a.night.on.the.town.with.us.kids.

Boy oh boy did we have fun tonight. It was our siblings night out, something we started last year, and is now a tradition. Kevin's 21 now, so we were able to go to a bar. Since i'm not the world's best bar picker, i put et#1 up to the task of picking where we should go. She decided that cleary's would be perfect, so we started the night off there. Actually, i should start at the beginning. Here goes....


We walked down to the bus stop, but missed both 9:30 buses by seconds. I'm still not quite sure why they didn't wait for us since we were standing there. We had to wait almost a half hour for the next one, so kevin and brian walked across the street and picked up some beers which they drank out of brown paper bags like hobos.




At cleary's, we got some drinks and some food. Brian couldn't figure out how to eat nachos with the toppings on the chips. Look what he did to the table.






What a cute sister i have! It's officially her birthday in this picture. We sang happy birthday to her really loudly. I think some guy smiled at us too.






Here's all of us. I was tempted to take a picture of us standing to put on my blog, but i didn't. The reason was because i was wearing heels which made me the exact same height as my sister, so i wouldn't appear to be so short. Next time.



Once cleary's started to clear out (ha!), we walked over to the beehive. I liked this place, and am planning on returning to sit around and people watch. Once we secured our corner table, we started talking about the people who were hanging around. In particular, "tall guy" and "short guys." I presented the question of whether kevin was taller than "tall guy" (a tall guy standing at the bar) and after taking bets, sent kevin on a mission to see if he was indeed taller than tall guy. He was. Kevin's 6'5", and our best guess is that "tall guy's" 6'3". Then the topic turned to how tall "tall guy's" friends were. They looked pretty short. Since i'm the shortest of us kids (at 5'9"), i volunteered to walk up and see if they were shorter than me. Since i was wearing high heels which would confound our data, i offered to remove my shoes for a free drink. I walked up to the bar in my stocking feet, and was indeed taller than at least one of the short guys.

Brian was hungry again, and got a fancy grilled cheese sandwich. It was fabulous. It also came with unbelievably good fries with fried sage. Mmmmmmmmm..........







I still can't believe i got this shot of brian squirting ketchup in julie's mouth. She'd just mentioned how much she love ketchup and that she'd eat it with a spoon if she could. They he sprayed some directly into her mouth. Crazy!







Finally home (after a hilarious cab ride) we ate some cupcakes i'd made for julie's birthday. Here is a picture.

Alright. That's it. I'm leaving tomorrow for a five day trip to nj. Have a good new year everyone!

magic.hat.cap.quote.

"Gus loves it."

magic.hat.cap.quote.

"Come to the Night... of the Living Dead"
"Enjoy a 9 when you Dine"
"Don't Piddle where you Fiddle"

and our personal favorite...

"How did You get like This?"

yay!

Here's a picture of julie and me, and another one of our bowling score tonight. Notice the names under each score. I'm the top one, then kevin, then julie. Can you guess who filled the names in?












I love christmas time. I get so excited to see my family and spend time doing the fun stuff that we don't get to do together most of the year. In fact, when i talked et#1 into coming to my place for christmas, i told her she'd get to meet my family, and brian. "...because brian isn't part of your family?" she questioned. Not exactly, but he's somewhat elusive, and most of my boston friends have never met him. I only get to see him once a year, unless there's some special event that he makes it to. I'm also happy to see other friends who're back in the area for the holidays. Especially this year. I spent three days with my 2nd family- slept over and everything. As much as i miss them, it's really nice to go and visit without being the mean one. Everyone's happy to see me, and i get extra attention from all. From there i went to my parents' house, and i'm only home for a day before i leave to spend 5 days with my london friends at some huge house they rented in nj. Not sure what the new year plans are, but there'll be a bunch of us, so i'm sure it'll be great. The only downside to all this quality time is the letdown once it's over. I'm going to practice trying to be happy about the time i got to spend with people i love instead of being sad that it's over.

i.want.rock.band.

Christmas was great. We followed our usual schedule- wake up, open presents, play video games for a ridiculous amount of time, clean (both the house and ourselves), greet guests, visit for a bit, play video games, eat dinner, clean up, play video games, and go to bed. Today we were lucky enough to have the company of et#1 who was without her family for the holiday. I warned her of our excessive video game usage, but she wasn't swayed, and even did a great job of participating despite her lack of prior experience. Last night we played some guitar hero 3 which kevin got for his birthday back in october, but that was old news once he opened rock band, our game of choice for this christmas season. I can't decide if i prefer the drums or guitar. Here's a picture of julie (vocals), brian (on drums) and kevin (rocking the guitar) during one of our later night performances. I'd estimate we killed about 6 hours playing this. At least.

merry.christmas!

Cookies and milk for santa.

cookies.

I just spent the entire night making christmas cookies. I finally finished frosting them all, and i'm exhausted. Just exhausted.

drinks.with.a.

I dropped m. off at her nutcracker performance tonight. We took the T since it was snowing (again) and after she was safe and sound in the opera house, i walked over to downtown crossing to look for twin sized sheets for our extra bed. A. was supposed to pick m. up around 8:15, but she finished at work earlier, so she met me at tj maxx. She confirmed that the sheets i was considering were too green, and then we went out for drinks to kill the hour we had until it was time to pick up m. We tried ivy first, but the bar was full, so we went across the street to mantra. It was pretty empty, and a. thinks they're having financial issues since they were out of many of the things we tried to order (namely, several champagnes). Still, it made me think back to my birthday several years ago when tish, andrea, mandy and i went there. Everything was delicious, and i still remember it as one of my favorite birthdays despite the stress and tears that preceded actually arriving at the place. The best part of mantra is the bathroom. There are stalls, and the outside of the doors are equipped with mirrors. The catch is that they're one-way mirrors, so when you're inside the stall, you can see out perfectly. It's a little strange to be peeing while you can see everyone washing their hands six feet away. Toward the end of the night, i zipped down for a bathroom break, and while i was sitting there, this woman came up and started fixing her makeup in the mirror of my stall. Knowing that she couldn't see me didn't change the fact that i could see up her nose perfectly. I had to wait until she left to take care of business.

(*I'm not sure that this is a complete entry, but i'm literally falling asleep as i read it, so this is where it ends. Maybe et#1 can add an ending or alternate story line. She's great at tying everything together. Maybe she should have been an editor or proofreader.)

i.had.a.dream.

..last night. It was about horses. We (and by "we" i mean me and a couple of unknown friends) were at a horse ranch, and when we walked in, there was a very large guy riding a rather small horse. I remember looking at them from the back, and wondering how that poor horse could even walk with all that weight on him. Then it was our turn. We all picked out a horse and took a spin. It was a quick ride, and then we came back and had to brush and wash them. We had to wait in line, and then use shampoo to scrub them all down and rinse them off. It was strange, especially because we each rode about eight horses and washed each of them after a five minute ride. Imagine how dry their skin must have been!!

product.review.

For the past three nights, i've been sleeping on a fancy pillow. You know, one of these weird tempur-pedic ones. No, i didn't spend $125 on it. I'm just borrowing it for four nights to see what all the hype is about, plus, i've been having real issues with tension and my shoulder and thought it couldn't hurt.
The good: Despite the fact that it weighs about nineteen pounds (or lbs, which we learned about in an earlier post), it's much softer than i was anticipating. When I'm on my side or back, my neck fits nicely in the cradle area, and the support couldn't be better.
The bad: Unfortunately, I'm a stomach sleeper, so the shape isn't ideal. Plus, my shoulder/back tension is no different than before.
Overall: If you're a side or back sleeper and have money to burn, this is definitely much nicer than the standard stuffed pillow. From what i hear, extended use can make a dramatically positive impact on neck and back pain.
Grade: B

pie.

I made an italian zucchini pie the other night as part of my party menu. I'd never made it before (which is against the proper party planning rules) but was thrilled with how it turned out. It was delicious! I had the last piece for lunch today, in the microwave, and it was still good! That's impressive. I'm not a fan of leftovers to begin with, stick them in the microwave and the chances that I'll like it go down exponentially. Somehow this pie managed to fall in the small percentage of acceptable foods. I'm already anticipating the next one I make. Mmm mmm.

christmas.dinner.party.

Last night was my annual christmas dinner party. There was a smaller crowd (nine total) this year since most of the boys couldn't come, but i'm tempted to say it was the best one yet. Despite the risotto taking longer than i would have liked, everything went smoothly, and the lively conversation took us well into the night. The last guests went home around 1:30am, and i dragged my tired butt into bed around 3. Here's a picture that would be my new favorite if it were in focus:

It's me washing something while ben's rushing to give me bunny ears and jen's poking around the corner. I like that it feels like a frozen moment, complete with expression and motion. Sometimes pictures are too posed and you forget about ones like this. You can see the whole gamut of photos on my flickr page. There's even a little slide show playing for you over there on the right. Go look, and you can see everyone in their fancy clothes.

in.case.you.were.wondering...

OK vs. okay.
I've never been a fan of OK, preferring okay instead. Like most of my preferences, there's no logical reason behind it. (Numbers for example. I don't like odd ones, other than 17. Why? Who knows, though 17 is my birthday, so it's granted an exception.) My best guess is that it has something to do with the nonconformity of the letters- like someone's shouting OK instead of slipping it in among the rest of the words. This isn't to say that I'm all about conformity either- I do appreciate when a little uniqueness is thrown into the mix. Over the past few months, I've really become more aware of the extent to which I dislike OK, and after coming across it again today, decided to check up on its background. Here's what I learned. Okay is a variant of OK. OK was first noted in a boston newspaper in 1839. At that time, they liked to use abbreviations for phrases and work in some crazy sort of humor. The phrase that was being abbreviated was "all correct," and the humor was that neither O nor K started the words, but sounded right- like "oll korrect." Unlike other random abbreviations the newspaper came up with, OK stuck in part because president van buren used it in his reelection campaign in 1840. He was born in kinderhook, ny, and was called "old kinderhook." The campaign talked about making all things O.K. (meaning all correct by reelecting old kinderhook). I guess I'm the one using the abbreviation/variant, but I still like it better than the big flashy capitals.

cooking.night...

..at my house! On the menu? Risotto with fennel and onion, roasted chickpeas with spicy spices, pomegranate and grapefruit salad, and apple and cranberry crisp. Lots of antioxidants. Even though we don't discuss our recipes (much past what course we're in charge of) in advance, they always seem to go together quite well. Since it was at my house, i picked the main course. The tricky part is that nora's a vegetarian. At first i was worried about finding main courses that were meat free, and kind of wished that chicken could be involved. After just three cooking nights, i've realized that it's a good challenge, and i've found many options (besides pasta) that are vegetarian friendly. I can always try out carnivorous meals on my roommates if i want to practice.

no.light.

A strand of tree lights went out. I can't fix it because the tree's starting to dry, so everytime I mess around with it, a bunch of needles fall off. It still has to last another two weeks, so I guess it will just be a little less bright until then.

blah.

Blah. I'm getting fed up with blogs. No new posts, no good comment conversations, nothing exciting at all. Sure it's close to the holiday season and everyone's getting stressed out and busy, but i don't really care. Back in the day, i could count on the hose for new posts, and especially for good conversations in the comment section. Ever since evil left for india, things have gone downhill. There's been no post in over a week, and no replies to comments made. I'm disappointed. For a while there, the new blog- confessions of a yearbook nerd- was looking promising with frequent posts, but that too has tapered down with no new material and a halfhearted effort given to the last couple posts. Word of mouth hasn't been bad- even going for three consecutive days with a new post, but without a following of strong commenters, there's no follow-up. The folks at evil twins have been keeping up with their usual quota, and the last posts from both 1 and 2 were particularly funny, but it's not enough to offset the lackluster performance of everyone else (and not just the blog writers, but you readers too).

Don't take this as a personal attack. The truth is, i haven't been sleeping well and am therefore tired and grumpy. Since i didn't have anything else to write about, this is what you got. Maybe now that i've taken care of it, i'll have some better entries coming up.

open.house.

I went to an open house today to check it out for some friends. It was my practice for when i buy my own house. The place was beautiful- built in the late 1800's, with a lot of the old time charm but with an updated kitchen, etc. If i could afford it, i'd buy it now!

ballet.night.

Last night i went to see the urban nutcracker at the hancock theater. My friend's eleven year old daughter is the lead, clarice (aka- clara in the normal nutcracker), and she had a row of seats, so i tagged along. I was impressed. The concept was great- the typical nutcracker story, but updated to take place in the modern world, along with different styles of the same tunes. Instead of just ballet, there was jazz, tap, swing, and hip hop. It was a much bigger deal than i expected, and everyone did a great job. Yay for diversity!

outcome.

Julie requested a picture of my haircut. Here it is. Not the best picture, i know, but at least you can kind of see it. It might not look too different, but it is. He razored the top part a lot because while it wasn't too long, it was too thick (hopefully this will always be my problem!). So that made the curl easier to control. He also gave the bottom a little more of a blunt cut which makes it look a little stronger. He liked the length though- he said it was "sexy." This particular picture was taken after a long day of being out in the wind with sunglasses shoved up on my head. I think the top part usually looks a little nicer when there haven't been any sunglasses up there.

busy.day.

Jen and i had a nice trip to boston today. We parked under the common, and did some christmas shopping at downtown crossing. I got four gifts! We stopped off at starbucks where jen stole me a hot chocolate, and then we continued on to haymarket. I'm hosting cooking night on tuesday, and i'm also planning to make two soups tomorrow, so we stocked up on ingredients. The total for today was a bit higher- $16.50- but look at all the stuff we got! 4 limes, a pound of beans, 3lbs of bananas, 6 grapefruit, two bunches of cilantro, one bunch of parsley, 5lbs of leeks, one fennel bulb, one huge piece of ginger, 4 carrots, 5lbs of potatoes, 7 spanish onions and one pound of grape tomatoes. Wow! Look at this huge carrot!

I.like.this.a.lot.

stephanie's.day.of.fun.

Today i had two big mishaps:

1. I broke the toilet seat.


2. I polluted the environment, and put myself and others at risk.

The toilet seat happened before 7am. I was running late, and was multitasking (as usual) by attempting to brush my teeth while going to the bathroom. I leaned over to grab my toothbrush, and heard a crack as a large section of toilet seat broke off and fell in the toilet. (We have one of those U shaped seats, and the upper 1/4 of the U was what broke.) I wasn't sure what to do, but it wasn't going to be usable, so i duct taped it back on for a temporary fix.
The second incident happened almost 18 hours later around 1am. I was driving back home from acton, and stopped at the closest mobil to fill up. My usual habit at the gas pump is to pump it until it clicks off, and then pump a little more to top it off (ie- get it to a rounder number). The pump clicked off, i attempted to top it off, and for a split second i looked at the price/gallon info and wondered why i was able to get so much more after the first shut off (since it usually only allows me to add an extra $0.50 tops). Then I looked back at the hose nozzle, and noticed that there was gasoline pouring out of my tank, down the side of my car, and all over the tire, the ground, and my foot. Luckily i was at a mobil station, so they had paper towels and hand sanitizer at the pumps. I did my best to clean up so i wouldn't spark a fire, and then hopped in my car to drive home. Boy oh boy was that a long trip back. My boot's sitting in the hallway outside our door as i write this.

talk.about.depressing...

Today, during my daily job post review, i came across this entry. Just reading it made me feel sick. I can't imagine having it as a job.

i.<3.david

I got my hair cut! Once I get a picture, i'll post it so you can all see what he decided on- long, short, or in the middle.

bad.news.

My right vein is rejecting needles. It used to be that just the new blood techs would miss the draw, but now it's to the point where everyone does. This was the third time in a row where they picked up scar tissue and had to stop. While trying to reposition the needle in order to get the access pressure up, they started discussing how the vein felt hard, and the theory became that it's been bruised so much that it's never been able to fully heal. It explains why that section of my arm randomly feels sore, even when i haven't donated recently. The vein's angry. Since it's become such a consistent problem, they're going to switch things around next time and look for different veins for the draw and return. I hope it works. It's so important to me, and i'd be really sad if i couldn't donate anymore. Really sad.

delicious.

Today i made chicken stock for the first time. While it was simmering away, i made a couple loaves of banana bread with the bananas i got at haymarket last saturday, and threw some beets in the oven to roast up along side. Quite the feast. Chicken stock, banana bread, and beets.

are.you.my.soul.mate?

According to one of those books that gives you tons of info about you based on your birthday, my soul mate was born on one of these dates; january 6 or 12, february 4 or 10, march 2 or 8, april 6, may 4 and june 2. I'm not sure what happened to the rest of the months, but that's where it cut off. If you (or anyone you know) could be my soul mate, please let me know. Thanks.

tree.

Here it is! All pretty and decorated and lit up. I especially like the reflection in the window, and the shadows on the walls and ceiling. It smells good too.

best.day.

Today was perfect. I did things i love with people i love. First was andrea- I met her at 7:30am and we took the T downtown. Since it was early, we stopped at mike's pastry for coffee and cannoli. The bonus of being there before most people were up was there was no line, and we could actually sit at a table. After warming up a little, we ventured across the street to haymarket. Even though i've lived in boston for years and years, i've never technically shopped at haymarket. Sure, i've walked through when i did the freedom trail, and maybe even bought an apple or two, but i never really knew what i was missing until today. I spent $7.50 and left with; two giant bunches of cilantro, six huge beets (since i love beets so much and eat them like candy), four limes, eight tomatoes, and fourteen bananas (i'm planning to make some banana bread soon). I also made out with a full grocery bag full of baby spinach from the $2 monster bag andrea bought. I was ready for everything to be on its last leg, but surprisingly, almost all of it seemed super fresh- the bananas are still a little green! I regreted that i hadn't picked some recipes to try out in advance- i could save a bundle shopping there! This will definitely become part of my regular schedule, so next time i'll be prepared!

Next up was christmas tree shopping with jen and ben. We went to lambert's since i always get my tree there. You have to understand how excited i get about tree shopping and decorating- it's seriously one of my favorite activities. We even splurged on a nice big tree since we're splitting the cost three ways this year. After about an hour, we settled on one, and they gave it a fresh cut before tying it on top of jen's car. We got home, moved some stuff around, set it up in the stand and filled it with water.

Then i bundled up and went to nora's to take a long walk with her and barney. It was freezing but i wore my running hat, neck warmer and gloves, so it wasn't so bad. We got in a little over 3 miles, and then had hot chocolate while flipping through the most recent gourmet magazine looking for ideas for christmas party treats.

I just got home, and hung the lights on the tree. I'm about to put up all my ornaments, and will post a picture of it when it's done. Oh, and i'm listening to christmas music as well. How fitting.

i.need.a.massage.

My back is stiff, especially in the shoulder area (which is where i've always carried stress). I miss when tish was in muscular therapy school and used to have to give a free practice massage each week. I don't think i've ever been that relaxed. I tried to work the knots out of my own back, but it didn't go so well which is unfortunate because i'm apparently pretty good at back rubs. Julie and kevin sit strategically with their backs to me, and fight over whose turn it is- like i even want to give them a massage. You're lucky you both live far away or i'd be cashing in on all those back rubs you owe me.

nothing.

I don't have anything to report today. I know i thought of something earlier, but i don't remember it anymore. Since my blog's obviously going down the tubes (as is evidenced by the lack of comments recently), you should go check out mandy's new one. Just ignore her grammatical mistakes as english isn't her first language. She's brilliant.

magic.hat.cap.quote.

"A good Sneeze can Knock you on your Knees."

6:17.

My birthday is on june 17th. I don't usually like odd numbers but 17 is an exception. What i've found disturbing is the increasing frequency with which i look at the clock and find it's 6:17. I don't check all the time, and i don't plan it, but it seems to be happening more and more often. I'll come home with groceries and glance at the kitchen clock- 6:17. I'll be in the car and go to change the radio station (to 103.3, of course) and it'll be 6:17. Or today- i was entering the last blog post, and glanced at the clock on my laptop. Right again, 6:17. While it makes me happy, it's also starting to freak me out a little.

om.

I forgot to mention that i meditated for the first time in that class i went to last night. The class is called "cross cultural perspectives on grief" and it seems that they have guest lecturers fairly often to share a different perspective. Last night the woman who came in was a clinical social worker who was also a buddhist. She started off having us meditate for five minutes. We sat in our chair with both feet on the floor and our hands on our knees. Then we had to close our eyes and focus on our breath for a full five minutes. She told us that anytime a thought came into our head, we should acknowledge it, and then let it go. Easier said than done. It's virtually impossible for my brain to stop thinking- not that i'm so brilliant- i mainly thought about how i was not supposed to be thinking about anything. That, and how this was just like what liz experienced in eat, pray, love. I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly it seemed to go- i expected to start going crazy after about 30 seconds. I guess i've gotten so good at doing nothing that meditation is even possible!

after.school.special.

Tonight i went back to school. I was a visitor in a graduate course that's part of the program i'm hoping to get into next fall. I loved it. Great professor, great students, and great material. I got to participate, and felt like i'd been there all semester. I can't wait to be back in school- and since I've gotten used to being poor, there won't be much shock when i sign up for all those loans!

'tis.the.season.

Christmas threw up in my neighborhood. It even included a star of david for our jewish friends. Here's a picture so you can relive your childhood excitement:


On a similar note, i'm thrilled that oldies 103.3 has become christmas central with non-stop holiday music until the 26th. I'll give you one guess as to what channel i'm listening to...

moroccan.food.

We went here last night for dinner. Not only was the food good and the decor good, but there were belly dancers for entertainment!

1:0.what?

Whatever happened to hour long tv shows actually being one hour? All this 1:02, 1:09 minute baloney is reeking havoc on my tivo. It either clips the second show, clips the first show, or skips out completely on the lower priority one. I'm missing out on all the key parts.

thanks.giving.

During our thanksgiving celebration, the kids always watch tv. Years ago, we watched home alone, which always played on a local station. Since we're now all in our 20's, we've stepped it up a notch. On the menu tonight? A christian teen support program which told us how to keep a social life while avoiding parties with drinking, drugs, and sexual party games. We should take the keys from anyone who is drinking, and call on the holy spirit to protect us and keep us making strong moral decisions.. Next up were two partial episodes of family feud. Katherine and i would kick butt if we ever got on that show. Last but certainly not least- home alone....in spanish. The best part was watching the lips say english words, while we heard the funny voiced dubbing. Classic.

curtains.

I have curtains! Great floor length, bluish gray, thermal lined curtains for all seven windows. I sewed them while i watched the second season of project runway, which seemed appropriate. We were all sewing together.

thanks.for.your.help.

I want these shoes. I really, really want them. Mandy found them at marshalls for $39.99 just yesterday, and i was so jealous. She has little feet- size 6.5, and those little feeted people always get the good deals on cute shoes. Even if i was inclined to spend more than double what she paid for them, i couldn't get them in a size 10. If any of you can find them for me, i'll love you forever. Maybe start looking at the marshalls closest to you.

scar.tissue.

My competitive side is being challenged right now, and i'm not sure i'll win. I have four more platelet donations to get in before the end of the year to make the maximum number of 24/year. I've never made it before because something always seems to go wrong. Last year, I had two left when this happened. This year isn't looking too much better. First of all, i keep getting stuck by the new techs. After several misses, i started requesting l and k, the two techs who have the best track record with my draw line. That seemed to smooth things down, but last week when i went in, neither of them were there- they were both on the blood mobile. So my draw line crashed, and i got sent home, still with four to go. Today. Same thing. Except l was there, and stuck me not once, but twice on the draw side. The good news is that she was able to determine what the problem was: My arms have been poked at so much that i've built up a ridiculous amount of scar tissue. When they go into that vein and push right through it, some scar tissue can get picked up, which blocks the needle and causes the access pressure to drop. This doesn't have to mean it's over- they can strip the tube, moving the scar tissue along, but because of my super high platelet count, my blood starts to clot right away, creating another barrier at the tip of the needle. By the time they strip the tube and get rid of the scar tissue, the clot's formed, and the show's over. This is highly annoying. Grrrr...

mandy.

I'm so excited! My super favorite california friend mandy got here today! Here's a picture of us with the girls. (She's known them since they were babies, so we all hung out tonight. Aren't they adorable?) I met mandy in high school when she moved to acton because her high school "burnt down." We've been bff's ever since, but since she moved to the west coast, we don't get to hang out so often. I guess we'll have to make up for lost time, whatever that means....

soup.nazi.

My new favorite thing to make is soup. I make a whole batch and freeze it in big freezer ziplocks. Then when i'm hungry with nothing to eat, i cut a slab off and stick it in a pan to warm up. It's delicious. I recently finished off the sweet potato/caramelized onion soup from our first cooking night, and since it's my favorite, i whipped up a new batch today. Since the onions are my favorite part, i added a double batch of them. As soon as it cools, it'll join the potato, bacon, chive and horseradish soup, and the three bean chili that i already have frozen. Here's the newest addition:

It says it makes 8-10 servings. For who? A giant? This should last me into february.

fire.

Click here to learn how to start a large fire bomb in your kitchen....or how to prevent one.

mister.calm.

Today was the day i realized that i'm crazy. I talk to myself. It must be some sort of psychiatric disorder similar to mpd or schizophrenia, but at the level where i recognize that i have (at least) two personalities. While driving to children's, i was trying to go straight through an intersection where i had a green light, but all these idiots who were turning left kept blocking me. They kept trying to sneak in even though it was obvious that their special left turn signal was long gone. After forcing my car forward in a way that prevented anyone else from cutting me off, the guy who was next to turn had the nerve to wave me ahead!!! Like he even had the right to do so! If anyone was doing any waving, it should have been me. I was instantly irate, and silently cursed at him until my calm personality (mr. calm) took over and rationalized that it wasn't anything to get so worked up about. A similar thing happened in the garage when i was trying to park. It was busy, so i ended up on the 8th level, but it took forever to get there since the woman in front of me drove very slowly and stopped anytime it looked like someone was leaving. My initial response was annoyance, but then mr. calm stepped in again and pointed out that this woman was likely bringing a sick kid to the hospital, or visiting a sick kid, and maybe i should give her a break. I thought back on this, and realized that i do this a lot- react first, then reason and calm down. Maybe someday i'll be able to reason right off the bat, and forget about the reacting part. Maybe then i'll be cured.

telly.monster.is.my.favorite.

I watched sesame street today for the first time in years. It was pretty good! It reminded me of when i was a kid. Brian and i were only allowed to watch sesame street, mister rogers' neighborhood, and reading rainbow on weekdays until we were old- like 9 and 7 or something. We lucked out with a tv in the first place, because my parents didn't have, or want one when i was little, but (so the story goes) my grandparents bought one so that i could watch sesame street. If it weren't for them- and sesame street- i could have been one of those weird, socially awkward kids who doesn't know what anyone's talking about. God bless them both.

so.long.

Evil- have a great six weeks in india. We'll miss your smart a** comments around here, but if you bring me back a present, i suppose we'll all forgive you.

party.party.parties.

My christmas party's coming up- tentatively scheduled for december 15th. Since i've made new friends over the past few years, sitting them all at the table for a "classy gourmet christmas dinner party" has become increasingly difficult. So this year, I'm doing a cocktail party instead. That way I can invite even more people! If you've never come before, send me your address and i'll send you an invite.
Next on the to-do list is figuring out my new year's options. Not that i'll have many, but it's good to get started early. So all of you out there- start planning some parties , and i'll go to whatever one looks best, keeping in mind that i'm still on a strick budget (ie- i'll probably be staying over and not taking a cab home). I'm excited to see what you're all planning!!

magic.pillows.

I love our apartment- especially because I had free reign to decorate. I got to choose the paint colors, organize the furniture, pick out fabrics, etc. I'm also pretty good about utilizing every inch of free space without it looking cluttered, which is important because we don't have any other storage space. Our back hall shelves took care of most stuff, but we still have random things which don't really fit anywhere else. Pillows, for example. I have a slight obsession with them, and somehow ended up with seven extra full sized pillows. Five of them were used on my guest room bed in my old place, and the two others must have been rejects from my own bed. I left three of them behind, but brought the other four (the feather ones) to have around for guests. Instead of sticking them under my bed or in a trunk somewhere, i made them into convertible couch pillows. I shook the feathers to one end, folded over the extra fabric, and sewed covers for them. Now we can use them to make our couch look nice, but when a guest's here (who's going to be first??), we just unbutton the back, pull the pillow out, fluff it up a little and throw it in a pillow case. Presto chango.

new.low.

Today I acheived a new personal best in frugality. Andrea and i went to three stores; ikea, costco, and christmas tree shop. Costco for the monthly apartment run (toilet paper, detergent, yogurt, etc) and christmas tree shop to look at frames. An old friend and her mother showed up on the more recent commercial (all of which i hate) and alerted me to the fact that should they have them, i could pick up a few more black and white frames to finished off my bedroom wall for hundreds less than what pottery barn sells them for. They didn't have them, but i did get a plastic boot tray for $2.99 that will live in the hall outside our door come winter weather and wet boots. I also got some paperwhite bulbs which i've been wanting forever. While this was exciting, the real action happened at ikea. Before it moved to massachusetts, it was not unusual for me to drive four and a half hours to new jersey, spend three hours shopping, and drive four and a half hours back in the same day. If i was particularly tired, i might crash at my aunt and uncle's in westfield, nj. Since this was such a big trip, i usually spent at least $200 each time i went. Now that i have a 25 minute drive, it's easier to make more frequent trips, and therefore not necessary to buy something just because. Regardless...i generally spend no less than $30. Today my total was $7.33. I was so proud.

lunch.

Guess what I had for lunch today... a fluffernutter. Yup, that's right, the almost official massachusetts state sandwich. As you can see, my healthy eating is going quite well.

cooking.night...

...at nora's house. On the menu: polenta galettes with leek and swiss chard, beet salad with goat cheese and candied pecans, brie and apple soup, and carrot currant muffins. It was a cheesy night since nora's dish (the polenta) was topped with melted gruyere, my beet salad had goat cheese, and dali's soup had brie. It seemed appropriate for a cold fall night. I could see my breath when we were leaving. Since i was out in concord today, i picked up my ingredients at verrill farm, my new favorite place. I love cooking with fresh ingredients- it makes me feel healthy. I also love beets, and don't eat them enough. Maybe i'll pick up some more tomorrow, and make this salad again. I've decided that the perfect salad has to have some sort of nut and some sort of cheese to really make it exceptional. Otherwise it ends up kind of standard. This is one of my favorites now. Looking at the picture on the left is making my mouth water and I'm stuffed. The other three things were also great tonight, and very satisfying. There was so much food that it was hard to save room for the muffins. I think we sat at the table for at least an hour to free up space in a leg or arm. Aside from the obvious quality friend time, my favorite part about cooking night is making/eating things that i wouldn't necessarily cook for myself. It's a good way of broadening my horizons.

battery.power.

I thought my computer died. It kept turning itself off, and on monday, it wouldn't turn back on. I called the hp tech support (again) and had an overly frustrating time with them. Their computers were down (that's reassuring), they insisted my computer was 600 something days out of warranty (it has another three and a half months), and they made me repeat my info over and over again. I'm not racist, but I really was annoyed with the indians. Normally it's a fairly painless experience- they overnight me a box with packing material, I overnight it back (for free), they keep it for a day or two, and overnight it back to me all fixed. Since their computers were down, I was told they'd call me with a case number, and they never did. I called them last night, and was ready to punch someone by the time I got off the phone. Long story short(er), my sad laptop's still here, and I asked my dad to bring in my grandad's laptop so I could use it while mine's repaired. Since we're all spoiled and can't last a day without the internet, we've all borrowed it at one time or another. His laptop's actually the same as mine, but it has a better battery. I stuck his on my laptop to see if it would work, and it did- which means that there's some issue with my battery or cord, or the connection between the two. I'll still send it in for repairs, but at least was able to update the info on my external hard drive so I won't lose anything if they reset the hard drive again. The greatest part was the battery life with the big fancy battery. My battery lasts for 7 mins, literally, when it's charged to 100%. It used to be longer- like 3 hours tops, but now goes into hibernation when I unplug it and run the twenty feet from the living room to my bedroom. With the fancy battery, I can actually leave the cord in one room, and use the laptop in another room for an extended period of time. Like now for example. The battery shows 87% charge, and 6hrs 3mins left. I know what's going to be number one on my christmas list.

part.two.

This story ties into the one I posted last night about my train trouble. It's a continuation really, but from another point of view. So, as I said, I finally got back to my aunt's around 12:30am. She was asleep already with her door cracked open, so I scrubbed my teeth, washed my face, and hopped into bed. I must have been as quite as a church mouse because she never heard me. So at 3am when she woke up and didn't think I was home, she started to panic- where'd they drop me off, who was this guy I was meeting (what was his name- evil?), etc, etc. Apparently she told herself that I was grown-up, and could take care of myself, but it wasn't until she got out of bed and realized that I was home that she calmed down and went back to sleep. It's good to know I'm loved!

mishap.

I have a couple good stories to post, but I'm not using them all up at once. Even though I've posted a couple times already today, I'm getting one more in there before I forget the good parts:
As I already mentioned, last saturday I met evil at a bar in nyc. He bought me a couple beers, and then I had to head out to catch a train to my aunt's house, and he had to head home to play some guitar hero 3 on his wii. Since I didn't want to drag my aunt out to pick me up at the train station when it was dark out, I'd dropped my car off in the morning so I could drive myself home. Everything was going as planned, I made it to grand central in one piece, bought my ticket to station R, and still had enough time to pick up some quality reading material for the 50min ride back. Once on the train, the ticket guy told me I'd need to move up a car in order to get off at R since there weren't as many platforms. So I did, and spent the next 49mins reading about brad pitt, kaite holmes, etc, etc. At 11:20, I hopped off the train at R, the train pulled away, and I realized that my car was not parked there. After a few minutes of panic, I realized that it was not stolen, but right where I'd left it- two stops earlier at N. I briefly considered calling my aunt to come get me, but since I'm a grown-up, I tried to figure it out on my own first. After consulting the train schedule, I decided to wait 47 minutes for the 12:07am train to new york, which would take me back the two stops to stop N. It was pretty nippy out, so I huddled on a metal bench with my magazine, and prayed that I wouldn't be raped and murdered while I waited. I was lucky and survived, and made it safely to my car and back to my aunt's place by 12:30 or so. I'm not sure why I was set on stop R from the get-go, but I didn't doubt it was right until I was standing in a pitch black parking lot with no car. And yes, I'd had a few beers and a glass of wine at dinner, but alcohol was not responsible. I guess the only viable excuse is old age.

magic.hat.cap.quote.

"A Toast to Dennis and Justin"

turkey.trot.

It's time for the annual turkey trot at my gym. That means 90 mins of cardio each day, from november 1st to november 30th, only missing 5 days at most. I missed three already; thursday because I forgot, and saturday and sunday because I was in new york. So in order to win (and we all know how competitive I am) I have to be there everyday except two, for the rest of the month. Since I'll be putting extra effort in at the gym, I've decided I'll add an extra challenge. I want to lose another 20lbs to be at my ideal weight, so I'll be eating extra healthy to see how much I can drop by the end of this month. Maybe I'll even add an extra column on the right with how much I'm down by. If anyone else wants to join me, let me know. Maybe we can place a bet on it.....

magic.hat.cap.quote.

"Life is Not a Dress Rehearsal"
"Being Stronger means Living Longer"

Because I want to be cool like the hose, I'm starting some new reoccurring columns. The first will be this- magic hat cap quote. I love magic hat beer, plus, they have super fun caps with quotes inside. So every time I have a beer, I'll write my cap quote here. Tonight I had two. The other regular column will be our bar night escapades. We haven't started bar night yet, but when we do, I'll write about it here. Should be good. Maybe not as good as the hose, but they have, like, five people who post on their blog, and I have one.

stephanie.breaks.the.law.

Twice, actually. Driving down to my aunt's place in connecticut, I called verizon to cancel the internet function on my phone since I never use it, and the free subscription was about to expire. At that point, I didn't know it was illegal to use cell phones while driving in ct. On my way home tonight, I called one of my favorite friends- mandy. I got stuck in traffic and was close to raising my super low blood pressure (like 96/64) to a dangerous level. So while I knew it was illegal by then, I figured it could count as a medical necessity.

evil.

I can finally call evil a friend, and not just a friend-of-a-friend or someone I know from online (which sounds rather sketchy) because I finally met him! I was in nyc, so we met up and had a few beers. It's too bad he lives in ny (and is a yankees fan) because he's cool, and would be easy to hang out with. As it is, next time he's in boston, he's coming out with et#1 and me (since we'll soon be instituting a weekly bar night) so we can find me a boy, and him a girl. I'll update with any interesting stories from bar night as soon as we get it going. Maybe it will be a new weekly (or biweekly) column!

new.york.

Heading to new york for the weekend. Seeing a couple shows, hanging out with my aunt, and walking around in the city. Too bad I don't have a bunch of extra money- new york's always fun to shop in!

nothing.new.

Wow. I was gone all day today, without internet access, and was looking forward to getting home and catching up on all the blog posts, comments, and e-mails I received while away. Unfortunately, it looks like everyone else was away today too, because the only thing updated was one lousy e-mail from my dad. (The e-mail itself wasn't lousy, but the fact that it was the only one I got was.) Where is everyone? Why no comments on my, or any of the other blogs? No e-mails to say hi? It's good I wasn't sitting at home all day, because I would have been seriously disappointed every time I checked in (which would have happened at least ten times). Let's make tomorrow a more productive day, okay?

happy.halloween!

I donated platelets today, and though I didn't plan it, loved that I was there on halloween! All the sick children who were mobile got dressed up and trick-or-treated around the hospital. The blood donor center had a bucket of candy, as did most of the offices and departments, and a lot of the doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff dressed up too. The children came in and out in their costumes, and were so happy. It must have helped them to have some normalcy in their lives- despite the wheelchairs, iv's and other medical devices, they're still kids who want to dress up and get a crapload of candy. Who wouldn't?

mythical.creatures.

The conversations that occur after several late nights of baseball viewing are amusing. The most recent case involved the unicorn vs. the pegasus. After agreeing that the pegasus is a horse with wings, and the unicorn is a horse with a horn, we questioned whether there could be a horse with both wings and a horn, and if so, what it would be called. Pegacorn? Unisus? The ensuing web search proved hilarious. Here are some of the results:

Q: Is a winged unicorn and a horned pegasus the same thing?
A: A unicorn is a horse with a horn and a pegasus is a horse with wings. Therefore a winged unicorn would be a horse with a horn and wings. A horned pegasus would then be a horse with wings and a horn. I would then say that they are both the same. But, if you were to consider the unicorns magic powers, the pegasus with a horn might not inherit these powers. I hope I helped, Miranda
A(2): They might look the same, but the powers that they both have, is very different!
(wikianswers)

A: On the subject of the word alicorn, it is, as far as I know, a cobination of the latin 'ali' (wing) and 'cornus' (horn), so I will continue to use it for winged unicorns until someone convinces me otherwise. Transparent wings are fun to draw. (Followed by a drawing of an "alicorn" with transparent wings.) (elfwood.com)

And my personal favorite...

Q: Can human beings alter DNA of a horse to make it a unicorn or pegasus?
A: No. Horse DNA doesn't contain code for a horn or wings, so we would need to graft these features from another animal. So far cross-species grafting techniques are not nearly sophisticated enough to give a horse wings, though we could theoretically make horse bioluminesent, so we could have glowing horses ;) (eduqna.com)

There were several more I can't find right now that discussed the actual presence of unicorns and pegasuses. Those were hilarious. So while we didn't come to any definitive conclusions, we sure laughed enough at all the people out there who spend their time posting about mythical creatures.

jellyfish.

Nora sent me the halloween pictures, so here's one of me as a jellyfish. It's in the dark, so you can even see the glow necklaces glowing:)

we.won!

Take that all you non-believers. We're world series champs! The four game sweep was rather anticlimactic, but got the job done. My favorite part was when matsuzaka had a bubblegum bubble on top of his hat while hanging in the dugout, and ortiz cracked up once it fell off and matsuzaka noticed. Then they did a cute little japanese bow thing. They looked like cute little boys getting into mischief!! I tried to find a youtube video to post, but no luck just yet. Here's our reaction to the win:

boo.

Halloween party at nora's! It was just like the good old days, but we're all a bit older and a little more mature. I'm known for making my own creative costumes. This year I was running late, so didn't come up with anything until an hour before I was supposed to be there. What I came up with was a jellyfish. I took a big clearish tupperware bowl, hung a bunch of multicolored string from the lip, taped some glow necklaces to the rim, and added an elastic to make it a hat. Nora has the good picture on her camera, so I'll add them later. For now you get a picture of me in barry's super dark sunglasses and two of the glow necklaces once I'd pulled them off the jellyfish.

It was great. We watched the game (which was almost boring, it was so good) and I came up with a great idea for next year's costume with barry's help. Now I'll have a year and a few days instead of an hour to prepare.

neck.snuggly.

It was cold today. I've been running in a t-shirt and shorts or pants (depending on the temp) but today I bundled up and added a running coat to my getup. As I was running, I noticed that my nose and ears were a little nippy, and thought back to last winter when I wore a neck snuggly and hat. I loved the neck snuggly, but whenever I pulled it up over my nose, my glasses would fog up. It was a no-win situation. As I thought about this, I realized that now I can wear my contacts, and there will be no glasses to fog. I was so excited I think it sped my pace up a little!

tacos!

Thanks to ellsbury, we can all get them free. Get yours on tuesday between two and five!

poor.jen.

She's had a run of bad luck recently. Last night was the candle on the cake. We were all sitting around watching bones when the eleven year old neighbor knocked on our door to tell us that some lady was hitting one of our cars over and over again. We all went outside (along with the rest of the neighborhood) and found that jen's car had been hit by a minivan who's driver was still sitting inside. She kept hitting the gas pedal which pushed the back of jen's car further and further into the curb. The neighbor who'd called 911 had tried to talk to the woman, but she seemed a little out of it. No one knew if she was crazy or what, so we didn't approach the car, but waited for the firemen to arrive. Turns out she was having a seizure. Apparently she had come around the corner, hit jen's car lightly, and then kept seizing which forced her foot against the pedal. So unfortunate. They moved the car after getting her into an ambulance and there was only a small dent on the minivan, and some rear bumper and panel damage on jen's car. Luckily, it missed her rear wheel well by inches, so her car was drivable. The woman was expected to be fine, especially since the impact was minimal. The kicker is that this has happened to her before. Her husband (they live one street over) mentioned "she's been doing so well recently too."Apparently seizure patients are allowed to drive after six months of being seizure free. I'm not sure how I feel about this- if I was close to someone who suffered from seizures, I don't think I'd be comfortable with them driving at all. What if she'd been on the highway doing 70mph? She probably would have died.

the.cost.of.clean

Here's a picture of my foot. I painted my toenails yesterday in preparation for bar night at the enormous room. G was spinning one last time, and we all went over to hang out. Although I thought I did a good job, I can now see that I didn't. Luckily it was dark at the bar, and I don't make a habit of sticking my feet in my face. The pathetic part about all this is the three blisters I have on the tops of my middle toes. You know how I got them? Cleaning. Yup, jen and I scrubbed all the floors in the entire apartment on our hands and knees. They were so bad, and needed a once over before we could move on to a weekly mopping routine. It took two hours, and towards the end, I looked at my foot because it felt like I had some sand or grit stuck in it. That's when I realized that I'd rubbed my feet raw, past the point of blisters and on to ripped open cuts. The nail polish almost makes it worse because from a normal distance, it's the same color, and looks like I missed my nails and painted my toes. Nice.

tivo.desktop.

I've had my tivo for almost a year, and finally downloaded tivo desktop, the program that allows you to transfer tivoed shows to your pc via your wireless network. It makes me feel safer to know that I have all the sarah silverman programs stored safely on my laptop and external hard drive. Who knows what might happen if one of my roommates ever tried to figure out how to use the tivo- I'd have nothing left there!!

you.were.saying???

(evil wrote) "(beckett's) just delaying the inevitable. start cheering for the patriots because the red sox season is nearly over!"

hair.again.

I got a new picture of my longish hair to put up for comparison. It's also my new blogger id picture. It's a good representation of my hair at the end of a busy day. On this particular one, I went for a run (though I took a shower afterwards, so the run doesn't really come into play in terms of my hair condition), took the T to kendall to visit my dad (and mooch a free meal too- mexican day at his office!), walked a mile and a half to harvard while it was sprinkling, spent four hours participating in a research study, took the T home, and cooked a chicken for dinner. Sure the ends look a little scraggly, but that would be cleaned up in a trim anyway. Despite my last vote for shorter hair, I think I've reconsidered and would now vote longish. Also my aunt and uncle were very adamant that they liked it best at this length- and they said so much more aggressively than any of you. So I'm adding in a new poll question to get length opinions again. Hopefully I'll get more input this time. Go vote!

waste.not.

Before now, I've only been responsible for paying utilities for one year of my life- the year I lived in an apartment with andrea and nadine. I couldn't even swear to it that we had to pay for anything other than the phone. I think heat and hot water were included in the rent, and maybe we just paid for electricity. In any case, it was a long time ago. In the six weeks that I've lived in the new place, I've become fanatic about not wasting energy, and not for the environmental reasons (though it would sound nicer if that was the case), but for the financial ones. Our first electricity bill was for $7.01. That included one week where no one lived here (we were moving stuff in and painting though), and one week where I was here by myself, with no tv. Our first real bill was $60.11- 315kwh. We're good about turning lights off, but the competitive side of me wants to get it even lower next time. I got some of those crazy looking energy light bulbs at costco a month or so ago (they had an instant rebate which made a pack of 8 cost $1.50), and instead of waiting for the current bulbs to die, we went around replacing the ones we use regularly. We leave one lamp on in the hall when it's dark out, but turn everything else off when we leave the room. I've considered turning the hall light off too (which we do at night when everyone's home and asleep), but then it gets tricky going from one room to the next in the pitch dark. So I guess we'll just keep being vigilant, and wait and see how much difference the energy light bulbs save. As for the gas....maybe we'll turn the heat on if it gets really cold in february. Otherwise it's sticking to showers and cooking.

poulet.

I did it! Roasted my first chicken! Thanks to all the suggestions, it went quite well. Here I am holding the raw chicken. I wasn't sure how happy I'd be playing around with raw meat, but it was pretty cool. It reminded me of a baby- a headless one. I fixed it up, threw it in the oven, checked the temp a few times, and an hour later, voila! A cooked bird! I also made a big salad and roasted rosemary potatoes to go along with it. It was quite easy- something I'll definitely do again. Maybe I'll even invite people over to eat it next time!

beckett.rocks.

How can you not love josh beckett? He should have pitched every night for the love of pete. Who needs rest?

office.

My friend andre likes a lot of the same shows as me. Sometimes he goes for the more juvenile options (think "blades of glory") but when I really look at it, everything he's convinced me to watch (and give a second chance, if necessary), I've liked. The office is the one show that I couldn't stomach for a long time. Sure, it had offbeat humor and uncomfortable situations (similar to one of my favorites, curb your enthusiasm), but I really found it boring the few times I watched. Not one to back away from a challenge, he kept at it, giving me a copy of the original british version (which is appropriate since he lives in london now), and convincing me to watch various episodes with steve carell while I was visiting in london. He caught me laughing a few times, and I had to admit that it wasn't as bad as I'd thought. I've been missing those guys recently, so decided to buckle down and watch the series from the beginning. I started with the british version (since it is the original) and after getting used to the style, really liked it! Ricky gervais is just hilarious. Now I'm on to the american version, which I expect will get better once they move onto their own stuff. The ones I've seen so far are pretty much a carbon copy of the british version, and it feels like they're trying too hard to stick to the plot, and aren't being themselves. They are, however, universally more attractive then their british counterparts.

stupid.indians.

I hate the indians and their stupid grinning native american mascot. So culturally insensitive.

cluck.

I picked up a chicken today. Tomorrow I'm roasting it for dinner. It'll be my first shot at a whole chicken, so I'm doing some research to make sure that it comes out alright.

knife.class.

Yesterday, et#1 and I went to another complimentary williams-sonoma class. This one was called knife skills. It was interesting, but could have been better if she'd wrapped it up a lot faster. We didn't get to cut anything (probably because there were 30ish people, and they didn't want a law suit on their hands) but she did pass a bunch around so we could feel the differences in balance, weight and material. Even knowing what I already knew about knives, I learned some new stuff. They focused on two kinds and four brands; european (wusthof and henckles) and asian (shun and global). My favorite knife is a wusthof, and I've used shun and henckles before, but had never held a global. I wasn't a big fan. The handle didn't fit right in my hand and the balance felt off. They do look nice though! One thing I found the most interesting was the differences in asian vs european. The asian knives have an 18 degree angled blade, and the european have a 22 degree blade. That's why you can't use the same sharpener for different kinds. The only downside to the whole thing is that now I want a whole nice set of knives!

barn.board.table.

I'm finally getting around to posting about my table. I was waiting until I got some pictures from the process, but I keep forgetting to ask my mom (who was around and documenting it) to send me some. If I ever remember, I'll post them at a later date. So here it is. The barn board table. I got some old barn boards from jen's boyfriend's dad, and attached them by drilling holes and doweling them together. I added wood glue and clamps, and left it alone overnight. The next day I cut the boards so they were even, sanded it down a little, and used 2x4's and 4x4's for the base and legs. I polyurethaned the top (which brought out all the colors and grain), stained the legs and sides, and painted a bunch of mismatched chairs a light grayish green so they worked together. I have a total of ten chairs; two I had to begin with, three I bought at a thrift store for $3.99 each, and five I found in people's trash piles. I'm really happy with the finished product! It fits right into our place, and now we can eat off a table instead of the counter or couch. It was a lot cheaper than buying something too. The table ran about $70, and the total for ten chairs? $11.97.

douglas.jerry.silverman.

Another new sarah, this time about her thirteen year old chihuahua/pug mix named doug. After an abuse allegation, he's taken away from her and put into protective custody, and she has to fight to get him back. I laughed so hard, I nearly cried. My favorite part was this:

Cold war kids saint john is playing in the background. Sarah is let into the prison where doug is kept, and passes other dogs caged and in various jail-like acts (drugged out looking, dog on dog action, etc). When she gets to his cell, he's wearing a bright orange diaper.
Sarah: "Why is he wearing underpants?"
Guard: "For his own safety. Your three minutes is starting."
She pets him, and scratches his back.
Guard: "Pet higher please. You need to refrain from touching him in his covered area."

I suppose it doesn't sound as funny written out as it is on tv. You should all watch it if you haven't seen it. I have it tivoed, and will keep it along with the other seven episodes, so you're welcome to come over and watch it here. Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious.

go.lowell!

I love mike lowell. He's a great player (and fielder) and unlike some people (*cough* ramirez *cough*), he's not full of himself.

tire.trouble.

I went to the gym today and did two minute intervals on the treadmill for an hour. First I ran 1.5 miles at 5.5mph, then I walked at 4mph for 2 mins, then cranked it to 7mph for 2 mins, then 4 mph for 2 mins, etc. I like doing this for two reasons. One, it's good cardiovascularly and increases your endurance and metabolism for a while, and two, it's very satisfying being able to run at an all out sprint for two minutes with some time for recovery afterwards. It makes the hour pass faster than it would if I was just running, plus, I burn more calories this way. I was beat afterwards, and headed out to my car so I could go home and shower. Unfortunately, I had a flat tire. I'd driven over a screw- it was sticking out, right up front so I could see it. Like last time, the conditions were not ideal for me to change the tire myself. I was all sweaty in my running shorts and t-shirt, it was cold out, and it was raining. I called aaa since that's what I pay them for, and settled in my front seat and flipped through the real simple magazine I had in the car. Five minutes before they arrived, I realized that my trunk was as full as it gets. I'd packed my trunk, tighter than sardines, with stuff to donate until I was able to drop it off. So in the rain, I had to move everything from the trunk (fyi- jettas have huge trunks) into the back seat so they could get the spare tire out. First thing tomorrow, I'm taking a trip to the thrift store to drop everything off. Maybe I'll get better gas mileage without all that extra weight in there.

i'm.turning.into.my.mom.

Part of m's homework was learning about the correct way to write abbreviations. Periods, capitals, etc. I was taking her to her nutcracker rehearsal tonight, and while I was testing her, she mentioned that some of the abbreviations don't have anything to do with the word. Really it was only the word pound. Where did the lb come from? Instead of writing it off, I was curious enough to look it up online. Turns out it's from the latin word libra, which means "scales, balances," and is close to an ancient roman use of mass that's similar in weight to a pound. So there we go. Lb is from libra. And pound is from libra.

full.episode.viewer.

I used to watch the bachelor with tishka all the time. It acted as weekly assurance that we'd hang out, and even though I wouldn't have otherwise watched it, I liked it. Then she got married and moved to florida, so I hadn't seen the show in some time. Yesterday I woke up early, and went online to watch the last minute of another show that had run over and been cut off by tivo. While scanning their full-episode viewer, I found a ton of shows I'd never heard of, along with the bachelor! For old times sake, I watched the first episode, and got hooked again. I like this guy too. Some of them seem a little cocky or to much of a player, but I like brad. I'd go on this show!

credit.reports.

I like to check my credit report every year just to make sure everything's in order. I've never actually received my credit score because I'm too cheap (and broke) to pay the $7.95 fee for each score. This time I did some digging, and found a way to get all three scores for $1. I signed up, and just have to make sure to cancel within 7 days so I don't get roped into monthly payments (it's on my calendar so I don't forget). So now I know my credit scores, and I was pleasantly surprised! They were much higher than I would have thought- all three of them in the very good to excellent category. I'm very conscientious about paying bills on time, but I had a bad college credit card experience, and one or two late payments several years ago. Apparently my stellar performance over the past three or four years has paid off, and now I could get a darn good interest rate on a home mortgage...if I could afford a home.

happy.birthday.kevin!

He's the big two-one today. He's one of the youngest of his friends since he started college at 17, so he had to wait until now to be legal in the bar scene. We had the birthday dinner for him and my mom on saturday, and I made sure that he was planning a good first drink. As the oldest, I was the first one to turn twenty-one, and spent a while picking out the perfect first legal drink. Mine was a '57 chevy with a white license plate (1oz vodka, 1oz creme de cacao), and julie's was a birthday cake shooter (a double shot the bartender came up with at some bar in virginia. We don't remember what was in it, but I'm pretty sure there was some creme de cacao, something pink, and whipped creme on top). Kevin went out last night at midnight, and had an irish car bomb (pint of guinness with a shot of whiskey and baileys dropped in, then chugged). I don't know what brian had, though hopefully it was something that could stand up to ours.