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February 02, 2008
Friends and family in our lives
With Alison's dissertation defense and back injury (see below) and Jerry's hectic work schedule, the summer and fall flew by in a blur. Looking back, however, we were happily surprised with how many friends and family passed through our home this past several months. The Beghetto family is a constant source of fun and support. Grace and Roger came down recently, as did her friend Kirsten. Roland Mitchell visited us as did Jim and Nancy Schicker. Little Rickie, in Natchez Mississippi, showed up in our lives this summer. 
But one special girl across this country was a constant presence in our lives even though she didn't make it to Oregon this past Fall. The daughter of our dear friends, nathan and Sheri, born within a week of Nellie, got very sick. We woke up every morning there for a while to check her health update blog, sometimes checking it many times in a day. We found ourselves reconnected with friends across the country in our shared concern for little Lucy. You could almost hear the transcontinental sigh of relief as it became clear she would be o.k. Welcome back Lucy...and Nathan and Sheri.
Nellie in a Dress
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It does not happen often, so it almost always inspires someone to take a picture. Alison reminds me that the primary motivation for avoiding dresses is not political. It is our hardwood floors. Pants protect her knees better. I am not sure I agree, but she dresses her in the morning.
Nellie's face plant
Enough with the cute photos. On the first day we had hired our new Nanny, Denise, Nellie took a spill. She charged out the door and off the first step before Denise could grab her. Face plant onto concrete. Poor little pooter pie looked like Frankenstein. Poor Denise had to hand her over to her parents with a fresh face injury. Poor Alison and Jerry were more traumatized than Nellie. (Note: The above photos were after five days of healing. Alison wouldn't let me take photos before then.)
Yes, we stuck with Denise. We are glad we did. It was a tough couple of days though.
Dissertation Defense, Back Injury, where we have been
Speaking of injuries...
In October of last year, Alison defended her dissertation. [insert applause] We all flew out to Alabama for the visit. It was to be Nellie's first plane ride. We were more nervous about that than the defense.
It started poorly in the Portland airport. At the baggage check, I was told I didn;t have a ticket on the flight. After digging through my own denial, and nearly 40 minutes at the ticket desk, 40 minutes at the desk, it became clear that something had gone amiss with my purchase. Fortunately, they found a seat for me at the original price.
When I got back to Alison, she had a worried look on her face. I had a ticket, but in bending over in the car to get Nellie's car seat, she felt a pull in her back. She had just finished 3 months of therapy for a back injury. Her toes were tingling. We decided she would not carry anything--so I loaded up all of our carry-ons, which included the stroller case, and a rookie's share of children's toys for the plane. I looked like a Himalayan Sherpa, without the endurance and stoicism.
Our route took us to Baton Rouge by plane, Natchez by car. A couple days with my parents, then to Tuscaloosa Alabama by car for the defense. All of which would have been fine, if not for the fact that being in a sitting position was acutely and increasing painful for Alison. She considered calling off the defense, but didn't. My dad loaned her some pain medicine, which didn't help much. She refused them before the defense. My parents came to T-town to help us, thank god, since I had business to attend to in town and Alison could not lift Nellie.
In the end Alison defended successfully. Then we had to take that whole route back. We had to have her pushed through the airport in a wheelchair. She was in tears with pain by the time we were driving back to Eugene form the Portland Airport. We went to urgent care that weekend, to a primary care physician the next day. We got into an MRI one day later. And we saw a neurosurgeon the next. Turns out she had a ruptured disk. Her surgery was scheduled for the following Monday.
The surgery was a miracle...which is the way many people describe this procedure. She was back home in five hours. Her pain was immediately and almost entirely relieved. There was soreness left over from the entry, but basically this was one more reason to love modern medicine.
Of course Alison could do no lifting at all, for over two months it turns out. We had our former Nanny, Vickie, come out for a week. Then my mom came out for nearly a month. (See photos above.) Then Dan and Barb came out for a week. By that time, the quarter was almost over and I could take up full time back up duty.
This is the main reason the blog, and so many other forms of communication with friends dried up this past Fall. Free time was much harder to come by.
Alison recently mailed off the final revisions on her dissertation. Signature pages are being circulated. The defense party was understandably postponed. So we are going to have a filing party.
We'll be headed back to Tuscaloosa for her graduation ceremony in the Spring.
Last Year's BBQ contest.
It is ridiculously late to post on it, but it deserves to be recorded. Ron and I did have our annual BBQ showdown last May. This year's menu was pulled pork. I won, regaining some ground from my humiliating defeat on the field of beef brisket in 2006.
The real news is that we finally figured out the "secret" to getting that hyper tender pulled pork effect. previously, we had been trying to keep the meat low in internal temperature, and cook it a long time. Low in this case meant just above the 160 degrees required for health purposes. Turns out, you need to get the internal temperature to 190 degrees, but without raising the external temperature much above 210 degrees. While cooking the meat will plateau at 170 degrees for 3 or more hours, while the last connective collagens are absorbing heat on their way to being dissolved. At some point, the meat's internal temp will jump to 190 degrees, at which point it is time to take it out of the smoker.
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Joanna and her father came and played poker with us the night before. Of course we stayed up all night with the hog; we cooked six butts each. Served 50 people with plenty left over for the freezer. When we pulled the meat off at 6:00 am, it was glorious sweet hickory smoked flavor. Angels sang. Best breakfast of my life. Nothing before or after will ever come close. We wrapped them up and kept them hot in a cooler chest.
Both of our products were fine eating. In the end, I think Ron will agree, it came down to the sauce. I made a knock off of Tuscaloosa's Dreamland sauce. Had a bottle of the original beside me at the stove for comparison purposes. Can't wait till next year...or, I should say, till this May.
Jerry and beer brewing
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That should be Jerry and Ron. Or Jerry and Ron and Joanna and Scott and Jason...and some others who have show interest. I have approached this hobby with a missionary zeal...not content to enjoy it myself, but feeling the need to make it a large social event wherever possible. It has turned into a very fun and relatively consuming hobby.
I can't count the number of batches we have brewed this past year. Well. Actually I can. I have. Ron and I started this hobby one year ago and since then have made 18 batches (not counting a couple of tainted undrinkable batches.) At 5 gallons per batch, that is 90 gallons! Before you start worrying about our health, a lot of it gets given away. Joanna, Scott, and Jason's brewing has evolved at a more moderate pace, four each I think. They have a knack for nailing beer flavors. Ron and I have, shall we say, a wider range in the quality of our beers. We attribute it to talking greater risks.
Fun part is the labels...here are some of ours from the last year. the last one is our Beer Brand Neck Label.
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