Weather that makes teenagers

December 15, 2007
Peoria, AZ

Yesterday was a fun day. Geri did some shopping and I was able to get re-started on the HDTV upgrade. I found some better installation instructions online and downloaded them. I pulled the TV/surround sound system out and made the basic connections from the HD DVR ("digital video recorder", like a TiVo) to the TV and the AV processor. I also got the ladder out and made the initial alignment adjustments to the dish. You can get it pretty close by setting the direction and elevation based on entering the zip code into the receiver (hence the need to make the A/V connections.

We headed over to the east valley last night for a surprise birthday party for Ana. Geri and Ana have been friends since the early-70s (we call this "BG", "before George"). Ana's husband Larry let us know about the party, and we were glad we had a chance to attend. It was a true "surprise party", as she had no idea what was planned. I brought my camera for some pictures, and got the "George, what are you doing here?" picture when she walked in the door - way cool. We got a chance to meet a lot of her co-workers (she's a school principal), and a good time was had by all.

The weather is gradually getting back to "normal" (whatever that means). Today started out on the chilly side, with temperatures again near the freezing mark. I started working through the dish wiring early in the afternoon (OK, so we slept late) and before I knew it I was busting a sweat. I should have changed to shorts! I told Geri that this is the kind of weather that turns us into teenagers: we end up wearing 3-4 different sets of clothes each day as the temperature rises and falls.

Today we had dinner at lunch (OK, so it was a late lunch). I've had a hankering for grilled Italian beef sandwiches for a while and Geri surprised me by digging through the saved recipes to find it and make it for lunch today. We had a small piece of beef tenderloin that was too small for a chateaubriand, and it was perfect for two sandwiches (better than the flank steak the recipe called for!). By the time we were thinking about dinner, neither of us was very hungry, so we pushed our planned meal (chicken parm) off until tomorrow. Now, that's willpower!

After I wrapped up being DirecTV installer for the day (I'll finish it up tomorrow, I think; retirees can do that), I proposed a bike ride. Geri suggested that we bring the pups, which we've been "threatening" to do for a while. We both have baskets on the back of our recumbents, and we picked up tethers to keep them strapped in last year. Well, today we finally tried it, and it worked out fine. The biggest obstacle has always been that Merlin has an unnatural fear of bicycles; he's been that way since he was a puppy. Well, he was fine, as was Maya Lynn. We only did about 2 miles, but we'll do more now that we know we're OK. We saw a few cars, walkers, quail and other dogs and nobody jumped ship, so we're good to go.

Time for pecan pie and lactose-free ice cream...