Two weekends ago I flew out to Arizona for Jackie’s (that’ my grandma… but I’ve always called her Jackie) 90th birthday party.  I flew out on Friday the 22nd, but her party was Sunday the 24th.  Here are some nice pictures!

Here's Jackie with her two children: Kit (on the left, that's my dad!) and Jan (on the right... my Aunt, of course!)

Here's jackie with Dad's cousin Neal and his wife Kathleen. They live in Washington DC and I'm hoping we'll get to visit over there when I'm in the area this spring!

Hey! That's me! With Jackie and dad - see the resemblance?

Vicky is my step mom and one of the nicest people ever in the whole world! Oh yes, Jackie, Dad and I are still there!

Now THAT's a cake!

It was a great day for Jackie. She was having fun with us for four hours or so, from pictures through dinner, cake and loads of presents... including this fine garment - a vest - that she got from dad and Vicky.

Here's a shot of the whole group. You've met everyone except for my dear cousin Laura (whose head you can just see behind Kathleen's in the front left) and her dad, my uncle, Randy, who is second from the right - by Neal. Behind Jackie you can see the computer that's on because we were recently showing a Happy Birthday DVD that my brother Chris and his wife Tracy made featuring their three beautiful kids: Keegan, Ally, and Anna. It was a wonderful birthday for Jackie - and for all of us too. I feel very fortunate to have been able to be there.

I can hardly believe it, but it’s finally done.  See it here:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/matmatthewhinsleydotcom

!

I’m super excited.  Truth is, I’ve not seen a final proof yet, so I’m holding my horses on spreading the word until I do.  Should be as soon as tomorrow.  I can’t wait to see it!

The book is called “Creativity to Community: Arts Nonprofit Success One Coffee at a Time”.  the last fifteen years have been incredible to live through with the Austin Classical Guitar Society, and I feel like I’ve been a witness and a party to something very unusual.  My hope is that this book will share some of what I’ve learned.

Glenda and I just returned from Uchiko.

My oh my, what a meal.  G has been wanting to go for some time.  I’ve been game, but not quite so super excited with my vegetarian diet – which makes most sushi out of reach for me!  But even so, I thoroughly enjoyed our artistic, complex, entertaining and delicious meal with evening.  Tiffany was our waitress and our Sushi Chef was “Satchy”.  I know it sounds a bit questionable but the highlight of my evening was a fried vegetable roll called an Avofry.  It was un-be-lie-va-ble.  Especially because it was served alongside of this incredible miso-meyer lemon sauce that was bursting with more flavors than I could identify!  Here’s a pic:

Glenda ordered several amazing things.  One of the items offered was a live spiny lobster!  But she decided against it and went for a beef tongue roll instead (she insisted it was delish) as well as a Rabbit confit with a celery and mustard sauce that looked amazing.  In this pic you see not only the Rabbit but also a plate with two complimentary sashimi pieces they gave her!

Dessert was amazing too!  We ended up with the “deconstructed Pumpkin Cheesecake” which was a wavy line of frozen pumpkin deliciousness, bisecting areas of crumbled ginger snap and brown sugar with a dollop of cream cheese gelato on one side.  Whoa.  It’s like a puzzle in a dessert, both engaging and delicious!