Well we've had our first ice storms for the season, and now we've got our first snow that's not 'ten flakes out in the yard', the wind is blowing a fairly nice flurry outside, the first real snow of the seasons.
We haven't gone out in it, but it's nice to see. We're even getting a little bit on the street.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The Turkey Has Landed
"The Turkey Has Landed":
Yesterday my mother in law and I, as well as my sister in law, embarked on the frightening mission otherwise known as "Thanksgiving Shopping". We bought stuffing mix, we bought turkey, we got the seasonings that weren't in my spice cabinet yet, we dodged people rushing around in glassy eyed panic... ((including me who had never had to size up how much turkey was required to feed more than four people.))
Did I mention I'd had about four hours sleep when I did this? Eech. Next year I hope to be considerably better prepared. We also got off to a late start. We were SUPPOSED to bail between twelve and one to head out, but the transport vehicle didn't roll into my driveway until two.
On the plus side I've got everything to make Spaghetti and Meatballs tonight, and Hungarian Goulash Soup tomorow, and Turkey the day after, for us and our guests. ((GAH)).
Tomorow also has the honor of being Tilmani's birthday, so I'm trying to make sure it's kind of special entirely of it's own accord, and doesn't get lost in the Holiday. ((Which is why we're having the Ghoulash, because we all love it, and it's FAIRLY simple.))
Unfortunately none of his presents have arrived, but the extra cost to expedite shipping is really godawful. :(
I would have gotten things sooner, but it took forever to corner him to find out what he might like. We did manage between myself and family members, however, to get him some things he should REALLY enjoy.
Anyway, cross your fingers and pray for our Thanksgiving bird to come out alright. I got one with a popper, because historically they've been pretty accurate in giving us the heads up on a done bird, and while we will have stuffing, it's not the kind that will cook while crammed up the ass of a disemboweled bird. ((I do love me some meat, but that's just not a pretty mental picture.))
We're having Turkey (thirteen + lbs and staring at me from the fridge), a Stuffing with Cranberrys and sausage bits, Cranberry Apple Chutney, and Mashed Potatoes. Sides will probably include some rolls brought by the guests, and I believe someone will be bringing an pumpkin pie for desert. I anticipate that MiniMonster will be especially pleased with the desert.
He seems to be trying to cut even MORE teeth, and has some bumps in the upper gum that indicate where they're trying to come through. Not sure why he decided to have a spree for the upper gums, but I'm sure he'll be so much happier when he gets a break, poor guy.
Giving him a nightly bath has made everyone a lot happier, and we haven't, knock on wood, had another run of Night terrors. (THANK GOD.) Does mean we've played with the house thermostat though, because he definitely notices before we do if it's a little on the cold side, especially when he's freshly washed.
Oh and he still hates socks.
Yesterday my mother in law and I, as well as my sister in law, embarked on the frightening mission otherwise known as "Thanksgiving Shopping". We bought stuffing mix, we bought turkey, we got the seasonings that weren't in my spice cabinet yet, we dodged people rushing around in glassy eyed panic... ((including me who had never had to size up how much turkey was required to feed more than four people.))
Did I mention I'd had about four hours sleep when I did this? Eech. Next year I hope to be considerably better prepared. We also got off to a late start. We were SUPPOSED to bail between twelve and one to head out, but the transport vehicle didn't roll into my driveway until two.
On the plus side I've got everything to make Spaghetti and Meatballs tonight, and Hungarian Goulash Soup tomorow, and Turkey the day after, for us and our guests. ((GAH)).
Tomorow also has the honor of being Tilmani's birthday, so I'm trying to make sure it's kind of special entirely of it's own accord, and doesn't get lost in the Holiday. ((Which is why we're having the Ghoulash, because we all love it, and it's FAIRLY simple.))
Unfortunately none of his presents have arrived, but the extra cost to expedite shipping is really godawful. :(
I would have gotten things sooner, but it took forever to corner him to find out what he might like. We did manage between myself and family members, however, to get him some things he should REALLY enjoy.
Anyway, cross your fingers and pray for our Thanksgiving bird to come out alright. I got one with a popper, because historically they've been pretty accurate in giving us the heads up on a done bird, and while we will have stuffing, it's not the kind that will cook while crammed up the ass of a disemboweled bird. ((I do love me some meat, but that's just not a pretty mental picture.))
We're having Turkey (thirteen + lbs and staring at me from the fridge), a Stuffing with Cranberrys and sausage bits, Cranberry Apple Chutney, and Mashed Potatoes. Sides will probably include some rolls brought by the guests, and I believe someone will be bringing an pumpkin pie for desert. I anticipate that MiniMonster will be especially pleased with the desert.
He seems to be trying to cut even MORE teeth, and has some bumps in the upper gum that indicate where they're trying to come through. Not sure why he decided to have a spree for the upper gums, but I'm sure he'll be so much happier when he gets a break, poor guy.
Giving him a nightly bath has made everyone a lot happier, and we haven't, knock on wood, had another run of Night terrors. (THANK GOD.) Does mean we've played with the house thermostat though, because he definitely notices before we do if it's a little on the cold side, especially when he's freshly washed.
Oh and he still hates socks.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Not boarding the Catbus
So for those of you who are unfamiliar with the works of Studio Ghibli, the Catbus is an charming creature in "My Neighbor Totoro", and is a huge cat creature with mice-lamps, a Cheshire grin, and lots of feet, it's also in the movie, indirectly indicated as the source of many strong gusts of wind, since most people can't see it when it rushes past them.
MiniMonster is unlikely to be attempting to board one any time soon. He has no objection to cats, or to dogs...and probably not to mice though we haven't found out on that front, but he's not exactly fond of strong wind.
I'm hoping when he's old enough to really appreciate the story in 'Totoro' it'll help ease his mind, but unfortunately in the mean time it makes for slightly restless nights. He woke up two or three times last night because we've been having windy weather, though he went back to sleep when he got to curl up with me in his Dad's chair in the living room.
I gotta admit, it's one of the reasons I do like Ghibli films though. 90-99% of Disney revolves around girls getting married by rich, powerful guys, and having this marriage be -the most- important thing in their life, above anything else. Or bastardizing classic stories and myths to the point of being non-recognizable ((See Hunchback and Mulan)), plus merchandizing until you choke.
Ghibli films -actually have children.-. They're often about life changing events which require them to show greater maturity, but they're about strength of character, without loosing a sense of enchantment, wonder and magic. They're just awesome films, and so much fun. <3
I'm gonna go geek out and watch one this afternoon I think.
MiniMonster is unlikely to be attempting to board one any time soon. He has no objection to cats, or to dogs...and probably not to mice though we haven't found out on that front, but he's not exactly fond of strong wind.
I'm hoping when he's old enough to really appreciate the story in 'Totoro' it'll help ease his mind, but unfortunately in the mean time it makes for slightly restless nights. He woke up two or three times last night because we've been having windy weather, though he went back to sleep when he got to curl up with me in his Dad's chair in the living room.
I gotta admit, it's one of the reasons I do like Ghibli films though. 90-99% of Disney revolves around girls getting married by rich, powerful guys, and having this marriage be -the most- important thing in their life, above anything else. Or bastardizing classic stories and myths to the point of being non-recognizable ((See Hunchback and Mulan)), plus merchandizing until you choke.
Ghibli films -actually have children.-. They're often about life changing events which require them to show greater maturity, but they're about strength of character, without loosing a sense of enchantment, wonder and magic. They're just awesome films, and so much fun. <3
I'm gonna go geek out and watch one this afternoon I think.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
And now for something completely different
There's not enough awesome sillyness in the world, especially as we close in on the Holidays.
This made me smile in spite of nearly being clipped by a deranged older woman at the dump while I was trying to get back into my car, and having an really rude lady at JoAnnes decide that my handful of stuff and babystroller were way less important than HER stuff, and bolted around us to cut in line.
Sausage Casserole and Soapbox.
I made a Potato-Sausage casserole last night as an attempt at a new recipie, it actually came out pretty well, but the potatoes actually needed to cook longer. ((I've noticed that problem with some of Taste of Homes recipes that involve potatoes.)) Also if you *cough* happen to use spicy sausage... leave out the pepper. It was good enough though that we'll probably do a second run at it.
Otherwise: sorry, I'm rambling today.
I felt a bit like Geek-Ebert yesterday with the giant Zombie blog, which was kinda fun ((G-Ebert. ;) )), although I felt more growly later when a topic came up on Ravelry about Bullying. I am happy that people are becoming more concious of the enormous harm it can do, but I'm a little annoyed but one of the current blanket assumptions I keep seeing.
"All Bullies must automatically have abusive/terrible parents."
I'm sorry... but I flatly CAN'T agree with that as a blanket truth. I'm sure a number of them do. But not all of them, there's just no way. It doesn't take an abusive parent to make certain children crave authority, power, and the 'respect' they earn from making others feel that they are supreme above all others. True, many of these bullies are cripplingly insecure, especially among the girls, but that doesn't mean they come from bad homes. It may mean they've made bad choices, that they've wrapped themselves up in the illusion that the tangled and barbed knot of peer pressure and the urge to climb to the top of the heap by beating down everyone around them actually will MEAN something once they've left school... but it doesn't mean they were abused.
It's the goddamn Lord of the Flies. I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's a little savage microcosm, a tiny island where who has the latest fashion, the best sports scores, and the most important parent make or break you, where if you're new, you're a target, because you're a threat to the established order.
At some point along the line, it is, weather or not people want to admit it, the BULLIES choice to Bully, and something they, personally, need to take responsibility for. That's the only way I see the cycle being broken. You can stand on a soap box all day long and say "I abuse (insert other person here) because Mommy and Daddy abused me", but at the end of the day, you're the one who made the choice to continue the cycle of abuse.
Blaming everything on the previous generation's actions is only an excuse not to change, and it's a pathetic one.
Otherwise: sorry, I'm rambling today.
I felt a bit like Geek-Ebert yesterday with the giant Zombie blog, which was kinda fun ((G-Ebert. ;) )), although I felt more growly later when a topic came up on Ravelry about Bullying. I am happy that people are becoming more concious of the enormous harm it can do, but I'm a little annoyed but one of the current blanket assumptions I keep seeing.
"All Bullies must automatically have abusive/terrible parents."
I'm sorry... but I flatly CAN'T agree with that as a blanket truth. I'm sure a number of them do. But not all of them, there's just no way. It doesn't take an abusive parent to make certain children crave authority, power, and the 'respect' they earn from making others feel that they are supreme above all others. True, many of these bullies are cripplingly insecure, especially among the girls, but that doesn't mean they come from bad homes. It may mean they've made bad choices, that they've wrapped themselves up in the illusion that the tangled and barbed knot of peer pressure and the urge to climb to the top of the heap by beating down everyone around them actually will MEAN something once they've left school... but it doesn't mean they were abused.
It's the goddamn Lord of the Flies. I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's a little savage microcosm, a tiny island where who has the latest fashion, the best sports scores, and the most important parent make or break you, where if you're new, you're a target, because you're a threat to the established order.
At some point along the line, it is, weather or not people want to admit it, the BULLIES choice to Bully, and something they, personally, need to take responsibility for. That's the only way I see the cycle being broken. You can stand on a soap box all day long and say "I abuse (insert other person here) because Mommy and Daddy abused me", but at the end of the day, you're the one who made the choice to continue the cycle of abuse.
Blaming everything on the previous generation's actions is only an excuse not to change, and it's a pathetic one.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse
So Tilmani and I snagged "The Walking Dead" off of Netflicks and watched the first two episodes last night. It was actually pretty fun ((Tilmani is a big zombie fan)) and we both had plenty of stuff to creep us out, but we also, and I'm sorry to those who have latched on as die hard fans, MST3Ked the heck out of it.
Our first argument was that the Deputy got all the way to his house without making any attempt whatsoever to find shoes. Arguably there's a lot of stress involved in waking up in an empty hospital, but between having absoloutely no one respond to you falling out of bed, and having no one in the halls, that seemed in our book to be a huge red flag, and that was BEFORE finding an nommed up corpse in the hallway. ((Omnomnom))
Having a body in the hallway that had clearly been dead for at little while and just -left- there should have also been a major red flag that there was something -really- wrong, and a good sign that shoes, if not other clothing, and possibly an improvised weapon, should be begged borrowed or stolen. Maybe you'd look like a fool if there turned out to be a rational explanation, but if I woke up in an empty hospital and found a corpse on the floor missing most of their midsection, I'd rather look like a fool than the corpse. Just sayin'.
Since he decided it wasn't a good idea to even tape something to his feet to try and avoid the broken glass everywhere, we scoffed at that for a while, then banged our heads as he marched through a field of corpses. right through the middle. Not around the edges, right down the middle like he was looking for a seat in the movie theater. This while still in bare feet and having just walked through broken glass. Somehow, because it's TV, he didn't cut his feet on anything, but again, I would have skirted the edges. You don't know what killed the people, you know one body inside has been EATEN by something, and, well, corpses in general tend to harbor disease, which you wouldn't want on your bare, potentially sliced up feet.
Thirdly: After discovering HALF OF A PERSON trying to crawl across the grass and Nom him on the way home ((in boxer shorts and a hospital robe)), he goes into his house (without shutting the front door yet), has a small melt down ((Ok that was understandable)), and then goes outside and sits down.
Then because apparently he suffered complete amnesia about half of a corpse trying to catch him in the park, he is completely non suspicious of the guy shuffling down the middle of the road in a suit. Doesn't even blink. Doesn't stop to wonder why the guy doesn't answer when he calls 'hey'...
Yeah, just a few giant things that seemed to defy basic brain power.
We also argued about the pros and cons of horse over humvee, though since we were divided on that, we finally agreed that if he'd decided NOT to go into the city ((Where there were more people originally and therefore should have guessed that there might be a much much higher concentration of 'Walkers')), the horse wouldn't have been a bad idea, but going into the city, a car would have been better, if only because it's not made of meat and doesn't spook near Zombies.
So idiot boy wasted a perfectly good means of transportation because he figured it would be totally awesome to ride a horse downtown...and get it eaten.
There was however NO argument that the Deputies wife was cheaper than a nickel prostitute, since apparently in less than a month after she assumed her comatose husband had been devoured by Zombies ((Assuming she hadn't been banging the guy since the second her husband went into the hospital)) she jumped in bed with his partner. That's some seriously fast mourning period, even for a troubled marriage. And with such a classy guy too! Willing to abandon other survivors at the drop of a hat... such an beautiful role model for her son!
This 'Public Service Announcement' has been brought to you by "Geeks preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse"
Our first argument was that the Deputy got all the way to his house without making any attempt whatsoever to find shoes. Arguably there's a lot of stress involved in waking up in an empty hospital, but between having absoloutely no one respond to you falling out of bed, and having no one in the halls, that seemed in our book to be a huge red flag, and that was BEFORE finding an nommed up corpse in the hallway. ((Omnomnom))
Having a body in the hallway that had clearly been dead for at little while and just -left- there should have also been a major red flag that there was something -really- wrong, and a good sign that shoes, if not other clothing, and possibly an improvised weapon, should be begged borrowed or stolen. Maybe you'd look like a fool if there turned out to be a rational explanation, but if I woke up in an empty hospital and found a corpse on the floor missing most of their midsection, I'd rather look like a fool than the corpse. Just sayin'.
Since he decided it wasn't a good idea to even tape something to his feet to try and avoid the broken glass everywhere, we scoffed at that for a while, then banged our heads as he marched through a field of corpses. right through the middle. Not around the edges, right down the middle like he was looking for a seat in the movie theater. This while still in bare feet and having just walked through broken glass. Somehow, because it's TV, he didn't cut his feet on anything, but again, I would have skirted the edges. You don't know what killed the people, you know one body inside has been EATEN by something, and, well, corpses in general tend to harbor disease, which you wouldn't want on your bare, potentially sliced up feet.
Thirdly: After discovering HALF OF A PERSON trying to crawl across the grass and Nom him on the way home ((in boxer shorts and a hospital robe)), he goes into his house (without shutting the front door yet), has a small melt down ((Ok that was understandable)), and then goes outside and sits down.
Then because apparently he suffered complete amnesia about half of a corpse trying to catch him in the park, he is completely non suspicious of the guy shuffling down the middle of the road in a suit. Doesn't even blink. Doesn't stop to wonder why the guy doesn't answer when he calls 'hey'...
Yeah, just a few giant things that seemed to defy basic brain power.
We also argued about the pros and cons of horse over humvee, though since we were divided on that, we finally agreed that if he'd decided NOT to go into the city ((Where there were more people originally and therefore should have guessed that there might be a much much higher concentration of 'Walkers')), the horse wouldn't have been a bad idea, but going into the city, a car would have been better, if only because it's not made of meat and doesn't spook near Zombies.
So idiot boy wasted a perfectly good means of transportation because he figured it would be totally awesome to ride a horse downtown...and get it eaten.
There was however NO argument that the Deputies wife was cheaper than a nickel prostitute, since apparently in less than a month after she assumed her comatose husband had been devoured by Zombies ((Assuming she hadn't been banging the guy since the second her husband went into the hospital)) she jumped in bed with his partner. That's some seriously fast mourning period, even for a troubled marriage. And with such a classy guy too! Willing to abandon other survivors at the drop of a hat... such an beautiful role model for her son!
This 'Public Service Announcement' has been brought to you by "Geeks preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse"
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Tricksy Knitter.com apparently has a chart designer, which I'll try out later now that I have a working log in. Unfortunately it won't save charts unless you're logged in, so I just lost an knit-purl chart that was intended to let me do a cornered edge for a blanket I'm trying to make, but I'll just re-do it later. It should be a pretty cool tool though.
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