Trip Home to Iowa, Georgia BBQ, and Meal of the Week

Trip Home to Iowa
I went home to Iowa to see my family.  On Friday, October 25th I saw Jake and Gabe play football in Eldridge against North Scott.  Both teams lost.  However I was excited to see Jake and Gabe play well.  On Saturday, I went to see Josh and Zach with the rest of my immediate family.  We all had breakfast at the engineering building for Parent's Weekend at the University of Iowa.  After eating, we played bags/cornhole and life sized jenga in the engineering building.  Zach is the worst jenga player who played.  He lost at least 2 times in the limited amount jenga games played.  While in Iowa City, I bought a new cell phone, i.e. Samsung Galaxy S4 to help Zach who broke his phone the night before I arrived.  On Saturday evening, I went to a benefit for Dave Casad who has stage IV cancer at Trinity Lutheran Church.  Sunday was travel day except for church for my Dad and me.  My Dad and I visited law schools at the University of Michigan, University of Chicago, and Northwestern.  On Wednesday, October 30th I traveled back to DC.

Georgia BBQ
One of my coworkers at the Patent Office attended the University of Georgia and is a big Georgia Football supporter.  She invited me over to her and her husband's new house for a Georgia BBQ for the Georgia vs. Florida football game.  There were about 15 people and 2 dogs at the house for the Georgia BBQ.  Last year, my Dad and I went to this person's Georgia BBQ last year for the Georgia vs. South Carolina game.  We had a great time and the food was delicious!  Before the game, some of the people at the party were breaking up a concrete slab and removing rebar from the ground in the backyard of the house.  This year there was chicken wings, beans, and pork butt.  The pork butt was some of the best pork butt I have ever eaten.  The hosts also make their own beer.  It was a fun to place to enjoy a college football game.

Meal of the Week
This week I made pudding made from scratch.  I needed to practice making the pudding for when I make chocolate pie for other people.  Sugar, cocoa mix, and cornstarch were mixed together dry in a bowl.  Milk was added to the dry mixture.  The solution was stirred continuously over heat from a stove until the solution thickened and boiled.  After removing the boiling solution from the heat, vanilla was added to the boiling solution.  After cooling the pudding for some time, the pudding was ready to eat.  It was delectable!

Pudding in a Container

Pudding in a Bowl

Redskins vs. Bears, Lay Liturgist Viewing, and Meals of the Week

Redskins vs. Bears
On Sunday, October 20th, my friend Andy and I went to the Redskins vs. Bears 1:00 ET game at FedEx Field.  This is the first NFL game I have ever attended.  The closest metro stop to FedEx Field is about a mile away from FedEx Field.  While walking around the stadium before the game, we saw the owner of the Redskins, Dan Snyder when he taking a picture with the ZTA sorority.  I got a picture of him below.  Our seats were in section 215, obstructed view.  Part of one of the end zones was blocked by a cement pillar.  However there were 2 TVs within our view.  One TV showed the game being broadcast on Fox and the other TV showed what was on the jumbotrons.  There were many Bear fans in our section.  The game was exciting!  The score was 45-41 Redskins.  There was a pick six by Brian Orakpo and a punt return touchdown by Devin Hester.  Every time the Redskins scored, which was often, the fans sang Hail to the Redskins.  I am glad I was able to go with my friend.

Andy and Me

Andy and Me

FedEx Field

Dan Snyder

View of the field near our seats

View of the field near our seats

Lay Liturgist Viewing
If you would like to see be Lay Liturgist on November 10th and/or November 17th at 8:00 AM and 11:00 AM ET, click the next link.  You should be taken to a site that will show the Bethany Lutheran Service.  It may take a little time to load.
http://24.249.248.178/view/index.shtml

An alternative is to go to the following link and then click "Click here for Video (will open in a new window)."

http://www.bethany-lcms.org/video.htm

Meal of the Week
This week I made a savory pot roast.  I made the pot roast in a slow cooker.  First I put the boneless chuck in the slow cooker.  Then I added chopped potato, carrot, celery, and onion to the slow cooker.  Next I added a mixture of water and seasonings to the slow cooker.  After 8 hours on low heat, the pot roast was done.  It was delicious!  You can tell from the pictures.

I am made chicken wings with sauce made from butter and hot sauce.  They were great!

Pot Roast in the Crock pot

Pot Roast

Chicken Wings 

Chicken Wings in Sauce

Iowa Bar, Lay Liturgist, and Patent of the Week

Iowa Bar
A few weeks ago, I went to the Capital Area Iowa Club game watch at Crystal City Sports Pub.  The Capital Area Iowa Club is a group of University of Iowa alumni in the DC area that allows the University of Iowa alumni in the capital area to keep in touch. There were about 50 people in Iowa gear in a room with many TVs with the Iowa game on.  During the game a person would play a trombone.  The person playing the trombone would play the Iowa fight song after every Iowa score and when Iowa stopped the other team on 3rd down.  This was the first time I had went to a game watch with the Capital Area Iowa Club.  I enjoyed it.  I plan on going back, but not today because the Hawkeyes are off.

Lay Liturgist
This morning I had training to be a lay liturgist led by my Bethany Lutheran softball coach, Randy Lucas.  A lay liturgist assists the pastor with running the Sunday worship service including serving communion.  I learned some tips on how to run the service as a lay liturgist including how to run the microphone.  The first time I will serve as lay liturgist will be in the middle of November.  As a lay liturgist, I got my own personal hymnal with my name on it.  Yes, it has my full name for those who are wondering.

My Hymnal

Patent of the Week
USP 6,293,874

User-operated amusement apparatus for kicking the user's buttocks
This is a patent for an apparatus for self-infliction of repetitive blows to the user's buttocks by a plurality of elongated arms bearing flexible extensions that rotate under the user's control.  This is truly a butt kicking patent.

Figure 2 of USP 6,293,874

LSAT, USPTO Operating Status, and Patent of the Week

LSAT
The LSAT is on Saturday, October 5th.  I look forward to doing well on it!

USPTO Operating Status
Earlier this week I received an email from the Acting Director of the USPTO about the operating status of the USPTO in the event of a government shut down.  The USPTO is not an essential government agency like the military, so a government shut will effect the USPTO.  The USPTO has reserve funds for a reason unbeknownst to me.  The USPTO reserve funds will be able to fund the USPTO for a couple of weeks starting October 1st in the event of a government shut down.  If the government is still shut down after the reserve funds run out, I will be put on unpaid administrative leave until the government reopens.

Patent of the Week
U.S. 4,605,000
Abstract:  A greenhouse helmet is provided and consists of a dome containing plants secured within the dome worn completely over the head of a person so that the person can breathe in the oxygen given off by the plants.

It is interesting the plant that was chosen to be the plant inside.  The plant that was chosen was a cactus.  If the plants ever come loose from its base, you will have a lot of spines in your face or head.  OUCH!

Law School Application Update, LSAT, and Patent of the Week

Law School Application Update
I have applied to nine different law schools in the past few weeks.  I will apply to a few more law schools in the future.  The date some law schools, including some of the law school I will apply, start accepting applications has not occurred.  I should start receiving admission decisions in December.

LSAT
The LSAT is in a couple of weeks (Oct 5th).  I am working diligently towards my goal to do my best.

Patent of the Week
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is filled with many interesting patents and patent applications.  To help you know more about the interesting patents and patent applications, I will post some of the interesting patents and patent applications on this blog.

First is U.S. Patent 6,699,778.  Fig. 1 a flow chart of an embodiment of the inventive method wherein a person performs a first step 1, a second step 2, a third step 3, and a fourth step 4 in sequential order.

Navy Air Force Half Marathon and Banana Cake

Navy Air Force Half Marathon
I completed the Navy Air Force Half Marathon on Saturday September 14th.  The race started around 7:30 am.  I met up with a friend before the race to take the metro to the race.  She has done these types of races before and she was able to answer some questions that I had.  My time was 1 hour and 50 minutes (8:26 pace).  It was good enough for 620th place.  The results can be found here.  I was thoroughly exhausted at the end.  My legs are still sore today.  The course started at the Washington Monument, went across the Potomac River, back across the Potomac River, up to and past Georgetown, down and and around Haines Point, and finishing at the Washington Monument.  The course I ran can be found here.  On the course there was a guy was juggling 5 red balls will participating in the half marathon.  He was a good juggler when I saw him because he did not drop the balls while juggling.  There was also a sign that said "Touch here for Power" and had a circle representing where people needed to touch to get more power.  A few people by me went over and touched the sign for the power.  Eventually there will be picture from the race taken by photographers during the race.  The official site for the race can be found here.

Me before the race

Washington Monument before the race

Banana Cake
This week I made a banana cake with chocolate frosting for a church voters meeting.  This is first time I have attempted to bake by myself.  I do not have an electric hand mixer.  I had to use a spatula or wooden spoon with elbow grease to mix the cake batter and frosting.  The cake turned out really well!  You can see it for yourself in the picture below.  The cake was so good, I was not able to take any home after the voters meeting.  Thank you Mom for the recipes and giving direction on how to make the cake.

Banana Cake

Banana Cake with Frosting

FSU Game, About a Week to Half Marathon, and Law School Applications

FSU Game
Last weekend, I watched the Florida State (FSU) vs. Pitt football game with a friend from my LSAT class after we did some studying for the LSAT.  We watched the game with about 8 my friend's friends.  Most of the people were from Florida.  The people were interesting and fun to be around.  The food was good as well.

About a Week to Half Marathon
There is about a week until my half marathon.  I have been training.  The training has not been intense as I would like because of work, the LSAT, and preparing for law school.  This weekend I plan running about 10 miles as my last long run before the real thing on September 14th.  It is not as long as I would like.  When I run the race, the energy from being with all of the people will carry me to finish the race strong.  On a side note, the race packet for the race has be picked up before the race at the army base the Naval Laboratory is located.

Law School Applications
I completed my first law school application this week!  I am excited about it!