12/23/2007

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Today was my birthday! Hooray!

I received a music CD I wanted (Mozart) and a bluetooth, stowaway keyboard for my new Nokia N800…AND they got me a cake…AND they took me to dinner at Red Lobster. :-) They love me, they really love me.

Today I also made Fantasy Fudge and homemade Cherry flavored hard candy. As I was pouring in the chocolate chips for the fudge I noticed they were “Milk Chocolate” not “Semi-Sweet Chocolate.” OH-OH! But - being in the middle of the recipe, and having no other chips, I finished pouring them in. Then I went to add the vanilla…I only had half of a teaspoon..DOH! The recipe calls for a whole teaspoon. EEP! So I added a little bit of water to the bottle and swished it around, then added it to the rest. And do you know what? That fudge is pretty darn tasty!

The hard candy turned out pretty well. It’s been two or three years since I’ve made it….through a mishop, however, I ended up with a glob of 300 degree correction: it had cooled off a little, so maybe, 250 degree molten candy on my finger. Can you imagine the blister? Well, after icing it, I put a padded, cushy band-aid on it right away, so I don’t know for sure. But it burned for a long time - and it’s sore now, so the chances are high it blistered nicely.

Tomorrow we’ll be baking and decorating sugar cookies - some to leave for Santa, the rest for two wonderful boys (and a few for their fantastic, but modest mom; and maybe one or two for their dad).

I may be off-line for the next couple of days, so if I don’t see you around the Tubes: Have a Happy Holiday, and a wonderful New Year!

~PJ~

sparta at 11:55 pm

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12/19/2007

What year is this again?

A rare “religious” comment from me:

From Reuters regarding The Golden Compass:

In the film version all references to the Church have been stripped out, with director Chris Weitz keen to avoid offending religious cinema goers.
Still, some Catholic groups in the United States have called for a boycott, fearing even a diluted version of the book might draw people to read the bestselling trilogy.

< *GASP*> They might READ A BOOK? Well, clearly this is a terrible influence. A movie inspiring someone to read and think… for… them…..selves. AH! I’ve spotted the problem: the Catholic groups don’t want people thinking! Well…good luck with that! Too bad this isn’t a few hundred years ago where you could just shut down the theatres and send the people involved with the movie and Pullman down to the dungeons to confess all their sins. (rolls eyes)

Look, I’m not against people having spirituality - I’m not against people practicing any certain religion (and yes, I believe spirituality and religion are separate things, it’s just for some - their religion supports their spirituality
) - but I do have issues with ANY religion (or church of that religion) that tries to do all the thinking for an individual. This is at the heart of my issues with any radical sect, branch, or religion. Man has free thought and free will and the urge to exercise it.

And you know what? If you are so worried that someone will see a movie or read a book and leave your church, then you never really had a true follower anyway….they were already dissatisfied with something. Maybe these groups need to focus less on condemning books and movies and more on real problems, like the homeless, the poor, the mistreated, and others in need.

End religious commentary.

sparta at 1:20 pm

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12/11/2007

Ah meteors…

So - who wants to join me out in the chilly / freezing night air on the 13th / 14th? The Geminids are coming! And this year’s show is supposed to be pretty great.

And hey, how are you guys doing? Speak up and drop me a comment! :-)

sparta at 4:47 pm

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12/5/2007

December?! WTH? - An Update

I can’t believe it’s December already! I mean 2007 is just days from being over - and I was just settling into it. I mean, it took me the first six weeks to stop writing 2006. My mother tried to warn me about how time changes as you get older, but I didn’t listen then. As with a lot of things, she was right. I mean, The Oldest is 12! Freakin’ TWELVE YEARS OLD! How did that happen? I mean, I blinked - and he’s already on the verge of being a teenager! EEK! There were so many things I had wanted to do this year that just didn’t get accomplished. I suppose they will just have to carry over into next year. *sigh*

I haven’t posted in a while, I know. Things have been bonkers here…the kind of bonkers that interferes with my posting. I was sick for a while; there was Thanksgiving; and then all the prep necessary for our property management inspection (ah, the joys of renting). The good thing is that we, once again, passed with flying colors. ^_^ After a couple of conversations with people from the mgmt co I get the impression that a lot of renters are a pain in the butt. Actually, my aunt and her husband have rental properties, and she’s said pretty much the same thing. They don’t make payments, they don’t report problems, they let things get damaged without calling or at least repairing them. *shakes head* I just don’t get it.

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sparta at 1:53 pm

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