Monday, March 31, 2008

Taking a page from The Crock Pot Lady, who is my new hero, I going to try to use the crock pot more than once a week. I’m not quite sure I’m ready for daily yet. Baby steps.

First, I’m going to try her Red Wine and Cranberries Pot Roast next time I do a roast. Looks delicious.

Second, I forgot to thaw any kind of meat for tonight’s dinner. What to do? Crock pot!

Today’s experiment:

6 frozen chicken thighs
1 bottle General Tso’s sauce

Put chicken pieces into the crock pot. Season with salt. Pour sauce over the chicken. Set pot on Low, 8 hours.

When ready to eat, I’ll cook some rice in the rice cooker and will add some frozen broccoli to the crockpot. I figure in the time it takes the rice to cook, the broccoli will have warmed. Maybe I’ll add it a bit earlier than when I start the rice, just to be sure.

I’ll let you know how it tastes later, but it smells yummy right now.

There’s a new, really bad quality, video up at WC.

And I just added new pictures, including this one:

From Uncle Bill via email.

From a 1942 Australian Army training pamphlet:

“ A fool derives no profit from experience; a mediocrity profits only by his own experience, but a wise man profits by the experience of others.”

Happy Monday!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

So Etsy has this new (although it isn’t really new, it’s old but it went away for a while, but now it’s back!) feature called Alchemy.

In an historical sense, Alchemy is the pursuit of transforming common metals into valuable gold. In an Etsy sense, Alchemy is the pursuit of transforming your creative ideas and designs into tangible items.

Alchemy is a space on Etsy where buyers can post requests for custom items. Sellers then bid on the opportunity to make the item and win the sale. It’s your opportunity to collaborate with a crafter or artisan to get exactly what you’re seeking.

I check the listings several times a day to see what kinds of things people are looking to get. Most are the typical things like a specific kind of dress or necklace or display or business cards or whatever. And then I saw this.

Head scratcher.

I love my kid, but I’m not ever going to wear his poo around my neck. And if he were my daughter, she wouldn’t wear her poo either.

What’s amazing is that she has a bit on the request.

We get to meet the Sleepy Baby tonight! I’m very excited.

We’re heading over to have dinner with Beth and Tim - our annual get together. At least up to now our meetings have been just once a year.

Beth requested chili and I’m happy to oblige, especially with the new crock pot. I don’t think I’ve ever made the same recipe twice. It’s still the basic chili recipe I use, but I always manage to switch something up because of the ingredients I have on hand. Today’s additions include chipotle peppers and some roasted green salsa. Oh, and this time there wasn’t much liquid, so I added a bit of veggie stock. It smells good, so I’m hoping it’ll taste good, too.

I need to remember to take my camera to get pictures of The Baybee.

Long time readers will know about SPR. Newbies can read here to catch up.

I’ll wait… *whistling*

Ok, so you know how your mom always told you that when you became a parent that SPR would not be a factor anymore? I don’t know about your mom, but my mom was incorrect.

Jesse is teething and he’s been chewing on his fingers like mad. Because this time the teeth are further back, he’s inadvertently gagging himself. I’ve been waiting for the day he gags a little too hard and we just hit that a little while ago. He has a nice fully belly after breakfast, so he had something to return - bananas with mixed berries seemed to be the winner. There was just a little puddle on his highchair tray. He was completely fascinated, of course. And as soon as I got over there to keep his little fingers out of it, I started gagging. I managed to clean it all up without puking but there were moments when I was convinced I wasn’t going to make it.

Sad, no?

No, I’m not pregnant, for those who may wonder. Just have a strong SPR. Still. Dangit.

Friday, March 28, 2008

I asked Beau if I could post this. He said I could.

I had noticed the Red Envelope box on Wednesday and he said, “That’s for tomorrow.” OK.

So when I arrived at my folks’ house - where we met after I left work and he dropped Jesse for Marmie-sitting - he handed the box to me. Oooh, exciting! Inside was the prettiest necklace. I put it on immediately and there are so many things that I love about it:

1. The cherry blossoms.
2. The lovely quote - “Hearts that love are always in bloom.”
3. That it clinks when I move - it makes me think of Beau every time.

And then when I searched for it this morning in order to post about it, I got a huge chuckle. Because I was touched that he searched out something with cherry blossoms for me, but I was a little concerned about the money he may have spent at a pricey shop, especially since he had already given me the new crockpot. And then I got to the listing for the necklace and saw that it’s on sale. That’s my thrifty Beau! Well done, honey. *smooch*

Was it Just Crap or Craptastic? It’s hard to decide.

Vantage Point showed promise in the trailers. The actual movie was so much less than promised. The car chase gave Beau a headache and the thinly veiled propaganda was annoying. And the mystery wasn’t too mysterious - at least to us.

When it ended, we looked at each other and burst out laughing at how ridiculous it was. And then we tried to determine if we liked it or not. I think we’re neutral on it - didn’t hate it, but definitely didn’t love it. It’s pure mediocrity.

VP gets 2.5 stars out of 5.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Early close out this month since it’s the end of the quarter - hence the quiet here. Today is “push the button” day, but that won’t happen until something this afternoon.

We had delicious BBQ pulled pork from the new crockpot last night - on Beau’s handmade hamburger buns. Seriously - make your own buns. So much better than store bought.

Our babysitter skipped crew practice yesterday because of her homework load this week. So we benefitted by that since she arrived earlier than normal. Woo! It was nice to arrive at small group on time and to be able to enjoy the hang out time before we started our study. Our hostess made a wonderful chocolate cake for my birthday - from scratch and super chocolatey. Her birthday is in early April and I plan to return the favor. She wants a chocolate cake with caramel frosting so I’m on the hunt for a good recipe.

Beau is taking me to the movies tonight for my birthday. Marmie and Pop are watching Jesse, but that will be easy, since he goes to bed at 8pm. We’re going to see Vantage Point. Review tomorrow.

I finished both books in the At Bat section of the sidebar this week. Lost Light by Michael Connelly ended with a surprise that had me tearing up like a sentimental fool 4 stars out of 5. Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts is typical of her supernatural pulp. I’m sure I’ll read the other two to come for the trilogy, but only for closure. 3 stars out of 5.

I think I have another bride on the hook for her jewelry - a custom order. She’s been sending me messages via Etsy‘s internal mail and sounds like she’s ready to buy. That’s exciting. Meanwhile, Mom has opened her tea shop on Etsy as well.

And now I have to get back to work!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Jay has a pretty good wrap up of last night’s show.

I thought Michael Johns was very good. I thought Carly did much better than the judges thought. When David Archuletta was singing, I commented to Beau that his song choice was interesting - I’m convinced his dad picked it for him. Simon’s comments to him were pointedly more for Dad than David.

And then there was David Cook taking on MJ’s Billie Jean. When he was done singing, I said, “That was brave and the judges are gonna love it or hate it.” For me, it was kind of weird. At the time I liked it a lot and I still do. But I think I need to hear it again without watching, because I think that may have an impact on any long term love of that arrangement.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

My new hero, courtesy of my BIL, Denis.

We tested the new slow cooker yesterday with mixed results. The cooker worked perfectly. The meal I put into it was less than stellar - my own fault. Since it was only edible by putting the contents into a flour tortilla I will not share the details. OK, here are the details:

2 cups uncooked white rice
1 can black beans, drained
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can Ro-tel
1 cup vegetable stock

Set cooker for 7 hours on Low.

The meat was tender, but looked nasty. The rice was super sticky - we determined later than rather than the regular rice used, I should have used Basmati rice and less stock or no stock. And I should have added one more can of beans. And seasoned the whole thing. So we sliced the chicken and wrapped it all up in tortillas - a dash of salsa, sour cream and cheese and it filled the stomach. But we both agree it won’t be repeated.

Next up in the new slow cooker - BBQ pulled pork with homemade buns (leftover from our hamburgers a few weeks ago) - tomorrow! Woo!

And don’t think I won’t be hunting for recipes at that A Year of CrockPotting blog.

You have children. You have the internet. Chances are your children will or do surf the internet. Chances are high that your children will be or have been exposed to inappropriate content and/or predators when on the internet without their or your knowledge. So how do you add protections for your kids so that they can surf the web safely?

Shrek Browser looks to be a good tool. I know that we will install it when it comes time for Jesse to start playing on the computer.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Happy belated Easter. He is Risen!

The weekend was a full one and good.

Friday I worked hard and it paid off - no work had to be done yesterday.

Saturday we had a long day at Marmie and Pop’s house since the Cooties were in town. The morning was spent discussing our Disney trip. We got some things accomplished. Other things are still to be worked on, but we’re in good shape I think.

Then Uncle Bill came over and we had our Easter feast - the requisite lamb roast and accompaniments. There followed a lovely early birthday celebration for moi - I received a new crock pot, The Apologetics Study Bible, a great etagère for my jewelry display, and a gift card to Borders.

Clean up ensued and then we all trekked to church for Easter service. I think it was fantastic - they switched up things with the message pretty much at the beginning (it followed a great video and drama/recitation of Scripture). Then we worshiped in song and rejoicing as some folks were baptized. It was powerful to have a baptismal service on Easter weekend. I think this may be how we do Easter services in the future. Anyway it was really crowded for a Saturday night.

We headed straight home after a slight mishap with Jesse falling onto his forehead on the marble floor after the service. He’s fine, there’s not even a mark, but it was a bit scary for a minute since I didn’t see what happened, just the reaction of the folks around him who saw it. After such a long, loud day we all were exhausted and crashed to bed.

Yesterday Beau had his normal parking duties at church, so he headed over there just before 7:30am. A bit later, after feeding Jesse breakfast, we headed over to Marmie and Pop’s for a little more time with the Cooties before they hit the road for home. I ended up watching High School Musical with my niece and nephew. It was cute and I liked it better than I expected.

The afternoon was lazy, with a nice long nap. I woke up long enough to see Davidson beat Georgetown, which was fun. Then Beau and I watched the latest installment of John Adams on HBO before going to sleep.

Today is a less busy work day than I had expected, but it will still be a long one. So it’s time to get back to work.

Friday, March 21, 2008

It took me a second. Hilarious and very clever.

[via sleepy beth]

Beau got word this morning that they have offered the Poli-Theory position to someone else.

And now we punt.

Thanks for praying. We continue to pray for God’s direction and provision and give thanks for how He has provided thus far.

*sigh*