Legends of the Den: February 2010

Dear family and friends,

Yes, we are alive and well, despite the lack of blogging in the past two months. I now present to you The MEGABLOG, updating you all on the highlights that have occurred since our last post. We apologize to everyone for being e-irresponsible! I hope you haven't forgotten about The Den. (Please feel free to read this monstrous entry in sections as we don't want to be the cause for any eye strain)

Bryan completed his first actual boat at school (a flat bottomed rowing skiff) and he was in charge of some pretty key parts (i.e. breasthook) that he was definitely proud to have done so well. He is at school right now so unfortunately I can't grill him on the proper terminology and details that I should probably already know and be describing to you right now. All I can tell you is that he and his group did really well and his teacher really loved all the parts Bryan personally built.

Continuing on the boat theme, Bryan also co-purchased with a classmate a 22 foot sailboat. Her name is Nutmeg and she has been loved back into the water after a couple weeks of intense paint and repair.

As for me, my projects have been a little more craftsy.
I constructed an eco-friendly version of the deer head trophy by using recycled cardboard in a 3D puzzle style. It turned out pretty cool and if you want to make it yourself, the template is available online for free at this website. I also crocheted a pretty cool hat for Bryan and he made walnut wood buttons for it.

Back around Christmas time, as a present for our moms, we carved some wooden stamps for them and created some greeting cards with them. An Ozzie stamp (her Cairn terrier) for Evelyn and Ganesh for Pushpa. They turned out pretty cool.... right, Moms?

Right now we are working on getting The Den and the boat ready for Bryan's parents to visit this weekend so that we might appear to be clean, organized, model citizens, at least for a couple days.

We've been cooking and eating our usual fare, you know, soups and salads and any and everything involving potatoes. I went on a bit of a culinary adventure with homemade gnocchi in a gorgonzola cream sauce and homemade tiramisu (yes, I even made the ladyfingers) for dessert. I had to improvise the techniques a bit since I don't have a food mill (replacement: cheese grater) or a pastry bag (replacement: gallon ziplok with corner cut off), but it turned out to be successful/delicious. If you're looking for recipes, the gnocchi and sauce is on Martha Stewart's glorious website. For the tiramisu, it was on the side of the mascarpone cheese container (Bel Gioioso brand). Other than that, we haven't been cooking quite as extravagantly as usual because we have become obsessed with the tv show How I Met Your Mother. We've caught up on the first four seasons, so between now and when the next season is available on dvd, we will resume our cooking experiments.

We are super pumped that Klondike will be moving in with us here around the end of February. He is feeling a little bit lonely at home with Mom and Colin away from the house and once Colin comes home it must be kept really dirt, germ, and allergy free, so he will be living with us until things settle down at home. Settling in will be a little hard, but I'm sure he will love the dog friendly town, all his new doggy friends, and the zillions of new trees to pee on.

Too cute to overlook as part of the excitement that has been going on is Shannon's new ball of fur, Finn. He is a black and white border collie puppy and is most definitely a fun, challenging, rewarding addition to her life. Shannon is officially smitten with her four legged Casanova. Finn's online debut was made on YouTube a few weeks ago; watch it here if you dare to take on the adorableness.

Those of you who need a Colin update, he is doing well (all things considered). He is still in remission and has opted to do an all chemo treatment plan instead of the bone marrow transplant. This seems to be the best option for him and poses far fewer complications. He is expecting his awesomely tricked out MacBook Pro from the Make-A-Wish foundation on Sunday and has been working on his crusade for wifi in the hospital to make full use of his new toy. We are all really proud of how grown up he has become through this experience.

Now for the photographic evidence to prove that all/most of these things really did happen... just in case you thought I was into blog fabrication... =)

The boat launch of the rowing skiff (those are some of Bryan's classmates in it)