Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Yes, I'm a genius. Or, rather, they are the geniuses.

*sticky note*

Need that perfect holiday gift for that special someone but don't quite know what to get them? How about printed, matted, signed-by-the-awesomest-artist(s) photos? Right now both Jürgen Nation and Nabbalicious are offering discounted prices on their chefs d'oeuvre /slash/ pièces de résistance. I'm getting Cowboy for my Gram (love you, Gram!) and Sleeping Snow Blanket Baby for me. Nabby's mommy isn't my close friend, but Stacy is my very close friend and Stacy knows Nabby's mom and I've talked to her and she seems really cool and not like a psycho waiting to prey on unsuspecting bloggers. So, buy their photos. :) Then go buy a decent frame to put the incredible pieces into, wrap the frame, and hand it over. Trust me when I say that the recipient will be touched by your very thoughtful gift. And if not, take it back, chew them out, and hang it on your own wall!! Yay!


You can thank me later for the suggestion.

I totally expect this site to be trashed by quittin' time

If you hadn't noticed, I'm messin' around with stuff. If it looks funky (bad or good) say something. I may very well revert to saved by this evening. ;)

Breaking the silence

I'm sorry, but I can't stay quiet any longer.



Dude, get a fucking haircut, shave off that stupid-ass moustachio, and put on a frickin' shirt once in a while. Oh, and bandanas are for boogers or showing your affiliation, not for pooling your forehead sweat. UGH.
Cry, cry for you
Just like you knew I wouldn’t do
Cry, cry for you
Just like a song in the last light

Should I leave it all away
Not like the kindness that you gave
That’s why it never seems the same
Behind your eyes

I stood behind when no one asked me
And took you home after the fight
I drove my car into city lights
Drove down the road that I am on

Cry, cry for you
That’s what you think I want to be
Cry, cry for you
An empty heart that sees me through

Cry, cry for you
Just like you knew I wouldn’t do
Cry cry for you
Just like a song in the last light

Cry, cry for you
Just like you knew I wouldn’t do

The date.

Tomorrow night I'm working straight through till 10pm so I'm taking comp time Friday afternoon. Hay and I are going to lunch then seeing a movie. We saw HP, and might actually see it again with friends on Saturday. What else do you recommend we see Friday? I've heard mixed reviews for the Johnny Cash movie, and that's about it for movies. I want to go see something to keep our minds off our stupid house problems, so nothing about house repair, please.

The best damn chops I ever did have

Last night I made parm chops, recipe given to me by Bdiggety:

    Parmesan-Crusted Pork Chops
    Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

    Recipe Summary
    Difficulty: Easy
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 12 minutes
    Yield: 4 servings
    User Rating: (not shown)

    2 large eggs
    1 cup dried Italian-style bread crumbs
    3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan
    4 (1/2 to 3/4-inch thick) center-cut pork loin chops (each about 10 to 12 ounces)
    Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    **6 tablespoons olive oil
    Lemon wedges, for serving

    Whisk the eggs in a pie plate to blend. Place the bread crumbs in another pie plate. Place the cheese in a third pie plate. Sprinkle the pork chops generously with salt and pepper. Coat the chops completely with the cheese, patting to adhere. Dip the chops into the eggs, then coat completely with the bread crumbs, patting to adhere.

    Heat **3 tablespoons of oil in a very large skillet over medium heat. Add pork chops, in batches if necessary, and cook until golden brown and the center reaches 150 degrees, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer the chops to plates and serve with lemon wedges.


B makes the following changes to this recipe: Instead of Italian-style bread crumbs, she uses Panko breadcrumbs and put in a couple teaspoons of Italian seasoning. She also bakes them at 350 for about 20-30 minutes instead of frying them.

Poppy makes the following changes: I didn't have Panko so I used extra crispy Shake 'N Bake to which I added Italian seasoning. I also didn't use the second egg yolk, because I just didn't see the need. I also didn't read the directions and dipped the chop in egg before coating it with parm. I pan fried mine because I love fried chops, but B's suggestion is so much healthier... **I'm confused by the recipe saying I need 6 T oil, so I just used the 3 T as instructed.

MAN, those chops were tasty. I was so anxious to eat them that I didn't bother with photos (and I was thinking of Bearette too, who probably skipped this post. Sorry, sweetie.)

Que la f?

I suddenly like Lindsay Lohan!

Crap, now what do I do?

It's 9:30am and I just ate today's lunch. Hurm.

Get better soon, Dale!


Ugh! Ow! Dislocated, but still. If I had just eaten something it might not be in my tummy anymore.

Confessions of a sometimes illegal flower

I'm breaking all the blogging rules to confess to you that life has kinda sucked lately. I know, I know, I'm not actually supposed to talk about my problems, I'm just supposed to entertain you, because why the hell would I use my own site to get something off my freakin' chest?, but I digress. Our house problems have brought me and Hay to an all time low. We have had a tiny bit of fun, but nothing we do inside of our house goes above a 2/3 out of 10 scale. It's just unpleasant to be in a house that is falling apart around us. I can't go into further details because it's not resolved, but trust me when I say that Hay and I have seen the dark side of the moon, and it's not fun. So, my blog suffers. I'm really not posting quality stuff. LIFE HAPPENS, and it's happening right now. I'm not going anywhere, just giving an explanation for the less than stellar qualité.

Oh, and for my girl Maliavale, this morning's license plate: M1K3 (he's the l337est!)

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

(Spoiler alert) Congratulations, Matty :)

Dear Matty,

You are "The Biggest Loser", which is ironically the biggest winner. You have not let past failures ruin you as a man,
but rather accepted the obese alcohol abuser who was one step away from death and went down the opposite path.

You showed us your true feelings, let people into your life, let people help you become the man you are today. You inspire me and I can't help but be overwhelmed by your success. If I saw you on the street I would need to hug you. :)

xoxo,
Poppy

Guess what's so strange about (formerly: wrong with) this picture?



I'll post the answer late tomorrow.

Saturation

The Presurfer links you to 500+ HTML color codes, and now I do too. :) Woohoo! Name, HEX value, and RGB value are listed.

Today's Dove chocolate fortune:

Your presence is often the best present.

Aww, thanks! :}

If I had ever sent a PostSecret postcard...

...this would be IT:



Mon chien qui porte des robes! Perfect!

Monday, November 28, 2005

Georgie as a baby

This is for all you kitten lovers out there. :)

Nuh uh!

I did not just waste several hours playing Alchemy, Bejeweled, and Mah Jong. Well, you can't prove I did. :P

Nothing that a burrrrrrito can't fix

Earlier I had a hissy fit. Then I bought a salsa burrito and cooked it and ate it. Later, hissy!

So, what's new with you all? Any gossip I need to catch up on? Is it someone's birthday?!

Secret gift, no longer a secret

P'nut got this today:



Turns out it was one of her co-workers who doesn't know her exact birthdate (sometime in December, happy birthday P'nut!!!!!) but wanted to get her a present anyway. I just want to smooch it.

I'm gonna chalk that up to "not meant to be"

I posted a really long entry about stereotyping men and an article of 25 things (aka stereotypes) women should know about men, but Blogger ate it. I copied the guts of the entry when I realized Blogger was playing the "I don't know who you are" game, but then I was on the phone with my S-I-L and copied something else for her before pasting the entry to a safe location. Oh well. I'm not going to bother to recreate it.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

That Amityville Horror stuff? It was just mold.

You know how Ryan Reynolds feels much better in the restaurant and at the doctor's office, but he has delusions in the house and feels really sick and weird stuff happens to everyone? Ya know, mold can do that. If you start hearing voices in your house which instruct you to kill all of your loved ones, please have a test done for mold in your home. It definitely could be bad spirits too, but let's go for Occam's Razor on this one, since future homeowners reported no problems in the house, other than tourists outside.

But, since I'm a fence sitter on this one, I'll offer more info about Amityville available at Ghosts of the Prairie.

I'm unique, just like 5% of the population!

Linus
You are Linus!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


2215 other people got this result!
This quiz has been taken 43705 times.
5% of people had this result.


(Merci, B :) I'm not sure how being a casual bookreader who is amused to observe at parties makes me a freakin' doormat, but, um, yay?!

The love affair

Poppy ate six strips of bacon today. I love you, bacon. *kisses*

Saturday, November 26, 2005

My newest gift

Yesterday Hay and I went shopping! He wanted a puzzle and I reminded him that it was the busiest shopping day of the year, and he got this excited look on his face and said, "I know!" Hehe. Two introverts going out into the shopping world on the busiest shopping day of the year? Nuts!

I'm pretty sure we bought a few hundred dollars in gifts for us and others. I have to show you something. I was really excited about this gift idea, rattling off names of people we could give it to. Hay rejected all names, saying it probably wasn't a good idea, so he said "it's only a few bucks, buy it for yourself!" So, I did. I present to you The Busty Nun:


DSC00056
"Could I have a spot of air please,
Dear Child?"


DSC00064
Free from her confines!


DSC00069
Standing in a field of wicker


DSC00070
Sitting in a field of wicker
(yes, she's bendy!)


DSC00079
Rips considers the power of the nun


DSC00121
Busty Nun sits down for a little
heart-to-heart


DSC00156
"Bless you, My Playmobil Child."

Hurm.

I've got material in my head for the blog, but I'm pretty sure writing it down would be breaking my anonymity. Let's just say I got lucky last night. Hehe.

Friday, November 25, 2005

Musical snores

To my left: Hay lightly snoring. To my right: Ripley "breathing heavily" (aka "dainty snore"). Ahh, the sweet sound of slumber. :} Goodnight!

The one and only pumpkin gooey butter cake

Pumpkin, cream cheese, 2 sticks of butter, 1 pound of sugar, an entire cake mix, eggs, eggs, eggs. Bdogg mentioned this dessert to me as something her friend could not stop eating, so I decided to make it for my Thanksgiving dessert. With all this sugary, buttery goodness how could anyone not like this dessert?! Everyone loved it, and I had a blast making it. :)

Go visit my cake making experience here.

DSC00166

Whee!

The ultimate honor

When I first started my blog I really had no direction, no idea what I would do here. I knew that I loved reading blogs so I started adding to a pretty extensive blogroll. It's something I tuck under my arm and hold onto because it's where I place the most special blogs of the Internet so that I can remember where to go to visit them again, and hopefully it connects my readers to those people I think are special. One might argue that the length of the list negates the specialness of it, but I have a lot of love in my heart. ;)

A few days ago I received an email from Spc. Phil Van Treuren in the Ohio Army National Guard, JAG Corps asking me if I would add his blog, Camp Katrina**, to my blogroll. He is one of the soldiers charged with the mission of protecting New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. A little taste of this blog's mission: "We at Camp Katrina believe that the United States military is the greatest defender of freedom and the most virtuous humanitarian force in the world. If you come across any stories, pics or news links that reflect this view, please give Camp Katrina a heads-up."

I never, ever expected to be asked to post blogs to my blogroll, as if my blog is worthy enough to be considered a place for people to be connected. As I mentioned, I hoped it would be, but Spc. Van Treuren has given me the ultimate honor. I am definitely sending this link along to my buddy Roger so that he can keep in touch with his other troops charged with other missions around the world. Thanks, Spc. Van Treuren. :)

**Melissa-in-London pointed out this link was not working. It was missing its http://. I have fix-ed it.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Zombie George!



Inspired by P'nut. :)

An open letter to the newlyunweds

Dear Nick and Jessica,

My Thanksgiving was great. How was yours? Next time you break off your marriage could you not do it the eve of a major holiday so that I must mourn the official loss of something I had hoped was whole and good on a day for which I am to be thankful?

Thanks,
~Poppy



Readers in Poppyland: If you need a source for the breakup:

Happy Tofurkey/Turducken Day!

Who's excited to go eat some turkey?! ME! See ya later! Hope you're having great family celebrations. :) (:

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

That was the best Potter ever.

The entire audience laughed when Harry spilled pumpkin juice out his mouth when saying hi to Cho (played by the fantabulous Katie Leung, LOVE the Scottish accent :) :).


Bad, dirty Harry!
Beautiful, heartbreaker Cho :)

I felt wrong looking at Harry without his shirt on, and then proceeded to think of his future porn career. Bow-chicka-bow-bow. Right? Right? Who's with me?

Nessa's back!

Tempestt Bledsoe is rejoining the TV world!

180px-Tempest_Bledsoe_Vanessa_Prima
The 80's, awww

Apparently she's put on a spot of weight, because she'll be appearing in one of my favorite reality shows, Celebrity Fit Club. Season 3 premieres Sunday, December 4th on VH1.

tempestt
1999, still looking good in my eyes!

OH, and totally unrelated: Real World/Road Rules - The Gauntlet 2 premieres Monday, December 5 on MTV. Yippy!

Countdown meme

Ha, this of course is the meme I was tagged to do. Silly me for doing the ABC meme for fun when I could have been doing the countdown meme!

Ten movies you’d watch over and over:
1. LOTR: Fellowship
2. Star Wars: Episode IV
3. April Fool's Day
4. Carrie
5. Bubba Ho-Tep
6. The Devil's Rejects
7. Rainman
8. The Shawshank Redemption
9. Clockwatchers
10. Muriel's Wedding

Nine people you enjoy the company of*:
1. Hay
2. My niece
3. My brother
4. My mom
5. My stepdad
6. Kristen
7. Emily
8. Jasmine
9. Me

*This would be a much different list if I didn't interpret it as physical company, but rather as virtual company. :)

Eight things you’re wearing:
1. Wedding band
2. Eye glasses
3. Deodorant
4. Parfum (it keeps me happy, I try to wear it covered up so that only I smell it)
5. Land's End boots
6. Hay's comfy socks :)
7. My lavendar zip-up fleece
8. My Yahbas (a great holiday gift idea, by the way)

Seven things on your mind:
1. Seeing Emily in one hour
2. My annoyance at the fact that I actually had to do some work today because I received a report of an active virus infection
3. Going to Harry Potter tonight
4. Wondering where B disappeared to...
Update: B's computer crashed because she had two antivirus programs, which just amuses me because of #2
5. Going to my uncle's tomorrow
6. Watching movies this weekend
7. The suspense that is The Apothecary Rose

Six objects you touch every day:
1. My keyboard
2. My wedding ring
3. The toilet seat
4. My birth control pills
5. The TV remote
6. My knee pillow

(My list and Melissa's almost matched, except #3 and #6)

Five things you do everyday:
1. Shower
2. Brush my teeth
3. Listen to music
4. Tell my husband I love him
5. EAT CHEESE!

(Another closely related to Melissa list)

Four bands or musical artists that you couldn’t live without:
1. They Might Be Giants
2. Barenaked Ladies
3. Dave Matthews Band
4. Suzanne Vega

(It makes me antsy to stop. I want to say more. This time I will exercise control.)

Three of your favorite songs of the moment:
1. Somebody Told Me by The Killers
2. It's Like That by Mariah Carey
3. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight by The Postal Service

Two people who have influenced your life the most:
1. Mom
2. Dad

One person who has been nice to you today:
1. ... crickets ... I'll go for B

TAG: You know who you are, you tagged fools. You bloggers who like the memes. Yup, you're tagged.

ABC meme

From the talented Miss Melissa:

A - Age: 30 plus change
B - Band listening to right now: Mazzy Star
C - Career future: Philanthropist
D - Dad's name: Dad
E - Easiest person to talk to: (wait for it, wait for it) Me!
F - Favorite song: No one can eat just one. So, I'm just gonna hafta pass on this.
G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Bears.
H - Hometown: Well, it's got green grass and lots of fresh air, how's that?
I - Instruments: Ma voix!
J - Job: IT chick
K - Kids: Furry, cuddly, damn cute.
L - Longest car ride ever: Probably El Paso, TX airport to Flagstaff, Arizona via New Mexico. Oh, wait, no! The trip all the way through Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia provinces only to find the ferry to the States was booked so we had to go back the way we came!
M - Mom's name: Mom
N - Number of people you slept with: at once, or separately?
P - Phobia[s]: Heights...*clunk* Oops, passed out there for a sec, hehe.
Q - Quote: Tu parles français comme une vache espagnole! -- 10th grade French teacher
R - Reason to smile: The furry kids
S - Song you sang last: FreeBird
T - Time you wake up: 7:00 AM (je ne suis pas une morning person)
U - Unknown fact about me: I once went to Belgium for a boy. So stupid...
V - Vegetable you hate: Mushrooms. They smell like sperm to me.
W - Worst habit: Interrupting people. (Same as Melissa!)
X - X-rays you've had: Dental, back.
Y - Yummy food: TACOS, macaroni & cheese (the homemade kind), steak steak steak
Z - Zodiac sign: RAWR

I smell soup

You know that AOL commercial where the Member brings spice cake, and the IT chick rolls out from her cubicle and says, "I smell cake"? Well, this IT chick smells chicken noodle soup.

I had not thought of that...

The bumper sticker on the car in front of us on the way to work:

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

OMdog!

That was TOTALLY Dwight and Angela!!!!!!* You know it was! Yuck! :)

*The Office
Hobbit
Hobbit


To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

(Thanks, B!)

Catalog count

Total number of catalogs received in the Cede family mailbox today: e-lev-en. There's gonna be a lot of recycling to put out this week!

Really? REALLY?!

Who the friggin' bloody hell voted for this 7-year-old bully?! NOT ME. The word "moron" is too kind. He is a very dangerous puppet.

Sometimes I hate being right, and this is one of those times.

CNN headline: Girl willingly left with alleged killer

I blogged about this the day after, how I felt jaded and bad that I was jumping to conclusions, and now I'm just really annoyed that I was right.

Oprah and Dave

It is a long standing joke that Oprah will not do Dave Letterman's show. But, the joke's over, cuz Oprah has agreed to do the show. I'm looking forward to that show, if it does no more than stop Dave from complaining about Oprah's lack of visit. I wonder if Jennifer Aniston called Oprah after her visit to the show? Dave and Jen did talk for an awful long time about Oprah...



Thanks for the heads up, MK! :)

Uma set to wed again

This made my smile when I read it. Yay, Uma! Hope you are forever happy in this relationship. :)

2050: It's the future, yo!

Bryan has introduced me to SadTech who is also the founder of HowStuffWorks. Once in a while he fires up the old SadTech blog and speculates about life in the year 2050. In his newest post, dated October 23rd, Marshall (aka SadTech) ponders the future of religion. Will Christianity continue its domination (or be even more pervasive) in 2050? If it's true that God hates amputees then probably not.

Monday, November 21, 2005

Bush buttons


I read about this event over the weekend then I saw the photo on Moxie's site this morning and all I could think was, "those look like candy buttons!"


Right?

Police Report

Missing: 8 oz. bag of nacho cheese Combos
Last seen: Friday, November 18, 12:45pm
Missing from: My office DESK!
Suspects: The mice, or a hungry thief.


Argh. These Cheez Waffies will do well enough though. Oh, and I was talked into trying Diet Coke with Splenda which tastes like Tab and I love Tab so I'm drinking it like I'm a DC fish.

Update: Lots of people are confused about Cheez Waffies so I'm adding a picture and a link to their product site. Enjoy!


The Apothecary Rose and secrets. Oh, and defining moments.

Admittedly I am only a few chapters into this book that Bdogg sent me, but it is so intriguing. I just got to the part where a secret has been kept so as not to ruin the lives of three people.

Sometimes it really is better to keep a secret. I have a secret. I keep it from my parents. I don't keep it from my girlfriends or my husband, but I know that if I told my mom it would just hurt her and make her feel bad about a situation that she did not understand when she witnessed it. Unfortunately, that situation defined how I related myself to men when I was age 7 to age 22. That's 15 years of thinking that if I let boys/guys/men use me that meant they loved or cared for me.

I have no plans of ever telling my mother about the situation, but I sometimes need to allude to it in my daily life to get it out of my head. I don't want it to be one of my actively defining moments so I'm trying my best to create new and positive defining moments.

I'm having a hard time thinking of the list of my defining moments right now. My mind tends to think in images or jumbled concepts. When I pinpoint events in my life I find doubt in considering them a defining moment simply because I am remembering that the event occurred. But, here's a muddled list:

1. Listening to Def Leppard, reading Jaws, and watching the ocean go by as Mom and I drove through York Beach
What this means to me: It's my favorite place in the states because it is beautiful and because it is where my mom chose to spend quality time with me. It is a place of sanctuary, serenity, safe haven. It is where I escaped to in college when I was having a rough time and needed to get away. It is where Hay and I honeymooned. It is where I think of when I need to escape from my problems. (O, really, it's a fantastic place. Watch out for the biting deer, though.)

2. Combo: The day my brother was kicked out of Radio Shack for (loitering?), which happened to be the day I found out that he had been kicked out of another store for stealing, and the day the power went out in the arcade and I was stupid enough to lose 75 cents in the Pole Position game
What this means to me: When I told the arcade caretaker that I lost 75 cents in a game that was only 25 cents he called me a liar and threw me out. I wasn't a liar, I was just stupid and kept adding quarters thinking the game was jammed. But, now when I go to stores alone I think the people behind the counter are keeping a close eye on me because they think I am a liar and a thief. I don't want this defining moment anymore. Could someone please take it from me? Thanks. It's really hard to shake. The only place I don't feel like a criminal is somewhere I go really often so they know me and never make comments to me which could be misconstrued as me being untrustworthy or criminal.

3. The day that I realized it was hard to make friends as an adult
What this means to me: I am severely lonely sometimes. I know this is the human condition, but for some reason I didn't think it took so much friggin' effort for humans to connect with one another and stay connected. My closest friends outside of college are a few of you (you know who you are). The friends I tried to make in real life didn't pan out. I even tried to be friends with my cousin but she has plenty of friends and doesn't need my friendship. Slap. in. the. face.

4. When I told Kiki that I liked Hay
What this means to me: I had decided to live alone and take a break from relationships after the last boyfriend blindsided me by hooking up with my friend's girlfriend while I was on a business trip. I could see it on him when I walked into the baggage claim area. I didn't need him to say one damn thing to me, I could just tell. After that mess was all over, I was really happy about being able to be independent. It's something my mother never had, so I was glad that I could achieve my complete independence. Once I felt firmly established in this independence I decided to pursue a relationship with a man rather than slutting myself out there waiting for the first boy to pick up my scent to hook up with me. Yah, I was one of those girls. Needy, sexual because I needed to be loved. It's not something I'm proud of and it's not something I'll do again. I could never have a healthy relationship with Hay as my former self.

5. Meeting Ripley for the first time
What this means to me: I was a volunteer at a local animal shelter. When I moved farther away from the shelter I was having a difficult time maintaining my commitment to them. One day I was working away when one of the paid staff said "Go ask Poppy, she'll teach you how to do it." I knew then that this was no longer going to work out. I took on this volunteer position so that I could spend some time with the animals, free of obligations to people (people and I were not getting along at that point), but all I really ever did was clean up after them, after which I was too tired to spend time with them. It was exhausting. One of my last times volunteering I went into the cat room and sat on the floor. This is when I met Miss Ripley. She was only 5 months old and 5 lbs, and she was in a room filled with male cats who hissed at her, yet she was happy and excited to see me. We played for what seemed like forever. I fell in love with her. She fell in love with me. I told Hay about her and we decided to visit to make sure we agreed that we would adopt her. The reason for alllowing Ripley to be part of my defining moment set (as opposed to the many other kitties who have graced my life) is that I chose her and she chose me. Unconditional love. We have a very deep bond, we understand each other implicitly, and when I go to work I miss her. Sure, I miss the other girls too, but they don't let me into their hearts like Ripley does. Allie tolerates me and loves me. Georgie is just happy-go-lucky. Ripley is sustained by my affection, and that makes me feel like a good kitty parent. It gives me hope for being able to nurture the unfurry kids.


There are other defining moments, but that's all I've got for now. (There are supposed to be 10, right, Dr. Phil? Or is it Oprah? Or Montel? Who knows? Does it matter? No? Okay?) I'm not dead yet, so there's time for more defining moments.

Roller coaster

I saw a dead kitty in the road on the way to work. She looked exactly like Ripley. I couldn't stop crying. When I got to work I checked my email and found out my co-worker is coming home from Iraq for his 10 day leave. His wife said he wants to see us all and asked that I help organize a get-together. Now I'm crying for a very different reason. I'm such a weepy girl, sigh.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Happy Anniversary, Weasel Trek!

There are no greeting cards for this event: Weasel Trek turned 1 year old.



Happy weaseling!

Cookie day!

Yesterday in between home projects and shopping I made a double batch of my favorite oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies as well as cookie pops, which are cookies baked in mini muffin cups. And since I have a photography addiction I also took a ton 'o pictures to share with you. If these don't make you want to bake some cookies so that you can eat them I dunno what will.

Teasing you because you like it when I do that:

DSC00087

Yup, I ate that one!

Welcome to our home

The first thing you now see when you come through our front door:



Yes, that is the fantastic photographic genius of the wonderfully talented Stacy from Jürgen Nation. Yippy! I think it only took us a month to finally get a good frame for it? :D Oops.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

I don't wanna look

*peering through fingers* Ugh. I'm 58% slut. Should I be proud of that, or sick to my stomach? When I was in my teens I was intentionally trying to lower my purity test score (cuz, ya know, lower meant "higher"), but then I grew up.

I took the slut quiz to see how I compared to t~. She blew me out of the water. :)

bunny says “...”

My friend Kristen has this canny ability to remember everything I ever say to her. The last time I was at her house in...2003? 2004?...I told her that I loved her fridge magnet so she bought me the same exact magnet for the next time I saw her, which happened to be a few weeks ago when I went to Target for the very first time and had some kick ass homemade apple pie.



I know I rag on a lot of my "real life" friends, but K is not one of those friends. She is genuine, uncalculating (as in: not manipulative), hilarious, considerate, and FUN FUN FUN to be around. I just love her to death, although I don't think I've ever mentioned that to her. Hmm.

Anyway! Bunny is funny! Thanks, K! You're a sweetie!

Is it possible?

Is it truly possible to trade one red paperclip and receive a house in return? With many barters in between, anything is possible.

When Savannah Smiles

I loved that movie when I was a kid. The idea that a child who is happy and smiling and holding a puppy can completely transform bad guys into men with compassion is perhaps not realistic but inspires me. Another inspiration in my life - my girls:

DSC00009

DSC00011

DSC00013

DSC00014

Sorry, can't help myself. They make me happy, even when skies are grey for the foreseeable future. :)

Friday, November 18, 2005

Yippy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Neela and Michael are getting married!!!!!!!!!!



I need to hurry up and find a dress to wear for next Thursday night!!! Weeha!

The gift of giving

I love presents. Sure, I like receiving gifts, especially when I'm not expecting them, but that just doesn't really ever happen, so I'm talking about the other direction. I l-o-v-e to spend time choosing the perfect gift, then hoarding it with the other presents I have carefully selected for other people in my present closet.



1. my box of packaging materials;
2.-3. my present closet which has extended out onto...
4. the guest bed


(that's Georgie climbing into that box)

I purchase gift wrap, ribbon, tissue paper, gift boxes, bags, bows, tags, and cards online and in stores throughout the year. Then, when it is somewhere near time to give presents I go into the closet and pull out the gifts, lump them into piles by recipient, then rebox everything and put it back in the closet. A little closer to the gift-giving time and I pull the gifts back out and carefully select one gift to wrap. I browse through all the various wrapping materials and smile as I place the gift in its perfect packaging. :}

What I don't care for is when my sister-in-law chastises me for putting too much tape on my packages to my niece (who has little function in her left hand so it's hard for her to open packages) so the next year I use gift bags instead and my S-I-L quips, "Lots of bags this year, Poppy. Sometimes I don't have a lot of time to wrap up my presents either." Or, "It's so much easier to just throw things into bags, isn't it?" Or, "I buy stuff from Oriental Trading because it's cheap, too!" OR, when she ROLLS HER EYES at me when I give my niece another book or a stuffed teddy bear (which is what my niece asks me for when Auntie Poppy takes her out for the day). This makes me unhappy. But, instead of ruining the day by reminding my S-I-L about what she said to me the previous year about the tape and how I was actually being considerate to my niece with the bags and the books and the bears, I bite my tongue and walk away.

Then, when I visit my mom or my friend K and see that the gifts I gave them are sprinkled throughout their homes and hear the stories of when they received their gifts in the mail and couldn't wait to use them ...


one of my gifts to K for her 35th birthday

... I smile to myself and realize that all my effort is appreciated and perhaps actually worth it. :)


DSC00032-sm
"I love it when Mommy smiles!"

Foto

Today I went a little snap happy and took about 60 photos of the flora around my workplace. This evening I scrutinized the photos and have selected only the best for you. Do I take care of you, or do I take care of you? (Yah, I take care of you.)

The teaser:

DSC00037

Yes, I'm the crazy lady you all keep seeing with my camera in my hand even though it's only like 1 degree Fahrenheit outside. Thank you for noticing.

2 December

What is this about?

Listening to...

I've Got Love To Keep Me Warm by Billie Holiday. It's a wonderful day. :) (:

Bo diggy

Meet Aidan, the son of Bo Bice:



Exclusively from Tabloid Whore!

So freakin' adorable I can't stand it!!

Thursday, November 17, 2005

It is time

Over a month ago I purchased the set. It is time to unveil them. It is time to start the journey.





Lisa, that was for you. :)