You are currently browsing the archives for November 2006.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 14 entries.

How to tell your Professor is on crack:

  • Posted on November 30, 2006 at 9:14 pm

You find out your final exam will be on only 3 chapters.

Three chapters that you have NOT covered yet in class.

You have three class sessions left before the end of the semester.

You get assured by your Prof that those three chapters WILL BE COVERED in class and that you will not be “left hanging”.

…to be continued

Look, Holly! A cook-along (of sorts)!!!!

  • Posted on November 26, 2006 at 6:14 pm

Most of you know of my long-suffering attempts at getting Daniel to eat ANYTHING. While wandering through the web one day, I Stumbled Upon the Top Secret Recipes webpage – and lo and behold the free recipe of the week is Jack in the Box’s Pumpkin Pie Shake.

Daniel likes pumpkin custard (pie without the crust), and he likes pumpkin muffins, so why not try the pumpkin pie shake??!!??

My recipe is slightly different than theirs, so if you want to make it EXACTLY like Top Secret does, go check out their recipe. Specifically – I used more pumpkin and milk, and left out the sugar completely.

Ingredients:

1/2 gal vanilla ice cream
1 can solid pack pumpkin
1 1/2 C whole milk OR cream (depending on how fat ya want it ;) )
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves (can also use allspice)

iiiiiiiicecreaaaaaammmm

Stick the ice cream in a bowl.

pumpkin

Measure out the pumpkin, then realize that DUH you’re using the whole can. Mutter under your breath while you scrape the absolute.very.bottom of the can and stick the measuring cup in the sink.

Spices

Mmmmm. Spiiiiiiices. Stir the whole thing together, then realize you left out the milk.

pour the milk

Pour it in and whip out the boatmotor for MORE POWER appeal for the boys…

boatmotor

Innit purty??!!??

pour 001-037.jpg

Pour and enjoy!

If there’s any leftover, you can stick it in the freezer and make pumpkin picecream. Daniel, however, does not LIKE “piceream”, he likes “pumpkin milkshakes”, so I’ll be freezing his in individual microwaveable cups. I foresee experiments with other things like carrots, yams/sweet potatoes, and other squash. This recipe is VERY easy to divide. Also, if you’re not in the mood to measure out each individual spice, use the equivalent amount of apple/pumpkin pie spice mix.

ooh….apple pie milkshakes.

I’m making myself hungry again!

Does Not Manage Time Well (Redux)

  • Posted on November 25, 2006 at 12:14 pm

During this glorious Thanksgiving Holiday from school, I had made some rather lofty plans for getting homework done. Specifically, I wanted to finish reading my book and write the report on it; do more work on my Soc research paper (getting it close to complete); and I wanted to get some reading done in my History book. *IF* I got all that reading done, then anything I could read ahead was just icing on the cake.cheesewiththatwhine.jpg

So, what have I gotten done?

I managed to make it three pages into the second chapter of the book. After getting *that* far, I realized that I needed to stop and make notes on the FIRST chapter, because at this rate, I’m not going to remember enough detail to make an adequate report on the book.

Fear muh skillz, yawl!

And before you say a word: I’m usually the first one awake in the house. I get out of bed and sit in the quiet rocker with my book. That’s how I managed to get those three pages read. HOWEVER, once I get out of bed, it’s anyone’s ballgame – Joe’s usually not far behind me.

Taking the boys to the park so I can read is useless. If it’s not “MOMMY WATCH THIS!!!!!”, it’s “MOMMY’S THE BASE!!!!!”, or “Mommy, kiss my booooooboooooo!” or….ten thousand other “watch ME!!!” things that aren’t exactly conducive to studying AND retaining what I’m reading. (translation: just like home)

And so, another Thanksgiving bites the dust.

  • Posted on November 24, 2006 at 12:30 am

Because we didn’t have “company”* this year, our traditional dinner was surprisingly relaxed (for my family). The boys kept their usual eating habits – which is to say that Daniel had two breakfasts, “No Eating at the table for Me, Mommy!”**, and followed that up with snacks throughout the day. Joe, on the other hand, had one of Mom’s carbohydrate-bomb pancakes, two plates** at lunch, and then soup AND a pb&j for supper. My daughter dined en suite as has become her habit of late.

So what all am I thankful for, you might ask….

My children are happy, healthy, well-fed, and intelligent creatures and I delight in them every day. (Even right now, with Dan out of bed (at 10:24PM) asking me “Can I have something that tastes good?”)

Though living with my parents isn’t the easiest thing on the planet, we manage.

I still haven’t decided “what I want to be when I grow up”, but I’m enjoying school a LOT.

Though online friends still significantly outnumber IRL friends, progress has been made in that arena – some by pulling online friends through the Glowing Blue Box, and some through school.

I’m thankful for StumbleUpon – without which I’d probably get a lot more done.

And last but certainly not least, I’m thankful for the turkey-induced tryptophan haze that I’m going to succumb to right this minute.

Goodnight, everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving. *hugs your neck and kisses your cheek*

*“Company” is defined by Mom as “anyone who does not live in this house”. As such, The House MUST Be Spotless And Perfect (or as close as we can get). It makes for a rather stressful holiday, since she is also the Only One Who Knows How to Clean in this house. Over the years, I’ve learned that it’s *much* easier to stay the hell out of her way and listen to her mutter “lazy” than to attempt cleaning. And re-cleaning. And cleaning again. And THEN her going behind you saying “Get out of the way I’ll just doit myself!”.

**I do not, as a general rule, feed my children at the same table as my Dad. Eating at his table is a contact sport, and if you don’t defend your plate with knife and fork, your food WILL be messed with. Yes, I’ve asked/begged/screamed for him to stop. It’d be easier to dam Niagara Falls with Legos.

heh.

  • Posted on November 23, 2006 at 6:28 pm

Cyanide and Happiness, a daily webcomic
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Google-Bombs, Awayyyy! Martin Luther King Jr

  • Posted on November 21, 2006 at 10:06 am

Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King

Hat tip to Tuttle SVC for the backstory and to Connect the Dots for the original link.

Interview me!

  • Posted on November 20, 2006 at 5:08 pm

This is your golden opportunity, Dear Readers. Ask me anything in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer them.

This post brought to you by “Clobbered by homework” and the letters F and U

The worst thing about researching papers is…

  • Posted on November 17, 2006 at 8:57 pm

…reading sources that you may not only disagree with, but that leave you slack-jawed in amazement. As I mentioned in Holly’s comment the other day, the title of my paper for sociology is Ethnic Prejudice and Homeschooling.

The vast majority of the homeschooling websites I’ve looked at advocate for genuine multicultural study, mentioning one of the things I love most about homeschooling: The ability to spend as long as you want on a subject. There are lesson plans, book recommendations, and suggestions on how to make it a more vivid, real experience for your student.

And then there are the other sites. It’s obvious that I would need to look at the websites of prejudiced people in order to collect some of my data. When you research a subject such as this, you put up your mental shield, expecting to be introduced to statements that you find repulsive. You expect racist ignorance, and you expect some of the websites to be subtle in their racism, promoting contemporary and ancient European heritage homeschooling materials.

And then? You come upon the mad blatherings. The proof that anyone with $10/mo can publish whatever they want to – with or without dictionary and/or spellcheck. The one that starts out saying “Unity! What is it? It is the ability to put aside our small differences for our common goals – race & nation.” and then goes on to say “Our sexuality has been distorted, women have become emasculated. They have been taught that they are no longer needed in the home as wives and mothers.” [sic.]

Note to website owner on the outside chance that they follow my link to this page:

Emasculate –v.t. 1. to castrate. 2. to deprive of strength or vigor; weaken; render effeminate. –adj. 3. emasculated; effeminate. [derived or descended from Latin emasculat(us) (ptp. of emasculare), equiv. to e- E- + mas male + -cul(us) adj. suffix + -atus -ate]. Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary. 2001.

In other words… “…women have been (made less masculine)”. Got it.

I fear for the children educated by this person. And the first sentence, about unity/race/nation? Yeah, I threw up a lil in my mouth over THAT one. FORTUNATELY, that site doesn’t seem to do much more than spout above-referenced badly-written rhetoric. BUT!!! I’m not done yet. I do believe I’m going to be spending much of my Thanksgiving break researching and reading.

Little drops of….Me.

  • Posted on November 14, 2006 at 11:44 am

Hi, welcome to Overpriced Neighborhood Chain Store, can I help you?
Hi, I called about whether you had a DB9 gender changer.
*blank look* Is that a…..?
It’s a computer part. I need the male-to-male connector.
Male to male?
Yeah, see how it has 9 holes on each side? The only way to get two male endings to connect is to put a female between them. *blink blink*
…oooooookay. That’ll be $(more than the GNP of a third world country). Thank you for shopping!

Thank you, thank you! *curtsies* I’ll be here……FOREVER!!!!!

Can you estimate someone’s sanity based on their playlist?

  • Posted on November 12, 2006 at 8:53 pm

Currently playing: The Cure – World in my eyes.
Coming up:
Alanis Morrisette, Uninvited
Alison Krauss – Let me Touch you for a while
Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence
They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse in your Soul
In Flames – Cloud Connected (club remix)
Rammstein – Stripped
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – I believe I can Fly

Yes, there’s more – but isn’t that enough??!!??