2008 February « leta joy

Archive for February, 2008

I’ll Raise Ya

February 29, 2008 at 9:35 am · Filed under i do stuff

Last Saturday night we went to a friend’s house for a night of Texas Hold’em and lots of snacks. We aren’t exactly big gamblers, but we were able to scrape up enough for the $5 buy in. Six hours later, Bubby and the hostess split the pot and we had $20 to take home. Bubby’s infinite patience and non-chalance paid off. What was so funny about this situation was it finally came down to the two most non-competitive people at the table. They decided to split the pot just to end the game because we had been playing for so long and neither of them cared if they were the big winner.

Since none of us knew what we were doing or could even remember the rules, we had cheat sheets. I probably wouldn’t have played if it had been with serious gamblers. I would have been laughed right off the table. But, since it was all friends of ours and nobody was going to be joining the World Poker Tour anytime soon, I felt comfortable enough to don my visor and lose my $5. I think I won three hands. I was just happy I wasn’t the first one out. Jerry Yang would be proud.

Permalink Comments (2)

Je ne sais pas Francais

February 26, 2008 at 11:53 am · Filed under crafty

This birthday card is for Juju’s mommy. The top of the card is a page from a book that I received in a swap. Since it was already French and all, I decided to stick with that theme. Juju’s mommy has a thing for the Victorian era and teacups, so I’m not sure if this is her “cup of tea” (get it? hello?) but I thought it turned out quite nicely. The clever artist that I received the page from had already stamped the bird and written “pour vous”, so all I did at the top was add the blue circle and the “r” rub-on.

The blue swirly paper is a piece of hand-painted wallpaper that I tore and added some distressing ink to. The lined paper came in the afore mentioned swap and I looked up some French phrases online and started stamping away. I took Spanish in school (six years! you’d think I would be much more bilingual than I actually am), so I have no idea if these are grammatically correct. I hope that says Happy Birthday on the front of the card and not something rude.

I added some sparkly stickers to the inside of the card and the envelope and that was pretty much it.

Happy b-day, Rach!

Permalink Comments

Get in my Belly!

February 22, 2008 at 4:13 pm · Filed under cookin' it up

Having been house-bound again this week due to icy weather, I have just about run out of things to do and make around here. We had a play date planned for this afternoon, but that still left me with a whole morning to fill. So after I cleaned up all of the blue paint from the living room floor with a minimum of cursing, we made scones. I love scones, but had never made them. Bread products scare me. But these were so easy and fast. They were so easy that Arwyn got to help, and by “help” I mean make a huge mess all over the kitchen and then eat the flour that was left over. She also likes to smell each of the ingredients as they are added into the mix. Go figure.

I used this recipe from Orangette. I would love to try these with fresh strawberries some day, but seeing how it is the middle of February and we life in the frozen tundra, I used cinnamon chips instead. And they are yummy. I’ve already eaten 2 1/2 of them (I shared one with Miss A — kind of me, wasn’t it?). I added a bit of cinnamon to the dough and sprinkled the tops with cinnamon and sugar before baking.

This recipe gets a fabulous five out of five fruits from me. KC, are you still going to complain about my “cooking blog” since I am bringing food to your house tomorrow night? I could write about how I’ve wanted to lock myself in the bathroom for an hour every day this week, or how Bubby has been working until 8 pm every night (come HOME for the love of Gawd!) or how I’ve contemplated the joys of alcoholism if only I weren’t pregnant and could drink. But I think cooking is a safer topic to discuss right now, don’t you?

Permalink Comments (2)

A Hometown Tradition

February 21, 2008 at 4:25 pm · Filed under cookin' it up, leta joy

It’s time for me to confess. I’m a closet Ski drinker. When I first moved to this town I had never heard of this wacky beverage. Later I just thought it was some weird drink with a die hard west-sider following (east side versus west side is big around here. I’ve lived here for 14 years and I still don’t get it). Then I met Bubby and things changed. Oh boy, how they changed. Choirs of angels sang, the light shone down from the heavens and I found myself trying to like this bizarre citrusy cola, because his whole family swore by it. You know how in My Big Fat Greek Wedding that one character’s family sprays Windex on every ailment? Bubby’s family has the exact same tradition, only it is beverage related. If you have a cold, you buy a 2-liter of Ski, guzzle it down, and you will be miraculously cured after you mope around the house for three days wrapped in a quilt, looking pathetic and milking your “man cold” for all it’s worth. We’ve shipped the stuff 8 hours north to Bubby’s brother in Michigan, for Pete’s sake.

Manufactured by the Double Cola company (they really need to work on their “taste the wake” tag line — and their website), Ski has been around since 1956 but I’ve only been a convert since 2004. I really tried to like it before that, but thought it had a strange taste and stuck with Mountain Dew. Then I got knocked up with Miss A and suddenly I not only liked Ski, I wanted to drink it all the time. That taste preference did not go away after the birth of the girl child. Now I will kick Bubby’s ass if he drinks the last can of Ski in the refrigerator. I especially like to drink it at my in-laws, with crushed ice and a straw.

When my sister recently visited us, she had a taste and said “If I’m going to drink a pop, it has to be something that tastes good to be worth it.” I replied something along the lines of “Well, OBVIOUSLY I think it tastes good or I wouldn’t drink it.” But I totally understood what she meant. It is weird. This is the only drink on planet earth that I will drink even if all my ice has melted and it is watered down. I’ll even drink it flat. You don’t throw out Ski. Ever.

Now Bubby thinks he can convince me to drink coffee, since I used to hate Ski and now I love it. It’s more like an addiction that I can’t quit. I think maybe they put some kind of addictive substance in it. Or maybe I’m just weak. I’ve never been well known for my will power.

However, I will never betray my beloved Coca-Cola for Double. That is just going too far. Sorry, relatives of The Bubs. Now if they just served Ski at Sonic…

Permalink Comments (3)

It’s All About Meme

February 20, 2008 at 12:01 pm · Filed under leta joy

I’ve had a lack of interesting things to blog about this week (it’s feast or famine around here), so I thought I would share some fascinating knowledge about yours truly.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Oh my. I had to look at an old resume (that hasn’t been updated in two years) to remember exactly what I was up to in 1998. I was in college. I was an intern for the American Red Cross from January through May. I worked for a financial advisor from July until August of the following year and I hated it immensely. I was probably dating someone not very well suited for me. I hadn’t met Bubby yet. I probably drank a lot.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
If I still had last year’s calendar I would be able to tell you. Pretty much the same as what I’m doing now, only Arwyn wasn’t in pre-school yet. She went to a Mom’s Morning Out program one morning a week and I wasn’t babysitting. Oh yeah, and I wasn’t pregnant yet so Bubby and I were probably having lots of weird discussions about that. I was typing dictation for fun AND money.

Five snacks you enjoy:

Yogurt
Chips of any variety
Girl Scout cookies
Cereal
Sonic Coke

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:

Ring Ring - ABBA
Goodbye Earl - Dixie Chicks
In Your Letter - REO Speedwagon
Close to You - The Carpenters
Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain & Tennille

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

Pay off debt
Buy a bigger house
Invest for our future and our children
Travel abroad
Hire a cleaning person

Five bad habits:

Interrupting other people when they are talking (WHY do I do this?!)
Shopping
Worrying about things I can’t fix
Lack of patience
Obsessively checking the locks to make sure no boogeymen get us.

Five things you like doing:

Snuggling on the couch with Arwyn
Snuggling with Bubby
Reading
Crafting
Baking

Five things you would never wear again:

Biker shorts
My old volleyball shorts
A giant bow in my hair
Glasses fashioned to look like acid-washed denim
White lace gloves

Five favorite toys:

MacBook
ipod
markers
scissors
dvr

If you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged. Meme via Poppy Mom.

Permalink Comments (2)

Giveaway

February 15, 2008 at 4:08 pm · Filed under babes in blogland

Heather over at OMSH is hosting another contest. This time you can win a ONEYE Lily stuffy. Head on over and join in the fun!

Permalink Comments

Be Mine

February 15, 2008 at 3:46 pm · Filed under crafty, holiday celebrate

This was the card that I made for Bubby.

This was part of his gift. A framed photo of Arwyn that I took when I was doing the workshop project.

More Valentine pictures here. I think (hope) we’ll hold off until March to start Easter crafting. I need a recovery period.

Permalink Comments

Smooches!

February 14, 2008 at 2:02 pm · Filed under crafty, holiday celebrate

Permalink Comments

Iceland

February 12, 2008 at 4:57 pm · Filed under misc

We ventured outside this morning in six layers of clothes to play in the snow, only to discover there was a thick layer of ice on top of the snow and so we skated around the backyard trying not to fall (me) and jumping in puddles (Arwyn). It was also freezing raining which added some great drama to the whole affair. We couldn’t really play with anything or make snowmen or snowballs. After Arwyn had decimated all of the icicles in the vicinity, I got the harebrained idea to shovel a path down our very steep driveway just in case we really really needed to go somewhere later today. I (wo)manned the shovel and Arwyn sprinkled salt wherever she saw fit. Twelve hours later (ok, maybe it was only an hour but it felt like a long damn time), there were two very crooked paths down the drive and I was preparing to expire. Shoveling is hard work, not for the faint of heart or possibly the five months pregnant.

The best part of the morning was watching all of the idiots driving by in their fancy-pants sports cars, which we all know have a great reputation for handling well on ice and snow, talking on their cell phones and sliding all over the street. You might want to wait until you reach your destination before whipping out your BlackBerry Pearl. I’m just sayin’.

We didn’t witness any fender-benders before coming back inside to defrost (Arwyn now says she’s “frosty” when she is cold), watch copious amounts of cartoons and devour some soup and grilled cheese. What else could you possibly eat on a day like today?

Permalink Comments (2)

Kid Tested, Mother Approved

February 11, 2008 at 10:31 am · Filed under crafty

While doing some research for the craft article that I write, I came across this post on Kiddley. I remember bookmarking this site long ago when Loobylu was still blogging, and now we can utilize some of the fantastic ideas on this wonderfully organized and creative site. Sarah from The Small Object (who wrote the paper doll post) has some great things on her site as well, though better suited for older kids (older than 3 anyway) or adults.

Arwyn and I spent a few calm minutes late Saturday night making these people. I think one was named Samson and the other Benjamin — not Ben, Benjie, or B. BENJAMIN. I especially like the pink hair.

Permalink Comments (1)

« Previous entries