Saturday, January 04, 2020

Woke up today to everything grey

We tend to have a lot of milky colored skies here in the DC area. Lately, the weather has been very warm, it was in the 60s earlier this week. I'll say that weather-wise, DC in the summer is the pits. DC this time of year when I can drink mimosas on the porch while talking to my sister and not be shivering and whining, well, I'll take it.

But the grey. No matter the temperature, the grey is a lot.

Today was another grey morning. I didn't feel well last night when I got home from work so I pretty much fell onto the bed, played a game on my phone and fell asleep. I woke up when Doug came to bed at 9:30. I had no problem falling back asleep and stayed that way until the dog woke me at 6 to go out.

Doug decided it was a good day for french onion soup. So he volunteered to chop the onions for me (what a lad!) and I think he cut about 2x what Alton Brown's recipe calls for.

We'll make due. I'll double the stock and wine and everything and it'll be FOS for days. Sorry Amy. Thinking of you.

Jess was here for Christmas.

They flew down on the day of my sister's 50th birthday and I wish I'd been smart and planned another day for the their arrival.  Linda had quite a fun celebration, and I would have loved to have been there.

While Jess was here, we did some fun stuff. We went to the Aquarium in Baltimore and out to Jimmy's Seafood for dinner.

We went to the horse farm / brewery up north of us a bit. That's always a great thing to do. Unfortunately none of the horses were out running in the back but it was still a beautiful day to sit outside, have some beer, dog and people watch.

Again, DC December, I'll take it.

Before the horse farm, we went out to lunch at Brew Belly Kitchen & Sudhaus.  Doug took me here for my birthday and we figured both kids would like it.  I am sure some of you ask why on earth would Doug not take me somewhere lovely, romantic, fancy, but he knows me.

Beer. Cheesesteaks. I'm a happy person.

As you can see, Geoff fit right in with the branding. Wonderfully, the kids got along, no name calling, no fighting or insulting. This is kind of a first and I was pleasantly surprised at how they actually got along.

Jess and Doug went to the National Cathedral and took a tour, and they both really enjoyed it. Doug has been saying he'd like to attend a service there, so this may spur us in. They also went to Dumbarton Oaks even though the gardens are done for the year, had a nice walk, and spent good time together.

We then went out to Right Proper Brewing for dinner, and Jess really enjoyed it. We've been a couple times, and it was a good choice. The beers are great, the food is great. And the waitress bonded with us over Pokémon Go.



Jess hates having pictures taken but agreed to this. And I'm thankful for it. I know how they feel - I also hate having my picture taken, but sometimes you gotta just make the memory official and forever.

And look at that mural.

On the one day that both Doug and I were at work, Jess took a trip down to the Folger Shakespeare Library, which wasn't as exciting as Doug impressed upon them. They met me at the newest brewery in DC, which is right by my office. We had a nice sit and spent time with one of my colleagues from another department, and had a good visit.

The one thing we didn't get to do was head over to Annapolis, which was on Jess' things to do list. I asked why they had so many things they wanted to do because usually Jess comes to visit and does not really care about going places. They said that they usually are only here for a couple of days, and this time it was more than a week so why not do fun things.

So next time, whether or not we have three days or one full week, Annapolis is on the list. Grey skies or not.

At work we are gearing up to launch a new product, everyone will be moving onto it over the next year. A lot of work has gone into it and now I'm getting trained on what it will be like to use, so we can train the trainers. I'm desperately trying to be positive about this. I want to be positive about this. It has been a long time in coming getting here, and I'm hopeful.

But it has been a total stress for everyone. I just hope we can keep our wits about us. There is going to be a lot to do. We have a new boss starting in February, someone I'm already friendly with from outside our HQ. It will be interesting to see how their leadership works out, and how we do bringing someone into a team that has not had a direct supervisor for 9 months.

The only other kind of interesting thing to report right now is I borrowed some springform pans from a co-worker recently to make cheesecake, and so I've been gearing myself up to get that started for a week or so now.

Today may be the day.

I may take pictures of the process as it will be my first time ever doing this. It's been a long time since I've thoroughly blogged a cooking adventure. Visit the Caribbean Black Cake adventure of 2014. You've been forewarned, all four of you.


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