktail” for Jay. She told him that it will effect his mucus glands (so he is asking for lots of foods that will coat his throut, ha ha) The Dr. also said that this is the one that will get involved into this stomach and GI trac, so that means feeling very sick, vomity, upset stomach, etc…
So, I will get to be here for him and Sheila for Thursday, Friday, and a little bit of Saturday until Sheila has to take me back to the Airport.
This is not the best news to hear, but I am glad they are finaly doing this and attacking thr Chemo in the entire body, because we were all wondering why they are just doing the nervous system (and possibably have the cancer come back into other parts of his body) or just doing the blood/bone marrow stuff (and have the cancer come back into his nervous system). So now thye will be doing the Chemo in his blood in Huge amounts and will hit the entire body, blood, bone marrow, and nervous system (i.e. spine, brain). This will really not be a fun time for Jay, but we are all glad they are tired of just treating one place and are not treating him similarly as if he had Leukima.
He still has Burkitt’s Lymphoma, but it is in his bone marrow, Central Nervous system, and possibly Jaw, slpeen, stomach, etc…
Wiell, with all that said As soon as I get home I will put up a picture of Jay and me so you can all see how good he looks…and I look heh. Love you all and Take care…..
Oh BTW: after we got out of the hospital we ate Mediterain food resturant called Aladdin’s Eatery, and dang it was really good!!! We had two orders of:
Kibbie
Two lean beef shells mixed with crushed bulgar wheat and stuffed with spiced ground beef, roasted onions & pine nuts then deep fried in peanut oil. Served with a side of yogurt & salata.
and Jay and I ordered:
Mediterranean Lamb Plate
Tender strips of marinated chargrilled lamb. Served with seasoned white rice topped with vermicelli, sautéed pine nuts, almonds, and cinnamon. Your choice of garlic or tahini sauce. Pita on the side.
and Sheila ate:
Mediterranean Beef Kafta Plate
Chargrilled ground sirloin, onions and parsley seasoned with herbs and spices. Served with seasoned white rice topped with vermicelli, sauteed pine nuts, almonds, and cinnamon. Your choice of garlic or tahini sauce. Pita on the side.
Oh yeah, and today I replaced thier fountian bottom plastice cover in the back yard and got the fountian up and going and Jay loves to sit down there to listen to it. I also installed an air conditioner in my room for thier guests anytime they have some. It should be nive and cold tonight for me.
Other than that we have been playing lots of games on the computer and Xbox.
Right now we are leaving to go eat Sushi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!! (My brother loves it too, heh.) I just hope he is not over doing himself! I will try to keep watching him and listening to Sheila to see when he needs to go back to rest or something like that.
Thank yall for praying for him!!! We are dreading gong back to the Hospital to be admited, but we are really enjoying today and tomorrrow!
and man I love my brothers church building. You all should see this church building!! I wish I was thinking about it while I was there and I could have shown you some pics. Maybe Jay will have some in his computer and I can post them, but man this church is straight out of the middle ages. It has all stone work inside and out. Even the shingles are made of stone and the woodwork inside is amazing!!! And I have not even got to the Stainedglass windows!!!! WOW Oh WOW Weeee! (boy that was stupid, heh)
Well, after church we went to a Mexican Food Tacaria, and the food was OK, not the best in the world, but after we spent about 30 mins talking to the waiter we found out if we wanted the good food then we have to call ahead and tell them to fix non-Gringo food and they will. They even have Lengua Tacos and Homemade Chorizo!!!
Oh man, I wish we would have made friends before we went to eat there, heh. (Although I don’t think that Sheila cared too much for the ingredients of either one, heh.
Well then we went back to the church because I forgot my wallet (typical of me…I think I have too much of my mother in me…and yes Jay and Sheila were quick to point that out, heh) The music Director went back to the church and found it and then we met her at her house to pick it up and she showed off her garden…and dang do I mean her GARDEN!!!! Dude if you can grow it she probably had it. She had several gardens on her property, and I really thought I was walking around Martha Stewart’s Gardens or something.
She then feed us all of her different kinds of nuts that they grow and harvest and enter all of this stuff in County Fairs all over PA. Man I had Black Walnut, Hart Nut, Hazel Nut, Butter nut, etc… It was really cool, and I had no idea all those nuts had such a great flavor, wow it was amazing!
Then we went to Wal-Mart for Sheila’s to pick up the ingredients for her famous Herb Chicken dinner she cooked for us tonight (oh man that was good!!!!) and while she went shopping Jay and I went to a GameStop and I found Crimson Skies used and he bought a used Halo (still can’t believe he did not have Halo yet) used Crimson Skies so we could play over Xbox live and then he got another Xbox Live subscription so we could play each other and talk over the Xbox for free, and play game together. We then came home to cook and let Jay rest from the long day and then Sheila’s parents came over and borought their dog with them!!! Man, I love dogs. They rock this planet and man they love you. I don’t care what anyone says, and now that I am a cat and dog owner I can say this and mean it, “dogs are better, heh) I mean you could starve a dog for a week and come home and that dog will pee all over him/herself just so they can give you a kiss and love you and be loved by you……if you did that to a cat they would look at you and say, “where the heck is my food you dumb dumb head?”. No please don’t misunderstand me, I love my cat Sushi too, but halo is maybe just more affectionate with his love, heh.
Well, we then watched School Of Rock with Sheila’s parents and then played some Crimson Skies and now I should be in bed instead of doing this post, but heck why not show yall some love!!!
Well, we will be at the hospital all day tomorrow for Jay to get another round of Intra-Thecal Chemo (sp?) Apparently he gets to do three more of this chemo straight into his spinal fluid and then he gets to go back to the CHOP chem into his blood. He has this Monday (today), Thursday, and then next Monday, then he starts back doing the CHOP.
The cool thing about the Spinal Chemo is that it does not effect his blood count so he gets to be out in public and does not have to worry about being around kids and stuff, but he goes back to that stuff in two weeks, so please keep him in your prayers.
also, Tiffany is leaving tomorrow morning for the Jr. high camp so be in prayer for her too. Yall Take care and God bless ya!
Oh BTW: I found a magazine I have fallen in loved with and it is not a Home Theater Magazine or even a Video Game magazine!!! It is a Christian Magazine and loved the one that I bought and read in the air plane on the way here. The magainze is called
The Christian Research Journal. It is basically a magazine about Apologetics in a postmodern world, and man I loved it! Now the guy that I think started it may have some theology that is different than what I believe, but it is still a great magazine and I am seriously thinking about getting a subscription to it. I hope if you can find it in the news stands around you or while you are out on the best date ever (Barnes-N-Nobles drinking coffee and reading free books only to go back and do it next week and read entire books and all kinds of magazines for free) then check it out, it should at least be an interesting read.
Ok, well I have to go to bed, it is 1:41 am here and we have to leave the house for the hospital by 9:00 am tomorrow. So take care and God bless yall! keep up the prayers! Thanks yall!
OK, it has been a long time coming and I am deciding to give yall the Sushi education you all need! Oh you honor me John Choi!
OK, I figure I can just give you a bunch of links and maybe some photos and let you all decide for yourselves, but please just promise me that you will try it at least once in your life!!!! (And no not all sushi is raw fish, the best offering here in Santa Fe is a deep fried tempura shrimp and green chili roll. Ymmm Ymmm Good!!!
OK, first of all you need to find the closest Sushi restaurant to you and I found a website that allows you to find the closest one to you anywhere in the world:
The Sushi World Guide
OK, now that you know where to go (and if there are several places to go eat then find a phone book and call any random person with the last name Fujimoto, or Fujishima, or Fujita, or Tanaka…Etc get the point here? Just call someone or talk to someone who eats Sushi or at least might know something about Sushi)
Now you need to know something about the actually food you will be ordering and then eating.
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Some basic terms:
SUSHI
Nowadays sushi is commonly known as raw fish on a piece of rice. But, actually sushi means vinegared rice that is rolled with vegetables, fish or pickles, then wrapped in nori, and sliced into rounds (Norimaki). There are different sushi formats: Nigiri (hand-shaped), futo (thick), maki (rolled), temaki (hand-rolled), chirashi (scattered on top of the rice).
NIGIRI SUSHI
Sushi format, hand-shaped piece of rice with any sort of sliced raw fish on top.
NORI
(Basically, fancy definition for seaweed) Thin sheets of dried sea vegetable. Nori is often roasted over a flame until its color turns from black or purple to green. It is used as a garnish, wrapped around rice balls or other foods, or cooked with tamari as a condiment.
WASABI
A light green Japanese root that has been dried, powdered, and made into a paste. It is traditionally used as a seasoning in sushi, sashimi, and in dipping sauces. Wasabi is very hot with a taste reminiscent of horseradish. i.i. will kick your tail if you use too much of it.
SASHIMI
Raw, slivered fish, usually served with a dip made of shoyu and wasabi. The different styles of filleting are highly ritualised,different fish are cut in different ways. This is just the fish no rice or anything else…just the fish, and nothing but the fish.
GARI (This is just ginger, sometimes pink or white)
Pickled ginger, usually pink and thinly sliced. Served with sushi to cleanse the palate between courses.
HASHI
chopsticks.
MISO SOUP
A protein-rich, fermented bean paste made from soybeans,usually with the addition of barley or brown or white rice. Miso is used in soup stocks and as a seasoning. It comes in a wide variety of styles from white to red, from slightly sweet to very salty and earthy, and crunchy or smooth.
EDAMAME
Soybeans, served in the pod as an appetizer.
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You do not have to know how to speak Japanese to order, it is just nice to know what the menu is saying when you order it all.
Ok so lets start out and let me give you a suggested menu to order when you go eat Sushi.
(BTW: Most of the time Sushi is expensive so go with other people and then you can make them pay for the food and then you get to eat it all, heh)
Sample Menu:
Get some “Edamame” for the first course of the dinner.
To eat Edamame you ONLY eat the seeds inside the shell and then just put the shells on your plate or back into the bowl they came in. The shells will be taken up by the server when you are done.
Ymmmm Ymmm, salty huh? Not too bad huh? Oh yeah it is only started.
Ok, now I would probably go ahead and order some Miso Soup, and maybe a small side salad with Ginger dressing (typical dressing of the greens) (some sushi meals come with these two items.)
Ok, now you can go two routes. The first route is to just order a 7-15 piece sushi platter (dinner or lunch). This will come with a variety of sushi that the chief has on hand and then you just eat it up, but if this is your first time I would go with individual orders. And one order of one kind of sushi would look like this:
When you get to the restaurant they will probably give you a sheet of paper with all the different kinds of sushi on it and then you can specify the amount that you desire to order. Most of the time they will give you two pieces of Nori Sushi for each order, and yes that is probably going to cost you $3-$10 for just two pieces of sushi. (Always check to see if they have a happy hour or something like that and you might be able to find half off of certain kinds for that hour)
And if you go to an authentic Sushi place they might give you a warm moist hand towel to clean your hands and I have even seen a few men wipe off their face with it as well, the wait staff will take them back from you when they come to get your drink order.
Now, you will probably also notice that there will be hand rolls (temaki) and just rolls. A Hand roll looks like this:
and the regular roll is cut into pieces ranging from 5-8 pieces and looks like this:
So, yes the hand rolls and regular rolls cost more, but you get more (as you can see) (the picture has two rolls on it probably).
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OK, now what to order:
two menus here one for the first timer and another of my favorites!!!:
1st time visit to Sushi restaurant:
Edamame
Miso Soup
small Salad
1 order each:
Salmon (Sake)
Tuna (Maguro)
Yellowtail (Hamachi)
Shrimp/sweet Shrimp (Ebi)
Now go for some rolls:
California Roll sometime it has the roe (fish eggs) around it (like this picture)but most of the time it does not like this picture:)
(A California Roll is made of crab meat, avocado, and cucumber) But, most places have all different kinds of California rolls some even have cream cheese and stuff like that so make sure it is just a plain California roll. The non roe version is Tiffany’s favorite and therefore makes it a good beginners choice.
Spicy Tuna Roll (This can be spicy so just be careful with it.) This is my 2nd favorite roll and my favorite place to eat this is at Kobe Stonegrill and Sushi House in Lexington, KY. He puts some small fried tempura batter into the mix and it adds an amazing texture to it, but it does not come this way most of the time)
Tempura Shrimp roll (This one is cooked so you wimps out there can still eat this one, it is just fried shrimp wrapped in the rice and Nori.)
Ok, that should fill 1-2 people up, but not me, heh.
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Now for the fun stuff:
This is what I would order on top of what was on the other menu (my favs):
Seaweed Salad really good, but sounds bad, heh you just have to try it (tastes like soy sauce…so if you like soy sauce then you will love this!)!!!
Monkfish Liver (Ankimo) (this is basically monk fish Foie Gras, in a awesome sauce!) My favorite Sushi to order and sadly most places do not carry it. (I think it is also a seasonal thing too)
Fatty Tuna (Toro) Dang this is good, It melts in your mouth, and it is Oh so good! Super Fatty Tuna is the same thing, but this is a special cut with more flavorful fat in the tuna and it is just amazing!
Cooked Freshwater Eel (Unagi) Dang this is good! Usually has a thick Teriyaki sauce on it.
Sea Urchin Eggs (Uni) Now this one is not my favorite, but I always get it to show off for the noobs, heh. It should have that frill look to it and you need to only order this is a good restaurant or it will be the bane of our existence, heh)
Soft Shell Crab Roll (Spider Roll) You eat the entire roll legs and all because it is a soft shell crab, heh. But this is also cooked and man the flavor is amazing! This is my Favorite Roll to order!!!
If you order all the food at one time they might give you a sushi boat that looks like this (actually there are two boats, heh, hey why not it was my Birthday!) BTW: I am making the noise of two ships passing in the night, and the fog horn noise!)
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OK there you have what to order there are just a few other things you need to know:
1. NEVER absolutely NEVER stab the fish with your chopsticks. Or two people grab a piece of sushi with two pairs of chopsticks. This is offensive to any Japanese. Apparently they use big chop sticks as a part of their funeral rights and pick up their dead’s bones with them, and so if you stab the fish you are offending them.
(Here is some updated info from a wonderful and intelligent visitor tot he blog that gave a few correction and meaning behind why you are not to do this):
“stabbing food with chopsticks is definitely a “no no” when it comes to Japanese table manners, but not for the reason you gave. It simply shows lack of skill. Very often food does need to be broken apart by pressing chopsticks into it and then prying the two points apart or even in a way “cutting” the food with the edges. (Using one hand, of course!!)Resorting to stabbing it merely shows you don’t have the skills to break up the food correctly. Your fellow diners might be offended by your crude methods, but the dead certainly won’t.
Here is some more information about what you said about long chopsticks and funerals.
Yes, large chopsticks are used during the Japanese funeral ceremony. Family members (in pairs) pick up the bones of the recently cremated and place them into a pot. (They hold one bone together using one pair of chopsticks each.) This is why it is terribly bad for two people to hold the same piece of food with chopsticks whilst eating dinner.
The other thing connected with Japanese funerals is the practice of sticking a pair of chopsticks into a bowl of white rice, so they stand straight up. This is very commonly done and the bowl is placed upon the alter in front or behind the coffin during the funeral as a gift to the deceased. It is therefore a major faux pas to stick your chopsticks and leave them standing up in a bowl of white rice. (I can’t imagine why anyone would want to do it anyway, but people are always warned against it just in case.)
I can see how a combination of information from these two elements of culture could lead to confusion about stabbing food with chopsticks.”
(thanks anonymous Sushi expert! It is great to hear the truth, and help out one Texan’s ignorance! You rock!)
2. Use the ginger to clear your pallet between different kinds of sushi so you can taste each flavor cleanly and wonderfully. Use it like you would sorbet in a fancy restaurant before you get to the main course.
3. When the food arrives at your table you can use chopsticks or it is perfectly OK to use your hands to pickup the sushi.
4. You should find a small dish (come in different shapes, but most common is rectangular very small bowl). This dish is for you to put your soy sauce in to dip the sushi into the soy sauce. It is typical to dip each piece of sushi in before you eat it (so dip the fish only not the rice…that gets you too much soy sauce and you can not taste the fish…but since I LOVE soy sauce…I do it all te time the wrong way, heh heh).
5. You will see on the plate a pile of ginger and a pile of wasabi for you to use.
6. Some people like to put a little of their wasabi into the soy sauce container to give it a little more bite. But the real men just add the wasabi straight to the sushi and see if they can take it, heh (actually crazy men do this, but you can call me what you will)
7. Most of the time you will eat the entire piece of sushi in one bite, but if you can’t that is OK too, for example the hand rolls are impossible to eat in one bite and some of the larger rolls (like the spider roll) are too big too!
8. It is perfectly OK to order just a little sushi and eat that then order more, so start out small and please don’t quit…keep going until you have found your favorite 5-10 kinds. There are TONS more kinds of sushi than what I have suggested to you or I love, so try it all and see what you do and do not like. Have fun with it!
9. Don’t ever forget to tip!
10. Just because you are in a Japanese restaurant does not mean the people working there are Japanese. I have been to several restaurants and they are Korean and even Chinese, so be careful about using only Japanese phrases below.
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OK, here are some good things to say before, during, or after the course of the meal:
Domo. Thank you.
Domo arigato. Thank you very much.
Dozo. Please.
Gaijin. Outsiders, foreigners.
Gochiso-sama [deshita]. Traditional phrase closing a meal.
Hai. Yes.
Itadakimasu. Traditional phrase opening a meal.
Itamae. The sushi (or other Japanese) chef.
Konichiwa. A greeting, roughly `how are you’.
Omakase. Chef’s choice.
Okonomi. The practice of ordering sushi a few pieces at a time.
Sabinuki. `No wasabi, please.’.
Well, I hope you enjoy the Sushi, and please let me know if you used this sushi guide or not! I know it sure has made me hungry, heh! The most important thing is just go try it and don’t let the “ewwwwuuu grosssss” statements of the world hinder you from living a little! God bless you all! Take care and Good night!
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