Conquer the World

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Jaden yesterday gleefully wielding his brand new sword.
Thank you Auntie!

I got 8 hours of sleep last night after I downloaded 335 pictures (a joint effort between me and Jeff from the past two days at Betty's). This is the one that stood out the most this morning for sharing because I can relate to Jaden when I look at it. I feel like I can conquer the world again instead of the other way around for a change.

Remind me of this tonight when I'm tempted to stay up too late.


On Steam Cleaning

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I sent this synopsis of my day to my friend Barb and she said it was a good belly laugh. Actually, I'm not sure if it's the glorious glass of wine I've consumed or my supreme ability to laugh at myself (doubtful), but it does make me laugh too.

Here ya go, a straight-up Apple-V (aka the paste command):

"I hate carpet with a deep-rooted passion. I just borrowed my in-laws Hoover for a few days to see if it would make an improvement.

Hilarious though, I spent THREE HOURS on this project today (between the clutter clearing, moving furniture, vacuuming, pre-treating on my hands and knees with a scrub brush and brutally ripping skin off my thumb when I whacked it into a baseboard) and guess what?

It looked like I simply vacuumed.

Terrific ROI! I was pleased as punch (not).

Fast forward 7 hours. I get home from visiting Jeff's mom for the afternoon and early dinner and go to clean out the "dirty water" and discover it is dry as a desert. UM that may be why it looks like I only vacuumed. Jeff says, "What does this trigger button do?"

Trigger button?

Huh?

OH YOU HAVE TO PULL ON THAT TO RELEASE THE CLEANING SOLUTION THEREBY ACTUALLY CLEANING YOUR DISGUSTING CARPETS INSTEAD OF MERELY VACUUMING THEM LIKE YOU NORMALLY DO.

You know what?

I need to start drinking earlier in the day!"

Atypical Milestones

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In the blogging world, folks seem to celebrate big posting anniversarys like 100! 300! 500!

Well! I missed all of those! I have posted 502 times on my little slice of heaven here in blogger.com. So since I have NEVER followed a typical path in life (10-year college plan anyone? Babies, then marriage and then a house, and then not a house?), let's party people! Let's hear it for post #503!



And let's hear it for my first giveaway! I love the idea and not just because Pineapple Luv and Mrs. French have done them. I need a little bit of sercy in my life right now. Even if I am sort-of combining a giveaway and a sercy!

The 1st & 3rd person who comments on this post will receive an 8x10 photo that I have snapped. The 2nd & 4th person who comments on this post will receive a set of cards that I have made. The 5th person who comments on this post will receive something else that will be a surprise.

There you have it -- five winners, one per hundred posts and I will ship internationally! I will contact the winners on Saturday morning, when I wake up as a 38-year-old. Just another reason to party on the blog!

Now show me I have more than five loyal readers. :)

Wanna Fight?

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Sometimes in life, we encounter difficult situations or difficult people. We find ourselves needing to be mature and use our words. Sometimes words escape us and we choose to walk away. We choose this course because we know our words will be futile.

Even though inside we really want to yell:



"Hey! Wanna fight?!"


P.S. This vintage 70s photograph of myself reminds me of one of my favorite songs.

"My hands are small I know, but they're not yours, they are my own.
I am never broken and in the end, only kindness matters."

{Jewel}

Old Friends

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Old friends, old friends,
Sat on their parkbench like bookends
A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes
of the high shoes of the old friends

Old friends, winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settle like dust on the shoulders of the old friends



© Sean Green


Can you imagine us years from today,
Sharing a parkbench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy

Old friends, memory brushes the same years,
Silently sharing the same fears

{Words & Music by Paul Simon}

Lorem Ipsum

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Well my grand-momma always used to say, "You learn something new every day" and as it turns out, my grand-momma was right! Or whoever coined that phrase!

Do you know about Lorem Ipsum?

Neither did I.

I saw it once upon a time when I registered Rosina Red and then opened iWeb on my laptop to try to make a site to go with the name. The template I chose had a bunch of Latin all over it. And that was the end of it.

Until tonight when Jeff came home from his Web Task Force meeting at Jaden's new school and we were discussing the K/1 websites that need to be created still. Somehow the conversation wound its way down this loosely documented path:

Jess: So Jaden's room's site used to be a .Mac site because it used iWeb.

Jeff: No I don't think so.

Jess: But it has Latin on it just like my site did in iWeb.

Jeff: Oh you mean Lorem Ipsum?

Jess: Yes!

Jeff: No, Lorem Ipsum is everywhere, it's a super common place holder for text. I have a Joomla test page on my Mac right now that I used a Lorem Ipsum generator on.

Jess: No you don't.

Jeff: Just Google it love.

{Jess immediately Googles and begins blogging all about how she must be the only person in the entire universe who doesn't know about it.}

Jess: Is this a web thing or does everyone know about this?

Jeff: I think it's a web thing.

Jess: Do you know that today in Target Jaden asked me if I knew Latin? What have you two been talking about lately that he would ask me that?

Jeff: Nothing, what did he say?

Jess: He said, "Mama, do you know Latin? I said, no. And he said all knowingly, "It's a language."

Twilight Zone!
Happy Latin Tuesday.

Vanilla Moon Project

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Greetings Cupcake Lovers, my apologies for the delay in this edition of the Vanilla Moon Project. I lost my blog post on the way to Portland. Or Jackson ate it. Or something like that. In the meantime, my Key Lime post got picked up by the Cupcakes Take the Cake blog!

Okay, it's high time we move on to the Carrot Cake cupcake as reported by Jamie days ago.



Let's begin with the lavendar blossom that perfectly echoes
the plum walls of the cupcakery.


I treated my darling husband to a double espresso.
He said two things: "That is some crema!" (about the Caffe del Doge) and
"I've been let into the inner circle" (about being invited to Vanilla Moon with me and Jamie).


Here she is, Miss Nutmeg, aka a Carrot Cake Cupcake.



Here are Miss Nutmeg's innards: hearty chunks of carrot and raisins.
And cake, duh.
The Review:

This time I ate my breakfast cupcake in the proper order, icing first. Well there wasn't much need to go further after getting that creamy cream cheese topping in my mouth. It was a swirl of nutmeg-laced heaven melting preciously upon my tongue. It was light and airy. I am spotting a baking trend here in my third week as a cupcake reviewer.

I actually do not care for raisins in things like salads, granola or carrot cake. I like my raisins on the rocks per se. I like them pure. Nonetheless, I was impressed by the size of this puppy in my cupcake. Too bad I didn't have Jaden with me this time, it was practically a salad as far as he is concerned.

All in all, another delightful cupcake. I can't rate it as high as the Key Lime cupcake because I am nothing if not biased for my favorite flavor.

As a very pleasant aside, the fine folks who run this fine cupcakery missed us! We normally do our tastings on Tuesdays but this time went on a Friday and they said, "We were getting worried you didn't like us anymore."

NOT LIKE YOU ANYMORE?!!!
Are you people livin la vida loca? :)


The Vanilla Moon Project

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We simultaneously discovered yesterday afternoon that our beloved cupcakery is closed on Mondays, but open bright and early every other day at 7:30 a.m. "Hmm," we thought, "cupcakes for breakfast?" Oh yes, there will indeed be cupcakes for breakfast.

A vase of sunshine said "Good Morning Bloggers!"



Aaron said, "We made the front page of the paper!"


I said, "Even the spoons here are beautiful!"


There was no decision to be made today.
The key lime cupcake won handily.


"Christie? What is this lime stuff oozing deliciously out of my cupcake?"
"Key lime SAUCE," she answered with a knowing smile.
"Jamie, I *have* to get a good shot of this SAUCE," I said.


People? This is how to eat a cupcake for breakfast.


The Review:

I had never even heard of a key lime cupcake but those of you who know me well know I heart key lime whatever. Plus it was the answer to No. 8. I ate this cupcake in reverse of my normal order, I ate the cake first. In the cake there is a hint of lime flavor, it is subtle but I was on high alert so I noticed it straight away.

Then, then, I hit the pocket of limey goodness that is pictured above. The key lime SAUCE (this is official terminology btw). This was the heart of the cupcake and the heart of my love for this cupcake. It was tart, cool and creamy. It was the highlight of my morning. It was the sun in my shine.

Finally I tried the meringue frosting. I was not even wanting any of it, I was so satiated by the key lime SAUCE. I must say this frosting was the very definition of airy. Fluffy! Light! Weightless! A little too sweet for me but I suspect that is because I ate this in reverse order.

I know last week I said I would get coconut this week. There was no coconut today so that is not my fault. Also I have the inalienable right as a woman to change my mind at any time. Plus I had no way of knowing last week that this week there would be key lime on the menu. So there was no competition and I give my highest marks to the key lime cupcake! A+!!!

This is Jessica Nichols reporting...
Jamie? Back to you.

The Mystery of the Cattle Herd

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The Mystery of the Cattle Herd
April 11, 1979

I will leave this image very large so you can click on it & actually read the text.

I found this little treat in one of my famous plastic bins last night. I remember writing and illustrating stories endlessly as a young girl. Sadly the picture is missing. I found a few other little treats in there too. In time, my friends, in time.


The Author Herself

This was either my 2nd or 3rd grade photo so pretty close to the time the mystery was written. This was the famous Dorothy Hamill haircut I begged for, except the bangs. My dad must have trimmed them himself. I discovered so much in this bin last night. This is shortly after my dad got custody of me for example.