Vika's Corner

Shenandoah State Park (Andy Guest)

2009-03-08T21:39:00.005-05:00

We went to the state park today and went hiking with the Turkey - despite a bit of lingering crankiness due to a cold he suffered from all last week he loved it! We really enjoyed ourselves as well, it's a beautiful, well-maintained little park with gorgeous views of the river and of the surrounding Blue Ridge mountains :)

Happy March 8th!

Also, yesterday was the fourth anniversary of my first date with STM. :D :D :D

Hey, Tire Guy!

2009-03-08T21:36:00.002-05:00

Teaching your kid how to check and adjust the pressure in your tires when someone is waiting to use the air compressor is fine, but there is NO reason to spend fifteen bloody minutes doing it.

My kid woke up and started crying in the time it took you. And we took maybe five minutes to pressurize our own tires.

Weird.

2009-02-28T16:53:00.004-05:00

I have been watching more news again lately. For various reasons, especially stemming from how bloody TIME-CONSUMING being a full-time mom turns out to be, I have not been online or watching TV of substance recently.

The reason this is relevant is because watching news shows again is fascinating.

Earlier this week I realized just how much I like Rachel Maddow when another, perfectly worthy, newscaster from MSNBC filled in for her during an illness. I missed Rachel. STM and I both have a mild girl crush on her. She's pretty awesome. Also, it's nice to be more caught up on the stff going on outside of Leesburg.

I know, I know, you've been waiting....

2009-01-27T19:10:00.000-05:00

Check this out!!!

Gabriel...

2008-11-25T22:31:00.002-05:00

No, not the angel, though he is awfully cute!

Gabriel William...aka "the Turkey"...was born November 19th at 8:09pm. He was 7lb. 7 oz (so much for a gigantor baby!).

We are tired. And very happy. VERY happy!!

All the stuff I should Have been posting...

2008-11-16T09:04:00.008-05:00

We had an historic election! Where the guy who won did so on his own merits and also happens to be the first African-American president-elect in our nation's history!! Even MY state, a traditional Republican stronghold, went blue! And 70% of the voters of my state came out to vote, also historic! Yay!!

Also, I have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and for the last month I've had to test my blood sugar four times a day and watch my diet verrrry carefully. Fortunately my case is mild and controllable by such methods...I have a grand new respect for all those who suffer from this condition. I really miss ice cream. Not to mention that when a person with diabetes gets a cold or the flu their sugars become even more difficult to control and asthma meds also spike sugar levels. In the future I will not only be taking preventative measures for myself to prevent a repeat of this, but if I'm sick with a cold I will endeavor even more than usual not to get anyone else sick - sheesh.
ANd having a cold while pregnant is by itself no fun! Fortunately you have extra cards to pull in order to get extra rest, which is nice and makes it a little easier :)

It also helps greatly with ALL of the above when you have a lovely husband who puts up with ALL of this and continues to be loving and sweet and supportive. Thanks STM!

SO...the Turkay. My due date is November 28th. On the 14th we had an ultrasound and they estimated this little munchkin to already be about 7 lb. 11 oz. Eeek! At that point the word 'induction' started popping up with ever greater frequency, as you can imagine. So, if the Turkey does not arrive by this Wednesday, the 19th, I will most likely be induced that evening and the Turkey would then be born, hopefully, by Thursday the 20th.

Which segues to my next bit...how does a first-time mom know she's in early labor?? I know what the book says, I know what my mom says (which was that she wasn't sure and had a doc appt, so she went to the appt and they sent her right into the hospital....) but I'm still not sure what this will be like for ME. So. But I'm having an awful lot more Braxton-Hicks. Enough that I'm going to start counting them today. And I'm getting a bit crampier every day. So.

Updates to follow!

Moving...

2008-08-29T19:42:00.002-05:00

Is a lengthy process. Sigh.

Once we ARE moved in, however, our place will be really nice :) Until then we are tripping over things and having unnecessary arguments.

Which is compounded by the fact that I can't lift or move anything, seeing as how the Turkey needs approximately the space twins normally use. I checked a picture of myself against a picture of my sister on the day she gave birth to her baby girl - at six months I'm as big as she was at nine.

My mother found this very amusing. SO far I don't mind, but if I get to the point at the end where I can't drive because I can't sit behind the wheel of a car without my belly getting in the way it will make me cranky.

Little It?

2008-08-15T07:49:00.004-05:00

My dad dubbed the Turkey "Little It" in an email. This immediately brings to mind images of It from the Addams family and It's very hairy offspring with pacifiers in their...mouths? I laughed a lot :) This was compounded by the fact that between us STM and I have approximately three feet of hair.*

*two feet of which is STM's

Hi All!

2008-08-15T07:37:00.003-05:00

Wow - it's been a really long time since I posted. At first I had no interest in looking at a computer screen, I'd just gotten away from a job that required looking at one allllllll dayyyyyyyyy. Also, I had news that I was all too likely to share early....since then I've been both busy and lazy, if that's possible. STM and I and the Turkey are moving to Leesburg this weekend, I've taken a new job pouring wine tastings at a local winery, we've been to Puerto Rico and for our 1 year anniversary we went to Annapolis/Chincoteague...but the big news, which most everyone who reads this already knows, is the Turkey!

STM and I are having a baby just around Thanksgiving time this year :D

I have discovered many things, one of which is that when one is pregnant and has a full bladder, apparently said bladder is irresistible to tiny kicks. And punches. And occasionally a head-butt. This is a very strange sensation. I suppose it's like having a balloon in there to play with...and seeing as how it's probably kinda boring in there I can't actually blame the Turkey. Even stranger is when the little person decides that kicking is necessary NOW and must be done hard enough so that mommy can feel both the kick AND the head hitting the other side.

This whole baby thing is fascinating. Although I will be happy when my nose stops running constantly.

Today and Monday.

2008-03-28T08:51:00.001-05:00

And then I am finished with this office. My poor office orchid, which was so happy in my previous location where it got plenty of light, is now losing all of its flower buds due to the new location (the dungeon!).
All three of the office orchids will come home on Monday when STM will let me have the car for the day :)

Work

2008-03-24T13:00:00.003-05:00

I'm in my last week at this office. It's not bloody happening fast enough, that's all I have to say about it!!!
After today: 5 business days left, four if I use my sick time...well, actually, 3 1/2. I've got plenty of sick time.
7 calendar days.

I should get one of those little countdown boxes!

Crochet. Sigh.

2008-03-19T14:17:00.005-05:00

I have now tackled several crochet projects, pictures of which will be posted as I:

A) give the completed projects to their intended recipients and
B) get off my lazy butt long enough to post the pics. Which reminds me, I need to photograph a couple of things.

Question: why do so many published and/or free patterns have mistakes in them? I've come across this a couple of times now, and it's quite irritating.

For example, I am currently wrestling with this pattern, a cute free shrug pattern from Berroco called 'Beatrice.' I'm using different colors and yarn, since I like wool and such :) My issue is that it doesn't seem to make any sense. I got through the first row with difficulty, but now I'm trying to make the directions work for the second row. It appears that the stitch count is off somewhere.

Argh!

On the other hand, I still like the look of the theoretical finished product. I will keep trying for now.

Because some things are worth publicising.....

2008-03-13T10:50:00.004-05:00

Neil Gaiman, of Sandman fame and author of many books which I have read, is offering one of his books for your free perusal.

Check it out now - it's only being posted for free for a limited time!!

ANTMC Part Deux...

2008-03-10T14:55:00.002-05:00

And I really don't need to hear about your troubles with getting worker's comp for your 'foot injury', nor do I need to know what your doctor recommended (surgery) and how he must know best since he didn't recommend therapy, and how it's really been giving you trouble and how you have TRIED the orthotics but it's just NOT ENOUGH....

Ahem. You get the picture.

Lest you think I've morphed into a full time PITA

2008-03-10T12:48:00.003-05:00

Super Thin Man and I had our three year anniversary of our first date this past Friday :) Yes, I know we are now married and have a wedding anniversary, but hey, it's more meaningful than Valentine's Day and it's a nice excuse to spend some time with my DH.

We went to the U.S. Botanical Gardens Orchid Show on Saturday, and Westmoreland State Park on Sunday. It almost made up for Daylight Savings Time, which is screwing with my brain.

For those of you who have not been, the Botanical Gardens is a classic Victorian style greenhouse on the National Mall right next to the Capitol Building. It's a really nice place to visit anytime, especially in winter when it's grey and cold outside. They always have an abundance of green, living, sometimes flowering things to perk up your mood.

Also, Westmoreland State Park is a tiny little park (1 mile square, really!) with a gorgeous beachfront, some lovely woods, bald eagles, tons of other avian life, pretty trails, and a spectacular view of the Potomac from the Northern Neck of Virginia, where the river is 5 miles wide. I highly recommend a visit.

A Note to My Coworker...

2008-03-10T12:44:00.001-05:00

I KNOW you've had this space of cubicles to yourself for quite a while. It still doesn't belong to you, lady.

Talking on the phone about whether you packed the car or whether they should remove some sort of charge from your credit card is none of my damned business, nor do I have any interest in hearing about it. I understand that you may have some business related calls to make, and that's fine, but keep it DOWN when you're on a personal call. We share this space.

Sigh

2008-03-07T11:17:00.004-05:00

I miscounted.

After Today, I have 15 days more of being in this office.
23 Calendar Days until my last day.

I'm going to have to take my office orchids home much sooner, though. With this awful new cubicle I'm now occupying they only have office lighting, no natural light.

I'm trying though - I printed out a number of photographs and pictures to try to brighten things up...and distract people walking by so they look at the pictures, not me.

I'm not an exhibit in the zoo, people.

WTF!??!

2008-03-04T14:15:00.002-05:00

I have worked at my current office in various jobs for over 2 1/2 years at this point. I started as an intern during grad school and gradually worked up to full time beginning last August. During that time I'm sure I've had bad days, but I've also tried to be a decent worker.

As a result, when I was hired full time I was moved from a desk in an office with a window to a cubicle without a door. Luckily there was still sunlight. Apparently this made sense.

Now, with 3 1/2 weeks until my final day here (13 days I will actually be required to be in this office...) they are moving me again.

To one of the smallest cubicles in the office, with no window, sandwiched between an intern and an administrative assistant.

"Thank you for all the hard work Vika, we really appreciate the time you've spent here!!"

No...Can't...Resist...ahhhhhhhhhhh

2008-02-29T13:56:00.002-05:00

Apparently Jessica Simpson had a movie.

No kidding. It apparently also made about $.02 in the US.

BUT - in Ukraine it made over $250,000.00 (which, considering a movie ticket costs about $1 there, is a lot.)
Ukrainians apparently feel about Jessica Simpson the way Germans feel about David Hasselhof. They think she's just like Barbie. No Kidding.

And in slightly less philosophical news...

2008-02-28T15:11:00.000-05:00

PRETTY!

Life, the universe, etc.

2008-02-28T14:38:00.003-05:00

My sister and her husband recently became parents to a lovely baby girl. She's really da*& cute, I'm serious. This has gotten me thinking about parenthood and the trials and tribulations facing parents today. So many people wait to have children until they can 'afford' to do so. (This is a fallacy. One never really knows what the costs and benefits of parenthood are until one is actually doing it.) I have a slightly different philosophy. Granted, what I'm about to write is probably what many people are thinking about but don't put into words, but hear me out.

Having children has much less to do with finances than with the readiness of the parents. For example: my sister and her husband are at a point in their lives where they will be better able to give that gorgeous little darling the attention and love she deserves than if they'd tried having a child earlier, what with grad school and working etc. While their lives haven't stopped and they will still be working, etc, they've chosen this time in order to benefit their child. In my mind this is one example of how ready they are to be parents.

I only hope that when it's my turn I'm able to be a good mom.

Yup.

2008-02-27T13:47:00.002-05:00

<3<3<3<3

2008-02-25T14:00:00.001-05:00

I love this plane.

I LOVE this plane.

I think I want one. I'm sure I could rig it up to carry two and recoup my investment by giving rides. Sure! It would Work!

Okay, Okay, I know Celeb watching is silly....but...

2008-02-25T10:14:00.002-05:00

I have a theory. Angelina Jolie is pregnant again. While I think most people would agree that she is normally a smoking hot woman that kind of oozes sensuality, it is also true that she has, in recent years, a tendency to be incredibly stick thin.

So, my theory is that Brad keeps knocking her up to get her to gain weight. It looks good on her, it really does, so why not? They can certainly afford the kids, and unlike other folks in Hollywood whose woeful stories shall remain anonymous because I feel bad for them, they seem to be good parents.

So let'em be happy and start a clan all by themselves. Why not? Babies are adorable!

Lunar Eclipse

2008-02-22T10:39:00.003-05:00

On Wednesday night STM and I witnessed a really neat thing - a full lunar eclipse. It was snowing lightly earlier that day (note: my office was open, no early closures that day either. Idiots...) but the wind picked up and blew all of the clouds away. It turned out to be beautifully clear and crisp! I must admit, the picture is NASA's, our camera doesn't have a tripod so all the pics are a little blurry.

The neatest thing in my mind was that the full moon was exactly 10:41pm EST, and the height of the eclipse was from 10:01pm to about 11pm. It was pretty awesome!

%&*%^$&$#$%&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-22T10:31:00.004-05:00

Our office follows the standard set by the Federal Government concerning inclement weather.

If there is so much as 1/2 inch of snow in this region, the gummint will usually shut down, often for the whole day.

1/2 inch of ICE, however, which seems to me to be a little bit more...well, I don't know...likely to CAUSE ACCIDENTS.........

Unscheduled Leave. Meaning: we're open, but if you can't drag your sorry butt into work we'll not dock your pay.
How does this translate to my office? Open.

Sigh.

Anne Boleyn, Part Deux

2008-02-22T10:22:00.005-05:00

Okay, so I did a little research.

It turns out that Anne Boleyn was noted as wearing her hair unbound. It happened often enough and was UNUSUAL enough for the time period that it was written about her.

That still doesn't excuse the rest of the bloody cast. Nor does it take away from the fact that she wore a French style headdress often enough (see here for an example from The Other Boleyn Girl) that she made it fashionable in England to wear such headgear.

On Life

2008-02-21T16:48:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday I finally made a move I've been thinking about, planning, obsessing over, and generally giving Super Thin Man migraines over for the last three months. I gave notice at my job. At the latest my last day will be April 15th, to give me time to train the newbies (note: plural) and get certain things finished before I go.

Well, what next you ask? It looks like I'll be a housewife for a bit.

Wow.

Housewife. Domestic Engineer. One who does house-type things and perhaps cooks.

I'm also going to be writing a plan for a home-based business creating my own line of ointments, creams, soaps, etc. along with a possible line of home-spun, hand-dyed yarns in small batches.

First, though, I'm gonna take some time off. For this I have STM to thank. He has a very stable, very secure position and they keep telling him how great he is (I agree, BTW). Thus, if we are careful and sensible with the finances, and if we make definite plans to move somewhere cheaper (which could be any number of places, especially in comparison with Fairfax, home of the $500K 800 square foot condo) we can afford this for a while. We are thinking maybe Leesburg or Frederick...maybe as far out as Front Royal. Someplace not too far from said decent workplace of STM's.

Wow. Life changes fast.

The Tudors

2008-02-21T10:05:00.002-05:00

While looking for nice images to illustrate my rant about the Tudors, I came across this.

Yeah. Henry VIII's sister would pose like this in public. Sure. Again, also with the hair down.

On TV shows

2008-02-21T09:30:00.010-05:00

As many of you who read my blog may know, I usually watch only those things which do NOT have commercials. On Demand and the movie channels are my friends.

Then there's Project Runway. PR isn't really my fault, you see, my friends from grad school started a tradition a year ago, for season three. Every Wednesday we would gather at the house of one of the gang and eat junk food, drink too much for a weeknight and watch Project Runway. The silliness of this (in terms of having a Thursday morning life...) was compounded by the fact that PR comes on at 10PM on the East Coast. So....we would all be getting to bed after drinking and eating too much at about midnight on an either school or work night, depending.

Sigh.

Needless to say these nights were grand fun, and though they didn't continue this year my addiction to the show continues. I think it has a great deal to do with the fact that they actually DO stuff. Granted, the soap opera factor is kind of fascinating, but the reason I really watch is to see what kookie assignments they get and watch how they all deal with it. I know personally I would not have been up to the challenges they are presented! Also - I love the end products. Even the terrible ones are fun to see, just to see how terrible it CAN be.

Although I still think Christian is a little twat and Jack should have gotten the fan favorite (all season I was hoping they would bring him back. I LOVE Jack!) Unfortunately I also must admit that Christian is a talented little twat, and does really deserve to be in the final with Jillian. Sigh.

And, in a rather related statement - I COVET Anne Boleyn and Catharine of Aragon's entire wardrobes from The Tudors.

COVET. And cannot afford.

But I do have to make, yet again, my standard complaint about one very common mistake in such period shows - one which I don't think they made in the movie The Other Boleyn Girl, but I digress - the HAIR. I don't care how much of a grasping power-hungry little wench Anne was or is portrayed to be, at court the chick would have ALWAYS worn her hair up. None of this part-up Part-down BS either. It most likely would have been totally covered, not even just up in a 'do. Sigh. Yes, having her long flowing locks down shows how GORGEOUS she is and how EASY it was for Henry to get hooked, but come ON. Sheesh. Look at a painting or two. Really. The paintings of ANNE, even. There is even a DOLL that's more accurate. Scroll down and you'll see the tidbit about the headpiece on the doll.

Ahem...and now back to our regularly scheduled insanity. Personality #1529 has been locked up and put in a straight jacket. That should keep her occupied for a while.

Being a reason not to post on one's blog

2008-02-05T10:10:00.002-05:00

Awwwwww!

I especially like the pics of the new grandparents.

Skiing and other pursuits

2008-02-04T11:25:00.000-05:00

Last week STM and I went with my good friend to Maine to ski at Sugarloaf for a week. Little did we know that they take the term 'ski in-ski out condo' quite literally. We could watch the nearest lift out of one bay window to see when they started running in the morning and had to walk a whole 50 feet to the edge of the nearest slope. It was tough. STM and I have only really been skiing a few times, so going for a whole week was a real treat. Also, blueberry beer is intriguing, but that's beside the point. At the beginning of the week I was certainly the Queen of Green, the greener the better! We had daily lessons included in our ridiculously cheap ski package, so STM and I took advantage. By the week's end I was very sore from using all those muscles differently than usual, however, I was also up to the 'dark' blue slopes. I'm hoping that in the next trip I'll get to do some black diamond slopes. STM and my friend are still more advanced than I, but I'm narrowing the gap.

Also, I started a new crochet project. It's going to be a shawl for my grandmother. I'm planning to make one for each of them, actually, but the other will be made on my new 7' triangle loom, which FINALLY arrived! It sorta hangs like a picture on the wall, which is neat!

My sister, SWMBO, had her little girl on January 18th. Needless to say my sister hasn't posted a blog entry since, lol! I am now addicted to watching the Flickr account with the pictures to see when they post more :)

So. Today is my first day back from vacation, and I had 95 emails in my box this morning. I'm still going through them. I suppose I should go continue with that....

Ahhhhh!!!

2008-01-18T12:30:00.000-05:00

My sister is having her baby!

I am keeping them all in my thoughts and prayers, please do the same.

WOW!

Orchid Care

2008-01-18T09:19:00.000-05:00

So, as you may (or may not...I don't know how closely anyone other than myself actually looks at my blog...) have noticed, the picture of the orchid on the top right over there has had some changes to the notes on it. I thought, in retrospect, that it may be nice to explain a bit for those who may have no f-ing clue what I mean by some of those terms. Orchids are an obsession, often leading one to learn Latin and certain Asian words and such...but I digress.

The orchid pictured on the right here is a Phalaenopsis type orchid. They have a low profile and wide, flat leaves and very thick roots which often perform photosynthesis. This is quite helpful to the plant, and is also rather unusual in the plant world. It normally (if it weren't a greenhouse-bred fancy hybrid) would have found itself a nice spot on the upper section of a tree somewhere in Southeast Asia. This particular orchid was purchased in flower at the King of Prussia Orchid Show in February 2006.

About two months ago it developed crown rot. This is an infection of the plant by which water remaining in the crown (the bit where all the leaves join together) carried an organism which caused the plant to die from the center out. I have never heard of a plant being rescued from this. ALL the leaves died, and we were left with only a group of very healthy roots.

STM decided, as an experiment, to see what would happen if we just kept watering it. Since one orchid more or less in the bathtub doesn't really make that much difference when you have about 40 of them (I told you it was an obsession!) I didn't mind. Also, since it was most likely me that caused the crown rot (orchids usually only get it when there is too much water on them, especially late in the day or at night. The organism that causes it is most active at night. This is why responsible orchid growers will usually water in the morning, to allow the plant's upper bits to dry completely before nightfall.) I felt a bit guilty.

About a week and a half ago we were spritzing the orchids, which we do almost every morning, when I noticed a new growth on the roots (!!). I immediately called STM over to see, and we both could tell it was growing a keiki!!!! A keiki is a baby orchid which normally grows from a fully mature orchid which, for reasons of it's own, chooses to reproduce by cloning rather than through seeds. Phals have this tendency, but I've never seen one keiki off of the roots. I have another keiki which grew off of another plant in the usual way - the plant put out a flower spike with no buds and then the baby grew at the end.

So now we have a new baby orchid, but one with an adult, mature root system. This is a major advantage, since many keikis die from lack of water when they have an immature root system (once they are detached from the parent plant)

I'm really interested to see where this goes next. And by now you are probably thoroughly sick of orchid talk.

Tea and Sleep.

2008-01-17T16:15:00.000-05:00

So this morning STM and I were slowly awakening. This is pretty normal, as is the fact that NPR was what was interrupting our morning snooze time. There was a piece this morning that made it even harder to get out of bed, and explains a bit why I have such trouble sleeping earlier in the evening, especially recently.

Sigh.

Modern society does not respect sleep. This is a terrible thing.

So, as with a usual day, my chronic sleep deprivation hit me in the middle of the afternoon. I'm eschewing coffee (again) because in addition to being too much caffeine it's tough on my stomach.

My sister's tea saved me. One of the teas she gifted me for Christmas is called 'grapefruit.' it's black tea with some bits of grapefruit in it and it smells divine. Also, as you may guess from the description, it's quite the picker-upper.

Thank you CGB!

Historic Markers, Update

2008-01-16T10:31:00.000-05:00

So, my sister pointed out that we may have seen that "Pile of Rocks" historical marker in New York State while on vacation many years back. I therefore have checked the NYS historical marker catalog, but didn't find it there either.

It is entirely possible that the marker got pulled simply due to complaints over its inherent silliness. On the other hand, considering some of the markers I DID find, it speaks more of a clever commentary on the silliness of many historical markers.

This is the link to the website, where you can find such markers as 'Old Indian Path.' I'm not kidding. The Pile of Rocks one was at least imaginative.

Historic Markers

2008-01-14T12:55:00.000-05:00

For those who may not have noticed or not be US-based, there are historic markers all over the US countryside. They exist in other countries as well, (Facebook link, may not work if you don't have an account. Let me know and I'll find another way to post that one.) but they are truly prolific in the US, especially near sites from the Revolutionary or Civil Wars. For certain readers, those wars can often be referred to by other names including the War of Independence or the War of Northern Aggression, etc.

In any case....how do such markers get placed? It turns out that in the US, such markers are placed on a state-by-state basis. In Pennsylvania, for example, there is a commission assigned to placing these signs. Apparently there is more oversight now, but in the past they placed them based on petitions from the general public and had the right to place a sign anywhere. ANYWHERE in Pennsylvania, be it public or private property. Thus you get signs from the savvy (and silly) types such as historic marker placed on a pile of rocks by a group of Penn State students some time back. Since there was indeed a pile of rocks at the given location, the marker was deemed valid and placed, at the cost of who knows how much state funding.

Sigh.

Now, since I can't locate it on the site they may have removed this marker or it may be an urban legend. If someone has more information on this you are welcome to post it in the comments.

May the strike soon end!

2008-01-10T09:40:00.000-05:00

Or we may see more silliness like this.

Although I did nearly bust a gut trying not to laugh out loud at work in response to that.

Christmas!!!

2008-01-09T16:47:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I didn't write about the holidays at all in the midst of my dental issues.

Christmas we spent with my family, except for my very pregnant sister and her husband who can't travel right now. I hope they had a wonderful holiday!!
We went to STM's family party as it was on the day of mom's family's party and we'd spen the actual holiday with my family.

All in all they were both really lovely and everyone seemed truly happy to see one another and spend some time together - which is the real spirit of the holiday as far as I'm concerned, so all is good :)

My sister gave me a lovely assortment of teas, which I now have at my desk at work. It's kind of like having a mini tea shop - whenever I need tea (which is often...) I get to browse. My other sister, who has apparently decided to enable my burgeoning fiber habit, found more of this one amazing type of the softest merino roving you've probably ever felt - she got me enough to possibly make enough yarn for a sweater. Which is a lot of yarn. My third sister gave us Quelf, that oh so amusing board game we were considering purchasing - very nice :) It will get broken in when we go to Maine to go skiing with my good friend later this month. My parents gave me a gorgeous box in which to keep mementos from our wedding this past summer, and some really pretty tree ornaments. We got ornaments from several folks, in fact. I LOVE the ornaments, they make the tree look so much more 'family' and less 'hotel-lobby' lol.

Speaking of trees...I heard that my sister, the one who is expecting, had some trouble finding a tree. I hope they have better luck next year! We also waited until the weekend before Christmas to get our tree, but luckily the weather has been quite mild in the DC area, and though it rained heavily that day we were able to find an open tree farm. Since it wasn't too far away and we needed to stop by to pick up some gifts anyway we went to Lost Creek first. Rose, the events and tasting bar manager, fed us wine (whenever we go up there she always gives us wine), let us stay until the rain ebbed a bit, and then we went over to the tree farm. We almost got lost in the Loudon county back roads, but the drive is so pretty that we weren't worried about that :) We made it to the tree farm with time to spare and were directed first to the pre-cut trees. Seeing no reason to cut one if we could find a nice pre-cut tree, STM and I searched through, and sure enough we found a little 4' tree in the precut section that suited us just fine! Best part - it was a whole $10. They claimed it had probably been cut a week or more earlier, but we've had it for almost three weeks now and it's not even dropping needles. I'm very impressed. When I get home I will try to remember to post some pics of it!

Antibiotics

2008-01-09T09:56:00.000-05:00

I usually try to avoid taking antibiotics, especially since I was on so many as a child that my immune system doesn't handle them well. Since I got my wisdom teeth out, however, I felt it prudent to fill the prescription this time - last thing I need is a massive infection that close to my brain :) One of the reasons I try to avoid antibiotics is that I, like many women, often get yeast infections when I take them.

Not this time. Huh. I did some research - apparently that taking of multivitamins thing can actually help prevent yeast infections too, just by balancing the overall health of the body.

Everybody, take your vitamins, they're good for you! And watch out for mercury if you take fish oil supplements!

The thing about wisdom teeth....

2008-01-08T09:32:00.000-05:00

MAN! Did that hurt. But it's starting to not hurt anymore, which is good. At this point I'm mainly down to avoiding chewing with my back teeth for another two weeks or so and getting tension headaches from only chewing with my front teeth. I've lost about 10 lbs. so far, and I'm still mainly on soft/liquid foods, so I anticipate that I'll lose more weight before I'm able to eat normally again. I'm very happy that I had the forethought (or something) to start taking vitamins again about a month ago or I'd probably be much worse off. The goal now is to keep losing weight - to really be a healthy weight I need to lose about 20-30 more lbs. - and to eat properly and exercise so it doesn't come creeping back. I was a size 8 when I came back from Russia, and I felt really good as a size 8. I'm currently a size 12-14, and I feel like a ton of bricks whenever I try to climb stairs. Not good. I don't need to be a stick, and Super Thin Man would DEFINITELY object if I tried to become one, but it's long since time I spent more time on keeping myself in shape and eating well. The truth of being Jack Sprat's wife is that he LIKES curvy women. That's part of why he likes me. This is nice, since I don't even think anorexia would get me back to a size 4 like I was in high school, and I like food way too much to stop eating it anyway.

I know I'm rambling, but I don't care. It's that sort of morning. So I'm going to ramble a bit more - warning, this bit will be somewhat sappy, so if you don't care for it don't read it.

I like my husband. He's a really nice guy. I feel like I hit the jackpot in a big way when I had the good sense (or something) to go out with him that first time. He's smart, funny, and he kind of looks like George Harrison (with the goatee especially). He's slender, and will probably not develop much of a gut (if his grandpa is anything to go by...) and cares about keeping himself healthy. He's brilliant at all the things that frustrate me, like anything involving more than googling or pointing and clicking where computers are involved or playing instruments. I can sing, and some say I do it well, but i don't have much talent for playing an instrument. He's quiet, gentle and kind, but strong. He has amazing eyes. Did I mention that I think he's really good looking? Because I do. He's got much better hair than I do, and since I'm married to him I get to run my fingers through it whenever I want. He's a good driver, and has the good fortune to have found a solid, respectable job that he LIKES. And is really GOOD at. Which is more than I've found thus far, but there's hope :). But I think one of the most unique and wonderful things about him is that he manages to live with me, and enjoy it. All of you who know me understand this, but for those who don't, I'm kind of a handful. Very willful, and a bit crazy to boot, but he helps keep me centered. So. I think that may be enough for now, though I could easily keep going...

SPAMalot!

2007-12-22T18:20:00.000-05:00

SPAMalot is an utterly entertaining show. It takes the basic plot of MPSHG and expands it to include other MP references, pop culture, musical songs, tap dancing and various thinly veiled jabs at Broadway. Okay, so maybe 'thinly veiled' is an overstatement. There is a song in there about how one can get one's show on Broadway which is, in predictably tasteless and offensively funny MP style, fabulous.

I'm waiting for the SPAMalot on ICE version starring Brian Boitano as King Arthur and Katerina Witt as the Lady of the Lake. Patsy, of course, would be played by Scott Hamilton.

And the cow would be played by Chazz Michael Michaels.

Perhaps a change is in order?

2007-12-22T18:11:00.000-05:00

When you get to the point where you view the days spent recovering from wisdom tooth extraction as a kind of vacation, and are actually looking forward to the procedure, it may be time to rethink your job. Seriously.

Plants

2007-12-22T10:44:00.000-05:00

When you begin buying furniture expressly for your plants, you may have need of a greenhouse. Or perhaps a straight jacket.

Sock Wars!

2007-12-21T11:06:00.000-05:00

So. My sister probably knows about this. Mayhap she even participates, I don't know.

This sounds like an amazing amount of fun - so, you sign up for this thing, you receive a kit with a person's address, name, sock size, and a pattern. If you get your socks to that person before someone sends you socks, then you keep going. Otherwise, like the Assassin game, you're dead.

It's enough to encourage me to learn how to knit socks :)

**I don't have a link to the site where you can sign up yet for next year. Will find one!**

Highly Amusing.

2007-12-19T11:37:00.000-05:00

The other day someone told STM that he looks like Orlando Bloom.

Wicked awesome.

Apparently I've spent more time with my friend from New England than I realized recently, since 'wicked' has become my new favorite adjective.

Yay! Our car is fixed!

2007-12-19T11:30:00.000-05:00

Remember this?

Well, with the wedding coming we decided to wait to fix the damage until we were a bit more financially secure. We brought the car in about a week after Thanksgiving. It was only supposed to take a week, but the mechanic had surgery just around the time he was starting work so it took about 2 1/2 weeks. Since this meant that we got to test drive a 2007 Malibu for a couple of weeks courtesy of our insurance company we didn't mind too much. Also, the car place threw in a few minor repairs and a discount for taking so long with the car. Yay!

Yesterday we picked up the newly refurbished (and sparkling clean - I don't think I've seen it that clean since the first time STM let me drive it ;) ) car. It's nice to have the good old Prizm back :) Even if the Malibu DID have wicked pickup and a great sound system ;D

Crafty with a "C" things...

2007-12-18T13:12:00.000-05:00

So, as some of you may be aware, friends of ours have a sheep farm. This has quickly engendered a fascination with fiber in me, along with many a fun weekend doing things such as feeding llamas and sheep and dogs and cats and horse (did I miss anybody? Oh, yeah, the people :) )and helping with crutching and shearing and preparing for lambing, etc. I think I really fell in love during lambing season last year when Super Thin Man and I went up and saw some day old little lambkins - they are truly cute.

ANYWAY...so this evolved into taking a class from Ashley (the shepherdess) on how to hand spin fiber. It's very soothing and there are lots of different fun things to try and spin (Yes, I actually did try to spin the cotton wad you get in the top of a large bottle of ibuprofen. It is much easier to spin wool or llama or angora.)

Two of my sisters are knitters. This, I feel, may be enough knitters in one immediate family. Thus, I am learning to weave. I have procured a small triangle loom and am currently experimenting with my first gift project - a scarf for a friend who lives overseas.

Thus begins the cycle of my weaving and fiber fetish exploits in blog form.

In the spirit of awesomeness

2007-12-18T11:21:00.000-05:00

One of my coworkers sent out a company wide email the other day. This doesn't happen quite as often as one would think for an organization of about 80 Arlington based employees.

Her business trip in the Middle East was extended. Awwwww.

BUT, she'd gotten tickets for Spamalot at the National Theater in DC for tomorrow.

What a SHAME. She had to sell them.

Guess who's going to Spamalot tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll try to remember to post pics.

In the spirit of the season?

2007-12-12T17:44:00.000-05:00

Um, well, in reference to something that is in progress on my sister's blog, I went and found this.

As always, good for a laugh :)

It's a little weird, but....

2007-12-12T14:42:00.000-05:00

This has made my day thus far.

I know, I need a better day. But it is amusing :)

More things to be thankful for:

2007-12-03T14:29:00.000-05:00

Lindt, the makers of that deliciousness known as the Lindor melty dark chocolate truffle, is something we should generally be thankful for.

However, recently I discovered a reason why we should be extra special thankful for them:

Peanut Butter Melty Chocolate Truffles.

It's like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup on some really gooooood crack.

I highly recommend. They carry them at CVS now. Heavens above.

Things to be thankful for....

2007-12-03T12:51:00.001-05:00

That my sister, who is considerably classier than certain individuals, did not proclaim her impending motherhood to the world in, say, THIS fashion.

Thank you. From all of us. I mean thanks to my sister, not the other one. That one needs to start looking in mirrors and checking proofs before signing on the dotted line that allows pictures to be published.

Warning - slightly NSFW. May require a bit of mental floss. Extreme cases may be treated using brain bleach, extra concentrated.

Long Time, No Write

2007-11-30T12:41:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't been keeping up with this blog very well. There have been plenty of things to write about, I just haven't gotten to any of them!

I think the most major recent event would be my sister's baby shower (yay, baby!) She looks predictably fabulous, and seems very sane. This bodes well for the rest of us, I hope :)

We had the shower at my other sister's house, which was very nice! Everyone seemed to have a lovely time and apparently my sister's baby is going to be extremely spoiled - which is a huge shock. Really.

We got the baby a sheep woolskin to line his/her bed, and the great part is that it's machine washable! I'm hoping that there aren't any allergy issues for my sister or her husband, but in theory if there is anything left one or two washings should take care of it, especially with some outside airing time (if it's not too cold right now...)

After we picked up said woolskin Super Thin Man and I realized that WE have a sincere need for a soft, fluffy, machine washable piece of wonderfullness as well. It will wait until our friends at Willowhawk Farm have another batch of them however. Apparently they sell rather quickly. I have no idea why!

In addition to the lovely shower, Super Thin Man and I stayed the night at my sister's house. We spent the evening with Witty, Witty's hubby, and Witty's Mom-In-Law (the real one, not the step-one...ahem, don't ask, it's complicated :) ) playing increasingly bawdy Apples to Apples and consuming large amounts of Shiraz and pizza. In the morning, when I was amazingly not hung over, after having slept on the trapeze-like combination of three inflatable mattresses (two of which slowly deflated over the course of the night), we ended up playing Quelf. Ahhhh....Quelf, my new favorite board game. I say that because I cannot imagine any other way I could EVER get my sister to act the part of a weeping willow complete with hummed movie theme song. I am not kidding. It was just as amusing as it sounds.

In short, it was a blast! We are seriously considering purchasing this board game for our ski trip in January :)

Oh, yeah, and we had a lovely Thanksgiving at my aunt's house, with copious amounts of excellent Turkey Day food and a real treat - pineapple sparkling wine from Hawaii. If you haven't tried it I do recommend. Yum!

On Friday we had a bit of a stressful day, since my grandmother fell and had to be rushed to the hospital. Since STM and I had already planned to visit his family that day, and my sister CGB was going to be stranded at the 'rents, she came with us to H-burg.

Her reaction: gee, STM's granddad is just like OUR granddad. Well, duh, but she didn't know him well enough to say that before, so fair enough :)

The upshot of that situation is that it looks like my grandmother is in very good hands for her rehab therapy. I'm hoping her wrist and hip heal quickly and without complications!

Well, that's not nearly all, but I will have to get the rest written later!

When Irony is Rich

2007-10-05T09:29:00.000-05:00

So, to continue the mattress theme....this website may have read my blog.

Mattresses - Victory!

2007-09-26T09:12:00.000-05:00

Yay! So, I finally got tired of the dithering around we've been doing over this mattress issue for the last few weeks, and did some more internet research yesterday. Turns out Macy's is having a really amazing mattress sale, and they carry Simmons Beauty Rest, which was the kind we wanted.

Mission accomplished for probably about 50% cheaper than the mattress we bought usually retails!

Yay - no more sleeping on the air mattress with a feather blanket as cushion on top of the POS posing as sleep substrate!

If you need a mattress, I suggest you consult Macy's between now and the end of the sale!

Buying Mattresses...

2007-09-20T07:53:00.000-05:00

So, Super Thin Man and I need a new mattress. This didn't seem like a complicated purchase to me-you go, lie down on a couple of the things, buy one, and get them to bring it to your house. Bonus points if they will also remove the sagging POS currently posing as a sleep substrate.

Well. I was wrong.

First off: There are about 1000 different kinds of mattress from probably 50-ish different manufacturers.

Second: One person who will be using said mattress is slender and tall-ish and gets upper back and shoulder pain from sleeping. Since this person is so slender, there is the issue of their shoulders being much wider than their hips, so the upper back takes all the weight... The other person is...ahem...curvy and a little bit shorter, therefore having lower back pain because their body takes the weight quite differently. This results in each of these people finding different mattresses which are comfortable for them.

Third: Mattress stores are creepy. They only ever have one staff member working and rarely ever have any other customers in the store. As a consequence when a customer walks in they are practically hounded by the lonely associate and are forced to lie down on all the mattresses (an oddly intimate thing to be doing in public...) in front of a complete stranger who is trying to sell you stuff. This sets off the creepy factor quite well.

Fourth: MY GOD. You could buy a decent used CAR for what a mattress costs. And the comfy ones are all even MORE expensive. Damn. Just...Damn.

Fifth: One can find better deals online, as well as see a much wider variety of mattresses, but you cannot test them online. This is a problem. See Point 2.

So, I suppose the solution is to grin and bear the creepiness of the deserted mattress stores to find the one you like, then go online to actually buy the thing.

Sigh.

Then again...

2007-08-15T14:40:00.000-05:00

By The Way, I have several much more important posts, but for now I'm not able to concentrate on work, much less this....

Yew Wand

The following wand has chosen YOU:
Yew; Demiguise Hair; 13 and 1/2 inches

-Associated with both death and rebirth
-Enhance magical and psychic abilities
-Especially suited to spells of transfiguration
-The user of this wand must be extremely careful of its innate, destructive workings
Which Magic Wand Are You Destined To Pick?

Sure, why not?!

2007-08-15T13:52:00.000-05:00

Your Score: 12", Holly, Dragon

You scored 42 wisdom, 33 bravery, 21 emotional, and 16 martyrdom!

Holly is a powerful protective wood that good for use against evil, but it also represents dreams and fertility. Your dragon's heartstring core makes your wand very effective in hexes.

Link: The Harry Potter Wand Test written by sputnik845 on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Hooray for Southpaws!

2007-08-13T14:45:00.000-05:00

Today is our day!

Um, okay...

2007-08-10T09:29:00.000-05:00

Your results:
You are Iron Man

Iron Man		90%
Spider-Man		85%
Supergirl		85%
Wonder Woman		80%
Green Lantern		80%
Superman		65%
Robin		65%
The Flash		55%
Batman		50%
Hulk		50%
Catwoman		45%

Inventor. Businessman. Genius.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Oh yeah, I almost forgot!

2007-08-09T14:36:00.000-05:00

In all of the wedding and Harry Potter and summer heat craziness I almost forgot.

I got promoted again, with another payraise.

Yay!

A Thought...

2007-08-09T13:54:00.000-05:00

What would happen if you slipped Klatchian coffee into Professor Trelawney's tea?

First--would she know not to drink it?
Second--if she drank it, would she become a full-on Seer?
Third--would such a rift between the universe of Discworld and Hogwarts ever be mendable?
Fourth--would Professor Trelawney, having drunk said coffee, then be able to give more detail to supplement the disappointingly sparse epilogue to book 7?????

What a thought.

Welcome Samer!

2007-08-09T13:39:00.000-05:00

We have recently welcomed a new member to our crazy team here at work, Samer. Samer seems a nice fellow, and he has the advantage of speaking Arabic, French and English fluently as well as being a Middle East/North Africa expert. Which is how he found his way to our little pocket of insanity.

Samer has Klatchian ancestry. I'm sure of it. He made the coffee today, see, and now I'm so sober I can see the future.

Need to buy melons, yes, melons would be useful.....

Plea For Rain...

2007-08-06T16:23:00.000-05:00

This is a formal request to any critter out there who/which might have a bit of influence with the weather:

My friends lost Simon Templar, one of their llamas, last week due to parasites, which grow much more quickly during drought. They keep their llamas as companions, (and they also guard sheep flocks, go figure!) not livestock animals, so it was like losing a close friend.

Other friends, who own a vineyard, will probably have to cut 30% of their crop this year in order to get any harvest at all without overstressing (and therefore possibly killing) the vines.

They aren't the only ones: everyone in this area is suffering from this drought.

Please send us some good, soaking, gentle rains.

Thank you.

By all that's holy, have some sense!

2007-08-03T14:14:00.001-05:00

These people must be wealthy. That's all I can figure. Why, otherwise, would you attempt to repopulate certain small countries all on your own, and how would you also have the freedom to school them in your probably crazy ways while you do it???

Now, I know I come from a large family, but there are large families and then there are people who like to imitate rabbits. Which are prey animals, and not really known for their cunning except when it comes to finding ways to steal from people's gardens. I'm just saying.

Urasov

2007-08-03T13:34:00.000-05:00

Is an unfortunate last name. Even in Russia, where the derogatory term for one's backside is different, they might still snicker. They watch a lot of American movies over there....might as well be named Uranus.

Yay-we own the Moon!

2007-08-03T13:28:00.001-05:00

This is the third in a series of posts on my friend's blog (to which I occasionally send articles, and which is actually translated and read around the world in several different languages, go fig!) on the ridiculousness of Russia's recent...globalization policy.

BTW-the blog is Eternal Remont, and there is a link to the right over there...

Spoiler...

2007-08-01T10:59:00.000-05:00

Well, Obviously!

Harry Potter 7

2007-08-01T08:08:00.000-05:00

Well, I clearly owe everyone a good long entry or two on the wedding and honeymoon, but for now other business...

No, This Isn't A Spoiler. I can't, I heaven't read the whole book yet. I could have gotten it on the honeymoon, but we were having far too much fun doing other stuff so I chose not to. That, and I'd preoredered it at one of those discounted prices at a store in Fairfax before I realized it would come out during our honeymoon. Sigh.

I must, however, point out one irony, and this is towards the beginning and not a major plot point, so don't worry: exactly one week after my own wedding out comes a book which features a wedding whose color scheme is purple, gold, and white.

For those who may not have attended our wedding or not been involved, I offer the following picture of Super Thin Husband Man and I:

Edited to add: Just for the record, while we had a fabulous photographer, this is one of the pictures my friends took. I have not received Kristen's pictures yet, though there is a teaser....

Final Countdown begins!!!

2007-07-11T08:48:00.001-05:00

It's currently 9:48am EDT. 75 hours 12 minutes until our WEDDING!!!!

It's finally getting to the point where I can transition from worrying about the color of the flowers in the bouquet and whether there's enough of the silly plastic grapevine for the centerpieces to...

OUR WEDDING IS IN 75 HOURS and...10 MINUTES!!!

Today is my last day of work, and between the fact that I'm already excited and my coworker's baby shower this afternoon, I don't imagine it will be my most productive day....

75 hours and 9 minutes.

Tonight we have to get the programs written, though we can't print them until we have the music finalized and we are probably finalizing that tomorrow. We also have to do seating arrangements and place cards and table descriptions tonight. This was supposed to be finished last weekend, but eh, things happen......

75 hours and 8 minutes...

O My Goodness. We're Getting Married!!!!!!

Yayyyyy!!!

Argh!!

2007-07-09T13:47:00.000-05:00

Stupid Ancestors. Shoulda' just bought the recipe.

Then, this would be me.

I'm sure that all of my sisters would be much more tastefully enfrocked, even if we WERE beer heiresses.

Which could SO easily have happened.

WHEN will I get a time machine for my birthday? WHEN??? (I'd take a Pontiac Solstice GXP instead, if anyone is taking notes...)

Sigh.

2007-07-05T16:22:00.000-05:00

I have made a not-so-novel discovery: I have friends of many different types, and getting tham to all happily share one space is like herding cats. Several of them, while being perfectly fine with me, are downright rude to each other sometimes. See, as with any group of people forced to spend large amounts of time together, there are feuds that go back YEARS between a few of these people.

Unfortunately my wedding has been a situation where normal boundaries of friendship circle have been crossed. I say 'unfortunately' because I am aware that this has causde more than passing tensions amongst said group of friends. This saddens me a bit because I kind of hoped that people would see this as an opportunity to see the good sides of the others, and although I know that goes against the nature of most people, I have an extremely stubborn optimistic streak I just can't seem to get rid of.

Please, for your own sake as well as my sanity/guilt capacity, Please try to get along for a little while at least?

Thank you. Believe me, when this is all behind us we will all be happier if we try to have a good time.

Nine days to go....

2007-07-05T08:41:00.000-05:00

Happy Fourth of July to all, I hope you were able to enjoy your day off, and that you aren't too...tired...to deal with being back to work today!

Anyway, Nine Days to Go Until one of the biggest events in my life.

Other big events of note:

1) Being born. I rate this fairly high on the scale of important life events. Thanks Mom and Dad :D

2) Various firsts: first solid food, first walk, first year with no hospitalizations, little things like that.

3) Education firsts: first day of school, first detention, graduation from grade school, graduation from high school, graduation from college, graduation from graduate school.

4) Living abroad.

5) Well, lots of things that won't get listed here...

6) The next major thing: Super Thin Man and I are getting married in 9 days.

My most recent obsession is that we are finally close enough to The Big Event for me to check the weather report for that day. You see, I am hoping against hope and praying to any divine force that will assist for a relatively sunny day in the 70s with low humidity that day. Ahem. We are talking about Washington DC in the middle of July, where the average temperatures are 86* for the high and the humidity is often around 60% or higher with a good chance of thunderstorms. I am basically asking for a miracle.

In other News...

2007-07-03T13:17:00.000-05:00

However, on the list of acceptable wedding gifts I must include this. And after the wedding I promise to post some pictures of us in our outfits, which will justify this even more.

Besides, who DOESN"T want an ancient drafty castle once slept in by Vlad Tepesch?

On a side note: does this story smack slightly of George-Washingtonism, or is it just me? Vladdy-boy slept there once? Do we have any proof? I mean, there's this rock overhang which is constantly being ground away by trucks going down a road near my parents house. The legend as to why the darn thing has never been removed is that once George Washington slept under it, this presumably having happened when the road was a dirt track and one could sleep at the side of it without fear of crazy Main Line people in SUVs. But that doesn't make the legend true.

I think it's a cheap selling point. I'd still take the castle.

Argh!

2007-07-03T13:09:00.000-05:00

So, I know I haven't been posting lately, and I even have a birthday to report on, but I've been a bit busy with wedding planning.

Speaking of which.

Yeah. This is another reason why we are NOT getting married this weekend. Craziness!

If any of you get us luck-themed gifts I may start hurling them at the walls of the winery at the reception in hopes of breaking them. Unless they are very clever and well thought out (not that any of those in the article above are...) in which case I will treat them with the respect they deserve for that reason.

Not that we don't want luck, or a happy, long and fruitful marriage, but we EMPHATICALLY do not need European designed Lucky Shot Glasses. We need a Framed Four Leaf Clover even less.

Thank you.

I Would Normally Make a Comment...

2007-06-22T11:13:00.001-05:00

But this really speaks for itself.

Wow.

Also On the Dresses...

2007-06-20T13:58:00.000-05:00

As of now, most of the people in the bridal party have received their outfits for the wedding. Everyone is either extremely pleased and has made it clear, or still somewhat mortified by my choice of gown/doublet and have been very good at lying to me. (okay, I know at least one person would take the option to switch to a tux if I let them...)

I am very impressed. Witches Closet Creations (see link on the right) is made up of a pair of ladies in Washington State who make and sell clothes and other sundries by mail order. That being said, they managed to fit just about everybody just about perfectly from...oh...between 1500 and 3000 miles away. Nice. And they did it for a price I'm still not sure I believe, especially considering what other similar frims charge For The Same Bloody Thing But Less Well Made.

Cheers, and Kudos to you, Liz and Laura!

Murphy's Law, and How It Could Be Worse...

2007-06-20T13:39:00.000-05:00

So. You have a wedding in three weeks. You are getting prepared, you have a lot of the details worked out, you're getting pretty excited, right?

Three weeks: it's good that there's that much of a window when you manage to sprain your ankle playing softball on your company team. It wasn't even an exciting play, I'd just gotten out, and turned to run back to the 'dugout' (um, we play on the National Mall. It's a field where they plunk down bases and a pitcher's 'mound' to make it a diamond), when my foot caught...or something...and turns the wrong way, and suddenly my ankle wouldn't take any weight. Which led to three hours in the emergency room. Over which time they poked it a little, took my vitals, took some x-rays (it's not broken, thank all that's holy), and gave me a splint, crutches, and an Rx for some STRONG Motrin and sent me on my way. I think I made out well there, too. Could have been an all-nighter, that could.

So, today is my coworker's last day before he leaves to get married and honeymooned (which is much better than just getting mooned, there's HONEY involved), and therefore I couldn't call out sick. I'm taking over for him while he's away. Yup--here's me at 8:45am catching a cab outside of the Rosslyn metro with my crutches to get the 0.2 miles up the hill to my office. Those of you who know the Wilson Boulevard Hill understand me. Those of you who have watched the Philly Bike Race at 'The Wall' understand me. Those who don't? Think 25* up-angle on a submarine. And now I'm stuck trying to juggle the crutches and my coffee cup (of tea, I'm weaning off coffee again, finally) because I forgot my big Nalgene and can't go with an empty cup.

The VERY good news: three weeks should be enough time--unless I do something stupid--to heal. The more difficult news: I'm stuck on crutches for at least three days and we have our engagement photoshoot tomorrow...at a sheep farm. With rolling hills and such. Wow, that was stupid! Guess we'll be sticking near to the barn, where I can hobble ten feet. Because I really don't want my ankle to match my bridesmaids gorgeous purple dresses.

Last names...

2007-06-12T11:23:00.000-05:00

An Observation: When the cashier at Safeway actually looks at your name from the receipt and is able to pronounce it normally, there is no reason why the rest of the population should have any problem with it.

As a Side Observation: When the underpaid, overworked cashiers at Safeway are pleasant and courteous, it is a sign that the world will shortly be ending. I would leave any major urban areas if I were you.

In which I observe...

2007-05-22T13:33:00.000-05:00

...that there is a whole list of things that your apartment could smell like that are worse than the scent of jerk seasoning. Mmmmm...jerk chicken :D

Ahhhh....

2007-05-21T11:49:00.000-05:00

This has been a long time coming, and had several roadbumps/construction sites/unbuilt bridges and various other challenges along the way, but I did indeed graduate. I now am the proud owner of two very fancy pieces of paper (one undergrad, one grad) written in Latin (I told you they were fancy!) about two and a half by two feet in size to hang on my wall, about $55k in debt, and more knowledge on various subjects of interest to about ten people in the world than I probably care to admit.

Mom and Dad came down for the ceremony, which I made very little noise about for several reasons: First, I actually wasn't sure it was truly going to happen until about a week and a half ago, second, my wedding is fast approaching and I thought it was a bit much to make a big deal about both, and third, MAN, am I just happy to be FINISHED.

So, Super Thin Man sat with the Parents and got to be all happy and proud (which was fun...I was actually much happier about the whole thing than I thought I'd be) and then we went to Le Mistral for dinner. Wow. Super Thin Man gets big time credit with the Parents for that particular find. Mom officially put him in charge of finding nice restaurants when they are in town. Tee hee. It was a very nice dinner all around, good food, good wine, good company. In short, it was the kind of meal that in reality you only get once in a great while, but that you'd like to have much more often.

Ha hahaaaaaaaa.....

2007-05-10T20:43:00.000-05:00

Do you remember this post? And the one preceding it?

Well, this evening Super Thin Man and I bottled our very first ever home vintage. It's actually not bad, either! (Of course we had to taste it. How else can you tell whether it's ready to bottle?)

We racked it twice over the course of the past 5 weeks, used a potassium metabisulfate solution to stabilize and sterilize it, clarified it last weekend using SuperKleer, and today as a study break we bottled it.

As we were tasting over the last couple of weeks, we discovered that the merlot from the kit we bought was, like, really high in alcohol, to the point where it was more like weak, young brandy. The fruit wine on the other hand (equal parts organic '365' brand concord grape, cherry, and blueberry fruit juice) was very weak in strength and was overwhelmingly fruity. We tried 75/25, 60/30, and 50/50 blends of the two wines, and discovered that providentially a 50/50 blend of the two balanced the fruit and alcohol very nicely. Odd, but a pleasant surprise. The original merlot kit was meant to make four bottles. With the blend it came out to seven bottles plus one glass (I'm sipping it now-ahhhh! Young, but with potential! :D ).

All in all, including equipment, chemicals, and juice, we ended up with seven plus bottles of eminently drinkable wine for about...$50? And several of the pieces of equipment (wine thief, brix/alcohol meter, racking pump, corker) are reusable.

Nice.

So you all...well, all of you over 21...now know what you'll be receiving for Christmas and birthdays for the rest of your lives.

Cheers!

P.S. We may get into beer and mead at some point, given the opportunity. And don't worry, we'll get you to taste it before we start giving it as gifts :D

P.P.S. The picture is from the tour we took at Ingleside Winery not far from Westmoreland State Park, where I spent Spring Break.

Update: On the Job

2007-05-10T14:13:00.000-05:00

Remember when I bitched mildly about the gummint?

Yeah. It looks like they are eyeballing me to TAKE OVER THAT WHOLE SECTION.

The Department for Redundant Redundancy Department is something of an understatement compared to what I will be dealing with in the near future.

On the up side, this is actually a position of some responsibility. I hadn't considered that they were planning to give me a REAL job.

Neat.

Office Orchid Update!

2007-05-10T09:11:00.000-05:00

So, in a move akin to my sister's updates on her varied and sundry knitting projects, an update to the office orchid situation I mentioned last month.

The two orchids I rescued from possible death have both survived, and are actually well on the road to recovery. One of them has several visible, healthy new roots. The other, the one whose root decay was much worse, has become visibly healthier. This points to root growth in the medium where I can't see it.

My third office orchid, the Kalapana, has new growth but is kind of in a stall. I don't think the office has the right sort of atmosphere for them to truly thrive. My orchids at home get a similar amount of attention and care--in fact I spend more time with my office orchids--but the office ones don't grow as quickly and haven't shown any indications of future infloresence.

I have experienced dramatic improvement in health and happiness of other plants when I have taken them out of my office and into my apartment in the past, that may be the solution here, too.

In short, my office has too many stressed out people for plants to be happy. Poor vibrations and bad karma, apparently.

Oh, that's what we're missing.

2007-05-09T17:23:00.000-05:00

A leader, even a figurehead one, who actually doesn't have their head up their butt.

Queen Elizabeth II put Bush squarely in his place as only a long-time monarch can do to an idiot.

One down...

2007-05-09T12:31:00.000-05:00

I handed in the 33 1/2 page behemoth today. That may be officially the longest paper I have ever written-I kinda hope that if I write like that again it won't be for a crunch-deadline. Two more, gotta get 'em done!

Edited to add:

This is not the result of dieting for a role. She looks like I do right now, other than that whole fact that I weigh at least twice as mu....wait, Super Thin Man weighs twice as much as this, what was I thinking???!!

I think she is secretly in her last semester of grad school.

In which....

2007-05-09T03:32:00.000-05:00

I think it's finished. But it's 4:32 am EST, and I may be hallucinating.

There's still two papers to go: Why Everybody Hated Poland in the 17th Cantury, and How Jewish Family Life Changed in the 19th Century. These aren't really related in any way....though if you went all Six Degrees on them they could be.

But the How Wine Culture In Russia is even More Backward Now than it Was in the 17th Century and Gee Isn't it Interesting How the Russian Oligarchs get Treated Just Like the Nobles Used To paper is finished. I think. I'm still somewhat doubtful.

Make that 4:35 am EST

Capstone

2007-05-08T17:33:00.000-05:00

Just for the record, when I finish this damn paper, I'm going to find a way to post it on this website--all 35 damn pages of it--so all of you can see why I've suddenly turned into something approaching a cross between Bridezilla and the most passive-aggressive person you've ever met. It's not you, it's not wedding planning, I don't have cold feet, and I am actually really unhappy to have to keep telling you all to leave me alone at such a crucial period in the planning process.

I'm Sorry.

But it's not going to get a great deal better until this weekend.

Tuesday Night BBQ

2007-05-03T14:21:00.000-05:00

This Tuesday our department had the first of its end-of-year events. Unfortunately these are always on weeknights. This event is the annual end-of-year barbeque. Last year it was held at Old Glory, but since the Alumni House at 35th and O St. is finally reopened they decided to hold it in the new courtyard. I must admit-they did a good job with that place. It had been condemned in my sophomore year of college and sat there for several years before it was gutted and rebuilt.

In any case, they had the event catered and hired a bartender. This guy was crazy-he kept mixing up this rum punch that took the whole 'punch' idea a little too literally (as in 'punch in the jaw'), but you couldn't tell when you were drinking it. Over the course of the five hours we spent at the Alumni House I consumed three glasses of this and ate a fair amount of BBQ. We went to someone's house to continue the party-and I zonked out on the sofa within half an hour. Super Thin Man, deciding to take advantage of the situation, let me sleep for two more hours before he took me home. I think the stuff must have been about 50% rum. I had work the next day. Let's put it this way: although I had theoretically not imbibed a huge number of drinks, I was still rather less productive than usual yesterday morning at work.

The thing that I'm wondering is how other people did the next day. There were several people drinking that stuff like water.

Gaw. Note to self: if you meet a bartender who is making his own mixture of rum punch, and if he spends a significant amount of his time in Jamaica, and if you have work the next day, be warned.

And now I've said way too much.

Air and Space

2007-05-03T14:00:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, my sister came down to DC. She had this amazing deal by which for $15 she got a chartered bus round trip and a ticket to the Spy Museum (I'm jealous. I've never been, at least not yet, and the tix cost $16 if you just walk in. I don't know how her school found that deal, but they deserve some props for that). Since she was going to have the afternoon free, we decided to get together. Super Thin Man, my sister and I went to the Hard Rock Cafe, DC for lunch. My sister had never been to any Hard Rock (oh, the Horror!), and I'd never been to the DC one, so it was a good time for all (Super Thin Man has been there, he was amused by the two of us giggling like silly people :D).

Then we went to the Air and Space Museum. We had though to take sis to the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space in Northern VA, but we realized how much time that would eat up, so we went to the one on the Mall. Udvar-Hazy. Udvar-Hazy. Teehee, I love saying that :D

Super Thin Man forgot his professional ID (again) which meant he didn't get the free ticket for the IMAX (again), but we went anyway-those 3D effects were really cool.

Then we decided to go check out the simulators. Well, sis wanted to go with me. I was pilot and she was gunner-we hit all of one target. This was mainly due to my inability to get the plane to go where I wanted it to go. Super Thin Man was by himself and therefore gunner/pilot-he hit six. Gee, I wonder who spent their youth playing flight simulator video games :D Next time I vow to:
A) Practice first so I have a better idea of how to use the controls and
B) Mention that if she ACTUALLY wants to hit something, she might consider going with STM.

All in all, it was a very nice afternoon and an ideal study break. I hope she gets the chance to come down like that again!

Um...God?

2007-05-01T12:37:00.000-05:00

We're getting a little impatient down here!!!!!

Um, Vlad? Paging Vlad Tepesch? Anyone?

2007-04-30T15:48:00.000-05:00

I know he's there somewhere...Vlaaaaaad!!!!

So, In Conclusion...

2007-04-27T06:40:00.000-05:00

I have been preparing and writing my Capstone paper all this semester. I actually began preliminary research before the end of the fall semester. For anyone who knows me this is an amazing feat of non-procrastination (not that I didn't procrastinate!). I have my paper presentation in my department today at 11am.

So, what have I learned from months of reading and research?

-Wine was always freakin' expensive, and unless you lived in Italy or France, it was reserved for the super-wealthy
-There have always been wine snobs
-Russia doesn't really have any wine-growing regions, since in winter it gets FREAKIN' FREEZING. Ahem.
-Putin and the Romanov Dynasty have more in common than people want to admit: namely that he is a strong ruler who keeps a tight hold on the elite (formerly nobles, currently oligarchs) and who has serious isolationist tendencies. This is related to the wine commentary, I swear!
-There will always BE wine snobs
-Where a decent bottle of wine may cost $50 here, it can cost $100 or more in Moscow. Damn that oil wealth.

Wow. All that reading summed up in six points.

On the Job...

2007-04-26T14:21:00.000-05:00

As the semester wanes and my time in graduate school comes to an end (if I survive the next two weeks, which is somewhat debatable...) I am being trained in a new part of my organization in preparation for me to go full time.

The section in which I'm working right now deals directly with a government agency. I had no idea how not-stereotypes all those gummint stereotypes are.

Wow.

Well, at the very least I am getting the idea that I have job security: my boss comes by my office approximately twice a week now to mention that this is going to be a chunk of my duties when I go full time. I think he's getting a kick out of the fact that I'm staying-you must understand that every time he does this he has this almost-manic glee in his manner. It's actually pretty amusing :D

On the other hand...

2007-04-26T08:41:00.000-05:00

Apparently Captain America sightings are up recently. And he's being a very bad superhero indeed!

To quote the Express: "Rocking Out"!

2007-04-25T09:07:00.000-05:00

So, those crazy Serbs strike again!

They've found a mineral with the same composition as Kryptonite!

Superman sightings are predicted to fall by at least 50%.

Conspiracy theorists suggest that Lex Luthor may be spearheading the mining operation which uncovered the rare mineral.

And yet another passing...

2007-04-23T11:23:00.000-05:00

Boris Yeltsin has passed away. This is a tragedy for all those who loved the fellow for his crazy rantings and drunken benders. He is and will be beloved by many.

To his memory, we must have a vodka toast when we arrive home this evening.

Virginia Tech Tragedy

2007-04-18T11:11:00.000-05:00

To all those affected by this horror, I once again extend my thoughts, prayers, and blessings.

Here is a link to the most recent article I have found concerning the victims of this tragedy.

I have nothing else to say. There really is nothing more to say.

Edited on April 25th to include the latest of the lists.

And one more...

2007-04-17T14:18:00.001-05:00

For my sister to appreciate.

Well, two: this is for my other sister to appreciate.