Why, Why, Why !

Well its been a while since I last blogged, I'm lazy. I am now dart captain for a country bar. Did I mention i am dart champion of the world. I play alot and so the bar asked me to lead one of the teams and I agreed.In Dallas I played some of the Thurday night tournements and did pretty well, it was fun and I could play some weeks and not at all if I wanted too so i thought this will be fun. Not so much. They are hard core here in Chicago. There are a million rules and they take it very seriously. It is not fun and it is almost like a job. I can hold my own with the good players but the commitment is a bit much, 27 weeks of play, but I am in it for the long haul. Most of the people are nice, some are idiots. I'll fill you in with my next posting.

Tio

In my life I have been one of the lucky ones who has had many constants as a foundation for who I am. My mother, grandparents, aunt, and three uncles all contributed to my well being. My partner, brother, and good friends came later and became a part of this foundation. In recent weeks I have been thinking alot about one of them . My uncle Rick. He is the strong willed heir to the head of the family table. When anyone speaks of good men his name comes to my mind. He has worked all his life to maintain his family in the strong tradition he was raised with; never one to stay in the background ,but upfront voicing his beliefs. Because of this I believe in him. What makes him strong is the fact that he does not know how strong he is. Uncle Rick's contribution to my life is one many people do not know. I looked to him as prime example of what a father should be when my own was not around. He is the man at the family gatherings who brings laughter to everyone around him. He stood by me when I came out and accepted the man I now call my partner. He shed tears when I moved away letting me know I was important to him.He is always quick witted, with a cigar hanging out of his mouth, a smile on his face, and a hug ready to greet you with. I think about him now so that he knows I am. I think about all my family, but tonight I focus my thoughts on him. Love you Tio.

The power of Christ compells you!

I am once again on a diet. Everybody knows this is not easy. I'm eating sensibly, exercising and drinkng lots of water. However, during my mother's visit I bought a lemon cake for all of us to eat. Nobody touched it. My partner left for his trip last week and my mother left the same day. After a full weekend of heavy meals, i decided to get back on the wagon while he was gone. Well the other night I was in bed after a full day of low calorie meals. My stomach began to grumble, it was already one in the morning, I said to myself, self, you can wait for breakfast. Then as if an entity possessed my body I floated to the kitchen ripped open the cake container and with bare hand and all began to devour a chunk of cake. No knife, no plate, no fork, just my hand. I strugged with the entity that possessed me. I began to pray, I said hail marys, and I'm not even catholic. The next morning I awoke full and tired, and a couple of pounds heavier.

I's Married Now

My little sister finally snagged herself a man. She plans to wed in California where she is living. She is a very beautiful and intelligent girl and I am very happy for her. My partner and I are planning to fly down for the wedding. She is getting married on the beach, so I have informed her if she does I will be wearing a speedo. She has threatened me with security. Seriously though from what I hear he is a great guy and patient, he would have to be. I love you little sister.

Chicken in Bed

Well today I jumped in and decided to cook a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa. 40 cloves of garlic chicken. It is currently baking. I will say I normally do not like her because she seems like a cooking snob. Her recipes are great as long as you use " the good stuff". Now Rachel Ray theres another story. She is more my speed. Easy and quick. While I'm on this subject have any of you ever watched Sandra Lee, I might as well order a pizza add a little grated cheese and tell everyone I made it. This would normally not bug me, but she has made alot of money opening cans. I'm just jealous. As for an update I lost the bed war last night, my partner read my blog and intentionally hogged the bed, he refused to budge. I've decided to sleep on the couch in protest until he moves to his side of the bed. Yes this could backfire and he may prefer it, but at least I'll get to spread out.

My mother and step-father visited last weekend from Texas. It has been nearly two months since I last saw them. It was a wonderful visit. We went to all the Chicago tourist stops. We drank until we could not walk and talked about all the latest gossip. It was wonderful to see family. I come from a very tight knit one so those of you who can relate realize what a big change moving here has been for me. All my family still live in Texas, I am the only one not there. I believe I am going to start a campaign one at a time to get them to move here. My mother is seriuosly talking about it. Along with her and my step-father I may have an uncle on the fence. Wish me luck.

One of my best friends along with my partner convinced me to create a blog. Now I am hooked. I feel the need to save some unsuspecting novice cook out there the dangers of turkey bacon. I have been cooking alot latley for my partner, and he seems to like it. One exception was my meatloaf experiment. He loves my chipotle meatloaf so I make it often. However the other night I decided to use ground turkey to make it healthier. This was fine until I got the bright idea to crumble turkey bacon in with it. It smelled wonderful coming out of the oven, but when I cut into it the knife almost broke. I said to myself, self,its fine it will still taste good. Anyways I served it. It tasted like a salt lick. All the turkey bacon salt absorbed into the loaf. My partner not wanting to hurt my feelings simply said, " its different ". Hes sweet. It sucked We did not finish it, instead we opted just to eat the veggies I had prepared. Note to self if it ain't broke don't fix it.