Thursday, December 27, 2007
The Intersection of Holidays and Technology
Our first experiment follows - given that Katie wasn't into it, the light was bad, and neither of us know anything about digital camcorders and editing, we're feeling rather chuffed.
Oh yeah.
Stay tuned right here for funny stories, pictures, and now videos as well.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
I Just Spent Twenty Minutes Picking Glass Shards Out Of My Oven: Why Multi-Tasking In The Kitchen Is Usually A Bad Idea
- You are doing holiday baking.
- The bread you're making requires a water bath.
- You're a little distracted because you're preparing several different recipes at the same time.
- You decide that rather than transport a pan full of water from the sink to the oven, you will put the Pyrex dish into the oven and then pour the water into it.
- You allow the glass dish to reach the oven temperature, which is 400 degrees.
- You then pour hot tap water (approximately 120 degrees) into the preheated glass dish.
Do you know what happens?
A: Yep.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Conversation on the way to Dairy Queen
Calvin: Yeah, it's saying, "Sherise, don't have me! Go on a diet!"
Friday, December 7, 2007
No loaves here, but a miracle with a fish!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
It's [supposedly] the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Only now do I really understand why my dear Dad says that his idea of hell is having to listen to the hymns for the rest of eternity. Work has a way of taking the luster off anything. Said differently, stay out of the kitchen if you don't want to see how the sausage is made.
Two friends of mine, "Vern" and AntiCruiser have two other very compelling reasons to think twice about the meaning of Christmas. Vern points out that the whole gift giving/decorating thing is pretty far off the mark and very contrary to what Christmas is all about. I'm not going to stop giving gifts (or receiving them), but she makes a good point.
However AntiCruiser has meticulously documented a Christmas gift that has seriously gone off the rails. I'll be brutally honest. At first I thought he was looking a gift horse in the mouth. However this "gift" passed "sweater that I'll never wear but can't take back" status some time back in April.
Now that the day of reckoning looms, one can finally see the true metamorphosis from un-needed gift, to unwanted gift, to inconvenience, to unhealthy situation, to a true disaster. And some very obsessive behavior on the part of the gift giver. I'm not a screenwriter, but I know funny when I see it, and this has farce written all over it. Although nobody in the cast will be laughing.
So for Christmas this year, my gift to AntiCruiser and his family will be praying for their very souls, and for their sanity.
And I think Vern might be right.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Sherise's 20th High School Reunion
Monday, November 12, 2007
Happy Diwali
Paul with Chandra and Hima
Hima came to work Friday dressed in a sari, and reminded me that Diwali was that same day. Before that point, all I knew about Diwali was what I had learned on The Office. Of course, I knew there had to be more to it than that, so I invited myself (and the rest of the family) to the Hindu temple so we could observe the festivities first-hand.
We had a very difficult time finding the temple - turns out it's on Hindu Temple Lane (of course). And sitting literally in the shadow of a much larger (and less culturally interesting) temple.
View Larger Map
There were some fun things for kids to do - they had lots of fireworks that the kids could go and light (Diwali is also referred to as the festival of light), the children were allowed to go into the temple and ring the big bell, and there was food to eat.
There were also lights on something that looked suspiciously like a Christmas Tree. I did not think to ask Hima or Chandra what the names of the lights or tree are (I probably couldn't pronounce it anyway).
Max posing near the holiday tree/light thingy
Katie also enjoyed the festivities, as long as Mommy was holding her. She didn't know what to think of all the people in traditional Indian clothes, loud fireworks or other celebrations. She finally warmed up to Hima right as we were getting ready to leave.
Thomas somehow couldn't find anything fun or interesting to do.
We must be mean, awful parents to drag our kids off to a party where you can celebrate the triumph of good over evil, light fireworks and eat free food.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Happy Halloween!
This is one of the second grade teachers at Thomas' school. This is a SWEET costume, IMHO. Some fine make-up work as well. And she likes Star Wars. No wonder Thomas likes her.
Calvin and his buddies went trick-or-treating tonight. Pillaging or plundering might be a better description. Calvin counted 410 pieces of candy as his take this evening.
Monday, October 29, 2007
I Am Not a True Sports Fan
Honestly, I don't think "Go to a World Series baseball game" would have actually been an entry on that list, but since I haven't ever assembled that list, this seemed like a great opportunity to start the list and summarily scratch off the first item straight away. :)
The national anthem with a big-ass flag. The bald head you see here belongs to a very drunk Boston Red Sox fan:
And what about the game? Well, I had imagined it to be something like the Mecca of the baseball world, the Holy Grail. Once I was there, well, it felt exactly like any other Rockies game I had ever been to. I enjoyed being there, but it didn't feel particularly special. It was kinda like going to Church with a friend who belongs to a different church than the one you go to. You know it's really important, but it doesn't "feel" important. I almost feel guilty for having gone but not breathing in every second, feeling like I was part of baseball history.
Maybe that's because they didn't win.
Classic Calvin Stories, Part 3
CALVIN: Mom, Mrs. Walker is so cool. She's, like, EVERYTHING, except maybe a musician.
MOM (thinking, "Aww, isn't my boy sweet?"): Wow, honey, she sounds like she's pretty accomplished.
CALVIN: Yeah, she's a runner, an artist, a teacher, an athlete, and even a war veteran.
MOM: Really? What war?
CALVIN: Civil.
Classic Calvin Stories, Part 2
Classic Calvin Stories, Part 1
I have a small notebook I keep in my purse to use as an exercise log. Not too long ago I opened it to find this in Calvin's writing:
Hunting the Monster, by Jimmybobjoe Poony
Day 1
I entered the cave. It stunk. Probably its poop.
Day 2
Heard roaring. It might be farting.
Day 3
Found monster. It's my brother. He must have gotten lost at the Barbie convention. He loves Barbies. Too much.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Forget the party, where's my food?
Thomas: "Follow that truck!"
Matthew: "Nooooooo, follow that cheeseburger!"
Magical Ninja Singer/Songwriter
Magical Ninja super-powered freak!
He fights crime as fast as a streak.
He casts spells,
He rings bells,
Even when he has to stop to take a leak
In a creek.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Memorable Quotes from Thomas
"I remember that as if it were going to be seen in a wavy flashback!"
"La cucaracha, la cucaracha, enchilada blah blah blah. . ."
(Upon seeing a flyer for "Disney's High School Musical on Ice") "Putting something on ice just makes it crappier. It's like fighting crappy fire with crappy fire. All you get is a bigger crappy fire."