Dragons Grove

2012 Reading List

2012-01-30T15:35:00.002-06:00

Keeping up the tradition, here's the list of What I've Read This Year

Mourning Gloria, by Susan Wittig Albert (1/xx/12) I like this series. Yes, things and characters are changing, but not so much that it feels wrong (see my complaints about the recent changes in the Sneaky Pie/Harry Haristeen series)
lots of stuff that I can't remember right now
New Rita Mae Brown non-Sneaky Pie
The Good Old Days
Anthem for Doomed Youth, by Carola Dunn (1/30/12) Blast, now I'm caught up with this series. It's dovetailing nicely with watching Downton Abbey on PBS, though.

Back in business

2012-01-30T15:33:00.003-06:00

So, the blog has been neglected. I'll try to do better this year. If I can post from the Kindle, there may be more life here (and more swearing at the Kindle's non-keyboard).

P.S. - Jan, are you still reading here? Tried to check in on your blog(s) and I guess they're invite-only now?

Halloween season

2011-10-13T15:24:00.002-05:00

Or, making this year's costume.

El Burrito has decided, after lots of discussion, to be Word Girl this year (yes, a "girl" - although she's also an alien. This led to discussion at the grandparents' house. He's already been a monster (Cookie) and an elephant(Horton), why shouldn't he be a girl/alien/superhero??). Next year he wants to be Super Why.

Official Word Girl costumes are about $35 and only available online, and if they're anything like the official Horton costume we saw, they're cheaply made. So it's DIY again. Luckily, I bought a sewing machine for a whopping $6 at a yard sale this summer. Even more luckily, it actually appears to work. :) And Jo-Ann's was having a sale on cotton fabric last weekend, so cape supplies came to under $5 (a bit more if you count the machine needles).

I went to Target today looking for the rest of the costume. Red seems to be "in" for kids this year, so I found a plain red shirt and leggings at Target, plus gloves and tights/legwarmers that will turn into boot covers. Much happiness on the way home.

Now I just have to actually make the cape, figure out how to do a hood, and muddle together a felt costume so our stuffed monkey can be Captain Huggy Face, Word Girl's trusty sidekick. DH and I have been told that we're going to be Mr. Botsford (Word Girl's adoptive father - her alter ego is Becky Botsford) and Becky's best friend Violet. I wanted to be Granny May and DH could be The Butcher, but we were told that we could only dress as Good Guys, not Villains. :)

I suck at summer

2011-08-18T01:14:00.002-05:00

Yes, it's been a while. The PC got a virus and I was offline for a while. Still don't have things totally cleared up, which sucks.

Also, I suck at summer planning. Just realized El B has 2.5 weeks of summer vacation left, part of which is already blocked off for a sleepover at Grandma's, and we haven't really done anything this summer. We've left the county twice, for pete's sake, both times for trips to my parents'. (Not what you'd call a "vacation" at all.)

That list of fun local stuff to do? Didn't do any of it. I planned to go on campus to the college's art & archaeology museum, but I realized tonight that classes start next week and parking will be a crazy mess.

The box of craft kits and list of fun little projects? Totally forgotten. We did one, and it's still unfinished. Our main accomplishment has been 3 sets of caterpillars from his Live Butterfly Garden. Wow. Oh, and he saw two movies - Cars 2 and the new Winnie the Pooh movie.

He spent most of his summer watching TV, and it makes me feel like s**t because it's my fault.

We didn't go to the farmers' market, the park, the museum, the zoo (okay, 3 hour drive, but still), nothing. I didn't even manage to call his best pal from preschool for a playdate yet.

I suck.

Garden Update (6/2/11)

2011-06-03T00:50:00.006-05:00

The broccoli is growing, and the spinach is looking scruffy. I may need to rig a shade for it.

Today: DH dug two flowerbeds along the fence. One has 25 mixed Unwin Dahlia tubers (some of which I don't expect to sprout), the other has about 10 assorted daylilies that I got either last summer or the summer before. HyVee was clearing out their greenhouse, and gallon daylilies were $1 each. I bought a trunk full, and they've been in the biggest flowerpots I could find since then. One is starting to bloom, so they must have been fairly content.

The star jasmine I bought last month is in one of the daylily pots, and hopefully I haven't killed the poor thing. The spearmint, on the other hand, is also unplanted and looking pretty dead. Other than the mint, the only things left on the deck are two petunias, two Easter lilies, a small dahlia, and a Cardinal climber. And, the only seeds left that I really want to plant are the sunflowers - 3 kinds in seed packets, and I may toss in a handful of the black-oil seed that the birds have been eating.

We also did some planting on Memorial weekend. The lilac is finally planted. The large bed has 11 peppers, 4 cauliflower, 2 broccoli, and a cantaloupe. The Westlake's perennials - 2 echinacea (a variety called Magnus - I watch Sanctuary and couldn't pass up the connection), 2 coreopsis, an evening primrose, and a Gaillardia variety called Bijou - were all planted the day I bought them. Except for Bijou, those all went next to the driveway, along with a bunch of annuals. While we were digging that bed, we found the Biggest Worm Ever, worthy of his own SciFi Original Movie:

Seriously. I have Never seen a worm that big. He must have been close to a foot long when he was stretching out.

Oh, and I also have 25 freesia bulbs and 10 (I think) iron cross Oxalis bulbs to plant. It's Westlake's fault - I couldn't pass up the half-price bagged roots (even though the astilbe and echinacea I bought from the same grower were DOA). And 5 Cardinal climber seedlings in the dining room - possibly the only things I started from seed that might do any good. Well, I'll admit, the scarlet runner beans aren't doing bad. Everything else I started, though, was an absolute failure.

Can't wait for the cicadas to quiet down a bit. They're deafening during the day right now - drown out the TV even with the windows closed.

Whiplash weather

2011-05-29T17:49:00.003-05:00

No joke - I had the furnace on last week, the low Wednesday was 47. Today the high is pushing 90, and I know the broccoli is going "what the heck???" outside. The cicadas are finally warm enough to drone now; it's loud today but will probably be close to deafening tomorrow.

The second raised bed is finally done, a month later than it should have been. Now it's hot, and the only things I can think to put in it are peppers and the cauliflower seedlings I've had for 3 weeks. Bought 11 pepper plants today - 2 orange, 1 chocolate, 4 red, and 4 green. Meant to start some dwarf bells from seed earlier, but haven't done it yet. I also bought more perennials at Westlake's 3/$10 sale - 2 echinacea, 2 coreopsis, 1 evening primrose, and 1 gaillardia (which will hopefully be a good example for the 6 tiny ones Mom got me on QVC - same price as the Westlake's plants, but tiny plugs instead of the gallon pots from W.)

Also, the lilac I got on Mother's Day? Still sitting on the porch, along with a couple dozen bedding plants. Ditto for a bag of oxalis, 2 bags of freesia, and 2 bags of dahlias.

And with the forecast being over 80 for the foreseeable future, I may wait a while to order the fuchsia plants I've been lusting after. They would probably like more time to acclimate before the freaking hot weather kicks in.

Harvest update: we had salad at lunch, with lettuce, spinach, and tiny radishes that I grew. And the broccolis all have tiny heads growing.

Radishes!

2011-05-28T09:48:00.003-05:00

The garden has produced something! Okay, it's only 4 radishes, and I forgot to put the first ones in the fridge, so they went wrinkly, but it's still progress. We also have baby broccoli heads, and I've snacked on some spinach. There's enough lettuce for a salad now, too.

I dug up the sod for the second raised bed last night. Soooo glad it's a one-time thing. My sod-busting technique needs work. Or maybe I just need more muscle.

Flower-wise, the dahlias are the only new plants that look really happy. Everything else still seems "stalled out" for lack of a better term. I had one echinacea seedling that looked worth planting out, and it's still looking the same as it did two weeks ago. The dirt here must be worse than I thought. Hopefully the compost will be a success and I can use it in the flowerbeds, because buying topsoil and garden dirt isn't cheap. But, short of waiting a year for the compost to mature, it seems to be the only/easiest route.

Weather: cool and rainy for weeks. That's changing - highs for the next week are in the 80s. Whiplash weather. Ugh.

Gardening

2011-05-18T02:17:00.002-05:00

Quick notes for today: planted the watermelon (Sugar Baby) seedlings from Hyvee, 4 pumpkin seeds, half a packet each of coneflower and rudbeckia, plus the sole surviving coneflower seedling. Also put together the large raised bed. And made a trellis for the scarlet runner beans near the sidewalk (five plants)

Seed starting has been a huge failure. So far, the runner beans are the only thing large enough to plant outside that look like they may live. Pumpkins are alive but haven't grown. Dahlias and rosemary went an hour too long without water and croaked. Ditto to the zinnia and cosmos. Shasta daisies may be worth planting out. Not sure why it's all gone pear-shaped. Very frustrating.

Gardening notes

2011-05-10T02:25:00.002-05:00

Despite the hideous heat, I did some gardening / yardwork today.

The irises that I transplanted from under the hedge are amazingly blooming (they're purple and white), as are two of the roses (yellow, my favorite). I was afraid I'd done the roses in by pruning before the last freeze, but they are tough.

The mailbox bed has gotten some zinnia, cosmos, and marigold seed, plus a couple of cosmos seedlings and one or two of something I don't remember.

The driveway bed has another (very pathetic looking) bare-root coneflower (half price at Westlake's today), and a couple of the bedding plants I got for mother's day - I think marguerite daisies, the other two whats-its, and a cosmos. It will get coneflower and rudbeckia seed, as soon as I find them.

Planted two purple semi-cactus dahlias next to the two yellow ones. Also from Westlake's half price roots.

Next up, adding the rest of the Mother's Day plants to the garage bed or wherever they will maybe live. Impatiens, snapdragons, petunias, pansies, and something else.

Also, I cleared a narrow path through a daylily (I assume) patch, so we can get to the water faucet, and took the 100+ lilies that resulted from that out to my mother-in-law for her yard. They filled a five-gallon bucket. And there's more where that came from - digging those up didn't even make a dent in the lily population. I love daylilies, but I'm betting these are all the same, and I like a little variety. None of them show signs of blooming yet, probably too crowded.

And, the unidentified flowering tree out back is a cherry of some kind. It bloomed in spite of the late frosts, and is setting fruit.

Bizarre weather

2011-05-10T02:24:00.003-05:00

It was 86 degrees here today(10 or 15 degrees above average). We turned the A/C on tonight so we could sleep.

May break the heat record on Tuesday. Oy. I hope this isn't a sign of how the summer will be.

Gardening again

2011-05-07T01:36:00.003-05:00

It finally stopped raining, so I got some more plants in the ground today. The garage flowerbed has been de-plasticked (not sure why they put plastic in all the beds, it's a pain) and I added in 40 pounds of topsoil before I did my best at mixing it all together with the mulch. It now has 4 astilbe roots, a handful of violets from Mom's flowerbed, and a white violet I found. Unfortunately, it's serious clay, so I don't know what will grow. I left the hostas and the unidentified purple-leaved plant with purple flower spikes. It's probably a weed, but it's pretty. And I tossed some older viola seed in, too.

The dahlia tubers are in the front yard, hopefully they'll grow. More zinnia seed in the mailbox bed. Two of the gaillardia look dead, and I forgot to water the other plants that are still in pots inside - the second batch of marguerite daisies may be deceased.

Crochet

2011-05-03T17:14:00.002-05:00

I've been working on a scarf, a pattern I've used once before. It's been a while, though, and current-scarf is rolling up like crazy. Just figured out, I've been doing the long-single crochet stitch all wrong, and it's pulling the scarf into a curl. And, since it's a stripe scarf with the yarn cut after each row (for fringe), it's going to be an absolute beast to fix. I don't have enough yarn to scrap it, I'll have to re-use.

Gardening

2011-04-22T00:29:00.003-05:00

Update: Something uprooted one of the broccoli last night, but didn't eat it. None of the outdoor seeds are up yet. The dahlia inside have sprouted, and today I bought a small 4-pack of zinnia to brighten things up until the zinnia seed grows. Also got a small pot of coreopsis, not sure where to put it. Need to start the seeds for the cardinal climber and scarlet runner beans. I'd like to have those blooming by the birthday party in May, so I need to get going. Ditto for the bell peppers.

Semi-garden related: My folks came to town today and brought the pickup truck, so we went to Menards tonight to buy a sandbox that was on sale in their ad this week. Got there to find that it's pretty flimsy, and ended up buying lumber and plywood to make a sandbox. The home-grown version will be cheaper, twice the size, and last longer. Stopped at Toys R Us on the way home and bought a swingset, too. We may not get El Burrito back in the house after we get everything set up. He's a big, big fan of swings.

Garden UPdate

2011-04-15T00:53:00.003-05:00

a.k.a. nothing much to report.

Nothing planted outside yet. Every time I planned to do it, it snowed, I swear. May get the raised bed together this weekend, but there's another bump. Allergies. For the past two days, even with generic Zyrtec and eye drops, I can be outside for maybe an hour before my eyes start watering, itching, and swelling up. Frustrating as all getout. My yard & gardening plans are on hold, pretty much, until whatever's setting me off gets done blooming, spore-ing, or pollening.

The broccoli and cantaloupe seeds were a fail. Broccoli never sprouted, cantaloupe seedlings looked so much NOT like cantaloupe plants that it was crazy. Hair-thin, totally unlike the watermelon & pumpkins in the next pots. I started dahlias and rosemary seeds in those pots, and got a 4-pack of broccoli plants at Hy-vee for $1.78.

Also, the lilies, if that's what they are, still haven't been divided. Still haven't ordered the fuchsia or lily of the valley plants. Did buy 2 dahlia tubers and 3 or 4 astilbe roots at the hardware store. Need to see if anyone has zinnia plants, since those seedlings are alive, but super-spindly looking. It's warm enough now to plant directly outside, but I'd like a few larger ones to jump-start things.

The latest weather roller-coaster

2011-03-29T02:23:00.003-05:00

To recap:
March 14th(ish) - snow (Surprise! it was supposed to rain)
March 21 - 70 degrees
March 26 - more snow
March 28 - lows in the 20s
March 31 - predicted 60s/70s

Sheesh. This is why I was outside in the dark tonight, lousy flashlight, covering the irises and Supposed Lilies, in the probably-vain hope that a cheap plastic shower curtain can save them from temps in the mid-20s. I'd planned to put together the raised bed over the weekend, and start the spinach, but 3 inches of snow scratched that idea.

And we were just watching half a dozen deer in the empty lot next door. They would be the main reason I'm planning to replace the hostas, and predicting that the garden won't be a smashing success. :)

They must be kidding, right?

2011-03-26T02:04:00.002-05:00

The weather forecast is calling for 2-6 inches of SNOW in the area this weekend!! Seriously.

So I was out in the dark trying to cover up the irises with newspaper - not helped by the fact that I have a lot of newspaper, but not much heavy stuff to weight it down with. The worst of it will be tomorrow night, so I have time to cobble together something better. The irises, lilies, and hostas are already out, and the Bradford pear is starting to bloom. The pear's on it's own, but I'd like to protect at least the irises and some of the lilies. I just moved the irises last weekend, so they're not quite settled in yet. One I bought last year and it's been in a container since then; the others that were transplanted were living under the evergreen foundation plantings. I'm surprised they were still alive. The second clump of irises is in a better spot, but could stand some dividing. (I swear, the people who lived here the past two years were clueless about this stuff.)

So much for my plan of knocking a raised bed together this weekend and seeding some spinach and radishes. And dividing/moving the mass of lilies we have - someone must have gotten a heck of a deal, they're everywhere. No clue yet what they look like, I don't think they were blooming when we looked at the house. Have to see if I still have the house-hunting pics. I hope they aren't all Stella D'Oro - Stellas are common around here, a little variety is nice sometimes.

Brrr

2011-03-25T11:49:00.002-05:00

Sleet last night. Oy.

Hopefully the irises won't be too upset
.

Gardening

2011-03-21T11:46:00.002-05:00

Let the gardening begin.

The irises, poor things, have been relocated. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to plant them under the foundation plantings (evergreens), but really? Think again. Ditto for daylilies under the deck.

Today I finally got around to putting seed-mix into the little Jiffy greenhouses I got for Christmas. Half got the leftover Miracle-Gro seed starting mix. Don't care for it, it's too chunky. I found a couple of large-ish bits of bark. Other half got the Jiffy organic seed starting mix. Now to decide what seeds to start, plant them, and get everything labeled. I'm probably late to the party - high temp today of 80, but there's still a month or so of possible frost. And just last week it snowed.

Weather Wackiness

2011-03-14T11:38:00.002-05:00

Yesterday's newspaper forecast: Slight chance of rain tonight (Sunday night), clearing tomorrow. High 52.

What we see outside right now:

That's about two inches of "chance of rain" and it's still coming down. Melting underneath, though. Lots of slush.

My original plans for this morning were to move the half-dozen irises that some nitwit planted under the evergreen hedge, and as many of the (presumed) daylilies that I could manage, after creating their flowerbed. Not happening. In fact, I had moved two irises over the weekend, including one that over-wintered in the garage in a flower pot with some lilies. Last night, 10:00 or so, we got home from the in-laws and I dashed out with a flashlight and bucket so they could spend the night in the kitchen.

So, instead, I'll maybe be figuring out the Jiffy (probably tm) tray greenhouse that I got for Christmas. I need to figure out what to start first; probably coneflower, peppers, possibly broccoli or some herbs. Then I'll have to find a warm spot for it.

Time flies, so does the Shuttle

2011-03-08T01:35:00.002-06:00

Yes, I haven't blogged for a month. Layout of the new house = not much PC time.

So. Shuttle Discovery undocked from the ISS for the last time today. There was (supposedly) a lovely double fly0ver this evening. Unfortunately it was cloudy here and I didn't bother going out to be disappointed. There's one last chance to see her tomorrow, unless the mission is extended for a day.

A trip to Florida for the launch in April is a possibility. I put my name in the drawing for good viewing-site tickets.

Weather's coming

2011-01-31T17:40:00.001-06:00

Nice layer of ice on our deck - the juncos were slipping around the bird feeder.

Preschool is cancelled tomorrow, along with apparently every school in a 30 mile radius. City's canceled trash service. Governor's called a state of emergency.

I really hope we don't lose power. That would suck. Food-wise we'd be okay, but no heat and negative wind-chills could get nasty.

Weather!

2011-01-30T19:18:00.002-06:00

Okay, so apparently we really, really need to start watching the local news every night, at least the weather forecast.

While we were having lunch today, we overheard someone at the next booth talking about the upcoming weather, but no details. Turned on the radio while we were cleaning out the condo, and heard mention of a winter weather watch - freezing rain/sleet/drizzle, "heavy snow" and cold. Okay, I thought, maybe we should stop for milk on the way home.

Then, an hour or so later, the weather alert beeps sounded on the radio, and we got a more detailed forecast. Holy buckets! No mention of accumulation on the freezing rain, but they're forecasting 12-18 inches of snow on Tuesday and Wednesday, and a low of -7 (F) on top of that.

Holy crackers, Batman. If this does happen, there may or may not be a snow day tomorrow (depending on the freezing precipitation accumulation), but I can pretty much guarantee that 12 inches of snow will mean at least one snow day, and probably more. Heck, with that kind of depth, plus the slope on our driveway, DH may have a snow day from work.

Lots of snow this year. Just this month, I think El Burrito's had 3 or 4 snow days. Last week was a teacher workday (which I didn't realize until late the night before), and the week before that there were two snow days plus MLK Jr. holiday.

Birdwatching

2011-01-18T18:39:00.003-06:00

More like bird feeding, actually, but still.

One of the first things we did here at the house was to hang up a couple of bird feeders. We started off with the suet feeder, the peanut-butter-pine-cone from pre-school, and a tube feeder I'd had for a few months. I got 20 pounds of mixed seed for my birthday, and was crazy enough to put bird feed on my Christmas list, so now I've got either 40 or 60 pounds of mixed seed (mostly millet, which isn't popular) in the garage. Plus 30 pounds of black-oil sunflower seed in the kitchen, courtesy of a Westlake's sale.

I bought a thistle feeder just before Christmas, but didn't put it out until we saw a pair of house finches over the weekend, and a goldfinch last week, which led to buying 8 pounds of nyger seed. And in the meantime, noticing that the hanging feeder is pretty ignored, while the seed scattered on the deck was popular, I got a plant saucer, put some drainage holes in the bottom, and filled it with seed.

The current score: 4 hanging feeders and one saucer, plus a few piles in the snow here and there.

We had at least 12 different kinds of birds on Saturday, maybe more since my sparrow identification skills are lousy. Unfortunately, we've also got at least three squirrels, and they're bold. They've been pretty hard on the pine-cone feeder, the little rodents. I shoo them away when I can, but it's a losing battle. I did startle one enough yesterday that he didn't let go of the pine cone before he leapt off the tree. He did a little backflip when he hit the end of the yarn. I'll admit, I giggled, and I'm not sorry I ran him/her off.

I don't think I'm Wendy anymore

2011-01-09T23:46:00.003-06:00

So, in case I forgot to mention it here, since about last April, El Burrito has been adamant that his name is Bob the Builder, and my name is Wendy. He's introduced me to people as "Wendy, my life" (we think he means "wife" but can't be sure, the concept of marriage is still something we're working on). Strangers ask his name - "I'm Bob." The library workers call him Bob, although they know it's not really his name. If we call him by his "secret" name, we get corrected. He actually asked me a before Christmas why his teachers don't know his real name. I had to tickle him before he'd call me "Mommy."

The past couple of weeks, though, he's changed his name to Caillou (although he still says "That's me!" when we see Bob on TV). I blame the Caillou Holiday Move that he's in love with. I think it'll be staying on the TiVo for a while. (Caillou irritates me a little, mostly because El Burrito starts talking like Rosie after he watches it. Rosie's 2. It bugs me.)

Tonight, I had to almost beg before he'd say "Goodnight Wendy" instead of "Goodnight Mommy." It used to be the other way around. Strangely, I think I'm kind of sad about not being Wendy. My boy's growing up.

The 2011 Reading List

2011-01-06T18:12:00.015-06:00

For the third year (yikes!), although not getting updated as frequently as it should, here it is:

(I managed to read 300+ books last year, including whatever I read to El Burrito. We'll see if I top that this year or not.)

Falling Leaves, by Adeline Yen Mah (01/02/11)
Beka Cooper - Terrier, by Tamora Pierce (01/06/11)
The Eagle of the Ninth, by Rosmary Sutcliff (01/13/11) Haven't read this series before, but I really liked the first book. It works into my interest in Classical Civ courses in college (Greek, Roman, etc.). The book's cover mentioned a movie in the works, but after the travesty that was made with The Dark is Rising, I am very leery.
The Hunger Games (2/14/11)
Catalyst: a tale of the Barque Cats, by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Deadly Kingdom (03/04/11)
The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy, by Diane Stanley (03/04/11)
Catching Fire
Mockingjay
Compost: the natural way to make food for your garden
Making Grizzle Grow
Christmas Ornaments to Make
Complete GUide to Orchids
Deerproofing your Yard and Garden
Staying Cool, by Nancy Antle
Crochet Master Class
Home from the Hardware Store
The Complete Compost Gardening Guide
Solving Deer Problems
the Complete Book of Pruning
The Bloom County Library, Volume II
Calvin & Hobbes: Scientific Progress goes "Boink"
As Always, Julia: The letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto (03/31/11) - I want a pen pal.
Keep the Change: A Clueless Tipper's Quest to Become the Guru of the Gratuity, by Steve Dublanica
Gwenhwyfar, by Mercedes Lackey (04/03/11)
Why oh Why are Deserts Dry?
Intrigues, by Mercedes Lackey
The Problem Pony, by Lynn Hall (04/16/11)
Mini Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella
Murder of a Celebrity, by M. C. Beaton
Show Judge, by Bonnie Bryant
Wind Spirit (?) Ella Clah novel (04/20/11)
Turquoise Girl (Ella Clah), by Aimee and David Thurlow
Driving Team, by Bonnie Bryant (04/24/11) Saddle Club book, and I really marvel at the horse facts sometimes. I'm not sure anyone can take two saddle horses and have them ready to be a team in harness, in only 10 days (and only working after school, etc.) Oy.
Play Ball, Amelia Bedelia
Bert's Hall of Great Inventions
Sesame Street: the Together Book
Ride a Dark Horse, by Lynn Hall (05/03/11)
Blink
Never-ending Snake, by Aimee and David Thurlo (05/07/11)
The Great Brain at the Academy (05/13/11)
Miss Seeton's Finest Hour (05/13/11)
You Bet Your Life, by Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain
The Long Ride, by Bonnie Bryant
Conformation Faults, by Bonnie Bryant
Shying at Trouble, by Bonnie Bryant
Riding to Win, by Bonnie Bryant
Ground Training, by Bonnie Bryant
Track Record, by Bonnie Bryant
Riding Rockets, by (Astronaut) Mike Mullane (06/01/11)
Betty White autobio (06/02/11)

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T02:20:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year, everyone.

Accomplishments for 2010: probably a few. The two I can recall are buying a house and managing to read 300 books in one year (if I include the books I read aloud to El Burrito in that total).

Abnormal weather here. High today of 68, low tonight 19. High on Saturday of 28. There were tornado watches/warnings in the area today. Bizarre.

Went to our usual NYE party with friends. El Burrito made it to midnight (fell asleep on the way home) and was very well behaved. No crying, shoving, Wii-mote hoarding, or tattling.

Snow

2010-12-12T00:27:00.002-06:00

First real snow of the year (a week or so ago it was spitting snow, but nothing accumulated, other than along the edges of the car windows).

Right now, we've got an inch or so outside. So, it's a good thing that I bought a snow shovel yesterday, and that we put up the Xmas lights today.

Christmas traditions

2010-12-04T00:27:00.006-06:00

So far, as a family, we have one tradition of our own (not involving Parental Units, etc.). For the past few years, we've gone to see the tree-lighting ceremony at Shelter Insurance. They do it up pretty nice: the local news sends a camera truck, there's a choir and band from a local school, Santa Claus, the whole bit.

The weather was nice this year, relatively speaking, but I thought we might not be able to go. El Burrito got hit with what seems like a rebound of the ear infection he had before Thanksgiving, and spent most of the day in bed. But we started the antibiotics today, and that plus a solid dose of ibuprofen perked him up enough that he wanted to see the tree this year. So I bundled him up and we drove to Shelter.

We saw them putting the tree up on Monday, I think. It's fake, breaks down to a metal frame and maybe a dozen sections of "tree" so it goes up pretty swiftly.

This year the lights are all clear.

They advertise the ceremony as starting at 6:00, and they aren't kidding. We were headed back for the car at 6:05 (we didn't stand in line to see Santa, since El B. is sickly today). Better to get there early than on time, because you might miss it.

And then we came home, tempted El Burrito's appetite with a cheeseburger and fries from McDonald's, and he napped on the couch some more. We passed the time watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on the new DVR, which is already almost full. Highlights: the pizza-twirling drill team, the Sesame Street float, and the balloons of Horton, Buzz Lightyear, Snoopy, and Kermit.

Fall is here

2010-10-28T17:47:00.002-05:00

Fall is here in full force. The key indication is that my living room is chock-full of houseplants right now, thanks to a freeze warning tonight. Three boxes have already been moved to the new house, mostly the amaryllis and a few others. The amaryllis aren't going to bloom this Christmas, since I forgot to head them towards dormancy back in September. I'll just have to feed them up for a while and try next year. Maybe, if I put a note in my dayplanner, I'll actually remember to stick them in a closet next fall.

For the past month or so, it's been hazardous to stand under any nut-bearing tree in the area. It's a bumper year for the pin oak crop - the ground outside under our pin oak is about 50% covered with acorns. A few weeks ago, every time the wind blew it sounded like a hailstorm as acorns were plinking off the metal roof of the carport. The shagbark hickory trees at the preschool playground were worse though - the nuts in the hull are about the size of a golf ball, and they come down with some energy. I've seen a few hit the ground hard enough to bounce a bit, and sometimes the hull will split as they hit.

No plant casualties in the area from the recent winds, but I did see a flowering pear casualty on the way to preschool this morning. It had just tipped over into a parking lot, no roots showing at all. They're pretty trees and they grow fast, but they're notoriously weak when it comes to wind, root systems, or dropping random limbs. I've heard of flowering pears falling over at the hint of a breeze. My sister had a large-ish pear tip over onto her Mustang a few years back. No wind, the tree just fell over. Luckily the car wasn't hurt, but it's still kind of freaky.

Unluckily, the tree shading most of our deck at the new house? Flowering pear, about 15 years old, which is about the time they start getting iffy. This one is in the lee of the house, so hopefully it won't fall over anytime soon, but one of the tentative plans for next year is to replace it with something a little sturdier. As part of that plan, we're going to pick up a few quarts of Bud's acorns (yes, the tree has a name) and try to sprout some. Part of those will go to family members who could use a few good trees too - I may be biased, but Bud has a very nice shape, is healthy, turns a lovely orangey-yellow color in the fall, and sounds very peaceful in a slight breeze. Trust me, if he wasn't 30 or so feet tall, I'd be sorely tempted to dig him up and move him to the new house.

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y, e

Furniture shopping

2010-10-16T00:33:00.002-05:00

We've been doing a lot of furniture shopping lately, since we currently have practically nothing, and what we do have is old and decrepit. Certain things, like the 15-year-old mattress with escaping springs, and the sprung-seated loveseat, aren't coming to the house. Instead, they're getting a one-way trip to the landfill. Which leads to the furniture shopping.

Mattress shopping isn't the worst, oddly. Once we rule out memory foam, tempurpedic, and anything more than a foot thick (because I just got sheets that I love), there's not a lot to decide between. We may have found the right mattress tonight. We also found a nice table and chairs. Solid oak chairs, and they're heavy. Built to last, I guess. I lusted briefly after the hickory-top table, but the construction was iffy and the chairs were lousy. The one we like has a nifty butterfly leaf - it folds, flips, and self-stores under the table. Beats stashing the leaf under a bed and forgetting where it is.

No pictures, the camera batteries were dead.

Funny stuff on TV

2010-10-12T18:23:00.002-05:00

First, Sesame Street's spoof of the Old Spice commercials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkd5dJIVjgM

Grover is one of my favorite Muppets.

Second, Chuck last night. Or maybe I was the only person who got the homage to my late, lamented Firefly, when the Generalissimo unveiled his statue of Captain Awesome.

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luciérnaga

The end of house-hunting

2010-10-06T16:12:00.002-05:00

The Great Never-Ending House Hunt is over!!! Bought a house this week, and managed (I think) to surprise our families.

It's a bit bigger than we were aiming for, but the back yard is amazing, it's a good neighborhood, and we got a good price on it. I'll have quite a bit of gardening work to do, though - the recent owners had been there 2 years, and were not garden/yardwork people, it seems. Daylilies planted in the shade under the deck, something that wants to be a tree also growing under the deck, irises growing under a spruce tree (literally under - low-hanging limb). Too bad it's so late in the year, I think it might be too late to move the lilies and irises this fall. Have to Google that, along with ways to keep the deer from devouring the hostas.

I'll also have to deal with way bigger utility bills (as far as square footage, it's 4 times the size of the current place), along with a bigger insurance bill. Condo insurance is seriously cheap, being just a bit more involved than renter's insurance. The jump in price from a condo to a 4x bigger house with a deck and everything is a pretty good chunk of money. Time to adapt, and get more serious about careful shopping and saving energy. First plan is to put CFLs in all or most of the light fixtures, which should at least make a dent in the electric bill.

Can I get a refund?

2010-09-29T15:18:00.002-05:00

Three hours at preschool today.

"Did you have fun today?"

"Yes"

"What did you do?"

"Things that I like."

"Like what?"

"Just things that I like."

Okaaaaay. After 20 minutes of grilling while we walked, I learned that he had a cupcake at snacktime (someone's birthday), he sang a song that he can't remember, and he had his picture taken (which I knew already).

Giveaway on another blog

2010-09-24T12:03:00.001-05:00

I just entered a giveaway contest on another blog:
http://adeliciousmelody.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/reisenthel-easybag-giveaway/

That Reisenthel bag looks beyond nifty. It would be a cool thing to win, and if not, I may be tempted to buy one from Reuseit.com.

Target's clearance

2010-09-17T15:17:00.002-05:00

I do like finding things in Target's clearance stuff. This week, it's been school supplies mostly.

First trip:
binder 1.5 inch .74
binder 1.0 inch 1.24
sandbox toys .50 x2
workbooks .50 x 11 - 2 crayola, 3 reading, 4 pre-k same/different etc, space, dinos
100pk post its - .50
clear index tabs - .48
Pooh Snow Days color book .50
dry erase placemats .50 x 3 - printing, cursive, games
dry erase poster sets 2.48 x2

I went on a quick trip today for more of the dollar-spot workbooks for El Burrito (he needs a little practice and some self-confidence with writing and drawing), and got:

dry erase posters 2.48 x 2
sandbox toys .50 x3
1.5 inch binder .74
workbooks .50 x5

The dry-erase posters are from Crayola. I got two plain and two with lines for writing practice. I've got plans of putting these on a wall or a table, and letting El Burrito decorate them. They're supposedly removable/reusable, and they came with 3 Crayola Dry Erase Crayons each.

The sandbox toys were a must-have, since there's a house in the near future, and of course a sandbox soon after that.

Wish I'd gone back yesterday, most of the pre-K workbooks were gone. I lucked out and found 3 in the regular-price stuff, and only one left with the clearance books. The rest were all older levels.

Strange conversation

2010-09-15T17:42:00.000-05:00

Got shanghaied into a very strange conversation at the book sale on Sunday. Started as random chitchat over the lousy selection of DVDs that were left, and ended up with an older gentlemen giving a monologue to me about journalism and random conspiracies. He's a self-proclaimed expert on the Amish, subject of a show on the local PBS station, former journalist for a big paper in Hartford CT, and blacklisted author who's written 22 books with 2 in progress (which seems contradictory). His theories include that the CIA assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. and have it on video, and that Sonny Bono was murdered to prevent him leaking information about some drug trafficking with Bill Clinton and George Bush the Elder.

I managed to hmm and "oh really" for a few minutes until he was distracted by something, and then I quickly moseyed the other way. I heard him talking out in the hall a few minutes later, still about Sonny Bono's death.

And I thought the guy walking around at the sale talking to himself was odd - he was saying "oh boy" and similar phrases, but not in a "wow, that's a good book" way. More of a "can't believe they're selling this" way or something. Plus, body odor. Common at book sales, where it mixes with the old-book smell.

I've got Eeyore and a moose in my freezer!

2010-09-10T16:33:00.006-05:00

or, Today's Yard Sale Haul :)

(Yes, there's a plush Eeyore in the freezer, along with the moose - kill any dust mites or whatnot)

The church where El Burrito's preschool is was hosting a fundraiser rummage sale today, so I stopped in after I dropped of Mr. Crying El Burrito. I got the following stuff for only $6 total:

Plush reindeer (for me)
Plush Eeyore, with tags (okay, also mine)
4 clay plant saucers for $1 - would have bought the clay pots, but they were nested and stuck together :(
Metropolitan Museum Of Art hieroglyphic stamps set (too cool) for $1
mini-van for El Burrito's dollhouse 25c (after I remove the batteries)
Lizzie McGuire DVD $1
2 other books
tiny Eeyore figurine
watercolor paint set 25c
whole bag of craft stuff for $2

There were a couple of pattern booklets, one new skein of baby yarn from Bernat, 4 or 5 partial skeins, a new roll (word?) of crochet thread in sage green, a partial roll/skein/ball in white, a pack of 5 darning needles, and 5 steel crochet hooks in assorted sizes. The hooks alone were worth the $2 price, even if a couple of them are tiny enough that I'll never be able to use them (unless I can crochet my own hair - they're that tiny).

I'll have time to hit a couple of local yard sales on Friday mornings now. Whee!

One week down, 40 or so to go

2010-09-10T15:40:00.002-05:00

El Burrito (aka Bob the Builder, since April - and yes, he introduces himself as Bob) has survived his first week of preschool.

The first day was actually the easiest, or at least the most quiet in terms of morning fuss. He's a fretter and worrier, which he gets honestly, mostly from my side of the family. Since the second day, he's been crying and questioning non-stop, starting even before he opens his eyes. How long is preschool, how long is three hours, school is too screamy, I don't like show and tell, my teacher isn't a good watcher, I don't like French, on and on and on, until I'm ready for earplugs. He cries from the car to the classroom, with the big big tears and everything.

But then, when I show up at pick-up time, he will barely bother to wave at me because he's too busy playing on their playground. Go figure. He's been singing in French, took a book for show & tell, and has started playing a bit. Still says he doesn't know anyone else's name in his class (6 other kids), and "can't tell" me the words he learned.

Neat finds at the book sale

2010-09-08T15:44:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the bigger monthly sale at the library, and in a happy coincidence (since El Burrito is going to French-immersion preschool), this month's theme was reference and foreign languages. I found

3 very basic French textbooks (French for travel, that sort of thing)
2 Latin textbookss and a Latin dictionary
an introductory book to Scottish Gaelic (bought it thinking it was Irish Gaelic)
some fun books for El Burrito - 2 Berenstain Bears, 101 Myths and Legends, and a book with the stories from 55 Disney movies (heavily abbreviated)
two Sci Fi books for DH
Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal for only $1.
2 American Girl books to pass on to my mother-in-law, who gets them for the granddaughters

I also saw the second Harry Potter in Spanish, but it was $2 and I'd already found $25 worth of books, so I passed on it.

Interesting stuff. I've been wanting to learn Latin for a while, and regret not taking it while I was taking all my other Classic Civilizations courses in college. Now I've got a couple of books to at least make a start.

Preschool

2010-09-08T11:06:00.002-05:00

Day 2 of preschool today. Drop-off went worse than yesterday, actually - someone was leeched to my finger and wrapped around my neck until one of the teachers helped pry him off. More tears, too. But yesterday at pick-up time, he didn't want to leave. Playground time was just too much fun. (Not surprising, he does this at the grandparents' houses too.)

Morning half-day may have been a really good thing, although we didn't know it. He woke up worrying about how long school would be, missing us, school was "too screamy" and other things. If he was doing afternoon sessions, he'd be worrying himself sick all day.

And I still feel like a heel after drop-off today. I hope this gets better after a few days.

Houses & Preschool

2010-09-01T18:02:00.001-05:00

Update A: Signed a contract for the house today. If (knock wood) inspection and appraisal go okay, we'll be moving next month.

Update B: Finally heard back from the preschool. We're going for a school tour tomorrow, and if that checks out, El Burrito starts on Tuesday. Between the holiday and helping my brother paint his house, today may have been our last "normal" day for a while. Until the new routine becomes "normal" anyway.

I had three Tim Tams, and haven't hyperventilated yet. Doubt I sleep well tonight though.

Pardon me while I panic

2010-08-30T23:57:00.002-05:00

It's shaping up to be an interesting week (month?).

Put an offer on a house today. This is the second house we've made an offer on. Can I just say, "$250,000" and "a quarter of a million dollars" may be the same amount, but the second just sounds like more money.

And we're looking for a preschool for El Burrito. So far, our option is a morning half-day class (9 a.m. - noon) in a French-immersion preschool. First issue here: I know almost no French - maybe a dozen words, mostly related to horses (dressage, capriole, courbette). Second issue: that 9 a.m. start time means moving our whole schedule, including wake-up time, earlier by 3 hours. And preschool starts in a week. Cue the headache.

Plus, no more library storytimes, since they're all in the morning. And - unless we play hooky for a day - no "kids' tour" of the library next month, which El B (and I!) were excited about. I really need to ask why the storytimes are all scheduled in the mornings.

I'm off to find an ibuprofen. House + preschool = headache and nervousness.

August "garden" update

2010-08-20T17:42:00.002-05:00

The garden, such as it is, is doing better than expected.

The 5 sunflower seedlings are now 2 surviving plants. "Mammoth" sunflowers do not prefer life in a not-so-big flower pot (say, 12-inch clay). They're growing more sideways than up, even after being moved to the sunnier back deck, but one has bloomed this week. Last year we got six stunted seeds from two plants; I wonder how well we'll do this year?

The 5 miniature bell pepper plants are going great guns. They apparently are okay with being in a 14-inch or so flower pot, and moving them out back agreed with them. They've been blooming like crazy, and last time I counted, there were 11 peppers in progress. Granted, most of them are marble size at the moment, but it's better than I'd hoped. They're a mix of green, red, and chocolate bells, I think, but I'm not sure which actually grew.

The pumpkins - miniature Jack Be Nimbles - are sort of iffy right now. Three plants survived, they seem marginally okay growing in a pot, and they're actually blooming a lot. However, the flowers are all male flowers so far - you have to have female flowers to get actual little pumpkins. And apparently I'll be hand-pollinating them if we ever get a female flower, since I doubt our neighborhood has a lot of squash bees or whatever. I'm wondering if they'll ever come up with a female flower, though. They've been blooming for 3 weeks, and the sites I read online said that usually you get male flowers for a week or so before the female flowers show up. I have fertilized them, since the pot's so small. Maybe they need more. Or less. Need to Google "pumpkins with no female flowers" or something similar. The wicked heat may also be an issue, since it seems that pumpkins don't like to set fruit when it's over 90 or so. Har - it's been 90+ here lately, heat indices over 100. I moved the pot into a shadier spot; we'll see if that helps. If not, I may have to buy a little pumpkin and tie it on to encourage El Burrito. Or call the peppers pumpkins and paint them orange.

The peppers are also not shy or subtle about saying "Water us!!" either. They go nice and droopy, sort of like my oxalis, but perk up within an hour of drinking. I've been watering every other day now, so they won't be stressed by the dryness.

A new line of experimentation

2010-08-18T17:33:00.004-05:00

I've got something new to dabble in (like I don't have enough interests/hobbies).

Digital infrared photography. I've been thinking on it for a while, and finally ran across a cheap-enough digital camera of the model I was after (Olympus C-2020) on eBay. Older digital cameras of certain models are known for being better than others at infrared; newer ones, not so much, because of the newer designs.

Along with the camera ($22.99, it has issues with the battery door and came with no accessories, not even the lens cap), I bought an infrared filter from Hoya ($29.50 on Ebay) and then yet another camera case ($15ish, because decent cases for any camera larger than a deck of cards are hard to find). As luck has it, the filter will fit both adapter rings that I own, so if I want, I can take IR pics with 3 of my 4 cameras.

This is a pic from the 2020, taken in auto mode with no adjustments. I need to read the manual and figure out if it can do a custom white balance. I kind of like the purple/red tinge in the sky, though.

This is a picture from the SP-510, no adjustments. Lots of red there.

SP-510 picture with a custom white balance. Much better, although the 510 really needs a tripod to take a decent picture. The 2020 loses less light with the IR filter, so it can take a decent picture without a tripod.

Another picture with the 510, of my old horse barn.

El Burrito (from the 510). Blurry, but I like the shadow in the background mimicking his pose. Wish I'd had a tripod, or that he would have stood still a bit longer.

The tricky part is getting the photo files from the 2020 to the computer. The 2020 I have came with nothing - no lens cap, no cables, no manual, etc. Originally, it did come with a cable, but it's old enough that it was a serial port cable, not a USB. And the 2020 uses SmartMedia cards, which are pretty defunct these days - I'm not sure there are any card readers out there that read them. I know our HP printer, which does have card slots built in, doesn't have a slot for SMs. The work-around currently is to take pictures with the 2020, then swap the SM card into my semi-retired C-3020, which does have a USB cable, and transfer them that way. I have an old Lexar card reader with an SM slot, but I'm not sure it plays well with XP. That's something to look into, just in case the 3020 bites the dust.

Wherein I scream "like a girl"

2010-08-02T00:56:00.002-05:00

I screamed "like a girl" today - and that's my phrase, not DH's. It's not something I usually do - I've stomped my share of bugs and didn't hide in my dorm room when I was living in a dorm that averaged one visiting bat per year (although I'm still not a big fan of mice, or large spiders). I'm blaming my reaction on on the shock. Plus, it was on my shoulder! Much closer than on the floor.

Anyway.

We used our free movie tickets (from the Toy Story DVD/Blu-Ray upgrade deal) to go see Toy Story 3 today. Before the movie, I changed into "public" clothes instead of my bumming-around-on-the-weekend clothes. Went into the bathroom to wash my hands, and glanced into the mirror to see a Big BUG on my shoulder. I believe what I screamed would be spelled "aaaaiiaaaaiiaaaaiihhh!!!!" or something like that. I was dancing around our tiny bathroom swatting at my shoulder with a soapy wet hand. DH heard me on the other side of the condo, over the running water in the sink, and came to see what happened. El Burrito's reaction to Crazy Dancing Mommy was to make tracks away from me, losing a shoe as he went.

The bug disappeared, so DH and I were crammed in the bathroom looking for it. El Burrito came back to watch the fun. Then I saw it - crawling on my leg. Cue another round of the Crazy Dance as I tried to shake it off and step on it. Unfortunately, it disappears again, until El Burrito told us it was crawling on my (other) leg. Whereupon I jumped through the door, shook the Big BUG onto the bedroom floor, and stomped all over it.

The corpse was unable to be identified.

And then we finished getting ready, and left for the movies. I waited long enogh that Toy Story 3 wasn't in 3D anymore, but that's okay. DH and El Burrito saw it in 3D while I was in Florida. But geez, is Pixar getting a little depressing lately or what? Wall-E was kind of a sad background (no decent Earth left), parts of UP were tear-jerkers, and then we get to the beginning and end of Toy Story 3. Wow.

And of course, on the way home, we stopped at Target for some bug traps and spray. I can deal with bugs on the floor, but when they crawl on me, they've crossed the line. I haven't done those kind of moves in a while. Last time was either (a) when I reached into a dark feed bin for chicken feed and a mouse ran up my arm or (b) when I realized that one of those big black hard-shelled bugs was inside the jeans I'd just put on.

Decluttering

2010-07-28T15:45:00.003-05:00

Just started a "Get Rid Of" box. Already in it: unwaxed dental floss and a little notepad. More to come.

In the trash: A Subway game ticket for an expired game, a bald cypress nut, and an expired tablet of Zyrtec (I think).

In the recycling: the scraps from the coupon sections of Sunday's paper.

I've been motivated/inspired by a couple of blog posts I found yesterday, about getting rid of one thing a day.

Kennedy Space Center

2010-07-22T16:33:00.006-05:00

While I was visiting my sister in Gainesville last month, I convinced her to drive to Titusville and visit Kennedy Space Center. She thought it was a 2 hour drive, but then realized it was 3 hours, and almost backed out. We got a late start, and didn't get to Kennedy until noon, and of course it's wicked hot.

Welcome to Titusville. After Titusville, you drive across the Causeway to Cape Canaveral, home of Kennedy Space Center as well as a big wildlife preserve.

First look at KSC from the Causeway.

KSC Entrance. Behold my Holy Grail. We took the free bus tour first (next time, I'm planning to pay extra for at least one of the bonus tours. I want to get as close as I can to 39A and B.) There were three possible stops along the way - the observation tower for Launch Pads 39A and 39B, the Saturn/Gemini complex, and the International Space Station complex. I decided to skip the ISS section, figuring it'll be there for a while and we were short on time, and there are tentative plans to go back for one of the last shuttle launches this fall.

The Vehicle Assembly Building.

First stop was the observation gantry for Launch Pads 39A and 39B. View of Launch Pad 39 (A or B) from the observation tower's 4th floor. There was a good breeze on the catwalk, too. The road is the path that the crawler takes when it hauls the Shuttle to the launch pad.

Resident tortoise seen on the bus tour.

Next stop is the Apollo/Saturn V Center. First there's a stage presentation, then you get to see the control room and some exhibits. Out in the main room there's an actual Saturn rocket hanging from the ceiling. It's massive! This is the stage backdrop for one of the presentations. They lower a replica of the lunar lander down from the ceiling, and it looks pretty cool.

I touched a moon rock!! It's in a little block, you can stick your hand in to touch it, but there's not enough space to steal it or anything.

Astronaut Snoopy. One of the Apollo capsules was named Snoopy.

Control room from the Apollo missions.

After the bus tour, we went back to the main complex. We'd just missed the Hubble IMAX movie (Hubble images in IMAX and 3D! My brain would have melted. I've got plans for a mega-sized wall mural of a Hubble image someday. I drool over the Carina Nebula mural. Color would be awe-inspiring, but black & white would be pretty striking too.) So, we did some shopping and then went to the other IMAX movie, called Magnificent Desolation, narrated by Tom Hanks.

Last, we went outside to the Rocket Garden and the outdoor exhibits.

My sister's Vanna White impression.

Rocket Garden. Sister thinks "artistic" pictures are just ones you take at an angle.

The gantry the astronauts walked up to the capsules in.

The last thing I did before we left was visit the Astronaut Memorial. This is a lousy picture (blame the heat, I was tuckered out and the sun was bright at this spot). It's a big black wall with a mirror finish on it that reflects the sky, and it looks like the names are floating in the clouds. The three names in the lower center block are Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Ed White. The other squares have names of other astronauts who've died over the years.

Souvenir pennies. I love the squash-a-penny souvenirs. Fairly cheap, don't take a lot of space. No practical use, but hey. The prices on these varied. I went with the 50cent models, but there was a nice one - Shuttle, I think - that I was going to get until I noticed that it was a $1 machine.

Leaving on the Causeway. We'd been there six solid hours, and were tired and hungry for some real food. Six hours on my feet is why I wore my New Balance shoes, no matter how unstylish my sister thought they were. Six hours of walking in a pair of her sandals that were too big for me would have ruined my day. No thanks.

Grissom Avenue in Titusville. (Proof my sister wasn't paying attention - she thought I was a CSI fan when I took the pic)

My trip to Florida

2010-07-21T17:45:00.003-05:00

I took a weekend trip to Florida in June, to see my sister graduate (1). It was my first airplane flight alone, and I haven't flown that much anyway, so there was some stress. I woke up at 4 a.m. to catch the local shuttle for a 3 hour trip to the airport. Made it through security and got my carry-on into the overhead compartment. It was a small plane, with small compartments, so it took a shove or two to get it in. But I saved $30 on Delta's rotten checked-bag fee, so it was good.

I switched planes in Atlanta, where I found that the concourse shuttles aren't kidding when they say "hold on" during acceleration. Not a bad airport. I grabbed some lunch and found a postcard for El Burrito, but couldn't find a mailbox to stick it in. Finally landed in Gainesville, 15 minutes early and 11 hours after I woke up. Gainesville has a very small airport - 3 gates, in one room, and you can walk around the whole airport in ten minutes. No joke. Postcards were wicked expensive at $1 plus tax, and the stamp machine was similarly overpriced - 2 44-cent stamps for $1.50.

I was picked up at the airport by my favorite sister, driving the reason El Burrito has 10 toy Mini Coopers:

The next day, I helped out with her graduation errands and we did some grocery shopping. Florida is miserably hot and humid in June, let me tell you. And the houses down there aren't built to hold the AC in. I was sleeping upstairs, and even with the AC and a ceiling fan, it never got cool enough to really sleep. Blah.

Graduation was Saturday. It's a small school and a very small class. My pictures outside were horribly overexposed:

We partied after graduation, although the graduates were mostly not in a party mood, and there was some drama. I also discovered that I don't like mai tais, mojitos, or cosmopolitans. No surprise there, by Sister can't seem to keep from trying to change people.

On Sunday, we drove over to Titusville and Kennedy Space Center, which was one of my Holy Grails. More on that later, because I took pictures of everything.

Monday, it was back to the airport and home. On the way through town, we saw these markers - one of the local schools has a scale model of the solar system.

These three are Venus, Earth, and Mars. We were driving too fast to see their interpretation of Pluto's demotion.

(1) My sister got a graduate degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture. I'm skeptical about the whole thing, but if that's what she wants to do, and she thinks she can make a living at it, I'm fine with that.

Garden pictures

2010-07-21T12:54:00.004-05:00

Bizarre June-blooming Christmas cactus. So much for the "requirement" of cool temps and a minimum amount of darkness for mine to bloom. Both the white and pink/fuchsia ones bloomed this summer. I think they're a bit confused.

Dwarf pumpkin seedlings, sometime in June.

Daylily season. I love Hemerocallis, and plan to have a ton of them when we get a house. They're my kind of plant - easy to grow, almost impossible to kill. These pics are all of "feral" lilies along the road. The middle pic is of a large patch of lilies along a local interstate. The lilies cover at least 50 yards, probably more, in the median of a 4-lane interstate. Anything that can live in spite of the snowplows, winter chemicals and salt, and the run-off rubber/oil/water mix the rest of the year should grow well in my yard.

Gardening

2010-07-19T17:00:00.002-05:00

The July report.

The actual "garden" plants (dwarf bell peppers, dwarf pumpkins, and sunflowers) aren't doing well. Not enough sunlight, probably not enough dirt. The perils of container gardening in a covered porch. LOL I moved everything out to the back deck, where there's a bit more sun (not much, thanks to Bud the lovely pin oak). Nothing's eaten them yet, but they're still not growing a lot.

As far as the houseplants and flowers, things are slightly better. The oxalis are doing well, and one of the pots of purple oxalis that I'd given up on has started showing some life again. The Christmas cacti bloomed (crazy little buggers) in June. The Mother's Day impatiens basket is still alive and blooming, and so are most of the bedding/container plants I got for Mother's Day.

HyVee has their garden center on clearance. I went with Mom to find her some petunias, and we left with petunias (99c a quart) plus about 30 daylilies, mostly for $1 each. I got a gallon iris (3.33), 2 gallon daylilies ($3.33), and 4 small daylilies ($1 each). Then, of course, there was a trip to Westlake's for a big flowerpot and some dirt. And after potting everything on Sunday morning, I had room for another gallon plant. It was that or buy another bag of potting soil. So on our weekend HyVee run, I ended up with another gallon daylily and two quart ones. Hopefully they'll all survive until next spring or we find a house, whichever comes first.

Also, we stopped in at the Hemerocallis Society's daylily show at the library last weekend, and they were giving away bare-root plants from some of the members' yards. We came home with a small canteloupe-colored plant, which is now living in the big pot with the clearance lily from HyVee's sale last year. (It actually bloomed this year. I left it on the porch until it started to freeze, then put it indoors, in the coolest corner I could find, and hoped all winter that it wouldn't get confused. I should keep it away from those confused Christmas cacti, they'd be a bad influence.)

Kids Day

2010-06-19T23:42:00.003-05:00

El Burrito had a blast today. Our local PBS station does something called Kids Day every year - free admission, they bring a couple of celebrities (Clifford, Grover, and Curious George this year), and local groups or stores can come and have a booth to hand out freebies or whatever. We ended up with a scheduling conflict, so DH and I had to leave after half an hour, but my mom drove up and spent the afternoon with hi m. Apparently they stayed until the end, and had a great time. I was a little worried, El B cried when we left him standing in line to see Grover, but I guess he perked up after we left. He's smiling in his pictures anyway.

El B got to meet Clifford (twice), Grover, and Curious George, but not Miss Rosa (the local hostess for the PBS Kids shows). He came home with a ton of stuff, too.

his very own wooden toolbox, which he made himself (with help), courtesy of Home Depot
orange workshop apron (ditto)
stickers - I stopped counting at 15. Clifford, Sid the Science Kid, etc
Frisbee from the Little Gym
purple coneflower seeds from the city's composting department
3 cards that he ink-stamped for us
bookmarks - at least 4
two temporary tattoos
a boat made with a paper plate and a paper sail
pirate hat from a folded comics section
two free books (thanks to Scholastic and Clifford)
one apple
one sucker
one piece of candy from Sylvan Learning (I didn't sign him up to win 30 hours of free tutoring, guaranteed to raise him a grade level. He's four.)
four uninflated balloons (he wanted the Thomas the Train foil balloons)
two bottles of sunscreen on carabiners
a pencil with rubber duckies on it
a rubber duckie eraser/pencil topper
a Sid the Science kid eraser
a little WordWorld story
Sesame Street "Talking Cents" magazine
three Happy Pet coloring books
a handful of coloring/activity pages
a park brochure about bats and how to build a cave diorama
a free french fries coupon from McD's
10 free tokens at Chuck E Cheese (where we don't ever plan on going)
assorted bits and pieces of paper
a nice paper-towel painting he did for me - something about spraying food coloring on a piece of saran wrap and putting the towel on it
a watermelon seed in a little pot

I think that's it. Lots of organizations had booths set up - the local Stream Team, public radio station, the recycling section of the city's public waste department, Scholastic, Usborne books. Those are just the ones I remember, and we weren't there long enough to see 10% of it before we had to leave.

Fun day at the library

2010-06-15T16:13:00.003-05:00

Today was the first storytime of the summer, so we (meaning El Burrito, our lovely night owl) had to start getting up in time to get to the library on time. Today's theme was Pirates, with El Burrito's favorite librarian, Miss Chris, and Miss Angela. Fun time - he even sat up front for the stories, although he migrated back to me for the songs. He's weird about loud noises.

Played for a while, including chasing a couple of kids around trying to get them to look at his (invisible) car. They were confused when he said his name was Bob the Builder. I got to read a whole People, and the cover of Time, before we went hunting Bob the Builder books. And of course he had to climb the stairs up to the third floor before the book sale started.

He totally scored some deals at the sale - best find was the Complete Adventures of Curious George, paperback, for $2. In great condition, other than a faded spine, too. A hardback picture book about fossils, a hardback book of nursery rhymes with Pooh as the main character, a small I Spy book, and another Pooh story. I got a 50-cent copy of Little Women, in hardback, and four ex-library novels (2 mystery, 2 fantasy) for 25-cents each.

El Burrito also finagled himself a muffin from the cafe/kiosk in the lobby. Yes, I gave in - he was whining, and I had a splitting headache. Give him one "library snack" and he wants one every time now. Sigh.

A quote

2010-06-14T15:30:00.002-05:00

And for a moment, as she sat there with her friend, with the late-afternoon sun slanting in through the window, she thought about how she owed her father so much. He had taught her almost everything she knew about how to lead a good life, and the lessons she had learned from him were as fresh today as they ever had been. Do not complain about your life. Do not blame others for things that you have brought upon yourself. Be content with who you are and where you are, and do whatever you can do to bring others such contentment, and joy, and understanding that you have managed to find yourself.

She closed her eyes. You can do that in the company of an old friend -- you can close your eyes an d think of the land that gave you life and breath, and of all the reasons why you are glad that you are there, with the people you know, with the people you love.

(Alexander McCall Smith - The Double Comfort Safari Club, p. 211.)

House Hunting (still)

2010-05-28T16:16:00.002-05:00

I'm starting to hate house-hunting. El Burrito just turned four, and we still don't have a non-family babysitter lined up, so any house visits mean adding an hour beforehand for dropping off, and another hour after for picking up from Grandma's house. Blah.

We made an offer on one house, but they're underwater on the loan and still want what they paid for the house 3 years ago, when the housing market peaked. I suspect they had an interest-only loan or something scary like that, but who knows. We couldn't agree on a price, so it's off the table unless they drop the price again.

We've looked at, I think, 15 houses in the past week. One got marked off the list - serious water issues, they were replacing carpet and regrading the lot on the day we were going to look. That's enough to get them dropped from the possibles list.

Went to look at a house yesterday. In a nice planned development - mixed residential and business, which I like, but there were problems. First, little to no yard space, and what was there, wasn't fence-able because of the driveway location. Second, planned development = HOA and restrictions. There was a copy of the regulations & restrictions available; I stopped after reading the (short) list of approved trees, the single maker of approved mailboxes, and the shrub requirements (14 per lot - 2 5-gallon, 4 2-gallon, 8 1-gallon, all in mulch-beds). It went on for another few dozen pages - restrictions on what you can make raised beds and garden fences out of, sidewalk materials, paint colors, etc.

The house looked lovely in the pictures, and when we drove by. Nice wrap-around porch, screen deck, windows, dormers. Sigh. Turned out that the porch was maybe 3 feet deep all around - more of a covered sidewalk than a porch. No room for someone to walk past if you're sitting on the porch.

I think it's probably not at the top of the list. We need a yard.

Right now, the best option is one we looked at last week. Nice big house, 5 bedrooms (2 master suites - one on the top floor, one in the basement), split level decks, retractable awning. It does have a smallish fenced yard, which is all sloped, and not a little bit of slope, either. But it gets enough sunlight that grass will grow there. It's a tall house, though - two flights of stairs to the upper floor. If we lived there, I'd have leg muscles. :) It also has an open cathedral ceiling in the living room - the light fixtures are maybe 20 feet up. Be a bitch to change the bulbs there. The tall wall is all wood paneling, which looks pretty nice.

The yard is my big sticking point, and all the stairs. But it would probably do for a 3 or 4 years, until we could find ground and build our own.

Puppets!

2010-05-14T16:14:00.002-05:00

I seem to be on a puppet kick. It's partly due to El Burrito's upcoming birthday - he's asked for a puppet or two, and likes to play with the library's puppet collection. I've managed to come up with three so far, a dog, an elephant, and a Tweety bird. Paid 50 cents each for them - one at a yard sale, the others at Goodwill this week.

The dog originally had a barker attachment, so that he'd bark every time his mouth moved. I took care of that easily enough; it wasn't sewn in well at all. I spent half an hour htis morning sewing his mouth back together and re-stuffing his head, since I had to de-stuff him in order to flip him inside out and de-bark him.

And now it occurred to me (last night) to search Ravelry for crocheted puppet patterns. It's a slippery slope, but fun. I've found one that looks almost exactly like Kermit, a sock monkey, a really neat (but not free) parrot, and some others. Then I went looking for amigurumi. The slope got steeper - a whale (chart only, and the notes are in Japanese), horses, moose, penguins.

And do you know the kicker in all this? 95% of my yarn is unreachable. I can find two skeins of brown, one bright red, and one green/blue variegated right now. And none of it would work well for the patterns I've found. Makes the no-new-yarn ban kind of problematic.

More annoying fluff

2010-05-07T17:47:00.002-05:00

Related to yesterday's post - today I read a local women's (woman's?) magazine, a freebie that you can pick up around town. The first page was an ad for a local place that does HCG weight loss, written to look like an editor's page or article, claiming weight losses of 8-13 pounds per week. It was marked "advertisement" at the bottom, but at first glance, you'd get the impression that it was an article.

I can't explain exactly why, but it offended me. Maybe because I'd like to lose weight, but hormone injections probably aren't the way to go, even if it doesn't scream "scam" to me. Because you know, the 500-calories-per-day diet is probably behind most of the weight loss, and that's just not healthy. Plus the recommended exercise, and - at least for some people - other meds like Phentermine (anyone remember the Fen-Phen mess?). Not to mention that I'd be starving and cranky on that kind of diet.

Or maybe all the defenders are right, and I'm an idiot for not signing up myself.

Fluff

2010-05-06T16:29:00.002-05:00

For the record, OK magazine seems to be the fluffiest thing I've ever read. I finished the first issue (free subscription - SO glad I'm not paying for this stuff) in 20 minutes or so. And the hypocrisy, sheesh. Jennifer Aniston "lost 7 pounds in 7 days" but "her body is her temple" and she takes "her physical health seriously." Yeah, which totally contradicts every study that says losing weight that fast is generally not a good idea. (Okay, people with massive amounts to lose may be able to average 7 pounds/week at some points, but a person as already-thin as J Aniston doesn't have that much to lose in the first place.

Also (from the Gifts Mom will Love! article) - if anyone in my family blew $98 plus shipping for 9 bars of soap, I'd pass out from shock. And on awakening, would have to ask them what the everloving crumbs they were thinking?? Ditto for the $48 candles and $285 diary (probably 1-year, non-refillable). Oy. Seriously, $10 a bar for soap?!?!

Easter bargains

2010-04-30T15:15:00.005-05:00

The post-Easter bargain hunting haul from a couple weeks ago:

Hy-Vee's post-Easter clearance (my best score):

1 large bag jelly beans - 50c
2 small bags jelly beans - 25c each
3 marshmallow bunnies - 25c each
4 boxes of Peeps (one not shown - I ate it!) - 25c each
3 cartons of Whoppers - 25c each
2 cartons Reese's eggs - 25 c each
Snickers egg - 25c

Hy-Vee doesn't show the original price on the tags or receipts. I do know the Whoppers were $1 each regular price, the Reese's were probably the same, and 99c seems to be the standard price for the small Peeps boxes. I'm pretty sure all this was at least 75% off.

I almost forgot the best deals from Hy-Vee: their clearanced books. I got two hardcovers:

Mr. Monk in Outer Space - $1.25, list price 29.95
Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon - $1.75, list price 27.95

They were 75% off the Hy-Vee price, which makes them more than 90% off.

Target clearance:

Puzzle - 30% off, originally 3.99, I think
Cars toy keychain with sound effects - $2.81, regular $3.99

Walmart Clearance - Easter was 50% off, I think. Most had no original price marked.
- Inkjet iron-on paper - $7.00, no original price listed
- Inkjet iron-on paper for cotton - $2.50, no original price listed
- Cars mini set - $3.00, no original price listed
- Peeps - 49c each, original price 98c
- Paas set - 36c, originally 1.44
- Egg cup dye sets - 47c, originally 1.88
- bag of Reese's cups - $1.50, originally $3.00
- Egg full of Reese's eggs - $1.75, originally $3.50

Some days, I find the lightbulb

2010-04-29T12:08:00.003-05:00

Today's little lightbulb moment:

I want to record PBS' broadcast of Hamlet (with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart) this week, so I need to set the machine. Which means finding enough recording space.

Side note: we've got a Panasonic combo DVR/VCR that uses blank DVDs. Including DVD-RAM discs, which are killer awesome, since you can keep part of a recording instead of the all or nothing Tivo capabilities. I LOVE that option.

So, I planned to watch part of the Olympics closing ceremonies that I recorded, then delete most of that and free up some space. (I may keep the opening bit with the mime and the malfunctioning torch, even though having Red Green do it would have been funnier.) Got up this morning intending to do t his before El Burrito woke up.

Hit the power on the TV and DVR, and the DVR is having issues. Claims it's recording something - which turned out to be In Plain Sight from 8 hours ago and probably isn't really recorded - and wouldn't power down or stop this so-called recording. No problem, I say. I know where the Reset button is. That led to an Error code (F03, for the record), and of course I can't find the lousy manual. Sure, I can download the manual online, but it's a 3-hour download. Joy.

A little more Googling - complicated by the stupid *&*&%^ Google redirect virus thing that I can't get rid of - led to one comment about someone getting this error and finding a toothbrush in the VCR compartment.

Hmmm, I said, and went to find the flashlight. Yep, there it was - a crumpled coupon, stuck in the VCR door by someone who shall remain nameless.

The trick was getting it out. My hand wasn't long enough, and I managed to nudge it farther in. Ditto for chopsticks, although I came close, and if I was chopstick-literate, probably could have done it. Turning the DVR sideways and letting gravity help wouldn't work without unplugging everything, thus upsetting Mr. Drama Queen, who was still upset about wearing a short-sleeved shirt!! With a tag!!!! And having to take his pink medicine!!!!!!!

Lightbulb brainstorm MacGyver moment: I found a piece of square wood dowel and some tape. Made sure to put one layer of tape sticky-side-in, because losing tape inside the machine would just make things worse. And the sticky-side-out layer worked like a charm.

One more round of Reset button, and we seem to be back on track.

More house hunting

2010-04-28T17:16:00.002-05:00

We just put in an offer on our plan-B house. It's lower than the asking price, so we'll see what their counteroffer is.

It's a nice house, very big. The yard is fenced already, but not as big as I'd like. There is room for a small garden, and play space for El Burrito. Bonus: it's not far from where we are now, so commute times won't change much.

How small is the yard? A decent size, but small enough that I may really consider a reel-type mower. If not, then a push-mower, because it's not big enough to justify any kind of riding mower.

Oy. The down payment check will probably make me a bit nauseous, but then I was a tiny bit shaky when I paid the down payment on my car (a very small car, $3,000 down).

House Hunting update

2010-04-26T18:07:00.002-05:00

Update:

After viewing 10 homes in 8 hours (with about 150 miles total driving), we've moved to Plan B - find something in town that will be adequate for 1-2 years (*), until we can find some ground and have a house built.

(*) Give our motivation levels, I won't be surprised if 1-2 years turns into 5 or so. Hell, we started house-hunting about 8 years ago, intending to be in a house before we had any kids. Uh huh. El Burrito is going to be 4 pretty soon.

We'd planned to park El B at Grandma & Grandpa's house over this past weekend, while we looked at homes. So of course, El B spent Friday puking (all over me!), and we didn't think he or his grandparents needed the hassle. I stayed home with Mr No Longer Throwing Up, and DH went with the realtor to look at 10 or so houses. In a drenching downpour most of the day - which demonstrated drainage/gutter issues at one house, and meant that another house wasn't viewable because of road/water problems.

Three of those made the short-list, so we're both going for another look this week, plus a visit with the mortgage people.

And on top of that, El B is still under the weather (although thankfully no longer vomiting), and the HVAC checkup on Friday revealed that our AC's issue earlier this month was a severe lack of freon. They came back today and took care of things, and wonder of wonders, it was all covered by the warranty. Yay!

By this time next week, we may have a house under contract. Our mortgage right now is seriously low, so the new mortgage could be 3x to 4x of the current one. I may get a little nauseous when I write the mortgage checks for a while.

Dinner

2010-04-26T16:40:00.004-05:00

I actually cooked dinner Sunday night. Shock, shock. Cooking lately has been iffy - DH is on Byetta for his diabetes, which has done some strange (and crummy) things to his appetite. Things he used to love, he now can't choke down. The chicken fingers that El Burrito loves, make DH nauseous. And sometimes, it seems like most of what I can cook also makes him green around the gills. I'm hoping that after we move (see future post), we'll get a treadmill, he can drop some weight again, and maybe, hopefully, the Byetta can either be decreased or dropped altogether.

So, my cooking. It was a serendipitous thing - I went to the library and grocery shopping, since El Burrito has been sick since Friday. At the library, I picked up some books I had on hold, and one happened to be the America's Test Kitchen Best 30-Minute Meals cookbook. I looked through it after I got home, and found a recipe for Pineapple-glazed Chicken that seemed (a) pretty simple and (b) didn't turn DH green. And, we had almost all of the ingredients (we have no cayenne, and no cider vinegar).

So, I went for it. And other than flunking out on reading comprehension and starting off with a lidless skillet, it came out pretty good. Next time, I'm adding more pineapple juice, though - the glaze was kind of skimpy, especially since the recipe was for 4 people and I only cooked 2 chicken breasts. With four, the glaze would have been almost non-existent. Another surprise - it didn't take me much longer than the 30 minutes they estimated, if you don't count waiting for the slightly-freezer burnt chicken to thaw.

I served it up with a box of Uncle Ben's wild rice, plus the leftover sides from the macaroni takeout meal I got at Hyvee to tempt El Burrito into eating (which didn't really work).

I've gotta say, I love the America's Test Kitchen cookbooks. I may have to hunt down copies, or use some of my Amazon certificates to buy some. Their explanations are interesting, educational, and helpful. (Alton Brown's Good Eats is the same way - I like to know the whys behind the methods.) Plus, Christopher Kimball, the host of ATC, rides horses, which gets him bonus points with me.

It's Alive!!

2010-04-21T01:45:00.003-05:00

I was evicting the houseplant jungle today (off to a summer on the porch) and saw this:

One of my purple oxalis (shamrocks) is still alive! Sure, only one sprig so far, but I expect more to show up, especially after some regular watering and a shot of fertilizer. I'd given up on them, there are two pots of them and both have been dormant for months now. I bought the bulbs/corms online about two years ago, when I couldn't find the purple form at a decent (to me) price around St. Patrick's Day. They looked so-so for a while, then went dormant, as oxalis do, but stayed that way longer than my green oxalis.

And then this year, Hy-Vee had 4-inch pots of purple oxalis for $5. I restrained myself and only bought two. They tend to multiply well, so I'll be able to divide the Hy-Vee pots in a year or two. I believe I started out wtih two pots of green oxalis (from Ace Hardware's post-St. Pat's sale), and I think I'm up to four now.

Gardening - Better late than never

2010-04-16T19:37:00.002-05:00

I finally got some seeds started today: Sunflowers, sweet pepper mix, ornamental peppers, shamrocks (trifolium, not oxalis), 4-o-clocks, and catnip. Plus, my purple oxalis shamrocks are in real pots now.

And in my sort-of-garden outside are a six-pack of marigolds, plus a pack of marigold seed, the rest of the 4-o-clock pack, and most of a pack of portulaca from 2005. We'll see what - if anything - comes up. The portulaca all ended up in the same spot, so I raked it to stir things up. Not sure anything got planted at the right depth, but oh well.

Yard sale loot

2010-04-15T17:34:00.003-05:00

I managed to go to two big yard sales last weekend, both fundraisers - one Habitat for Humanity, one for a local school. I like it - one stop shopping, lots of parking.

For a whopping $25.85 total, I got:

one yellow Japanese Iris start
large plastic flowerpot
gallon Ziploc with 4 spools of crochet thread
2 Nestle Tollhouse tins, one round, one square, for 75c. Saw 2 similar ones at a thrift store today, priced at $10 each.
dinosaur tray-puzzle
large 1000-piece puzzle, not sure if it's all there
red, white, and blue Beanie horse
a 10,000 Maniacs CD for DH that he doesn't have already ($1.00)
2 Johnny Carson DVDs, $3 each (I think their prices are a bit high)
a like-new hardcover copy of Tolkien's Sigurd and Gudrun, although it's a book-club edition, for $1
assorted other paperbacks, including an Asimov that I didn't have already
Sesame Street English/Spanish memory card game, with all the cards
Disney Scene It game, mostly complete
Pooh memory card game
stuffed penguin puppet (sort of - the hole goes from the feet up through the back, not sure what it really was, but now it's a puppet)
6 Viewmaster reels
9 books
3 coloring books
1 pair of DisneyStore Incredibles pajamas
a few magazines
one country music VHS

and I think that's it. Not as good as finding the Puzz3D Titanic for $2, but still pretty good finds.

Allergies

2010-04-12T02:42:00.002-05:00

Allergies suck. 'Nuf said.

I'm taking generic Zyrtec, plus Target's form of Nephcon-A or some such, just to keep from scratching my eyes out. We turned the AC on tonight - 80 degrees inside, lovely temps outside but I can't bring myself to open the doors and let some more pollen or whatever it is come in the house.

I really hope this blows over (literally) in another week or so. Everything's blooming outside, and I can't go out to enjoy it.

Strange associations

2010-04-05T00:59:00.002-05:00

I'm way way behind on Lost, but no matter how often I saw Keamy being wicked on the Island, I always said"Hey, it's Zippy!!" every time Kevin Durand's face popped up on-screen.

Yes, I'm a bit of a Stargate geek. Zippy was Jack's nickname for the Goa'uld Lord Zipacna, named for a Mayan god.

The house-hunting marathon

2010-03-29T16:51:00.003-05:00

We started house-hunting over the weekend. Packed El Burrito off for a day with Grandma & Grandpa, and met the Realtor for a 10-house 8-hour marathon. And this wasn't the usual day with five houses on one street or anything. These were rural places - we probably put at least 100 miles of driving in.

We saw some nice houses with lousy location, nice locations with lousy houses, and nothing that said "Buy me NOW" (unfortunately). A few "What were they thinking??" moments out there. Who puts the second-floor stairway exiting into the garage? Who really thinks that an acre of wooded pasture is sufficient ground to keep a horse? Why spend a load of money upgrading a recently-upgraded kitchen, in a house you're selling (because you're having money problems)? And who puts a beer tap in their kitchen?

Apparently the latest fads are jetted tubs and those quotations/phrases painted or decal-ed onto the walls.

House Hunting 2010

2010-03-26T18:30:00.002-05:00

We're going with a Realtor (Blogger's spell-check insists on the capitalized R) this week to look at houses. Haven't done this in 5+ years. We've got ten on the list of possibles for the first trip, but they're spread out quite a bit (all out of town) so I'm not sure we'll make all ten.

And now I need to start thinking about packing, decluttering, and making a list of what we'll need to buy ASAP after we move. Like some furniture (ours is minimal, old, and decrepit) and a kitchen/dining table. And a hammock. And a freezer.

I'm rare

2010-03-19T12:53:00.002-05:00

If this survey/poll in American Baby is close to accurate, I'm one of the 10% of people who didn't know if the baby was a boy or a girl before it was born.

This proves it, I'm special. :)

Crocheting

2010-03-10T15:35:00.003-06:00

I got quite a bit of crocheting done last month and this past week, mostly during the Olympics.

Finished:

The "Curling Scarf" (because I watched a good bit of curling while I worked on it):

Done in Naturally Caron's Country, a mohair/microdenier acrylic blend, in two shades of purple plus off-white. The pattern is the Stripes and Bars No Weaving Ends scarf from Crochet.about.com. Haven't decided yet if I want to leave the fringe as-is, add more, or weave it in. I blocked it once, but it was a half-baked job and needs to be redone to get rid of the curl at the corners. And of course, now that it's finished, temps are in the 50s and I don't need it.

Then my mom and one of her sisters came to visit, and Auntie wants a hat like El Burrito's. Her breast cancer is back, and has spread all over (jaw, shoulder, etc.) and she wanted a nice soft hat to wear. I used Red Heart Soft in Toast and Paprika (love the names!). I tried something new - I made center-pull balls out of the skeins, then put each ball in one half of a pair of super-cheap knee-high panty hose to keep the outer layers from unwinding (had that issue with the Caron). It worked pretty well, and only cost 50 cents.

I used the earflap hat pattern from the 2008 Pattern-a-Day calendar; it's turning into my go-to earflap hat pattern. Here's the finished hat, modeled by El Burrito:

and by El Burrito's newest pet (El Burrito seems to be on strike as a hat model):

The colors looked really well; the Toast isn't as olive-green as this picture looks on my screen.

Next up: possibly a Scandinavian Hat for me, done in purples; or the Gaelic Bay Afghan in Lion's Fishermen's Wool; or a hat for my mom; or lots of dishcloths to use up this pile of Lily Sugar 'n' Cream that seems to have bred in the closet.

Something for the To-Do list

2010-03-04T13:27:00.001-06:00

To do: I need to look at my online inventory at Half.com and Amazon Marketplace, and rethink whether some of the lower-priced books are worth it.

Just sold a paperback at Amazon. Selling price was $3.50, and after Amazon's commission (higher than Half, admittedly), postage, and the mailer, I made a whopping $1.34.

More crocheting

2010-02-26T18:47:00.001-06:00

Olympic update: the Scandinavian hat is done (I think*), and I'm 80% done with the scarf. Then I'm starting a hat for an aunt who's having a recurrence of breast cancer. She was admiring El Burrito's earflap hats and wants one of her own, so I'm shooting to have it done by the end of next week. The scarf may be done tonight, depending on how exciting the curling matches are. :)

* I think I finished it before I sent it off. I may have forgotten to seam the inside lining of the hat, but I'll have to wait to find out. Oopsie.

Olympic crocheting

2010-02-23T02:57:00.002-06:00

I didn't manage to get organized in time to sign up for any crocheting Olympics, but I have done some.

The Scandinavian Hat #1 is finished. It was my first hat that wasn't worked in rounds, and came out fairly well. I did have issues with the cross-stitching done for decoration, since I had to drop some rows because I couldn't make gauge for love or money. The X design on the brim came out a bit off, since there was a different number of stitches than the pattern needed.

Then I started what will probably be called the Curling Scarf, since that's 95% of what we've watched this Olympics. It's a pattern from Crochet.about.com, done in long rows with fringe (so no weaving-in). I'm using Naturally Caron's Country, a merino/acrylic blend, in two shades of purple, plus a winter white. This is my first shot at treble/triple crochet and spike/long stitches.

Crochet: the Scandinavian Hat(s)

2010-02-04T01:10:00.003-06:00

True to form, I started a new crochet project before the last three (ha!) are officially finished. (The tan/brown/rust hat for El Burrito needs a pompom, maybe. The wool blue & purple hat for me needs a pompom and longer strings, and the wool hat Version 1.0 for El Burrito needs a pompom, maybe.)

Last weekend, I started on another hat, this one for my brother's girlfriend/fiance. It's the Scandinavian Hat pattern from Red Heart, which we saw in a Crochet Today magazine ad. I couldn't find the Red Heart Soft yarn at Hobby Lobby, so I ended up with Hobby Lobby's "I Love This Yarn" store brand. The hat is mostly black, which I swore off after doing a scarf for my sister in black and iris Microspun. Turns out most of the problem there was that Microspun is a really loose twist, and splitty as all heck. I Love This Yarn doesn't have that problem. It's easy to work with so far, in spite of using a dark color and having the crappiest indoor lighting ever.

This is the first hat I've done that was seamed instead of worked in the round. My big issue so far is that I could not make the pattern's gauge for anything. I started over three times, ending up with a hook 2 sizes smaller than listed, and still wasn't hitting gauge. So I got a measuring tape and dropped a dozen or so stitches off the foundation chain in order to hit the 22-inch length I needed. I also had to drop a couple of rows out of the pattern, which meant winging it on the decreases at the top. Seems to be working out so far, I'm doing the border right now and will start on the lining when that's done.

After I get Future Sister-in-Law's hat done, I'm doing one for myself. I may need another skein of black, but I'll have plenty of red and tons of white left over.

The other nice thing about HL's I Love This Yarn is that they make the center-pull end so easy to find. Lovely, so I don't have to spend an hour unrolling the skein and rolling it back into a center-pull ball.

Sickness & infection

2010-02-04T00:43:00.002-06:00

I spent my day, or most of it, trapped on the couch with a sickly young man. What fun, because he insisted on watching "little boy shows" (i.e. the PBS Kids daytime lineup) and on having me right there with him. I did get some crocheting done, but not much else.

For the morning, we waited for a call-back from the pediatrician's office, then went in for a visit, and stopped at the pharmacy on the way home. Turns out El Burrito has an ear infection with a side order of possible strep, and, oh yeah, have we noticed any ear drainage, because Dr. P wasn't sure, but that ear looked a little moist and the eardrum may have ruptured recently, it's hard to tell, and anyway it's healing already if it did happen.

Which is why I spent the rest of the afternoon pinned to the couch by an unhappy and clingy young man. So much fun. I did get to read a bit (awkwardly, since he was draped over my lap), and after he finally dozed off, did some crocheting (a hat for my brother's girlfriend/fiance) and watched The Good Wife.

I really hope the amoxicillin works fast, because our couch is actually a love seat, and is definitely not suited for an all-day camp-out. Doesn't help that it's old and sags in places, either.

Library stats

2010-01-04T02:11:00.001-06:00

For the record: today we have 33 items out (and only 3 of those are El Burrito's) and 3 on hold.

The 2010 Reading List

2010-01-03T19:12:00.105-06:00

I'm going to try and top last year. I'm also including this year anything that I read aloud to El Burrito, but I may not include those in the "official" count. DH read 12 books to him on Friday. :)

So, here goes:

The Big Book of Weekend Crochet
Ramona and her Father, by Beverly Cleary (01-01-10)
Hobby Farms (01-01-10)
Please DO Feed the Bears (01-02-10)
Thai Die, by Monica Ferris (01-03-10)
Danny and the Dinosaur, by Syd Hoff (01-03-10)
Doodle Bites, by Polly Dunbar (01-03-10)
Driving in Tonka Town (01-03-10)
Blackwork, by Monica Ferris (01-04-10)
Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian, by Scott Douglas (01-04-10)
Tractor Mac Arrives at the Farm, by Billy Steers (01-04-10)
Wrapped in Crochet: Scarves, Wraps & Shawls, by Kristin Omdahl (01-13-10) Has a nice log-cabin pattern scarf, if I wasn't already overstocked on scarves. :)
M is for Monster (01-13-10)
The Dinosaur Alphabet Book, by Jerry Pellota (01-13-10)
The Complete Peanuts, 1971-72 (01-14-10)
Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide, by Peter Allison. (01-15-10) Very interesting stories, some had me laughing so hard I cried.
The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman (01-16-10) A really good book, especially for younger readers that like the spooky stuff.
Bedlam Boyz, by Ellen Guon (01-17-10)
Mark of the Lion, by Suzanne Arruda (01-18-10) First in the Jade del Cameron series, about a woman in Africa after World War I. Similar in tone, I think, to the Amelia Peabody books.
a couple books I can't remember
Wormwood, by Susan Wittig Albert (01-18-10)
Summoned to Tourney, by Mercedes Lackey
Ramona and her Father, by Beverly Cleary
Azazel, by Isaac Asimov (01-19-10) Short stories about a 2-inch high demon called Azazel, and the dangers of getting what you wish for.
??? by Suzanne Arruda. Second Jade del Cameron book
Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World by Sharon Waxman (1-29-10) Interesting read, and raises a lot of questions. I'm ambivalent about the whole issue - theft is wrong, of course, but how many people won't have a chance to travel internationally? And why aren't copies/replicas discussed? The life-size copy of the Parthenon in Nashville TN is in better shape than the real one. Granted, it takes a lot of space, but it's more effective than just seeing chunks of the Elgin marbles in a museum, real or not.
Clifford the Fire House Dog (1-29-10)
Brian Peterson's Understanding Photography Field Guide (01-29-10)
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, by Gabrielle Zevin (02-03-10)
The Lotus Seed, by Sherry Garland
Snow Bear, by Jean Craighead George
Clifford's Busy Week, by Norman Bridwell
Clifford's Easter, by Norman Bridwell
Where's Tumpty?, by Polly Dunbar
Doodle Bites, by Polly Dunbar
Hello Tilly, by Polly Dunbar
Sheep Blast Off (02-03-10)
Windows XP Bible, Desktop Edition - Alan Simpson (02-04-10) - Didn't read it all, of course. Was hoping for a good chapter on Movie Maker.
Capturing Mood, Ambience & Dramatic Effects: the Dynamic Language of Digital Photography, by Joseph Meehan (02-04-10)
Crochet in No Time: a simple, stylish collection of 52 quick-crochet projects, by Melody Griffiths. (02-04-10) Has a nice elephant and zebra.
Swindled: The dark history of food fraud, from poisoned candy to counterfeit coffee, by Bee Wilson (02-05-10) Makes you want to not eat for a while.
The Nine Pound Hammer (The Clockwork Dark, Book 1), by John Claude Bemis (02-05-10)
Digital Photography Book Volume 2, by Scott Kelby (02-07-10). Interesting, quick read, nice pics.
What to Read When, by Pam Allyn (02-08-10) - Skimmed; interesting.
Attack Poodles
Looking for Marco Polo, by Alan Armstrong (02-11-10)
Across African Sand: Journeys of a Witch-Doctor's Son-in-Law, by Phil Deutschle (02-16-10)
Serpent's Daughter, by Suzanne Arruda (third Jade del Cameron mystery) (02-22-10) These are good, especially the descriptions of foreign countries. Makes me wish I was a better traveler.
Paint the Wind - The back-of-the-book blurb referred to "the next Marguerite Henry", which is a possibility. No screaming inaccuracies as far as the horsey parts went.
Chrome Circle, by Mercedes Lackey. One of the SERRAted Edge series; I like these, although one or two have some very depressing scenes (When the Bough Breaks, specifically). Overall, though, I really like them.
Wolf by the Ears, by Ann Rinaldi (03-05-10) Historical juvenile fiction, main character is one of the daughters of Sally Hemings and (possibly) Thomas Jefferson.
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: recipes from an accidental country girl (03-09-10)
Jamie's Food Revolution, by Jamie Oliver (03-09-10)
Chasing Cans, by Laura Crum. Tenth Gail McCarthy mystery, and of course my library has #s 1, 2, and 10. So I missed out on a bunch of stuff.
The Leopard's Prey, by Suzanne Arruda. (03-17-10) The 4th Jade del Cameron. Again, pretty good stuff. I need to read the fifth, and see if there's a sixth coming out soon.
Gone from These Woods, by Donny Bailey Seagraves. (03-18-10) Picked this one up off the juvenile fiction shelf while El Burrito was playing on the library computers. Something to think about around hunting season, particularly if an accident happens.
Buster and the Great Swamp, by Marc Brown. (03-18-10)
Does Cheese Grow on Trees? An Ask Kermit book About Food, by Michael Teitelbaum. (03-18-10)
Junior on the Farm, by Samantha Berger and Lisa Eve Huberman. (03-18-10)
Wall-e (Little Golden Book version) (03-21-10). Not crazy about the illustration style.
200 Crochet Tips, Techniques, & Trade Secrets, by Jan Eaton (03-22-10). No patterns, but lots of pictures and explanations.
Jim Baen's Universe 2006, edited by Eric Flint. Good stuff; a collection of short fiction from the online magazine. Would have been better if the CD-ROM wasn't missing, but oh well.
(#65!) The Thirty-Nine Steps, by John Buchan. (03-23-10) Watched this on Masterpiece Theatre a few weeks back. They took some liberties with the book, but both the book and the movie were pretty entertaining.
The Gift of Fear, by Gavin de Becker (03-2x-10)
Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers, by Gloria Whelan (03-24-10)
There's a Monster in the Alphabet, by James Rumford (03-24-10) Greek/Phoenician alphabet history
The Complete Photo Guide to Framing & Displaying Artwork, by Vivian Carli Kistler. (03-25-10)
Digital Macro Photography, by Ross Hoddinott (03-25-10)
Closeup Shooting: a guide to closeup, Tabletop, and Macro Photography, by Cyrill Harnischmacher (03-26-10)
Mr. Monk in Trouble, by Lee Goldberg (03-29-10) Mr. Monk in an old gold-mine town. Pretty good, especially the Artemis storyline.
A Pocketful of Rye, by Agatha Christie. (03-30-10) Pulled this one out of the stack from the last book sale, since Masterpiece Mystery is showing this story next month. Not bad, although I had someone else pegged as the vengeful offspring.
The Edmund Fitzgerald: Song of the Bell, by Kathy-Jo Wargin. Interesting kids' picture book version. There's a Due South tie-in, since the Robert Mackenzie episode was loosely based on the Edmund Fitzgerald story.
I'm a Turkey, by Jim Arnosky (04-01-10)
Elephants of Africa, by Gail Gibbons (04-01-10)
Clifford's Happy Easter, by Norman Bridwell (04-01-10)
One Potato: a counting book of potato prints, by Diana Pomeroy (04-01-10)
Trouble at the Dinosaur Cafe, by Brian Moses (04-01-10)
I Can't Take You Anywhere!, by Phyllis Renolds Naylor (04-01-10)
President Pennybaker, by Kate Feiffer (04-01-10)
Scared Stiff, by Katie Davis (04-01-10)
But excuse me that is my book, by Lauren Child (04-01-10) Apparently based on some TV special that I've never heard of.
Little Bunny's Easter Surprise, by Jeanne Modesitt (04-01-10)
Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest (04-02-10) Steampunk, recommended by the Unshelved online comic strip.
Treasure of the Golden Cheetah, by Suzanne Arruda (04-02-10). Fifth and latest (so far, I hope) in the Jade del Cameron series. These are kind of making me want to take a safari, in a strange way.
Calvin Coconut, Trouble Magnet, by Graham Salisbury (04-07-10). First of a grade-school level series, set in Hawai'i. These are short and funny, and I'm keeping them in mind for when El Burrito is old enough.
Calvin Coconut: The Zippy Fix, by Graham Salisbury (04-07-10).
Calvin Coconut: Dog Heaven, by Graham Salisbury (04-07-10). Not as gloomy as you might think from the title. "Dog Heaven" is the local humane society, where Calvin goes to get a dog after convincing his mother that he's responsible enough for one. There's also a pig who rides in a jeep, with a seat belt.
A Stitch in Crime, by Betty Hechtman (04-09-10) Fourth in a crochet-themed mystery series.
Holly Blues, by Susan Wittig Albert (04-12-10)
Trouble at the Dinosaur Cafe, by Brian Moses (04-12-10)
Jumpy Jack and Googily, by Meg Rosoff & Sophie Blackall (04-12-10)
With You Always, Little Monday, by Genevieve Cote (04-12-10)
Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus (04-13-10)
Junie B. Jones, Lunch Boss
Meet Molly, by Valerie Tripp (04-13-10)
Molly Learns a Lesson, by Valerie Tripp (04-13-10)
Changes for Molly, by Valerie Tripp (04-13-10)
Samantha Learns a Lesson, by Susan S. Adler (04-13-10)
Changes for Samantha, by Susan S. Adler (04-13-10)
Felicity Learns a Lesson, by Valerie Tripp (04-14-10)
Meet Addy, by Connie Porter (04-14-10)
Addy Learns a Lesson, by Connie Porter (04-14-10)
Meet Kirsten, by Janet Shaw (04-14-10)
Kirsten Learns a Lesson, by Janet Shaw (04-14-10)
Kirsten's Surprise, by Janet Shaw (04-14-10)
Happy Birthday, Kirsten, by Janet Shaw (04-14-10)
Kirsten Saves the Day, by Janet Shaw (04-14-10)
Changes for Kirsten, by Janet Shaw (04-14-10)
Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Uninvited Guest, by Kathryn Kenny
Gift Horse, by Betty Levin (04-??-10) Typical kid-gets-horse story, with a Fjord.
Smoke, by Mavis Jukes (04-20-10)
Our Farm: Four Seasons with Five Kids on One Family's Farm, by Michael J. Rosen. (04-21-10) This one is interesting, written on a grade school level. Not too idealized, but the quotes are more from the kids than the parents.
Fix it, Please, by Ellen Weiss. (04-21-10) A Sesame Street book, old-school style. Luis has the Fix-it Shop, and no Elmo or Abby in sight. Just Herry, Grover, Ernie, and Prairie Dawn. Heck, we watch Sesame these days, and my boy has no clue who Snuffleupagus is. That's just wrong.
Bull God, by Roberta Gellis. I really liked this one. It's a SF/Fantasy interpretation of the story of Ariadne, Theseus, and the Minotaur, among other characters. (04-23-10)
Hooked on Murder (04-23-10) First in a crochet-mystery series.
Complete Peanuts, 1973-1974 (04-24-10)
Quantum Leap: Search and Rescue, by Melissa Crandall (04-25-10) This one was okay, not my favorite, but pretty good characterization. Unfortunately, my copy (from a library sale) is missing pages 57-88, which were replaced by an extra copy of pages 137-168. I may have missed some important parts.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot (04-25-10) This one was really interesting and fairly informative. I picked it up at the library from a recommendation either in the newspaper or somewhere online.
When Television was Young, by Ed McMahon and David Fisher (04-27-10)
The Pet Dragon: a story about Adventure, Friendship, and Chinese Characters, by Christoph Niemann (04-29-10)
My Chincoteague Pony, by Susan Jeffers (04-29-10) Pre-school-ish level, a nice story but a bit too perfect. Although that's okay if you're young.
Double Trouble Squared, by Kathryn Lasky (04-29-10). First in the Starbuck Family trilogy, YA-level. Sherlock Holmes theme.
Grow Organic, from Dorling Kindersley, edited by Anna Kruger (04-30-10)
Linnea's Windowsill Garden, by Christina Bjork and Lenar Anderson (04-30-10)
Hoofbeats: Margret and Flynn, 1875, by Kathleen Duey (04-30-10) YA, Mark Twain Award nominee. Apparently part of a series, which I didn't realize.
How to Boil Water: Life Beyond Takeout, from the Food Network Kitchens (04-30-10)
I Wonder if I'll See a Whale, by Frances Ward Weller (05-01-10)
The Tenth Good Thing About Barney, by Judith Viorst (05-01-10)
Phantom, Son of the Gray Ghost, by C. W. Anderson (05-02-10)
The Outlaw, by C. W. Anderson (05-02-10)
A Voice in the Wind, by Kathryn Lasky (05-04-10)
The Blind Connemara, by C. W. Anderson
Alanna, the First Adventure, by Tamora Pierce
Crochet in Color: Techniques and designs for Playing with Color, by Kathy Merrick (05-15-10) Mostly patterns, not a lot of technique.
Sleeping Naked is Green, by Vanessa Farquharson (05-18-10) I need to check out her blog; she chronicled a year of making one environmentally-friendly change per day. Funny book, too.
A My Name is Alice (05-23-10) A Sesame Street book. Snuffie's first name is Aloysius, his sister is Alice.
The Red Blazer Girls: the Ring of Rocamadour, by Michael D. Beil. (05-23-10) Sort of a modern-day middle-school Nancy Drew. Pretty funny, even with a lot of math used in the mystery.
The Victory Garden Kids' Book, by Marjorie Waters. (05-24-10) Interesting, in spite of the 80s-era look of the whole thing. When we get a garden, I'll have to check it out again.
The American Family Farm, a photo essay by George Ancona, text by Joan Anderson. (05-24-10) Written for kids, which explains the superficiality of it. But it does cover 3 families from different areas, so there's a range of activity.
Me and Mr. Darcy, by Alexandra Potter (05-27-10) Picked up for a quarter at the library's cart sale. It's pretty interesting, with a little bit of a twist. And now I want a little sequel, or another chapter at least, to know how things turned out. It's got a bit in common with Bridget Jones, at least in tone (the main character isn't as obsessed with dating/weight/etc.), and it was a fun read.
Tapestry: The Hound of Rowan, by Henry H. Neff (05-xx-10) This one is good, and I'm waiting for the next book in the series to get back to the library. People will probably compare it to Harry Potter, and there are some similarities, but as the saying goes, there are no new ideas under the sun (or something like that). I'm interested in seeing if we're ever given any back-story for David, and finding out what happens to Max's Dad (and how his disappearance was explained outside).
Turquoise Boy: A Navajo Legend, written & adapted by Terri Cohlene (05-xx-10)
Calling Romeo, by Alexandra Potter
Do You Come Here Often, by Alexandra Potter (06-03-10) Picked up Mr. Darcy & Me because it looked interesting, and now I'm reading her earlier novels. They're interesting, entertaining, but not too deep. Perfect for summer. :) And, unlike the formulaic Sunfire teen-romance novels that my sister read, the heroine doesn't always end up back with the original boyfriend.
Hot, Passionate, and Illegal? by Cristian de la Fuente (06-08-10)
Winnie-the-Pooh's Book of Opposites
Clifford's Halloween
Sky Boys
The Problem with CHickens
The Hero and the Crown - one of my favorites! (06-10-10)
The Yucky Reptile Alphabet Book (06-13-10)
Clifford, We Love You (06-13-10)
30-Second Theories: the 50 most thought-provoking theories in science, each explained in half a minute, edited by Paul Parsons. (06-14-10)
The Double Comfort Safari Club, by Alexander McCall Smith (06-14-10) The newest No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novel. I love these books.
Rattletrap Car, by Phyllis Root. (06-14-10)
Hand-Dyeing Yarn and Fleece, by Gail Callahan (06-18-10) Will have to get this one again this summer. I've got plans for the county fair
Tapestry: The Second Siege (06-18-10) Second in the Tapestry series, and I'm waiting for the library's copy of Book 3.
Moonbear's Pet, by Frank Asch (06-20-10)
This is Our House, by Michael Rosen (06-20-10)
Jumpy Jack and Googily, by Meg Rosoff & Sophie Blackall (06-20-10)
Ord eats a Pizza, by Irene Trimble
Except the Dying, by Maureen Jennings (06-21-10) First in the Detective William Murdoch series.
How to Sew a Button, and other nifty things your grandmother knew, by Erin Bried (06-22-10)
Double Sin and Other Stories, by Agatha Christie (06-28-10)
Buy, Close, Move In: How to navigate the new world of real estate, by Ilyce Glink (07-01-10)
Rebecca and Ana, by Jacqueline Dembar Greene (07-06-10)
Green Living, by the Editors of E, the Environmental Magazine (07-07-10)
The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap, by Stephanie Coontz (07-07-10)
The Crochet Closet: 15 Designs to Enhance Your Wardrobe, by Lisa Gentry (07-xx-10)
Everything for a Dog, by Ann M. Martin (07-08-10). Picked this one up at the library while waiting for someone to finish playing Clifford. There was a bit of a twist that I didn't see coming, and a big one that I did. Good book, though.
Crewel Yule
Cheaper by the Dozen, by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (07-13-10) The movies changed practically everything, honestly. The movies were good, but the book is good as well. (Although the father sounds a bit strict.)
The Super Hungry Dinosaur, by Martin Waddell (twice! on 07/20/10)
Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher (07-21-10) This may be a YA book, but there are a couple of scenes that will stick around for a while. And as a non-jock who Lettered in high school thanks to an Academic Letter option, I love the choice of swim team members.
Boost, by Kathy Mackel (07-21-10) Another sports book, but again, a good story. Not the stereotypical stuff.
Be Thrifty (not cheap), edited by Pia Catton and Califia Suntree (07-22-10) Pretty interesting, lots of good information. Covers a lot of ground. I do have some quibbles - including knitting but not crocheting, and in 5+ years of crocheting, I've only bought 1 book of patterns, and it was secondhand and cheap.
Under the Dragon's Tail, by Maureen Jennings (07-22-10) Second in the Detective Murdoch series, set in 1895 Toronto. No clean wrap-up on this one, it ends mid-scene, and I want to know who won the tug-o-war.
Happy Birthday, Kit!
Poor Tom is Cold, by Maureen Jennings (07-27-10) Third in the Detective Murdoch series. Just got two more from the library, numbers 4 and 7. Looks like I'll have to get the others via Interlibrary Loan.
Kit Saves the Day
Changes for Kit (07-28-10)
Confessions of a Prairie Bitch, by Alison Arngrim. A very good autobiography/memoir, a nice blend of Little House-related stories and other stories.
The Black Stallion, abridged version - This was an abridgement of the first part of the story, ending when Alec and the Black got back to New York. Nice pictures.
Travis and Scoop's Big Race (Bob the Builder) (08-02-10)
Let Loose the Dogs, by Maureen Jennings (8-02-10) Fourth Detective Murdoch mystery. Now I have to wait for the library to buy or borrow #s 5 & 6 - they own 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7, of all things.
The Dawn of the Color Photograph: Albert Kahn's Archives of the Planet, by David Okuefuna (08-05-10). This book has some amazing pictures. Kahn's home and museum in France just made it on to my "Places to visit" list, and I need to see if the BBC documentary related to the book is on DVD yet.
Go Big or Go Home: A Novel, by WIll Hobbs (08-08-10)
Desperate Networks, by Bill Carter (08-10-10)
Gift a Little: how your small donations can transform our world, by Wendy Smith (08-18-10)
62 Projects to make with a Dead Computer (and other discarded electronics), by Randy Sarafan (08-19-10) Have to get this one again after we find a house and have room for projects.
The Best 30-minute Recipes, from the editors of Cook's Illustrated (08-10) If I ever win the lottery, I'm buying all their cookbooks and subscribing to America's Test Kitchen, Cook's Illustrated, and Cook's Country.
Stuff (08-23-10)
Snowed Under: the Bobblesberg Winter Games (08-23-10)
Go Spud Go! (08-23-10)
How to Cheat at Home Repair, by Jeff Bredenberg (08-24-10)
Night's Child, by Maureen Jennings (08-26-10)
Vices of my Blood (08-27-10)
Debunked! Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends, and evil Plots of the 21st Century, by Richard Roeper (08-27-10)
Prairie Tale: a memoir, by Melissa Gilbert (08-29-10)
Food Rules (08-29-10)
The Bucolic Plague: how Two Manhattanites became Gentlemen Farmers, by Josh Kilmer-Purcell (08-30-10) Fluffy, but interesting. I watched The Fabulous Beekman Boys once when we had PlanetGreen channel for a week, so I read the book, too.
The Vanishing Violin (Red Blazer Girls #2), by Michael D. Bell (09-01-10 or so)
A Journeyman to Grief, by Maureen Jennings (09-09-10) Seventh Detective Murdoch novel, and it's a few years old, so I'm wondering if she's wrapped up the series.
Hard Times in Paradise, by David and Micki Colfax (09-10-10)
The White Stallion, by Elizabeth Shub (09-15-10)
Ranger's Apprentice #7: Erak's Ransom, by John Flanagan (09-16-10) Good stuff. Can't wait until the library gets # 8 and 9 in.
Ring of Fire (Century Quartet Book 1) by P. D. Baccalario (09-20-10)
Dream of Night, by Heather Henson (09-20-10)
Working with the Mighty Loader (Tonka) (09/22/10)
Fatally Flaky, by Diane Mott Davidson (09/22/10)
Bob's Birthday
A Surprise for Wendy
Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room
First 100 Words in French (yes, I was asked/forced to "read" this to him. It's like reading a dictionary)
The Mayo Clinic Diet Book
Lyle at the Office, by Bernard Waber (09-28-10)
If a Bus Could Talk, by Faith Ringgold (09-28-10) Good book, but a little over El Burrito's head.
The Girls Who Went Away: the Hidden History of Women who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade, by Ann Fessler (09-29-10)
Dragondrums, by Anne McCaffrey
Silent to the Bone, by E. L. Konigsburg (09/29/10)
Pumpkin, Pumpkin (09/30/10)
Bob the Builder: Ready, Set, Race (09/30/10)
The Lion King (Little Golden Book) (09/30/10)
Snow White (LGB) (09/30/10)
Sleeping Beauty (LGB) (09/30/10)
Mini Shopaholic (10/12/10 - second time in a week)
Sent: The Missing, Book 2, by Margaret Peterson Haddix (10/12/10)
Reality Matters, by Anna David (10/14ish/10) Fluff.
The Seer of Shadows, by Avi (10/18/10)
Shopping with Dad, by Matt Harvey
Uncharted TerriTORI by Tori Spelling (because I can't resist the fluff) (10/19/10)
Ranger's Apprentice Book 9: Halt's Peril, by John Flanagan
Wall-E, the read-aloud version (10/26/10)
Wall-E, the read-aloud version (10/27/10) Yep, again.
Here's the Deal: Don't Touch Me, by Howie Mandel (10/28/10) Quick read, interesting. Don't think I'd want to be his friend without setting some rules about the humor, though.
Dragon, Hound of Honor, by Julie Andrews Edwards and Emma Walton Hamilton (10/28/10)
Bringing the Boy Home, by N. A. Nelson
Exile's Honor, by Mercedes Lackey
Exile's Valor, by Mercedes Lackey (11/05/10)
Easy Street (11/??/10)
Sabotaged (book 3), by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Legacies, by Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill (book 1 of a new series)
The Great Pie Robbery and Other Mysteries, by Richard Scarry
My Mother's VOice, by Joanne Ryder
Truck Duck
Complete Guide to Digital Infrared Photography, by Joe Farace
Elsie Dinsmore
Dragonsong
Killashandra
Dragonsinger, by Anne McCaffrey
All the Weyrs of Pern
Dragonholder: the LIfe of Anne McCaffrey
Bloom County: The Complete Library, Volume 1 (1980-1982) (11/16/10)
Cat of the Century, by Rita Mae Brown (11/29/10) Good stuff, but I can read one in a couple hours. I think I'm going to stop buying the hardcover.
Lucy: a novel
The Berenstain Bears get the Screamies (11/30/10)
The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers
The Berenstain Bears: All Aboard
Back to Basics A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills
Easy Street (12/??/10)
Autism's False Prophets
Tragedy at Two, by Ann Purser
Death of a Maid, by M. C. Beaton (12/03/10) First of the series that I've read, and now I'm eager to go back and start at the beginning.
Berenstein Bears: All Aboard (12/03/10) Read to sickly boy with ear infection
Hearts Divided, by Debbie Macomber, Katherine Sone, and lois Faye Dyer (12/xx/10) Yes, I sometimes wander into the romance genre.
Elmo's Christmas Countdown (12/07/10)
Bert and Ernie's Christmas Snowman (12/07/10)
The Crocodile's Last Embrace, by Suzanne Arruda (12/13/10) Latest Jade del Cameron book, and I'm hoping for more.
The Blind Colt, by Glen Rounds (12/15/10)
The Colorado Kid, by Stephen King (12/15/10)
Bialosky's House (12/15/10)
Wendy Helps Out (12/16/10)
Don't Open That Crate! (Cat in the Hat) (12/16/10)
Bob the Builder: Snowed In
Whale Shark: World's Largest Fish (12/16/10)
The Cult TV Book: From Star Trek to Dexter, New APproaches to TV Outside the Box, edited by Stacey Abbott (12/17/10)
The Cowgirl Way: Hats OFf to America's Women of the West, by Holly George-Warren (12/17/10)
The Bird Watching Answer Book
A Bug's Life (12/20/10)
Dragongirl, by Todd McCaffrey (12/21/10) Most recent Pern novel, but I think I may have to give up on the Todd books. I can only handle so much plague and graphic descriptions of people being eaten by Thread. There are other problems I have with this book, and to some extent his others.
Fanny, by Stephen Cosgrove (12/22/10)
Buttermilk, by Stephen Cosgrove (12/22/10)
Wheedle on the Needle, by Stephen Cosgrove (12/22/10) This one's got a funny twist.
Glitterby Baby, by Stephen Cosgrove (12/22/10)
Kartusch, by Stephen Cosgrove (12/22/10)
Tickle's Tale, by Stephen Cosgrove (12/22/10)
Grampa-Lop, by Stephen Cosgrove (12/22/10)
Dinosaur Train, by John Stephen Gurney (12/22/10)
Eat this, not That (hardback) (12/26/10)
Digital Photo Madness, by Thom Gaines (12/27/10)
A Bug's Life (12/27/10)
Eat this, not That (paperback) (12/28/10)
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss
Muck's Sleepover
The Dark is Rising (12/30/10)
Bekka Cooper: Terrier, by Tamora Pierce
Audubon North American Bird Feeder Guide

Returned unfinished:

Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street. I'm going to put this one on my Amazon list. I think it'll need two readings to really understand it all.
The Face on your Plate
Math doesn't suck, by Danica McKellar
100 Cupboards
Microsoft Windows XP: Do Amazing Things!
Degunking Windows
Greenmantle - sequel to The 39 Steps, recently shown on PBS' Masterpiece
Gods of Manhattan, by Scott Mebus
An Entirely Synthetic Fish
You are the First kid on Mars
Laura, the lift of Laura Ingalls Wilder - Donald Zochert
One Small Step, by P.B. Kerr
Sarah's Secret Plan, b y Linda Johns (kid book)
Ottie Slockett, by Ida Luttrell (kid book)
Saving Cinnamon, by Christine Sullivan
Waste, by Tristran Stuart
Slow Death by Rubber Duck: the secret danger of everyday things, by Rick Smith & Bruce Lourie
DragonTales: Dinosaurs & Dragons
Super Guinea Pig to the Rescue
How do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food
Food Politics
Curse of the Labrador Duck

Videos:

Berenstain Bears: Time for Giving (has French audio)

Library day, or Wow, posting two days in a row!

2009-12-29T18:21:00.002-06:00

Library day statistics: Returned 3 books and a DVD, came home with 4 books. Spent $8.35 at the sale cart, for which I had to write a check, since I had a whole $5 and DH was off playing with El Burrito.

Current totals: 44 items out, 4 on the wait list, and 2 that are overdue enough that I need to watch/read and return them this week.

Reading for the year

2009-12-28T18:17:00.002-06:00

So far, I've read 168 books in 2009, not counting the tons of books I read to El Burrito. I was kind of hoping to hit 200, or at least 175, but this is good enough.

Christmas again

2009-12-24T02:23:00.002-06:00

I probably said this last year, but I swear, I will not go through this again next year. We left the mall at 10:35 on the 23rd - in a drenching rain, I might add. And we still have three things to buy at the grocery store tomorrow before we're officially done with the Christmas shopping. That's right, once again we've put things off and are shopping on Christmas Eve. We had dinner at McDonald's, which is SOOOO not on my "Top 100 places to Eat" list. Meh.

Technically, we're not done, because DH and I aren't really done buying for each other. I gave up and told him I couldn't come up with anything good. He's getting 2 books, a video and his traditional Dilbert page-a-day calendar, even though last' years is still sitting in the box. We'll buy something for each other later. DH is mentioning a Blu-ray player, but I'm not in favor of the idea. No room for it on the TV stand, and we only have 3 Blu-ray discs (thanks to the new Blu-ray/DVD combo pack idea).

Lately I don't enjoy Christmas, I come close to hating the whole mess, and I think this is part of the reason. Spending Christmas week shopping means I don't have time to relax and actually appreciate the holiday. Plus there's travel issues. Christmas Eve at DH's family, plus midnight mass (technically 10:30 mass), means 2 hours of driving total, and we get home around 3:00 a.m. since they do gifts after mass. Then we haul out of bed Christmas morning and drive to my family, 2 hours one way. And I'm usually stressing because we're never early enough to suit my mom, and half the time they've opened all the other gifts before we get there.

So I'm putting a BIG note in my planner next Halloween, reminding me to start working on the holiday prep, or I'll have to kick my own butt.

On the up side (kind of), looks like we'll have a white christmas this year, even with the thunderstorm on Wednesday night.

Another trip to the library

2009-12-02T01:44:00.003-06:00

Today's numbers: 45 items checked out (at least 15 of those are for El Burrito), 5 on hold. I've got 3 books ready to take back already.

El Burrito didn't have a lot of luck at the Friends sale. He tried to talk to two kids who were there. One pushed him away and skedaddled (twice!), the other (slightly older boy wearing a dinosaur shirt that got El B's attention) was too busy playing a Gameboy/PSP/whatever the "in" one is now, even after his mother told him to say hello. He's persistent though - wanted to follow the first kid and his Nemo backpack around until he talked, but I wouldn't let him. So he spent the rest of my sale time sulking under the tables. Poor kid.

Then, he didn't find any books on the childrens' cart, and his Buddy wasn't cashiering today. And after I talked him into drawing her a picture for Christmas. We left it with the other volunteer, who offered to mail it to his Buddy. At least he got to play the Clifford game he was waiting to play.

We stopped at Shelter Garden on the way home, since it was 60+ degrees and the weather forecast is calling for snow later this week. I thought we'd better take advantage of the sunshine while we could. El Burrito came home with a leaf, a rock, a fir cone, and what used to be a red flower. He also got to watch the groundskeepers raking leaves, and one woman let him have a couple of swipes with her leaf rake after she noticed him watching for a while.

Overall, he had a good day and wasn't too bothered by getting the cold shoulder from two boys. He saw 3 Volkswagens and a Mini, and got to say hi to our neighbor, the mailman, and the UPS guy. He even took a nap.

Oh, and how strange is our weather right now? November was within a degree or two of being as warm on average as October. Ninth warmest November on record, I think. My aunt's forsythia is blooming, the neighbor's daffodils are trying to sprout, and the Japanese cherry tree at the Garden had a couple of small limbs (twigs, actually) that were honestly in bloom.

It's supposed to get down into the 30s tonight, though, so everything will be reminded that Hey!, it's December! Fun.

A rant

2009-11-20T01:39:00.002-06:00

We went out for dinner tonight, and did some grocery shopping. At least one grocery and one hardware already have cut Christmas trees for sale. So here goes:

Attention Stores!

Thanksgiving is still a week away, which means that Christmas is at least 5 weeks out. It's too freaking early to be selling "fresh-cut" trees. Would you sell Valentine bouquets on New Years Day? Just because a tree quietly sheds needles instead of blatantly wilting doesn't mean it's okay. In four weeks, any tree sold now is more than likely going to be a dried out, brittle fire hazard, no matter how much you water it or how much fire-retardant spray it was treated with.* You were jumping the gun with the Christmas candy sitting in the aisles on Halloween night, and you're doing it again. Stop it!

Anyone who buys a cut tree before Turkey Day had better not complain about needles in the carpet, in my opinion. They were asking for it.

* I worked on a Christmas tree farm for a few years. Most trees are sprayed with a fire retardant mist. It also happens to be tinted green. Either way, if you leave the tree sitting around for 5+ weeks, all the spray in the world won't keep it from drying out.

Lucky Burrito

2009-11-13T01:53:00.003-06:00

El Burrito is a lucky child, as he proved last week. I should buy a lotto ticket for him or something.

We went to the library, as usual, and went to the big monthly book sale. He had to say hello to his cashier buddy first thing, and as usual she had a little book for him (Where is Skipper's Bone, a cute pop-up sort of book), which he had to carry himself. Because he's That Age these days. Then we went book shopping, and found quite a few goodies. It was cookbook day, so I ended up with an armload. I was juggling El Burrito, my purse, the library tote, a bag of sale books, and an armful of heavy cookbooks (Taste of Home annuals, $2 each), and at some point he put his book down and left it. I was kind of distracted and didn't realize it until about midnight that night, and felt sick that I'd let it happen. (Guilt Trips R Us, self-induced, no waiting)

That night, I emailed the Friends group that does the sales, hoping that one of the volunteers might have found his book (and not sold it to someone else). I figured it was a lost cause. Finding one book in a library isn't even "needle in a haystack" territory, as I told my sister - it's more "one specific needle in a barrel of needles" or something. I figured that it was either picked up by another little kid and taken home, or that he put it down in the sale books and someone else bought it.

But the Burrito is a lucky boy. Next morning, I called the library, and lo & behold, there it was in the lost and found. It was a bit of a miracle, since he'd only had the book an hour tops, and I couldn't remember anything other than the plush puppy that was on the pop-up tab.

But wait, there's more. :) I bought one of the random tote bags from the Friends, since the cookbooks were more than my Acme bags could handle. It turned out to be more stained than I'd thought, but it was 50 cents, all cotton, and pretty sturdy. I washed it with everything I could think of - Spray & Wash, Clorox II, even Fels Naptha, and nothing got out the brown water-stain marks. I had a brainstorm yesterday, and hunted down the peroxide. After two sunny afternoons of being doused with peroxide and dried in the sun, the brown stains are gone. There are still a lot of black marks (tire or something), but it looks much better. I was considering an experiment in tea-dyeing, but I think it'll do for now as is.

Lousy planning

2009-10-28T17:59:00.003-05:00

I took El Burrito to the county health department for his H1N1 vax today. They were offering them to anyone under 4, no appointment needed, and his ped's office doesn't have any yet. He got his vax, but we'll count the ways I screwed up.

The vaccination clinic was from 1:00-5:00. We usually eat lunch around 1:30 or 2, but we had a late breakfast, and I honestly didn't think we'd be there a long time, so we didn't have lunch before we went. We got there at 12:45, the parking lot was packed, and we were #202 in line. Got home at 3:00. Yeah.

Didn't take any snacks or water. We did take a couple of toys. And El Burrito was very well behaved, even without snacks, a drink, or a stroller to sit in while we stood in line.

The biggie: I believed the news release and told El Burrito that he'd be getting the "flu juice" - aka the nasal FluMist. Turns out I was wrong; he was old enough for the mist, but since his seasonal-flu vax was the FluMist version and was only 2 weeks ago, he had to get the injection. He was NOT happy, and I apologized all the way home. The nurse was impressed by how well he took the news, and the shot, but he didn't get really crying until we hit the parking lot.

I was a little distracted while the nurse explained things, so I'm not sure if his second dose of H1N1 (also not mentioned in the Health Dept information) has to be an injection because dose #1 was, or if it can be the Mist. I'm hoping for the Mist. I'll have to call the pediatrician's office and see w hat the deal is, and if they will be getting any of the stuff, because I'd rather not deal with the lines at the Health department again.

Also, I really wish the Health Dept had lined up more than a measly four nurses to do the injections. Seriously. They had 200 people in line before the doors opened, and only 4 people giving the vax? It's a wonder we were only there for 2 hours.

Reusable bag review #1 - Chico and Walker bags

2009-10-22T19:10:00.002-05:00

So, follow-through. Here are my thoughts on two of the reusable bags that I've got running around (three kinds, if you count two types of Chico bags).

First up, Walker bags. I've got one of these, in green; it was one of the first reusable bags I bought. It's a fine-gauge mesh, so it's definitely squashable. With a little practice, you could probably fit it into a plastic Easter egg. Very washable, and dries super-fast. Size: 16x13x4 (per ReusableBags.com), rated up to 35 pounds. Has nice long straps, probably long enough to carry over a shoulder. However, the mesh is hard on book corners if that's what you're carrying, and the mesh straps are also very hard on your hands if you're carrying anything heavy. The straps tend to roll instead of laying flat, so the pressure is concentrated. Basically, it doesn't get used a lot. It's good for bulky, light-weight stuff, but not for anything heavy.

Next, Chico bags. I've got two of the original Chicos, and just got a Chico Vita.

Chico originals: I like these, but they don't hold up well for me. My first one started to loosen up at the bottom seam, even though it's rated for 20+ pounds and had never carried anything heaver than a gallon of milk (approx 8 pounds). I had it replaced under the company's guarantee, but the second one is having the same issue. Also, the handles are too short for my taste. However, I like the colors and the attached bag to stuff it into. I also think the material is a little flimsy; both of mine have developed dimples from corners of books and boxes, and at least one has a hole in it.

Chico Vita: Just got it. It's larger, and they changed the construction so that it doesn't have a seam at the bottom. It's got longer handles, which is also a plus for me, and the handles are on the sides of the bag rather than the ends (as the Chico originals are). However, the material feels even flimsier/cheaper than the original style of Chico. It crinkles almost like plastic, and the contrasting border feels and looks like the cheap plastic edging you'd find on a crappy makeup case from the dollar store or something. I may use it a couple times to make sure, but I think it's up for resale, return, or re-gifting.

Email avalanche

2009-10-21T18:58:00.000-05:00

You know, it stinks to have over 3,500 unread messages in your Inbox.

That's all I can come up with for today. El Burrito didn't nap, and my 85-year-old grandfather had a hip replacement today. Oh, and my niece-dog had a fatty growth removed from her back.

Coming this week

2009-10-20T18:34:00.001-05:00

This week (or month), I think I'll do a series of little reviews of all the reusable shopping bags we have running around. I've gotten quite a stash now - Chico, Chico Vita, Baggu, Acme Workhorse, Ecobags, and a couple others. Some are better than others.

It's the Sun! ! !

2009-10-19T18:54:00.000-05:00

The sun was visible here today, after a solid week of clouds, gloom, and rain. I almost didnt' recognize it.

In between laundry loads, El Burrito and I popped out to the post office to mail a book I sold online, and then went for a walk in Shelter Garden. They've taken out most of the flowerbed plantings, but the roses are still blooming. The herb/tactile garden is also still going strong; the lemon balm is planning a coup, and the Mexican flame vine has vined almost all the way around the center of the garden.

I was wrong

2009-10-18T22:05:00.000-05:00

We did buy another First Alert CO detector, but it's not one that interacts with an infrared signal.

On the up side, I think it'll fit the base we already have installed.

Book sale goodies

2009-10-17T20:04:00.002-05:00

This weekend was the fall children's book sale, so I hauled out of bed early. Spent $46.25, and got some goodies.

two Billy and Blaze books
The Golden Stallion's Victory
The Sorrel Stallion (although with a puffy sticker on the front)
some Serendipity books
coloring books for El Burrito
a Marguerite Henry book that I'd never seen before
a paperback copy of Dorothy Lyons' Golden Sovereign
quite a few Anne of Green Gables books
at least half of the Great Brain series

and some other stuff, of course.

Misquoting Scarlett

2009-10-15T23:49:00.000-05:00

To mis-quote Scarlett O'Hara, as Cow (watch the Big Bang Theory!) is my witness, I'm never buying a First Alert talking carbon monoxide detector again. Ever.

First, the rotten thing can only use a certain brand of battery. Any "inferior" battery leads to monthly replacements, after being scared out of your wits at 3 freaking a.m. when it decides the battery's dead.

Occasionally, it talks in the middle of the night for no good reason. This leads to the whole family levitating in bed, then taking a while to get back to sleep.

One of the "features" is that you can use the infrared beam from a TV remote to do the weekly test and make sure it's working. Thanks to a lousy floor plan, the only place in our hallway for the detector to be mounted, is also more or less in the line-of-sight of our usual TV-watching spots. We'd learned to be careful where we aimed the DVD remote, but the TV remote didn't seem to be as bad. That changed last week when I put a new battery in that one. I've set the damn thing off half a dozen times this week alone. We put masking tape over the "test" button, theorizing that the pinhole in the button was the IR receiver. Not so much, as it turns out - I set it off this morning and woke El Burrito up early. He hates the test script, so of course, he didn't go back to sleep.

And just now, from the bathroom counter (where it's been exiled to), the detector's started talking again. I was too busy jumping out of my skin to notice, but I think it's wanting a fresh battery. So now it's face-down on the counter and wrapped in a towel. I may shut the bathroom door before I go to bed, too. That damn voice freaks me out every time it starts talking out of nowhere.

Long horse-related meme

2009-10-14T18:48:00.006-05:00

Found this online and thought it would be a good post for today.

1. How old were you when you first started riding? Around 3, I think. Possibly earlier, and may have been in diapers, but that was riding double with my Mom, not alone. Riding independently, maybe 8 or 9.

2. First horse ridden: Smoky, our saint of a gelding.

3. First horse trotted on: Smoky

4. First horse cantered on: Smoky, but not well. I looked like crap, and was bareback most of the time. Cantered 1 stride or so on DJ, accidentally. Intentionally and halfway-decent looking - Peyton, my riding lesson pal.

5. First Horse fallen off of: Smoky, but you had to work to do it.

6. Most recent horse fallen off of: DJ

7. Most terrifying fall: DJ, the day the little fiend blew up and bucked me off.

8. First horse jumped with: I've never jumped.

9. First horse who ran away with you: Smoky, a couple of times. All when I was riding with the saddle and couldn't feel him enough to head him off.

10. First horse that scared the crap out of you: DJ, for a lot of reasons.

11. First horse shown: Haven't shown.

12. First horse to win a class with: See #11

13. Do you/have you taken lessons: Yes, but only for three summers, 18 lessons total.

14. First horse you ever rode bareback: Smoky. Rode bareback 95% of the time, because Dad's stock saddle weighed as much as I did, and I wasn't tall enough at the time to get it on Smoky's back. NEVER rode DJ bareback - he was a bit crazy, and had withers like Pikes Peak or something.

15. First horse trail ridden with: Smoky

16. Current Barn name: None

17. Do you ride English or western?: Western saddle-wise, with a bit of English mishmash tossed in.

18. First Horse to place at a show with: See #11

19. Ever been to horse camp?: Nope

20. Ever been to a riding clinic? Nope

21. Ridden sidesaddle? Nope

22. First horse leased: None

23. Last Horse Leased: None

24. Highest ribbon in a show: See #11

25. Ever been to an 'A' rated show?: Nope

26. Ever competed in pony games/relay races?: Nope

27. Ever fallen off at a show: Nope

28. Do you ride Hunter/Jumpers?: Nope

29. Have you ever barrel raced? Nope

30. Ever done pole bending?: Nope

31. Favorite gait: A good motivated walk, although Peyton's slow jog was a close second.

32. Ever cantered bareback?: Yes, but it wasn't pretty.

33. Have you ever done dressage?: Nope

34. Have you ever evented?: Nope

35. Have you ever mucked a stall?: Not really; my horses at home always had a pasture and run-in shed, so technically there wasn't a stall or much in the way of bedding.

36. Ever been bucked off?: Once, by DJ (I'm not counting the "lost my balance and fell off" falls, or the time DJ spooked out from under me). He had his knickers in a knot about something the whole ride, and finally blew up and bucked me off. I stayed on for a couple jumps, bruised my knee on the horn, and landed sort-of on my feet (then sort of rolled backwards onto my butt and back).

37. Ever been on a horse that reared?: Not really, although DJ half-reared once, and would get light enough in front that I didn't think his feet were touching the ground.

38. Horses or ponies?: Either. I'm considering that my next equine might be something in the 14-hand region, technically a pony. I rode a short QH mare once in lessons, she was maybe 14.2, and I liked not needing a ladder to get on. (Unlike the 17hand giant I rode that same summer)

39. Do you wear a helmet?: I do since I started lessons. Didn't as a kid, but it was the 70s/80s.

40. What's the highest you've jumped: Don't jump.

41. Have you ever ridden at night?: Late dusk, but never really pitch-black dark.

42. Do you watch horsey television shows?: Yes. Gotta get my horse fix, but sometimes the errors make me cringe.

43. Have you ever been seriously hurt/injured from a fall?: Not yet. Got some bruises from DJ though.

44. Most falls in one lesson: None, yet.

45. Do you ride in an arena/ring?: Did for lessons, not as a kid.

46. Have you ever been trampled by a horse?: No.

47. Have you ever been bitten?: Yes, by that nitwit DJ. He was nippy for a long time and I usually had my hands full and couldn't fix it, until he caught some skin one day and I reflexively yelped and I think swatted him on the nose. Then I stood there and read him the riot act. It cured him, he wasn't nippy after that.

48. Ever had your foot stepped on by a horse?: Oh yes.

49: Favorite riding moment: To be answered later

50. Most fun horse you've ridden: Smoky, because I trusted him. Peyton, Libby, and Katie because they knew how to do stuff that I hadn't (and sometimes haven't) done.

Library day

2009-10-13T15:12:00.003-05:00

Had another busy morning at the library. Storytime, computer time, and the book sale. Plus we filled our third punch card to enter the library's anniversary giveaway.

Currently: 47 items out (21 of those are El Burrito's) and 8 on hold. Their new system to let you put a book on your hold list, but delay it until a specific date, is useful. I can put books on hold before I forget them, but delay them a few weeks until I have time for them. I need to finish Physics for Future Presidents this week; it's overdue and needs to go back.

Ned the brachiosaurus went to the library with us, and was introduced to a few people. He also liked storytime, and was admired by the volunteer running the book sale today. I spent $3.50 on books; $1 for me and $2.50 for El Burrito, who got a hardback copy of How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? and a Pooh book, among others.

Monday

2009-10-12T23:58:00.000-05:00

It's official; Weather.com says the recorded high temp on Saturday was 46. I really think it was colder than that most of the time we were at the Renaissance Festival.

El Burrito is starting to give up the binkies. He has two kinds, blue (harder silicone) and green (softer). Green is his favorite. He fell in Looovvvee with a toy brachiosaurus at Michaels today, and after some consultation with the Binky Fairie, he decided to swap his blue binkies for Ned the Brachiosaurus. He was a little weepy at bedtime, but still had green binky, so we'll see how it goes.

Questions

2009-10-11T22:26:00.000-05:00

What's the deal with maternity portraits and plaster casts of pregnant stomachs? I love the Burrito, but I looked (I thought) like crap while I was pregnant. No way do I want to pay for a professional picture to prove it. I've got enough of our pics to do that, thanks. The plaster belly casts are even weirder to me, though. What do you do with it? Hang it on the wall like a shield, use it for a mega-sized chip bowl?

Weekend Fun

2009-10-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

We made our annual trip to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival today. We've now been there for all the major possible weather conditions - heat advisories (aka the year I almost passed out), drenching rain (the year we had no umbrella or ponchos), and now some unseasonable cold weather. (The Fest ends in early October, so I don't think it'll ever get snowed on, but this is Missouri so I won't swear to it.)

The high today in Bonner Springs was maybe 40 or so. It didn't rain, which would have been utterly miserable. Luckily, we'd taken a blanket and extra clothes in case it did rain, and I'd packed a scarf and ear-warmers just in case. (I was remembering three weeks of being miserably cold in Ireland.) After about an hour, I went back to the car for the scarf and blanket, and managed, with some dexterity, to put my extra shirt on under my original shirt.

Other than the cold, we had a good time. El Burrito spent most of the day riding in his stroller, wearing a polar fleece jacket and his winter hat, with his Lightning McQueen blanket tucked around him. We saw a dragon show for kids, the raptor show from the World Bird Sanctuary, bits of music, and did some shopping. El Burrito's favorite bits were the "necklace" he got for donating to the bird sanctuary, and getting to see the elephant again. He wasn't fond of the dragon (a person in a costume) but he sat through the show anyway.

We visited Nene Thomas' booth as usual (still kicking myself for missing Petal before it sold out, didn't see Tullamore perform this year, and bought a nice copper dragonfly sculpture for our future garden. I still need to scare up a recipe for those cinnamon crunch almonds.

And I have to say: it was Pet Weekend at the Festival. Dogs everywhere, from Jack Russells to Great Danes, and I don't think I saw any dog poop laying around. Fairly remarkable; there are far fewer dogs in our neighborhood and that visit Shelter Garden, and I see abandoned piles at both places on a regular basis.

Weather-wise, it frosted last night, and there will probably be a hard frost or a freeze tonight. This is the earliest I can recall a frost; there was one year it froze around Halloween, and the Christmas tree farm down the road lost a lot of trees.

The Semi-annual Moving of the Houseplants

2009-10-09T23:41:00.000-05:00

Frost warnings are out for the weekend, so I brought all the houseplants (and not-so-houseplants, like the sunflowers) inside tonight. Had to do some rearranging first, which had to wait until DH got home (the vacuum was involved). It was cold enough outside that I could see my breath. My plan to spend an afternoon cleaning the dust off the leaves and such got canceled due to the weather.

Living room looks sort of like a forest now.

Rain!

2009-10-08T23:45:00.000-05:00

It's a good thing we went on our picnic yesterday. The only picnickers today were the fish. It started raining sometime between midnight and 3 a.m. this morning, and it's still going. At just before midnight tonight, I emptied 5.5 inches out of my rain gauge. My feet got wet when I got the mail tonight, because our sidewalk was underwater.

Mizzou had a home game tonight, too. I bet it was more like mud wrestling.

And there's a potential for frost or freezing weather this weekend, so the houseplants all have to come in tomorrow. Fun.

Picnic!

2009-10-07T23:56:00.000-05:00

We took advantage of the sunshine this morning and had a picnic at Shelter Garden today. El Burrito and I picked up Subway and KFC (El B. likes their mac 'n' cheese), and DH met us there. It was a bit on the cool side, but overall a nice day. Weather report says rain the rest of the week, so it's good that we went today.

Unfortunately, the fish are already on "vacation" until next spring; all the pools and waterfalls were drained and the koi were gone. Of course the water lilies were also gone, so my plans to take the big camera and get some decent pictures were thwarted. The little camera does okay, but the big one has more zoom.