Moo.

To begin: I need help!!! If you were at Mom and Dad's party, and if you have digital pictures of said celebration, please e-mail them to me. When I get some, I'll write a post about it. If I get enough, maybe I'll do a Flickr slideshow. (If I'm smart enough to figure it out.) I have a special interest in a photo of Evan and Georgia boogyin' the night away, as that's going to get its own dedicated post. Thanks! And, with the Big Boys being gone, I'm not sure what to write today. (Believe me, you do not care about the boring crap I did today.) So I'm posting something I wrote a couple of weeks ago. Enjoy!

We are not vegetarians.

If you want proof, come on over and take a look in our deep freeze. It is full-to-the-top with the cow we recently purchased.

We named him Bo.

To be precise, we purchased a portion of a recently-butchered cow.

Here's how it went down (and it struck me as being kind of like a drug deal): a couple of months ago, my BIL hooked us up with a co-worker who deals in beef (and wholesale autos, if you're interested). She was going to have a black angus ready for slaughter in late July. Did we want in? Yeah, we wanted in.

Last week she called. Bo was ready. So I met her in an empty school parking lot (and this is the point in CSI: Miami where an expensive car with tinted windows would come careening through the parking lot and spray us with bullets, but that fortunately did not happen). We transferred 160-plus pounds of freshly frozen beef from the trunk of her car to my minivan. I gave her a check. That was it.

For the sake of perspective, we eat a lot of vegetarian meals. More than most other meat-eaters I know. Tofu is a staple around here. Babies love mashed tofu. The big kids love it so much that I have to buy two pounds for a meal now. They love it almost as much as Kraft Mac & Cheese.

I was vegetarian for a while (never vegan, though). It was fine. Meat's just never been indispensable to me. Nor has it been the crux of any great moral conundrum. I've read "My Year of Meat." I've considered many of the arguments, from health and ethical standpoints. And I've decided my concerns belong elsewhere. I absolutely respect those who have decided otherwise.

Anyhoo, we're hardly meat-dependent. But Jeff loves steak. And lamb. Jensen is not so fond of any meat with texture. His preferred animal proteins come in the form of hot dogs, hamburger, or fish sticks (his opinion is that the more processed the meat, the better). Evan will (or won't) eat whatever's on his plate.

But you wouldn't know that we're not strict carnivores based on the 35 pounds of ground beef in our freezer. Not to mention the steaks, roasts, and ribs. It's going to take a concerted effort to eat all of this meat.

So, if you're in the neighborhood, come on over for a barbeque.

Oh, and, Bo? Thanks for giving your all.