We Are Cheesemakers!

Today we went to Ann Arbor with our friends Sharon, Kay & Kenny to attend a mozzarella making class at the Zingerman's Creamery. It was a lot of fun! We made 4 things of mozzarella total; 2 batches of fresh mozzarella, mozzarella with myrtle wrapped around it and the last one was a burrata (which Dodge is holding up in the picture). We stopped in the bakery to get some bread to go with all the cheese we are taking home.

The Creamery was great. We got there pretty early and they let us sample different types of cheese and spreads and gave us some gelato which I absolutely love! I'm not a big ice cream fan but I could easily eat a bowl of it. We got the peanut butter flavor, yum!

Next we went to Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger for some food. Dodge got a ten patty burger! The onion rings were amazing! My burger was also very good. Now were heading home with full bellies and a car full if cheese. I think first order of business is a nap.

Arts & Crafts with Matt

This week Matt shows us what to do if you're cubical is just too darn bright by building a canopy to go over your office chair. "You have the materials to build it already", Matt says. Our model was made out of paper we took from the recycle bin and some scotch tape. Above is a picture of Matt in the process of putting it together.

This is a little more labor intensive than other crafts Matt has accomplished in my cube before. It is also a lot larger and therefore a lot harder to hide as well. You will want to make sure you have some spare time for this, like your lunch hour.

Here is Matt sipping a cool lemonade in the shade of his completed canopy. Ahhhhh... tastes like craftiness.

See other crafts made by Matt in my cubicle.

Spring!

Finally some nice weather!

Arts & Crafts with Matt

Today Matt shows me how to build "Stop-Sign Headman", the spongebob rival, out of a fruit punch can and used sudoku games from Ron's daily calendar. Matt says, "If you do not have a sudoku calendar, you can just use regular paper". Very helpful tip!

Once completed, you can pose Stop-Sign Headman into different poses as seen above. Note: If you look in the background of the second photo, you can see one of his previous creations.

Check out other crafts Matt has made while sitting in my cube.

Party for Doug

Doug is back in the States and visiting us up in Michigan. Sharon had a party for everyone to hang out with him. Everyone brought asian themed appetizers for snacking. Dodge brought sushi for everyone. The spring rolls were really good too. I had a great time playing Rock Band for most of the night. I have some pictures I will upload later and some funny video clips of drunk Kenny.

Bar hopping

Dad's out of town so Mom called wanting to go out. So I went bar hopping with Mom and Aunt Linda while Dodge stayed home sick. Christy came out originally but went home soon. It took us a couple bars but we finally found one with a decent band. I never would of even suggested the Hickory Lounge but "Seventh Hour" is pretty good. They played a little bit of everything but I knew almost all the songs. I had a real good time.

Honda 4 Sale

Honda 4 Sale
Originally uploaded by Jamie Howell

If you know anyone in the market for a nice motorcycle, we're trying to sell ours. We're not riding anymore for obvious reasons and this is Dodge's bike so it is accident free.

Milage: 6,017
Engine Size: 750 cc
Color: Black
Windshield included

$4000 firm

We're just asking what we owe the bank to get it out of the garage. It is a very nice bike. I started it up last night and for a second, just a second mind you, I was tempted to take it for a quick spin. So at the very least buying this will prevent me from trying to ride it and thus breaking another bone.

UPDATE: Bike has been sold as of 4/7.

Promotion and a Raise!

I'm so very happy to report that today I got the email from HR saying my promotion to a level 12 has been processed and I'm also getting a $2 raise! It's taken quite a while (at least over a year) for this to happen. I know my boss also submitted the paperwork for me last year but was tossed out because of the executive directive that prohibited any hiring or any kind of movement of current workers (not even lateral moves). But this year it went through and I'm pretty stoked about it. And yesterday we got the 2% cost of living increase which will be calculated to my new salary. Cha-ching!

This really couldn't come at a better time. Dodge's car is in the shop and trust me you don't want me to go into that horrific tale (I'll just say that Ford mechanics are rip off artists). We've had to rent a car so he can get to work in the mean time and the totals for things are starting to pile up. It at least feels like a positive in this swirling pile of poo.