The Chronicles of the Great Nerd Warrior » NaBloPoMo10 http://www.dalcher.com/blog Where the answer is almost always 42. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:07:55 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 New Year’s Eve! http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/31/new-years-eve/ http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/31/new-years-eve/#comments Fri, 31 Dec 2010 09:21:13 +0000 dante8 http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/31/new-years-eve/ It’s New Year’s Eve again! I have considered writing a long list of the things that went well and not-so-well for 2010 to reflect on the past year, but this will have to wait until I have collected my thoughts and have access to a full keyboard and instance of WordPress. There will be too many words and some necessary formatting controls that do not lend themselves well to the mobile application at this time.

I just returned back from my cousin’s house on my last visit this trip, which means that my time here in Illinois draws short. This is always a bittersweet time, I am eager to return to the mountains but sad to leave my family and friends behind once more. Luckily, the coming year promises more family visiting thanks to the new baby coming in March so that will help.

This post closes out a successful month of blogging, so we’re ending on a high note. Thanks for reading, expect even more next year! Happy New Year, everyone!!

]]> http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/31/new-years-eve/feed/ 0 Lunch with Kate, Family Recipes revealed! http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/30/lunch-with-kate-family-recipes-revealed/ http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/30/lunch-with-kate-family-recipes-revealed/#comments Fri, 31 Dec 2010 05:25:35 +0000 dante8 http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/30/lunch-with-kate-family-recipes-revealed/ Vacation continues at a fever pace, starting with a Steak & Shake lunch with our friend Kate, who is visiting from Texas. Tasha then joined my Mom to take my niece and nephew to see Tangled. My one-year old nephew screamed the whole time, causing my Mom to enjoy the movie from the hallway.

Meanwhile, Dad started to teach me how to make a family recipe for capeletti, a Northern Italian chicken, cheese, and pork ravioli served in chicken broth. My grandma has made it for years and this tradition is slowly being passed from her to my Dad. Because of this, now I get to learn.

After a miscue with some dry dough, we got a full 13 x 9″ baking pan full and I feel pretty good about repeating the process. That’s all for now, aside from the fact that I am considering my goals for next year.

]]> http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/30/lunch-with-kate-family-recipes-revealed/feed/ 0 Christmas continues! http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/29/christmas-continues-2/ http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/29/christmas-continues-2/#comments Wed, 29 Dec 2010 22:42:15 +0000 dante8 http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/29/christmas-continues-2/ Today has been a good day. Tasha and I went to confession and then took Father Jim out for coffee, it was nice to get to know him better. Tonight we are having dinner and exchanging gifts with the Dukeses, successfully extending Christmas even longer.

We’re getting down to the last few days here in IL, filling this time with friends and family is a good way to not dwell on the fact that our time in IL is short. I enjoy spending time at home with family and friends and always hate to see it end.

That is all for now: tomorrow I get to learn to make capeletti!

]]> http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/29/christmas-continues-2/feed/ 0 Visits and Movie Night! http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/28/visits-and-movie-night/ http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/28/visits-and-movie-night/#comments Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:53:11 +0000 dante8 http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/28/visits-and-movie-night/ Today was a nice day, we started by going to lunch with Andrea and Brian followed by a visit to my second Mom, Debbie Dial. She’s still recovering from a long hospital stay, so it was nice to get to go see her.

After that, we hung out around the house and watched some movies, “The Man Who Saved Christmas” and “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory”. A nice, relaxing evening! More soon!

]]> http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/28/visits-and-movie-night/feed/ 0 Baby Shower #1! http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/27/baby-shower-1/ http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/27/baby-shower-1/#comments Tue, 28 Dec 2010 04:05:24 +0000 dante8 http://www.dalcher.com/blog/?p=4505 Tonight was our first baby shower for the new addition, and WOW is our kid going to be spoiled!  We have so many cute pink clothes that we could probably give the baby a new outfit each day for her first 6 months of existence, how fun!

Tasha and I are very thankful for everyone’s generosity, how great it is to have such excellent friends and family.  More soon, I’m off to finish packing boxes to ship all of this baby gear back to Colorado!

]]> http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/27/baby-shower-1/feed/ 0 Christmas continues! http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/26/christmas-continues/ http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/26/christmas-continues/#comments Sun, 26 Dec 2010 16:56:27 +0000 dante8 http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/26/christmas-continues/ Today, our Christmas celebration continues with a visit out to Goofy Ridge in order to see Tasha’s dad and brother. After that, we have to visit my Mom’s side of the family for a holiday party and then to my cousin’s house to exchange gifts with him.

That’s all for now, more holiday excellence soon!

]]> http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/26/christmas-continues/feed/ 0 Christmas! http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/25/christmas/ http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/25/christmas/#comments Sun, 26 Dec 2010 03:39:13 +0000 dante8 http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/25/christmas/ What a great holiday. I ate too much, opened up gifts with my family, and am now doing my best to not burst from the effects of swelling food.

I got some interesting gifts this year: a hand grenade (demilitarized), the handbook to the Jedi Order, an iRig to allow me to play my guitar through the iPad, several cool books, shirts, and other neat nerd gear.

My unborn baby, however, has already made out like a wee little bandit and her shower isn’t even until Monday. We are going to have to ship back a lot of baby gear or get a bigger car. :)

]]> http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/25/christmas/feed/ 0 Christmas Eve http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/24/christmas-eve-3/ http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/24/christmas-eve-3/#comments Sat, 25 Dec 2010 04:57:50 +0000 dante8 http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/24/christmas-eve-3/ And just like that, it is Christmas Eve again! Tonight we went to Church and then to my aunt’s house where I got some valuable cooking advice from my grandma.

Now we have settled in under our blanket of snow to watch A Christmas Story and relax before it is time to run the family gauntlet tomorrow.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

]]> http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/24/christmas-eve-3/feed/ 0 Quiet day… http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/23/quiet-day/ http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/23/quiet-day/#comments Thu, 23 Dec 2010 22:09:04 +0000 dante8 http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/23/quiet-day/ Today has been a lazy day, precipitated by a long night of
hanging out with my cousins last night. I slept in until 11 am, and
then proceeded to sit around and watch TV with my Dad while my Mom
and Tasha finished up some last minute Christmas shopping.

I believe that tonight is going to continue in similar fashion, it is
so nice to actually be able to relax. More soon!

]]> http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/23/quiet-day/feed/ 0 Hanging out with the family! http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/22/hanging-out-with-the-family/ http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/22/hanging-out-with-the-family/#comments Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:30:20 +0000 dante8 http://www.dalcher.com/blog/2010/12/22/hanging-out-with-the-family/ Tonight I am headed over to my cousin’s house to hang out with my family. I also have been taking the opportunity to help him revise his website, which has been a fun distraction.

So far it has been good to be home and nice to relax and get caught up with things here in IL. Not much else to report for now, planning an additional karate workout on Thursday for good measure!

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