Author Archive
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
live blogging Westminster, part 2
8:07pm Kids are in bed and dinner for the grownups is in the oven. Here we go again, and here come the real, I mean Sporting, dogs.
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Saturday, February 9th, 2008
I just had to ask?
Eleanor slept from 7:15pm to 10:15pm, then from 10:30pm until 7:30am! I asked for more sleep and the little girl delivered! Alas, I stayed up too late with Harry Potter so I still didn’t get quite enough sleep, but I cannot blame either child.
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Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
not so super tuesday
Nothing terribly super about Tuesday here. It’s unseasonably warm, and raining like crazy. The warm weather won’t last. It’s just a tease. I’m hoping all the bulbs I planted are ignoring what is going on above the ground. I fear they are not that smart. I had almost forgotten them, until I saw a squirrel digging in the flower bed this afternoon. Oliver found it hysterically funny that his mum was chasing the squirrels away from her flower beds. I was happy to do anything to amuse him. At least the rain let up long enough for us to be outside for a little while.
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Monday, February 4th, 2008
not at all like chicken
Don’t you just want to take a bite out that thigh?
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Sunday, February 3rd, 2008
words to live by
Oliver has taken to telling me, “Don’t be too curious!”, usually when I put him in the car and go back inside to arm the alarm system. Apparently he fancies himself a man with a yellow hat. And I must have disproportionately long arms and a penchant for bananas.
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Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
FFF - baking is chemistry
Fabulous Food Friday is here on Saturday. It seems all I have to do is schedule a great breakfast out with Andrea and there’s automatically a weather event that causes a two-hour delay in her kids’ school districts. So I opted to make my own tasty treat, Madeleines. I thought about it on Friday. Does that count?
. Can’t figure out what to do with the cup of confectioner’s sugar it calls for, since it is never mentioned, and the oven is little too hot, but otherwise it’s pretty straightforward. It does have a few too many steps and uses a few too many bowls, but the results are worth the effort. It has been at least three moves, and quite possibly four, since I used the madeleine plaque. The new kitchen greatly improves the process though. I’ll try to make them a little more often, even though they got a little too brown, and Oliver declared his preference for the ones at Starbucks. (He’s wrong about that. Mine were decidedly lighter and fluffier). No Comments » - Posted in 1 by Kim
Friday, February 1st, 2008
Not pooping
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Thursday, January 31st, 2008
Even better
I admit it. I have once again been proven wrong. I thought my old espresso machine could not be replaced, let alone surpassed. The new one is getting a lot of use, much more than the old one. After nearly four decaffeinated years, I am soooo looking forward to what this baby can do with high-test.
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
if you just can’t get enough…
of the Disney photos, CD has more up on our family site. My flickr set is here. I’m still adding tags and labels.
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Not likely to be repeated
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
Snowman Wednesday
It may be 25 degrees and windy but yesterday’s rain meant the end of our snowman. Even the carrot is gone.
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Tuesday, January 29th, 2008
Snowman Tuesday
Warmer temperatures and rain are taking their toll on the snowman.
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Tuesday, January 29th, 2008
Snowman Sunday
CD and Oliver constructed some sort of snowbeast. I believe a large bucket played a role.
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Monday, January 28th, 2008
matching portraits
We had Oliver’s portrait done two years ago while staying at the Beach Club. He was nine months old. We were fortunate to find the same artist at the Beach Club last week. It is not framed yet but I am very pleased with Eleanor’s nine month portrait.
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Sunday, January 27th, 2008
This is not an indication of her future career, we hope. One of those present did suggest letting roll around on the zebra in just a diaper but I declined.
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Saturday, January 26th, 2008
New ‘do, courtesy of Bubba
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Friday, January 25th, 2008
FFF - cheek to cheek
As with my 40th birthday, CD and I had dinner at the California Grill at Disney’s Contemporary Resort on January 23. It has a number of things going for it, most notably the food and the fireworks. It’s helpful to check the hours at the Magic Kingdom before making a reservation. Ideally you want to be seated before the fireworks begin so you can take your glass of wine and someone to keep you warm on a cool evening out to the observation deck to see the show. We stayed inside two years ago but there’s a good amount of glare from the windows. Not so this year. As we finished our entrees we ordered dessert and headed outside. We were not disappointed. The fireworks were amazing and coming from Pittsburgh, where Zambelli fireworks shows could easily leave us jaded, we know our fireworks.
But this isn’t fireworks Friday, so back to the food. After being swiftly seated at the same table we had two years ago (we did not request it), we started with some lovely sashimi. The salmon and tuna were exceptional. We chose braised veal cheeks for our main course. Oh.My. I had heard cheeks were worth a try and my sources were not kidding. I like most anything that can be put on top of mashed potatoes but from now on, not much is going to compare.
On our way to the fireworks we let our server know we wanted the chocolate-orange lava cake, which is made to order and takes 20 minutes. Our timing was perfect, as it was waiting for us when we returned. Chocolate and orange is one of my favorite flavor combinations so they would have had to really screw it up for me to not like it. It was a great ending to a really nice meal.
The only problem with the California Grill is the noise. It’s a huge room with an open kitchen. There are always a few kids there, up too late and in a place that isn’t overly kid-friendly. While I don’t think kids should be banned, it would be nice if parents could think before they make late reservations. California Grill is great, but if the only reservation you can get is 8pm and your kids are under five, go somewhere else or call the fairy godmother or one of the other in-room babysitting services. It’s good, but not worth making your kid(s), yourself, and your fellow diners miserable.
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Friday, January 25th, 2008
breakfast with friends
Oliver and Eleanor enjoyed our last morning at WDW by having breakfast with characters dressed in beachwear.
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Thursday, January 24th, 2008
Plum tuckered out
Naptime today, after two spins on Tomorrowland Indy Speedway. He took
one more before the day was done.
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Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
Mmmm….sand!
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Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
It took a team of experts
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Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
Segway!
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Monday, January 21st, 2008
Post box love
The family post box obsession continues unabated.
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Sunday, January 20th, 2008
Early morning at the airport
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Saturday, January 19th, 2008
calgon take me away
I’m still packing, still doing dishes, still looking for my mind. I know I over-packed and I know I forgot something important. Hopefully Mickey can hook me up with whatever we need. Leaving at 0-dark-thirty. See you real soon!
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Friday, January 18th, 2008
the impossible dream
Oliver’s teachers have the uncanny ability to get him to wear a hat. Better women than I am, obviously.
I’m testing out the whole blogging-from-cellphone thing using Utterz. Seems to work. That will make it easier to post next week from Disneyworld. Up-to-the-minute updates…try to contain your excitement.
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Thursday, January 17th, 2008
just under the wire
I was about to close up the laptop and go to bed. It was 11:35 when it hit me…I had not uploaded a new photo or blogged today.
So, just a few random updates, apropos of pretty much nothing:
Love this Josh Jakus egg flat. Love it more since it’s a “second” and therefore cheaper. I guess the seams aren’t supposed to be there. Don’t tell anyone, okay?
Eleanor had her 9 month checkup. Like Oliver, the doc pronounced her “perfect”. All 23 pounds of her. He did say eight was too many teeth. I am going to assume he was kidding.
I used to like Don’s Appliances. Not anymore. My steamer is still not fixed and they seem to be having procurement problems with regard to parts. It should be fixed the first business day after we get back from vacation but I am not holding my breath. So glad I bought the extended warranty so I get to do business with them for years to come.
House is going to auction on March 8. Cross your fingers the reserve is met and we can bid old house farewell.
Gearing up for Disney…trying to find clothes that fit the kids and will work for the range of weather that’s predicted. Mostly rain.
New York trip is on thin ice. More later but it’s looking like a bust. I seem to have problems every other year, but this year is nothing like 2006. Wait a second. I have problems with New York every year. But I keep going back, mostly for the food.
MacBook is back. Woohoo! But it has a cracked case. Boo! It’s upgraded to Leopard and all that good stuff! Woohoo! Will probably have to go back to Alabama for a while. Boo!
So there it is. A blog entry. Right on time.
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Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
new perch
We added a MeToo
I am hoping it will be useful during our visit to The Mouse too.
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Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
all in the timing
I was ecstatic to learn PBS was going on a Jane Austen bender this year. I have been known to do that myself, once or twice. My first experience with Jane began the summer after graduating college. It was 1988, I was outside of Philadelphia starting my first real job, and it was hotter than hell. I also did not have a TV. One can only listen to so much NPR, even during an election year, so I decided Jane and I should become better acquainted. Over the next few months I read all six novels and the published unfinished bits. If memory serves, I read the last book as slowly as possible. I didn’t want it to end.
The screen adaptations I have seen are of mixed quality, I know, but I get sucked in by a good story every time. Some of the ones PBS is airing I haven’t seen previously, such as Persuasion which aired last Sunday night. I geared up for it all day, resisting the urge to grab the book. In a rare moment of boldness, though I warned CD earlier in the day that we had a date with Jane, I possessed the remote control at 9pm and changed the channel to PBS. Generally, the remote is out of my reach and I am rarely consulted when it comes to our viewing choices. It is the one little bonus I get when CD travels. But I digress.
So there I was at 9pm, remote in one hand, lovely decaf espresso in the other, sucked in to yet another great story. I was surprised how much of Persuasion came back to me, though I know I have not read it in fifteen years and it’s probably the one Austen novel I have read only twice. All was well until 10:15, just as Anne Elliot is running through the streets of Bath. It’s is the climax of the story and I found myself getting slightly out of breath right along with Anne. (Upon reflection, the chicken-with-her-head-cut-off method of tying up the loose ends was really quite silly, but I didn’t care at the time.) Then it happened. I heard screaming from upstairs. Eleanor was awake and howling, and she was not going to solve this problem on her own.
Off to nurse I went, thinking the whole time about just thawing some milk from the freezer (would have taken too long), or possibly weaning her that very second (oh, the guilt). She finished right on cue at 10:35 and was back to sleep. Persuasion was over and I was pissed. The night did not improve as Eleanor was up every three hours until morning.
On Monday, after poking around on iTunes and the PBS website, and coming up empty, I searched YouTube. Found little bits of video but nothing satisfying. I checked the schedule, only to find that Persuasion would air again at 2am and 4am Tuesday. I thought, “Yeah, that’s do-able. I’ll no doubt be up at either 3:15 or 5:15 to see “the moment”. No problem.” But I was exhausted from the night before so I really hoped to sleep through both airings.
The Jane Austen gods were either for me or against me, it’s hard to tell which. Eleanor was again up frequently in the night, though not at 3am. No, it was Penguin this time, proving my theory that she is allergic to eggs as well as chicken, waking me up at 5am with diarrhea. After she went outside, and I completed the requisite post-poo cleanup of her furry white backend, it was 5:13am. I took Penguin upstairs to our bedroom and looked at my pillow for just half a second before going back downstairs and turning on the tv. I am still exhausted but it was worth the 15 minutes of sleep I sacrificed.
I have a small issue coming up this Sunday. I won’t be at home. We will be on vacation, in the happiest place on earth. Fortunately, they have tv there too. Northanger Abbey is probably my least favorite of the novels but I have never seen a movie adaptation so maybe I will like it better. A larger problem comes in February, when Pride and Prejudice begins. See, I have a bit of a “thing” for Colin Firth. Even perfectly miserable movies are made tolerable by Colin Firth. And when he’s in a good one, oh my. Guilty as charged…I’m a complete sap. So in February, the first night of Pride and Prejudice, I’ll probably be in New York for my favorite little garden party.
No, we still don’t have TiVO.
