Weekend at the Grandparents

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This weekend we went to MC’s parents.  We hadn’t been up to their house in a few months so it was nice to get up there.  They aren’t too far but not having a car requires us to plan any weekend trips.  This weekend worked out great since my mom was away and we had her car.  Teagan was good for the rid up and continued her streak on being car sick free.

MC’s parents had a thing in the afternoon Saturday so we took the opportunity to hit up the local diner for lunch.  Both girls were great.  Teagan eat almost all of her pancakes.  Of course what little kid wouldn’t eat pancakes with whipped cream!

Both girls had fun with their grandparents.  We had a nice relaxing weekend.  The only challenge was Teagan and her difficulty napping.  She is able to climb out of the pack and play so she is no longer confined when you want her to nap and she doesn’t want to.  Thankfully at bed time she climbed into the pack and play on her own.  She started out on a bed next to it and we found her later on in the pack and play.  It was very cute.  What wasn’t cute was her waking up at 3AM.

Our biggest challenge was the car sickness returned on the ride home tonight.  We are not 100% sure what triggered it this ride and not others.  We think it is a combination of the heat in the car, the car seat not reclining, and the darkness so she couldn’t see the movement.  It was a painful last 40 minutes home.  i felt so bad for my little girl.  She was a great little kid like usual but she was not happy.  Thankfully I was able to contain the mess so she wasn’t more uncomfortable.

 

Day Off

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Today I took a day off to relax.  After dropping Teagan at her tot’s class I headed into the city for a hot stone massage at this place MC sent me to as a gift a few years ago.  It was really good so I wanted to treat myself.  After a relaxing morning I hit up a coffee shop around the corner from the spa for some lunch.  From there I headed up to Penn Station and went out to my parents place to get my mom’s car.  After that it was a few errands around my neighborhood and then home a little early to put the kids to bed.  MC is working late tonight and hopefully should be home in a few minutes.  I am trying to avoid the Macaroons I bought for us until she gets here.

Teamwork Is an Individual Skill

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Over the past year and a half my team has been working on ways to improve how we work.  There are many aspects of this, and I am deliberately being vague with the high level.  One part of this improvement goal is to transform into a high performance team.  Turns out that isn’t just some buzz term.  There really is a definition for it and proven ways to get there.  Going into this process I had no idea!  Kidding aside this renewed focus at improvement has had me fascinated.

One of the trainers who I am generally friendly with recommended to me several books to read to help better my understanding beyond the training classes and coaching I have gotten.  The first one I read was “Teamwork Is an Individual Skill: Getting Your Work Done When Sharing Responsibility” by Christopher Avery.  I thought it was a fascinating read.  Much of it was common sense but still I found myself not doing much of what it suggests.  It also made several points that were counter intuitive in todays business world but after reading the book and talking to others that I trust their judgment the concepts really made sense to me.  Ever since finishing the book I have been trying to adopt the concepts for myself and in hopes that my team also adopts them.  One major point of the book is i can’t expect the team to do what I want.  I can only influence them by my own actions.

I read the book on my commute home from work.  It was a good read and as much as it wasn’t as exciting as a novel I was very pleased I read it.  So much so that I want to read more books like it to help in my quest to be a better manager and a better member of a team.

This wasn’t the first book I have read for this initiative but it is the first one I am blogging about. I am hoping to write some more posts about some additional books that i have found were extremely valuable.

The Manhattan Part 2

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Tonight was my 2nd attempt at mixing up Manhattan’s. This time around was also a success too. I didn’t drink all of it just because it was a lot to drink for a Monday night. I had enough to know that I have the recipe down to move on to my next drink.

I am not sure what I am going to try next. I made one Old Fashioned last week. According to my own standards I made up last week I want to do at least two rounds (one for MC & I each) so a total of 4 drinks to be comfortable to move on to the next one. Besides the Old Fashioned I have a total of 10 other drinks I have that I want to try mixing up. 4 of them are summery ones so I have 6 to try before I will look at variations. So far this hobby has been pretty fun, although it can cost a lot in money and calories.

The Manhattan Part 1

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Tonight I mixed up my first round of Manhattan’s. For this drink I needed to go out and purchase some Sweet Vermouth. I only had dry. I learned the difference today. I also wanted to get a Rye Whiskey. The Manhattan’s I tried at bar’s were with that and I liked it. I only had Jack Daniels at home.

Once I had my ingredients (and the kids were sleeping) I got to my mixing. As drinks go this was not challenging to make compared to some of the other ones I have tried. The end result was delicious. MC and I both liked the first batch. They were very strong however. 3oz of alcohol in a single drink will do that too you.

Whiskey Smash Take 3

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Tonight was my 3rd attempt at the Whiskey Smash. It was delicious. That makes two successful attempts in a row. I think one more and I will call it a mastering of the drink. At least a mastery for home use. I am not quitting my day job. This last round of drinks I plan for tomorrow in now has anything to do with the fact that the mint I bought is likely going bad and may not last past tomorrow.

Taking a break from my hobby for a day

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Tonight I am taking the day off from my mixology hobby I have adopted. MC and I are both trying to fight colds and the last two days of tasting my concoctions are likely not the greatest thing for my throat. I hope to resume my experimenting with the Whiskey smash tomorrow night.

The Whiskey Smash Take Two

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After my failed attempt at the Whiskey Smash last night I was determined to get the correct ingredients and try again. I searched around the internet and got several different recipies but settled on one that seemed to be one of the classic versions. I was missing simple syrup but learned how easy it was to make it. I also needed fresh lemon. A quick trip to the grocery store on our walk this afternoon got me everything i needed to try again.

With all the right ingredients and a video on Youtube I was ready to go. The preperation of this drink required a bit more effort than just mixing stuff up for the sidecar or the martini. I wouldn’t say it was hard but it was the most challanging drink i have had to make so far. Once done the first taste proved the effort was worth it. With the new recipe I got it right on the first attempt. MC confirmed it was good. She is fighting a cold so opted to pass on her own drink. I should have not even been making drinks yesterday or today because I was sick with a cold but I was feeling much better than I was feeling yesterday morning so I drank my creation. It was good. It wasn’t alot of drink. To make it the size of a drink in a bar I need to double the recipe but that would be alot of alcohol. I am pretty buzzed writting this post now so I don’t think I could have handled a double portion.

I wanted to take a picture of my creation but even with the mint for garnish it didn’t look as nice as the sidecar so no picture. I am still trying to figure out why they say to slap the mint on my arm before putting it in the drink. Either way the verdict is delicious.

I need to make this a few more times in the next week or so (I have a ton of mind I need to use) to be sure I mastered the recipe and then it is on to my next challange. I still need to figure out what that will be. I want to make Manhattan’s but I am not sure if that is going to be next or something else.

The Whiskey Smash

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Tonight I moved on from the Sidecar to my 3rd drink in my quest to have a new hobby.  I tried to make the Whiskey Smash. Over the past year and a half we have had it several times and loved it each time we drank it. I thought it was appropriate for it to be my follow on drink after mastering the Sidecar. It took a while for me to get ready for this one since I needed to remember to order fresh mint. Today we had a Freshdirect delivery and i remembered to order mint. The preperation was a bit more complex than the Sidecar. There was one failed attempt that i threw out, but the 2nd drink made it to completion. The problem was it didn’t taste right so I made another one. That one still didn’t taste right either. I had to confer with the internet. My research told me that the Mixology app had one recipe but it wasn’t the classic one that I likely had drank previously. WIth Mixology failing me I had to call it a night since I didn’t have fresh Lemon’s to try a different recipe. One the plus side I learned what muddleing means and what simple syrup is so I am growing as a want to be Mixologist. Is that what people call themselfs these days?

I reverted back to making two Sidecar’s as our evening cocktails. I got very worried when I ran out of Triple Sec in the middle of the 2nd drink. I was only short a bit and the drink still turned out ok. That will need to get restocked tomorrow.