banana.catastrophe.

I just made two batches of banana bread with the five kids i've been hanging out with this week. We had 15 bananas in the freezer so we brought them to concord along with eggs and butter. We assumed they had all the other usual mixings. Upon further review, we found flour and sugar with the teeniest amount of vanilla (not even 1/4t), old and clumpy baking soda, rock hard brown sugar, and a dash of salt, literally. Needless to say, these loaves are easily the worst i've ever made. Tastewise they're fine, but they're more like flat densely damp bricks than the fluffy loaves i usually prepare. To mix it up a little, l. and i added a peach and pear to the second batch, and some vanilla cinnamon sugar. The slightly different flavor was great, so next time, when i have my own ingredients, i'll try this again.

headlines.

I'm sure most of you have heard about this missing girl in the news recently. She's been to our house and i've been to hers. And met both parents. It's so much creepier when it's personal and not just some glamorously tragic news story.

registered.

I registered for my classes! I'd expected to be in class four to five days per week from 4pm on, and was thrilled to learn that i could condense things a little. So, as it goes now, i'll have classes on mondays from 4-6:30 and 6:45-9:15, thursdays from 4-6:30, and three weekends in october and november. I'm not even sure i'll keep the weekend class since i'm just trying to get an extra one out of the way (so i can skip out on summer courses in favor of going to hong kong), but my advisor suggested i register for it since i'd have the option to drop it if my course load seems too heavy. This is a huge relief. It leaves tuesdays, wednesdays and fridays pretty much open- days that i'll likely be able to work for my tuesday/friday family. Phew!

sleepy.

I was up late last night working on a project for the b.'s. Just in case they read this (in all their free time), i won't say what it is now. You'll just have to wait until after the 5th to find out. As I was saying, i was up late, and now i'm exhausted. So tired, in fact, that i keep nodding off for split seconds. I'm even dreaming while awake. We'll see how long i last tonight. I may be asleep on the common! What's even crazier is that a. hasn't slept at all in the past two nights. It's not unusual for her to work late, even through the night every so often. But the most she's gotten is a two hour nap on wednesday and a 20 min snooze around midnight last night. I don't know how she functions, let alone works!

drenched.

Okay, seriously? What's with this rain. It's pretty much been thunder/lightening for a month straight. It's one thing to have some rain, but this schizophrenic weather pattern of unbelievably drenching downpours one minute followed by blinding sunshine the next is a killer. We were quite literally running in between the raindrops today, with little success at staying dry. I guess the real question is that with all this rain, why is the grass still dying?

p.e.i.

Knowing that i was getting up early today to meet krista for a run, i planned to go to bed early last night. Since i was staying at my parents', it should have been easy. No long commute, no option to pack and move stuff, just a quick dinner and visit and off to bed. Unfortunately, my parents are heading to prince edward island this weekend. The trip in itself isn't unfortunate- if things weren't so busy i'd tag along. The unfortunate part was that my mom (wanting to be prepared) borrowed "anne of green gables" from the library, and they decided to watch it with dinner last night. I started watching with them, and 2.5 hours later, when it still wasn't over, decided to go to bed at 11:30pm. I'm going to have to rent it now myself to see how it ends.

i.am.tortoise.

I almost forgot. I took this picture just for evil the other day. It illustrates a point i made not long ago.

speedy.packing.

I got a call from my landlord today. He always calls me since i'm the nicest of the three (kidding) and today's conversation started with, "I have a huge favor to ask." Fantastic. As you know, i'm currently cohabiting with three different families; my parents, the b.'s, and my two roommates. The roommates not so much, since i've only stayed at the apartment once this month, but our lease isn't up until the end of august, and i'm still on the books for rent and utilities. After advertising on craigslist, the landlords really hit it off with a guy from pa. who loved the place (especially the color scheme- "who picked out the paint colors?" he asked!) but who had to move on august 9th. The favor? Could we move the moving out up a bit. While this was music to my ears (previously wasted money now to go towards school), i doubted it would work for the other two. Jen's moving in with me, but wasn't going to be able to do anything before late august, and ben's new lease doesn't start until september 1st. I said i'd give it a shot. I called jen first, and found she was willing to deal with whatever hassles packing up early might bring in order to save a chunk of cash. Jackpot!! Ben was a trickier nut to crack since he was on vacation in no-cell-reception maine. Plus, this would be the biggest pita for him. After searching his room for phone numbers, we managed to contact someone who could contact him, and after thinking about it for a bit, he was game (long story short). So we now have until august 6th to get all our crap out. I'm hoping to get the minivan weds night to move my bed and dining room table, but will definitely need some help since i can't lift/maneuver them myself. Is anyone around? (Evil already said no, so this'll give me the opportunity to sweat off a few more pounds and pass him while he's playing on facebook, which he's apparently 53% addicted to.)

i.<3.marathon.sports.

New running shoes! This time i left with saucony's instead of my usual brooks, and i can't wait to give them a try. In my test run, it definitely felt more cushiony in the heel. Watch out evil...i'll catch back up with you in no time!

pimped.out.

Yesterday, after dropping et#1 back at her place all safe and sound (we were picking up a variety of farm share veggies nora so kindly shared), i passed this car. I'm not good with recognizing makes/models of anything outside the usual vw, ford, etc. so i have no clue what this one was, but it was pimped out. Black, tinted windows, low to the ground in the front, but high off the ground in the back, kind of retro but cool looking. This car was sweet (if you're into retro cars). The driver knew it, and gunned the engine at every opportunity. He got one such opportunity as my lane slowed down for a turning car. His lane kept moving, and he zipped right past me. I almost missed the best part- his license plate, which read "BADGUY." Maybe he was a dealer. Or maybe he was just looking the part.

last.overnight.

While not completely moved out of my apartment, i haven't been staying there at all. Most of my clothes are back at the b's, and even some of my furniture has made the trip. I was hoping to get my bed over here, but luckily, i didn't have the necessary vehicle when i had the man power. Lucky, because i realized that i never had m. over for her sleepover. The other two both had turns earlier this year, but m.'s schedule is a little trickier to make your way into. So last night was the night of choice. Both of us had to pack an overnight bag, and then we headed straight downtown for her dinner pick- fire and ice. L. talked it up enough that even m., who's not quite as adventurous an eater, was excited to give it a shot. They even got her up behind the counter to help cook- something l. wasn't willing to do. The funniest thing she said all night was while we were waiting to ask the waitress for the check- "I'm just asking out of curiosity, but do you think they serve dessert at a place like this? Probably not, right?" Ah children. So transparent. I told her i was thinking of stopping at jp licks on our way back. That was fine with her. I told her she could get whatever she wanted (hey, they're moving to hong kong in three weeks. I'll spoil them all i want right now), and she chose this chocolate dipped, jimmie covered waffle cone with mint oreo ice cream. It was the perfect night for ice cream- warm and slightly muggy, the red sox had won, and lots of people were milling about enjoying the evening. After getting home and changing into her pjs (and out of her sticky ice cream covered clothes), she found my guitar hero guitars. So instead of spending quality time together playing yahtzee or cribbage, i taught her how to play guitar hero. Though rusty at first, she zipped through the practice rounds (which i set her on to protect her from being booed off the stage) and had the controls down pat in no time. It always impresses me how quickly ten year olds pick stuff up. She played for about an hour that night, and when the birds woke her up at 5:55am, the first thing she asked to do was play some more. She probably totaled 2.5 hours all in all, and mostly on one song. I now have cheap trick's "surrender" burned into my mind.

tillie.

I was distracted from my morning latte/sudoku routine this morning by the television. A segment on cbs talked about a jack russell named tillie who is an "unusual artist" with exhibitions in several galleries around the world. Seriously? The dog chews at, claws, and rips apart plastic covered carbon paper which leaves prints on the paper below. This seems like something that any dog could do, and it amuses me that some of her "pieces" sell for $2200. I have to hand it to her owner though- if he can make money off of his dog, more power to him. Evil- maybe this should be your goal if you ever get a dog.

new.scale.

As you all know by now, evil and i are in the midst of a nail biting challenge. We're both racing to lose a total of 17.5 pounds, and are currently tied at -7.5. Only 10 to go! Since i'm living the life of a bag lady, yet want to stay on top of weighing myself daily, i'd been trucking my trusty digital scale back and forth from boston to acton. It turns out that it's not so trusty after all. When i returned it to my bathroom last night, and hopped on (out of curiosity- my official weigh in is in the morning) it registered 00.0. I tried it again, thinking i'd stepped on too fast, but with the same result. After checking it this morning, changing the batteries, and placing it somewhere else, i gave up and decided to purchase a new one. Not having any time to spare (i'm in a high stakes contest after all), i did some online research, i picked up a tanita scale. It's so fancy! It measures to the nearest 0.2lb, tells you your body fat percentage, and what your body water percentage is. How fun! You can even save data to look back on. I can't wait until tomorrow when i can test it out!

red.sox.

Look closely! Those aren't costume rings, they're the two red sox world series rings from 2004 and 2007. I tried them on after our run tonight (which is why i'm scrappy and sweaty), and took the picture to share with you.

jellyfish.

We went to the aquarium today for the small sum of $101.80 ($67.80 for four people and $34 for parking). The jellyfish were my favorite. How cool are they?

in.case.you.were.wondering.

What does snafu mean?

I wasn't exactly wondering this. I knew the general meaning ("a chaotic or confused situation") but just didn't realize that it was actually an acronym until recently. A. used it in conversation, and p. shared. Here's what wikipedia has to say about it:

SNAFU is an acronym meaning roughly, "things are in a mess — as usual". The most commonly accepted rendering is "Situation Normal: All F**ked Up" (or "Fouled Up"). In computer jargon, it sometimes is intended to mean "Systems Neatly All F**ked Up". It is sometimes bowdlerized to "Situation Normal: All Fouled Up" or similar, in circumstances where profanity is discouraged or censored. In modern usage, "snafu" is often used as an interjection, as a shorthand for the sentiment expressed by the phrase. "Snafu" is also sometimes used as a noun or verb, referring to a situation that suddenly went awry, or the cause of the trouble. The acronym is believed to have originated in the US Army during World War II.

We both decided we liked this word, pardon, acronym much more after hearing the explanation. What great things the military has given us!

bachelorette.

Grrrraaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!! Not happy.

bachelorette.

Oh my gosh. Who's deanna going to choose? Jason? Jesse? I don't know! Why'd i ever get so invested in this show.

fourth.of.july.picnic.

The plan was to meet at haymarket, get some fruit, bread and cheese, and hang out on the common for a few hours. Our adaptability was tested when we emerged from the haymarket t station to find an empty street. Blast. We headed over to mike's for coffee, and discussed options. Dim sum in chinatown? Shopping in faneuil hall? We settled on a quick shoe store stop followed by a trip to the chinese grocery store for supplies, and found a nice grassy spot on the common to enjoy it all. The combination of food was amusing- vietnamese sandwiches, sugar snap peas, lychee's, cashews, salad, dried sweet potatoes, pickled carrots, homemade jam, we we's, chinese buns and shimp flavored crackers (hmm.). It was the perfect relaxing alternative to spending the day jammed in with thousands of people on the esplanade. I almost got a nap in! Our spread's to the left, andrea and her vietnamese sandwich is to the right, and the we we's are at the bottom. I think those were my favorite, and for just $0.39, you couldn't go wrong!

wet.

Krista and i went for a run tonight. When she called at 7:30 to tell me she was home, she asked if i still wanted to go out.
"Do you think it might rain?" she asked.
I didn't know, but told her i didn't mind getting a little wet. She admitted she was looking for an excuse not to run, so we decided to get it taken care of and then feel better for doing so. We decided on a loop from her house to the arboretum, through the arboretum, and back home. There are plenty of trails to take, so we could decide how long or short to make the run on a run-by-run basis. We made it halfway to the arboretum when it started raining. Not little sprinkles, but buckets of water being dumped from the sky all at once. Since we were already wet, we kept going, hoping not to become known as "the local girls hit by lightening." This was a short run, some 1.78 miles, but we kept going. It was raining so hard that i could just look up and open my mouth to get some water. We were both thoroughly soaked- clothes, shoes, ipods, etc. As I dodged a deep puddle, i wondered aloud what the difference was. My feet were sloshing around as it was. I honestly don't think anything on my could have absorbed more water. When we were about 200 feet from her house, an acton police car was passing us and stopped to ask if we wanted a ride. What a nice fellow! Maybe we should have said yes. It's always good to see the police as nice people who don't mind getting their cruiser wet. Here's a picture of us when we got back. Mind you, we'd both toweled off, especially our faces, before this was taken.