Brownies, brownies, and party, party

Two parties, two batches of brownies. I stayed up late baking on Thursday and Friday nights.

For the alley party, I made brownies from a David Lebovitz recipe that Yukie said was her favorite.

Yes, they were good. But in an anticlimactic turn of events, my batch was among three that were brought to the party. Meh.

I also baked a batch of cheesecake brownies, another recipe from David Lebovitz. (Someone resourceful would've just made two batches of the same brownies.) This dessert had to be top notch, as Jean had instructed us to bring one of our special dishes.

Carol said they were good. But really, could any cheesecake brownie be bad? Is there a standard?

Jean has a beautiful house with a great patio for entertaining. Doug grilled a variety of meats, but I was proud of myself for having only one plate of food: a Hebrew National on a poppy seed bun with rice and buffalo chicken dip.

After dinner we moved inside and talk turned to the group's upcoming Florida trip. There was mention of geocaching and nude beaches. But Dan was skeptical: Apparently the trip usually consists of tennis, eating, drinking, and talking about how great everyone is at tennis. For a few days in a row. (This sounds like a really fun trip! Why have I never gone?)

Summer feels like it's truly over. But there will always be tennis and brownies and parties. And on a good night, even some scotch.

Tennis: State champs!

This weekend, Patrice and I had playoffs at Lowell Park for our tri-level team.

On Saturday, Terry and I went to see the team win the first match: Gina and Yvonne won in straight sets after being down 5-4. And Pam and Mary came back from 5-1 to also win in straight sets. I was blown away by how relaxed but aggressive our teams were. Amazing!

It was great to see Jan and Nan and Jody and Patrice, too. They were there for senior and mixed doubles playoffs. Even the entourage is hardcore about tennis — next year I'll remember to bring my own lawn chair.

On Sunday, I arrived in time to see Patrice and James win their match. It was the third one they played in two days, but they did not look tired at all.

Then it was time for Patrice and me to play. Tim was there to cheer us on, and as we walked to the court, he said, "Did you eat Qdoba?"

Gasp. I did not.

I was nervous in the warm-up. But I've gotten used to that feeling. Fortunately I felt better once we started the match. Though we took the first set 6-1, we knew our opponents had more in store for us. Patrice had played — and lost to — one of the women the day before.

I didn't know until after the match, but Patrice told her, "I'm going to kick your butt." Which is very NOT Patrice, by the way. She thinks stuff like that but doesn't say it.

But she doesn't make promises (or threats) lightly. Though the woman hit a lot of winners in one of the second-set games, it was just not enough to overcome Team Noonimoto. (Okay, I will never use that nickname again.)

After winning the second set 6-3, we stood on the court talking. I was in shock. Patrice has been to Nationals (as have many of our 4.0 and 4.5 teammates), but this was my first playoff game.

And everything about it was wonderful: Playing outside on a beautiful September day. Hearing people applaud. Seeing our teammates Mary and Debbie come back to win their match. And now I even have a lucky towel that says 2011 Wisconsin State Champion on it.

After team photos and a gift for Captain Char, Patrice and I sat on the curb talking for a couple of hours. Her sister and brother-in-law drove up and said we looked like teenagers.

Finally it was time to end our fun, victorious day. To celebrate, I got a patty melt, fries, and a raging headache. Dehydration sucks. But that's my only complaint about the whole experience.

Next stop: Sectionals in Homewood, Illinois. Go Muskego High!

Ron's pig roast 2011

Ron's annual pig roast is always a gluttonous affair. This year's theme: iPig.

The event did not disappoint.

I had a barbecued pork sandwich, broccoli salad, potato salad, pasta, and brownies with M&Ms. Ron's aunt also baked a delicious apple pie with Jack Daniels. Somehow I managed to skip the cake, a tri-level number with a pig on it.

On this year's invite:

"Technology is at its best when you can feel completely natural doing absolutely nothing that requires physical exertion."

Mission accomplished. I didn't manage to snap as many photos as I'd wanted. I definitely wish I'd gotten a photo of our host. But Ron must have been moving and mingling too fast for me.

Ron, instead I'll just say thank you for your generosity. And congratulations on the successful rollout of iPig!

Friends and fried food at Tosa Fest 2011

Having spent some of our formative years in Wauwatosa, it was fitting that Denise and I dropped in at Tosa Fest on Friday night.

Over chicken tenders and sour cream & chive fries from Saz's (me) and a pork sandwich and Diet Coke from the Chancery (her), we caught up about friends and work.

And also cars. Specifically, how hard it is to say goodbye to a car. (No disrespect to the Corolla, but I still miss my Legend. Thankfully Denise bought an Acura, which she calls Barney.)

We also ran into my neighbors Kristie and Paul, as well as Butch and his wife, Pat, who offered to share their mini doughnuts with us.

We decided to walk over to the Dale's Donuts truck and order the cinnamon sugar minis. They are indeed made on the spot — and were so hot we had to put napkins around the bag to carry it.

Enjoying beautiful weather and piping hot doughnuts with a friend — a great start to the weekend!

Irish Fest 2011

Another Irish Fest come and gone.

On Friday, we worked at the souvenir store at the north end of the Summerfest grounds. Because of the department-store-ish setup, we were more like t-shirt bouncers lurking at the fringes. It was a challenge to feel useful, but we got to step up and work the registers later that night. Way better (I love to do math in my head!).

We spent Sunday at the Marketplace, safely hemmed in by stacks and stacks of t-shirts. Here we are with the best sellers this year (this I determined from my tenure at the corner of the booth).

Then it was time for food. Per tradition, Denise had reuben rolls. I had a better-than-average shepherd's pie on Friday: the potatoes were swirled atop the ground beef. Yum! Next year I'll need to remember that it came from Trinity. And tonight I had a loaded baked potato.

Eating at a picnic table by the lake, it was hard not to mourn the ending of summer. But I wouldn't give up the fun of the fest, so I'll look forward to doing it again next year. See you there.

Tennis: Honey Badgers team party

The Honey Badgers journeyed to the Firefly to celebrate our season.

We ate. We drank. We reminisced about our matches — the ones we won, the ones we didn't. That is my new euphemism: winning and "not winning." "Losing" is such a harsh term, and doesn't seem entirely accurate in describing us (unless we're talking about the Princeton bageling, ouch). It was a terrific season!

And a memorable party. Dianne, thank you for the heartfelt words. You are so gracious!

And everybody, thank you for the generous gift card. I'm going to use it for a lesson with Tom. Honey Badger needs a more consistent serve!

Some of the HBs couldn't be there, but Patty and I have party favors for you: notes from your teammates about what they admire in your game. Whether it was one word or many, I hope they'll be reminders of how you've contributed to our team's success.

I will miss you, Honey Badgers. Sure, we'll play permanent court time and maybe a tournament or two, but it's just not the same as seeing each other every week during the summer.

Not only did I love the excellent tennis, I also loved getting to know you better. I will miss all the phone conversations late at night, in the morning on my drive to work, and even occasionally during work.

Thanks for giving me lots to blog about. I'll also miss the strange exhilaration of staying up late after matches so I could make my Thursday morning deadline.

I can't wait to do it all again next year.

Go team!

Mixed troubles

Though I've loved playing lots of tennis this summer, one thing I've missed out on was Monday Night Tennis. For MNT, Jean organizes four courts of mixed doubles at Brookfield Central.

Tonight, a few minutes into hitting, it started to rain. Almost everyone decided to go for an early dinner.

But Terry and I stayed and played against Dan and Mary.

"Safety first" — i.e., not running for a ball because the court was slippery — ensured that this wasn't the best tennis ever.

Mary asked, "Are you going to blog about this?" She was kidding, but I like a (moderate) challenge.

It continued to drizzle. The balls got waterlogged. Oosh.

But this being my first Monday of tennis this summer, I was glad to be out there hitting badly. (If you're wondering, Dan and Mary took the set, 6-4.)

So then we went to Hooters. Apparently Becky wanted to "try something new" last week, and this was also the choice tonight.

We sat at the same table as last week. I think we even sat in the same seating arrangement. My burger was just okay (better than the buffalo nuggets and stumpy fries I had before).

When Kevin and Colleen arrived, he said, "We're here to meet a bunch of morons."

The hostess said, "The tennis people are over there."

Mediocre tennis and mediocre food? Sounds like an okay Monday to me.