Friday, February 27, 2009
I know I haven't posted in almost 2 weeks, but I have a good reason. We bought a house. It's not any of the ones we'd looked at. Our real estate agent called and said "this great house just went on the market, I think it would be perfect for y'all, it's $50,000 under priced, but we've got to offer them the asking price now (which was $8,000 more than the max we'd planned to spend), or someone else will get it." I said no, because it was so much more than we'd planned to spend. By the weekend, the house was still on the market, so we went to see it, and made an offer. It's decorated in "1980's Grandma," but the house is great. It's big, it's on a quiet street, it's very centrally located, the lot is mostly level, it's down the street from several of our favorite restaurants, it has an awesome sun room, and the refrigerator comes with the house, so we don't have to buy one. We're actually spending more than we'd planned to, but it works out to $25 dollars more than what we were separately paying in rent before we moved in together, and we'll be paying 1 set of utilities instead of 2, so I think it will work out. We may have to cut back a little on eating out and buying books and stuff, but I'm ok with that.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
I am not a cheater. :PPPPPP
I finished my hat last night. Yes, I may have started it on a circular needle, but I finished it on double pointed needles. See, I'm not a cheater. :P
The house issue being up in the air is stressing me out. We've basically looked at everything in Little Rock in our price range. The only house we were both in love with, we can't have, because the owner won't come down on the price (may he have boils on his butt). There's a house that I really like, but Neale is concerned about the traffic. I can understand his concern, but the house is pretty much the only one that has everything else we want and is big enough to house the library with room for expansion. Yeah, it's a busier street than I'd like, too, but compared to Shackleford, Cantrell, and Markham, all of which have residential areas with houses whose occupants have to back out onto said streets, this is nothing. Hopefully, we'll figure something out soon.
This is kind of off-topic, but it's been bugging me. My school serves a hot lunch once a week. Last year, it was done by a health-nut parent who made homemade casseroles with vegetables and whole grain pasta with lots of cheese, and made brownies with pureed veggies in them. I swear, the broccoli brownies were good. The kids weren't necessarily big fans. Now, the lunch is whatever frozen crap from Sam's, heated up by the upper el. class. There are a fair number of Muslim and Hindu kids in the primary classes. The do not eat pork. I understand this. I'm sorry that they do not know the delights of bacon, but I respect their choice. In fact, when we get pizza on Friday, I am careful not to serve them cheese pizza off of the half-cheese-half-pepperoni pizza. This Tuesday, they were supposed to have vegetable fried rice. What we got had chicken and bacon in it. One of the other teachers, discovered this, and asked if there were chicken nuggets, or something else, to give those children, and we got them. The one Hindu student of mine was quite happy with his veggie egg roll and chicken nuggets. When I brought up that some of the children can't have pork, the response I got was "there wasn't that much bacon in there, you could have scooped around it." Um, no. If it's cooked with pork, it's essentially dirty, there is no "scooping around" the pork. If I had done that, the parents would, quite justifiably, have been pissed. I would have been, if it had been my child. Yeah, they probably wouldn't have known, the kids wouldn't have told them, but this is so disrespectful, on so many levels, it just makes me sad. In ten years of the school operating, with the number of Muslim and Hindu children who have attended, it baffles me that so many of my coworkers have no understanding and little real respect for non-Christian faiths. It isn't as though there haven't been ample opportunities to learn. Sure, they go through the motions of respecting other faiths, but scratch the surface, and it's clear that they really don't. Not all. One, in particular, surprisingly, seems to get it. The others.....make me wonder if my job would be secure if I converted to another faith.
The house issue being up in the air is stressing me out. We've basically looked at everything in Little Rock in our price range. The only house we were both in love with, we can't have, because the owner won't come down on the price (may he have boils on his butt). There's a house that I really like, but Neale is concerned about the traffic. I can understand his concern, but the house is pretty much the only one that has everything else we want and is big enough to house the library with room for expansion. Yeah, it's a busier street than I'd like, too, but compared to Shackleford, Cantrell, and Markham, all of which have residential areas with houses whose occupants have to back out onto said streets, this is nothing. Hopefully, we'll figure something out soon.
This is kind of off-topic, but it's been bugging me. My school serves a hot lunch once a week. Last year, it was done by a health-nut parent who made homemade casseroles with vegetables and whole grain pasta with lots of cheese, and made brownies with pureed veggies in them. I swear, the broccoli brownies were good. The kids weren't necessarily big fans. Now, the lunch is whatever frozen crap from Sam's, heated up by the upper el. class. There are a fair number of Muslim and Hindu kids in the primary classes. The do not eat pork. I understand this. I'm sorry that they do not know the delights of bacon, but I respect their choice. In fact, when we get pizza on Friday, I am careful not to serve them cheese pizza off of the half-cheese-half-pepperoni pizza. This Tuesday, they were supposed to have vegetable fried rice. What we got had chicken and bacon in it. One of the other teachers, discovered this, and asked if there were chicken nuggets, or something else, to give those children, and we got them. The one Hindu student of mine was quite happy with his veggie egg roll and chicken nuggets. When I brought up that some of the children can't have pork, the response I got was "there wasn't that much bacon in there, you could have scooped around it." Um, no. If it's cooked with pork, it's essentially dirty, there is no "scooping around" the pork. If I had done that, the parents would, quite justifiably, have been pissed. I would have been, if it had been my child. Yeah, they probably wouldn't have known, the kids wouldn't have told them, but this is so disrespectful, on so many levels, it just makes me sad. In ten years of the school operating, with the number of Muslim and Hindu children who have attended, it baffles me that so many of my coworkers have no understanding and little real respect for non-Christian faiths. It isn't as though there haven't been ample opportunities to learn. Sure, they go through the motions of respecting other faiths, but scratch the surface, and it's clear that they really don't. Not all. One, in particular, surprisingly, seems to get it. The others.....make me wonder if my job would be secure if I converted to another faith.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Just call me Rachel Ray....
....no, don't. I've actually invented a recipe. I'm sure someone, somewhere has done something similar, but I claim it as mine. Yeah, like Rachel, my invention is pretty much tweaking an old concept and giving it a stupid name, but I promise, no "stoup" or "sammie." I use real English words. I've invented meat muffins. I wanted to do muffins for breakfast for an event. They could be made in advance and frozen, left out overnight, and breakfast is done before the coffee. The problem is getting protein for the fighters and really active people, and having something for people who can't just have sweet pastries for breakfast, like diabetics. I like the idea of savory muffins. Something like rosemary/parmesan would be nice, but there's still not a lot of protein. Basically, I made mini-quiche with meat crust. I took breakfast sausage and crumbled a handful of crackers into it and added an egg. Then, I put a little in the bottom of each cup of a muffin tin, and pressed it into a sort of cup shape. I baked it for about 10 minutes, while I made the filling. I beat about 6 or 8 eggs, added salt and pepper, some milk, and shredded sharp cheddar cheese. I didn't measure exact amounts, but it came out to about 2 cups. I poured that over the sausage and baked the whole thing for another 12 minutes or so. The egg puffed up beautifully, and the ones I took for lunch today were still good. I'll have to test how well they hold up to freezing before signing on to mass-produce them. They also need liners. I'm thinking foil would be best, since the "crust" is blind baked.
Monday, February 2, 2009
No, this has no potential for me to get in over my head, none at all.
Well, it looks like things are not going to work out with the house. We have second and third choices, and a potential fourth, so all is not lost. We're pretty disappointed, but it could be a LOT worse. I'm still holding out the faintest sliver of hope that I'll get a phone call to the effect of "they didn't think you'd actually walk away, and they're ready to agree to your counter-offer." It could happen. I don't expect it to, but it could.
On the bright side, the first of my seed catalogues arrived today, Bountiful Gardens. They sell "heirloom, untreated, open-pollinated seeds for sustainable growing." Can it get more granola than that? Since it will probably be late before I can actually plant anything in the ground this year, I should probably start modest. That's honestly my intention. I'm thinking, maybe build a raised bed or two, maybe a few large containers, especially for herbs. So, this is my short list:
garbanzo beans (Okay, not for this year, but come on, hummus made from my own beans? Hell, yeah)
chantenay carrots
rainbow mix chard (it's pretty and you can eat it)
collards
Beit Alpha cucumbers (they're a Middle Eastern variety - must be good for tzatziki)
Brora rutabaga
Cocozelle zucchini (It's an Italian heirloom variety.)
Brandywine and Cherokee Purple tomatoes
Moon and Stars watermelon
Sweet basil
Neale won't let me grow catnip
spearmint
lavender
thyme
rosemary
oregano
savory
The catalogue also sells a wildflower seed mix that's supposed to attract beneficial insects. Definitely want that. Daisies, too, cause who doesn't like daisies? I'm expecting several more catalogues....this could get ugly.
On the bright side, the first of my seed catalogues arrived today, Bountiful Gardens. They sell "heirloom, untreated, open-pollinated seeds for sustainable growing." Can it get more granola than that? Since it will probably be late before I can actually plant anything in the ground this year, I should probably start modest. That's honestly my intention. I'm thinking, maybe build a raised bed or two, maybe a few large containers, especially for herbs. So, this is my short list:
garbanzo beans (Okay, not for this year, but come on, hummus made from my own beans? Hell, yeah)
chantenay carrots
rainbow mix chard (it's pretty and you can eat it)
collards
Beit Alpha cucumbers (they're a Middle Eastern variety - must be good for tzatziki)
Brora rutabaga
Cocozelle zucchini (It's an Italian heirloom variety.)
Brandywine and Cherokee Purple tomatoes
Moon and Stars watermelon
Sweet basil
Neale won't let me grow catnip
spearmint
lavender
thyme
rosemary
oregano
savory
The catalogue also sells a wildflower seed mix that's supposed to attract beneficial insects. Definitely want that. Daisies, too, cause who doesn't like daisies? I'm expecting several more catalogues....this could get ugly.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
So cute, but so complicated
Well, we made an offer on a house today. We'll know by 6:00 Sunday if they'll accept it or not. We're both a little nervous.
I've been working on the second baby hat. I've made both of them with Sinfonia cotton yarn. The first one is pink, because H. grinned when I shook the pink yarn in front of her, but not when I shook the variegated pink yarn. I think she likes the brighter color, the variegated pink is more of a rose and white. I came to a knot in the yarn, where the end had been joined to a new piece at the factory. It worked into the design okay, but this is for a baby. It's just a little knot, but it's cotton yarn, and the knot makes a kind of hard lump. I didn't really like the lump in there, and I don't want the baby to be uncomfortable, so I unraveled it up to the knot, cut it off, and I'm starting over with the yarn that's still attached to the skein. That's been interesting, though. I'd gotten about 6 rounds in when I noticed that it wasn't laying quite right. I checked, and there were 12 double crochets in each 8-chain loop. Then I realized that the flower in the center of the design had five petals instead of four. I don't know why that was so hard, but it was. For some reason, round 3 kept coming out wrong, and it took a ridiculous number of attempts to get it right. I'm finally back on track, though, although I quit after round 5 of the final, successful attempt. I think I threw my sleep schedule off a bit, and between that and nerves, crochet is just a bit beyond me at the moment.
It did occur to me that I have a third of a hat done. I intended to do three, but I'm really doing the third one because I think I should. With the others, I'm making them because I want to, and I think the girls will look so cute in them, particularly when their heads grow enough to fill them out. H.'s hat sort of fits her, but her head's still a bit small for it, so the top sticks up like a gnome hat. Hey, she is my goddaughter, after all. Anyway, I have a third of a hat done, and a skein of white yarn. I could finish that one with the white and call it done. I need a refresher on changing colors in crochet, because I'm pretty sure I can do it without the hard little knot. I'd really be surprised if that particular hat is worn at all, anyway.
I've been working on the second baby hat. I've made both of them with Sinfonia cotton yarn. The first one is pink, because H. grinned when I shook the pink yarn in front of her, but not when I shook the variegated pink yarn. I think she likes the brighter color, the variegated pink is more of a rose and white. I came to a knot in the yarn, where the end had been joined to a new piece at the factory. It worked into the design okay, but this is for a baby. It's just a little knot, but it's cotton yarn, and the knot makes a kind of hard lump. I didn't really like the lump in there, and I don't want the baby to be uncomfortable, so I unraveled it up to the knot, cut it off, and I'm starting over with the yarn that's still attached to the skein. That's been interesting, though. I'd gotten about 6 rounds in when I noticed that it wasn't laying quite right. I checked, and there were 12 double crochets in each 8-chain loop. Then I realized that the flower in the center of the design had five petals instead of four. I don't know why that was so hard, but it was. For some reason, round 3 kept coming out wrong, and it took a ridiculous number of attempts to get it right. I'm finally back on track, though, although I quit after round 5 of the final, successful attempt. I think I threw my sleep schedule off a bit, and between that and nerves, crochet is just a bit beyond me at the moment.
It did occur to me that I have a third of a hat done. I intended to do three, but I'm really doing the third one because I think I should. With the others, I'm making them because I want to, and I think the girls will look so cute in them, particularly when their heads grow enough to fill them out. H.'s hat sort of fits her, but her head's still a bit small for it, so the top sticks up like a gnome hat. Hey, she is my goddaughter, after all. Anyway, I have a third of a hat done, and a skein of white yarn. I could finish that one with the white and call it done. I need a refresher on changing colors in crochet, because I'm pretty sure I can do it without the hard little knot. I'd really be surprised if that particular hat is worn at all, anyway.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Maybe a little off-topic
So far, I've been better than I could have been, but not as good as I'd hoped to be about updating. I have a decent reason, though. It's been a crazy week, and we're buying a house. We think we finally found the one. It's the first house that we actually agree on! It's 4 bedrooms, so we can have an office and room for (hopefully) future younglings. The living room....could be bigger, but it has a wood burning fireplace, and the kitchen/dining room is awesome. Oh, the game nights we can have in that room. We need a nice buffet/cabinet for the dining room to hold the stereo and our board games. It's probably the first house we've looked at (aside from the one that would have been perfect if it had actually been ON its foundation) that doesn't have a slot kitchen (galley kitchen? The long, narrow kind that's obviously not designed by someone who actually cooks). I've had those for about 4 years in the apartments I've lived in, and I'd rather not have another kitchen like that. SO painting over the yellow, though. It's also the perfect combination of nice house/decent-sized lot/lack of steep slope. We've had trouble finding that combination. Except for the kitchen/dining room, which is painted Chinese lacquer-red, the interior is painted yellow. It's pretty.....for yellow, but I don't like yellow. For Neale, the dining room can stay red. I want to paint the red part of the kitchen sage green. The house also happens to be across the street and two doors down from two very good friends of ours. Honestly, we're not interested in the house for that reason. That's a nice bonus, but we really just like the house.
I did finish the scarf, though, and I'm now working on a hat to go with it.
I did finish the scarf, though, and I'm now working on a hat to go with it.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Snow day!
I woke up to a phone call from my boss at 5:58 am. Normally, I don't like phone calls that early, but she was telling me that school was closed, go back to bed. I could have done many, many things with my snow day. I did.....not a whole lot. I'd intended to really work with the Turkish bellydance dvd I got, but never quite worked up the energy for that one.
The only really productive things I did today were to wash some fabric, order some seed catalogues, and knit while watching "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." That's about it. Today was a sleepy day. It's been cloudy and cold and dreary, it's stay in bed and sleep all day weather, and I sort of wallowed in it today. Tomorrow is likely to be an actual snow day, maybe with a little real snow and everything, and I'm going to try to be productive tomorrow.
Yes, I ordered seed catalogues, instead of buying seeds at the store. I requested catalogues from companies that specialize in heirloom and organic seeds. Yeah, this year, I may not do more than a couple of planters with tomatoes and basil, but I want to do it right. There are a lot of varieties of vegetables, fruit, and domestic animals that are in danger of becoming extinct, because people don't grow them anymore, and that's just wrong. Biodiversity good, homogeneity bad. Besides, all of the heirloom tomatoes I've tried have been awesome! Cherokee purples may not be the prettiest (the purple comes out kind of bruised-looking), but they're delicious. I have high hopes for other heirlooms. Worst case scenario, my seeds don't sprout, and I replace them with plants from a nursery.
The only really productive things I did today were to wash some fabric, order some seed catalogues, and knit while watching "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." That's about it. Today was a sleepy day. It's been cloudy and cold and dreary, it's stay in bed and sleep all day weather, and I sort of wallowed in it today. Tomorrow is likely to be an actual snow day, maybe with a little real snow and everything, and I'm going to try to be productive tomorrow.
Yes, I ordered seed catalogues, instead of buying seeds at the store. I requested catalogues from companies that specialize in heirloom and organic seeds. Yeah, this year, I may not do more than a couple of planters with tomatoes and basil, but I want to do it right. There are a lot of varieties of vegetables, fruit, and domestic animals that are in danger of becoming extinct, because people don't grow them anymore, and that's just wrong. Biodiversity good, homogeneity bad. Besides, all of the heirloom tomatoes I've tried have been awesome! Cherokee purples may not be the prettiest (the purple comes out kind of bruised-looking), but they're delicious. I have high hopes for other heirlooms. Worst case scenario, my seeds don't sprout, and I replace them with plants from a nursery.
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