{"id":654,"date":"2012-04-11T08:04:12","date_gmt":"2012-04-11T13:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=654"},"modified":"2012-04-11T08:04:12","modified_gmt":"2012-04-11T13:04:12","slug":"happy-50th-birthday-rich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=654","title":{"rendered":"Happy 50th Birthday, Rich!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, the 10th, was Rich’s 50th birthday.\u00a0 It was a quiet day.\u00a0 No big partying here.\u00a0 He did take the day off from work to enjoy some of his favorite things.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Early in the morning, his Busia called to wish him a happy birthday.\u00a0 He wasn’t up yet.\u00a0 We talked for a bit.\u00a0 She was reminiscing about the time she took the train down to Roswell, NM from Chicago to see him.\u00a0 In her stories, there is a lot of dust.\u00a0 I can see why.\u00a0 It is a very sandy area and the wind blows a lot.\u00a0 I loved one of her last statements.\u00a0 “I was 40 when Rich was born.\u00a0 I was only a child!”\u00a0 Compared to her 90 years, she probably was at that time.<\/p>\n

Rich didn’t sleep in too late.\u00a0 After a cup of coffee and the paper, he turned his attentions to getting caught up on the computer.\u00a0 He had Sally business to take care of this morning.\u00a0 After checking out Facebook and his email, he pulled up the page he wanted.\u00a0 I’m not sure of the name of the business, but the guy’s name was Dick.\u00a0 With phone in hand, Rich proceeded to call Dick.\u00a0 BTW: Rich uses the name Dick when he is feeling bad ass.\u00a0 Seems appropriate.<\/p>\n

Dick answered the phone and the conversation about carburetors got underway.\u00a0 Dick is in the business of rebuilding these nice little attachments to an engine at his shop way down in Texas.\u00a0 Rich finished describing his issues and what kind of little metal components he had.\u00a0 Dick had a list of specific questions for how Rich wanted them to work when them came back.\u00a0 I believe there was an agreement and Rich wrote up a letter with the details and boxed up the carbs for a trip to Texas.\u00a0 Now Sally will be\u00a0bad ass\u00a0too.<\/p>\n

Next order of business was to take Sascha to Moraine State Park for a run on one of the trails.\u00a0 Packing up scooter, harness, and dog, Sascha and Rich left in the truck.\u00a0 No, Rich was driving and not Sascha. An hour and a half later, they returned, just as I was leaving to pick up birthday cake.\u00a0 Sascha was in the back of the truck and not the cab.\u00a0 The tail was wagging a hundred miles an hour and she had a big grin on her face.\u00a0 She was also very wet.<\/p>\n

The Opossum Run trail that Rich likes is about 3 miles long.\u00a0 There are lots of hills and valleys.\u00a0 There is also a ditch that is usually filled with water.\u00a0 Sascha remembers this ditch very well.\u00a0 We’ve made the mistake of letting her get a drink from the ditch, but she always plops down in the water instead.\u00a0 She loves to lay in her pool of water, wherever it is.\u00a0 I think Sascha is beginning to learn the trail.\u00a0 She stopped at the picnic table where I had to take a rest and she got water.\u00a0 Only Rich wasn’t ready to stop!<\/p>\n

Since they had returned early, I took Rich to lunch while I was out on my errand. Herb’s Bakery makes the most divine cakes and they taste like there is so little sugar in them.\u00a0 I don’t know how they do that.\u00a0 The cakes are buttery soft, not overly sweet, and they decorate them in such cute ways.\u00a0 I can’t find anyone else who makes such a cake, so I make the drive several miles to pick one up.\u00a0 They are so worth it!\u00a0 I told them to decorate the cake with something beer related.\u00a0 There were little tin beer cans hanging over the cake.\u00a0 Well worth the trip again this year.<\/p>\n

So we stopped at the Beef Villa just up the street from Herb’s.\u00a0 Around here, there are hot dog stands by the dozens.\u00a0 They all serve hot dogs and italian beef sandwiches with fries.\u00a0 Standing at the counter, the menu was limited, but it did look good.\u00a0 I decided on the reuben sandwich and Rich got italian beef with cheezy fries.\u00a0 I don’t know about Rich’s sandwich, but mine was excellent.\u00a0 It really hit the spot.\u00a0 So this means I took Rich to lunch and I paid for it.<\/p>\n

One more stop before we headed home.\u00a0 We were going right by Woodman’s Grocery.\u00a0 There, Rich needed to pick up frozen Door County cherries for his cherry wheat beer that he was expecting to brew within the next few days.\u00a0 Yep, cherry wheat beer was required for the June pig roast.\u00a0 Cherries and pig go together, I think.<\/p>\n

So I had to get back to work.\u00a0 Yep, I had worked through Rich’s phone call to Dick and while he was out scootering with Sascha.\u00a0 Now back to more work.\u00a0 Rich spent his afternoon hanging out around the house.<\/p>\n

Rick got home from school and we sat Rich down on the couch to open cards and presents.\u00a0 We got him a book called Chicago by the Pint.\u00a0 It was a history of the great breweries in Chicago.\u00a0 Then he got real moosehid moccassins to keep his feet warm and dry.\u00a0 Finally, we got his a flamed bowling shirt and a backup shirt that was just styling red and black.\u00a0 Now he has a choice when he wants to bowl.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For dinner, Rich chose Slyce.\u00a0 This is a really cool pizza place that cooks their pies in coal fired ovens.\u00a0 The menu has already created combinations, which are excellent.\u00a0 Then you can create your own, but can you get one better than they have already created.\u00a0 I’m not so sure.\u00a0 We got one white and one red.\u00a0 White was olive oil with fennel sausage, cream, and basil.\u00a0 The red was meatball, pepperoni, and ham with basil.\u00a0 Both were excellent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rich likes this place not only for their pizza, but because they carry an excellent assortment of craft beers.\u00a0 A few are on tap, like he prefers.\u00a0 He started off with one IPA and finished with a second one from a different brewery.\u00a0 Since we had a designated driver, I had the Audacious Apriot wheat.\u00a0 It was a nice dinner out with the family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back at the ranch, we finally fired up that movie, “Paul,” that’s been recorded forever and we never got around to.\u00a0 I had watched bits and pieces while it was still running on the movie channel, but I had never seen the very beginning.\u00a0 It was cute and had several good laughs.\u00a0 Then it was cake time.\u00a0 We opened up the chocolate with raspberry filling cake, sang Happy Birthday, and ate up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now our habit in the past has been to include the dogs in our lives.\u00a0 Sofie even learned to sing along with the song.\u00a0 I’m not sure it was Happy Birthday she was singing, or she was just yelling for you to throw down that cake.\u00a0 This makes the fourth birthday we’ve had since Sascha has joined us.\u00a0 And guess what?\u00a0 She has learned that when we sing Happy Birthday, good things happen.\u00a0 She danced around with the song.\u00a0 Next birthday, we’ll have to have video of her dance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To finish off the night, Rich got a call from his brother, Alex.\u00a0 That really helped to make an end to a good day.\u00a0 He enjoys talking to his family and Alex in particular.\u00a0 It might that they can talk stocks.\u00a0 After getting caught up with Alex, he toddled off to bed to read a few chapters before lights out.<\/p>\n

I do believe Rich had a great birthday.\u00a0 I thought turning 50 would be tough for him, but he seems to have weathered it well. Today, I ran out early to pick up donuts for work.\u00a0 Everyone expects to share in your good fortune.\u00a0 They seem to like the donuts from our local bakery in particular.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Happy birthday, Rich.\u00a0 Hard to believe you survived your youth and are getting ready for some middle age.\u00a0 Enjoy it though.<\/p>\n

\"Cake<\/a>
The wonderful little cake that Herb's made for Rich.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Chicago<\/a>
Another beer book for his collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Moosehide<\/a>
Oh, moosehide! New moccassins for the feet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Bowling<\/a>
He has flames on Sally and now flames on his bowling shirt!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, the 10th, was Rich’s 50th birthday.\u00a0 It was a quiet day.\u00a0 No big partying here.\u00a0 He did take the day off from work to enjoy some of his favorite things.\u00a0 Early in the morning, his Busia called to wish him a happy birthday.\u00a0 He wasn’t up yet.\u00a0 We talked for a bit.\u00a0 She was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,11,14,1,16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}