My fourth of July weekend began Friday afternoon when i headed out of work early to take Ana and Arlene out to lunch at the Palo Alto Creamery in the Stanford Shopping Center. After Ana poopooed her hot chocolate and then orange juice (it was fresh squeezed, and Ana dismissed it by saying "it tastes like oranges!"), she settled on pancakes. We then headed to Macy's and the Kenneth Cole store, where Arlene bought me a sweet digital pseudo-analog watch as a belated birthday present. That evening we squeezed another two guests into our diminutive abode, as Bob arrived with Veronica's grandmother. Bob was more than happy to sleep out in our satellite TV- and wireless internet-equipped music room, and we let V's grandmother take our bed while we slept on a mattress in the living room. That evening Ana told Veronica and i an intricate tale about how bad children at her school are put in something called "the cage". Intrigued (and a little worried), i mentioned this to Arlene, who was shocked. She asked Ana who put her in the cage, and Ana sheepishly named one of her teachers. Arlene then threatened to call the teacher, at which point Ana innocently inquired what if, just what if, not all of the cage story was true? Oh, that kid. Next time call it "the hole".

My first Saturday chore was to finish touching up the living room while Arlene and Veronica painted the trim. After that, i headed over to U-Haul to rent a truck so we could pick up some new furniture. My admin assistant Becky had offered a while back to give us an antique sideboard that she'd kept in her storage space for years and years, and V was keen to check out some armoires at an antique store in San Carlos. Bob and i picked up the sideboard in Foster City, and also made off with a brand new leather garment bag for Bob and some no-slip material for our bed (Becky and her husband Louie were emptying their storage space). We then met up with Arlene and Veronica at the antique store, where V had identified two candidate armoires. I made a quick trip home to measure the space earmarked for the new dresser, and the measurements picked the winner. Once again my negotiation skills were exposed as woefully underdeveloped (V claims i was making the salesman's arguments for him), but luckily Bob was on hand to play hardball. He got $75 knocked off the price and we headed home with two new pieces. Becky had expressed disdain at the poor condition of the sideboard (it had been in a storage space for over ten years, after all), but Arlene beautified it with a quick mineral oil polishing. It looks great in our new living room. And the armoire gives us some much needed storage space by the laundry room, particularly great for coats. I brought the evening to a close with a homemade dinner of chipotle-rubbed steaks with cilantro-lime butter, cheesy mashed potatoes, and sauteed peppers, mushrooms, and onions. Very yummy, even though when i came out of the house to turn the steaks over on the grill i found them aflame. Luckily, no damage done.

On Sunday we had planned to meet up with Veronica's uncle in the city, but that was aborted around noon so we headed to the tasty all-organic JZ Cool in Menlo Park for lunch. Ana again cast negative verdicts on multiple prospective meals, including macaroni and cheese ("it tastes like cheese") and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich ("it has peanuts in it"). Arriving home we set out to finish the living room. V and Arlene finished the doors, windows, and trim while i installed an AV switch for the Xbox and PS2 in our music room. I also relocated V's eMac out there as it had been bumped from its previous location by the new armoire. While Arlene and Veronica brought the living room to completion, i took Bob, Ana, and her grandmother to dinner at La Fiesta in Redwood City. Ana again demonstrated her storytelling ability, responding to Bob's questions about school by saying "i go to school at night".

I made a fresh batch of Rachael Ray's shrimp and pork balls on the morning of the fourth (as always, taking considerably longer than 30 minutes but good nonetheless), and we then headed en masse to Fremont for my parents' Independence Day barbecue. My aunts Cathy and Betty and uncle Ted had come, in addition to my sister Hilary and her boyfriend Jeff, and my other sister Emily and her husband Jared, out from Texas. My mom and dad had made several other Rachael Ray dishes, including delicious and quite spicy chipotle chicken burgers. After relaxing with the fam for a few hours, we headed home, making a brief detour to Lowe's first to get some paint for our next home improvement site: the dining room. V and Arlene are going to paint it a nice red and put up alternating gloss/flat stripes. Should be cool. They prepared by removing the table and priming the walls, while i installed a shelf above the washer and dryer on an annoyingly stud-less wall in the laundry room.

Cech
Ferreira	Terry	Carvalho	Del Horno
Makelele
Gerrard		Lampard
Duff	Drogba		Robben

Getting a little bothered by Chelsea's frustration in the transfer market this summer, i was pleased to read this morning that Steven Gerrard (the lifetime Liverpool supporter who six weeks ago was the toast of Mersey as he brought home the Champions League trophy) has broken off negotiations for a new contract, all but ending his time at the club. In the 12 hours since his declaration Chelsea, who almost signed the player last summer only for him to decide at the last minute to remain with the scousers, have already had a £32 million bid rejected and are undoubtedly lining up another. The head of the Liverpool supporters' association has blasted Gerrard for his lack of loyalty, and now is welcoming his sale to Chelsea, saying we should have to pay £40 million and give them William Gallas and Damien Duff. Umm ... sure. You've got a player who doesn't want to play for you anymore, and yet you think you're in a position to demand the moon from potential suitors? Guess again, genius. A dream Makelele-Gerrard-Lampard midfield is now looking possible, with Robben and Duff on the wings behind Drogba/Gudjohnsen/unnamed striker signing. Holy god, look at that squad ...