Brew Bottled

My homemade brew has been fermenting for just over 2 weeks. It is now ready to bottle. I added a little sugar to get the carbonation. These bottles should be ready to drink in a few weeks...if they don't all explode!

Making Beer

I recently got a beer making kit, called Mr. Beer, to try my hand a making beer. I mixed up the water and corn solds and brought it to boil.

I added the malt and hops and boiled for a bit.

The hot wort solution goes into an cold water bath to quickly cool it.

The wort was poured into the fermintation keg where it will sit for about 2 weeks.

Blackberry the cat likes the smell of the new beer.

Hmmm, this smells yummy...

Oh boy...I feel dizzy...good...but so dizzy...

I think the cats are tired now...


I'll keep you all posted on the rest of the beer making story.

Cat video::

Here is Zoe and Blackberry playing. Just click on "PLAY" below:

Sking at Squaw Valley

Sarah and I went skiing this last weekend at Squaw Valley Ski Resort near Lake Tahoe, California. We had a great time.

Tahoe Feb. 2008

Sarah, myself, and my sister's family went to Tahoe, California for five days. We played in the snow, went skiing at Squaw Valley. We had lots of fun. Enjoy the pictures. If you want to see a larger view, just click twice on the picture window.

I made a website for our wedding. It will be changing often as we get more information.

http://1tom2go.googlepages.com/home

Tom's cooking...Let's order out.

So, it's 2008 and all is well. Two nights ago I had a bunch of leftover ham, so I made a casserole. The casserole turned out great. I was proud. Sarah even ate some.

Well...tonight was not so good.

I tried to make honey seared chicken. This is a great meal that we get at Pei Wei Asian restaurant.

I spent an hour preparing it, and half an hour cooking it. First, I burned the honey sauce. I remade the sauce, then proceeded to make it too thick and then ruin it. I killed dinner!

So, I picked up the phone and ordered take-out for Sarah and I..."2 honey seared crispy chickens please."

Thanks Pei Wei. I promise to never make Chinese food again.

Chrsitmas Eve

It is Christmas Eve and the kitties are ready for Santa to come. So are we!

I visited my Sister Sandy and her family over the weekend. Casandra got a new blanket and Matt got a rock crawler.

We saw Santa Clause at Sea World and even the Orca whale Shamu...

We Saw Penguins and Dolphins...




Mike and Matt made a ginger bread house...



So, now I am sitting at home on Christmas Eve with my girls waiting for Santa to come...

..

Company Christmas Party

Company Christmas Party 2007

Save the Date!

Sarah and I found our location for the wedding!

We visited many wineries in Sonoma and Napa County and found out favorite...

Paradise Ridge Winery

in Santa Rosa, California.



We will be married on 6 pm, Monday,

July 28, 2008

Keep up by visiting our wedding site website: http://weddings.theknot.com/pwp/view/co_main.aspx?coupleid=6289279809225398

Rain!

IT'S RAINING!!! It has not rained here (measurably) in sunny California for about three or four months. Sarah has moved in here and brought the Texas weather. A nice cool, noisy thunderstorm has just swept in and is pouring rain on our dry lands. Cars will likely be driving off the road since the oil build-up will be thick.



Well since the last picture a new kitten has been added to our family. Her name is Blackberry. She is a 4 month old black short hair.






Right now little blackberry is watching the drops of rain drip down the windows. Her older sister, Zoe, seems to like her new sibling. The two cats have been getting along really well.

Well, other than a new kitten, Sarah has settle in here. All her stuff has been moved in. We had our 5th dating anniversary last weekend. We went to a nice Chinese dinner and relaxing evening at home.

this weekend, we are heading to the Napa Valley to scout out wedding locations such as Paradise Ridge and the Geyserville Inn. You are all invited! The date should be late July 2008, so get ready...I'm not.

The family...Sarah, Zoe, and Tom

Sarah, Zoe, and I arrived safely at home here in California Tuesday night. We drove over 2100 miles from Houston to get here.

More info coming soon...

Tomorrow, I am flying out to Houston, Texas. I am meeting Sarah at her parents home and then we are driving out here to California. Sarah is moving out here, so i am driving with her accross the country. We plan to go from Houston to the El Paso, Saturday. The next night, we should be in Phoenix, Arizona. Monday, we will vist my Grandmother in Visalia, California. After that, we will drive the final leg of the trip home to Rocklin, CA.

Yeah Sarah!!!

Sarah really did it and here's the proof...

Congrats Sarah!

Office Pranks

The daily routines and monotonous routine of work can get to anyone. I am victim to this. To break the bordem, I usually think of jokes or pranks to play on coworkers. See I have always planned many pranks but rarely follow through with them. I have done some simple ones such as:

- fake faxes telling everyone they must submit their urine for drug testing
-When an employee was changing jobs, I sent her a fax (from her boss) saying she was terminated
-I turn some files upside down, so when you pick the folders up the paper slide out

Most of these didn't work real well, but made the "victims" want to get me back.

Recently I had a good prank done to me. A coworker, Joanne, turned my calendar and at least 30 pieces of data and other paper hanging on my office walls, upside-down! So I noticed one thing upside down, then another, and soon I wa in the twilight zone. Every paper, calendar, picture, and even my business cards were upside down in the holder.

Some other ideas I like for office pranks...

1. Set a mouse free in the office each day. When the problem becomes an epidemic, send snakes after them.
2. Submit letters of resignation for other employees.
3. Dial the phone number of the guy in the next cubicle whenever he walks away from his desk. Hang up before he can run back to answer it. Repeat often.
4. Make sure your expense report contains at least one reference to the "client meeting" at the "gentleman's club".
5. Post a list of the communists in your company on a conspicuous bulletin board. If you're not sure who the communists are, take your best guess.

Sarah is moving Soon!

Well, it wont be long before Sarah and Zoe the Cat are here with me.

I am flying out to Houston on August 24th, then Sarah and I will drive back to California. We should get to home on August 28. We will be visiting friends and family as we drive from Texas to Cali.

Oh So Lonely...

It really sucks proposing to a girl that you won't get to see for another month.

Sarah, hurry and up get here!

Staying in Cali!

If you did not know, I was planning on moving out to Kansas with Sarah. A change in plans now has me staying here in California after all.

I will be at the same sewage lab job. Sarah, the cat and I will be living in the same apartment I had. She is currently in Houston working at Boeing/NASA. Her last day of work there is August 23rd, then we will drive out to Cali together. Road Trip!

So, my bachelor lifestyle is going extinct...and some new girls are moving in: Zoe the Cat and Sarah. Now what am I going to do with all my fishing stuff that's in the living room??

Proposal: The Setup

A few weeks ago, I started the planing stages of proposing marriage to Sarah. This is Part 1 of the story:

A few weeks ago I purchased a ring and started the wheels turning on how and when I would do it. I thought of some interesting ideas...

--Take Sarah fishing, tie the ring on the line, cast it out, then tell her she has a fish
--Take Sarah horseback riding and when we stop on the trail, dismount, then propose while she is on the horse
--Bake her a cake with the ring in it, etc. etc.

All these ideas had problems such as, a fish thinking the ring is a lure, the horse kicking me in the head, and Sarah swallowing the ring saying, "What ring?"

One day it hit me, a winery would be a nice, romantic place, but where? I realized that the Korbel Champagne Cellars would be perfect. I contacted Korbel and they said they would be happy to help me out. They said to ask for a man named Sam and ask for the "Private garden tour" when I arrived on Saturday July 7th.

Sarah's Dad had lost control of his cell phone one day and it accidentally called me, then hung up. I returned his call to see what he wanted. he said that his phone was on the fritz, that's all, and so I took the opportunity to ask him if I could marry his daughter, Sarah. Surprising him seemed to work well, as he gave me his blessing.

So, now the major parts were in place. I told Sarah that when she visited we would go to the Pacific coast and on the way we could sample some wines, etc.

Some how she found a bed and breakfast to stay at right next door to Korbel, the very place I was going to propose to her.

Sonoma Orchid B&B in Russian River Valley:



I thought that someone had told her. She said she wanted to go horseback riding, so I made a reservation to ride horses in Armstrong Redwood Park, just north of Guerneville, CA, planned for two hours after the proposal at Korbel.



Sarah flew our from Houston to vist a few days before we would leave to the wine country of California. Friday came and we left for the Russian River Valley, just west of the Napa Valley. We arrived at the bed and breakfast, checked in, then ate at a nice pizza place in Guerneville.

I had a hard time sleeping with the ring hiding under the back seat of the car.

The next day we woke up for the nine o'clock breakfast.



While Sarah was showering, I took the opportunity to get the ring out of the car and slip it into my left front pants pocket, knowing that in three hours I would need it. We sat down for a family style breakfast with the other visitors to the inn. After breakfast, I needed to stall about an hour before going to Korbel, so sarah and I went to a small winery on a hill nearbye, called Gary Farrell.



As it approached noon, I was getting anxious. We left the Farrell winery and I drove Sarah to Korbel.

( Sarah at Korbel )



She was very excited to be there, as I was. We went to the information booth and inquired about tours. I had other things on my mind. I needed to find a man named Sam. I made up some reason to leave and went to find Sam. I found him in the tasting room. He told me they were ready for us and Sally would be our "guide" through the garden. She explained to me what would happen. I went and got sarah who was trying to tell me we were going to miss a tour. I told her we had our own private tour.

Sally took us into the garden and explained every plant as we went through the famous Korbel garden.



My heart was pounding as we wound our way through the garden towards the gazebo.....


to be continued