Highway signs..

You know those freeway signs that are intended to warn you of construction ahead, high water, etc.? The temporary ones that light up?

Someone hacked into the system around Austin - and had the signs warning folks of zombies ahead.

Well, the state congress IS down there...

See here.

Kitchen stuff.

Remember this post, where I had the conversation-in-my-head with Martha Stewart regarding the mixers? I now have a Kitchen Aid mixer. No, it wasn't from Martha (as I somehow doubt she has eeeeever stumbled across this little blog); it was my birthday gift from my folks. And dang if it doesn't make cooking a whoooooooooooooole lot easier. Seriously. Between that and the food processor (mentioned in the post linked above), I feel like I have a "complete" kitchen - as in, I can theoretically make anything I turn to in a cookbook without wondering how the heck I'm gonna improvise for the lack of XYZ semi-major appliance.

I still have to improvise for lack of a citrus zester (actually, I'd probably go with a rasp/file looking thing, since it'll also grate fresh nutmeg and such - multiple uses is a good thing for a small kitchen) or garlic press, perhaps, but those are inexpensive (as compared to a good mixer or food processor!), and I can pick those up if I see one here or there on sale.

It has been a month, I think, since I've cooked anything of the "complete-meal-in-a-box" description. I'm certainly still using canned/boxed/frozen ingredients, but the Homestyle Bakes or Hamburger Helper stuff is no more. At this point, I think I can improvise something healthier. Yay for some kitchen confidence!

Swiped from Tvini.

Your results:
You are Beverly Crusher

Beverly Crusher 75% Spock 67% Jean-Luc Picard 55% Data 50% Will Riker 50% Deanna Troi 50% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 50% Chekov 45% Uhura 45% James T. Kirk (Captain) 40% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 40% Mr. Sulu 40% Geordi LaForge 35% Worf 25% Mr. Scott 10%

A good physician and a caring parent. You are devoted to your children and to your occupation.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Test


Stupid weird formatting...

Laughing-too-hard-can't-breathe...

The original Star Wars trilogy, as told by someone who has never actually seen it (only bits and pieces, but claims she already knows what happens.)

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Be forewarned. Do NOT drink anything while watching this. Also, if you're not actually supposed to be watching stuff like this at work - don't click. Well, though, you may get folks who were going to bust you laughing along with you at it...

HIT Entertainment customer service - THANK YOU!

Melissa, Denielle, and Amy:

You ladies are awesome. Thank you for such a timely response to my emails, for directing me to the right person, and for the prompt replacement product.

Y'all have made my day (and my son's).

It's soooo nice to receive such outstanding service.

Thanks again!

(Other readers: Yes, I did email them directly with my thanks, but good service deserves a public shout-out.)

Anyone recognize this picture?

Does anyone know what the title is, or who the artist is? I've asked some other folks, and the closest guesses we've had have been Renoir and Cassatt, neither of whom seem to be correct.

Edited to add: James Tissot is the artist; the title is Young Ladies Looking at Japanese Objects. Man, no wonder my "girls/women model ship" keywords weren't getting me anywhere...

Changes!

Changing the blog elements a bit. My shelfari and playlist have not changed in a while (and several links on the playlist are now broken), so I'm going to put something else in. I'm not sure quite what yet, but I'll find something, I'm sure. :D

Hey you guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuyyyyyssss!

I am *overjoyed*!

PBS in our area will be broadcasting the original Electric Company on Fridays at 5:00 PM.

WOOOHOOOOO!!!!

The Lord's Prayer

Stumbled across this on YouTube - you know how it is, you watch something, then something related, then something else? Muppets led to Muppets with John Denver led to this.

John Denver, reciting the Lord's Prayer (Protestant version) in a Native American sign language. I'd embed it, but it's disabled for this video.

Tai Chi...

I love it, but man, it can be hard to do with toddlers around. No way to keep the mental state you're supposed to be keeping. But that's okay. I was still able to do the routine, and it was funny to see the kiddos trying to play along. Even the DVD instructor (David-Dorian Ross) would likely have laughed to see Calla so solemnly doing "opening the door" with her own little ball.

(The DVD kit came with a very slightly weighted ball, just enough that by the end, you can definitely feel that you were using your muscles through the workout - but not so heavy that you had to grip the ball or lost the fluidity of motion.)

I hadn't done Tai Chi in a while, but I'm very glad to be resuming it. My back feels so much better.

And a bit from the past...

Edited out - darnit. The vid is friend only, and I had hoped to let others see it by embedding (it's a vid of Calla, so it's not like I'm trying to post something I shouldn't).

Oh well. It's darn cute. Maybe I'll see if it can be made public.

What we saw the other day...

The sleeping skills of kiddos amaze me. How can they do that? And yet not sleep when you want them to?

Happy New Year!

May it be a blessed one!

==========================

In the past year:

Patrick has turned 3.
He speaks in complete sentences, expresses understanding of past and future events, understandably expresses and initiates make-believe play and is getting so much more coherent.
He has expressed enthusiastic joy and "I did it!" zeal over having "put the ewww in the potty". (Here's hoping for more success with the potty!)

Calla has turned 2.
She is creative, opinionated and stubborn -- err, assertive and persistent.

Both are sympathetic toward each other (and other people), and will readily share or give things to the other. Most of the time. ;)

I turned 35. I don't really feel any different about that. However, something "clicked" this year - suddenly, I get the domestic thing. The house is tidy and clean, laundry has stayed caught up for several weeks now, and I'm finding joy in cooking *real* not-a-meal-from-a-box meals. I feel so much more at peace in the house, and content - more so than in quite some time.

The hubby seems to be more content as well. It could help having cars to work on, LOL - doesn't matter if they're his father's, just so he has cars to tinker with. It's in the genes, I hear, and Patrick has definitely picked up the automotive DNA.

So, I'll finish my glass of wine (Sweet Rodeo Red - Los Pinos Ranch Vineyards), crackers, cheese and little chocolate balls and toast a new year in. As soon as I get the girl more juice. :D

Happy New Year!