The Big 3-0!!!

Big News: Rob is officially an adult!!! I know, I know...that was supposed to happen at 18. But when you're thirty, it's a little bit harder to ignore. Not someone to ignore cool number schemes, everyone should know that Rob is turning 30 on 03/03. That means oodles of good karma awaits him this decade. Also, I'm hoping leprochon will deliver some gold to our doorstep at 3:03 pm.

Coincidentally, I was just informed by Anna that this is also National Square Root Day (03/03/09). There are only six left this century, so be sure to party hard.

So, Rob. The people want to know - how do you feel about turning thirty? Reflective? Grimacing? Ambivalent? As happy as a little schoolgirl? Scared out of your witts?

(By the way...these pictures were not hard to find, because every 2 of 3 pictures taken of Rob gets an expression like this. He is worse than Calvin & Hobbes.)

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The News:

My random thoughts from the news today (and because, since Lorena hasn't raced for a while, we don't get as many posts as we used to!)

1. I hate, hate, hate, hate, fake apologies, whether it is by athletes or politicians. One day I want someone to just say, "I'm sorry I got caught, but that's about it." A-Rod: you are a big, fat, huge liar. You aren't sorry you took steroids, you are only sorry you got caught. Just say it, and I would respect you a lot more. At least my man Barry hasn't issued a stupid, disingenuous apology. He was just taking flax seed oil, so no need to apologize for that anyway :)

2. There are reasons that we all don't own Chimpanzees. I mean, if we could train them to do really cool tasks, and IT WAS SAFE, we would all have a chimp wearing a tuxedo and acting as a butler. But they AREN'T SAFE. They are APES! I do feel bad for the lady who was attacked, but are you kidding me? There was an ape in the house! And you were serving your Chimp wine and xanax? If you need to get your chimp drunk and sedate him for the party, that might be a clue that something is not right here. Not to mention that the Chimp was (I say was since, he has now sadly departed us) only 14, so he is under the legal drinking age. The lesson here, don't serve alcohol to minors.

3. I am 100% against the new government bail-out, but I do find it comical that the Republican party (a party which voted for the initial bail-out back in the Fall) now thinks that it is against its' parties ideals to vote for the bill. Why didn't you vote against the first one? You don't just get to ignore your principles the first time, and then claim them the second time. That makes you a hypocrite. I know the second bill was insanely ginormous, but its still the same thing. Giving government money away to try and "stimulate the economy." Stupid. If Republicans are wondering why they lost the last election and are losing popularity (among many, many reasons, but I think this is a big one) is the fact that they were supposed to be for small government, but instead government grew ALOT during the Bush years. And then they vote for one bail-out, but not another. Way to take a principled stand. At least the Democrats are acting as we would expect Democrats to act once they take office.

4. In case any of you failed to watch the U.S. - Mexico game, all I have to say is "dos a cero."

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USA v. Mexico

Tonight, 7 p.m. (eastern)
This time it counts (world cup qualifier)

GO USA!

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The Grammys

So Lorena and I are watching the Grammys, and Kid Rock is preforming, which begs the question: Who listens to Kid Rock? Seriously? We saw him and we changed the channel and started watching Teen Wolf. Kid Rock? How does this guy make money and show up on the Grammys? Do any of you out there in Internetland own a Kid Rock album? Have you ever met anyone who does? I mean this could be a deal breaker: you meet someone and they own a Kid Rock album. Would you really want this person in your life?

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Nothing good happens after midnight.

If anyone was wondering how I get prepared for the two weeks of working the night shift, here ya go:
1. Sunday before the night shift starts (they always start on a monday night, so that leaves me with almost all of monday free, except it isn't free because you know you will be suffering for the next two weeks) try to stay up late. This means I usually go to bed around 2am. It also means that I usually end up watching the same version of sports center two or three times because there really isn't anything on T.V. at midnight on a Sunday, and I already read all the news I could handle on the internet during the day.
2. Monday morning: Stay asleep, or at least try.
3. Monday afternoon: Wake up around noon. Eat breakfast. Lounge around the house doing random chores, i.e. dishes, laundry etc. Today I paid taxes. We owe again this year. Rats. Surf the internet. Wait until Lorena gets home.
4. Monday evening: Lorena gets home. Go to the gym. Work out, but not too hard because I don't want to be totally dead at 6a.m. when I am still awake, wishing I was asleep.
5. Monday 9:00ish (pm): realize that I have to leave for work in about 15 mins. Happiest realization of the week.
6. Monday 9:15ish (pm): get in the car to drive to work. Luckily we get designated parking, so I don't have to take metro. I guess that is the one plus.
7. Monday 9:45ish (pm): Get to work. Yeah, 12 hours of fun.
8. Tuesday 01:00ish: Eat dinner/lunch/midnight snack?
9. Tuesday 04:00: Half way there! Yes.
10. Tuesday 05:00ish: eat something breakfast/dinner/lunch? I'm so confused.
11. Tuesday 06:00ish: dooze off for the first time. Wake up and see if anyone noticed.
12. Tuesday 07:00: dooze off for the second time. Someone probably noticed.
13. Tuesday 09:00: Starting looking at the door, hoping that my replacement comes in a bit early so I can leave.
14. Tuesday 09:45ish: Replacement shows up. Run away as fast as possible!
15. Tuesday 10:15ish: Get home, eat breakfast. Take advil p.m.
16. Tuesday 11:00ish: fall asleep. Hope I sleep until at least six.
17. Tuesday 05:30ish: wake up. Be annoyed that I can't sleep any longer.
18. Go back to step 5. Repeat.

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The Obama's Dog...


(L to R: Portugese Water Dog, Labradoodle, Goldendoodle)

Just so we can set the record the straight, Lorena and I have been talking about getting either a portugese water dog, a labradoodle, or a goodendoodle for way longer then the Obama's have.

FACT: WE SET THE TRENDS, OKAY? That's just how it is. If the Obamas have somehow recognized how cool we are and want to copy us with their canine choice, then I am okay with that. Since I will one day follow in his footsteps and be president, he can follow in ours and get the same dog.

But, just in case there is a total pooch-catastrophy, and the Obama's try to steal the name of our dog too, we wanted to get this onto the internet, proving, that we have claim to the name Chewbacca (Chewy for short) for our dog. So if the Obamas get one of the above dogs and then name him Chewy, and then a few months later we do the same thing, they are copying us, not vice versa.



Is it a bit pathetic that we have already picked out and named our dog, and we won't even be able to get him until we are in Sweden? I guess it isn't too weird, since I already have the names of our kids picked out, even if Lorena doesn't 100% agree.

P.S. There is a super rare fourth breed that might make the cut: the Barbet. Although he is French, and we don't want a wussy dog, but maybe he would be cool French, like Zidane, Henry, or Cantona.

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Final Damage:



$5,000 to fix! Thank you insurance.

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On the Bright Side...


At least I didn't do this to my car...

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UNDEFEATED

Utah 31 - Alabama 17
On Friday night I had the pleasure of watching my alma madre, the University of Utah, finish off an UNDEFEATED season in college football by beating up on the Alabama Crimson Tide, the former #1 team in the nation, in the Sugar Bowl in New Orlteans. Because of previous Christmas vacation commitments, my trip to the Big Easy was a bit hectic and short (I was only there for about 16 hours!) but it was well worth it. Although they probably won't win the national championship (thank you BCS), they can proudly say that they are the only undefated team in the country.



I don't think, in my entire life, I have ever been nervous at a sporting event before. But even when Utah jumped out to a 21-0 lead, I still couldn't shake the feeling that there was no way they were going to beat Alamaba! I know, I'm a bad fan. I think it was because this is the first time I had ever shelled out real money and travelled to a major sporting event where I had a vested rooting interest. (Although, thanks to my friend Shane Cannon, who's company is a sponsor of some alumni events, we had free tickets - which saved me a lot of cash!)


This was the view from our seats. We were right on the 50 yard line, but pretty high up. It didn't matter - since we had a great view of the field. We were surrounded by a lot of Alabama fans, and they were pretty hilarious. They were talking a lot of trash before the game, but they were pretty good natured and didn't get offended when we talked a little back. I think one family was trying to do their part to save the economy through the consumption of stadium nachos. Others were definitely trying to save the economy through the consumption of stadium beer! I have to say, I have never seen a group of fans (those for 'Bama) that were more into and critical of their team. It was crazy. They were booing after Alabama's second series! People were calling for Saban to be fired at half time, and he was the National Coach of the Year! But to be fair, after the game they were really polite and everyone we saw, either at the stadium, walking back, or taking our brief walk down Bourbon Street, cngratulated us on the win, and said what a beat down it was. I read somewhere that the New Orleans police said that this was the first year they hadn't seen fights break out between fans, either before or after the game. So, that's cool.

I don't really have anything else to add, except that I'm really happy that I went, even though I wasn't there very long and I had to be at the airport at 6a.m. the next morning to fly home. Being in DC, this was the only Utah game I was able to attend this year, and I have to say I think I made a good choice! Although since the Utes went undefeated, everyone who attended a Utah game saw a victory!

While I doubt that the Utes will be voted #1 in the country (like they should), it is still pretty cool that they were the only undeated team in the nation.

Now if only I hadn't come home to see that someone hit my car...

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On Open Letter to the Anonymous Idiot that Hit my Car While We were on Vacation:

Thanks for being so awesome and honest and leaving a note after you hit my new car, which is what a decent respectable person would do. The car only had 300 miles on it, so I guess it was due to be damaged. I'm sure I was somehow responsible, since my car was in a parking space, parked and all, in a parking lot, far away from other cars so this exact thing wouldn't happen. But you didn't let my clear culpability stop you from doing what was right. Way to take responsibility for your own actions - you are a great example to us all. You are a person of high moralistic integrity. This world needs more people like you.

Oh wait -

You didn't leave a note.

You suck.

Instead, it looks like you tried to sweep away the broken pieces of my beautiful new car.
Alas, your attempted cover-up wasn't quite as successful as you may have hoped.
Just a little FYI about attempting to remove/destroy evidence, since I don't have much faith that the next time you hit someone, you will actually take responsibility:
1. Just because you swept the pieces of my tail light and bumber to the curb, doesn't mean that I wouldn't see them. Next time, if you are going to make the effort to cover up what you did, try harder - you know - like maybe picking up the pieces and throwing them away or something?
2. Just because you tried to sweep away the pieces, doesn't mean that I wouldn't NOTICE THAT YOU HIT MY CAR. It's quite apparent.
3. Simply sweeping away the pieces didn't remove the green paint that your vehicle left on mine.

I would post a picture, but I am too sad.

P.S. A happy post about the Utes victory in the Sugar Bowl (which I attended) will soon follow.

P.S.S. I think it was the garbage truck, but my apartment is checking the camera. Hopefully something is on tape.

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Christmas Traditions

So here in the Rob-and-Lorena Candrian home, we don't have many Christmas Traditions established yet. Back in my formative years, my family would always write letters to Santa, which we would then burn in the fireplace out of spite for the commercializtion of Christmas. Take that Santa! Just kidding - it was supposed to be an old German tradition, and the ashes would travel to Santa at the North Pole where he would get your letter without any socialistic government-run postal service interference (although this website claims that it is a British tradition. Who are you going to believe, my mom or the internet? We all know the internet cannot lie). Lately (I think ever since I was about sixteen), a Candrian tradition has been to sleep in (awesome), eat breakfast (with special "braided bread") and then open presents. That way, Christmas doesn't end until noon or so. Amy didn't like this one when it first started, since I think she was nine, but we are all fans now. I like this tradition a lot, but we will see how well it works once kids start showing up at our Christmas festivities. Another Candrian tradition is/was to play the "left and right" game, which we would always do Christmas night at my Grandma's house. We have kept this one alive, in memory of my awesome Gram.

So far Lorena and I only seem to have one Christmas tradition of our own, but I am trying to get a second started (more about that in a minute). Our tradition is that we always go and see the Nutcracker. This gives us an excuse to get dressed up and go out on a fancy date. I imagine it is good practice for when I will get to go to all the fancy diplomatic parties I am sure to attend once we get overseas! Lorena likes to pretend that she is a ballerina (She claims that this was supposed to be her calling in life, but she missed it; so now she performs her ballet on tarmac, aka bike racing!). We have gone to the nutcracker together every year that we have known each other, so this year was trip #7 (The first nutcracker was our third or fourth date together)! Besdies getting dressed up all sanzy, and Lorena looking extra hot, we also went to a fancy dinner at Tosca, an Italian restaurant in D.C that thankfully has a "pre-theater" menu. It was super good, but a bit pricey, but with the theater menu you get two courses and dessert for a lower fixed price, so whatever - it was a good splurge. For my first course I had some pasta with rabbit. Take that Peter Cottontail. It was really good. Second course was a risoto, which was also good, but I liked the rabbit dish better. The best part of the meal was the dessert where I had some tiramisu, and Lorena had some Italian-style doughnuts. Both were delish. We also drove downtown in our new car, and used the valet, so we were definitely ballin' big-time - 'cause thats how we roll.

The Nutcracker, as usual, was cool. I'll be honest, I actually like the music, its pretty relaxing. The dancing - eh. But this one in D.C. (at the Warner Theater) is kinda cool because they throw in little bits of Americana into the story, i.e. the Nutcracker is George Washington, the rats are the British, they sail down the Potomac, etc. So that is our fist set tradition.

I am also trying to start a new tradition this year. It is called the Christmas Beard. Basically it involves me not shaving between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hence the name "Christmas Beard." I kinda tried last year, but gave up after three weeks because I looked too stupid. After my initial failure, my Dad told me that you have to wait at least four weeks (and he is a former beard expert) so I didn't shave at all the week before Thanksgiving and this is what you get on December 22nd:

Not perfect, but I'm not totally embarrassed to go out in public either. It doesn't quite show up as well in this picture, but it is super red, so I would have made an awesome pirate. Anyway, I think this is a new tradition that is here to stay, much to Lorena's dismay/bemusment. Not to disappoint anyone out there in blogdom who is looking forward to seeing this sexy beard in person, but per the new tradition, it comes off on Christmas. If any of you guys want to join me next year (ladies, you are not invited) feel free.

Finally, because I ate there with my buddy Nick tonight (Lorena flew back to Utah today. I have to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas, so I will join her for a little vacation in Utah and California on Friday) I have to post about what is probably the best pizza in D.C., if not all of America. It is called Two Amy's and it is excellent. When Lorena and I ate there a few weeks ago she described her food as "beautiful." So there you go...

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Costa Rica it is...

The people have spoken. So I guess I better start planning...
Anybody who is interested in coming with us, shoot me an email!

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I will soon be old...

To celebrate my impending oldness, we have decided to go on a trip in March, when Lorena has Spring Break. But I am having a hard time deciding where we should go. We now have friends spread out around the world, so I am asking for your input on what a nice, get out of cold D.C. trip would be. Requirements include the ability to go to the beach, surf, and bike. If you don't like the choices in the poll, put something in the comments. And if you have been to any of the listed places, and have recommendations, feel free.

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Candrian Thanksgiving Fun
Rob and I were lucky enough to have the whole Candrian family together in DC this Thanksgiving. We didn't even have to step out of our apartment this year to enjoy the family get together and engorge ourselves on turkey.
pic #1: Just a little explanation to my inlaws as to why the guest bath was so difficult to get sparkly clean. (Rob decided our bathtub was a creative way around the fact that we don't have a hose to clean off our bikes....As the person who cleans the bathroom, I already knew the reason why people don't use their tubs to clean their bikes. :))
pic #2: Our Thanksgiving Day hike to Great Falls.
pic #3: Entertainment. I couldn't believe it when I first saw someone kayaking down this waterfall. Now I have another goal to aspire to in my future.
pic #4: Our black Friday excursion to Annapolis.

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