Moule a la Biere GeWilli Style

I don't make them here, often, actually never.

I've ordered them at Red Stripe  (always good)...

had them in other places, but at home never have made them.

Why? E doesn't like them, the girls haven't really taken to them when I've gotten them. But hey, Shaws had em on crazy sale for Friday's (fish/lent/whatever). I floated the idea and everyone said "PIZZA" fine call in the pizza i'll leave early and get some mussels and stuff from shaw's grab some beer then the pizza.

Yeah I opted for the Moule a la Biere vs the wine or champagne or whatever else...

Got home, rinsed and washed, one crushed one open...  down two... NBD pretty good odds so far.

Diced up two strips of bacon, crisped them up added some olive oil and a bit of dried basil. Cooked then added some garlic cloves (pressed into) and one mushroom finely diced (only had one mushroom) and then once fragrant, then most of a bottle of Newport Storm Amber Ale (can't use ganset to cook PEI mussels)

Once the beer was simmering then popped in the mussels, covered and cooked for 2 min. Stirred, cooked for 3 min. All done. Put the mussels into two preheated bowls, and added some butter and dijon to the beer, whisked and reduced...  (there was some salt added at some point).

Took sauce out and instead of pouring over the mussels i put it into its own bowl.

Time to eat. The girls had a handful, a couple maybe, K was neutral on them, L liked them but had enough after eating one with a full belly of stuff. I shelled the rest into the broth, grabbed a couple bits of toast and finished them off.

No complaints.

Thinking, hey maybe they'll help tomorrow in the fight for air stair climb. But will it? maybe not. I'll counter all the benefits from the beer probably. or not. We'll see.

Despite the temps I'm still planning on riding in tomorrow, gonna be early but going with the old man knowledge that any warm up is better than no warm up.

Also MOULE

and Myette's awesome curation of the best of the best of the DRW. Beer, Mussels, Hockey, fire in the woodstove. A shit ass week, stress to the max but also, such amazing interactions with pretty freaking incredible kids. So that's kind of a nice little bit of lift.

Still, at some point playing through the weekend I realized I have left the text and notes and everything to write lecture, and more importantly the quiz, in the office... so i have to go back. Whoops. Or not. Maybe I can push it out w/o based on 20+ years of doing this shit. Also... talking about remembering shit too late, I almost forgot to take the non-race shoes but non-winter shoes off of the wood stove (out of dog's mouth reach) before it got warm. So at least I didn't melt a pair of shoes tonight (so far).

The start list has Paul C, 2nd or 3rd....  I'm ranked 5th. Set to head up the stairs with 30 sec gap at 8:32:00am. I haven't tested the stair climb yet this year...  but i've also been pedaling more with intensity at least once a week. It will be what it is...  a challenge...  maybe I won't get passed this year. Maybe I won't suck as much as I did last year. But then, well, my sucking was still top 20. No where near as talented as the Fox who's crushing the running shit, but I just hope the stair climb is in my legs for tomorrow.  assuming i remember to set an alarm in time to get dressed and ride in.

Okay not to Negacoach's complaint on twitter today... the disconnect mentioned here was serious but the odd thing was I didn't do anything other than delete a few replies during that span...

And When I say that the gap in instagram shots posted should be notable...  i haven't gone this long w/o posting one there... since??? who knows? seriously. Odd. But indicative. Yes there were a good number of times riding in when I thought "HOLY SHIT THATS AWESOME I NEED TO TAKE PICTURE"  but other part of brain said "You're already late you fucking depressed tired knucklehead, keep pedaling" and that slave driving brain pushed me to keep pedaling. Retrospect reality brain? I'm already late, who the fuck cares if i am a few more minutes late because I captured some super fucking amazing fog rising off the water photo....  and yes cue the negative feedback loop. Somepeople have one of those things with food. I have one with actions. "why didn't i?" "wouldn't have mattered" but some how my annoying brain is wired to attempt to do the right thing, to make sure i'm helping others, well before myself.

Could be from the handful of times being left and forgotten at the bus stop. No big deal other than the bus stop was 7 miles from home and I walked most of it far too many times.

I'm not sure it is possible to describe stuff like that here. The back story, so complex, why? Why is the bus stop that far from home, who lets a kid off in the middle of nowhere and just leaves them there. Formative right?

Is it bad that each walk is absolutely vivid in my memory?

At least it wasn't raining.

While I was walking.

Everyone has their stories growing up...  but the older you get the more you realize the only people who have stories as crazy as you are your brother's sometimes...  sure plenty have more tragic, more struggling ones.. but abject crazy unbelievable shit? Yeah, the Williams' brothers my have a patent on this shit. NO of course we don't but man it feels like it sometimes.

This week has sucked. It has also been awesome. I've had no sleep because of a sick wife and some storm scared dogs, tired and over extended, but finally... it is after 9pm on a Friday and I have a few seconds to myself, even though I should be doing dishes and cleaning up from making the super yummy mussels (they are mostly cleaned up- not much left to do i would just rather not than do it, at least right now).

There is a lot I want to say...  so much... but feel that even though like that quote post says people's interactions determine the story you tell of them...  and even with a long history of positive supportive shit... it really doesn't take much of a betrayal to destroy all that emotional equity, esp when betrayal is totally and 100% publicly backing up someone else...with 180 counter to you.

If I wasn't just talking to myself I'm sure someone could elicit some decently juicy shit out of me right now...  probably better that I'm alone.

The DRW tangent was awesome and much needed, without that and the moules who the fuck knows what i might have said tonight....

Tomorrow's gonna suck....  and monday is going to kill me...

but that's probably going to replay.. on repeat, until may... with the exception that this may be the only saturday that will kick my physical ass...

despite feeling more engaged and directed than in a long time... I feel actually more adrive and aimless and wondering WTF more than ever...  asking 'why' too much....

It isn't good...  although trying to stay positive because that's what 'Stas would want, it is near on impossible to do so lately. at least w/o any intelligent external push that I have to reconcile with like I did this fall.

life, what a cluster,

heddwch
G