with all due respect to ben… 
but srsly. i have just seen my first commercial for the new season of doctor who. hawt! set your dvrs or vcrs or alarm clocks or estrogen *cough* for 8:30 on april 18 with the premiere of voyage of the damned.
in search of the lost lord 28 March, 2008
this is going to be a long post, assuming i finish it. i’ve had a couple of run-ins with old ghosts this morning, and feel the need to analyze the situation. mind you, there are plenty of other things i should be doing, like finishing up cleaning in the kitchen, vacuuming, laundry…i might intersperse that stuff with the writing, so from where i sit at this very moment, this might be one of those posts that i save and continue working on. but i’m gonna try to make this as train-of-thought as possible, because sometimes, i’m able to find out a lot about myself when i read back on that stuff later… (more…)
enter view 27 March, 2008
about a month ago, i applied for a part-time assistant children’s librarian position at the regional library down the road. the job would be perfect…four hours, five times a week, doing something i love at a job site that’s only about 15 minutes from the house. not as perfect a commute as i currently have (you can’t beat 5 minutes), but a much better job (you can beat shelving books). and best of all, one of the exceptionally wonderful benefits of working for the library is i can get into a financial assistance program to go back to school and get my master’s.
score.
i had kinda given up hope on being called for an interview, though…i mean, it’s been a month. and besides, i’ve gotten involved with a puppet team at my library, and we’ll be doing our first show next month. i loves me some puppet fun. so i was really surprised to get a call from them today to talk about the job and set up an interview.
and apart from that surprise, i’m not entirely certain how to feel about this.
the job is what i need to progress in a library career. it has win written all over it. but my enthusiasm is guarded, because i’ve applied for this job before, and was turned down because i have no story time experience. i haven’t gotten any in the few months or so since the last interview, and regional libraries such as this one get tons of applications so there’s lots of competition. i’m just not sure if the odds are in my favor, you know? and besides, i’m having fun at my library. we’re a small branch library, and i love the family-like atmosphere. it’d be totally different at the regional library.
oh well. i’ll go, and i’ll do my best, and i’ll hope i get the job. my current library makes me happy, but this new job could lead to much better things. i can always visit my local library. 
we’re all crazy mennonites 27 March, 2008
a friend at work gave me a starter culture for amish friendship bread. it was basically this yellowish concoction of flour, sugar, milk and yeast (an “ancient amish secret,” as the accompanying paper explained) in a ziploc bag. for ten days, i have mashed and kneaded this bag, adding more flour, sugar and milk on day six, and today i was able to make my first loaf of amish friendship bread.
i realize now why it is called amish friendship bread. the reason is twofold: first, you need the patience of the amish to make it and second, with that in mind, you would only make this bread for a friend or other loved one. no random strangers getting some of this tasty treat, oh no…the dang batter apparently likes to jump onto counters, floors, even walls, no matter how many paper towels you keep on hand. i spent quite literally an equal amount of time cleaning up after the prep as i did in the actual prep. and it didn’t help that my biggest non-metal bowl (because the recipe specifically states that metal bowls are bad, mmkay) was only barely big enough to accomodate the ingredients, meaning that when batter wasn’t dripping from spoons or mixer beaters being carried to the sink, it was skipping up and over the rim as i mixed.
but you know what? once i got over myself and accepted the fact that i would have to re-clean the kitchen i’d just cleaned, it was pretty fun. the bread is more of a dessert bread, with lots of cinnamon, sugar, and whatever other goodies you care to throw in, like nuts or dried fruit. since one of the main ingredients is a large box of instant pudding, i used vanilla chocolate chip pudding, so this batch will have chocolate chips in it (woot!). and not only do you use cinnamon and sugar in the batter, you also dust the pans and the batter (once it’s poured into the pans) with them. mmmmm…delicious cinnamon sugar. it’s now about 35 minutes into the 1 hour bake time, and the whole house smells soo delicious, like fresh cinnamon bread. i’m starting to wonder if i should’ve waited until later in the day to do this, so that it would be done right when ben gets home and we could try some warm out of the oven, but i think we’ll be aight.
if you’d like a starter culture of your own, i have 3 or 4 to give away (depending on whether i decide to keep one and make more bread in 10 days). speak up quick, though…6 days from now, the flour, milk and sugar will need to be added, and in 10 days the baking cycle starts again! i’d hate to have to throw out these cultures…
update: two of ben’s coworkers have asked for cultures, so i’m down to my last one or two. any takers?
about that hammer and nail… 22 March, 2008
holy crap. painting is hard.
here’s the thing: every time i’ve ever painted in my life, it’s been in a somewhat largish group. mission trips to world changers in high school, fix-up projects through my church, even when painting for ben’s mom, there have always been at least four or five pairs of hands to tackle the job. when it’s just ben and me against a whole garage…man. and i feel like a wuss for even complaining, since ben did most of the painting, more than i did, anyway. we used a whole gallon of paint, and only got about a third of the garage done. but we also got the peg board hung and got it loaded with all the intended tools and we swept and cleaned out all the cobwebs. we’re having dinner with some friends tonight, so work had to be cut short so we could shower and make ourselves pretty, but that’s okay. i welcome the break. and anyway, once we move all the trash and recyclables down to the curb tomorrow and put in the last hooks to hang the heavier stuff like shovels and whatnot, the garage will be finished, save for the painting. oh, the painting.
i wonder how much it would cost to buy one of those rollers that has a little tube that goes down to the paint can, so you can just paint non-stop…
i wonder how much it would cost to just hire people to paint the downstairs when we move the painting indoors…
gonna get out of bed, get a hammer and a nail 22 March, 2008
learn to uuuuse myyy haaands…
i am so proud of us! we totally rocked the garage tonight. got shelves put up, hung the ladders (on hooks that were purchased especially for hanging ladders), broke down boxes, consolidated many random half-boxes of stuff into just a couple full boxes, and scooted everything to the middle of the garage so we can paint tomorrow. it’s looking really rather awesome, so it should reach critical awesome mass when it’s painted and we’ve installed the peg boards and nifty hangy hooks.
all of that, in addition to running out to have lunch and buy a couple bottles of wine and some painting supplies. and all of that after i got off my four-hour shift at work (for which i will be paid double-time, since it was a holiday).
and, i got to listen to on the threshold of a dream. twice.
today was so productive, it’s almost frightening. i kinda dig it. this is what life is like when i’m not losing myself in wow or manga or politics. lovely to see me again, my friend.
and best of all, i made a delicious chili. and it was crazy easy.
crazy easy delicious chili
2 cans bush’s chili starter beans
1 can kidney beans
1/2 jar newman’s own black bean and corn salsa
1 pound ground turkey (browned)
diced tomatoes, onions, and whatever other veggies you like
throw everything in a crock pot. cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. serve with your choice of cheese, sour cream, chives, nachos, cornbread, fritos, crackers…
(for the record…this is still my favorite. but threshold’s brilliant, too. ^^ )
about that list… 20 March, 2008
hopefully after this weekend, i’ll be able to strike number nine from the list. we went to home depot today and bought peg board and hookie things, and tomorrow we’re going to sherwin-williams after i get off from work and getting paint. then, on saturday, we’re painting the garage and getting things organized.
shazzam. i feel so responsible and mature. \m/
it’s a beautiful morning… 20 March, 2008
ahhhh…i think i’ll go outside for a while and just smiiiiiile…
this is a morning beyond compare. the sun is out, the sky is clear, the wind is blowing, there are no construction sounds coming from down the way (yet), there’s a delightful ginger rogers movie on tcm, ryo’s stretched out sleeping on the back of the couch, heffer’s stretched out sleeping in a patch of sun at the back door…now if only my back didn’t hurt it would be a perfectly perfect day. oh, and did i mention we have a handyman coming tomorrow to fix the vinyl siding that blew loose last week and to help ben clean out the garage so we can paint it (ben wants to paint the garage first, i assume because he thinks i’m being unrealistically motivated to paint the entire downstairs). yes, everything is looking up, up, up!
i’m gonna go do some cleaning. maybe open the windows and let some of that lovely day inside. here’s hoping your morning is just as lovely!
the things i do for cookies 19 March, 2008
i have filled out a brackety-type thing. it’s for basketball. i think. i’m almost certain it’s for basketball. that’s the season we’re in, yeah? anyway. it was fun because i got to click the little team names like some sort of uber-competitive sports goddess, picking my champions. yes, play for my amusement, mortals! bwaaah.
all for the chance to win some delicious cookies. mmmm, cookies.
she am cattank 18 March, 2008
is it just me, or does that remind anyone else of a certain little cow-shaped cat?
SPACE AND TIME ARE NO OBSTACLE TO CATTANK
CATTANK IS STRONG
hellz yeah.
