I ate a charleston chew yesterday. I hadn't had one in years, but found one in my mom's candy drawer (something she apparently instituted after the kids moved out) when i stopped by to grab my grandfather's computer. I was hungry, and needed a little sugar hit. It was good- surprisingly good really- until i finished it, and then i immediately felt ill. I don't know what's in those things, but it can't be anything good.

wow!

I almost forgot. My parents try to always send out a christmas card every year with a picture of all of us. This year, we took the picture the day after christmas. I got my own copy a week or so later. Here's the picture.


I was very excited. Why? Because in my opinion, i look the best out of everyone in this picture. I'm not being vain- i know that in real life, i'm not always the best looking of my siblings. I was just happy to get my chance in a card that was sent to pretty much everyone we know. Maybe now my aunt will take down (and burn) that absolutely horrific picture of me that she's had on her fridge for the past three years. Horrific.

i.heart.costco.

I received a costco coupon book in the mail some time back, and had quickly glanced through and noticed that there was a $10 off coupon for my brand contacts. I'd never considered getting them at costco; 1-800-contacts, yes. Costco, no. I decided to consider it. Up until now, i've only bought contacts from my eye doctor. This is because i just started wearing them at the end of august, and bought two boxes which have lasted me up until now. (Another issue entirely is that they shouldn't have lasted me this long...and i still have two more sets left. Hopefully i won't get a weird eye-fungus.) I read the fine print and realized that you had to buy four boxes to receive the $10 off. I also didn't know if i needed an actual prescription- something i only had for my glasses, not contacts. Jen was making a costco run last week, so she was kind enough to check it out for me. Yes, i needed a real prescription- the box wasn't enough, and yes, it was probably worth getting. I left a message for my eye doctor, and he actually mailed the prescription right out. I zipped over to costco today (since the coupon expires on sunday and only a crazy person goes to costco on the weekend), and picked up four boxes for only...(drum roll)...$57.96. Each box rang in at $14.49 (which comes down to about $0.34 per day if i only wear them for two weeks). I can't remember exactly, but i think i paid about $25 per box in august. The savings from this almost pays for the costco membership on its own! So wonderful...

**Update. I just checked on 1800contacts, and my contacts run $24.99/box there, so i think i paid about $28/box in august. I remember it was a little more, but not enough more to make it worth dealing with online people. 1800contacts sells 4 boxes for $99.96, as opposed to my purchase of $57.96. I'm so proud!

india.

The folks at hp support (aka- india) pulled through for me! They're overnighting me a box, and my laptop will be pickup up and shipped for service...with just 26 days left on my three year warranty! That extended warranty was seriously the best $150 or so i've ever spent. The three repairs i'll have received by the end of this definitely made it worth it. I suppose it would have been nicer if everything just worked, in which case i wouldn't need the extended warranty, but so it goes. Once it's fixed and back home, my internet usage and blog posts will return to normal, but until then, i'm completely reliant on other people's computers. Thanks for letting me borrow!

washer.fluid.

My car's out of windshield washer fluid. I keep meaning to get some, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Instead, i've been dumping water from a water bottle out the window at stop lights and traffic jams. When i realized how ridiculous this was, i started thinking about why i've been avoiding buying a jug and filling up the tank. It turns out that i get really annoyed having two inches of leftover fluid that doesn't fit in the tank. Why do they do this? Why can't they adjust the size of the tank or the size of the bottle so they equal out? When my sister and i drove cross country and experienced the phenomena of central u.s. bug kill, we had to purchase a bottle of washer fluid. The extra sat on the floor in the back row while i ran the wipers religiously to make enough room in the tank. I still remember the excitement when we were able to finish the bottle off and get it out of the car. At the b.'s house, you could often find an assortment of used bottles, all with a few inches of blue on the bottom. Maybe i should go pilfer around there and see if i can't come up with a full tank from the leftovers.

good.news.

After a bumpy end to the year, i'm back on track with platelets! As you may recall, i had two months to get in four donations- the perfect amount of time since you're supposed to go in every other week. Then i would have made it to the max of twenty-four in a year, something i've never been able to do. Unfortunately, my veins decided not to cooperate, and after three weeks in a row of failed donations (and then a week or two with a cold), i'd made no more progress, and ended the year with a mere twenty donations. This year i decided to start out fresh, and after switching up the two veins they use, got a great first donation. That was a few weeks ago, and i'm already three successful donations into the new year! I also hit my ten gallon mark with eighty total donations. Wooo hoooo!

trains.and.automobiles.

I think i'm really a boy. I've spent a good deal of time playing with trains recently. I love rearranging the tracks to make the most efficient design. I also like remote control cars. I always wanted one when i was a kid, but my brother always got them.

sorry.

My computer's been on the fritz again. I really have to get it fixed, and quick. Otherwise it will be out of warranty, and there will be not more internet for me. I think i'd rather be dead. So sad...

m.g.h.

I had my first full volunteer day on thursday. It was great. I was a smidge nervous going in, but loved it once i was there. Most of my time was spent with a two month old. She smiled at me nonstop until she got hungry, and then she yelled at me. They got her a bottle, and i held her and fed her. I had to wear a gown and gloves which made it a little slippery, so i had to hold on extra tight. One of the child life specialists had mentioned that her husband's happy she works there, because it gives her enough of a baby fix that she's not itching to have her own yet. I can see how that works. It was great to hold such a little one without having the responsibilities that go with having one. I won' t start in the outpatient unit for another week, but can't wait to do so. It'll be interesting to see how different the two units are.

banana.bread.and.cookies.

We really needed to make some room in the freezer since i've used up most of it with my soup, so i made banana bread with the eleven frozen bananas that have been in there for a while. I always double whatever recipe i'm making. I figure if i'm cooking, i may as well get as much out of it as i can. Plus, my mixer's big, and doesn't like when i mix small amounts of stuff in it. I'm always trying new banana bread recipes, but i liked the one i used last time, so used it again. Apparently i actually looked at the recipe before i made it the first time, and made a single batch since it was pretty big. This time i wasn't so lucky. I doubled it without thinking, and even with my super large bowl, it barely made it. The batter was up to the rim, and i had to manually stir it to get the edges incorporated. I have four big loaves, and there was only a little unmixed butter/sugar that spotted it. It tastes delicious, which is all i care about. I also made chocolate chip cookies. Since i don't want them all sitting around since i'll eat them, i'll mail some out to whoever comments first (if i know you). Maybe the first three people, actually. They won't go out until friday, so hopefully they won't be stale by the time you get them (especially if you live in california).

boots?

I need to get a new pair of shoes and i can't find what i want. One end of my shoe wardrobe consists of flip flops, sandals and running shoes. The other end consists of high heels and going out shoes. Not much in between. Tomorrow i start volunteering, and don't have many options to put on my feet. I started looking for my ideal shoe a while ago- brown boots, flats no heels- but i can't find them. If i find a good looking boot, it either has a heel or a big chunky sole. Today i went to dsw, and found plenty of shoes i wanted. Black crinkly patent charles david knee high heeled boots, black eel skin via spiga ankle high heel boots, eggplant patent flats, etc. Literally everything i wanted, but didn't need. I checked out macy's as well (something i never do since department stores stress me out), and even looked online. No luck. I might be wearing slippers tomorrow.

i.heart.dwight.

I've been watching some netflix movie viewer stuff since i kept forgetting to mail in my movies, and i had nothing else to watch. I love it, and will use the feature more often. Yay! Last week i watched the last disk of the office season 3, and this opening scene made me laugh so hard i almost peed my pants. I made jen watch it, and i've rewatched it several times since. If you've never seen the show, this won't make any sense to you, but if you have, here's the script to replay in your head:

Jim: walks into the office with his hair parted and dressed exactly like dwight. Sits in front of computer. "Looks kinda blurry." Opens briefcase and puts on glasses exactly like dwights. "That's better." (pause) "Question. What kind of bear is best."
Dwight: with a smug look on face "That's a ridiculous question."
Jim: "False. Black bear."
Dwight: "Well that's debatable. There are basically two schools of thought."
Jim: "Fact. Bears eat beets. Bears. Beets. Battle star galactica."
Dwight: "Bears do not...what is going on? What are you doing?"
Jim: (to camera crew) "Last week I was in a drug store, and i saw these glasses. Uh. four dollars. And it only cost me seven dollars to recreate the rest of the ensemble, and that's a grand total of (punches in numbers on his calculator watch) eleven dollars.
Dwight: "You know what? Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, so i thank you." Jim takes out a bobble head and places it on his desk. "Identity theft is not a joke jim! Millions of families suffer every year!"
Jim: gets up from desk and marches toward the office. "Michael!"
Dwight: "Oh that's funny." Jumps up from his own desk, "Michael!"

Then of course we have the closing scene where dwight dresses like jim, and tries to be annoying. Everyone thinks he looks great though, so his plan is thwarted. Ah, dwight. You really make my tv viewing so much more enjoyable. What would i do without you?

eye.cream.

We all know that i wasn't the most knowledgeable about skin care. I blame it on the fact that i'm the oldest kid, and didn't have an older sister to teach me everything i needed to know about makeup, moisturizer, etc. Not that i was much help to my own little sister, but so it goes. Over the past few years, i've taken the initiative to learn about this stuff. I got a ton of help from a., and talked to enough people at clinique and sephora to learn all the necessary application techniques. I started using facial moisturizer twice a day, made sure it contained an adequate spf, and noticed how my face felt tight if it took me a little longer to get to it. I was on the right track, or so i thought. At some point a few days before christmas, i was walking past a mirror and noticed that i have dark under eye circles. It stopped me dead in my tracks. Up until that point, i may have noticed them, but thought it was just me- that all those hours of staring at myself in a magnified mirror just made them noticeable to me, not anyone else. I immediately accosted a., and asked her why she hadn't mentioned this to me. (She's in charge of telling me when something's not working right for me- mainly my hair. Once it starts losing it's shine, she'll tell me to start getting it colored. I'm dreading this day since it will cost me big, but i'm glad to know i won't be wondering around thinking my hair looks great when it's mousy and blah.) She shrugged and told me to get a specific under eye concealer from sephora, which i did. Right away. What i learned while there is that it actually is important to use an under eye lotion instead of using regular face lotion in the eye area. You need this because that skin's thin, sensitive, and has less oil glands than the rest of the skin. Using regular moisturizer doesn't help prevent wrinkles, can be too heavy which could cause little white dots (called milia), and won't help combat the dark under eye circles. Crap. How did i not know this? I even did a little online research, and found that this was the general consensus- get a good under eye cream and in a few years, you'll be glad you did. I don't want to have baggy, wrinkly, dark circled eyes in my 30's! Thinking about how much i wish i'd known this five years ago, i realized that i needed to make sure everyone else knew it too. If you don't want to shell out the big bucks right away, go to sephora and ask for a few samples of different kinds. They'll make you your own sample if they don't have sample sizes available. Just pretend you'll come back and buy the one you like best.

i.went.to.church.today.

Mainly because i needed an hour of quiet where i had nothing to do but sit (and stand, and kneel...). During my eighteen years of forced church attendance, i hated it. I was constantly bored, and repeated prayers, songs, etc. as a force of habit rather than thought. Once i was in charge of my own life, i immediately stopped going on a weekly basis, and saved trips to church for christmas, easter, and first communions/christenings/weddings. Anyway, the sunday before christmas, i was at the b's house, and decided to go with them. Theirs is a beautiful tudor style church with a dark, soothing interior, and i realized how nice it was to be able to stop everything for an hour. While i don't necessarily believe or agree with the teachings of the catholic church, it's a place that i'm used to. With everything going on in my life right now, i really needed a break to sit quietly and think- somewhere i could act as a force of habit without it interfering with thought. When nora and i talked about it later, she likened it to what yoga is for her- an hour of slowing down, being mindful, and starting off on a new foot. So while some may think of it as a religious experience, it wasn't for me (which is why i wasn't interested in trying a church with a more modern viewpoint). It was an hour in which i wasn't as stressed out about applications, moving, friends, and life. Maybe i'll go back next week, and the week after. Or maybe not. Either way, i could feel the persistent knot in my right shoulder loosen up a smidge.

my.freezer.is.full.

I'm practicing hibernation techniques like bears. Today i made three batches of soup, poured them into single serving freezer bags, and piled them up in my freezer. I now have 21 single-serving bags of soup, plus about nine servings of older soup that's in larger bags. Check out the picture.


I've been very interested in soup these past four months. I think it's because i can try out different levels of cooking (using meat, cutting up stuff, etc) but still end up with everything in one pot. Plus, i can whip a bag out, stick it in warm water, and have real food ready with very little effort. Today i made soups from my new soup cookbook- "the big book of soups and stews" by maryana vollstedt. Spicy black bean soup, broccoli and cauliflower soup, and herbed zucchini soup. So far i like the broccoli and cauliflower best. Second up is the black bean- it could have come in first place, but i put too much salt in. Not so much that it's bad, but enough that you notice it. The zucchini soup's good, but tastes a little too zucchini-e for me. If i make it again, i'll add in something else to make it a little more interesting. I got all the supplies at haymarket this morning. I met andrea and nora at nine am and we took the T down (which was early since et#1 and i had bar night last night and i didn't get to sleep until after two am). I had so much stuff in my tote bag that i had to keep shifting the load from one shoulder to the other. We took bets on how much it weighed- nora bet 28lbs, I bet 34, and andrea bet 36. It weighed in at 29, so nora won $1 from each of us. At first i was disappointed that i had such a hard time carrying a bag that was less than thirty pounds, but then i remembered that my entire backpack that i traveled europe with was less than that. Oh, and e. weighs just about 30 lbs, and i'd have trouble carrying her in a bag with two thin straps. Since the total expenditure was about $16, i averaged $0.55 per pound for potatoes, beets, onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, bananas, thyme, cilantro, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, garlic and limes. And from that, i'll have enough soup to live off of for weeks!

plumber.

I fixed our leaky sink today. It's literally been dripping since we moved in. Our landlord had tightened everything up when i'd mentioned it to him, but it didn't solve the problem. I finally got tired of having a bowl taking up space under there, so I unscrewed everything, cleaned off the rubber ring, and reattached it all. So far it seems to be working.

yes.honey?

I went into starbucks yesterday, and there was a kind of long line. Because it was right in front of me, i started staring at this lady's hair. It looked horrible. It needed a serious moisture treatment, and a trim as well. She had something in it- like glue or flour paste- in one section on the back. It was pretty obvious, and i wondered why she didn't at least run a comb or brush through her hair if she wasn't taking a shower in the morning (it was 10:30am, at least). Then she reached over to the condiment containers, and grabbed a little packet of something. I thought it was mustard (ya- i wasn't thinking about where we were), and didn't realize that it wasn't until after she opened it and started sucking it all in while standing in line. Right...honey. Seems strange regardless of what was in it.

cooking.night...

...at dali's house. On the menu: baked mac and cheese, edamame salad, falafel with cucumber sauce, and both almond with anise, and almond with dried cranberry biscotti. I was in charge of dessert this time, and despite having more than a month to come up with a recipe, i waited until the last minute- 5:20pm on cooking night when i was picking andrea up at 6pm. It worked out perfectly, and the biscotti were delicious. We all agreed that it was the tastiest cooking night yet. We'd make everything again! Since it was our fourth night, everyone's had a turn to host, so next time we're back to the beginning at andrea's place. We're talking about making this a whole day event, starting at haymarket in the am to gather our ingredients, and picking more time consuming recipes.

i.hate.the.black.jetta.

I've lived by my theory that "volkswagons are fun cars, therefore the people who drive them are fun people" for more than seven years now. Recently though, i've had to reconsider this. We have a neighbor who drives an old model jetta- a black one. I never noticed it before, but once the snow started, and people became very possessive over their parking spots, i can't help but notice it....because it's always in my spot. We're technically not allowed to save parking spots with traffic cones, chairs, garbage cans, etc. The mayor says that anything put in a spot will be thrown away. I try to be a good neighbor, so don't save whatever spot contains my sweat and blood from hours of hard shoveling. This doesn't stop the majority of people from doing it anyway, so finding a free spot between the snow piles and cones can be tricky. Fortunately, everyone seems to understand the frustration of spending an hour and a half shoveling out a nice clean spot, and tries to stick to the one they cleared. Everyone except the jetta. I'm convinced its owner never even shoveled, but just leaches clean spots off all of us. Seriously. Every time I get home late, it's tucked into my well shoveled spot. I'd key it if i wasn't a nice person.

salmon.

Today was my first volunteer day at mgh. It wasn't really volunteering since we just had the orientation and tour, but it was 2.5 hours that counted towards my 100, and every last bit helps! I also picked up this fabulous salmon colored coat with a $15 deposit. Hot, huh? Apparently salmon is the international color of hospitality. I got my own id that I get to wear around my neck on a fashionable cord. The picture came out well- a blessing, really. Today was the orientation for the floor i'll be working on every thursday. It's an inpatient floor for children ages 0-5, and seems great. It'll take me a while to get past the beeping and fact that they're all sick, but as long as i focus on the normal kid aspect, i'll be fine. Tomorrow i have my interview with the department i'll be working in on mondays- pediatric hematology and oncology. This is a little different- it's an outpatient clinic where kids with cancer come to get their treatment. I haven't seen it yet, but will update you when i do. Once i start, i won't really be able to post about anything specific due to patient confidentiality, but will give a general idea of how i'm doing. I'm really excited- especially about wearing the coat.

penicillin.perhaps?

Guess what i found tonight? Some sort of caramel apple simple syrup that must have been around for ages. I vaguely remember tishka bringing it to one of my christmas parties years ago to make some sort of martini, and apparently it ended up in the b's liquor cabinet. Tonight, while i was cleaning out the tupperware cabinet, a. was in the butler's pantry and found the bottle with a good thick layer of mold on top. It was so fuzzy that i considered taking a picture to post, but didn't have the energy necessary, so just threw it out instead.

what.better.way.to.spend.a.saturday.night?

I'm having the girls over one at a time for a sleepover. Tonight was weekend one. Since none of us wanted to start world war three, a. had them draw straws this afternoon. L. won, so she was up first. She was especially excited because we'd been talking about going to fire and ice for some time now, so she picked it for dinner. This place is set up similarly to a buffet (but not the crappy buffet you're thinking of) where you pick whatever meat, seafood, veggies, etc you want, pick a sauce, and bring it to be cooked on this large circular stove-type thing. She was seriously cute. For her first trip, she got some penne, calamari, and shimp- no sauce (this is what's in the picture to the right). The second trip was just bacon (but a bunch of it) and a salad with cucumbers and pickles. The third and final trip was for one crayfish and two scallops. The cooks were hilarious- they were going to give her a hard time about the small quantity of everything (especially the last trip) but once they realized she was seven, they cracked up and gave her high fives for eating such unchildlike food. They kept trying to get her to come around behind the stove to help cook, but she wasn't up for it. She loved it though- everything but the crayfish (which she thought would taste more like lobster), and kept running up to watch them cook, sing happy birthday's, and juggle the spatulas. Once home, we had some callebaut chocolate ice cream from rancatore's and a thin mint girl scout cookie, before she headed off to bed. She likes music more than any kid i know, and always asks me to play george winston's version of pachelbel's canon right when she gets into bed. I even left a copy of it at their house so i can play it when i just happen to be there at bedtime. Tonight she fell asleep while i was playing. So sweet.

rain.rain.

What a storm. The thunder and lightening was frightening! I drove a. to work since i had a 9am appointment at mgh for my first tb test. It took us forever to get there. Everything was flooded and the windows kept fogging up so i couldn't see anything. I almost hit a homeless guy while backing out of a parking spot. The good news is that my car's a lot cleaner than it was yesterday. If i were brave, i would have gone out there with a sponge and soap to scrub it down a little more. Next time.

tricky.tricky.

I've been spoiled by the nice weather we've had recently. Yesterday, i was eating cantaloupe in the kitchen with a short sleeved shirt and bare feet, and appreciated the nice breeze blowing through the opened windows. It smelt fresh and clean- like spring sometimes does. I was almost confused for a minute- it felt like the end of winter- like we'd have a bunch more of these days soon. Then I remembered that last year we only had two major storms. One on valentine's day, and one on march 16th. Blast.

stephanie.loses.it.

I had a bit of a breakdown tonight. I went to the volunteer orientation at MGH, which was great, but i got conformation that i have to do my volunteer hours during the week as opposed to nights or weekends. I knew it was coming, but still had hopes that i could somehow sneak them in on the weekend. What does this mean? It means that i'm officially unable to get a "real" job, at least until april, which would be a little ridiculous since it would only be for five months at that rate. It also means that the days i'm able to work in my temporary situation are reduced to at most four, more likely three. I'm going to be broke. That, piled on top of my stress about getting into the program i want (of 70 applicants last year, they accepted 10), my anxiety about change in general, and the complete lack of order i'm stuck with for the next eight months, put me over the edge. At that moment, i really understood why people become alcoholics. I picked a. up at work since i was down there anyway, and she was finishing up around the same time. She spent the entire 30 minute ride home calming me down, reassuring me that i'll be great at this, and helping me figure out a plan to organize my life a little. I love her. What would i do without her as my faux older sister? I'd be s.o.l., that's what.

bowling.

I don't bowl much, but when i do, i love it. We went the day after christmas, and i performed poorly, as usual. However, while in ocean city, eighteen of us went to the "mouse trap" bowling alley and paired off for some fun. I bowled with andre, his brother peter, and their brother-in-law mike. Peter's the oldest, and is unbelievably competitive. (I thought the four of us were bad.) The first game i bowled 94- very respectable for me. The second was worse- 70 something. Everyone else only played two games, but since mike and andre had the highest scores for the first two games (129 and 121 or something), peter payed for a third so he could beat everyone, which he did with 151! I started off badly with 0 pins down, but ended with two strikes and a score of 109! My first ever over 100 game! I can't wait to go to kings for some more practice. Who's with me?

messed.up.

Just woke up from the strangest two part dream/nightmare. I was babysitting for this family who lives at the ritz condos. The mom was pregnant last time i saw them, and already had a 2.5yr old boy. So i show up to find that she'd had a baby girl, but they'd wanted another boy so were auctioning off the baby. Current bids were over a million dollars. The baby was only four days old, but was the size and developmental age of an eight month old. They were still caring for her, but ignored her for the most part.
I was working there until 8pm, but was supposed to cook dinner for my siblings that night, so i started cutting up potatoes to make these garlicky healthy fries while i was still there. I'd even brought my 8 inch wusthof chef's knife for the job. The dad wanted me to make some extra for him for dinner, but first i had to go get something (more potatoes maybe?), so i brought the potatoes and knife with me so i could start cutting them into slices while I walked. I cut what i had and rolled them in a paper towel, and tried to carry the knife safely. At one point, i walked past this really sketchy house and there was this old guy who was up to no good. I tried to run past him, but he grabbed me around my neck and was choking me. I had the knife handle in my right hand with the blade running up my arm, so i pulled it out and stabbed him twice in the side. He let go of me, so i dropped the knife and potatoes and ran. I remember thinking that i should call 911, but i didn't bring my cell phone, and didn't want to stop anywhere. I did look back to try to remember the street address, but all i came up with was that it was a grey house on the corner. When i got back to the ritz, my siblings were there and i told them what happened. I was mad that i'd left the potatoes there since they were a pain to cut up (which they really weren't). So the four of us piled into a minivan to go and retrieve the knife and potatoes. We found the house, and waited until the sketchy folks had finished milling about before i jumped out and found the paper towel and knife. Since the potatoes were wrapped up, they were fine. The knife had some blood on it, and i was nervous about washing it off since there would probably be trace left. I remember thinking that i should use bleach.

nicknames.

I was watching some friends' kids recently, and referred to myself in the third person while we were playing some game. The four year old looked up, confused, and said "who's stephanie?" It took quite some time to explain that, while all kids call me stephie (which is strange in itself, because it's a nickname that i'd never been called before- i think l. came up with it), my real name is actually stephanie. You'd think i just tried to explain protein degradation to him. I'm still not sure he truly gets it.

product.review.

I found these flat pens at barnes and noble a few years ago, so while they're not a new product to me, it's the third or fourth set i've purchased, so figured it could use a little hype.

The good: The colors are great, the design's functional, and the price (at $4.95 for seven) is right. Even the packaging (in a special cd case) is a fun modern twist. I've received so many compliments on these, you wouldn't believe it. (In fact, i just bought the most recent pack for a friend who loved them.)

The bad: Hmmm....the only thing that's coming to mind is that writing with them takes a little practice since they're not the usual pen shape. This happens pretty quickly.

Overall: What's not to love? Go out and buy some for yourself and be the envy of all your friends.

Grade: Enthusiastic A+

beach.ball.

Here's andre entertaining the kids with a mini beach ball. Thomas is in the middle (how cute is he), then sarah, and finally grace. I wasn't taking this with the intent on posting it, but thought it would be amusing. Sorry about the camera orientation- but don't worry, it'll flip to horizontal pretty quickly.



What the camera misses while panning, is andre spitting the ball out onto the floor. That's what they're all laughing about.

30.items.

On friday night, when we arrived at the house in ocean city, sue, andre's sister-in-law, placed a tiny present on the dining room table. It was part of a game, and she explained that it was a matchbox (the small kind, not the costco version) that contained 30 items you'd find in an average american household. She handed out index cards, and we had until 6pm monday night to write as many things as we could think of that might be in the box. Whoever had the most items correct would receive $1 per correct item. There were 20 of us there, but since some were kids, only 12 or so actually played the game. On monday night, sue handed out the lists and opened the present to reveal the items. With 15 correct items, i won! It was a blast, and i left $15 richer! If you want to try it yourself, stop reading now. If not, scroll down for my list, and the actual items.






Steph's list: (bold highlighted things were in the matchbox)

• salt
• pepper
• flour
• sugar
• popcorn kernel
• grain of rice
• watch battery
• puzzle piece
• match
• piece of pasta
• pin
• safety pin
• dime
• penny
• earring
• nail
• screw
• button
• needle
• snap
• thread
• string
• wire
• sticker
• bobby pin
• paper clip
• jimmies/sprinkles
• toothpick
• piece of gum
• hair elastic
• rubber band
• dental floss
• dry cat/dog food
• contact
• aspirin
• ibuprofen
• vitamin
• other meds.

The other stuff in the box: (what i can remember right now- i'll check and get back to you with the rest.)

• toe nail clipping
• tack
• toilet paper square
• coupon
• stamp
• a golf tee

stephanie.feels.sorry.for.herself.

(title borrowed from evil)
I seem to put myself in situations that constantly make me realize how delayed my life is. This happens in part because a significant portion of my friend group is made up of people who are 5-10 years older than me, and are all married with kids. They're also all in much higher tax brackets than i could ever hope to be in. I love them all, and am thrilled to spend time with them, but i always leave feeling a bit deflated. I see how happy my friends are together, and how much they love their children, and it makes me anxious, especially as we start the year i'll turn thirty. If you could have children when you were fifty (not that i'd want to!) i wouldn't be as concerned, but the time restrictions really rush everything else along, and thinking about all i have to do in the next eight or so years makes me want to throw up. Maybe et#1 has the right idea- no kids, no marriage. But that makes me even sadder.