2009 School Portraits

Eddie's Liberian Pen Pal

I am cross-posting this from Eddie's blog because I like it so much. This is Eddie's first response from his pen pal letter to Bromley Episcopal Mission School in Clay Ashland, Liberia (click the link for a cool interactive map of the town, including photos taken by our former rector, Chris Cunningham).

The letter is from a girl named Patience Wright, aged 13 and in the fifth grade. She's just about the same age as Eddie. She notes on the outside of her letter, "Please write me back"!


Eddie wrote her back immediately with a nice letter about his family, his friends, and of course, his pug! He sent her a dollar in the hopes that she might send him one of hers, and they could exchange money for their collections. He noted in his letter, "Don't try to spend it there because it only works in America." (Well, at least it does for now.)

Some Cool Photos from the 1960's

While we were visiting for Thanksgiving, we were also moving Mom and Dad into their new house near Charlotte. This involved going through lots of boxes and throwing lots of stuff away.

We did manage to find a few neat old photos from the late sixties in the boxes. These are from Mom's graduation from nursing school, Dad's graduation from Officer Candidate School, and their renewal of vows at their hometown church in Oklahoma.

Happy Thanksgiving, Y'all!

Kavkaz Restaurant

Placed on a nondescript road in a nondescript suburb south of Charlotte, you wouldn't expect much from an ethnic restaurant in a remodeled former Huddle House. After all, driving the county highway in the newly sprawling suburb, one passes miles and miles of mundane strip mall ethnic cuisine: Korean, Chinese and Mexican restaurants are a dime a dozen. But if you passed Kavkaz Family Restaurant without stopping, you'd miss something special.

Tradition holds that Kavkaz was the son of Togarmah, grandson of Japheth, son of the Biblical Noah. Kavkaz (or Кавказ in Cyrillic) is also the Russian name for the Caucasus, the range of mountains and region comprising Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. All begin former Soviet states, their influence from Russia is undeniable. But the region also sits adjacent to Turkey and Iran, which adds in a middle eastern culture as well.

As we arrived at Kavkaz, we were greeted by an exuberant and welcoming Ukrainian host. He seated our party of six right away, and had our drinks on the table within minutes. The beer selection was superb. I personally have never tried Russian beer, but both the Baltika #2 (a Kolsch-style lager) and the Baltika #6 (a very malty and nutty porter) were delicious. The Porter was so malty, in fact, it was almost syrupy sweet, like the tradition malt soft drink called Kvas.

Our meal started with appetizers of Chebureki, Dolmos, and Julien. The Chebureki was a very large pastry dough, filled with meats and spices and then flash fried into two crispy won-tons for six. Dolmos are the traditional Greek rice and meat wrapped in a grape leaf. The Julien were the most special--individual crocks of heavy cream, mushrooms, chicken and cheese, stove cooked and then baked to perfection, served like a heavy gravy or sauce, and simply delicious with the bread on the table.

After our course of appetizers, our waiter brought us two soups to share. The Kavkaz Borscht was a delicious and exciting variation on the mundane borschts I've had in the past. Served steaming hot, with strips of fresh beet and chunks of lamb, this borscht was savory and very satisfying. We had to claw it away from Becky just to get a taste. She loved it.

Our other soup was called Solianka, which was a delicious combination of chicken stock with lemon slices, chicken, lamb, Kalmata olives, and slices of Debricina sausage (like a spicy kosher wiener). This was my personal favorite!

Our meals were various forms of kebabs from beef, lamb and chicken, all heavily influenced from the middle eastern cuisine, served with a simple rice pilaf, plus a spicy cole-slaw and mashed potatoes. Luke's kebab was called Lamb Lula, which I've seen in Persian restaurants called Koubideh, a ground blend of beef and spiced lamb similar to gyro meat. Mom had a Pajharski Katlet, which was twin chicken breasts stuffed with mozzarella and spinach, much like a Chicken Kiev or a Cordon Bleu. But the most spectacular of all our entrées was Eddie's Beef Stroganoff, a delicious blend of beef in a heavy sour cream sauce served over rice. Every fork on the table jumped onto his plate simultaneously to snatch a taste before it was gone. The Stroganoff was magnificent.

All of this food was far, far, oh-so-far from diet fare. You had the feeling that if you were going to be sent to Siberia to work in the coal mines and work camps, this was the food you'd need to ensure you survived the winter. This was a splurge that you simply must enjoy every now and then.

For our dessert, the waiter insisted on bringing us a platter of Baklava, a gorgeous fluffy Napoleon filled with sweet cream, and the traditional Gata, the Kavkaz "super secret" recipe for crispy rolled sweet cream filled pastries. Topping it all off was the most delicious spiced black tea.




The folks at Kavkaz were spectacular. The chef at Kavkaz is one of only eight chefs (two still living) that were invited to prepare food for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Clearly so, as the food and presentation were immaculate. The staff, including the owner and his son, swooned over us as we devoured plate after plate. The Kavkaz folks had clearly put a lot of heart and pride into their craft. It was a delight to share this cultural gem with them.

Kavkaz Family Restaurant: Come casual, come hungry, and bring the kids.

Kavkas Family Restaurant
1542 Stallings Road
Stallings (South of Charlotte), NC
704-821-6364

Ranger Rolls 100,000

My 1995 Ford Ranger, which so sneakily ran out of gas this week, just rolled 100,000 miles! But having only a five digit odometer (plus a tenth digit), it appears as 00,000.8. Is it old or is it new again?

Good ol Ranger.

Still Under Construction

I just received these photos from Eislingen, Germany, near Stuttgart. Kothe Destillationstechnik is well underway on our still! Gorgeous!!

Virginia Heroes

Here is Luke's performance last night as James Madison in his school play, "Virginia Heroes".

Swim Times from Friday

We did another mini swim meet last Friday. Here are my times... a little better than last week, but that could be due to the fact that I didn't forget to wear my micro-speedo, which is good for at least 2 seconds!

Event	Time
50 Free	0:30.03
100 Back	1:29.62
100 Breast	1:28.72
100 Free	1:10.53
50 Breast	0:42.03

I'm actually pretty pleased with the 100 times. All three are better than last week, especially the breast and backstroke, the latter of which is not a strong stroke for me.

Again, my goals for a few of these are:

Event	GOAL
200 Free	2:15
100 Back	1:20
100 Breast	1:20
200 Breast	3:00
50 Free	0:30
100 Free	1:05
200 Back	3:10

Scouting for Food

Every year we go collecting for Loudoun Interfaith Relief. In years past, we collected whole trucks full of food, which we took to the food bank in Leesburg. Last year, we went through a very middle-class neighborhood, and one of the older neighborhoods in town. The houses in the old section were small ranch homes and split-levels, some with a one car garages, most with none. And yet, from that year, we hauled in an entire truckload of food--over 800 pounds! That's eighty pounds of food per boy.

Sadly, this year was pathetic. Our patrol was assigned to one of the wealthiest and nicest neighborhoods in town. The homes were enormous--three-car-garage brick homes on three acre lots. And yet, with all that abundance, we collected a mere ten bags of food--93 pounds. I was really disappointed. I mean, with all that wealth, could no one bother to buy a few extra cans of beans and set them on their porch? It was a depressing display of greed and indifference.

Anyhow, I'm proud of my boys for getting out there and collecting what they did.

Do You Like Piña Coladas?

Luke is away at a birthday party. It is pouring down rain for the third day in a row. And it's 40 degrees outside. What better way to warm ourselves up than with some piña coladas?

I Love Firetrucks!

This little baby is making me rich!

I filmed this video way back in 2004, when Luke was a mere tiger cub. It's nothing special really, just one of the hundred or so home movies I have on YouTube. But it's been on YouTube, the video has gone viral and has reached over a quarter million viewers. Somewhere around the 200,000 mark, back in August of this year, Google sent me an email asking if I wanted to enroll it for "Revenue Sharing". Heck yeah!

So I signed it up in my Adsense account. Up to this time, I had made a grand total of $100 in the three years of having an Adsense account, mostly from advertising on my blog. Not much really. Just a few cents a day.

But now, with this cash cow video, I'm earning over $3 a day, most days, and the proceeds seem to be accelerating! At this rate, we may earn $300-400 a year!

See, Google pays us a little bit if the video is viewed (with ads), and a little bit more if the video ads are clicked, and it pays a portion of the sales proceeds if something is bought. So, man, I am just WAITING for someone to buy one of those firetrucks! We'll be set!

Happy Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day, y'all, and thanks to all the folks who've served. This of course includes my father, grandfathers, my father-in-law, and several of my friends.

But I especially want to thank my friend, Kevin, who has just started his 15 month tour of duty in Kabul, Afghanistan. Be safe, Kevin, and come home soon!

Mini Swim Meet

Last Friday, we had a mini swim meet at practice. Usually, real meets last all weekend, and are all-day affairs, during which, a swimmer will swim four or five events.

I say that because in this mini meet, we swam seven events in 90 minutes. It was crazy! So my times are a little... well, let's just say there's lots of room for improvement!

Event	Time
200 Free	2:36.38
100 Back	1:36.43
100 Breast	1:32.25
200 Breast	3:20.75
50 Free	0:33.37
100 Free	1:12.60
200 Back	3:39.13

Update: It's good to have goals, so here are what my near term goals would be for these events, hopefully achievable in a one year time frame. I've reached these times before, so this would just be getting me back to my best times.

Event	GOAL
200 Free	2:15
100 Back	1:20
100 Breast	1:20
200 Breast	3:00
50 Free	0:30
100 Free	1:05
200 Back	3:10

End of Soccer Season

Luke's team, the Huskies, ended with a very strong win yesterday. We were down in the first half of the game, 0-2. The boys were playing sluggishly, like they didn't care. Finally, in the third quarter, they started to turn things around, and ended the third with a 2-2 tie. Then, in the fourth, two beautiful goals took us ahead, the first a "hang the goalie" looper by Matthew right over the head (and hands) of the other team's goalkeeper. The second was a nice sneak between the legs by Lucas. It was a wonderful end to a great season.

The boys had so much fun this year, and they really gelled as a team. I really hope we see these same boys again next year. Coach Max was amazing, and made the whole season a ton of fun. As we were leaving the field from Saturday's game, Luke told me, "I'm definitely signing up for soccer in the spring!" Sweet.

Here are some photos from the end of season party at Coach Max's house.

Congratulations, Eddie!!

Today we learned that Eddie was selected to be in the Loudoun District Chorus!! This was a chorus that he had to try out for, and be selected to be in from among 6, 7, and 8th graders from all over the district.

The District Event will be held February 12-13, at Stone Hill MS and Park View HS. Come one, come all. We'll stack you like cordwood in the basement and guest bedroom.