I can't believe it's for real!!!

Seen in the movie theatre tonight...



(That's my best attempt at Homer's drooly Pavlovian gargle)

7/27/07... But I want it NOW!!!

Great cause to give thanks!

Kat and I have officially declared this to be our first successful Thanksgiving as husband and wife. The food was great, the time with friends old and new was sweet, and the leftovers... Mmmmm... the leftovers just keep GOOOOOING and GOOOOOING!

First, I played in our church's annual Turkey Bowl football game on Thanksgiving morning



There's a couple of young, fit guys like my buddy Brenton who play, but the majority are old and creaky like me. The opposing team won by a score, we think, though I think there were definitely some plays that probably would have gone the other way if we had video review. Special moment for me had to be watching a teenager tackle our youth pastor (in a flag game) and the youth pastor then reaching over and tripping up the teen so he fell flat on his face. Ahh, the holidays!

Back home, Kat's preparations for the big day were in FULL SWING.



We loaded up the center room with a really nice setup, though I have to say that an extra room for post-dinner relaxing might have been nice. But condo-dwellers can't be picky on these sorts of things. It looked GREAT!

Dinner was set for 2:30. The food was exquisitely prepared and ready right on time, our friend Khoulud had arrived with a homemade Pumpkin pie... and the Jamaicans showed up unapologetically at 3:30. Island time, they tell me, runs a wee bit SLOOOOOWER than you or I might think. I knocked on their door (This is a group of Jamaican domestic workers who are over here on an exchange program and working for a nearby hotel. They live in our complex) at 2:45, and they still had curlers in their hair and stuff...

But, the food was still hot and our appetites were DEFINITELY hot by then, and we had a really lovely dinner.



Stuffed! That's all I can really say about the day. We had two shifts of folks come through, because some of the ladies had to work, and I was obliged to eat with both. It was quite a nice thing to clean everything up and get back to normal that night. Glad that the memories (and the leftover Turkey) will stay with us for quite awhile!

The great, long-overdue Wedding Picture Post!

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

I was just able to awaken from my tryptophan-induced coma for long enough to load up a bunch of wedding photos to our jazzed-up Flickr account. I'm paying the 2 bucks a month or whatever it is to get the big upload limit, so all these photos can be downloaded and printed to 4x6's. Or you can order photos right off of Flickr. Your choice

Downloads are free... No charge! I've organized the photos from the official photographer as well as those from our friend's into three convenient sets:

Preparation - http://www.flickr.com/photos/78249236@N00/sets/72157594390328721/
Ceremony - http://www.flickr.com/photos/78249236@N00/sets/72157594390365261/
Reception - http://www.flickr.com/photos/78249236@N00/sets/72157594390414228/

If you want a higher res photo for any reason, just let me know! Thanks, and enjoy!

B

Just a little Dinn -E.R. with friends

So Opal is thinking... Routine dinner with the Aplegates, right?



Silly Opal!

Well, first, you are wondering, "Who is Opal?" Kathryn, being the incredibly friendly gal that she is, made friends with Opal, one of our neighbors in the condo complex. Opal is an incredibly fit and spry gal who I hope won't mind me revealing that she is 88. She is super-sharp, which comes in handy for our story here.

I had come home and helped Kat a little with dinner prep until I got to be too much of a nuissance in the kitchen and went out for a quick run. When I was leaving kat was just getting started cutting up a rather stubborn acorn squash with the biggest cleaver in our knife rack...

When I came back from the run, Opal was tending to Kat who's wrist was covered in a protective bandage. Turns out, just after I left, the squash slid out and she cut her wrist, though thankfully just superficially. Kat had called Opal who came over to tend to things.

I took a look at the wound, and with all my years of experience of occasional E.R. watching, decided she needed stitches. So we paused dinner and headed over to the nearby Urgent Care center where Dr. Chris (above) was so good to stitch her up. Though it took a couple of hours, the people there were really cool and fun, so it wasn't too much of a drag. We came home, picked up the cooking where we left off, and had a really nice Salmon dinner, albeit sans Opal, at about 9...

Hopefully, the cullinary drama is out of our systems before Thanksgiving. I'll provide a full report in the next edition. *Grin*

Going a'baja

Brent says: I went down to Tijuana today with a church group from our sister church, Harbor Prez... We joined a church called Dios con Nosotros for Sunday morning worship.



This ministry is more about relationships than remodeling. We are trying to make more frequent visits to share meals and fellowship with a church in TJ, rather than just going down to do projects all the time. Makes for a different kind of dynamic, with Spanish language much more important. My Spanish is regrettably rusty, but it is amazing how much comes back with just a little bit of immersion.



These trips are really important; it's a good reminder that we are all God's children. So much of the rhetoric about immigration is so hateful! I think a good cross-cultural Sunday picnic or two should be highly encouraged for all.

But now... the Chargers are playing on TV... Gotta run! Go Chargers!!!

Christmastime's a'coming

For these past 3 years, the official arrival of the Christmast season for me has been our church's annual Bethlehem Village preparation. On Saturday, I helped our resident construction genius, Gary, paint some backdrops for the big event.



Now bear in mind, I am not fit for anything more complicated than roller-work, and even then, I tend to paint outside the lines unless I try really hard not to... But it is exceptionally nice to get outside and feel that crisp 78 degree November air in San Diego, and know that Christmas is almost here!

Plus, Gary and I built some clothes racks for Kat's costume department, so I felt like I was being suitably supportive for my lovely wife. It'll be fun!



Friday and Saturday evenings, Dec. 15th and 16th, at North City Presbyterian Church in Poway, CA for those of you in the area..

The Jury is In

Quick "before work posting" here...

This past weekend wasn't too wild and crazy, though we did have fun. On Friday, Kat and I got together with some of her fellow jurists from the case that she almost had to serve on recently. I say almost, because though she waited for 6 days, she actually DIDN'T have to serve.

In any case, we had a lovely Chinese dinner with Ginny, Matthew's family, and Ginny's friends.


Turns out we all live within about a mile of each other... Go figure?

On Saturday I pretty much laz'ed away the day while Kat worked hard at Church with the ladies on costumes for Bethlehem Village. Sunday was a big day for Missions at the church. We had special classes, speakers, and a dinner. The day was really good, and people liked the booklet that I had put together.

*Sigh*- Not so lively, this morning. But keep the faith, dear reader. More exciting stuff will follow, I promise!

The Camera Falters...

Brent says: So, Kat and I haven't been doing too much that is "Photo-worthy" as of late, which is usually my criteria for when we ought to be posting on the blog. But, things were starting to seem a bit stale on brentkatcali, so I am going to provide a special "Mid-Week Update" edition. Here goes:

What we've been doing that we are not taking pictures? Brent has been working on a publishing project for church to create a Missions Booklet of the missionaries our church supports. Sunday is a special day at our church, focused all on missions, and so I've been working really hard to get it done before then. PS- I just finished it today, so I feel quite relieved! Kat has been working on the costumes for our church's Christmas production and helping some of her girlfriends plan a shower.

What are we watching? No TV. Its always awkward when people ask us about shows, cause we are SOOOOO out of touch. One of Kat's friends, Kat, and I have started into the first couple hours of six in the PBS version of Pride and Prejudice. It rocks!

What are we reading? Kat is into "The Language of God" by Francis Collins, which is a really top-notch Science and Religion book by a Nobel-laureaute scientist, and written for a layperson reader. I've been slowly making my way through "Surprised by the power of the Holy Spirit" by Jack Deere, which is a book that argues in favor of the miraculous happening today in Christianity. That and US weekly, in which I was happy to learn in the most recent edition, that just like US, James Woods scratches his nose while he walks. Who knew?

Who are we meeting? Jamaicans. Lots of em. 6 Jamaican women who are working at a nearby hotel moved into our condo complex. Their accent is like music. We're going to invite them and a lot of other "orphan away from home friends" over to our place for Thanksgiving, as we enjoy our FIRST Thanksgiving as a married couple. Our goal is to represent at least 15 countries around the dinner table ~ Call it, "Brent and Kat's United Nations Thanksgiving."

What else? Tired... Very Tired... Better sign off before I embarrass myself anymore! Still reading? Very dedicated! Leave a comment so we know you care. Ciao!

Not the Applegate's you've been a-costumed to

The last couple of days have been all about costumes... Not that this is too out of the ordinary, considering that one of the last few days was a certain holiday known as Halloween. Now, the origins of Halloween - THAT is an interesting topic - Talk about your intersection between the secular, the sublime, and the surreal.

Anyways, we spent part of Sunday restfully beginning the process of organizing the costumes for Bethlehem Village. Kat is in charge of 100+ costumes for our church's annual Christmas festival. Its a huge job, for sure, but one that her super-organized powers can certainly handle!


My good buddy Hankster helped us out and did some modeling of the Roman guard outfits. I, incidentally, am in charge of the guards, which is a heck of a lot less work than the costume person, though it does involve wearing a skirt in public... Hmmmmm?



Fast forward a couple of days to Halloween. My good buddy Gordon and his wife have started an annual tradition of transforming the large front deck of their home into a haunted graveyard for Halloween.

You walk by tombstones, there are big caves, a smoke machine pumps out fog, and they have this creepy soundtrack. To just SEAL the DEAL in kid's impressionable minds, though, is the fact that we dress up as monsters and try to scare the be-jeebers out of em!




This year Kat got to get into the act as well... Though to be sure, we ARE fairly conscientious monsters. We use a code "Oh, what a cute costume" when we see a little kid, so we don't traumatize them TOO bad... And we try everything in our power to avoid making kids (or adults) cry. But some collateral damage is to be expected. Best line of the night? Mom shouting up from the street: My daughter remembers your house from LAST year and she won't come up!" Gord was so proud!

Here's our "Couple's Picture" from the evening. I'm thinking Christmas card, for sure!