Category: Uncategorized (Page 185 of 212)

Awesome. We’ve been without water since 4:30 pm. It’s 9:20. The HOA just distributed fliers saying it may take 24 hours or more to fix the break in the main line that made it necessary to shut the water off.

I’m glad I have close neighbors who let me use their toilets. I hope I don’t have to go to work greasy-haired tomorrow.

We switched to 9 am church with the new year, and let me tell you. It is GLORIOUS. As much as I hate getting up early on the weekend, it is totally worth it for a free afternoon. Last year we had church at 1 pm. So you sleep in, eat brunch, dress, go to church, and then it’s 4:30 when you get home! Time to start thinking about dinner. And the day is gone.

Today I squandered the afternoon playing Rock Band at Brian’s house. I know, not the best Sunday activity. But man, is this game fun. I wish I could play hard on SOMEthing. I’m medium on guitar/bass, easy on drums (although I can limp through a medium), and singing is completely hit or miss. If I know the song really well I’m fine. If it’s punk or new to me I’ll fail on medium.

I made supper tonight using Ricky’s Hot Sauce, which you may remember from The King of Kong as the hot sauce made by the villainous Billy Mitchell. We got the sauce in our stockings and Santa refused to name his source.

Tomorrow I start my Health Care Ethics class at Regis. It’s my first online course, which is kind of shocking. How did I make it this far in the 21st century without a class on the webs?

P.S. How could they dare make the Rock Band game without including Queen or Journey?

It took 7 hours to get from GJ to Denver, instead of the typical 4 hours. I hear that the pass and tunnel were closed by the time we got home, and they’re still closed today! Boy am I glad we left in the morning.

This morning my car wouldn’t start. Just before calling a towing service Ben got some advice from his dad. He said to use something called “heat,” an alcohol that breaks up crystals in your fuel. After waiting a while the car started! I’m so happy to fix it ourselves and not deal with a mechanic! With the car working we tried to walk around Crown Hill. Blowing snow and frigid wind chill forced us back after a quarter of the walk. Jem was prancing around happily like she didn’t even notice the wind that was freezing our teeth.

Today I’m transferring all my photos and music to this new computer, doing laundry, dishes, and putting away presents. Ben wants a New England style beef stew dinner for his birthday tomorrow. I’m going to cook it in my new pressure cooker! Usually I would add potatoes and cabbage midway through the cooking time but with a pressure cooker I can’t remove the lid. So does that mean I need to cook them in a separate pot? Or let them get overstewed in the same pot as the meat? Does anyone know?

I’m writing to you from my shiny new macbook! So far I’m ok with this mac thing. No major annoyances and lots of little wonderful things that are different from windows. Like programs that start immediately! Being able to put it asleep and awake instantly! Lots of prettiness! My old laptop was pretty pathetic. It was from 2001, was missing the L key, the CD drive fell out occasionally, and the USB ports stopped working halfway through fall semester. I don’t think I’ll go all crazy about Apple, but so far I’m very pleased with this wonderful present.

Other favorite presents are a pressure cooker (I can cook lentils in 20 minutes!), a Marimekko shower curtain, an original painting from my brother, jewelry from Russia, a new bag, and a little pair of hot Anne Klein heels from Ben.

Ben was also totally spoiled. Among his gifts was a beautiful SLR digital camera. Here are some of the gorgeous pictures he took today:

We’re driving to Grand Junction tomorrow, cat, dog, and all. This may be the first year I haven’t begged Ben to take extra time off work so we can leave before the weekend. Probably because I have so much to do still. I’m back doing the transcription for my parents. It’s funny to be doing the same job you had in high school 🙂

I’ve given in to my domestic goddess urges and made peanut butter fudge and peppermint marshmallows. They will be perfect in mugs of hot chocolate with my family. Today Jem is in daycare so I can get some laundry, vacuuming, and cleaning done. Also tomorrow she turns 1 year old, so I figured we can call her playdate a birthday present.

Tonight I have plans to see Sweeney Todd with Ben and Brian. Frankly I’m a little nervous about it.
1) The singing probably won’t be that great
2) It might be too gory for me and
3) I haven’t actually seen the whole musical (on video) because I get bored and turn it off halfway. I hope the movie keeps the pace better. But how often do Ben and Brian encourage me to see a musical? How can I not go?

I’m so ready for Christmas! For family and food and presents and pets and all the fun that comes with my favorite holiday!

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We took Izzy back from the kennel with Jem last week and had her at home for an afternoon. She and Jem are very different.