I am back...for now.

It has been a whirlwind since I last blogged. I have been to Memphis and had no less than three Thanksgiving dinners. My Arizona Cardinals have clinched a spot in the playoffs. We have a new puppy, her name is Lilly and ohh, I quit my job. I also found a new job. I feel alot better about all of this because I thrive in chaos.
We went to memphis for Thanksgiving and stayed with my Mom for a couple of days, went to my cousins house to meet her new Hubby.He seems nice and he is a chef so we got along really well. It didn't hurt that he fixed all of the food and he could have fed about a dozen more of us. Had a great meal at my Mom's house the next night. I cooked ribs and ABT's for Thanksgiving proper. Friday we had pizza from Memphis Pizza Cafe and my stepsister and Brother in law came in with their kid Zach, whom we had never seen. He is a real cut up and ladies man. He's about 18 months old and is the center of attention. They also brought their dogs. Did I mention we have a new puppy. We took her too! In all Friday night there were 6 adults, 7 kids and 5 dogs all of varying sizes running around her house. I know she had to be frazzled. I was a little frazzled and I didn't even stay there that night.
Friday night we stayed with my sister and her kids and her dogs and I saw my Dad. The nephews already have their Christmas presents. A real live drum kit-one of the best I have ever seen and a guitar and amp that I wish I'd had when I was that age, heck I would have loved it when I was thirty. We made a lot of noise and the girls played doing what girls do and the dogs played doing what dogs do. A whole lotta sniffin and barkin. Wait, that sounds like what a lot of girls do. Anyway,we drove home in a wintery mix of snow rain and darkness and listened to Art Bell on the radio, turning the radio only to get football scores. I wish I had more time when I come into town and a list of phone numbers to get together with friends, but my family is super important to me and now that I am starting a new job, I won't get another vacation for about 6 months. And hopefully it will be spent mostly at the beach, with stops in Memphis on the way back.
Oh, the new job, well I am back in the restaurant bidness and I couldn't be happier. The pay is more, the benefits are better and if I work on my day off I actually get paid for it. I am salary + bonus and it is with a major chain. I won't mention it here but if you wanna come see me you'll be eatin good in the neighborhood. I have never been with a solid, major chain. I hope they don't go mixing up all of their rules and decide to fip their menu like everyother chain I have been with. It's not fancy but i can do fancy at home, and now I might be able to afford fancy now and again. So, yes I have mapped out my paydays to get all of the loans I have taken out back to their rightfull owners and I might be able to get that liposuction for my fat head. At least I can keep my gym membership. I have (or had) been running 2-3 miles a day, 5 days a week and working my upper body. I have not seen any results as of yet, but I feel a little better and it keeps me off the streets.
Well, that is all I have for now. Pictures to come after I get them from Mom. Our camera is KAPUT.
SF

Short recap

I went, I saw, I ate until I thought I was gonna burst. I am back from Memphis and am still on vacation. I am still contemplating the new job and I am putting up the old Christmas tree. It's a 6 1/2 foot tall, pre-lit beauty but it is so old some of the lights are out. I'll get back to the real posts and some pictures tomorrow or the next day----HEY, I am still on vacation.

I got nothin'

I got nothin' going on. Well, I really got a lot going on. We went to Sake' hibatchi table to celebrate my birthday. It's not really my birthday but we needed an excuse to spend that much money. I am still in a euphoric state from the Sake' special. Filet, lobster, shrimp, scallops, fried rice and veggies for two. Yes, I split it with my wife. She got lucky on that one.
I also have a new job offer on the table. It is not a lot of money and it is more hours, but it is back in the Restaurant bidness. I love the push & pull, the give & take of money vs time in my world. I am also contemplating cancelling my gym membership. I love going there. I hate getting up early in the morning to go there.
So, the Memphis trip is definately on and I could not be more excited. I am tempted to just quit my job and leave right now, but I have a chance to make a little money before I quit. IF I quit. The new job will pay a lot less than my last restaurant job and will take up alot of my time in the winter. It is a great time to start because restaurants usually do not begin hiring again until late winter/mid spring.
I am taking some music equipment to Memphis because my nephews have guitars and drums now and are pretty good. I just need a band name for us. I am going to record us either on 4 track tape, or 8 track digital. We are going to my cousins house on weds, Mom's house on Thurs, Shopping on Fri and a cookout on saturday. I hope I can meet up with one of my best friends I've know since kindergarten somewhere in between.
Sorry for the dry post but I am as full as a tick.

I cannot wait to see my Dad.
SF

Travel plans, Thanksgiving, restaurants

Well, we have decided to go to Memphis for Thanksgiving. I know, I know, stop the presses. But you might not understand. For one, I am missing my Father's side of the family's Thanksgiving which is this weekend. I miss that side alot. I have not seen any of them in about 2 years. I miss my other side of my family just as much. They are both different but similar. Both like to cut up and both like to eat but my Fathers side of the family likes to make plans and stick to them. Kinda like a schedule. I'm good with that, you know what you getting and when. My Mom's side is more of a seat of your pants kinda group. You never really know who will show up and when they will leave. I get a nice balance of spontaneity, goofiness, practicality and timeliness from them both. I hope I get to see everyone that is in town that 5 days.
That being said, I will be busier that a one legged waitress at the I-HOP. (sorry) I always get to town with a grand plan of getting to do exactly what I wanna do, when I wanna do it and nothing will stand in my way. Then reality sets in. I realize that the reason I am there is to reconnect with the people I love and the people that love me. No matter what. Sooooo...I decided to make a list of the things I would do after everyone was back to their work week and were sick of me mooching off of them. Deep down, well, you don't have to go too deep, I am a restaurant guy. I love the food and the atmosphere and people watching. I like checking out the customers, the staff and to see how the managers interact with guests. I also like seeing food that is on the cutting edge or eating food I haven't had since grade school. This is if I had no limits/time/money/obligation restrictions.
Here we go!
1)Run in either the Turkey Trot at Shelby farms or the Jingle Bell Run at Audubon park.
2)Go to the Enchanted Forrest with the girlies
3)Go to these restaurants that I have never been to:
a)Lolo's table
b)Gus's fried chicken
c)Sekisui-Midtown
d)Bigfoot Lodge
e)Tsunami--I worked for Chef Ben
f)McEwans on Monroe
g)Pearl's--love me some Oysters
h)Itta Bena
A long list but I have heard great things about these places.
4)Go to places I have been to:
a)The Pier-best I can do
b)Pete & Sam's=old school
c)Rendezvous-John Hiatt said it best
d)Jim's Place East
e)Owen Brennan's-Sunday Brunch
5)Go to these restaurants that I am more familiar with
a)Jarrett's-Rick and Barb are the best
b)Bosco's---MMmmm...Pizza
c)Cafe' Ole'
d)Young Ave. Deli

Of course I will not make it to all of those places. I will probably not make it to any of those places. it's nice to have dreams. Family comes first and that is the reason I go back to Memphis and if I can just spend some good time with my family on my vacation, it will be all worth it, especially since I am going for a good reason('cause I wanna) instead of a bad reason ('cause I have to).
I'll post more of what I would like to take the time to do when I get time and when I am not craving spinach and mushroom quesadillas & bacon wrapped BBQ shrimp from Cafe' Ole'
Don't forget the Pancho's cheese dip,
SF

Issac Hayes R.I.P.

We lost Issac Hayes today. I hope Memphis does the right thing and at least names a street after him. He'd probably like a park better. Black Moses, Hot Buttered Soul & to a lesser extent, Chef.
He was found dead outside of Memphis in his Shelby county home. A family member found him around 1 pm. Hayes wife, their 2 year old son and another family member had gone to the store around noon and found the singer on the ground by a running treadmill. He was unresponsive. Rescue workers responded to the 911 call and preformed CPR to no avail. He was rushed to Baptist Memorial Hospital and was pronounced dead at 2:10 P.M.
Born August 20th, 1942-died August 10th 2008. He was 65. He had been under a physicians care for "medical conditions".
I highly recommend that you go out and buy Wattstax and Hot Buttered Soul and get your Stax on A.S.A.P.
I hope you finally found what you were looking for.
SF

Remind me later

I have a couple of new posts in the wings. One about bicycle rules of the road ( everybodys doing it) and a couple of more band odds and sods, plus an introduction to the newbys-Dalls and Shelly ( gotta get permission first) I also wanna do " What I am gonna do with my money when I hit the mega millions jackpot". I also learned a new term this week-dooced. I 'slpain later.
Another thing rockin my world is the reformation of the original TORA TORA. Thats's right the original rock n roll band from Memphis is gonna be at Newby's on June 28th. I am trying to go but in my truck it would be about $400 in gas alone----so keep hitting those adds whether you buy something or not. The whole family and I will probably get down to Memphis after the 12th ( Mom's class reunion) and the 26th (sis's class reunion)
So remind me to post real soon. I have short term memory loss from K hitting me in the head with an iron skillet--or maybe that was Granny with Jethro or Andy Capp's wife. Oh well, who can remember---I sure can't.
TTFN
SF

So It's been a while

I am still on the diet. I have been cheating a bit. I take Fri & Sun off so I can feel normal. During those times I don't really feel normal. I really wanna lose the pounds, I just need a slice of pizza now and then. Although I have cheated I have kept the 12 pounds off and I have switched to the regular diet and it is not so bad. Lots of seeds, nuts and avocados(mmm....guac) but I have also realised that I need to play. Yes play like I used to when I was running around and skateboarding and biking and just generally having fun. Does anyone remember when they were at about age 15 and what your day consisted of in the summer? It was running around all day trying to find some fun thing to do. If you didn't find some thing fun you spent about 5 hours looking for it and 5 hours trying to make something up. All I am saying is look to what made you happy back then and try to go do it. --WHO CARES IF YOU LOOK LIKE A FOOL!-- I now have a skateboard and an interest in yard work. I can tell you that if I don't lose a pound I will still be a lot happier and that can't hurt. Unless of course I break my hip whilst skateboarding & bruise my ego. I promise to write more in the future (again). I am just at a time in my life where I tend to worry and think too much. Not a midlife crisis but more of a crossroads of sorts.
This week listening to : Guided by Voices-Amusements...: Rush-Show Of Hands & Stephen Curtis Chapman- self titled
I miss my Memphis family- I have realised I don't really miss Memphis as much except for the BBQ, my friends and the music & the funkiness & the low rent, & the black folks ( not a lot around here) & the feeling that something great can happen any time, & the churches that still have a message not derived from a book the pastor read yesterday that I saw on CBN 2 weeks ago. Mostly I miss the closeness of family, cousins, uncles, aunts and all manner of kinfolk---whether I like em or not---whether they like me or not. I sure would love a great big family picnic right about now.
I gotta go to bed but the family vacation might be coming together as I speak. I'll holla at ya later.
XOXO
SF

Go Tigers Go!

Memphis Tigers-56
Tulsa Golden Hurricanes-41
It was worth the dish network fee to see the Tigers in SW Ohio.
Coming soon...S's birthday sleepover and 12 year blog. The new music from the band is coming along very well ( from reports ) and the outtakes, b-sides and dittys on the box set is done and ready for duplication. We just need a duplicator. If anyone wants to pony up $500 to hear the 96 of the best of the worst of what we do for fun-shoot me an e-mail. Music is my golf. I don't buy expensive clubs, I buy cheap guitars, basses and synths. I don't spend all day sat. & sun. in a grassy field, I spend whatever night we can all get together in basements, porches and studios. We are rock stars in our own mind-as well we should be. We have 500 classics that should be on every man, woman and child's top 10 lists. But enough of that,I have to go find a way to keep six 12 year old girls entertained for a sleepover soon. There will be blood, sweat and tears. Hey---that's a good name for a band.
SF