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1. Age at next birthday:



2. A place you'd like to travel:



3. Your favorite place:



4. Your favorite objects:


5. Your favorite food:



6. Your favorite animals:



7. Your favorite color:



8. Town where you were born:



9. Town where you live:



10. Name of past pet:



11. First name of a past love:

I've only ever had the one!

12. Best friend's nickname:



13. Your screenname/nickname:



14. Your first name:



15. Your middle name:



16. Your last name:



17. Bad habit of yours:



18. First job:



19. Grandmother's name:


I had two of them :)!

20. College major:

Mom Says... - tagged by Celeste

Thanks for inviting me to play! I've been wanting to do one of these tag things for ages!

What is your husband's name: Neil
How long have you been married: 5 years as of the 21st of this month.
How long did you date before you got married: About a year and a half.
Who eats more: He eats a tiny bit more than I do, but stays way thinner. I eat faster than he does.
Who sings better: We both sing pretty well. I am the section leader for the sopranos in our choir, and he is the tenor section leader. I've been singing way longer though.
Who is smarter: I dunno. Sometimes I think I am, but then he comes along and shows me up completely out of the blue. I learn faster, but he has a much better memory.
Whose temper is worse: I think mine, but both of us are pretty darned mellow.
Who does the dishes: me, usually, unless I am sick. He will help me unload without my even asking him...which is huge in my book.
Who pays the bills: I do. I do everything on-line. If it were up to Neil, it would all be paper and pen, and I hate it that way.
Who cooks dinner: me. Neil can cook a mean frozen pizza. Nevertheless, I make him get all the meals on Fridays, which means we go out to eat. Yah!
Who drives when you are together: Mostly Neil. He is an excellent navigator, and cannot read in the car, so he prefers it that way. I read out loud to him when we are on long trips, which he likes.
Who is more stubborn: Sometimes I think I am, but on some things, Neil just won't budge an inch. He's like my dad that way...he smiles and agrees but then does it his way anyway.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong: me, because I can't stand it when I've done anything to hurt Neil.
Whose parents do you see the most: His folks. They are right up there in OK. My dad won't fly anymore, so we have to save to go see him.
Who kissed who first: Neil
Who asked who out first: He asked me out to lunch at Romano's.
Who proposed: Neil. He took me to Palo Duro Canyon for a picnic, and he proposed then. Very old fashioned.
Who is more sensitive: When it comes to other people, I guess I am the one who is more easily bugged, when it comes to each other, he is the more sensitive.
Who has more friends: We both have a ton of friends, church, dance and band. They're all mutual friends, so it works out very nicely.
Who wears the pants in the family: I don't wear pants much anymore. Neil makes the final decisions about big money purchases. He is not a pushy man, but I defer to him.
Where did you meet your husband: at a contra dance. He was the first man to ask me for a dance, at the very first contra dance I attended in Denton.
Where was your first date: Romano's Macaroni Grill.
What was the first thing you said to your husband: He asked me if I would like to dance, and I said I would love to.
Where was your first kiss: At my old house in West Plano.
Where did you get engaged: Palo Duro Canyon.
Where were you married: St. Barnabus Episcopal Church, Garland, Texas.
How did your reception go: Everything went well. Good cake, my girls all looked gorgeous, and we had a wonderful dinner out at my friends' Elizabeth and Ron's house.
Where was the honeymoon: We went to a bed and breakfast in Dallas that had the most awesome food and afterwards drove to an annual dance weekend in Dennison, TX on Lake Texoma.
If you could have changed anything about it, what would it have been: Nothing. Great food, great dancing, all of our friends there.
Editor's note: I would have changed something! I would have made sure Livvy's boyfriend, Nick stayed away from the green beans almondine!!

Google Images

1. Age at next birthday:


2. A place you'd like to travel:


3. Your favorite place:


4. Your favorite objects:


5. Your favorite food:


6. Your favorite animals:


7. Your favorite color:


8. Town where you were born:


9. Town where you live:


10. Name of past pet:


11. First name of a past love:

OH... wait, did you mean a person? Sorry, no such thing. :)

12. Best friend's nickname:


13. Your screenname/nickname:


14. Your first name:


15. Your middle name:


16. Your last name:


17. Bad habit of yours:


18. First job:


19. Grandmother's name:


20. College major:

Google Images

The rules:
1) Answer questions and type into google image search
2) Post pictures from first results page
The Game:
1. Age at next birthday

2. A place you'd like to travel.

3. Your favorite place

4. Your favorite objects

5. Your favorite food

6. Your favorite animals

7. Your favorite color

8. Town where you were born

9. Town where you live

10. Name of past pet

11. First name of a past love

12. Best friend's nickname

13. Your screenname/nickname

14. Your first name

15. Your middle name

16. Your last name

17. Bad habit of yours

18. First job

19. Grandmother's name

20. College major.

Since Everyone Else is Doing it . . .

What is your partner's name: Sonny Waeshal Louie. Louie means Storm or sound of thunder, which makes it a super hero name. Respect!

How long have you been in a relationship: 1 year and 3 months or so. Not nearly as long as the rest of you.

How long did you date before you moved in together: If the month that I spent at his house before he deployed counts as 'moving in', then I guess 10 months. Really we haven't moved in with each other, I live with a tranny and two other almost normal people.

Who eats more: He does . . . just barely, and only because I am cognizant of who is where in their meal, and make an effort to stop before he does. And by 'stop before he does' I mean I shove everything into my mouth and then sit there pouting because I'm out of food.

Who sings better: Sonny loves to sing. I also love to sing. Who is better is in the ears of the beholder.

Who is smarter: I'm more of a smart ass. I mean technically maybe IQ wise Sonny might possibly beat me, but I doubt it's by much. I am not eager to find out though because you can bet I'd never hear the end of it. Like he really needs another reason to say "your dumb" to me. Note: the grammatical error is intentional.

Whose temper is worse: Mine, but only because Sonny is incapable of being angry. I think it's an actual disorder. I'll have to look it up.

Who does the dishes: It depends on how control freaky I'm being. I will actually insist that I do them myself sometimes. It is a strange facet of my personality.

Who pays the bills: He pays his, I pay mine.

Who cooks dinner: I do. Sonny gained 20lbs after we started dating. He can cook though, but like I said earlier I'm something of a control freak. I get anxious if he tries to take over.

Who drives when you are together: It probably works out to be even, but I think the odds are tipped in my favor. Unless I've been drinking, then he drives.

Who is more stubborn: Depends on what we are talking about. I think we are both pushovers to be honest.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong: Again it depends on how strong the conviction is. I think it's probably pretty even.

Whose parents do you see the most: His. I somehow got finagled into attending a weekly lunch with his family. He's hung out with my family like maybe five times. This will be rectified when he gets back you better believe it.

Who kissed who first: He said he was gonna kiss me, so I kissed him. I would give him credit, but i think he was aiming for a peck on the cheek. Weak! I upped the ante.

Who asked who out first: Sonny, I didn't realize it was a date until he said he was going to kiss me. Oops.

Who asked who to move in together: Sonny keeps hinting at it. And by hinting I mean looking at houses.

Who is more sensitive: Fake sensitive: Me. Real Sensitive: Sonny. I pretend to be hurt by tons of things just for giggles. Sonny however . . . yeesh.

Who has more friends: We have approximately the same number of close friends. Sonny has way more acquaintances. If you read the post about my personality disorders you know that I'm a schizoid. Small talk is not my friend.

Who wears the pants in the family: oh man Sonny and I keep joking about that. He says he does, and then I say "I wear pants too, and they are bigger than yours."

Where did you meet your partner: I met him for the first time something like seven years ago. I have no idea where, but I do know that Lissa and Ben were there. We were reacquainted at a happy hour organized by Ben.

Where was your first date: He took me to Cosi and we played Kokology.

What was the first thing you said to your partner: I honestly don't recall, I got drunk. I do remember that I told him he looked like Jet Li, who I have a major crush on. Flirting ensued.

Where was your first kiss: Outside my house in Arlington. Then I ran inside giggling behind my hand.

When did you start dating: late August 2006. Our third date was actually Lissa's wedding. Oh I just remembered! I asked him out first, but he turned me down! Our first date would have been Lissa's wedding, if he hadn't said no. He realized his mistake two days later.

Where was your first apartment: This does not apply to us. MY first apartment was in Ashburn. I loved it, and I miss it dearly. Roommates are so hard.

What was your first vacation together: Ummm, he took me to Staunton, Virginia for his unit's annual muster. He failed to book a room in time, so I had to wander around Staunton by myself for something like six hours.

If you could have changed anything about it, what would it have been: If we are talking about the vacation, I would have changed; the location, the planning, the weather, and the duration.

Jeannie Said

I'll play along...

What is your partner's name: Dennis Looney. If we ever get married, I'm going to have to really think about taking that last name!

How long have you been in a relationship: Three and a half years total. Two years the first time, took a year off and now a year and a half.

How long did you date before you moved in together: Um...haven't quite moved in yet. Three quarters of my stuff is in his house...I'll be fully moved in by the end of the month, hopefully!

Who eats more: He eats more in one sitting, I eat more times a day.

Who sings better: Dennis

Who is smarter: Dennis is pretty knowledgeable of a lot of things...but I wouldn't say he's smarter...we just are better at some things than the other.

Whose temper is worse: Mine, but it's not like I go all psycho and yell. I usually just pout.

Who does the dishes: He'll pile them in the sink and I'll finally put them in the dishwasher when I get tired of looking at them. I have a feeling when I move in it'll be the same.

Who pays the bills: He pays his, I pay mine.

Who cooks dinner: Cook? We eat out or do the fast food thing. I am going to try Celeste's lemon chicken one day.

Who drives when you are together: Mostly him. He has a company car...FREE GAS!

Who is more stubborn: Me.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong: Dennis. I'm never wrong ;-)

Whose parents do you see the most: His.

Who kissed who first: He kissed me...these strange little butterfly kisses on the corners of my mouth! It was cute but at the same time I was thinking, "Can I get some tongue?" :-)~

Who asked who out first: Dennis

Who asked who to move in together: Me. I'm definitely the one who keeps trying to progress the relationship...my clock is ticking! ;-)

Who is more sensitive: Gag...me. I'm a typical Cancer...moody, sensitive, emotional!

Who has more friends: I have lots of aquaintances, but no real "best" friends. Dennis has one good and one "best" friend for 15-20 years but few aquaintances.

Who wears the pants in the family: We pretty much do what we want regardless of how the other feels (ie. him going to Europe without me). Hmm...now that I said that I wonder if the answer would be him?

Where did you meet your partner: Match.com. Vegas REALLY does suck when it comes to meeting guys.

Where was your first date: We met for coffee at a Starbuck's...the same one he saw me at a month previous when I was on another Match date! (I didn't see him though).

What was the first thing you said to your partner: Since we met on Match, we had to do the email thing for a while...but he initiated the contact.

Where was your first kiss: Green Valley Ranch (it's a casino/hotel/resort) parking lot. We went to a bday party at a club there and after he walked me to my car.

When did you start dating: July 2003 then July 2006

Where was your first apartment: Las Vegas

What was your first vacation together: Florence, Oregon to visit his family. His mom loves me! Yay!

If you could have changed anything about it, what would it have been: Nothing.

The Power of Music

Whenever I have a really stressful day at work (and today was definitely one of those) I have a sure-fire way to make myself feel better and regain some perspective and energy. I head upstairs, put on the Ipod and start dancing in the kitchen with Roy while I do the dishes and clean up.

The following songs are guaranteed to help me shed the stench of the work-day and lift my spirits:

The Eels: "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)"
The Jesus and Mary Chain: "Head On"
Chris Isaak: "Always Got Tonight"
Dwight Yoakam: Fast As You or "I've Got You"
Mike Doughty: "Looking At The World From the Bottom of a Well"
Cake: "Love You Madly"
The Killers: "Everything Will Be Alright"

There are a bunch of others, but those are some of my top songs. In particular, "Looking At The World From The Bottom of a Well."

Right now, the project I'm working on has me stressed beyond all belief. We were supposed to be code-complete over a month and a half ago, and I was supposed to have two other full-time QA engineers working on it. Instead, I only got the other two QA under me in the past week, and we're still only 75% code-complete. I'm starting to lose it, and to make matters worse, I got on a status call this afternoon, and started complaining how the product guy was pointing out issues like "the search box border is 2 pixels off" when the frigging page he was looking at barely even worked. And then it turned out he was on the call! Whups. When my blush finally died down, it turned out to be a good thing, because he'd been tuning me out when I told him the product wasn't anywhere near ready for launch until then. Still... I don't normally lose my cool like that.

So as soon as I finished work for the day, I headed upstairs, turned the music up to just short of ear-splitting and proceeded to dance around the kitchen like a madwoman while I fixed Roy's dinner and did the dishes. By the time I was running through my favorite Chris Isaak songs, I'd calmed down and felt much better.

It's true. Music does have the power to tame the savage beast.

I AM TAGGING MYSELF :)!

Ahem. Me and Nick have been dating longer than anyone else I know (I think anyways), so I thought I'd fill this out too :)! (I did make a few changes to some of the questions though, since we are not actually married.)

What is your partner's name: Nick

How long have you been in a relationship: 5 1/2 years. (It will be 6 come June 10, 2008).

How long did you date before you moved in together: about 4 years. We MIGHT try to buy a house together next year, but we'll see ;).

Who eats more: Nick. He tries to eat 4000+ calories a day. This is really annoying to me because if I eat more than 2100 I start to gain weight. He never does. Guh!

Who sings better: It depends on what you prefer to listen to. Something akin to a beautiful songbird (haha) or a Dave Mustaine immitator. It's your choice :).

Who is smarter: Nick is definitely smarter than me...which means he's really smart because I am definitely above average. He might actually qualify as a genius or something.

Whose temper is worse: Mine. Nick is very even tempered which can be a problem when I feel like "expressing" myself because he won't respond in a like manner. It's probably for the best though.

Who does the dishes: We both do. We try to do it so that he unloads and I load, but most of the time that's not what happens. It's usually like he'll do the dishes for a few days because I am being lazy, and then I'll do them once, then he'll do them for a few days more just to make me feel bad (LOL), and then I'll start to feel really bad about being such a slob, so I will do them for a little longer than a few days, and then we'll get back on track, and then the cycle will repeat.

Who pays the bills: We both do. Nick pays a portion of the rent and all the utilities. I pay a portion of the rent and groceries.

Who cooks dinner: We both do. I might cook him dinner slightly more than he cooks me dinner, but it's usually pretty even. Also, those "slightly more" times are usually oven-baked pizza nights :).

Who drives when you are together: It depends on whose car we are in. Although, sometimes when it's my car, I will force him to drive.

Who is more stubborn: Nick is definitely more stubborn than me, which is something because I am pretty stubborn. But, I am stubborn for maybe a day before I get over it. Nick can be stubborn for years on any given issue...I'm pretty sure.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong: Me. It's usually me just throwing a tantrum, so I'll apologize about 10 minutes afterwards.

Whose parents do you see the most: Well, I see my Dad the most because he is closest. Nick has odd hours so he can't come everytime I hang out with Dad. Then for holidays we try to split it up, but I would say we see Nick's parents the most, simply because his parents are still together and mine are divorced, and now in different states, so it's hard to see my parents equally or something.

Who kissed who first: Nick kissed me first. But I asked him if he was going to do it. So, I guess it's a toss up.

Who asked who out first: In high school, Nick asked me out first. He was googly eyed over me. When we started dating again when I was about to turn 20, I guess I asked him out first, since I invited him over to my house to hang out. But he was still googly eyed over me :).

Who asked who to move in together: I asked Nick to move in with me. Then about a year or two later he finally did.

Who is more sensitive: I am definitely the more sensitive one.

Who has more friends: Oh, I dunno. Probably Nick. I kind of stopped making friends after my first year of college. So I have my sisters and other family members, my high school friends and then like one or two friends from college. Nick has his high school friends, his college friends, and now his work buddy friends and then who ever else he decides to be friends with. So yeah...Nick.

Who wears the pants in the family: Mmm...I don't think either of us is dominant. I can be bitchy, but Nick does not consistently give in to me... But, then I am kind of a pushover when it comes to Nick... I dunno. I think it's a toss up.

Where did you meet your partner: at lunch time in high school. We went to Homecoming together :).

Where was your first date: I don't remember. It was in high school sometime. Nick remembers because he doesn't ever forget anything, but I forget things all the time, so yeah...no answer. Unless you are talking about when we started dating again right before I turned 20. Then I guess it was at my house to watch wrestling.

What was the first thing you said to your partner: It was probably a quietly muttered "hi". I was dark and quiet in high school. Or, I think I was. Other people might say differently. I was definitely quiet though.

Where was your first kiss: On Kyle Swan's deck in 1998.

When did you start dating: Well, we dated for a couple of months in high school, during the Fall of 1998 I believe, but then we broke up. Then I moved to Texas in 1999. I moved back to VA in 2002. Then we officially started dating June 10, 2002. Or, that is the date we celebrate because that is when Nick asked me if I would go out with him officially (we had been seeing eachother for a little bit before this) and I said yes. It's basically the same as an engagement.

Where was your first apartment: Falls Church, VA.

What was your 1 year dating anniversary like: Hmmm...I think we probably went out to dinner somewhere. I don't really remember. I'll have to ask Nick. I remember what we did last year for our 5 year anniversary though :). We went to King's Dominion for the day, and then we had Dinner at Mom's, which is a cute little pizzaria/italian restaurant in Arlington, VA. I guess Nick didn't think that was special enough though because a week later, he took me out to a pretty expensive Italian restaurant in Burke, VA. I don't remember the name though...Nick would know...

What was your first vacation together: I think that the first vacation we ever took together--by ourselves and not just with friends or to visit family--was a week-end camping trip out to Wolf Gap (I think that was the place) in WV. I loved it and would like to do it again sometime!

If you could have changed anything about it, what would it have been: Nothing :). It was perfect.

I will tag: Anna and Aunt Jeanne.

Chick Flicks worth Seeing

Inspired by Sonny's need to share an AskMen article with me, I have compiled a list of my top ten chick flicks. I thought the list that AskMen put together was pretty weak; I mean "Serendipity" (suck!), and "Meet Joe Black"? There was one good scene in "Meet Joe Black" and it involved Brad Pitt getting hit quite unexpectedly and perversely, hilariously with a car. So here's my list of the Top Ten Chick Flicks Worth Watching:

10. Pretty in Pink (Andrew McCarthy and James Spader in their heyday. Le sigh)
9. Pretty Woman (Interesting tidbit: I want to say Jennifer Jason Leigh auditioned for this part, and they told her she was playing it too dark. She said "this woman has been giving blow jobs for $10 dollars". The studio replied "yeah but she hasn't been doing it that long".)
8. Love Actually (For the brief month that Jin the perpetually angry asian and I lived together, I caught him watching my copy of this about eleven times. It melts hearts people.)
7. Never Been Kissed (It's lame, but it still makes me cry. Every freaking time.)
6. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Because we really do)
5. Foxfire
4. The Craft
3. Thelma and Louise
2. Jawbreaker
1. Freeway

He'll Remember This Christmas!

These are Christmas Lights, Roy!


Yes... and I will wreak havok with them!


Just kidding! I'm going to help Daddy decorate the front of the house!


I'm also going to hang my first ornament!


But Mommy did the tree in front of the house without my help.

Wedding Bliss - Tagged by Autumn

What is your husband's name: Russ
How long have you been married: 2 1/2 years
How long did you date before you got married: about 5 months, then he moved in with me and my sisters, then the two of us bought a house together, then we got married.
Who eats more: We both eat about the same, except he has me beat hands down in the ice cream department.
Who sings better: Russ
Who is smarter: I made sure I chose a man who was as smart or smarter than me. We haven't compared IQ scores though.
Whose temper is worse: Definitely mine. Russ has done a lot to mellow me out over the years, he's so easygoing. In turn, I've made him a little less willing to take crap from anyone who feels like dishing it out.
Who does the dishes: me, always. But Russ does all the lawn care, car maintenance, house maintenance, vacuuming, most of the laundry, and more of the grocery shopping.
Who pays the bills: I've always been the bookkeeper, now I'm also the breadwinner, at least until we have a second baby, then we'll switch.
Who cooks dinner: me. Russ is the fire-chief. I do the actual grilling. He helps me prep. Except shortly after the baby was born, then I'd sit at the table and nurse while I gave Russ directions on how to cook the meals.
Who drives when you are together: Russ, unless we're on a road trip lasting longer than 4 hours, then we switch off on every fill-up.
Who is more stubborn: me. Russ is one of the only people I'm willing to compromise for, which is one of the many reasons I knew he was the one I should marry.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong: probably Russ, but it always goads me into admitting where I've been an asshat as well.
Whose parents do you see the most: My father, since he's geographically the closest. Otherwise, we try to divvy up vacation time evenly.
Who kissed who first: Russ
Who asked who out first: I asked him.
Who proposed: that was more of a mutual thing. We bought a house together with the understanding that after a year, if things were still a fabulous as they were then, we'd tie the knot. After a year passed, we started planning a wedding date.
Who is more sensitive: I dunno about that one. Neither of us are particularly sensitive.
Who has more friends: Russ. I have sisters, and a husband. They keep me busy enough!
Who wears the pants in the family: Russ. I wear the pajamas.
Where did you meet your husband: at work. On a cigarette break.
Where was your first date: I convinced him to drive me up to Pennsylvania to pick up a cast iron bed I bought on eBay. There's something women like about a man with a pickup truck.
What was the first thing you said to your husband: Howdy, I'm Celeste.
Where was your first kiss: In front of my house, in his truck.
Where did you get engaged: We didn't really have an engagement. We were lying on the couch watching TV and hanging out, and sort of said to each other "Well, it's been a year now. Let's get married, so we can have kids."
Where were you married: In our back yard. We were married by some nutty new-agey catholic preacher that had all sorts of silly things he said during the ceremony - like holding up our wedding bands and asking the attending guests to direct thoughts of goodwill and happiness into them. I spent the majority of the ceremony trying not to laugh. I thought it was perfect! I still grin every time I think about our wedding.
How did your reception go: wonderfully. My sister Alicia threw a party for us after the wedding, and we had all of our friends there, and had a great time.
Where was the honeymoon: In the Great Smoky Mountains. We rented a luxury cabin and spent a week hiking, grilling out, and then soaking in the hottub after.
If you could have changed anything about it, what would it have been: I wouldn't have worked until the very day before our wedding. I had a really high-priority project I was working on, and the one girly thing I was going to do prior to the wedding - get my nails done, I ended up having to cancel because of some emergency last minute changes to the project that kept me working late that day. And I would have put all of our relatives in a hotel, so we could have had the house to ourselves on our wedding night!
I will tag: Leigh, Alicia and Mom.

WARNING: Check your license expiration date!

Gaak. What a pain in the ass! Russ' driver's license expired yesterday, less than 24 hours ago. He went into the DMV to get it renewed, and, because it has been expired (for all of 24 hours) he can't get it renewed without first presenting a birth certificate or unexpired passport. If he had decided to endure the hassle of the DMV yesterday, on his birthday, it would have been no problem. But now we're having to scramble to try and find his birth certificate, which I'm pretty sure he's never had, and is still with his parents.

We went through less hassle getting our marriage license.

Welcome to the new USSA. Present your papers, please.

If you always thought there was something wrong with me . . .

You were probably right! I remember taking this thing sometime in high school and being upset because it scored me high on Narcissistic and Histrionic. I have apparently gotten worse over the years.

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid Personality Disorder:	High
Schizoid Personality Disorder:	Very High
Schizotypal Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Antisocial Personality Disorder:	Low
Borderline Personality Disorder:	Low
Histrionic Personality Disorder:	Moderate
Narcissistic Personality Disorder:	High
Avoidant Personality Disorder:	High
Dependent Personality Disorder:	Low
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:	Low
-- Take the Personality Disorder Test -- -- Personality Disorder Info --

I'll Miss You, Jeannie

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays, since it's the time of year when we specifically get together to enjoy our family, and eat, and there isn't any of the attendant stress of Christmas gift-giving to take the shine off of it.

This Thanksgiving was extra-special, and really exemplified why I love the holiday. My Aunt Jeannie came out to visit! Dad's little sister, who I hadn't seen since I was just a very little girl, and my youngest sisters had never met, came out to stay with dad over the holiday, and we all got a chance to meet/reconnect. I had such a great time with her, I'm really kicking myself that all these years, I've had an aunt that's only 4 years older than me, and we never got to know each other before now. I'm looking forward to future visits, and plotting how I can get Russ and myself out to Vegas so we can see her on her own turf, and maybe meet my uncle, too!

So for a wonderful Thanksgiving, thanks Jeannie, and I'll miss you. Here's hoping we manage to get to see each other again before another 20 years pass.

I'll Miss You, Santos

This morning, I overslept and didn't wake up until I heard the kiddo making noise over the baby monitor. So I dragged my ass out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen to fix his breakfast and a pot of coffee for myself. Stumble downstairs for a smoke while everything is heating up. The nicotine helped, so I managed to trudge rather than stumble back up the stairs to assemble Roy's tray and fix that first, blessedly reviving, hot, sugary and creamy cup of coffee for myself.

Grab the filter to pull it off of the carafe, and spit! Dirty drawers! The damned thing is stone cold. Peek inside the filter.... grounds are still completely dry, and none of the water has moved up into the filter as it should. I ended up having to boil water on the stove-top and pour it through the filter just so I could get some nasty over-perked sludge to make it through the morning.

My first Bodum Santos lasted a year, and then the heating element died. The coffee I was getting from the machine was so wonderful I went ahead and replaced it with another one. This one only lasted me 3 years - not a sufficient return on my investment for a machine priced over 100 dollars. It makes a great cup of coffee, but it's a bitch to clean, since even with my tiny hands I can barely fit one inside the carafe to scrub it out, and every time you try to give it a good cleaning, you're taking the risk of it not coming back on. So, while I love you, Bodum Santos, I had to replace you with a different brand.

Here's hoping the new Oster I ordered arrives before I expire from caffeine withdrawal tomorrow morning, and lives longer than the Bodum did. That morning cup of coffee is too important to me for me to screw around with unreliable machines.

Simply Wonderful - Roast Chicken with Lemons

The recipes I always like the best are the ones that require just a few ingredients, and very simple preparation. If those two requirements are met, I don't mind if the dish itself takes a long time to cook, I can start dinner earlier. I just don't want to spend more than half an hour actually preparing ingredients. Whenever I see a recipe that calls for 2 tsp of this, 1 tablespoon of that, 3 tsps finely minced garlic, 4 tablespoons of shredded this, etc, I just cringe. Those are the dishes that I save for the weekends, when the additional work involved is less daunting.

A really simple recipe, however, just seems to have an extra edge to it. I marvel at how just a few ingredients can produce such a satisfying flavor. When I'm serving it to guests, I feel smug that so little effort produced such rave reviews. Last night, I tried a really simple recipe out of Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, and it's one of those recipes. So simple it's easy enough for weeknights, and really tasty.

All you need are: roaster chicken, 2 small lemons*, salt, pepper, roasting pan w/ rack, some kitchen string.

*the lemons need to be small enough that you can cram them into the bird. If they're too large, you'll split the birds rib-cage, which, while it doesn't affect the taste, makes it look it's harboring an alien.

Preheat your oven to 350°. Rinse and completely dry the chicken. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper, inside and outside, and rubbing it into the skin to really distribute it well.

Roll the lemons across a cutting board with the palm of your hand, sort of squishing them up as you go to soften them up a bit, then poke the hell out of them with a skewer or knife tip or fork. Cram the lemons into the chicken.

Put the chicken on the roasting pan breast side down, and sort of loosely tie up the legs. The goal isn't to keep them from moving or to make the ends meet, but just to keep them from spreading apart too much and splitting the skin during the cooking process.

Put the bird in the oven, and leave it there for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn it over, trying not to tear the skin on the bird and let it cook for another 30 minutes. When that time is up, raise the heat on the oven to 400° and let it cook for at least another 20 minutes, more until it's done.

There's no need to baste the bird or use any additional cooking fat. And the point of not tearing the skin is that, if you don't, the chicken will swell up with the juices. It won't hurt if you do tear the skin, though.

Leave the lemons in the chicken when you carve it, and serve the pieces with the juices that run out of the bird. For a 4 lb bird, with my oven, total cooking time was 1 hour, 35 minutes.

This chicken was amazingly juicy and flavorful, and the lemon wasn't a dominating flavor at all, the meat was infused with just a hint of citrus tang to it. I'll definitely make this one again.

Book Report: Twilight and New Moon

Twilight and New Moon are the first two books in a 'young-adult' series by Stephenie Meyer. Arabella is the teen-aged child of divorced parents - a flighty mother who takes up new projects and causes as quickly as she loses interest in them and a thoroughly grounded father, the local sheriff of a small town in Washington state called Forks. When her mother remarries, 'Bella leaves sunny Phoenix and moves back to terminally overcast Forks, to give her mother the freedom to travel with her new husband, a minor-league baseball player. There's nothing to do in Forks, and 'Bella knows she's going to hate it... until she meets the Cullens, the strange and exceedingly attractive family of a local doctor in town. They're rich, they're eerily graceful, and the most beautiful of them all is a boy named Edward who appears to be about the same age as 'Bella. They're also always absent on the few sunny days that Forks gets. 'Bella finds herself strangely drawn to Edward, although he can't seem to stand her. Then BAM! he miraculously rescues her from a near-death situation involving a skidding van, and 'Bella has a mystery to solve. Eventually, she figures out that the Cullens are vampires, but despite this, 'Bella falls head over heels in love with Edward, and amazing to her - he with her.

I nearly put Twilight down and didn't finish reading it. The writing was very well done, and the story was moving along well enough, but 'Bella's love is full of the typical selfishness and shallowness of a teen-aged girl. Lie to your family? Deliberately hurt anyone else you love for the sake of 'the one?' No problem. And why does she love Edward? He's controlling, is dangerous to her, and constantly mocks her clumsiness and assumes she's incapable to doing anything for herself. But he's beautiful... every page of the story, which is told in first-person, drips with descriptions of Edward's heart-stopping beauty and grace. 'Bella finds herself constantly amazed that someone as gorgeous as Edward would be interested in her. At that point, 'Bella was just pissing me off, and I wanted to reach through the pages of the book and smack some sense into her, or at least lend her a little backbone. Big danger appears - which, I might add, the Cullens are directly responsible for - and Edward rescues 'Bella, and the tale ends with 'Bella and Edward vowing to be together for ever and ever... and 'Bella hoping that eventually Edward will make her a vampire too.

New Moon was a vast improvement, largely, I think, due to the prominent absence of Edward for the majority of the book. For someone who had just declared his undying love (ha ha, get it?), he sure was quick to dump her ass and leave town, leaving 'Bella shell-shocked and in a zombie-like state while she tries to pick up the pieces of her life... something that might not have been so difficult if she hadn't gleefully alienated anyone else she had a relationship with for the sake of Edward. Gradually, 'Bella begins to recover. She finds a best friend in Jacob, who brings some sunshine and fun into her life. Unlike the exceedingly paternal Edward, Jacob gives 'Bella a chance to bloom. His sunny personality helps draw her out and 'Bella finds herself wondering if maybe loving someone who is also your best friend might be better than spending the rest of your life pining after someone who is so obviously bad for you. It was nice to see 'Bella starting to grow up a little bit. Of course in a tale revolving around supernatural creatures, things can't stay that way, and Jacob's puberty hits him way harder than most. And Edward returns, and 'Bella finds herself faced with having to choose between her best friend and her first love, who happen to be mortal enemies.

The writing was great throughout. It's not Meyer's fault that I can't stand the sort of woman who will devote her entire existence to pleasing and appeasing one controlling bastard, without recognizing that a relationship where only one side is making any compromises is a sure way to end up beaten down and abused. In fact, I think that was my biggest problem with Edward throughout - his profile is that of the classic abuser - isolate the woman from her friends and family, belittle her abilities, make her entirely dependent on you, and then when the belt comes out, she can't just leave you - she has no where else to go. Thankfully, by the end of New Moon, 'Bella is starting to show some glimmers of maturity and backbone, and is not just happily going along with whatever Edward suggests. The writing, Jacob's character, and the hope that 'Bella will continue to grow up some more, is enough to make me pick up the third book to see what happens. Since it's marketed to the 'young-adult' audience, you also don't risk stumbling into any LKH-style S&M scenes. I'm curious to see how Eclipse (book 3) turns out.

Black-Market Milk

Russ and I have already had to deal with the depressing knowledge that when the Farmer's Market season ends, we'll have to go back to buying our dairy products from the grocery store. We were looking forward to just two more weeks of real, raw, farm fresh milk and butter though. Seriously, if you haven't had raw (meaning unpasteurized) milk before, it's like sex without a condom... there's just so much more enjoyable about it. There's none of that gummy milky after-taste at the back of your throat. The flavor seems both fuller and more delicate. We liked it so much we were discussing the possibility of doing regular pickups somewhere nearby after the market ended, so we could keep the milk-love going.

Trust The Man™ to spoil the fun, though. Russ and I showed up at the Archwood Green barns yesterday, rubbing our hands in anticipation of our next batch of fresh milk and butter, only to find our milk vendor had only a supply of baked goods, some canned vegetables, and this article from the Washington Post sitting out on a shelf, to explain why there would be no more raw milk or butter forthcoming.

I already knew half the stuff I was buying at the farmer's market existed in a legal gray area at best. I figured it was somewhat like illegal fireworks though... as long as no one was complaining, the cops would leave you alone. I should have known that the state that tried to starve out the homeless by outlawing private food donations and thought the hopsicle was a danger worthy of regulation wouldn't be able to resist sticking their nose in the farmer's market business though. The Post devotes most of the article's space to a Charlottesville farm that we hadn't dealt with before, but Mark Nolt was responsible for the fantastic milk we were drinking, and Satyrfield farms are regular vendors at Archwood Green barns.

Russ and I have endured food-poisoning from the 'inspected' kitchens in Warrenton's restaurants enough times that we're leery of eating out in general. We've never had so much as an upset tummy from something we've picked up at the farmer's market. We know from experience that inspection and certification means very little in terms of actually making you safe. We'll continue doing what we can - even if it means clandestine sales to avoid the feds - to continue supporting local growers and producers. That white gold - and knowing my food money is going to my neighbor, not Venezuela - is worth it to me.

Winning the Layoff Lottery

Well Smithers and Burns got their way, and the bloodbath has started.

These days are always the hardest for me. The constant "are you okay?" pings. The constant emails from folks saying "Well, nice working with you." Showing up for meetings only to find out that the majority of the folks running the show are gone. Chaos! Tension! Tears! Wondering why the hell they're keeping on one jackass that never did much of his own work anyway, but letting go the actual productive members of their team. I'm so glad I work remote, so don't have to be in the office for this round.

In this case though, it's at least partly tears of joy. Russ got the word this morning that he was being let go. With the severance package, it evens out like this: instead of Russ quitting in March, just after we get our bonuses as we'd planned, Russ gets paid pretty much through March, is still eligible for bonus, and gets to take the next four months off while we get house ready for market. Win!

So don't be sad for us. We're not. The only way this could have been better is if Smithers and Burns weren't such cheap pricks, and instead had done what AOL did a few years ago, and based severance partly on years of service. Then we'd be cracking open the champagne. Four months ain't bad though. ;)

You Save NOTHING!

I was shopping on Amazon today, reading customer reviews on various Capresso products, and one of the reviewers said:

"I just checked the Capresso website and they list the 560 at $90, the 565 at $140. Amazon has inflated their MSRP's to the point that I will now research every item I purchase from them."

So I checked it myself.

Amazon says the Capresso Infinity Burr Grinder has a list price of $120.00, and their price is $89.99, so "You Save: $30.01 (25%)".

Capresso says the same grinder costs $89.99.

You save nothing.

Amazon says the Bodum Chambord 8-Cup French Press has a list price of $37.50, and their price is $29.99, so "You Save: $7.51 (20%)".

BodumUSA says the same french press costs $29.95.

You save less than nothing.

To be fair, Amazon actually was discounting Dyson. And Bissell wasn't offering prices on their web-site. But for Vornado, of the 4 items Amazon was selling, one was priced the same, one was priced rather higher, and two of the products were not only marked higher on Amazon's "list price" but one, has a list price of $80 with a savings of 1 cent and is actually $10 cheaper direct from Vornado.

Lesson: for larger items, especially if you don't have an incentive like Amazon Prime to shop Amazon anyway, shop around! And don't be fooled by "You save!" because sometimes, you don't.