Fall is in the air...

Happy Friday, one and all!

It's been a few months since my last entry here.  Things have been going fairly well.  The church gig is amazing.  I love these people and I love playing for the choir.  So many loving and caring people who are very supportive.  We also found a wonderful new choir director, Andrew Hudson, who is doing a great job so far.  If you're looking for a new church home, First United Methodist Church of Loomis is a wonderful place to start.

James finally had his appearance before the judge related to his disability case.  He received a fully favorable decision and we're awaiting news of what he may qualify for.  He has to meet with the SSA folks on the 14th in West Sacramento near our home.

We finally have adjusted to our move from Citrus Heights to West Sac.  The old house has finally sold and we're looking forward to the future.  We've discussed moving in the next 6-7 years to get out of the Sacramento area.  I personally would love to move to Eureka, CA but there are very few jobs there.  James would like to live near Seattle since his family is there.  We've got some time to think about it and do some long-term planning and reflection to make sure we're making the right decision.

My job is crazy right now.  We're implementing a new agile development methodology, but we can't get a budget approved for training...so, we're stuck researching books and websites to get more information.  I actually job-shadowed some friends of mine at another company for a day to get more information on how they manage their Scrum methodology.  It's shaky right now in the middle of our first development sprint, but we're learning a lot.  I guess that accounts for something.

I have been playing for a few rehearsals over at Davis Musical Theater Company for their production of Oliver which opens tonight.  Sending big hugs and best wishes to them for a great opening night tonight.

I heard that Arlon Carlson was killed in a car accident a couple of nights ago.  I only met him once or twice, but he seemed very nice.  He was a fellow thespian in the area and was on his way from rehearsal when the accident occurred.  Very tragic and my heart goes out to his friends and family.

My congratulations to our friends Dave and Kara Lack on the birth of their daughter, Zoey, a couple of weeks ago.  James and I are making our plans to go welcome her to the world.

I have several friends who are out of work at the moment and I am sending out positive energy to the universe in hopes that they will find meaningful and productive work soon.  I have been in that position several times over the last 9 years and I'm blessed to have been working at Teleplan a little over 5 years now.

I have discovered camping this year and have been on 3 trips so far.  I'm already looking forward to my next one.  My favorite spot so far is near Bodega Bay and I look forward to getting out there again early in 2014.  I went from a small 9x7 tent that was only about 4 1/2 feet tall to a huge 18x10 tent that is 76 inches tall in the center.  It is HUGE!  I have had apartments smaller than that thing!  I've taken my chihuhua, Willow, with me on all three trips this year and it has been a wonderful bonding time for us.

Hard to believe 2013 is coming to a close.  The holidays are already here and I've got to get my Christmas shopping done in the next couple of weeks.  James is all ready to start decorating for the Yule season, but I asked him to wait until Thanksgiving weekend.  It'll get here soon enough.  I really wish my mom and Aunt Sandra would come out this year, but I think it's not going to happen this year.  I am planning a North Carolina trip in March to surprise Mom for her 75th birthday.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday with loving family and friends surrounding you this year!  Be blessed!

I now pronounce you...blah and blah!

So much exciting news related to marriage lately.  I am SOOO happy that the Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional on June 26th.  That was just absolutely amazing news!  And also by ruling that Proposition 8's sponsors did not have standing to appeal the case, they basically set the ball rolling for marriages to begin again in California just in time for the big SF Pride Parade and Festival.

I did not make it to SF Pride.  I did go to the Sacramento Pride on June 15th and had some fun seeing friends I hadn't seen in a while.  It was a beautiful day.  I took a few pics of the parade and walk around the festival for an hour or so.  

Prior to the big SCOTUS announcement, I officiated at a wedding in Old Sacramento on Friday, June 21st.  I became ordained as a minister in 2008 through an online program and am legal to solemnize weddings, so I've put it to use a few times.  This one was for my dear friend, Buffee Gillihan.  It was a beautiful wedding and I cried through the ceremony with them.  She and her new husband, Darryl Boggs, were so sweet together and the tears of joy flowed from the moment the wedding started.

One perk of doing the wedding was seeing Geneva Houx who drove in from Oregon with her kids for the wedding.  Geneva was my voice teacher for a while and also the vocal director for many shows at RSP.  I have missed her terribly and even though we only had a couple of hours to visit, it was good to see her.  I had intended to spend more time with her the next day at the Flint's home in Elk Grove (and it was good to see Kathleen and Ron at the wedding as well), but James had a very bad few days.  He made it to the rehearsal dinner on Thursday, but could not make it to the wedding and was pretty much out of it for the entire weekend.

Last week, we celebrated Independence Day at Chez Brave-Fisher with a few of the usual suspects.  Great barbecue, beer, and fireworks that day.  We really love our new house in West Sac.  It's been a little over a year and it's just so nice to have plenty of space to entertain folks.  My god son, Justin, stayed with us for a few days (he moved back to his mom's house when school let out) and we had some wonderful, quality conversations.  I can't believe he's all grown up now.

On June 10th, I received a call about 1pm in the afternoon.  Quanna called to let me know they had rushed her father, Joseph Brisbane, to the hospital.  It turned out that he had a stroke that morning that was very severe.  I got there within about 20 minutes and he was gone within the next 15.  It was a very sad day, but yet one filled with relief.  Joseph was 82 years old and had so many health problems over the past couple of years including dementia and complications from diabetes that required his leg to be amputated.  Knowing he is out of pain and at peace now made the transition easier for the family and I was very happy to be there to celebrate his life with them.

I think that's all I have time to share currently.  We are looking for a replacement choir director for our church still.  I'm sure the right one will come along at the right time.  I'll keep you posted!

Many blessings to you all!

Ray

Hanging out, being cool...

Hi, folks.  It's been a few months since I last blogged.  Too much to do and too little time to do it.  But I thought I would take a few moments to share some things.

My mother was with us from September until this past weekend.  I was sad to see her leave for NC, but honestly...I am very happy to have the house back.  My aunt Sandra was here as well for the past 3 or 4 weeks and basically came to spend a little time before escorting Mom back home.  Mom does not travel well by herself since she depends on help getting around.  Plus, her memory is not where it used to be.  Her dementia doesn't seem to be getting any worse, but she still has a hard time remembering things.

So, we had a great holiday season in the new house and it was great spending quality time with friends and family with a house big enough to entertain.  Even with all the space, the house has been so packed full of people.  Justin (my god son) is living with us and between him, Mom, Sandra, and her great-granddaughter, Adriannah, it's been hard to walk without running into people.  It's nice and quiet now and I'm actually looking forward to Justin leaving for the summer when school is out.

I've taken a part time job as the accompanist for the Loomis First United Methodist Church and I have to say that I love it.  The congregation has been so welcoming and warm.  I look forward to spending time with them each week.  I also play organ and piano for the worship service every Sunday and I look forward to a long and happy time with them.

I was promoted to IT Program Manager at Teleplan last month.  Very excited about this new opportunity.  I'm still feeling my way around my new responsibilities, but so far I am enjoying it.

I am on day two of a vegan (ish) diet to lose the 20 pounds I put on over the holidays.  It has been nearly impossible to diet with Mom and Sandra here, so I decided to start when they left.  I did it for 60 days last year and dropped 18 pounds.  Hoping to do the same this year.

Hope you all are having a great 2013 so far!

Disturbance in the force...

I felt a disturbance in the force yesterday near SF. Like tens of thousands of souls were just sucked into a black hole of despair.

And then I had cake.

Crock Pot Carnitas...

I finally got a large crock pot for Christmas.  I have had a small one for several years, but it didn't cook enough food to feed 3 or 4 folks.  Barely enough for just James and me.  I've cooked several things in it already:  pot roast, chicken picante, and chili to name a few.  But my favorite so far is a carnitas recipe I found and doctored up to meet my tastes.  Here it is:

Take a 3-4 pound pork roast (shoulder or butt) and brown it on all sides (about 2 minutes each side) in a frying pan sprayed with a non-stick vegetable oil.  Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.

In a small bowl, mix the following ingredients:

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cumin

Rub the mixture all over the outside of the pork.  Place pork in crock pot along with two bay leaves.

Pour 2 cups of chicken broth around the sides of the roast.  Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours.

When the roast is done, remove it from the crock pot.  Use two forks to shred the pork discarding any fat.

I serve this with salsa, spanish rice, guacamole, sour cream, and shredded cheese along with tortillas to wrap it all up.

Enjoy and comment if you like them!

Gratitude...

Thing I am thankful for in 2012:  I finally nailed down my biscuit recipe.

Resolution for 2013:  Stop eating so many damned biscuits!!

Happy New Year 2013!!

Sending you all very warm wishes for a Happy and Prosperous 2013!!

James and I rang in the New Year with my Mom and our dear friend, Anne-Marie Trout.  We watched a great movie with Judi Dench and Maggie Smith called Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which was funny yet touching.  We then moved on to Dark Knight Rising which I got on Blue Ray for Christmas.

Sad to see the holidays end once again, but I'm excited about the next year.  I guess my resolutions are pretty much the same as last year...I really need to get my weight down a bit more and continue to focus on my health issues.  I have an audition for an accompanist position in Loomis on the 15th of January for a church there.  I am spending some time every day practicing for that appointment.

Another resolution I have for this next year is to blog more...and I intend to do many of them as vlogs.

I hope you had a great New Years' Eve celebration and I send much love to you all!  Have a blessed year!!