Butterfly Kisses

Well howdy, how are you?

Been a little while since I've last posted, relatively. Zero posts in 37 years and now 7 in two months, a flurry!

Past couple of weeks have been filled with the joyful pitterpatter of visiting grandparents. Very much enjoy seeing them and showing them the city but LOVE having them out here to put Samson down to sleep. Yes, bedtime is a very special, intimate time spent with your child that should/must be cherished but that gloss wears off after you've been in there for 60 minutes and he MUST look outside his window for the umpteenth time to say "hi" to the moon and the Jeep.

Anyhoo, did a couple of pretty great things over the weekend that I think are worth sharing. Saturday morning started off with breakfast at Easy Street Records, which has quickly become our go-to for weekend breakfasts. The boy gets their blueberry muffin. It's oversized and they halve it and then put it on the griddle and serve it up carmelized. It's pretty teriffic.

After an extended wait to sit down the boy was a little crabby. A waitress gave him some crayons and a piece of paper to color and he flung the paper off the table. The person sitting next to us (who was not hit with the paper) picked it off the floor and returned it and said very sternly to Samson, "that is not acceptable behavior," which coming from a stranger startled the boy (and me) and did not help the situation. Wasn't about to get aggro with this guy but my temp was raised. And then this guy's order came and it was biscuits and gravy with eggs and sausage on top  . . . with a side of steak. It was ridiculous and made me laugh. I mean, unless you're on a farm and have been up with the roosters and tending to your crops and livestock there is no need for a breakfast like that.

Undeterred, we ventured to the Pacific Science Center. Great place for Samson, think of it as a step up from a children's museum and step down from a full-on science museum. They have a mini-planaterum and did a program for kids where they got to look at some constellations and hear stories behind them and then do a dance and play with some noisemakers. They also had snakes and robotic dinosaurs and a ton of different puzzles to play with.

This is their giant Rubik's Cube (no sh't, right)  which made its debut at Burning Man a couple of years ago. There is a monitor where you can move the colors and try to solve the cube. I lasted about three turns and when finding out that I couldn't peel off the stickers and solve it that way (admit it, you did that too!) gave up. 



They also have a butterfly house there that was awesome. Even without the butterfiles the house was great. Besides keeping it humid and 80 degrees (Julie was ready to move in) they had funky trees and ponds for the butterflies to hang out.

There was still plenty left unexplored at the PSC and can't wait to get back there. They also have those machines with molds that make little statues. Aren't those the best!!

Saturday afternoon was time for a family walk and we headed down to Lincoln Park and a stroll along the coast. Great coastline down there with amazing views, lots of seagulls, huge trees to climb on, playgrounds and picnic areas. If we keep with the beach birthday party theme, this would be a great spot for it. Samson's 3rd Birthday Luau, it's coming . . .

Saturday dinner, well, it wasn't the best. We had to go to Tukwila (a town near the airport) to return something at the mall and were faced with limited non-mall dining options. I suggested Sizzler. What a mistake. Don't want to come off as judgy or hoity-toity (too late?) as the place was packed but it was pretty brutal. If I'm the thinnest guy at the restaurant, something is wrong. I had nothing but fond memories of hitting up the Sizzler back in the day with EDog but man was it a disaster this time. So Saturday, a pretty great day bookended with fat obnoxious people eating steak for their meals (remember that guy from breakfast).

Sunday we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Not sure of specifics but it felt a lot larger than Vashon Island. I'd call Vashon Island quaint, but that isn't Bainbridge. Pretty huge waterfront and a downtown that extended for a couple of blocks. Some (more) research would have helped us here as we were there before most places were open so we had to do some aimless strolling. We landed at an outdoor shop, where Julie got a new purple winter jacket and Samson got a busted lip. The tent display got the better of him this time!

We lunched at Bainbridge Island BBQ and it was fantastic. Hot peanuts on the table while you wait and delicious brisket and pork sandwiches. There was a sign in the restaurant that made Julie and I wonder. Sign said something like 'food will take longer than you expect, everything is cooked to order.' Which is basically impossible for BBQ, right? "One brisket sandwich, please." "Okay, we'll start the brisket now, come back in eight hours."

But whatever, the food was delicious and worth whatever wait it took. The pitmaster came out and spoke with us for a bit and told us the secret to the flavor was his use of grape leaf wood. First time hearing that one. Best 'cue we've had in a while. Thanks BIBBQ. Wanted to do some more exploring but lunch ended right when a ferry was about to depart back to Seattle. Still plenty left to do on Bainbridge Island.

It was also a pretty big rivalry weekend for me and Doug. ASU vs UofA on Saturday and then we played each other in fantasy football. And while fantasy football is a big deal, I would gladly trade that win to get the Territorial Cup back. Can't believe ASU lost. UofA was friggin 2-8 heading into the game! But hey, with a win this Saturday and a UCLA and Utah loss, we can still play in the Pac 12 championship game and earn a trip to a BCS bowl. A Sun Devil's gotta dream . . .

But enough of that. Hope everyone has some fun planned for Thanksgiving. We're doing smoked turkey breast and beyond excited to go see the The Muppets on Friday.

Wakka wakka!!

- JLips

Game 7

It was over as soon as Ron sent in Darren Oliver. He's a gooch. If he pitches tonight, hell, if he loosens up in the bullpen Rangers are loosing. How can you not have sent in CJ or Feliz in that spot. Oliver?! The dog was shaking his head as soon as he saw him take the mound. Oy. Hoping Dirk flies out to StL for the game. Would love to see him make an appearance in the booth with Joe and Tim. Hell, they showed Troy a couple of times during the game. I'm sure there's room in that suite. Dirk and Troy there together. Rangers can't loose!! Hell, fly Modano in for it also. Rangers can use all the juju there is. World Series is great in the PST. Got to watch the game and then put the kid to bed afterwards.

Heartbreak/stomach punch of a game and then a dose of perspective singing the boy to sleep.

10/27/2011
Samson's Bedroom

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Backwards Down The Number Line
Staunch Men of Robin Hood
Wheels On The Bus
Band Of Brothers
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Driver
Sun of Victory
Alma Matter
Farmhouse

Same songs every night but we do mix up the order and the Wheels On The Bus can get pretty out there some nights.

Couple of pics from the week:

enjoying a morning muffin and milk at the local coffeshop

Roscoe patroling the deck

items from a box marked 'misc'

yarmukle, gold bond, fire dept. stickers, chapstick, expired passport, zip drive

yup, misc indeed

Have a great weekend.

LETS GO RANGERS!!

- JLips

ps, have had Pho twice this week for lunch and at both places they were making bubble teas with a mix and not fresh fruit

Pho-nomenal!!

2011 is really turning into the year of "why have I waited so long to try this . . . "

First was demolition derby at the Lake County County Fair and now let's add Pho to this list. Two things that have skyrockted to the top of my favorites list. Pho, how good is this stuff? Why did I wait so long to enjoy this peasant delicasy? Why have YOU waited so long to try this? Oh, you've already tried it smartass, why didn't you tell me it was so good!

We've already been introduced to Seattle Thai and Chinese food (both were pretty teriffic) so on Friday we decided to have our first Seattle (and first Lipsky) Vietnamese dinner. As it turns out there is a place (Pho Cyclo (****/*****)) across from Julie's office that is rated as one of the finest Vietnamese restaurants in the city. As the viaduct was shutting down on Friday, we decided to eat at this place and wait out the ensuing traffic. Unless you're a local you probably won't understand but the Alaskan Way Viaduct and its subsequent closure has become a huge deal for Seattle (West Seattle folks (that's us!) especially) residents. Now I did the Chicago > Deerfield commute for four years so no mere lane closure is going to intimidate me but this viaduct thing is all anyone has been talking about since we've been here. So let's eat SoDo (now South of Downtown, formerly South of Kingdome) and get home when traffic eases.

I'll contend that the steak Pho soup was the best bowl of soup that I've ever had. It seems simple as there's steak, noodles, veggies, and broth. But holy moly do they come together (right now) in a perfect fashion. Julie had the chicken and she said that it was good but not as good as Thai tom yum noodle soup. I think had she gotten the steak she'd be in agreement as the best soup ever.

clean plate (bowl) club for me!

Samson left his mark on the dinner and enjoyed the noodles and steak too. His favorite was the strawberry bubble tea. But here's where the restaurant lost a star. The restaurant had bubble teas on the menu and the boy (and dad) has always enjoyed one as we wait for our food to come. Was pretty surprised (and subsequently disappointed) when the bubble tea came pre-made and with a plastic seal on top. I didn't even know they offered premade bubble teas. And why was this restaurant serving it? The place felt totally authentic so maybe that's how they do it in Vietnam but it tasted fake. It tasted like strawberry Quik made with water and then slushied. Just not good.



obviously, the boy didn't have issue with it.

Saturday found us at the Seattle Children's Museum. This being Samson's third differnt children's museum (Seattle, Glenview, Chicago (can't put Milwaukee on this list)) I can say that he was the most into the Seattle one. I think some of that has to do with his age and he's now age/size appropriate for everything at these places. But for the two hours we were at the museum he was non-stop. No mega, you-gotta-see-this activities just a bunch of great different areas that the boy (and us) had a great time at.

what's wrong with these binoculars?

Saturday night after dinner (Mexican, on Alki Beach) was our first family night in the hot tub. Our house has a mega above ground hot tub with a view of the Sound behind us. With a kind-of-chilly Saturday night it made for a perfect night for hot tubing. The boy loves it and at this rate I predict he'll be a self-taught swimmer in the next 2-3 months. He's close now, he is only sort of drowning.

no, the water isn't that blue, it's just one of its light settings

Sunday we got out of the city and headed to Kirlkland to check out Dr. Maze's Pumpkin Patch. Great 20 mile drive to get there. On bridges, up and down hills, through Bellevue and surrounded by Evergreens the entire way. Loving the Pacific Northwest!

Dr. Maze's was a good time, as we got to pick out our own pumpkins, try one of their mazes, and go on a tractor hay ride. There was a pretty huge corn maze that we didn't do, which I kind of regret. Next time. We left there with three pumpkins (a large, small and mini) and grass stains on both mine and the boy's jeans. Big thumbs up to Dr. Maze's, we'll be back next year.

Still some weekend left, Sunday afternoon we went downtown West Seattle and to Easy Street Records for the John Doe (that's his real name) in-store performance. He's a singer-songwriter and had a girl singing with him and they were pretty good.

Easy Street is a pretty great record store. Not a ton of tchotchkes (like many record stores have these days) but huge selections of new and used cds and records. Also had a huge listening station, which Samson and Julie both enjoyed. In the space where most places would be selling tchotchkes, Easy Street has a dedicated restaurant space. Pretty huge menu and the place serves breakfast and lunch. We didn't eat but we will someday soon. Easy Street breakfast is at the top of our list!

So a great weekend bolstered by even more progress with the unpack. We're closing in on having most non-basement things out of boxes and this house is starting to feel more and more like a home. And the magnets are on the fridge!

For more on the Alaskan Way Viaduct: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/Viaduct/

Speak soon . . .

- JLips

111 Days

111 days until 15 Sh'vat 5772 (February 7, 2012).

Tu B'Shevat is the 'new year for the trees' and is when Jews celebrate nature. Generally a minor holiday and one not observed by many will see the Lipsky's make a donation to the JNF and plant some trees in Israel.

It is the very least we can do as evidenced by the amount of paper products involved in the moving of our home from 60044 to 98136. Really had no idea that it took a small forest to pack and move our pantry. Yes I would have been upset if our botttle of bay leaves had broken along the way but at what cost. I'm glad we brought our unopened box of Uncle Bens (white rice, I don't like the taste or texture of brown rice, btw) with us but did that need to be wrapped separately? Are movers told to use as much paper as possible? I could point to the guy who packed our kitchen and accuse him of being an overwrapper but you should see how they did the boy's room (it was a different guy). You need to wrap up his books? Yes, would have been upset if Dirk had been broken during shipping but did he need to be wrapped in 30 pieces of packing paper?

Don't worry, Dirk wasn't harmed. Go Mavs!

It was an absolute luxury having a moving company come and pack and move our house so I hope I'm not coming off as being bratty or unapreciative but there is just so much paper. And I'm not even talking all of the boxes (and there are so many of those). Call it unpackers guilt.

We're about 40 - 70% (yes, big range, it's a deceptive process) unpacked and it has been pretty challenging. Going from a space with 3600 sq. ft of living space (plus additional storage space) to 3000 sq. ft has made for a tough move (or at least unpack). I've found it's become a bit spiritual also. Sort of.  As you pack (yes, I realize we didn't pack this time but I have packed before (by my count I've moved 17 times)) there is an initial purge where you get rid of things you won't be bringing along but mostly it's "get this stuff in a box and get it on the truck and we'll figure out where it goes when we get there." So now we're there and we're figuring out where things go. How do things from our old house/old life (trying to be spiritual here) fit into our new house. Of course I'm packing up our Heady Bullseyes' 2002 championship (viva!) plaque but I got no f'ing idea where it's going in the new house. Not enough room (gasp!) for all of our concert posters. Which make the cut? Which will remain (triple boxed) in storage? What things get to be a part of our new home and what don't? And what did the movers do with my guitar?

But more importantly we ate our first homecooked meal last night. Turkey pasta and broccoli. It was great. Just the four of us and me and boy not having to wear pants. Heaven. And I was able to add some oregano and red pepper to the sauce (Newman's Marinara) because neither of those spices were damaged during the move thanks to them being individually wrapped.

Well, there's another 30 - 60% (yes, big range, it's a decpetive process) left to unpack so let's get back at it.

And if you have a couple of coins in the piggy bank and you don't know what to do with them, go to http://www.jnf.org/support/tree-planting-center/ and plant a tree.

For more on Tu B'Shevat: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3264/jewish/Tu-BShevat.htm

Speak soon

- JLips

PS - Yes, 17 moves (not counting school-related housing)
Santa Monica
Brentwood
Beverly Hills - Toppington
Beverly Hills - Hillcrest
Ft. Worth
Dallas - Moss Creek Ct.
Dallas - Flintshire
Dallas - Covehaven
Paradise Valley
Scottsdale - McDonald
Scottsdale - 105th
Chicago - Menomonee
Chicago - Webster
Chicago - Clybourn
Chicago - Cortland
Lake Bluff
Seattle

"Where are you from?"

"So, where are you all from?"

"We're locals, now."

"That's great. You're the first locals to come in here today. Where did you move from?"

"Chicago-ish."

"Oh, my (insert relative here) is from (insert suburb here) . . . . "

Had that exchange a couple of times during the weekend. Neither good nor bad but a little odd. We're in this position where we now live here (Seattle, but you knew that already, right?) but as we're brand new are still doing a bunch of touristy things. Are you going to move to St. Louis and not visit the Gateway Arch? Or move to San Antonio and not visit the Alamo? I love San Antonio, that city is great and you should visit if you haven't, btw. But it isn't great being branded a tourist in your new hometown. Might have to continue to grow out the beard (listen, you can hear Julie screaming "noooo!") as we work through this phase.

But I digress (and haven't even really started yet, prolly not a good sign) and wanted to give an update on what we did during our first family weekend here in Seattle.

Friday night we kicked things off with a big dinner in Chinatown/International District. We landed at Red Lantern and had (***/***** (three-out-of-five-stars)) pretty good dinner, highlighted by a great hot/sour soup and the restaurant's owner picking up Samson and taking him on a tour of the kitchen.

Truth-be-told, we were a little disappointed in the fish & snap peas once we found out it was tilapia. We moved out to the Northwest for all of the fresh salmon, tuna, cod, and trout. We can go to Omaha for tilapia! It was also Grandma Lipsky's favorite fish so, while generally positive in memory (you can't have a totally (or marginally for that matter) positive memory of Fran Lipsky eating as she was a bit overboard with the 'talking while eating' thing) tilapia has always felt like a grandparent's fish. We still ate it all up. Oooh, an anti-tilapia rant, bet you didn't see that one coming?!

We then went looking for a Chinese bakery, hoping to find some butterfly and almond cookies. We didn't search far and ended up at a Chinese cake bakery, which wasn't exactly what we were looking for but not a crumb was left.

So, our initial strategy for weekends is that we want to spend one day doing something outside the city and then one day in the city. Smart, right. So as we ventured out for our first trip we didn't want to spend too much time in the car. Vashon Island is a pretty large island and its only a short ferry ride from West Seattle. Big thumbs up to the ferry, quick ride and on-time.

Vashon Island, pretty large with more than 10,000 residents and a ton of wineries, funky galleries, farmer's markets, and beaches. And how much of that do you want to do with a two-year old? Well, probably the farmer's market but we didn't go there. So let's find a place to eat and a playground.

We ate at The Hardware Store Restaurant, and had a lovely time. They did take their time with our order though (here comes another rant, folks!) By no means do I advocate moving our (or any other family with a toddler) order to the front if the line but the longer you take to get us our food the more time Samson has to knock over your water glasses, eat your crayons, and destroy your flowers. Vashon Island's Hardware Store Restaurant, you are a cozy and charming restaurant, on behalf of my son, I apologize for the damange we inflicted upon you. But you could have brought our food out a little sooner and avoided all of it, just sayin' . . .

So now lets look at some pics playing at the park!

Good looking park, eh?

Saturday night dinner found us at Duke's Chowder House (*****/*****). They have a couple of these around Seattle and they are phenominal. They have a bunch of different chowders, all great (you can order a chowder flight) and had some teriffic mahi fish tacos. The price is decent and the food just totally exceeded.

For the sake of appearances, lets just pretend that it's chowder that is going into his nose instead of boogers that is going into his chowder. Okay? Okay.

Too many pictures of the boy? 'Samson in CATL' a better blog title? Maybe. But what would that mean when we're still doing this after we have number two (settle down mom, nothing to announce) wouldn't he or she be jealous? We're sticking with the title. At least for now.

Sunday, let's get out to Pikes Place Market. A whole ton of greatness at this place and its worth all of the hype it gets. Sure, there are a lot of things there for visitors but there is just so much to check out and explore. A cramped little magic shop ("No, you cannot have the juggle with fire tools"), baseball card shop, exotic flowers, collectibles, tons of Asian stores ("No, you cannot have a sword.") fresh fish everywhere and about every type of ethnic food stall. They have a cheese store there called Beecher's, where Julie got an order of the world's greatest mac-and-cheese. Amazing! If/when you come to visit we'll get you this mac-and-cheese too. Wowza!

Here's Julie corraling the boy at Pikes Place

Sunday was also Coopalooza downtown. This was a one-day celebration of Washington coop living. They had a bunch of different expo booths a big kid area (here comes more pics!) and a stage where they had music. No, we aren't going to start coop living, but we will enjoy the samples at your booths! We got there towards the end, which is what we wanted, so we could see the Moondoggies. I've like the Moondoogies for a while and finding out that they're from Seattle made it a bunch better. And a special thanks to them as they would warn the familes when they were about to amp it up. "So yeah, this next one is a bit of a rocker, so get ready!"

So a pretty great first weekend here. We're still at the hotel as we await our movers (Kent, where are you?!) But today Comcast shows up to install internet. And we've made the decision to leave DirecTV and use Comcast for both internet and cable. Bold, eh?

Speak soon.

- JLips

Pics From The Road

A couple of visuals from the ride out West. No, these pictures aren't the greatest. Yes, they were taken with a cell phone. Yes, we have other (and better) cameras. No, I did not have one of them with me. Yes, I should have brought one with.

Professional Tetris-izing of the Lake Bluff Lipskys (will save all compliments for the movers until after our stuff has arrived)

First time to the Wisco Dells (last time??)

South Dakota's Mitchell Corn Palace

Wall Drug (Yes, there are a million-and-one billboards leading up to it. Yes, it is warranted, Wall Drug is not to be missed. They recreate an old west town indoors. Totally allsome!)

Roscoe, unimpressed

Black Hills Nat'l Forest (still in South Dakota)

Roscoe getting his learning on

Gutzon Borglum's finest work

Teddy's Deli (I wasn't making that up from before)

Wyoming sunset (Sidenote: we collect refrigerator magnets. There was no gas station, visitor center, etc. on this stretch in Wyoming, so sadly we do not have a Wyoming fridge magnet. If you happen to have an extra, red rover it please.)

"Seen the mountains of Montana at seven a.m. . . . " - Drive-By Truckers

Pacific Time Zoning

Worry not, we did get ourselves an Idaho magnet. Of course it is a sack of potatoes.

Then into Washington and to our new hometown, West Seattle. Here's a pic of a trail where I walked Roscoe

Hope you enjoyed the visuals. 'Til next time . . .

- JLips

Hello.

Hello and welcome to What's Good CATL? Spell/sound it and it comes out like 'Seattle'. Too cute?  I wanted NewKidOnTheBlock but that was already taken. Chances are that you are already a friend of mine, else why stumble upon some random ass blog, so hello friend.

The genesis of this blog (in addition to the preceeding 36+ years) was simple enough. Sent a pretty easy email to some friends in Chicago letting them know that I made it out to Seattle in one piece and two of them told me that I should write more. Well a little ego stroke and a second cup of coffee and I am now a blogger.

Figure this will also be a great way to keep everyone updated on the comings/goings of the Lipskys as we figure out our new lives here in the Pacific Northwest.

To that, here's the email that was initially sent:

Subject: The West

Good morning gentlemen, hope all is good in the Chi.

Have landed safely in Seattle, quite the past couple of days.

Left the Bluff last Saturday at 3:00. Northwest to the Dells and then into Minnesota. Spent night one somewhere on 90 in MN. Sunday was through Minnesota and then into South Dakota, Wall Drug (not to be missed) and Mt. Rushmore. About 100 miles before Mt. Rushmore things start getting very mountain-y and the cruise control was disengaged. Mt. Rushmore is huge. Much, much bigger in person than I expected. Proud to be an American! No dogs allowed so I couldn't do the full tour but plenty of places along the highway to check it out. The surrounding town is a hoot with water & alpine slides and everything having a president's name (Lincoln Best Western, Teddy's Deli). Keep driving west into a Wyoming sunset and then Montana where the mountains and vistas continued. Spent night two somewhere in Montana. Day three was into Washington past The Gorge and into Seattle around 9:00 p.m. Monday night. Roll on!

Have spent the past couple of days drunk as Comcast and our movers don't come until Tuesday so I've been going to different bars watching the Rangers games.  West Seattle is amazing. It is a SoCal/beach vibe up in the PacNW mountains.

How did anyone get around new towns before Garmins?

- JLips

So there you have it. Worthy of a blog from just that email? We'll see . . .

So what's good Seattle? I can tell you what isn't. Getting into town a week (actually two weeks for Julie (the Mrs.) and Samson (the boy)) before our furniture. "So we'll sleep on our aerobed for a week, it was fun that one night we went camping." Yeah, not so much. One queen-sized aerobed is not big enough for four Lipskys. Even more so as the boy and the dog (Roscoe, 3) have developed quite aggressive sleeping behaviors and think its their mission to conquer the entire bed every evening. So we're in the hotel (w/ a king-sized bed AND a breakfast buffet!) until Tuesday (estimated) when our furniture is set to arrive. Living between a hotel and an empty house, very much has the 'stranger in a strange land' feel to it. But the house is pretty great (and it has a hot tub) and these are all very short term problems. Will plan on taking some pictures and giving a tour through house on a future post.

That pretty much brings us up to now. Tonight is our first Friday night in Seattle as a family. We're looking to hit up Chinatown/Int'l District for dinner. Very excited for that. We'll let you know how that goes.

Speak soon.

- JLips