Bacon shake, revisited

So in a BIZARRO coincidence, I ran into Mr. Bacon Shake (whom I haven't seen in, I believe, NINE years!) at Home Depot on Saturday. The kids were playing in the door displays, and I glanced over at the employee at the station there to gauge how annoyed he was at my crazy hoodlums. I thought he looked familiar, and a glance at his namebadge confirmed it. He remembered me, but he said "Wendy?" first. Pretty close. I asked him if he remembered the bacon shake, and he denied it, but I'm pretty sure he just didn't feel like he could 'fess up to such juvenile behavior. *wink* It was fun to see him, even if it did seem to be a bit weird of the universe to set it up like that.

Lock the doors!

I think Spud took a cue from Noodle as he now insists quite vocally that we lock EVERY door in the car. This wouldn’t be a big deal, except that the old old car we’re driving right now (while we figure out what to do about the car situation) doesn’t have auto-lock, so we have to lock every door by hand. That, or listen to Spud’s insistent “Uh! Uh! Uh!” as he waves and points frantically at the unlocked door. Do you think he’s preparing to be the safety monitor when he gets a little older? If only I could instill this same concern for safety in the kitchen, where he has no problem picking up a forgotten knife or reaching up near the stove out of curiosity. Heck, I’d be satisfied if he gave up his fondness for “dumpster diving” in the kitchen trash.

Are we entitled to our opinions?

I had an individual comment to me (on a blog) yesterday that someone was “entitled to his opinion.” It made me smirk, not because it is a particularly dumb phrase or infrequently used one, but more that it seems like such a wussy “defense”. “Well, I’m entitled to my opinion!” she says, as she marches off in a huff. I hadn’t said that someone wasn’t entitled to their opinions, rather that I found that “opinion” to be ridiculous. I too often find that people close their minds to a further investigation of facts by using the cop out, “That’s my opinion.” MY opinion is that people should be more concerned about learning the reality of things than defending their precious opinions. Plus, these same people get in a huff when you have an opinion about their opinion. What? I’m not entitled to have an opinion about your opinion? That hardly seems equitable.

So there. (I wish I knew how to put a smiley face in here, because I’d like to put one here. I’m really not as disagreeable as I might come across....just opinionated! *wink*)

Bacon shake

Noodle is watching “Arthur” on PBS, and the dad just said something about how Arthur shouldn’t have tried to make a “bacon-flavored shake” with his good cooking equipment, and it took me back to my summer working at Jacob Lake, AZ. I was the only vegetarian in the group, so of course one of the guys feels the need to tell me how delicious he thinks meat is at every moment. We went out for shakes one time and I finally said to him, “Dave, you’d put bacon in your milk shake if you could.” He said, “Hey, that’s a good idea!” So he requested a bacon shake, which caused quite a stir as we were in Kanab Utah and they don’t get “weirdness” like that too often. It ended up like a vanilla milkshake with bacon bits in it (the blender had that effect on it) and those who tried it said it was fine, just weird when you got a bit of bacon in your mouth. I just had chocolate and banana.

I'm so blue

This car situation has me completely bummed out and frustrated. I don’t know what we should do. I wish there was some rule that if your car becomes unfunctional, you no longer have to pay for it. I’m very stressed about what we should do, and last night it was in my dreams, too. So I woke up and my first thought was, “Whew, it was just a dream, our car isn’t really broken,” but then I remembered that it was. I’m just sick about it.

Bad news

Our car (that broke down late Friday night) is going to cost a couple thousand (plus) to fix. This is especially discouraging because we have only paid a couple thousand on it so far, and still have $4000 to go. If we wanted to put it up for a trade-in, we could get $100. A hundred lousy bucks. Seriously, it’s so depressing. Sigh....the only upside is that at least it is happening now, when we actually do have some money, rather than a year ago, when we were flat broke. But even still, it sucks big time. Though I did just remember that we’ll be getting our tax refund this month, and with the “two kid credit” we’ll almost have enough to pay it off. But I really hoped that we’d be able to add that money to our house fund. Sigh...again.

April Fools

So, the first prank of the day was played on David and I at about 12:30 a.m. this morning. The prankster: our Mitsubishi Gallant. We were on our way back from SLC (where we had a very fun evening with friends) when David noticed that we were running quite hot. He gets off on the nearest exit (which was thankfully not too far from our destination) and on the off ramp, the car sputters, then dies and ALL the engine lights come on as our hood disappears in a cloud of steam. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is the kind of prank where the prankster will later say, “Ha ha, just kidding.” Rather I think it’s the kind that will run us at least a grand in repairs.

And, of course it had to happen the weekend that I actually had FUN things planned (including a couple more trips up to SLC). Poop.

Free Advice

If you love me, put a sock in it!

I made a comment on this blog, but I thought I’d share my pearls of wisdom here.
If someone says something offensive to you, it’s useful to have this little comment tucked away:

“Wow, did you mean to be rude, or did that just come out wrong?”

I like it because it obviously calls them on their rudeness, but you don’t have to stoop to their level by insulting them. Plus, you get bonus points because you give them an opening to apologize.

Yup, I’m here for all your social questions. (Even though I’m a partial hermit myself.)

Fairy Princess (& a rat)

I was talking to a friend last night and she mentioned that I need to have more pictures of Noodle on here, and I told her the reason I don't is because Noodle isn't quite as willing a model as Spud is. Spud is generally interested enough in what he is doing that I can just shoot away, but Noodle either feels obligated to give me an ultimate CHEESE face, or says, "Mo-om, stop taking pictures and PLAY with me!" So, this fairy picture is from last year, but I really like it. This is the one I chose to have printed for my FREE 11x14 (from winning the class vote in my photography class the first week). I think it'l be a fun one to frame and hang in her room.



This picture of Finny is just to show to another friend who asked how well the kit lens on the camera does for rat portraits. This photo actually tied for second place in the class vote yesterday. (Forgive my shameless self promotion.)

Why Rats Are Great Pets

There are actually lots of reasons, but I wanted to highlight a couple of them today:

1. They LOOOVE leftovers of (almost) any type. There are a few forbidden foods, but generally they can eat anything that people eat. Also, unlike a dog, you don’t have to have very much left on the plate for them to get really excited about it. Your toddler’s unfinished bowl of rice & beans? Put it in the rat cage! Half eaten banana from this morning? Into the rat cage! It’s great to feel like I’m not wasting food, and giving my ratboys a treat at the same time.
2. Unintimidating. Lots of young kids who are freaked out by dogs and even cats are not intimidated by rats because they are so small. The kids may not want to hold a rat, but you can bet they’ll LOVE watching them in their cage. I was reminded of this again yesterday when a friend was visiting with her 14 month old daughter. The girl couldn’t get enough of watching the rats.
3. Fun to accessorize their “house”. I love finding new hidey homes or making hammocks for the rats. Presently I have a box “clubhouse” for them on the top of their cage that they get to play in during “free range” time. Remember wishing that you could be tiny so you could fit in your toys? Well, rats are small enough, so you can live vicariously through them.
4. So darn cute & cuddly!
5. People wonder about you when they find out you keep rats as pets. I like to make people wonder.

"Hey, Shove off!"

I love this picture of my ratboys Marco (on the right) and Finny (left).

The Color Code

YELLOWS are motivated by FUN. They are inviting and embrace life as a party that they're hosting. They love playful interaction and can be extremely sociable. They are highly persuasive and seek instant gratification. YELLOWS need to be adored and praised. While YELLOWS are carefree, they are sensitive and highly alert to others' agendas to control them. YELLOWS typically carry within themselves the gift of a good heart.

YELLOWS need to look good socially, and friendships command a high priority in their lives. YELLOWS are happy, articulate, engaging of others and crave adventure. Easily distracted, they can never sit still for long. They embrace each day in the "present tense" and choose people who, like themselves, enjoy a curious nature. YELLOWS are charismatic, spontaneous, and positive; but can also be irresponsible, obnoxious, and forgetful. When others interact with you, as a YELLOW you respond to them best if they take a positive, upbeat approach and promote light-hearted, creative, and fun interactions with you.

Understand that no two YELLOWS are exactly alike. Although you share the same core motivation as many others, your personality is still unique to you alone.

---------------

When I took this test before, I was a yellow, and since they say it is most accurate if you answer as you would have behaved as a child, I wasn’t surprised to see that I was still yellow. And I LIKE being yellow. I really wouldn’t want to be anything else.

The Color Code

mooooo!

Spud learned to say "Cow" on Saturday, as we were driving around out in the "country." Of course he says it more like "cah-oh", but it's obvious what he's going for. He also enjoys moooing.

Here are a couple of the pix from the "farm".




The kids and I are pretty much better. David was sick over the weekend, but is feeling okay today. As hard as it is to be home with the kids when I'm sick, I'm glad that I don't have to go to work and not feel great.

In other news, it seems like exciting things are happening in the lives of everyone but me. One of my dear friends (a former roommate) is getting married in May, two good friends are expecting babies (one of them is expecting her first, and the other is expecting #2), and another friend's home has just started being built. Here I sit, though, with no real excitement as of yet. The progress of David's company is exciting, but that's kind of secondhand excitement for now. But, I am certainly glad not to be pregnant, and I am having a lot of fun with photography right now, so I think that will suffice.

Whiskers in the Dark

This is my rat Loki. He's a partial rex, so he has funky fur and fun curly whiskers. I bought him (and his brother Finny) from a breeder in Idaho when we were there for Thanksgiving. My dad couldn't believe that I was going to keep RATS in his house! He's convinced that they are going to give us some bizarre illness, and sends me links to articles about monkeypox and other diseases carried by "exotic" animals. While some vets still think of rats as "exotics," I think that a pet descended from laboratory animals is pretty non-exotic by now.

Ben Stiller movies

We watched "Duplex" last night. It hadn't really occurred to me that it would be a "typical" Ben Stiller movie. You know, the kind where horrible things happen to him and nothing goes right? A la "Meet the Parents," "Envy," "Meet the Fockers," etc . I do generally like Ben Stiller, and I think he's funny and even kind of cute, but both David and I cringe when we see these movies. Or I should say we cringe repeatedly. And while we do laugh, too, I think we both get a little too stressed out watching horrible things happen to a nice guy like Ben. It's kind of the same way I feel whenever I've watched "America's Funniest Home Videos." I can't help but feel sorry for the people who get hit by falling branches, trip over their own feet and bash their heads on something, or get whapped in the face by a car door opening.

Black & White

Last week's assignment for my photography class was two black & white photos, one with "high contrast". The shoes one was mentioned by the instructor as one of his favorites! Whoo-hoo!

I'm afraid I'm having a bit more trouble with this week's assignment--one picture with fast shutter speed and one with slow shutter speed. I was supposed to have emailed them to him yesterday, but I'm hoping to get something today. I don't think I'll be mentioned as a favorite this week, though. We've been sick for much of the past week, so it's hard to get out and take pictures. Oh well.

bunch of sickos

The kids and I are all sick. David stayed home from church yesterday so I could get some rest, so I'm feeling a little better today, but I'm still coughing and sneezing. At least the achiness is gone. The kids are handling the discomfort pretty well. I'm hoping that this bout of illness will finally clear out the lingering cough I've had since I was sick in January.

On another note, it's now officially SPRING, and we have a few inches of snow on the ground. I think the problem with winter here is that it starts in mid-Autumn and lingers until mid-Spring. What right does it have to encroach upon the other seasons time? Sheesh! This winter has seemed especially long and terrible, and I'm more than ready for Spring.

My little pony...

The other day the kids and I were out running errands and Noodle found her little pony toy in the car, so she was playing with it. I sang the “My Little Pony” ditty (you other children of the 80s might remember it) and then I added the line, “My little pony, eats macaroni...” She said, “No! She eats grass!” A minute later she sang, “My little pony, is purple and BONY!” I laughed, but was impressed. That’s pretty good rhyme for a 3 year old!

Photo Ops

At the end of February, I started my photography class through the local college. We have our third class this week, and I'm quite enjoying them. Every week we will vote on our favorite photos, and the 2 winners will get a free 11x14 printed at the instructor's camera shop. Last week I was one of the winners (top photo of Spud)! Then, to top of my happiness, the instructor said that my photo of my rat Finny (bottom) was his favorite of the week!






I am having a lot of fun thinking of ideas for photographs, and am truly coming to believe that the single most important part of taking a good picture is taking LOTS of pictures. You take 100 or more, and if you get lucky, one or two turn out to be something special. Then of course you only show those to others, so they think you are amazingly talented. Mostly just persistent. This is especially true when working with animals or children.

...........................

I've meant to post more frequently, but my MacJournal isn't connecting well to Blogger lately, and I don't know why not. A week and a half ago our sweet "adopted" stray kitty Nemo passed away. He had been ill, and we did our best to help him through it, but I think the illnesses were just too much and he died sometime during the morning Sunday, March 5th. David's parents were kind enough to let us bury him in their backyard. I still miss seeing him hanging around outside, and coming to our apartment twice daily to eat. He was such a wonderful cat, and Noodle sure loved him, as did I.

Yay March!

I’m really happy that it’s March! That means that the end of Winter is in sight, we’re that much closer to being able to move into a house (I hope), and lots of other happy spring related things. So, YAY!