Friday:
Lunch at Fetterino's
Aikido
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Aikido
Start a batch of Sourdough
Dinner at Durango's
Sherlock Holmes at the theatre
Sunday:
Finish batch of sourdough bread
Football
Sherlock Holmes at the theatre, again
I ate lunch out at Ferrufino's on Friday. It's a Salvadoran/Mexican restaurant that seems kind of new. They were definitely lacking business when I was there. I was the only customer in there.
I had the Pollo Pechuga: grilled breast of chicken with grilled onions and green peppers, rice, beans, and two extra fluffy tortillas. The salsa was a nicely spicy concoction and the chips were extra thick and crispy.
I got out of there for about $11 with an iced tea and the meal. This restaurant, if it sticks around, may be re-visited.
Hugo: 4
We've already seen this movie twice. We saw it Saturday night and then again last night.
K. had been looking forward to this movie for 6 months. I'd won some early screening passes for her for last Monday night, but she ended up not going. I kind of expected us to hit the very first showing possible, but common sense won out.
In a Game of Shadows we get to meet Prof. Moriarty directly. He's trying to get wealthy by cornering the military-industrial complex and starting a war.
We get to see more of the Holmes/Watson verbal fencing and we get to meet Mycroft Holmes, as well. Dr. Watson's new wife gets to meet more of Mycroft than should we like.
It's a fun movie and, judging by my wife's laughter, a funny one. We had some concerns about the fight on the train and we'll need to examine it more closely on DVD. We are also concerned about Irene Adler and what happened with her in the movie.
We did manage to see this at one of the cheaper theatres in the area. I don't know if we'd've already seen it twice if we'd had to pay $10 for a ticket.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Phillip, Brad, Dan, and Roderick
Ukemi:
Full set
The Walk:
Twice. And then about 8 more times with Roderick, helping him to learn it.
Releases:
I introduced Roderick to the basics of Releases: footwork, movement, committed attack. We did a little work on the first release.
Techniques:
Trey, Phillip and I worked on the standing portion of Koryu Dai San No Kata. I was, as usual, quite rusty. My hand was out of my center, my footwork was off. At least I kept an unbendable arm most of the evening.
Aftermath:
More soreness from the previous night of knee work.
Aikido players: Tim, and Trey
Ukemi:
Full set
The Walk:
Not tonight
Releases:
Not tonight
Techniques:
Trey and I worked on the first six of the kneeling portion of Koryu Dai San No Kata. It'd been about 6 months or so since we'd done any work on it, and we were rusty. Me, especially.
1.5 hours working from our knees. I was very close to drawing blood from rubbing the skin raw.
Aftermath:
Raw skin, sore knees, sore joints.
Aikido players: Sal
Ukemi:
Full set of falls
The Walk:
Not on Thursdays
Releases:
It went pretty well tonight.
Techniques:
We then spent some time on 3-step Shomen-ate. We managed to get some good iterations on both the left and right sides.
Aftermath:
Had a headache going into the session and a headache coming out of the session.
Friday:
Aikido
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Attempt at making a new fudge recipe that failed
Aikido
Dinner with extended family at La Casita
Second attempt at making a new fudge recipe that succeeded
Sunday:
Move books from storage boxes back into the library
Football
Drive to San Antonio for meeting with AF Monday morning
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Phillip (a student of Jeff's that has moved to the Houston area), and Brad
Ukemi:
Full set
The Walk:
Once.
Releases:
With Brad. It went pretty well
Techniques:
I worked with Brad on some of the first ten of Ju Nana Han Kata from three step distance. We made it through Gedan-ate before he had to leave.
Phillip, Trey and I worked on various black belt techniques. A bunch of Owaza Ju Pon. I then got to work on the first 14 of Koryu Dai Yon Kata. Tim had me working at full pace and it went well. I did have some brain farts in the middle when I forgot which release the technique was based off of.
Aftermath:
My muscles got a work out today.
Aikido players: Tim, Sal, and Dan
Ukemi:
Full set
The Walk:
Twice.
Releases:
Watched over Sal and Dan working together
Techniques:
I worked with Sal a bit on Ude-hineri with Tim watching to do some tweaking. Dan and Sal then worked together on 1-5.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Sal
Ukemi:
Full set of falls
The Walk:
Not on Thursdays
Releases:
It went pretty well tonight.
Techniques:
Tonight was spent working on Ude-hineri on the right side. We spent a lot of time on the entry.
We then spent some time on 3-step techniques, which is how he will have to do techniques for his next demonstration.
Aftermath:
None of note.
We played the #3 team in the league last night, but I think they were missing a couple of players. We managed to win 2 out of the 3 games. We needed to win all 3 games to guarantee ourselves a place in the playoffs. We lost the first game even though we were leading 20-15. We lost the next 7 points. Grr.
We *might* make the playoffs. The team that was in 4th place won only one game last night and they were 1 game ahead of us before last night. So, after last night's results, our records were identical. I don't remember how we did against them head-to-head, but we probably lost to them.
Maybe they'll have the two teams play as the first match of the playoffs. I'll be watching the volleyball standings page closely to see what the final results are.
Friday:
Aikido
Saturday:
Blueberry muffins
Post Office to ship out an artfire order
Bank to deposit some checks
Grocery store for a small bit of supplies
McRee to pick up the repaired truck
Aikido
GHG Holiday party
Sunday:
Started on a Banana sourdough recipe. It's currently in the fridge and will be baked tonight
Football
Christmas cookie baking - rumballs and russian teacakes
I forgot to feed my starter late last night. I hope I didn't kill it.
Aikido players: Tim, and Brad
Ukemi:
Full set
The Walk:
Not today
Releases:
Not today.
Techniques:
I worked with Brad on the first ten of Ju Nana Han Kata from one step distance. It went very well except for some issue with Gedan-ate.
We then worked on doing everything from 3-step distance. I think we got through everything at that distance as well.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Tim, Trey, Dan, Marvin, and Gail
Ukemi:
Full set
The Walk:
Twice.
Releases:
I worked with Marvin. We're making progress.
Techniques:
Marvin and I worked on Shomen-ate for a while, but he was having issue that caused him to bow off the mat early.
Aftermath:
None of note.
Aikido players: Sal
Ukemi:
Full set of falls
The Walk:
Not on Thursdays
Releases:
It went pretty well tonight.
Techniques:
Tonight was spent working on Ude-hineri on the right side. We spent a lot of time on the entry.
Aftermath:
None of note.
A new Mexican restaurant has taken over a spot in Friendswood that seems to be snakebit. Several restaurants have opened there and then closed down. One even closed down before it opened. Madre's appears to have some money behind it because they have expanded the previous footprint by taking over some vacant space in the strip center. We'll see if they survive.
They don't yet have their liquor license. They were serving Margaritas, but I'll guess that they were at no charge.
I order the Enchiladas Suizas and K. order the Tortilla soup. My order was pretty good. The sauce was not tangy enough for my tastes, but the beans and rice were good. The chicken in the enchiladas was ok. K. enjoyed the tortilla soup. There was extra of that and I took it to work the next day and thought it was good.
The chips and salsa served with the meal were ok. They only served a red sauce and it was a cooked chipotle base, so it's not my favorite, but it had a nice, smoky flavor with a bit of heat.
This looks to be pretty high in our rankings of local Mexican joint. Top 10 for sure.
Below are some snapshots of the meal:
I've eaten out a II Brothers' Pasta twice over the past couple of weeks. This is a nice 12 table Italian joint at the corner of Sabo and the Beltway 8 feeder road. I've enjoyed it both times, with my first meal being their lasagna and the second meal a Cannelloni Florentine.
For a lunch of the Cannelloni and an ice tea, I got out of there for about $12 not including tip.
The service is a nice amount of attentiveness and the free garlic bread is a real bonus. Below are pictures from today's meal:
