Update on Lindsay and Ryan

Well, we're taking back some of the bad things we've said about Ventura cops because in this case they've been exemplary. Lindsay said they caught the other guy. Sean checked with some police contacts he has as the result of his job at KEYT and they say these two appear to just be losers from Oxnard and not gangbangers or otherwise professional criminals/psychos.

Ryan is healing. He looks as well as can be expected for someone who got the crap kicked out of him. The police and doctors think these guys must have had brass knuckles or quarters or something because the damage to Ryan's face is pretty extensive, although he was very lucky not to have lost or chipped any teeth and he has no apparent skull or jaw fractures.

Lindsay has been dealing with all of the assorted paperwork and appointments, which is considerable between the attack and the truck being demolished. I have to say that it concerns me that Ryan is going through this seeing as he's my astrological twin. I'm finally emerging from quite the little tailspin of my own and the karmic goblins that were affecting me seem to have landed on Ryan. I hope they move on soon.

The police have been great about pursuing this case. They say it's really great that Lindsay called 911 before the first blow was even landed because they were able to catch one of the guys, which isn't often the case in stranger attack.

Singing my little heart out

After all the surgeries and recuperation of the past year, I decided I wanted to do something fun and challenging for myself. I had been reading about the Master Chorale of Ventura County for years when I worked at the newspaper. I had always wanted to join, but because I worked nights, it seemed out of the question. I was assigned a story about the Children's Choir, which is part of the Master Chorale. I remembered how I'd always wanted to join so I auditioned and they let me in on the spot, which was really cool, since none of the other people I was with made it.

I'm really out of shape vocally after having not sung in over 10 years, and it's been hard. This is a pretty rigorous group with high musicianship demands. Part of my problem is that I've been made a soprano. I'm actually a mezzo soprano and have always felt more comfortable as an alto.

The higher notes are a real struggle for me and it's been hard to expand my range. I've often ended up losing my voice by the end of rehearsals, although that's getting better. But I still need to have throat lozenges available to keep me from getting all chocked up in my throat when I sing too high.

Tonight is our first concert. I've been working really hard on the music, but last night when I was singing, reaching really hard for a high note, one of the other choir members came over and said. "You might want to sing that note" -- and she pointed to the high G-sharp "an octave lower because it really isn't ..." and she trailed off and made a face like she smelled something bad.

My confidence shot, I avoided all high notes for the rest of practice and my throat started to tighten, which it does when I try not to sing loud because I think I suck. Sigh. I'll update this after the concert.

Update: The concert went really well. I was able to calm down the more I realized that I was in a choir and so my chances of messing up were greatly decreased. One a side note, I had chili for dinner and note to self: chili isn't really good pre-singing food, what with all the ensuring burping.

On a more serious note, Ryan was hurt last night when he was attacked outside a bar. He, Lindsay and a couple of friends were out and as they left some random guys started yelling at them and followed them out. Then one of them punched Ryan, who went down, he got up and was hit again and the guys kicked Ryan in the head. Lindsay called the police.

She said the 911 call wasn't one of the high points of her life, but I think most of us would be freaked out if someone came and randomly attacked us. The police showed up really fast, which was great and Lindsay says one of the guys ran away and she doesn't know what happened with him. the other guy attacked the police and was, needless to say, arrested. Poor Ryan has a badly broken nose and will require surgery tomorrow.

This just happened a week after Ryan's truck, which was parked on the side of the road was hit and totaled by some drunk driver at 2 a.m., who then tried to flee the scene on foot. As someone who's just been through a karmic black hole, I can only extend my greatest sympathies and hope he gets through all of this crap OK. On the bright side, they seem to have caught two of the guys, and they'll both likely have their entire lives ruined for having done this to Ryan. We can only hope.

Dippity doo-dah

We had a really cool visit from Rick and Marilyn who were out for their annual September trek. Marilyn comes out to babysit Kaia while Gen and Sean go on their honeymoon vacation. Apparently all the kids like to have honeymoon vacations where they celebrate their marriages and honeymoons with second, third, fourth, ad nauseum honeymoons.

Courtney's managed to take a trip each year, no matter how tight money is and Lindsay started off by taking a cruise to mark her one-year anniversary. Gen and Sean take a trip each year, and heck, even Colin and Tracy make note of when they met.

Rob and I, on the other hand, have never had a honeymoon, much less a commemorative vacation. All of our money has always either been tied up in the kids, during the first years, then tied up in trying not to go under, which is making us just like everyone else these days.

We had a break from our subsistence-style life when we invited Rick and Marilyn over. We always have so much fun when we have people over. This was a particularly enjoyable occasion because with Rick and Marilyn here there's always more help, along with more fun. Marilyn is great at helping out and Rick is truly a funny guy to have around.

Our menu for gatherings these days tends to be whatever's on sale. the day before everyone came over, Rob and I decided to go shopping and singled out a local Von's (they're the southern California version of Safeway) that always is well stocked. But when we got there there were all kinds of sample stations and people milling about.

We did our shopping, noticing that the store had some new stuff -- like an olive bar, which always looks fascinating, while frightening at the same time. Soon there was an announcement that at 4 o'clock they would be giving everyone 10 percent off their groceries, along with an additional $10 off coupon for orders over $50. It was 3:30 p.m., so we pulled up a chair at the Starbucks and waited.

By the time we left, there wasn't a place left in the parking lot, and we had everything we needed for our little party. This would include stuff for dips. One consensus that's emerged from our gatherings is a love that exists for old-fashioned sour-cream-based dips. I always make the classic, sour cream and Lipton's soups mix, which is hugely popular and always tastes better than any prepared dip. This time I also made a vegetable clam dip, which I ended up eating most of (oink oink). I also made a cheese dip that we put in Ryan and Lindsay's Crock Pot, for which I used peppers from my garden I roasted, along with some pureed chipotle pepper in adobo sauce.

These aren't gourmet or foodie recipes by any means, but I can assure anyone who is looking down his/her nose, if you put these out, they will be wildly popular.

Crab vegetable dip

1 package Knorr's vegetable soup mix
1 can minced clams, drained (you can also make this with crab meat in addition or in place of the clams)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pint sour cream

Spinach dip
(I haven't made this for the kids yet, but it's a perennial favorite and worth listing. The common presentation is in a loaf of bread --preferably the Hawaiian sweet bread, although I prefer a good rye)

1 packaged Knorrs vegetable soup mix
1 can water chestnuts, sliced or chopped
1 pint sour cream

Cheese chipotle dip

1 large package Velveeta (anyone who has made cheese dips knows that Velveeta will make the dip have a much better texture, just real cheese tends to separate and get gross)
4 cups Mexican-style shredded cheese
8 jalapeno chiles, roasted*, peeled and chopped
3 Anaheim chiles, roasted*, peeled and chopped
4 tablespoons pureed chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
heavy cream

Put all ingredients in a Crock Pot on low heat, except for the heavy cream, and allow to melt. Stir regularly. When all the cheese has melted and you've added all the peppers, the dip will be really thick. Add heavy cream to thin to desired consistency. Remember to check and add more cream during the course of the evening, as the dip with tend to thicken.

*There are a number of ways to roast peppers. You can pierce them with a long-tined fork and roast them directly over a stove flame, if you have a gas burner (be careful to use an oven mitt to hold an all-metal fork) . You can roast them, flattened on a cookie sheet, skin-side up, under a broiler. You can also roast them skin side down on an outdoor grill. The common element, is to roast them until the skin is blackened all over. Don't roast with the non-skin side toward the flame. Then put all the blackened peppers in a paper bag and seal it. Let them sit for about 20 minutes and the skins should peel off easily under running water.