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Friday Five…Food Edition
1. Cute cake, huh? Laluna made one for Maya last year, with little tiny Oreos on it, which inspired me to put little cookies on the cake, rather than trying to make little flowers or leaves or something fancy. I almost bought a cake platter thingie to present it on, just so it would look nice for the blog. But I have no room in my tiny condo kitchen for a cake platter thingie, so even though the colors in our dish pattern totally don’t match the cake, just go with it, OK? 2. I made chocolate chip muffins (Betty Crocker, same as my cake…no recipe from me, follow the…
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A Birthday Meme for my Birthday Girl!
Last year, I wrote a post about Maya for her 10th birthday. Ted no longer has the mac account, so you can’t go view the slideshow…but the rest of it remains as true today as it was then. (And it turns out, he’s made a new slideshow…be patient, it takes a minute to load) I can’t believe it’s a year already since I wrote that post, and 11 years since she was born. That was an amazing time for us, and we feel blessed to this day. Maya is the child every parent wishes for when they’re wishing for kids, except she’s even better than that. She’s smart and funny…
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Favorite Songs Meme
I got this one from Ginger over at Stuck on Survive. I don’t have any great ideas today…lots of work to do, and Maya’s birthday is tomorrow, so stuff to do there as well. 🙂 So, when in doubt, Meme, right? Here goes. The thing is, I’ve done a few music memes before, so some of these aren’t new. And for some, I’ve changed my mind, and probably will again before you even read this. Oh, and I’m not claiming these are the best or the coolest choices…just songs I really like. Anyway, here goes. Favorite Songs Meme Favorite Song From Childhood: Cecilia, by Simon and Garfunkle. I thought the…
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TiVo Alert!
Sunday night, Maya and I stayed up past our bedtime watching a new show on the Discovery Channel, Planet Earth. Planet Earth is an 11 part mini-series that took 5 years to make, and utilizes a lot of cutting edge video technology. If you’re an early adapter, and have High Definition TV, this show will probably make you glad you spent the money. It’s beautifully filmed. So far, we’ve only watched the first episode, Pole to Pole, which discusses the different environments of the world. Think of it as an introductory chapter of an essay, with more depth to be added in later installments.  We did get tired of hearing Sigourney Weaver say,…
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Are You a BSG Fan?
If not, why? Why not? Are you an idiot? Are you sure? Really sure? It’s really a good, good, GOOD show. Maybe even…GREAT. Better than 95% of the stuff out there, and I’m not generally a huge fan of sci-fi. If you ARE a BSG fan, what do you think? Is Starbuck a figmant of Lee’s imagination, like Number 6 to Baltar? Is she the Chosen One? Or the 5th of the final 5? And what of the other 4? Are they truly Cylons? Or have they somehow been tricked? And what about the President? Is SHE a Cylon? Why is she sharing dreams with Sharon, Hera, and 6? Is it because…
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Etiquette
I like to read Miss Manners’ column in my local newspaper. I like how she explains the rules of etiquette, and what they’re for. Etiquette can sometimes seem arbitrary and confusing, but mainly it’s a set of rules that helps us disparate humans to get along together, without offending each other or hurting each other’s feelings. For example, a gentle reader writes in, asking how they should best go about telling their neighbor that their new painting is crass and ugly, or perhaps that cousin Bertha’s new baby looks amazingly like a small chimpanzee, and really, isn’t it my DUTY to let them know how I feel? Isn’t honesty the…
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Dear Me…
The idea for this post comes from Miscellanous Mum, and I’m very sorry to say that I’m not positive where I first saw it. (Edited to add, I believe I first saw this on Ginger’s blog, Stuck On Survive. Thanks, Ginger!) It’s a nice idea, though…you write a letter to yourself, the you from the past, and post it for the world to see. I’ve been thinking about this for awhile, trying to decide which me needs my help the most. 😉 I’m going to go for 1987 me, I think. Dear 1987 J, Welcome to San Francisco, to the city you’ve always loved, the place you’ve always wanted to…
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5 Things To Do In San Francisco
(This picture is from 2001, when we got snow in the hills….though sadly not outside my house or anything handy…but just so you know, the hills are not usually white…they’re green, or brown, but not usually white…) Flitting about the internets, I found myself at hamelife, where I saw this contest. Hmmm. A list of 5 things, huh? Any 5 things I want? OK. Some folks I know are coming to San Francisco in the semi-near future, so, in their honor, Five Things To Do In The City….and since they’re only in SF for a short time, I’m going to plan it like they are doing all 5 things in…
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Real Moms teach by example…
Have you noticed, when you get to know people, how sooner or later, your story comes out? Unless you’re hiding it, and sometimes, even if you are. But assuming you’re not hiding anything, your story explains to people who you are, how you got to be this person that they are talking to, how you grew and developed, what your strengths and scars are… Part of my story isn’t really mine, it’s about my parents. I’ve told it before, but the short version is that my mother wasn’t married to my father…or my brother’s father, and they weren’t the same man. My mother was divorcing her first husband when I…
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What About Prom?*
Prom time is here…going to the bridal salon with Cherry, we saw many young girls trying on dresses, full of anticipation and hope of what this special night might mean. Hoping to dance and have fun with their boyfriend, see all of their friends, have a great time. For some it will mean drinking, or drugs, or sex, or all of the above. For others, it will mean just going and having a good time. For some, it will mean expectations set too high, a fantasy of a perfect night, dashed by the reality of a crappy dinner and sore feet from too-pointy prom shoes. But for me, seeing the…
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The Namesake (A Joint Review, with Py and J)
The Namesake Saturday morning found Maya selling Girl Scout cookies…and, like always, a Girl Scout event for Maya means free babysitting for us! So, we took advantage of the opportunity to go see a film that Ted has been wanting to see, The Namesake. The Namesake is based on a book by Jhumpa Lahiri. I’ve read some of her short stories before, but I have not yet read the novel, so I came into the film not really knowing what to expect. We’ve decided it might be fun to put together a dual post, with a sort of, He Said, She Said quality to it, so you can read both…
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What if…
Ted’s girlfriends, the Dixie Chicks…. Started a reality show, where they went on tour with Ted, and Curtis Stone (The Take Home Chef) and Curtis and I cooked for Ted and the Chicks…and lots of wacky hijinks ensued… Would you watch? I would… Totally…
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Friday Foolishness
You Are Bold And Brave But daring? Not usually? You tend to like to make calculated risks. So while you may not be base jumping any time soon… You are up for whatever’s new and (a little) exciting! How Daring Are You?
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Firing of Prosecuters…
I have a confession to make…when the whole thing with the firing of the Federal Prosecuters started hitting the news, I thought that it was somehow related to the Army Military Hospital in Virginia. I have read about the problems in this and other Military Hospitals for the last couple of years, I believe at Salon.com, so I wasn’t shocked, and thought I knew what was going on. Then, as people talked more about it, I realized I was just confused, so I went looking around a bit for a decent summary. Here’s what I found, which I cribbed directly from Echidne of the Snakes, in case any of you…
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The Good China
Whilst out and about, watching a certain Bride to Be try on beautiful wedding dresses, I have recently had occasion to peruse the bridal magazines that they have sitting around at the salons. Anyone remember these? They’re full of pictures of dresses, of course, tips on how to get in shape before the wedding, ideas for fun honeymoons, ettiquette advice, and checklists galore. Things to be done, and when (6 months before the date, pick your venue and your dress…3 months before the date, order invitations, etc.). They also have suggestions for your bridal registry. Different people register for different types of things, some for the conventional china and silver,…