A West Texas girl, just like me.

really, did he say that? wish i'd been there... (6th paragraph in main body of speech)

by the way

the key lime pie wasn't the greatest i've ever tasted, but it was still pretty yummy. this was really just a trial run, i can't wait to make it again when it's hot this summer and have the yummery limey whipped creamery goodness melt in my mouth...mmmmmmmmmm

cicadas on craigslist? what next?

open letter to cicadas

key lime update

i did manage to make part of the pie last night, but i don't really have very high hopes for it. i used regular limes, and was short a little on the juice. plus the recipe called for a 15 oz can of sweetened condensed milk, and MY can was only 14 oz. i'm sure it will taste great once i get the whipped cream on it later today, but next time ill have to try a little harder. maybe buy actual key limes (altho they are A LOT more expensive than conventional limes), try a regular pie crust instead of a graham cracker one. i don't know-i'll let you know.

damn wal mart

vermont has been placed on the endangered list for some group on historic preservation because sam's family plans to open SEVEN super sized walmarts in our state in the near future.

sorry, but it's enough to really and truly make me throw up. i refuse to shop there not only because of what they do the the local landscape and local small business, but how they treat their employees as well. they don't deserve my business or anyone else's for that matter.

quick and dirty 2004 resolution update

sorry, haven't really kept track of the weeks that these apply to, and i very well may have skipped a week about a month ago, but you know, that's the breaks.

best ever brownies-easy peasy and sooooooo good. esp with vanilla ice cream. recipe is from julia's baking book and the recipe is specially desgined so that the brownies don't bake all the way. gooey chocolatey goodness.

roasted veggie strata-i've made strata before, but this was a fairly different recipe that required a bit more prep, like roasting all the veggies beforehand. it turned out great. now i'm itching to make a sweet strata with cream cheese (i saw a recipe for it in joy of cooking)

meatballs-yup, never made 'em before. and i have to say, i haven't even eaten them yet. they went directly into the freezer for post partum meal making ease. i'll let you know

italian wedding soup-oh, actually, this had some of the meatball meat in it, so i guess i did try them. but oh so much more stuff in this soup-ham, egg, spinach, broth, a few veggies, and a wee bit of chili powder to give it a slight kick. really good and we have some in the freezer for later...lucky us!

feta-yogurt dip-admitted very very easy to make, but a new recipe none the less. throw whole milk greek yogurt, feta, olive oil, and lemon juice into cuisinart. pulse a few times. the orginal recipe call for chopping up radishes to add after the pulsing, but i'm not too keen on radishes, so i threw in a few kalamata olives instead. eating it for lunch today with toasted pita bread and it's pretty good.

also plan to try my hand at keylime pie this week, if brian lets me. he's been after me to go to bed early and stuff. jeez, i mean just because i'm pregnant and stuff.

in the words of bill o'reilly...

shut up.

quentin tarantino, tough guy boyfriend

this made me laugh so hard this morning, i just had to share.

ahhh...love

i've recently heard about 2 couples that sprang out of the desktop.com bunch getting engaged. all 4 are all really nice and wonderful people and i couldn't be happier for them! so to bonnie and will, and hotdogbao and koliver, MAZEL TOV!

just warning you

just warning you

posting will be sporadic for the next few weeks, and probably few and far between after that. i'm trying to finish as much as possible at work before i hatch, and after the little bugger arrives, i'll be a little busy.

a little late for all my peeps who are moms

The Lanyard by Billy Collins

The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly--
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that's what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift--not the worn truth

that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

doooooooooooood!

so i signed this 'oath to vote' on ben and jerry's website and got a free tune from itunes. so i downloaded itunes and have been ripping cds onto my computer all week.

bet you'll never guess what song i 'bought' for free.

come on, try me.

give up yet?

pratically the only hard rock song i really really like: 'pour some sugar on me' by def leppard. that song rocks. i've listened to it about 3 dozen times since i got it.

the gawker empire expands...bwa ha ha ha

now, from hollywood, defamer. this should be good for my pop culture/gossip obsession.

coming attractions

i meant to do a little commentary on 2003 in the new year. but since there were more than a few events last year that were kinda rough, i couldn't even think about what i was going to write without tearing up or even crying. anyway, lately, i've been thinking i might just be able to do it, now it's a matter of finding the time (it may be a long missive).

random observation

the irony of life never ceases to amaze me. more later.