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Friday Randomness ~ Vacation Edition
We’re on vacation! Last Thursday, we flew up to Portland to spend time with my family up there. We had a lot of plans, some of which were realized, and some of which were not. Maya’s a big fan of the TV show, “Avatar: The Last Airbender“, so we intended to see the movie version after our arrival. Ted and Maya passed out, though, and by the time they finished their nap, we still needed to have dinner, so it didn’t happen. And to tell the truth, the reviews have been SO horrible (like, wondering if this is perhaps the worst movie ever made, that kind of thing), that she…
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Happy Independence Day!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeahROQ716M[/youtube] Get your patriotic groove on, folks, and remember that the flag that flies above us flies for us all, and was born from blood, sweat, and tears…we’re all in this together, much as it sometimes does not feel that way.
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The Lost Dog
Commenter CJ stopped by the other day and said that she had found an old mutual bloggy friend of ours, Wendy, who is blogging again, which I had not known, and was glad to find. Then my friend Theresa from My Fairbanks Life stopped by, and it looks like she’s blogging again. Yay to both! I gotta get motivated and back into it myself. Soon. After I fix my sidebar, I guess, and fill it in with all of your blogs again. In CJ’s comment, she said she liked my book reviews, so in her honor, here’s my review of my most recent read, The Lost Dog, by Michelle de…
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Now I know where she got it….
Back before Gen went blind, this is the kind of playful she was. She loved to run around and sometimes spin. Now I know where she gets it…she’s half Sheltie! Watch some doggie and baby fun. Genevieve would say that maybe this dog is Mommy, since she says that about all Shelties. But I’m thinking this dog might be too young to be Mommy.
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Messing Up
I updated my theme here on the old blog, and lost my book reviews and blogroll and so on. Looks like I have some work to do to fix it, but I’m not in the mood right this minute. I hope I can remember all of my friends blog urls, since I don’t use a reader…I just come here, click the link from my sidebar, and get there that way. Sigh.
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Skirt Steak Fajitas
(picture found here) I enjoy cooking, but the task of figuring out what to eat is sometimes a frustrating one. I can ask Ted and Maya what we should have for dinner, but then there’s the risk that they’ll pick something that I don’t want. Then I feel guilty for not making what they suggested. But yesterday, when I presented Ted with the question, what should we have for dinner, he said, “Not chicken. How about skirt steak fajitas?” Oh, um. YUM. I love fajitas, esp. steak fajitas, as any of my friends who have been to Chevy’s with me will tell you. Mmm. Tex Mex. Usually, when I make…
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Two Years
It’s two years today since my mom died. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss her. Not an hour that I don’t think of her. I wish things had gone differently. I wish she had recovered. Sigh. I was thinking about her today, about what she might like to do if she were here. One thing she loved about living in California was the produce, the variety of ethnic restaurants, and the beautiful springtime flowers. OK, that’s three things. So I decided to go to our neighboring town, which has a Tuesday Farmers’ Market, and check out the produce. I was spurred not only by her,…
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A Tale of Two Chickens
Or, Oven-Fried Chicken, two ways. For Ted’s birthday this year, he wanted to have a picnic in the park. I didn’t know the grill situation there, and I’ve never really used the public grills in parks and surely there’s at least bird crap on them, right, if not far worse? So I decided to make fried chicken. It’s traditional picnic food, right? Problem is, I’m lousy at making fried chicken. I mean, I haven’t tried in probably 15 years, so maybe I could do it now, but I think I always heat the oil too hot, and I crowd the chicken, and I’m impatient, so it turns out burned yet…
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Wordless Wednesday, Decorating Committee Version
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Macabre Humor
There’s an old wives’ tale that deaths come in threes, especially the deaths of famous people. So, I’ve decided to have a sick sort of game, where anyone who is interested lists three people you think will die between today, June 1, 2010, and the end of the month, June 30, 2010. They don’t need to be people that you wish were dead, but they should be people that most of us would know without Googling their name. So, in the comments, give me your guesses. Three famous people you think will day this month. If someone gets all three correct, I’ll send the police to their house, because you…
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Thank You
To those who have given their lives, or had their lives taken from them (as Andy Rooney said on 60 Minutes), in defense of our country, in defense of our liberties. Thank you is so little, yet it is all I can think of to say. Thank you also, for the sacrifice of their families, who never again will hear that beloved voice, feel that cherished hug, see that beloved face, of their husband, wife, son, daughter, father, or mother. Aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, grandchild, friend. The relationships broken apart by war are endless. The reality of war profane. I hate it. I think we all hate it. None more…
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Leviathan
In an alternate reality Europe, the early 1900s are filled with two very different cultures; the Clankers, and the Darwinists. The Clankers have built amazing machines that can walk and fly and even run. They distrust the Darwinist mightily, and feel that they have made some ungodly discoveries. The Darwinists have taken the discoveries of Darwin, (alternate reality Darwin has discovered DNA, and how to manipulate it), and have created living beasts that serve as machines. A whale that flies, like a giant dirigible, but one in which the passengers ride inside of, rather than beneath. It is 1914, and Aleksandar is the prince of Austria. When his parents are…
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Sprout
I have a secret. And everyone knows it. But no one talks about it, at least not out in the open. That makes it a very modern secret, like knowing your favorite celebrity has some weird eccentricity or other, or professional athletes do it for the money, or politicians don’t actually have your best interests at heart. Sprout is the story of Daniel Bradford, a kid who decides that if he can’t fit in, it will at least be on his own terms. He’s a gifted writer, something that his English teacher figures out pretty quickly and moves to hone in time for the state essay-writing contest. The teen years…
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Maya’s Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies
I’m not sure where Maya found this recipe, just that she found it online and made the cookies for our annual Baking Day last December. She said it was a website that the Barefoot Contessa mentioned once (maybe here), and that the recipe is called THE Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. I think what makes it a little different is the two kinds of chocolate chips, both semi-sweet and milk. Also, you purposefully under-cook them a bit, so they’re gooey and soft. Yum. Maya’s not a fan of nuts in her cookies, but if you are, you could certainly add them. My favorite would be macadamia nuts, but some people prefer…
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Friday Randomness
Happy Friday everyone. I went to the grocery store today and got Gen a HUGE chewie thing, which you can see her enjoying in this picture. Had to snap a shot, since she looked so funny with her butt up in the air and her face down on the ground. She loved it. Hope we don’t pay for it later. She has a very sensitive tummy. Tomorrow I’m going with Maya’s scout troop to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, a place I’ll take over Disneyland any day of the week. The rides aren’t as good maybe, but it’s not NEARLY as crowded, it’s tons cheaper, it’s right there on the beach,…