Friendly Weekend

We finally met Calvin - son of Travis & Ariana Moore, who moved to St Louis while we were in Lausanne. The Moores regularly babysat Michael and Jack - Ariana gave Michael art lessons, while Carolyn took Jack for speech therapy. Particularly memorable was the time Michael painted upside down under their dining room table, a la Sistine Chapel.

Calvin is 11 mo - around the age we got Jack in Chengdu.

Our children have not been around babies very much, so we appreciated the chance to teach niceness - ie do not step on Calvin.

The Kwongs came over for a meal together; Kathryn teaching Calvin a game on the coach.

A lot has changed at the church where we all first met, which is sobering but about normal to my experience. Seems that social dynamics - a good church, office colleagues, student life, etc - only last for a season (links to famous Mad Men excerpt dealing with nostalgia), before other factors weigh in and alter things forever.


I include the marinade for the steak - really liked this one. Came from my cousin's wedding reception. I let it marinade for 3 days and splurged on Costco's prime rib-eye. I think "choice" cut would've been fine though.

Savory Garlic Marinated Steak
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 T minced garlic
2 T honey
2 T olive oil
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp liquid smoke flavoring
1 pinch cayenne pepper

2 (1/2 pound) rib-eye steaks