On the edge

As this Sunday draws to a close, it is more than apparent that we are on the edge here in the Den.  We are not on the edge of glory, no matter what that fourth or fifth sign of the Apocalypse, Lady Gaga, has to say about it.  Nor are we on the edge of a cliff pondering our next move, like the unicyclist in the picture.

Instead, we find ourselves on the edge of significant change.  I've been alive long enough and have survived more than a few "change management" seminars at work to know that change is essentially one of the few constants that we have in life.  And we are getting a large serving of change this upcoming week. 

First, Our Lady of BYU, my first-born, marries Awesome on Thursday.  They will begin a new life as a family of two, with us, and all sorts of other folks, cheering for them from the sidelines.  This is an exciting time for them.  It's a very, well, interesting time for us.  I'm still processing this change in our lives.  The stunningly patient and mighty fine SML is in a much better state than I am, but then, when isn't she?  It's going to be a great week, seeing family and friends, and watching these two kick off their new life.  It really is going to be good.

And then, after bidding farewell to Our Lady, I then have to say good-bye to CAL.  She won't be coming back for several months as she embarks on her freshman year of college.  She's all kinds of ready and she's going to do great.  I'm really excited for her.  But it's going to be tough to say good-bye, even if it's only for a few months.

And then there's the Boy.  He'll be the King of the Castle.  He'll also be turning 16.  That's a whole new fun dynamic.  And my insurance company couldn't be more excited about this birthday.  I think they are building a new lounge at their HQ with our premium increase.  I think that increase is the real reason to be on the edge.

The Food Truck Social

The pasty that started off the Social.

With CAL leaving for university next week, she's been asking for one last gulp of life in the big, vibrant city before she moves to the little town (pop. 26,000) that she'll be calling home.  She's heading to a place where the big excitement is heading to Idaho Falls for all-you-can-eat salad, soup, and bread sticks at the Olive Garbage Garden.  It was easy to say yes to her request because the Food Truck Social was going on today downtown.

Food trucks are making a name for themselves, in spite of the totally inane Food Network show about them, across the country.  Chefs on these trucks are doing some amazing things.  I follow a slew of them on Twitter and have been able to sample a few of them in New York and Portland.  However, in my own backyard, the food trucks have a bit of a rough go.  Why?  Because in Chicago, the ROM (Restaurant Owners Mafia) have decided that food trucks are a serious threat to their business.  They have worked over our politicians, who are genetically programmed to be difficult and/or corrupt (Exhibit 1 - Blago and his hair), so that they've passed ordinances that state food trucks can't make food on the trucks.  The food has to be prepared in off-site kitchens.  WHAT?  Now I'm no lawyer (remember, I chose NOT to go to law school 21 years ago) but that's the jist of the situation here and I believe the legal term for it is: CRAZY.

Anyway, knowing that the Social was supporting Share Our Strength and would give us the chance to sample as many of the trucks that were there as wanted, we headed in to the city for an awesome lunch.  It was a beautiful day to sample the five trucks we hit:

• Bridgeport Pasty - the Boy and I started here, with chicken pot pie pasties.  As soon as I get off the Heathrow Express in London, I grab a pasty from a vendor in Paddington.  I love them and the one I had this afternoon was a delight.  The pasty was infused with curry and that seasoning made even the peas taste better.
• Isla de Cafe - CAL got a sandwich here that she described as a "delicious Puerto Ricany seasoned ham sandwich.
• Tamale Spaceship - SML more than made up for last night's restaurant selection debacle when she got in line here.  Once we saw the menu, the Boy and I decided that the pasties we'd eaten earlier were nothing more than mere palate cleansers and we joined SML in the long line.  SML had the rajas tamal, the Boy had the pork, and I had the Complicate Tamal de Carne.  Flank steak.  Oaxacan Black Mole.  This mole was essentially the best mole I have ever tasted.  Amazing.
• Starfruit Cafe - this was one of several dessert trucks.  The Boy stopped here for kefir-infused mango yogurt, topped with milk-and-honey granola.  Apparently he was channeling a Lilith Fair attendee but that being said, it was good.
• Flirty Cupcakes - the name may be a lot little lame, but their cupcakes are anything but lame.  They were terrific.  The "No Plain Jane" that I had was nowhere near plain.  The Italian Vanilla Buttercream Icing was fantastic.  Five stars here.

Suffice to say, we had a good day in the city.  It was great for the four of us to join a couple thousand other folks for a food truck-apolooza.  If you've got food trucks in your city, support them.  They are doing some great things, things that make people happy.  See below:

Yeah, that's the tamal.  Bliss, people, bliss.

It's been a good day.  Life is good.  No, life is excellent.

You won't be picking the restaurant again.

A couple of lessons were learned tonight here in the Den.  After an epic struggle that lasted nearly two hours to mow the lawn, lesson #1 was learned.  Don't put off mowing the lawn one more day.  It's amazing how much it can grow in 24 hours.  I swear I mowed down more than one 'Audrey' from "Little Shop of Horrors" this afternoon cutting through the over-grown grass.  Part two of the first lesson - consider a lawn service.

Lesson #2 came courtesy of my reason for being - the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML.  After the Great Lawn Mowing Smackdown of 2011, we decided to go out to dinner.  Faced with the usual quandry of where to go, SML suggested we go to a restaurant one of her patients recommended.  Without thinking, I concurred.  This was the wrong, wrong, wrong thing to do.  Why?  Consider this - SML's average patient is 900 years old.  Methusaleh would feel right at home at her practice, assuming of course he still had his teeth.  Sad experience has taught me that people of that age like to A) eat at 4:30pm and B) like places like this:

No good can come from this, except for a powerful, yet unwelcome, intestinal cleansing.

Throwing caution to the wind, we headed to the place her patient had recommended.  Caution should not have been tossed aside so carelessly.  The exterior of the place suggested "cafeteria."  The interior did not.  The interior, an homage to late 60's/early 70's interpretation of an English pub, suggested, no, screamed, Mike Brady and Sons Architecture.  An abundance of wood paneling.  Lots and lots of English family crests on the wall.  Chain mail dividing the bar from the restaurant.  Naugahyde-covered booths.  And can I just tell you, these booths had seen better days.  I sat down and plunged into a crevasse created by more than forty years of overweight hind ends and let me tell you, there would be no getting out. 

The place was packed with locals, many of whom were going wild as it was a bit past the usual 4:30pm dining hour.  Maybe because it was all you can eat Friday Fish Fry.  I opted for the loin burger.  Yes, loin.  I think it was prepped with loving care with these ingredients:

Based on CAL's reaction to her meal and SML's to hers, I actually did OK with mine.  Suffice to say, we laughed a lot.  It was a lot of fun.  We bounced our way out of the booth, paid dearly, for our meal and off we went.  We did determine the following:  SML is taking a time-out from restaurant selection for the time-being.

So I think that tomorrow we'll head into the city to hit the Food Truck Social.  One last hurrah in the city before CAL heads to university.  It's supposed to be beautiful tomorrow too.  At least we're not putting up with this Irene nag.  If you're anywhere near her path, get out the way!

A year ago...two years ago...and eleven days from now.

A year ago at this time, I was in Houston for a work-related conference.  This year, I'm home.  It's the first time in 12 years that I am not attending that conference.  It's a little weird to not be there, to be honest.

Two years ago at this time, I'd just arrived at that same annual conference, this time in the Nirvana that is San Diego, after making a stop in Salt Lake City to buy the "college" car for our children.  Our Lady of BYU was the first recipient of that car.  Two years ago, she was a mere sophomore at BYU, with hardly a care in the world.  Two years ago, CAL was entering her junior year of high school and was trying to decide what schools to apply to, following the same rite of passage as her other classmates.  Two years ago, the Boy was just entering the 8th grade and working on having the same-day detention room named in his honor (he liked to "chat" in middle school).  Two years ago, our home was a little different than what we have today.

In eleven days, the Boy will be through his third week of his sophomore year and he will be set to assume his position of "King of the Castle" as his sisters will have moved out.  In eleven days, CAL will be one state away from her new home at her university on the precipice of her freshman year.  In eleven days, Our Lady of BYU will be marrying Awesome.  Her life will be changing completely and we couldn't be happier for her.  Really.  The more she talks about Awesome and seeing the decisions that they've made, it reaffirms what we've known - that these two are going to be wonderful together.  With her permission, I'm giving you a sneak peek of the bride:

In eleven days, I'm going to be an emotional train wreck.  Right now, I'd say I'm more of an emotional hazard, but epic shall be the wreck on 9/1/11.  In eleven days, I've got to come up with a new blog name for Our Lady.  Maybe I'll focus on that for the next few days...

Yep, things are changing here in the Den.