Arizona Adventure

We've faced down Mother Nature... and lived to blog the story about it!



Over the President's Day Weekend, Kat and I got out of town to see our good friends Terri and Derek over in Tucson.


This was a weekend of firsts for us - First camping trip together, first road trip to leave the state of California together (It's a REALY big state), and first chance to see a desert monsoon... More on that in a minute.

We left on Friday, and drove out to Yuma, AZ, along with 10-gazillion of our fellow SoCal brethren. Kinda slow going, and my misguided decision to pull off the freeway in El Cajon led to twilight-zoneish drama as we struggled for what felt like 30 minutes to get back on the freeway at rush hour. Still, we got to the rather plush though thin-walled Holiday Inn, Yuma, and our spirits were significantly revived by our discovery of a Barbecue place that was actually open at 10 pm when we were looking for dinner.



Saturday woke up sunny and nice. We enjoyed a great, albeit fattening, start at the Cracker Barrel (Mmmmm... Oh, heavenly realm of grits, pecan pancakes, and gravy... where have you been for so long???) and then headed off to Tucson to see Terri and Derek. Crystal clear skies and a pretty good book on CD called Prep, by Curtis Sittenfield, and we were there before we knew it!


Amazing advances in the art of talking plastic animals at the Cracker Barrel gift shop




Dateland Arizona - Famous for dates... and the most ridden plastic pony in 3 counties

Saturday night and Sunday we were with Terri and Derek in Tucson. They have a great property on the edge of Tucson, out in the desert. We hiked around, admired the cows that are on the open range, and met an eccentric neighbor who is an heir to the Procter and Gamble fortune... He has the company logo tatooed on his shoulder! He showed us...

On sunday we headed east again to the Painted Petrogylphs state park for some tent camping. Its a pretty cool area where teenage deviants since 4000 BC have been leaving graffitti... I guess after a certain amount of time it becomes art, but I'm sure at the time that these prehistoric taggers were considered a menace.





We camped one night in said tents, though everybody else in the park was in a comfy RV. The wind HOWLED that night, but thankfully the rain held off until Monday afternoon as we were driving out. It was great to see the rain pound down in the desert as we drove out.

All in all, a great weekend, and hopefully the first of many such adventures... Now, where to next?

A Woolly-Bully Time

This past weekend, Kat and I went opposite ways - She to the (presumable) warmth of the South (Texas, Arkansas) and I to the cold and snow of Mammoth Mountain. Fortunately for me, we had plenty of snow and not too much cold up in Mammoth. Unfortunately for Kat, it was just about as cold in Texas and Arkansas as in Mammoth.

Anyways, I went skiing with my buddies from work on Friday-Sunday.

Mammoth got on the order of 2-3 feet of snow while we were up there, which it SORELY needed.


Now, I know that scenes like this are all too familiar for most of the country right about now, but for us out in California, it is definitely amazing! The snow made for some fun challenges on the mountain, though unfortunately we weren't able to ski off the peak runs at Mammoth ~ Fog and high winds kept it socked in.

The best moment on the trip was when the four of us, 20-something guys, all wearing jeans and boots and stuff, walked into what we thought was a modest-priced Thai restaurant. We walked up the stairs and into the restaurant, and I thought to myself, "Man, this is really nice?" but my brain was on autopilot, so I wasn't thinking too hard. The place had just a few tables occupied, but the girl took one quick look at us and said, "Uh, we don't have any tables free" - Turns out the cheap Thai place was downstairs. The snooty expensive place is upstairs. I had this flash of the scene in Pretty Woman when Julia Roberts walks into the expensive store and the girl immediately says, "We don't have what you are looking for..."

My 10 dollar Thai food downstairs never tasted better. Guess in this world there's top shelf and all the rest... Me? I'm all the rest - :-)

Don't mess with Texas

2007-02-04 KatSuperBowl
Originally uploaded by agate157.

Spa-rise me on my birthday

My oh so crafty wife pulled a fast one on me for my birthday. I was in Portland through Friday, and she told me to keep Saturday, Feb. 3rd, before my birthday on Sunday free. The morning of, I got up only to find that she had been bustling around for an hour or so preparing things.

We got in the car to go in the morning, and started heading... out into the middle of nowhere. I mean, like scrubbrush city. The whole drive I was just scratching my head and trying to figure out WHAT we were going to do. Finally, after about an hour of driving she pulled off the freeway and started heading out on a little backroad. Things were looking pretty "earthy" out there, I thought I heard that banjo refrain from deliverance somewhere in the distance, and I was just starting to get nervous when an oasis of green grass, palm trees, and mini-coopers opened up in front of us: Glen Ivey Day Spa.

Yes, my wife arranged for me to spend a day with her at the spa.

Mud baths, hot tubs, massages, facials, the WORKS! It's a pretty amazing place. You can really appreciate the joy of spending an entire day in your bathrobe by the pool... Something Hugh Heffner has known for YEARS!

I told Kat it was the perfect gift... The kind of thing that I would probably never in a million years actually ASK for as a birthday present, but an incredibly great way to celebrate with the woman I love. And my skin? You just don't KNOW how well exfoliated it is!

Objects in mirror may be grander than they appear

2007-02-01 MtHood (2)
Originally uploaded by agate157.

I'm back from the Pacific Northwest. The weather was AMAZING and the views of Hood, as this picture barely oes justice, were spectacular.

I am totally ashamed that the closest I got to mountains was a few rear-view mirror trick shots while driving away from the HP site. Busy week doing a lot of meeting facilitation ~ That stuff wears you out ~ Its like running a day care for 40 year olds!

Anyways... Good trip, but definitely glad to be home!

I got in! Now what?

Good news! I got into UCSD's school of business. Here's my acceptance letter!

Bad news - I gotta plunk down a G by the end of February. Hmmm... I wonder if I could hold a rabbit hostage over the internet to raise money ... Maybe not!

1/31/2007
Dear Brent,

We are pleased to offer you admission as a graduate student in the Full-Time MBA program at the Rady School of Management, University of California, San Diego, for Fall 2007. Congratulations on your admission to our Full-Time MBA class. The Admissions Committee has recommended admission for a number of highly qualified individuals and we are glad to have you among this group. Please complete the necessary form by 2/28/2007 11:30:00 PM EST. If you are accepting our offer of admission, your $1000 deposit is required to hold your place in the class.

We are pleased to welcome you to UCSD and the Rady School.

Sincerely,

Would you like roasted shallot-whipped potatoes with that?

While the San Diegoans are slogging through the muck of one of our 5 days of rain a year, I have been enjoying myself this week up in the sunny Pacific Northwest. Clear but cold, it has been, with AMAZING views of the snow-capped peaks that are usually shrouded in fog and mist this time of year.

I facilitated a workshop today at HP ~ Something along the lines of an excercise in Survivor-like mayhem where we trap a group of 12-14 professionals of radically different background, and coax them into working together as a cross-functional team while not killing each other. I used a lot of skills I've picked up over my numerous visits to the Wild Animal Park about how to maintain stable animal dynamics on the wild African savannah.

The best part of the trip, by far, has been the FOOD! I've stored up my appetite with humble breakfasts and lunches these past three days for scrumptious dinners at the restaurant at my hotel - http://www.heathmanlodge.com/ Stuffed cedar-plank salmon, roasted venison, Draper valley chicken breast... Just the best of the Northwest... Still, a guy could really do well with some home cooked Salsa Chicken, ya know? I will be very happy to head back down to San Diego on Friday...

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A Letter from my grandmother

My dear, sweet Grandmother Alice mailed us a letter recently. It brought Kat and I such joy, we had to pass it along to y'all:

***************************************

Dear Brent & Kathryn

I was so pleased to receive a Christmas Card from you two. I am so fortunate to be eighty nine yrs old & not be sick. Haven't had a cold nor anything like that this year.

Love you

Alice Elsner

ps The only work I do is fix my breakfast which is just oatmeal & toast & jelly

*****************************************

Grandmothers are great!

Portrait of the blogger as a morning zombie

Do you ever look like this in the morning?

As days go by...

Life has been going along pretty well out here in SoCal. The temps are a little chillier but the sun still comes to visit (as we always remind those who we encourage to visit too!) - Kat and I have both been giving a lot of thought to schooling.

I have applied/interviewed/ day on campused at UCSD for their Rady School of Business. On Thursday, I went to a UCSD for their "MBA for a day" ~ Good stuff: Lots of access to the students, through student panels, lunch, and a happy hour. Not so good stuff: Very limited access to the faculty and staff. In fact, I had to "go off the reservation" and sneak into a class just to see what a class was like... Probably logistical challenges to blame I suppose...


My one photograph of UCSD's campus ~ The "Sun God" art piece, which is, in fact, a psychedelic chicken

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Kathryn is applying to a prestigious summer program at Woods Hole, MA, which is an idyllic little village on Cape Cod. No word for sure for awhile, and even getting the application in will be a huge effort. Still, it is really exciting to see her P.I. (Science-ease for 'Boss') be so supportive about her development.

We caught up with our friends John and Heidi for a lecture from Darrel Falk with a group called UCSD Graduate Christian Fellowship. Falk is a Biology professor at Point Loma Nazarene University. He gave a short talk about how he reconciles Evangelical Christianity with Evolutionary Biology. It was a very interesting presentation, and I loved hearing the types of questions that, say, a graduate student in socialogy would ask.

My take on Falk is that he reconciles science and evangelical faith by keeping his scientific standing solid, while sliding around his Christianity further into liberal territory to make the whole thing work... Still, his is a valiant effort to live a defendable life in both camps... Something that few are willing to do.

To close this evening of intellectual stimulation, we got coffee and Golden Spoon, and watched spoiled teenagers with designer purses climb on the soda display at Ralph's. However, Heidi did find that pig-themed chimney lighter that she has been searching for so dilligently!

Check out Kat's Paper!

Here is a cool (and decipherable) write up about Kat's new paper. Check it out - I especially can relate to the car analogy after my time at GM!

http://www.scripps.edu/newsandviews/i_20070122/waterman.html

These days...

There is a program on our local NPR radio station that I like, called "These Days..." I'd like to provide you, faithful (or unfaithful) reader a snippet of "These days... for Brent and Kat."

These days for us both ...

• We are going to do more entertaining, starting tonight with friends coming over for dinner and games.
• We are planning a trip to Tucson over President's Day to see our dear friends Terri and Derek. We plan to spend the long weekend with them, and to try our luck with desert camping (home of scorching days, freezing nights, stinging scorpions, and barking spiders)
• We are reading through "Night Lights," by James and Shirley Dobson, together.

These days for Kat...

• She is a proud co-author of a paper in the prestigious journal, "Science." Check out the abstract! My baby is SO SMART!
• She is reading, in typical fashion, a bunch of books all at once. I last saw her cracking open, "The Peacemaker" by Ken Sande, which was recommended in our premarriage counseling.
• She is growing more and more lovely in my eyes each day.

These days for Brent...

• He is getting ready for a business trip to Portland in a week or so.
• He is applying to Business Schools and will interview with UCSD on Tuesday
• He is grieving, along with all the other recently converted fans, the early demise of the Chargers who suffered an early playoff exit after a magical 14-2 season

And that's the news that's fit to print... or at least blog. Have fun, be safe, and stay in touch!

The Hawk and the Crows

I took a walk around HP on Friday. It was a cool and clear day, and I found myself in a bit of a philosophical mood. Now, those of you who know me will attest that I am generally not exactly Thoreau walking around Walden Pond. I tend to be more along the lines of the "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" droners who prize efficiency and results over introspection...

But on this particular walk, I noticed something cool. A hawk, somewhat like this one, was perched on top of a light pole. He was sitting unruffled, serene, and beautiful.

Meanwhile, three big, ugly nasty crows were squaking noisily and orbitting him like fighter planes in formation. They circled and shrilled, and every so often, would dive bomb down like a Kamikaze Zero at the hawk, who stayed stony and unmoved despite all their bluster.

I stopped walking and just watched it unfold above me. The crows came closer and closer, and cawed louder and louder. I thought for sure one of them was just going to nail this hawk, and he would get pissed off and whack one of them. (Though the crows were big, the hawk was clearly the stronger bird.)

Finally, after a few more passes, the hawk unfurled his beautiful wings and flapped off to another perch, hopefully which would not be guarded by such fiercely territorial residents.

But the encounter really got me thinking... Who should we view as the winner here? The crows who won their perch back, or the hawk who proved his mettle by standing his ground a lot longer than I would? I would tend to think that the crows won, though in an ugly fashion, and the hawk lost, though proved graceful.

And if I were one of these actors, who would I want to be? The ugly winner or the graceful loser? Is it better to suceed at all costs, or to accept your defeat if it means doing it with "class." That I have been pondering since then... I do wonder what you think?

Weak in the knees after Restaurant Week!

On Thursday, Kathryn, her friend Katie, and I got to enjoy a real treat! It's called San Diego Restaurant Week, and its this really neat deal where a bunch of the nicer restaurants throughout San Diego offer a limited selection of 3-course dinners for a fixed, reduced price.



Ever the erstwhile frugal foodies, Katie, Kat and I went to Jakes in Del Mar. This is a favorite for Kat and I for happy hour, because it is RIGHT on the shore in Del Mar, and is an absolutely GORGEOUS place to watch the sunset.

Our dinner was late - 8:45 - So we had the entire day to anticipate and salivate! The restaurant was still nice and lively when we arrived and got our table. Katie and Kat, ever the inquisitive scientists, had researched the menu ahead of time and confidantly ordered the calamari appetizer, grilled mahi entree, and famous hula pie for desert. I opted for crab cakes, 16 oz ribeye, and some of the enormous hula pie, too!



The appetizers were excellent. Generous, plump calamari, and a large, rich crab cake with a wonderful hollandaise-ish sauce. Their mahi was quite good, and though I really liked the Rosemary Garlic spread for my giganto steak, the cut was a bit fatty, even for my well-marbled preferences, and so I was a little bit let down... I guess you should know better than to order steak at a place that is 20 feet from the Pacific Ocean... Save that for Nebraska or something.

All in all, a real treat, and I am VERY glad that I have finally been able to go to Restaurant Week!

The Secret of Happyness

Last night, Kathyrn and I went over to our neighborhood theatre to see Will Smith's movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness." Beyond the fact that we got there a bit later than we should have so we had to wait in a long outdoor line in sub-60 degree conditions (BRR) and then go into a dark theatre and sit near the front, where we discovered that some kind soul had left gum on the back of Kat's seat, it was a really nice time.

Maybe to really appreciate the film, which is about a down-on-his-luck single father who is very Arthur Millerianly slaving away as a Bone Density Salesman while competing for a selective, unpaid stock brokering internship at Dean Witter, you have to overcome at LEAST a little adversity...

In any case, in many ways, I really loved the film. It is a wonderful "Father-son" performance from the Smith's, and portrays a great message to those who have much about the need to be more generous, and in the case of the bumbling stock brokers, to actually get a clue that life is not always rosy for everyone.

But as Kat and I were "debriefing" the movie afterwards, we realized that something was bothering us. Smith's character, Chris Gardner, overcomes tremendous adversity and does so, while not perfectly, with great nobility and resourcefulness. He has this great reservoir of fortitude which we learn is the dream of... MONEY... lots of it! The driving force for him to achieve happyness (sic) is financial stability. The only mention of God or faith is at a homeless mission where Chris holds his sleeping son close while an assortment of winos and hobos "foolishly" pray and sway.

So this, we realized in discussion, is what bothers us. Great story, amazing performances, and a heartwarming ending (I hope I haven't given away too much), but the lasting message is, "Pursue your dreams with your all your strength, and someday you will have the only thing that matters... financial success."

As a Christian, this is a message that I regard as a "Fool's Promise." More so, as someone who has faced adversity, though not on the level of Smith's Chris Gardner, I reflect on what a source of strength my faith has been... How sad to see a character presented as so Christ-like in his actions, yet totally neglecting the power of Christ to sustain in times of trouble.

It reminds me of the lyrics of a favorite worship song:

You Are My All In All - Dennis Jernigan

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all

Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

Jesus Lamb of God worthy is your name
Jesus Lamb of God worthy is your name

Epilogue: Great movie, great story, but as is so oftern the case, the message can't be just "swallowed" without some further processing... - B-

New Year's Heave

Happy New Year to all! The Thompson's have gone, but our little "Bed n Breakfast" is still happily full with the Applegate's, who have come out for a little visit. The title of this post is in homage to my good friend, "The 24 hour New Year's Stomach Bug" which knocked me down for the count in a lot of gruesome ways on New Year's Eve... Not too much fun!

But... Before all that unpleasantness... the holiday was going pretty well!

On the day after Christmas, we saw the Thompsons off and went up to the OC to visit with our friends from Oregon, Brad & Janelle, and their large family who were down for a visit. We marshalled together 3 SUV's to take their family and us (4 adults and 6 kids for those of you who are counting at home) over to Balboa Island - Home to carousels, frozen bananas, skeeball, and some really nice beaches. Good times with the kids. Best moment - Watching in amusement as the older boys g0t launched into the air with the bungee swing... Worst moment - Watching in horror as the youngest boy, 6 or 7-ish, threw a frisbee and whacked an old lady in the head that left her near catatonic.... She recovered and no lawsuits were filed. Must have been some residual Christmas charity. Here are some pics of the day!

Launch!!!


Cute Grace on the cute little 3-car ferry across the Harbor


All those ski lessons finally ... well, ok, NOT paying off...

We also got to see Kat's Great-Aunt and second cousins on this trip, which was a really nice addition. Just a day trip, though. We headed home and got ready for my folks who were coming to town.

On their first full day, Mom and Kat went shopping at a new mall while Dad and I checked out the birds over at San Eligo Lagoon. We had a nice dinner down at a restaurant on the Harbor, and then drove through the light display at the Del Mar Fairgrounds

Next day we went out to Sea World. That place is tons of fun! We had never been there , primarily due to the stiff sticker price, but I have to say it is worth it. Thompson's helped us alleviate the hurt a bit with a present of a season pass, too! - I love my In-Laws!!!

So, anyways, after a day of dolphins, whales, penguins, and walruses plus some ten-thousand visitors, I got really sick. Did put me in the right frame of mind to watch no less than 5 football games over 2 days... At one point, I think the fever got to me and I started hallucinating that I had an announcer and a color commentator talking about me and my lethargic state, "Ohhh, nellie... This guy looks to be out for the count!" "That's right, Keith, I haven't seen anything move so little since we had that trainer with the tree sloth at the studio..."

But thankfully, I have recovered and am looking forward to a much better day of touring about towards the desert with Mom and Dad tomorrow... And THAT'S what is news with us!

The Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas to all! It's Monday, December 25th, and I hope that everyone is having a great holiday! Kat and I have been enjoying a nice visit with her parents, Jan and Craig, who are visiting from Arkansas.

So far we've enjoyed plenty of sunshine and outdoors attractions. On Saturday, we took Jan and Craig to the Wild Animal Park~ It was a really great day - Mild temps and sunny skies; Unfortunately, our friends the Cheetahs were not running that day. But there were plenty of rhinos, giraffes, and the occasional scimitar white oryx to check out (my favorite) -




Flurry of activity when the lion actually woke up long enough to put his head in the air. And WE WERE THERE! *grin* -

Christmas Eve -

Sunday was Christmas Eve, and we went to church in the morning and the afternoon at North City. I played my Trombone for both the morning and evening service, which is about 100% more than I normally play~ Ahh, sigh - I remember when I could actually play... After the service in the evening, we came back to Jan's sister's home, where Jan and Craig are staying. We exchanged gifts, ate tamales, and had a real nice time!



Maggie, the amazing foot-long tongued dog...


Craig with his new reindeer nose

Christmas Day

Nice and quiet monday for Christmas. We took a long walk at Torrey Pines, and then Kat and Craig topped it off with yet another 6 mile hike! They've earned their prime rib, I'd say...



It's been a great visit! Somewhat of an uninspiring post, I admit, but it really has been good! Drope us a note soon and let us know what's going on in your corner of the world! - B -

A Weekend in Rome...

Its been a big weekend for our church. We hosted 1100-plus for the 8th or 9th annual "Bethlehem Village" event. I was in charge of the Roman Guards for this shindig, and I think we held our own pretty well - We had a really big crowd on the first night, with perfect weather and fair conditions. On the second, the skies opened for one of our 5 days of rain per year, and so that kept all but the hardiest couple hundred of our neighbors from coming out.

But it was a good time! Llamas, nativity plays, puppet shows, crafts, petting zoos - Its a great way for our little church to reach out to the community, and a really neat bonding time for us as a group -

Man! I am ready for the holidays ~ Kat has just a few more hours of exam left, and she will be too!

Will the real Brent Applegate please step up...

It's Saturday morning, I am still feeling a little bit queasy after staying home from work sick yesterday, and that means, "Too much free time on the internet!"-

First, an obervation. Google really is an amazing thing! While the company does not provide detailed information about its hardware, a 2006 estimate consisted of over 450,000 servers, racked up in clusters located in data centers around the world. They have LOTS of info. For a real treat, type in your own name to Google Images and see what comes up!

I am pleased to see that the first ranking for my name is a picture of me getting a trophy! Can't go wrong with that!












But after that, it gets intriguing. A couple "other me's" emerge ~ I could have been Brent Applegate, the Iowa State-going, dirt-bike riding, snowmobile racing, former farmhand current Ag Econ studying student - www.public.iastate.edu/~aplg8/homepage.html

Or even better, I could have been Brent Applegate, the manager of Brewsky's sports bar just of the campus of Lincoln, Nebraska - www.brewskys.com/catering.html

Ah, but alas, I am Brent Applegate in San Diego, California, who has a trophy from Toastmasters and a bit of a stomach bug on a drippy Saturday... But I am happy with my life... Though I think I might want to contact my other self in Iowa and see if I can trade some HP equipment for a nice dirtbike...

3 church kids, 2 movie buffs, and a carol party by the sea

Weekend update...

On Friday night, Kat and I put our wills and hearts to the test as we took on... BABYSITTING! This was another first for us, and I don't think either of us had done any babysitting since we were 16 or so...

Fortunately, we were taking care of 3 awesome kids from our church. It gave their parents a night out, and allowed us to get a little glimpse of what family life might someday be like!

Luckily, the evening went pretty smooth. No threats or duress needed, though I did find myself in a collossal psychological battle with their two-year old, Shin, to get him to put his pajamas on...

Eventually, his big sister took pity on me and working together, we coaxed him in. It was tense, though... I mean if you can talk a 2-year old into PJs on your own, you are ready for hostage negotiation, I'd say.

Saturday - Kat went to day 1 of a 5 day conference in downtown San Diego, so I was left to fend for myself for a bit. My buddy Hank and I went to see Nativity Story, which as a Christian I would solidly recommend. Critics all panned it, but I think because it was too encouraging and wholesome for their darker tastes.

Sunday - After Kat's day at the conference, we went out to a caroling party... Now, this too is a first as an adult for us both. Her previous roomate Sara threw the shin dig. A group of 10 or so of us got together at the condo complex where Sara now lives, enjoyed a variety of nogs and cheeses, then set out to serenade their neighbors. We knocked on doors, disturbed resident's TV watchings, didn't get arrested, sang Silent Night in multiple languages, and generally had a blast. Here's what a caroling party looks like:



And this is what a Sara looks like with a naked mole rat sculpture in the foreground...


If you are thinking, "Christmas Card-worthy," we are on the same wavelength!!!

A Little Flickr 101

I've heard a couple of confused folks about the Flickr wedding photos -

What you want to do is click to the photo of your choice, then look for a little toolbar above the photo - It will say "All Sizes" and "Order Prints"...

If you want to download the photos to your PC, click All Sizes, and then "Download Original Size."

If you want to get them printed and sent to you, click "Order Prints" and follow the instructions.

Little bit confusing, I admit, but Flickr is pretty good at everything else!

It's beginning to look a lot like... breaking and entering

OK, so I've never been that big on car stealing. Ask all my friends - I VERY RARELY try to break into automobiles! That's what makes the events of this past Tuesday so out of character for me.

It was a day like most Tuesdays ~ I was walking out of HP with a couple of friends to head to our lunch pickup Ultimate Frisbee game, and my buddy Gordon said he would drive since he had his Durango SUV.

All is well - I headed out to the parking lot, looking around for something like this











I got a little distracted when I saw a co-worker who I hadn't talked with for awhile who was arriving - So I was just chatting away with my co-worker and opened the door to the Silver Durango, talking away, putting my bags in, etc... This goes on for a good minute or so until Gordon walks over and motions me that HIS Silver Durango was in fact parked a good 20 feet away, and that I might want to consider getting out of that trusting person's unlocked truck!

So let that be a lesson to you! Not all breakers and enterers are up to no good... Some are just very easily distracted...

It's beginning to look a lot like...

I love December. It is such a great month! Every time you turn around, someone's handing you a santa cookie or something like that. There's wassail, misteltoe, bowl games, carols, advent calendars, presents, and so much more!

The first couple days of December are off to a great start. On Friday, our church had their annual Christmas dinner. This year they had a French theme, which pretty much meant a lot of REALLY poor pronunciation and butchering of the beautiful French language. But we had fun, and our pastors did a remarkably creative pastors of the 12 days of Christmas...

This morning we went to a work session for Bethlehem Village, our church's big holiday event. Kat's organizational abilities have been shining; She's got hundereds of costumes put together, organized, and ready to roll.

Well, tonight we are heading downtown for a friend's "crepe party." The French theme rolls along. Life is going good... All I can say is, "We wish you a VERY merry Christmas"

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!