Suzanne Calling

Bringing up the Rear

2012-01-29T23:45:00.002-05:00

Ed and the boys had the yucky cold and general ickyness last week.

So of course, I've got it now, when I'm trying to do a boatload of school work and cannot concentrate!

Can I sleep in tomorrow and let GameTeen drive himself to school? Never mind that he doesn't know how to drive...

Bosphorous Turkish Kitchen

2012-01-28T23:42:00.005-05:00

Back in June, the night I went to Paint Along Studios, I happened upon Bosphorous. It was their opening night, the word was not out yet, and I ordered some Kofte and baklava to take home-and was promptly blown away.

You have to understand, Lakeland is not a haven for ethnic food. You want Pho? drive to Tampa. Greek food? There's a limited menu at Pappas', but a full Greek dining experience requires travel along I-4. Kosher? You're out of luck. So, to have an honest to God, authentic Turkish restaurant was just not something I expected.

The kofte were grilled expertly, with wonderful seasonings and a nice, gentle char. A mixed salad was in the container, topped with an orange dressing that was at once sweet and tart. The cracked bulgur was mixed with tomato sauce and an expert infusion of mint. In short, a talented chef was at the helm in a storefront previously occupied by a barbeque joint.

The next visit was a few weeks later, and the whole family traveled with me. GameTeen went for some feta rolls, spring roll sized delicacies that were stuffed with the salty Greek cheese. They had a great crunch, and GameTeen was kind enough to share some of the large appetizer plate. Chef and I shared the Mixed Grill for two, which honestly could have fed four, and Ed had the Chicken Kofte. For dessert, the most amazing Baklava again, delicate phyllo overflowing with buttery honey and sprinkled with crushed pistachios. Incredible food, and leftovers enough for three for a decent price.

Tonight, we went back again and if it's possible to improve on it, they did. The boys wimped out, with GameTeen requesting the Lavas, a huge grilled bread (think pita's better cousin), Chef got the feta rolls and Ed and I split the mixed grill, and it was overflowing with beef and chicken Doner Kabobs (and strangely, I think the chicken were the better, with a seasoning blend Ed and I could not figure out), easily a half pound of sliced gyro meats from the spit, lamb and chicken kofte and ample helpings of that amazing bulgur/tomato dish and salad.

I ended up eating most of the salad, because I knew it wouldn't keep at home-and it is SO incredible. All four of us had plenty of meat, and still we brought enough home for two lunches tomorrow. The grilled flavor tonight was just a step above the July visit's meal, which we already thought was darn near perfection.

Here's the good part. Lakeland probably isn't known as an ethnic food destination because we have a population base that was born and raised locally. The first few times I either got takeout or we dined in, there was a table, maybe two occupied. From the pictures on their Facebook wall lately, and what we saw tonight-it was a full house.

I joked to Ed that if we polled the tables and asked where diners were from, it was likely that, like us, these were transplants looking for something beyond the chain restaurants that dot the main roads.

Thankfully, we finally have it in Bosphorous.

OPI Gelcolor, Suzi Says Feng Shui

2012-01-27T12:10:00.002-05:00

When OPI announced the colors in the Gelcolor line, I immediately gravitated towards the Suzi Says Feng Shui. I knew that at some point, it would be on my nails. Can you tell that I'm a happy camper, now that red, coral, pink and nudes are not the only 'proper' colors for nails?

Better pictures coming later, but for now:

It's a creme polish, but I'm thinking that a nice layer of glitter over this would be very nice. :)

OPI Gelcolor, Day 14

2012-01-26T23:11:00.002-05:00

I have a nail appointment tomorrow. This is my third go round with the OPI Gelcolor and this is what I'm looking at:
There's a noticeable difference between the CND and the OPI gel product, and for me, the Shellac wears MUCH better. There is a 'sealer' that OPI recommends nail techs put on a client's nail prior to the base coat. It is there to keep nail oils seeping through and preventing the polish from lifting.

Even with it, the gelcolor lifts and on two occasions, it lifted enough on my nails that I ended up with a naked nail or two at the end.

That said, take a close look at that naked nail. How many reports have you heard about the gel polishes destroying someone's nails? I'm here to show you that if you go to TRAINED nail tech, who is adamant about following proper procedures and instructs you in caring for a gel manicure, you will come out of the experience with better nails.

For me, I've slacked off on Katie's suggestion of using Solar Oil every day. I use it a few times a week, and it definitely makes a difference. That naked nail is stronger than my pre-Shellac nails were, so having constant gel product on my nails for almost 8 months HELPED my nails. If you're not using solar oil, consider it-or a daily liberal application of hand cream.

So, I'm contemplating only going one week with the OPI product. Yes, it maintains the shine and sparkle for two weeks, but all three rounds with it had some degree of lifting. I only had one so-so round with the Shellac out of many more.

I just wish there were more Shellac colors...

Outlook: Annoying

2012-01-25T22:50:00.002-05:00

I am not a fan of MS Outlook. For years, it's been the vehicle by which computers get viruses. Nowadays, I think the protections enabled by employers that use it compensate, but this has made me steer clear of it.

However, at work, we use it-and the attached calendar tool. I share my calendar with everyone in the department, by virtue of what I do, they all share their calendars with me-it's good. I can effectively schedule appointments and the like.

This semester, my school schedule varies by day and by week. I emailed my boss the schedule, but everyone in the department needs it. Besides, a list of dates by day of the week wasn't easy to reference-for her or for me. She asked me to update my calendar for the semester.

I so wish there was a way to plug in dates, for instance "On theses dates, I will be unavailable at 2:45, Class in Tampa", but noooooo, I had to enter them week by week for the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays.

Now, 15 weeks are entered, and I'm annoyed with the kludge-y nature of Outlook. At least there won't be any questions about what time I leave each day!

He Likes My Food, He Really Likes My Food

2012-01-24T23:48:00.002-05:00

Game Teen is the odd man out in this house. While, Ed, Chef and I will eat all manner of epicurean delights, he revels in 'white' food. Pasta. Bread. Cereal (no dyes, remember?) Yogurt. Milk. Yes, we do get him to eat other stuff, but it's rare that he goes for something remotely different.

Which is why it is kind of surprising how much he likes pulled pork and beef brisket. He enjoys it, and we can get far more protein into him than normal by taking him to a 'que joint. Honestly, though, in the past year, I think he's gotten used to mom making pulled pork.

Today was the surprise. His school has their meals catered by a local BBQ joint. Yes, they serve a variety of food, but I ordered him today's meal, because it was an adult sized pulled pork sandwich. I knew he'd eat every last morsel. So it was a little bit of a surprise when I picked him up from school this afternoon and asked what he wanted for dinner from among the three choices I had ready.

I didn't even finish saying it when he responded 'pulled pork'. I mentioned that I knew he had it for lunch. "But mom, yours is better than the one I had today."

I take that as a HUGE compliment...

Another Night at the Laundromat

2012-01-23T23:59:00.001-05:00

Using all four of the 'gigante' machines to sort your clothes that would barely fit into the 'doble' should be outlawed. ( she later used three single load machines to wash her belongings.

Hearing 'Marvel verSUS CapCOOOMMMMM' every 10 seconds gets old in about two minutes.

A lot of people come in to just dry their clothes.

As opposed to the Saturday and Sunday night crowd, the Monday patrons are litterbugs.

Setting the Week Up Right!

2012-01-22T23:17:00.005-05:00

I found an excellent looking pork butt when I was in the supermarket yesterday. Don't you think?

So, I decided that if I stayed home today (possibility of seeing Liz and Greg today), I'd smoke that bad boy. Then I thought about the thawed boneless chicken breasts I had, and a London Broil also sitting in the fridge. Why not make them all? I did!

The broil turned out lovely, and was refrigerated whole. I'll slice it thin tomorrow and make some cheddar melts.

The pork was pulled, with Ed and I having sandwiches tonight, and we'll probably have more another night this week. The chicken provided tonight's dinner for the boys and I've got 5 breasts left, ready to be incorporated into one or two meals, since we tend to make more chicken than we need for a meal to do just that.

This now saves me from the scramble to make food tomorrow night before my Elluminate session, Tuesday night before that Elluminate session and probably will put me in a good place to make something Wednesday for the boys to consume while I'm at Thursday night's class.

Now the gears are turning-what can I grill next week to set me up the same way?

Pixie Dusted

2012-01-21T23:55:00.004-05:00

My friend Liz (the woman responsible for pointing me in the right direction academically) had a problem. She was headed down here for her other half's 50th birthday and well, she wasn't quite getting the response from Disney on the little tweaks she wanted to do to make Greg's birthday special.

That's not something I wanted to hear, and definitely something I would help fix. So, today, the family headed over to the Boardwalk Resort and ensured that Greg would not forget what birthday he's celebrating. Take a look:

It was fun decorating, and especially awesome that Greg was not tipped off in any way. We even met up with them in the parks briefly and he had no idea of what we'd just finished doing to his room.

I'm wondering when those balloons will fall off the ceiling and wake them up...

Date Night!

2012-01-20T23:06:00.003-05:00

I think one of the best things about my kids getting older is that Ed and I can now take the occasional date night.

That wasn't tonight's plan, per se, but the boys didn't want to leave the house. So I made them sandwiches, and Ed and I went to Outback and then for a drink afterwards. It still feels a little strange, but I think the kids like two hours without Mom and Dad at home. I know Ed and I definitely enjoy the ability to talk about stuff without kids interrupting!

Though now I'm stuffed and sleepy...

SOPA, PIPA and Piracy-Another Point of View

2012-01-19T23:18:00.003-05:00

Thank you, denizens of the internet, for showing Congress that they don't know what the hell they're doing when legislating the internet. What do you want to bet that most of our representatives 'have people' to use the internet for them and aren't savvy to the inner workings? No bet? Darn.

The news yesterday focused on the movie industry's complaints that their product is being pirated and they're losing their rightful earnings. That may be true, but what also is true is that they can place a lot of encoding on their products to prevent it, but they don't want to spend a buck to prevent this from happening.

Meanwhile, the people who really need the piracy protections are the ones who cannot afford the lobbying dollars in Washington: the recording artists and the small labels that represent them.

Honestly, the independent movie maker has an uphill battle and won't have the theft issues that the major production companies have. On the other hand, the recording industry is not all Clive Davis, Tommy Mottola, Ahmet Ertegun and their peers. Rather, it's full of small labels and independent musicians who are self-producing and promoting their work.

You may think that burning an illegal copy of Lady Gaga won't hurt her much, and in a sense, you're right. She's probably earning fifty cents from that copy of Born This Way you bought from iTunes, WalMart or the retailer of your choice. It's not even enough to buy a cup of coffee, right? Not a big deal.

Now, consider the lesser known musician, someone like Monte Rosa (I purchased three of his discs off CD Baby in December), or Eric Lindell on the MC Records label. Their fan base is a tiny fraction of Lady Gaga's, but they are no less passionate about the music these men produce. (Monte's a fine latin fusion artist and Eric, as well as all the MC Records artists, plays some mighty fine blues music.)

These are musicians who are likely working a day job, because they don't make millions in music purchases. They gig in small, intimate settings, traveling by their own vehicles, because, well, they self-produce or are signed to a smaller label. MC Records is owned by a gentleman who wants to share his passion for the blues with others-his bank account isn't getting full from this venture, but he's happy to be providing a way to get quality music to the public.

So, this is the thing: there's a nugget of SOPA and PIPA that is relevant, that of clamping down on the illegal copying of music and movies on the internet. Unfortunately, the legislators have no clue what they're doing, leaving holes you can drive a truck through when you try to interpret intent.

These small musicians can use some protections, more so than the movie industry that has the resources to develop anti-piracy measures within their products-but don't.

Consider that independent musician and record label when thinking about piracy. They are the ones hurt the most by theft, yet their voice is drowned out by Hollywood.

70's Flashback: Wacky Packages

2012-01-18T23:55:00.005-05:00

If you were a kid in the 70's, like I was, odds are high that you spent seven cents at least once for a pack of Wacky Packages (though we called them Wacky Packs).

They're back!

While shopping in Target tonight, Ed came up to me with a handful, telling me "I am spending ten dollars on these and you can't stop me." Back in the day, (eep, 40 years ago!) what he held would have cost .35 cents. Talk about inflation!

This time, though, you're not getting that stick of gum that lost flavor in 30 seconds. No, you get a refrigerator magnet. Back then, no way in the world your mom was going to put this magnet on the fridge, but now? Take a look at what will be on my fridge soon!

There's a bunch more, but you'll have to get your own!

What is sadder still is that I'm singing the jingles from back in the day, but with the new product names...

A Second Chance

2012-01-17T23:30:00.002-05:00

As I write this, a friend is getting a second chance at life.

After nearly four years on a waiting list, Ted is getting a new kidney. He's been doing home dialysis for a very long time and taken many medications in preparation for this event. It is sad that a family lost a loved one, but good to know that even in death, someone is bringing second chances to many people.

If you haven't already, please consider being an organ donor AND notify your loved ones of this important decision to give life to others who need it. My license notes this designation and odds are, your state will just have you fill a simple affidavit when you renew your driver's license or non-driver ID.

Have you considered donation? If so, have you shared your decision?

This is the Year

2012-01-16T23:50:00.003-05:00

We leave the country!

Well, technically, Ed and I each have barely dipped our toes into Canada, but visiting Niagara Falls hardly counts as foreign travel, not when there is so much of our neighbor to the north to explore. Someday (in the summer, mind you), we'll do some traveling up there.

No, this time around we need passports and we'll be heading someplace warmer. I work for a secret shopping firm and they've approached me about doing this. Most of my shops for the second half of 2011 covered the taxes and fees not already covered by the company engaging our services.

If all goes well, Spring Break will be spent with our toes in the sand and me taking pictures of amazing blue waters...

Memory and the Trick it Plays

2012-01-15T23:57:00.000-05:00

When I had GameTeen, he was a linebacker baby. He came out 9lbs, 11 oz and he bunked in the nursery next to a 5lb, 1 oz dainty little girl. He was huge, to the point that some of the newborn clothes I purchased and all the newborn diapers given to us did not fit.

Three years later, Chef was a smaller 7lbs, 13oz. It was a little strange to have a child that wore the same outfit home from the hospital and it was swimming on him, where his older brother filled that outfit nicely.

Still, they were small once. Much smaller than they are now (which really, is only a couple of inches shorter than me nowadays!) They were little and helpless, and I remember this, but only in a fleeting way, you know? I can remember how they looked, cradled in my arms, but how much almost 10 and barely 8 pounds feels? Not really.

Today, for the first time in a long time, I held a baby. A little baby, a barely three weeks old bundle of cute, of thrashing, flailing and crying because I am HUNGRY baby! I later tracked back and realized that the last infant I held was a 4 month old L-man, my nephew who turned 9 last week.

This little guy was born at 8lb 3oz, which puts him between my two weight-wise, but my word, he weighed nothing.

Those of you who have children who are not so small anymore, do you remember how that 8lb child sleeping in your arms felt sooooo heavy?

Yeah, not so much anymore!

My Favorite Season

2012-01-14T23:54:00.002-05:00

Strawberry season!

We had a few days of cold last month and some more in the past week, which makes for much sweeter berries.

Let the maceration begin!

OPI Gelcolor, Ink

2012-01-13T23:45:00.004-05:00

Based on the quantity of people visiting me for info about the OPI Gelcolor product, I decided to skip my usual every other manicure of CND Shellac's Hotski to Tchotchke and go for another round of the OPI Gelcolor manicure.

I really wasn't as impressed with the Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not, based on the Day 14 appearance:
My nail tech, Katie, does a great job with tipping my nails, and I've never had them look as worn down as this manicure does. Even on the CND Shellac manicures that went three weeks, this did not happen.

Katie picked up more of the colors (supply has been an issue on some of the OPI colors), and I opted for Ink. If I'd known she had Suzi says Feng Shui, that would have been my choice.

This is a deep indigo with a prominent small metallic flake in it. It's very striking, especially in sunlight.

OPI has excellent colors, I'm just hoping this one wears better than the previous two rounds...

Networking

2012-01-12T23:39:00.002-05:00

At this level of schooling, it is really important to build one's network. Professors may offer seeds of information in passing that later blossom into project ideas. Classmates may already work in the field and have first hand experience that help you refine your plans.

This semester seems to be full of networking opportunities. I didn't realize it, but I selected three classes with professors I have not had yet (though one remembered me from a volunteering experience and thought I'd been in her class). Then, tonight, the classmate I sat beside is in all three of my classes. This is a first. In the past, I've had several classmates show up in two, but never three.

The biggest networking opportunity came after tonight's class. In talking to J, the classmate in all my classes, I'd mentioned GameTeen's Asperger's. This prompted the instructor to ask me some questions about this. He revealed that he's in the process of applying for a grant to do some interesting research with this student population (completely different from what I want to do), then asked if I knew of others with HFA/Aspergers that would be interested in participating.

I went one better. GameTeen's school director is a Ph.D student at my school. The next few minutes were spent describing the school and student population, how she is already open to the idea of research within the school (when parents agree, that is) and then offered to 'introduce' them to each other via email.

Usually, the student is looking to the professor for networking. I'm glad that when a professor came to me for ideas, I had a connection for him. Hopefully, this connection will be beneficial for GameTeen's school and my professor...

What's For Dinner Wednesday

2012-01-11T22:00:00.003-05:00

It's time to resurrect WFDW! When you have friends emailing and messaging on Facebook, telling you the ingredients they have and what can they make from it, yeah, it's time to do this again. Sorry, no pictures today.

Tonight, no pictures, and someone else provided the inspiration, but my gosh, what good inspiration it was! On New Year's Eve, I posted what we were planning to nosh on for New Year's Eve and asked my friends to share what they were having. A friend mentioned that she had Italian Beef in a crock pot and they'd enjoy it.

Italian Beef may be Ed's most favorite food from his time living in Chicagoland. Chef has picked up on his love of this Windy City sandwich, thanks to the several places around the Tampa Bay area that serve it (Mel's Hot Dogs in Tampa, Old Town Pizzeria in Bloomingdale and Plant City and Down Under Chicago in Lakeland)

Fred's recipe is fairly similar to the ones I found online, and all suggest the same thing-do this in your crock pot. If you set it up before you leave for work in the morning, you'll come home to a house that smells incredible.

Italian Beef (with thanks to my friend FredDog)

a boneless beef roast, 3-5 pounds (I suggest rump or bottom round, I did it with a shoulder roast today and it would have fallen apart if I didn't slice it thick)
1 packet italian dressing seasoning (like Good Seasons)
1 bay leaf
1 tspn onion powder
1 tspn garlic powder
1 tspn dried basil
1 tspn dried oregano
1 tspn dried parsley
1 tspn black pepper
1 tspn salt
for a bite more like what we're used to, add a teaspoon of crushed red pepper, too.
Hoagie rolls

Place the beef in your crock pot on low.
Take all the dry ingredients and put them into 2 cups of water, then boil.
Cook for about six hours. You can shred with a fork, but the traditional restaurant preparation is sliced thin. *We have a manual slicer and I will use it next time. When the meat is done, take it out of the crock pot and slice thin, then return to the au jus.

Then, toast your rolls, slice them open and dip the inside into the au jus. This is meant to be a soggy sandwich! Pile high with the beef and if you can get it, top with giardinera, which our local Sweetbay supermarkets carry.

Ed tells me his coworkers at the job in Chicago would bring crock pots of this to every potluck meal and there never would be any leftovers.

However, I've got leftover au jus here. I'm saving it and will get some roast beef from the deli tomorrow, so that we can have Italian dips with the leftover jus and hoagie rolls.

Yum.

Cooking Channel FTW

2012-01-10T23:45:00.002-05:00

Since Food Network has launched the Cooking channel, we have enjoyed the ability to see older shows that aren't part of the current FN lineup. (Hello, please bring back Doorknock Dinners. Please?) One of the most enjoyable parts of this review of older programming is the nightly Iron Chef America broadcast.

We realized tonight that the shows we've enjoyed this past week have all been Season One programming. Thanks to Wikipedia's list of ICA episodes, it was realized that they've begun playing the shows in order of battle air date.

Now, I'm trying to mark my calendar for the battles I've always wanted to see, but missed for some reason or another.

If you're like us, and want to check out particular battles, they're on episode seven, Battle Catfish tonight. Oh, and Jeffrey Steingarten appears to have judged four of the first seven battles.

Woohoo, food geek television!

Something New

2012-01-09T23:45:00.002-05:00

This semester, I have two online classes. They are scheduled asynchronously, which means that the class does not gather at the same time for live sessions.

For the first time in eleven online classes, this online class will have about half of the sessions online synchronously. At least I don't have to drive to Tampa for class, but it felt strange to be rushing home to be logged in on time.

I was a little worried that world war three would break out with the boys, so I hid on the lanai, with instructions that they shouldn't bug me unless someone was bleeding to death. The good news is that they left me alone. I'm optimistic that they will continue to do this through the rest of the semester, but realistic that it probably won't.

The best part is that I feel I chose well between the two classes that both met tonight. I really like the professor teaching the other class and I definitely will take it later, but this class is much better preparation for next year.

Let the semester begin!

Buried Treasures

2012-01-08T23:07:00.003-05:00

I don't know why, but the last day of semester break is when my motivation kicked into gear with regard to the dozens of household projects I'd wanted to work on. At least I'm rested.

Anyway, we're awaiting the approval from Serta to replace our 20 month old memory foam bed. It has two valleys, which it should not have and this apparently was a problem with many of the beds manufactured in early 2010. Lovely, right? Well, this potential disturbance of the bedroom has inspired me to clear out clothes that don't fit, unpack boxes that haven't been disturbed since we moved to Florida and potentially get the Polynesian Resort armoires out of our garage, painted and placed into the bedroom.

I opened boxes and found all manner of memories, like the wiggle worm that was GameTeen's constant companion his first year of life. Ornaments the boys made us. and going back even further, a blast from my geeky past:

I joked about wearing it to CES (the Consumer Electronics Show), which is going on this week in Las Vegas and Ed says I'd probably have participants offer me top dollar for that shirt.

Alas, the boxed software doesn't have as much sway-I found it on eBay for 1.99.

Still, it's cool to find geeky stuff in the boxes.

Getting Ahead Before the Semester Begins

2012-01-07T23:55:00.002-05:00

I admit my geek status often. Instead of resisting it, why not just go with it?

Anyway, this week, two of the professors posted the syllabi for their classes. Within a couple of hours, they were printed and the assignments for one class were reviewed. A quiz taken, a discussion board topic responded to.

It really was relatively easy stuff, since this is my fourth semester in the program. The other syllabus laid out the seven assignments that must be submitted this semester. One is something I've done before (by virtue of doing video auditions for NFNS) and the rest can be accomplished by creating content for GameTeen's school website. The software we use and will be learning in the class are two products I own and have used quite a few times.

Normally, it isn't wise to do two production based classes in one semester, but there really wasn't anything left to take that I'd like, since I've met all the requirements except the number of credits. Thus, I have another production class, one in which we create actual content for a real client-and it ends up the client is another professor in the program. That will be really cool.

So, I feel like I'm in a good place for this semester. This is good, as I took an incomplete in one of the classes last semester and have this semester to wrap things up. All the more reason to get a jump on these other classes...

Gelcolor by OPI, Day Eight

2012-01-06T23:38:00.002-05:00

The semester doesn't start until Monday, so I can actually do one of these mid-manicure updates this time.

The news? I'm seeing something I've never seen before. Chipping. What's sad is that I'm not doing anything extreme that would cause the polish to chip, in fact, I'm probably doing less than I normally do.

Take a look:

Maybe it's just a bad bottle, or the color has less gel than the last one I had (Bagota Blackberry). I will update again right before I get the next manicure to see how it holds up in the next week.

Still, if I'd had a regular manicure, it would have been completely trashed by now, so in that regard, the OPI Gelcolor is still a win.

Glad I Brought My Ice Scraper With Me

2012-01-05T23:53:00.000-05:00

In my car is an item that I use maybe once every three years...an ice scraper.

It got used this morning.

Momma Knows Best

2012-01-04T22:10:00.002-05:00

About a month before she passed away, my Mom was still going out and about, shopping and trying to entertain family (mainly us, my Aunt, Uncle and cousin who lived about 20 minutes from her). She'd made a trip to the Beall's outlet, where she usually found something for Ed, me or the boys.

For instance, she'd found this Le Creuset knock off enameled cast iron baking pan that I admired. The next few visits to the store, she would scour the shelves, in hopes of finding one for me. She did-and that pan gets a heavy workout, since it is grill safe, oven safe and retains heat so well.

That last trip she made to the stores, she found something for Ed. He'd just returned to the workforce, and she found him a piggy bank. A special piggy bank.

A piggy bank that had a biker hat and "Harley Fund" on the side.

Mom knew, better than anyone, that Ed would be riding a Harley one day. He'd never said it, but she picked up on it just the same.

Mom does know best.

It's Okay to Laugh at the Wimpy Floridian

2012-01-03T23:54:00.001-05:00

Brrrrrrrr!

I sure hope none of you was heading to WDW this week to escape the frozen north!

The Party's Over

2012-01-02T23:46:00.002-05:00

Back to work tomorrow...

It's been very nice having a vacation along with the kids. They start back to school in the morning, while I do next week.

Even though it has been vacation, some of the work of being a TA has been showing up in my school inbox. In a previous semester, we had course developer access to turn in class assignments (which still shows up in Blackboard). Two weeks ago, I got course builder access to previous semesters of the class I'm assisting, so that I could correct dates before importing the content.

This week, this semester's class went live, with everything-builder and instructor permissions. Last night, a new LMS, Instructure, populated. Now, I can help review and grade, modify course content as the Professor sees fit and learn so much useful stuff that I'll need for next year.

So, the vacation party is over, but the fun is beginning for the semester.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T23:59:00.002-05:00

Signs you are getting old:

1. You decide that you and the husband will make one drink for the New Year's festivities. You make a *small* pitcher, enough for 5, maybe six drinks.

2. Your drink selection involves ruling out anything with sodas-just in case you don't drink it all...

3. You make these two drinks, and one of those is all you end up drinking. The husband pours a second, which he does not finish.

4. You both get supremely buzzed off the quantity of these drink you consume.

and the biggie...
5. There is still half of that small pitcher left over!

Next year, I think I'll just mix each drink!

Let There Be Peace on Earth

2011-12-31T15:52:00.004-05:00

As the year ends, we all pause to reflect on what happened in our past and to look forward to what is in store in the coming year.

Instead of going that route, I'll share something that I look forward to during the holidays when I can get over to Epcot, the add on to IllumiNations, Let There Be Peace on Earth.

(Next year, I'll make sure to sit under a speaker when I tape this-and maybe have a wider angle lens to capture it all!)

Gelcolor by OPI, Louvre Me Louvre Me Not

2011-12-30T16:43:00.004-05:00

Today was my second time getting an OPI Gelcolor manicure.

For those of you who landed here by searching "OPI Gelcolor" or "Louvre Me, Louvre Me Not" (and I know you're coming, trust me), I'll provide you with a little backstory. I'm most definitely NOT a girly-girl, but I coveted nice-looking nails.

I hate the look of acryllics, hate that the nail techs use dremels to remove those or the earlier Gel coatings and well, especially hated that cooking, doing dishes and swimming kind of ruled out having silk wraps done. So, my nails looked like crap most of the time.

Enter CND's Shellac. It goes on like polish, lasts two weeks and protects my nails? Sign me up. There are many posts of the various Shellac manicures I've had done by my lovely nail tech, Katie. (Seriously, if you're near Lakeland, email me and I'll set you up-she is awesome.) The color selection was 18 when I started, now is 24 and 6 more are announced for March. Not bad, but not as good as the plethora of OPI colors you can find in nail salons and beauty supplies.

Then OPI got into the UV Gel polish market with soak off product. It was launched with 30 colors (and many of the most popular OPI colors were launched with it, like I'm Not Really A Waitress) and many more are coming out.

I'm not a pink or orange person, because they don't look great on me. You'll see the out there colors if you look at my links, but I photograph every new color and write about them here, so roughly every two weeks, there's a new shade posted.

I am NOT a professional in the nail industry, I don't work for OPI or CND, I just love the fact that they create nail product for people like me, who have soft nails and don't like to waste money on a traditional manicure for it to be wrecked in two days when I scrub a pot.

Okay, that was long winded, but here are pictures of today's manicure in Louvre Me, Louvre Me not and some feedback afterwards.

At the salon, the color looks kind of like a cross between plum and raisin. A nice deep color, more towards the creme side.
When I admired Katie's handiwork on the way home, I noticed a subtle metallic effect. Metallic good, I like it!

If you have fair skin, like me, this one will really stand out, as will my rings-since Katie put them in the ultrasonic jewelery cleaner for me. :)

Okay, the feedback, since I forgot to follow up with any pictures or commentary after I got Bagota Blackberry, but we'll blame that on my frenzy at the end of the semester.

If you're a diligent, standing appointment with your nail tech every two weeks kind of person, you will notice that CND's Shellac and OPI's Gelcolor are pretty much identical in wear. Both hold up to me using a brillo pad on my pots, typing for hours on the computer, and generally, forgetting that I have a nice manicure on my hands. As it should be, IMO. Other than the color selection, you will be safe choosing a shade you like and having your nail tech do the rest. (and I suspect many nail techs who do one, will do the other.)

The feedback I've gotten from my nail tech and several others is that Gelish and Geltastic do not fare nearly as well. I haven't tried either, nor do I plan to, so I can't offer an honest comparison.

Where is the difference, you ask? With the Shellac, there have been a couple of times where I had to go three weeks between manicures (and once where we went four, but I soaked them off myself). My first round of the OPI Gelcolor had to stay on three weeks, because I was sick and not getting a very busy Katie sick before the holidays.

The OPI starts to flake and chip at the 17-18 day mark, and at that, it flakes off like traditional polish when you've put too many coats on your nail. However, when it does-it doesn't appear to do damage to the nail underneath. On the flip side, the Shellac adheres so well that other than normal nail growth, there are no signs of it chipping, flaking or disintegrating. (I should have taken a picture this morning, day 17 on this round of my favorite, Hotski to Tchotchke to show how well it wore.)

Since I have a pretty regular thing going every other Friday (barring illness or travel), this is not a negative to me in the least. I will gladly use both CND and OPI's products on my nails and enjoy the fact that I've got 54 colors (and counting) to choose from.

Oh, and since I seem to get so much traffic from those searching out these products, I will start a gallery post in the blog to show all the colors I have had done. Link will be added once that happens. In the mean time, search the tags below for the one that interest you and hopefully, my experience helps you in your quest for information.

**I am not paid for these posts, I just really like that I finally have something girly that I can wear that won't get ruined in my daily pursuits!**

Indulgences

2011-12-29T23:18:00.004-05:00

Some of the best indulgences don't cost a dime.

I love to take long soaks in a very warm bath. It's an indulgence, because a soak in the tub means I'm spending an hour, getting pruny fingers and reading a favorite book. Alas, this is one indulgence I don't engage in much during the semester, because taking textbooks into the tub is not a good idea.

(Hello, Clumsy, the 8th dwarf here. Expensive textbooks do not like getting bathed!)

So, many of my favorite books may be in the bookshelves as both a hardback and a paperback, so that I can drag one along for the relaxing time in the tub. It's not like the one I used to have:

The next house will have a tub like this-but a jacuzzi

but the water is hot and if I've got a good book, I'm happy.

The bummer part is that for Banned Books week, I volunteered to read a selection from the Diary of Anne Frank. I don't know where my copy is amidst the many boxes of books that need a bookshelf, so Game Teen and I visited a used bookstore and I picked up some paperback copies of favorite books, with plans to read them during the semester break.

Too bad they're sitting on my desk at work! Instead of following up Nelson DeMille's Charm School with Cardinal of the Kremlin (both dated, but fantastic stories), I'm going for one of the John Corey/Kate Mayfield books he wrote, The Lion's Game.

Oh yeah, I'll be a pink prune for sure.

The Things We Forget

2011-12-28T23:56:00.004-05:00

We've lived in Florida 7.5 years. It's been long enough that 60 degree temperatures seem cold and 95 isn't all that hot. That's a big change from when I was a kid, where 85 in the summer seemed oppressively warm.

As it is winter, we're hitting the other extreme, the cold end. The first year we were here, we were still wearing shorts at 50 degrees, because that is shorts weather where we lived.

What I forgot is when it was that cold, my wrists hurt from mid-October until mid-March. I spent most of the winter in splints to try to minimize the pain. Even with numerous surgeries to repair acute issues, they just were not happy campers. (My orthopedist told me arthritis was a when, not if proposition.)

Then we moved to Florida and the wrists wouldn't hurt unless I did something stupid, like move from one house to another.

Today, the wrists and elbow hurt from the moment I woke up. I didn't do anything extreme, in fact, the vacation has been very relaxing, so why the heck did I hurt so much?

Two words: Cold Front.

It's supposed to dip into the 40's tonight-the perfect temperature for when my wrists would hurt on general principles in Maryland and New York.

With this, the planned summer road trip itinerary to visit potential universities that I can be employed by post-doctorate probably will not venture as far north as anticipated. I don't want to deal with these wrists all winter long ever again.

Ouch

2011-12-27T22:54:00.002-05:00

I ordered this case a few days before I got my iPad.

As it was designed for the first gen iPads, it wasn't a perfect fit, but I was okay with that. I had plans to take a dremel to the back to make the opening for the front camera lens a little bigger and create a hole for the back camera lens.

Alas, once in the case, it would. not. come. out! I tried several times and since the camera wasn't that big a deal, I didn't press the issue.

Today, the iPad was in my bag when I was headed into the supermarket. Somehow, as I was exiting the car, the iPad fell about 3 feet to the ground and the case fell off. A quick glance and everything looked okay, and I was relieved. I left it in the car.

Then I got home and found this:

Not even a scratch or dent in the aluminum case-just the glass. Ugh!

I'm thinking as much as I love my case, I'm going to replace it.

What a Grade Stalker Does in the Off Season

2011-12-26T23:52:00.002-05:00

Throughout the semester, I am known as a grade stalker. The quest for A's makes me this way, I need the rush of seeing those >90 numbers in the grade book all semester long. So, when the semester is over, it's hard to break that habit.

This semester, though, I have another activity to replace it. See, I selected my three classes for the upcoming semester with one that meets every week on campus, one that meets *most* weeks on campus (we're not sure how many yet) and a third online class. I'm paying an extra $150 for online delivery, so I know it's online.

Except that about two weeks ago, that professor changed it from online delivery to add "weekly Elluminate sessions every Monday night from 6-8pm", which conflicts with one of the other classes. Really? You add this now? I was excited about all three classes, but the two I really wanted have class meetings the same night. Ugh.

So, I first emailed the professor who just added the Elluminate session and asked about it, whether it can be viewed later or if there was a reason for that specific time. Yes, she replied, we have a real client this semester, and that's the time the client chose. The course is only offered in the spring, so if I don't take it this semester, well, I'll have to wait until next spring, but the idea of working with a real client? I don't want to pass on that.

So, the professor who is teaching the other class (a research class I also want to take before the doctoral program) got my next email. We won't meet every week, but the research team needs to meet to make the schedule) and well, the class sessions are necessary.

Crap.

Adding to the dilemma is that one class has 5 students registered, the other has dropped from 10 to 6 enrolled and the department guideline is eight students must be registered to hold these classes. I may very well lose both classes to low enrollments, but I don't want to be the cause of either one. I've kept both classes, then added a fallback class that has 19 students, so it will not be canceled.

Now? I'm stalking both classes to see whether the numbers have gone up. One of the professors told me that 10 permits were issued for the class, so the potential does exist that people are being lazy. If they don't register by the 3rd or 4th, though, the CoE will tell the professors the classes must be dropped.

At least the research class will be offered in the summer if it is dropped. I hate the idea of that one going (this is the professor that I will be one of the TAs this semester), but if I have to choose one to go, that's probably it.

Oh, and in talking to the program coordinator last week, (I seriously love the woman!) everything she suggested was already done. When I said I'd already chosen a fallback that was more of a foundation course than practical, she said that'd be her next suggestion. Two practicals in one semester is a recipe for tearing my hair out! And when I said 'at least this semester is all electives,' she commented that it's rare for that to be the case for someone in the last semester. Yeah, well, I looked at the requirements and tried to get them out of the way first!

So, the next couple of weeks are quiet on the school front, but not on the school stalking front!

Low Key

2011-12-25T23:53:00.002-05:00

After five years of chaotic Christmases, due to the hospitalization of one family member or another (or me recovering from surgery), it was very, very nice to go nowhere, get no calls from a hospital, visit a hospital and just stay home in our jammies all day.

We all had naps at some point.

A nice dinner, some cookies and time to relax and recharge?

That's exactly what we needed this year.

Merry Christmas to all!

(and tomorrow, I'll probably tip my hat to my friends celebrating Channukah by making brisket and latkes.)

Merry Crabcakemas!

2011-12-24T23:14:00.003-05:00

A tradition continues in the SuzanneCalling household: the Christmas meal of crabcakes!

I hope your holidays (Christmas or Channukah) are filled with wonders and joys, the people you love around you and the foods you love in your belly.

(and tomorrow, maybe I'll finally get that video uploaded!)

Holidays in Epcot

2011-12-23T23:58:00.006-05:00

Considering that I started uploading a 4 minute video TWO hours ago and it hasn't completed yet, this post is now modified to show you pictures of our evening at Epcot.

Hopefully, I'll have a video uploaded for your enjoyment...

A Wrapping Tutorial Revisited

2011-12-22T21:14:00.002-05:00

A few years back, I posted a tutorial on how to wrap presents, with accompanying photographs for the critical steps in the process.

I am debating recreating this in video form. Anyone want to tell me if they could use a video guide?

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2011-12-21T23:56:00.002-05:00

Well, maybe not. This is, after all, Florida-the lowest number on the thermometer has been 53 in the morning during the past week.

However, at work, you can tell something's up. There are coworkers I haven't seen for a week. Add that to the 10 day break our employer gives us and it adds up to a very nice vacation. Alas, my classification doesn't get paid time off, so it was not an option.

It will be interesting tomorrow. We shut down on Friday, and I suspect those who didn't have a whole week of vacation to use probably added tomorrow to their time off in order to get last minute things done.

I think we'll get in the Christmas spirit Friday with a detour over to Orlando. It'll feel like I'm playing hooky!

Ways to Tell it is Semester Break

2011-12-20T21:32:00.003-05:00

You can find a parking spot in the front row.

The line at the bookstore is only 3 people deep.

You maintain your level of checking school email, but no new mail arrives 8 out of 10 times you check.

Your desk starts to resemble something other people use.

Your computer now has folders for all the classes you took, they're sorted by semester and then by class.

The year's worth of photographs you've taken now are sorted into topics, all 32gigs worth. Or was that 64?

In any event, the things that one says need to be done finally do get accomplished when the schoolwork goes away.

Cookie Marathon

2011-12-19T23:37:00.003-05:00

With the kids off from school, Chef asked if we can bake cookies. I said we sure can, and we decided what cookies to make. Both boys wanted sugar cookies, I figured Ed wanted either chocolate pb chip or peanut butter and I wanted my krytonite, rainbow cookies.

a recent batch at our favorite restaurant, Romeo's.

Once I mentioned Rainbow Cookies, Chef was excited. Typically, we only get those when we visit New York-the ones pictured above are the first batch that we've seen Chef Manuela put into the dessert cooler of awesomeness in the two years we've been going to Romeo's.

Anyway, the quantity of baking requires preparation, lots of it. My body rebels against that amount of standing, so today, I got a brainstorm: why not prep all the dry ingredients into storage bags, label them, and then tomorrow, I wouldn't have to stand so long?

It was inspired, it was great, it had a major flaw: the 25 pound bag of flour was in Ed's van.

Oh well.

I think the cookie marathon will take place on Wednesday, instead.

Pictures to follow, and you'll be glad you don't have smellovision...

Holiday Traditions, the Next Generation

2011-12-18T23:38:00.002-05:00

I'm wondering what my kid's spouses will think someday, because the things that make them think 'holiday' may be a little strange.

For instance, this time of year, the local grocery stores begin stocking the Hebrew National cocktail franks. Of course, this means I buy them and a package of crescent roll dough. It's ideal finger food for New Year's eve, but I know full well that once the kids find them, the jig is up.

Which is what happened this afternoon. I was napping, because the cold has been brutal. GameTeen woke me up, waving the package of cocktail franks in front of my face. 'Can we have these?', only slightly less excited than if I told him I was letting him buy all the video games he wanted at Game Stop.

So, yes, they had pigs in blankets for dinner.

As far as my kids are concerned, this surely means Christmas is right around the corner...

Renovation Realities

2011-12-17T23:59:00.002-05:00

Ed has found a new show to watch, DIY's 'Renovation Realities.' Honestly, I am not an expert at home renovations. I can wield a hammer, I know how to paint, drywall and do basic repairs, but I cringe at what people do on this show.

For instance, on one show, a guy put a window in his garage by eyeballing it. No tape measure, no levels, just cut out a hole for it where the homeowner wanted to put it for his man cave.

Many of the other shows are equally scary. I think I've watched a half dozen of these with Ed so far (I suspect he saw a lot of these when he was out of work), and only ONE was successful in getting his renovation done on time and on budget. The rest, well, they haven't put a lot of research into the project before they start demolition.

There are projects we'd like to do here eventually, and I feel a lot better about those prospects before beginning, because:

Ed likes to do a lot of research before embarking on something major.
Ed has done drywall, electrical and other home remodeling.
I majored in technical theatre, so I built stuff and painted-and demolished.
I also will do research before anything gets started.

Normally, I can't tolerate train wrecks like these, but somehow, I'm drawn to watching the epic failures. Am I the only one?

Two iTunes Accounts, One House

2011-12-16T22:37:00.007-05:00

When we got our iPods, Ed and I set up separate iTunes accounts. It made sense, because while I like about 90% of the music he likes, he probably hates about 80% of the remaining stuff I listen to (he HATES 80's music, tolerates my jazz and we won't even talk about my choral music passion.)

Anyway, this wasn't such a big deal, we had separate accounts and we each were happy that way. When GameTeen and Chef got their nano and ip (Chef said it was too tiny to get the whole iPod moniker), the size limitations meant their libraries were housed in my account.

This worked out for quite a few years, until we got iPhones. For the most part, Ed championed the free app, and I actually started spending the money I'd placed in my iTunes account. We existed without complaint, until I bought a $15.00 app that Ed coveted.

GoSkyWatch, a fantastic astronomy application that allows you to point your phone at the sky and it tells you which constellation you are looking at. Fantastic app to have on camping trips.

Ed wanted it, and he wasn't about to spent that kind of money on it when I'd already done it. So we went along, one of us having an app that the other wanted, refusing to give Apple more money for something we already owned.

Then we got two iPads and it got worse, because we wanted more apps. Ed bought Garage Band for iPad and I wasn't spending money on it-even though I wanted it. I'd purchased Lego Harry Potter and Hipstamatic (and add on lenses) and he wanted those. We recently found a way to fix our dilemma:

We signed into iTunes with each other's accounts, authorized the machines (under the Store tab) and then selected 'purchased' from the Quick Links menu.

Now I have the apps from his account that I want and vice versa-and you can, too.

Here's a quick video I made to walk you through the process:

Then, if you need the visual cues, here's my front page in the iTunes store:

On the right, down the list of quick links, look for 'purchased'. Once you select it, this is what will appear:

You'll notice a 'download' or a cloud tab next to each app listed. This is important to note for the next step.

Now, I've logged into Ed's iTunes account:

You really can't tell at this point, so will skip to the screen that appears when I clicked 'purchased'.

Here's the difference, the apps are completely different. Again, iTunes will show downloaded or the cloud. Once you've entered the second account, just select the apps you'd like to add to your device, then select sync to add them to your queue.

Then, click on the device, in my case "Ring of Sauron" and run your sync again. You now have the apps you want on your iDevice.

Thankfully, Ed and I don't have to sulk that the other one has a cool app and our wallets don't get emptied as quick.

Apple states that this should only be done for iTunes accounts registered to the same address, but I know quite a few families who have multiple devices and accounts and they haven't figured this out, either.

Damn, I Take a Lot of Pictures!

2011-12-15T23:58:00.002-05:00

Easily 50 gig on my hard drive is taken up by the pictures I've taken since late January, when I got my Nikon.

The cataloging of these pictures hasn't been high on my list. Meanwhile, when I put the SD card into the Mac, it creates a new numbered folder, and there's no way to tell what is in each folder, so yesterday, I started organizing the 200+ folder, after which I realized that there were pictures I did not locate.

Off to iPhoto, to find about another 10 gig of pictures. I guess I'll be cataloging some more tomorrow night, but for now, I found all the pictures of stuff I'll be putting up on eBay.

This, of course, was the purpose of going through the albums in the first place. I love semester breaks, when I catch up on all manner of housekeeping!

Scratch One Off the List

2011-12-14T23:48:00.002-05:00

As my plans after I finish the Ph.D involve teaching other educators how to implement technology in their classrooms, there has been something that I have been seeking to do-get a job as a teaching assistant.

It's important to me, as I need to see how to transfer my skills as a manager/trainer to use them effectively in the classroom. There are so many more things to consider when you're assigning work that helps student transfer the knowledge they gathered during class, grading that work for their ability to do so and facilitating class engagement.

So, today, I met with the professor of one of my classes this past semester and, along with two others, we'll be the teaching assistants next semester. It's an unpaid role, but I'm thinking the experience will be payment enough towards being a better doctoral candidate.

Who knows, maybe there will be a paid role in my future because I decided to take an unpaid one now. It was pretty neat to sit in the professor's office and hammer out the schedule changes for next semester, then get into the course tools and modify everything.

I'd Rather Not Share

2011-12-13T23:08:00.000-05:00

When we're talking about a cold, you can keep it to yourself!

Alas, Ed and Chef shared with me and now I'm all stubbed up. It is a little frustrating.

I'm going to take some cold meds and get to sleep...

Every Girl Crazy 'Bout a Sharp Dressed Man

2011-12-12T23:51:00.002-05:00

Things change in a year.

Last spring, Chef's chorus concert involved wearing a school chorus tee shirt, a pair of khaki and lots of disorganization.

This year, new director and new rules. Still an excessive amount of disorganization (coming in to tell the audience in one section "You can't sit here, the chorus needs these seats five minutes before the performance? Not good), but the new director has some good ideas.

First up, the students wore concert dress: white dress shirts, black bottoms and black shoes. She provided ties for the boys. I'm thinking he looks pretty sharp, don't you think?

Don "Ducky" Williams

2011-12-11T23:13:00.006-05:00

Back in July, I bought tickets to an AllEarsNet December to Remember event. Yes, in July (while I was on vacation, in fact). Why? Because this picture, hanging in my living room:
was illustrated by Don 'Ducky' Williams, who was the guest speaker at a luncheon at Epcot. I was definitely going to this one! (Alas, I had two tickets and went solo-Ed couldn't get out of work)

I'm so glad I did. Don's path to Disney is an interesting story of how a banker eventually realized his dream of working for Walt Disney. He even has the letter that Walt sent him as a kid, when Don had wrote him about job prospects when he was ten years old. I won't spill all, because you need to go on a Disney Cruise and hear Don tell it himself.

Basically, he is a one man Walt Disney illustrator. Those park maps you pick up? Don does those. He also does all the illustrations that you find on the cruises, for special park events and just about everything except merchandise. You name a character, Don draws it. He tells us that he hates drawing the castle, the cruise ship and Spaceship Earth because of the minute detail needed. Though if you look at any of his artwork of the cruise ships, you'll notice it's only illustrated to the first stack!
Ariel's hair saves Ducky from drudge work!

It was time well spent, but Don had to go after lunch. After leaving the Odyssey, I took a quick jaunt around the lower end of the world showcase to get some pictures...

It was nice to see the holiday decorations, too.

This last picture sums up the day-hearing a talented illustrator's memories of his path to working for Disney.

If you have a chance, and are in Walt Disney World in the beginning of December, check out Deb Wills' AllEarsNet.com and look into attending these events next year!

If You're Wondering

2011-12-10T23:59:00.002-05:00

I have done the research for you.

In what arena, you ask?

You can complete ten weeks worth of graduate-level school work in ten days-and pull an A out of your butt.

You can, but gosh, you really don't want to put yourself through that kind of pressure!

As the content in that class can change dramatically in three years time, I think I want to take it again in the doctoral program. And next time, I won't condense 10 weeks into ten days!

Do You See a Problem Here?

2011-12-09T23:12:00.003-05:00

Well, do you?

I'm still plugging away at the work due for my class. If I get it turned in by tomorrow morning, I still get credit, so here I am. The current module is about virtual worlds in education.

So, I found what I thought would be a good site, geared towards young kids and well, I spent about three hours, setting up kids accounts for the boys, taking screen shots and using some of the features of the site, but every time I tried to use the virtual world, it'd hose up. Finally, I did some digging and found that error message and as soon as I hit line three, realized I had a big problem.

Netscape hasn't been around for a very long time. Firefox is currently on version 8 for Mac and they tend to go a year or two between major upgrades.

So this site, which is still taking money for subscriptions from families to use their services, has not upgraded the infrastructure in about five or six years. Glad I was just exploring for class and hadn't plunked down money for this thing!

Life Happens

2011-12-08T22:11:00.002-05:00

Regarding yesterday's post, I installed QuickTime 7 Pro to do two assignments. $30.00 for software I may never use again.

One of those assignments requires an unknown plug in for me to download a scrambled MP3 to edit, then send the new file back to the Prof. Easy peasy stuff for me to do, provided I can download the file!

The other item was a six word memoir. We had to use a musical bed, fade in and out and add an audio track. My six words have been heard by many of my friends over the years, though I had to take a word out. Now it's "Life Happens When Making Other Plans"

Alas, I need to find a host for audio tracks, so it won't be added today, but soon.

You Can't Get There From Here with QuickTime

2011-12-07T23:58:00.004-05:00

Apparently, QuickTime wants to make things a little difficult.

See, my lovely Mac 2.0 came loaded with QuickTime 10 (or X, depending on which nomenclature you're looking through). There is a QuickTime 7 Pro, but since it's an earlier version, you cannot upgrade 10 with 7 Pro.

This begins some fun and I'm sharing it here in case others are googling "QuickTime Pro 7 Installation" or "QuickTime X to Quicktime Pro" and wondering what the deal with this install is all about.

So, if you're like me and paid 30 bucks for your QuickTime Pro 7, only to find it doesn't install.

First, go to the Apple website, then select the OS you have (in my case, 10.6.8). Download that version of QuickTime 7.

That version will not show up in your home row. No, you'll find it in your applications menu, in the Utilities folder. Click on the Quicktime icon to launch it.

Next, go into the QuickTime pull down menu at the top left of your screen and the third item down will be registration. It'll pull up a nice little alert box like this:

(I removed my information).

Now, Apple's directions are for you to enter your info, and the product key that came in your email, then tab to trigger the program to unlock and switch you to pro.

Mine isn't doing that, despite cutting and pasting directly from the Apple Store email. I'm not sure what the issue is, but would really prefer it if Apple just would put a nice little onclick button that says 'upgrade' and an alert box to tell me that there's a problem with my code.

Alas, I just have to wait until tomorrow to find out what is wrong.

***Update***
Upon some further digging this morning, I found that, unlike everything else installed on the Mac, QuickTime doesn't give you a tone to tell you that you've unlocked the pro version, nor does it change the icon to reflect Pro (as stated on Apple's website) in your applications menu.

This is how you verify that your version (7.3.X) has been upgraded to Pro (7.6.6):

First, in QuickTime, use the pull down menu to select Registration.

The box shown earlier in my post is what you will see. Enter your information, press tab, or enter-there is NO indication that the information has been accepted at this point. But you can check it.

Don't bother with your tool bar, because it will still show this:

But, if you go back into the QuickTime pull down menu, select About QuickTime 7 and this alert box appears:

Here is where your icon indicates the upgrade to Pro. To verify that you're not imagining things, just make sure you've got version 7.6.6.

And Apple, you really should think about changing the information on the website, because the icon only changes in the 'About' tab and nowhere else. Another help would be to use the chime tone once the registration code unlocks Pro. Just some simple, user friendly ways to help your customer base. :)

Gift Exchange

2011-12-06T23:39:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was my employer's holiday party and gift exchange. Bring a gift, valued at a minimum of $15.00 to participate and we'd have some fun.

Well, I wasn't told that it was a Yankee Gift Exchange, Chinese Gift Exchange or Dirty Santa, so I thought it'd be a case of we all put our gifts in and just randomly pick. No, it was what I've come to know as Dirty Santa and apparently, it is a spectator sport! Over 30 participated, but another 15 or 20 were in the conference room with us, watching the proceedings.

I drew a low number and so when this was in my bag, I took a picture, which was labeled "So not going home with me"

It was maybe 6 or 7 people later, it was yanked because they couldn't resist the lottery tickets. This was in the bag, and since there were already 3 other bottle of Bailey's in play.

A few turns later, the call of the truffles must have been too much for someone else, and I 'stole' this. As it had been stolen 3 other times, I knew it would probably leave me, especially since it's a $50.00 champagne.

Alas, Vueve and I couldn't stay friends, but that left me the opportunity to make the fifth steal on this one, so it came home with me.

I learned some strategies for next time-and if at all possible, sit next to the CEO, because the guy really had some tricks up his sleeve. (And he always had a bottle of booze in front of him, despite being a non-drinker.

Love Ya, Mean It

2011-12-05T23:23:00.002-05:00

I 'met' Robin online sometime in 2003. We both were members of the DISboards, and it was impossible not to notice this woman who could turn an ordinary trip to the supermarket into a story so hilarious, you just laugh a little too hard and need to run to the bathroom.

Her trips to Walt Disney World were cataloged in similar humorous fashion. Heck, her way of dealing with RSD was to write in similar fashion about her 'moon boots'. It was a post about RSD on the Disboards that got the two of us to send long emails to each other about the pain that no one else (at that time) truly understood.

When I said that I felt like someone had my big toe stuck in an electric socket and my leg was getting the shock, Robin would say "I KNOW!" I had the advantage of asking one other person about what I experienced, a doctor who is an expert in treating the disease and understood.

I thought I'd written about her here on the blog at one point, but it looks like she just got a mention in my 1,000th post. I did get mentioned on her blog when the DISboards banned a bunch of us three years ago. For a period of time, we spent quite a few late nights on the phone, talking about the hell that RSD can be.

She moved to Orlando, we kept saying we'd get together, but life got in the way on both ends. She moved back up to Maine and through Facebook, we'd chat here and there. A couple of months ago, she posted that she was in the hospital, with some substantial blood clots.

That's scary stuff, folks. She needed surgery for another issue, but doctors don't open you up with clots. A mutual friend and I spoke with each other about our fears for her, especially since for the first time, 'Wobin' wasn't writing-about anything.

A couple of hours ago, I received word that Robin Costello died this morning. While we never met, the woman is someone who seriously touched my life and helped me more than she knew in that we could talk about our situations with complete understanding.

I'm thankful that I got to know the woman behind the words, that I've got her blog to visit to get a laugh at her way of turning the ordinary into extraordinary, but I'm sad that she died so young, with so much to offer the world.

Robin, Love you, Mean it. For always.

Ethics, Copyright Protection, Privacy and Facebook

2011-12-04T23:55:00.000-05:00

I'm plugging away at seven week's worth of work in one of my classes, with two and a half done as of this writing.

The module I spent the day reading and reading some more about is copyright laws as they pertain to education. Then the second half of the module covered ethical dilemmas with technology and the internet, such as 'should the police be able to track a person's movements via their cell phone GPS?"

One of the scenarios I had to read and reflect upon was the ethics of a mom discovering her college aged daughter's blog and Facebook pages. Is it snooping, is it not? I opted on the side of not, because we can have private blogs and Facebook pages can (and really should) be locked down.

Ah, but then I had to peruse a list of discussion topics and present an ethical dilemma for my classmates. I looked at it and this immediately came to mind. It was really easy to propose a scenario within the instructor's guidelines, because I lived through the exact question we had.

I'm wondering if the class will share the opinion of 99% of the population or that of the person who did it?

Dropbox

2011-12-03T23:04:00.003-05:00

Group projects have gotten a lot more comprehensive in graduate school. Before, it was just text documents going back and forth and there was Google docs or email for those. On the rare occasion that I had to share something larger, the school provides a Content Collection and I could share with specified people.

The problem with using that option is that, while my storage capacity is pretty big, I had to set permissions for each and every file. Even if the same five people had access to twenty documents, I had to do the permissions for each upload. It was slow and cumbersome.

This semester, the project is a space hog. I just realized that I've used up nearly 200 gig on my hard drive with all the components that I've created for this thing. (A, the graphic designer, may have used as much space with all the artwork, too). Many times, we've tried to email files to each other, only to get stopped because they're over Google's 25meg file limit.

A couple of weeks ago, I solicited my techie friends for their preferences in file sharing and the answers came quickly. Unanimously, everyone suggested Dropbox. They have pay services, but the free account met my needs.

I set up a dropbox of my own, set up permissions, emailed a link to A, and I was good to go. The dropbox actually shows up in my toolbar at the top of my monitor and in the left toolbar in my Finder menu, so all I have to do is drag and drop anything I wish to share into the box.

A little housekeeping is needed to get things into the right folders if you're like me and have this HUGE project to organize. We have Audio, Video and Text folders, then sub folders within those to make it easy to locate any one of the 22 audio files or 7 videos I made for this thing.

It's great for schoolwork, but you can use it to share information long distance, pictures, videos, etc. If you haven't heard of it, and you have the need to share data, check it out!

A Flock of Seagulls Called...

2011-12-02T00:29:00.001-05:00

They want Robert Pattinson to give their hair style back:

The Candy Dish Experiment

2011-12-01T21:26:00.002-05:00

When I first started this job, I'd get asked pretty regular by visitors "where's your candy dish?" Apparently, at one time, someone saw fit to stock a candy dish and did so for a while. No one in my department can remember exactly who did it or for how long.

We relocated our department and in my desk was a pretty crystal candy dish. Eventually, when buying Halloween candy, I figured I'd get a bag of candy for the dish at work and make the visitors happy.

Thus began the candy dish experiment.

An occupational hazard of analyzing things all the time for work, for school and for future research is that even when you don't intend to dissect a topic, you do. I bought a bag of Tootsie rolls midgies and they were gone in just under two days. I had occasion to go to the dollar store for something else and grabbed a bag of Smarties, and the next morning, I refilled the candy bowl.

Those lasted a week and took us to the day after Halloween. I visited Target to pick up some items for Ed's convalescence at home and found some sale DumDum lollipops. Hey, for 65 cents, I'd put a bag of those to the test. (I also bought a bag of variety Tootsie Roll products and the very large bag barely lasted a week)

They lasted three weeks.

In this time, I was posting Facebook updates and my coworkers were having great fun with my feedback that people LOVE tootsie rolls and tolerate lollipops. We talked about the merits of various candies, what might go quickly and what people just abjectly hate. At some point, it was mentioned that people probably don't like Jolly Ranchers very much. I like them, but I dislike the fact that in sucking one for a half hour, my teeth feel like they've got a coating of slime on them afterwards.

Tuesday night, I stopped at WalMart, searching for Warheads or Atomic Fireballs, certain that these would be taken from the candy dish in desperation. A visitor and I discussed various candies one day and he advanced the opinion that when offered free candy, very few people will turn it down.

So, WalMart didn't have the Fireballs or Warheads, but they did have the Jolly Ranchers. They went into the bowl Wednesday morning. At the rate of consumption I'm observing, the bowl will be empty tomorrow afternoon. Curiously, this is the first bowl of candy on my desk that has merited the question "May I have one?" from roughly every other person who takes a candy.

The unofficial report is that Tootsie Rolls are currently number one, Jolly Ranchers are liked a little less, Smarties are okay and lollipops are the current last resort. However, I'm now getting offers of candy purchases from friends to continue this unscientific experiment.

The questions are fun, like

Have you tried Hershey's Kisses yet? No, but I'll buy a sale bag of them after Christmas to explore. I think they'll go extremely fast.

What about Reese's Peanut Butter cup miniatures? I suspect those won't last an hour, even with me keeping my paws out of the candy dish to keep things honest.

Do you think you could expand it to see which flavor is most popular? Yes, and we're even searching for a compartmentalized candy dish with cover to see if my theory on black jelly beans is accurate. (However, when I said I was thinking of being evil and using Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, the friend did not know what I was talking about.)

I mentioned to the friend that we need to tip off a psychology student enrolled in research methods to try this one at work. Every semester, that class requires students to conduct some basic research and this one would fit the bill.

And if you come visit me at work, you know you'll find something in the candy dish. Consider yourself warned that it just might not be something you like-and it's all in the name of Suzanne's unscientific research on Candy Dish contents!

Wha........

2011-11-30T23:03:00.002-05:00

Yes, the magazine crap continues. On the deputy's suggestion, we got a post office box and it is filled nearly every day with the magazines. (Not only are the people immature, their responsible for the destruction of tree after tree. Jerks.)

Anyway, I can tell you now, since I get several of each every month now of these, none of the Vogue, Elle or Cosmos arrive intact. Usually, it's a torn in half cover. This time, I got the baggie that apologized for my damaged mail and it looked like this:

Yep, that is just the cover. I'm glad it's one less magazine, because those particular magazines have fragrance inserts. However, GameTeen's school and my college classmates might be a little bummed-the fashion magazines are the first that people snatch up when I come bearing a pile of the annoying things. At least others are getting some enjoyment out of them.

Kumbayah

2011-11-29T21:47:00.002-05:00

**I asked for some writing prompts from others tonight, and this is the first of them, suggested by my friend, Bob. Why? Because my professor tonight said that doctoral students should spend an hour a day writing on various topics to hone their ability to discourse. This one was good.***

I consider myself fortunate in that I grew up with parents who were politically aware, without spouting an extreme opinion either way. We had many conversations in the car and around the dinner table about current events and they gave perspectives to situations that went beyond what the news reported. Probably the most important thing is that they encouraged curiosity. If we asked questions, we got thoughtful responses.

The funniest part of it was that they both were registered members of the Republican party, but their ideology was mostly fell with the Democrats. One thing both of my parents agreed on is issues voting, that is, they explored the candidates and selected one who aligned with their views more than any other candidate. Sometimes, that meant choosing the Right to Life Candidate, even though they both were pro-choice.

So, when I turned 18 and promptly registered to vote, my dad and I had a serious conversation about the registering Republican thing. The Republican party was king in our county and if you wanted something done, or a job with the county, you registered GOP. Yeah, I know it shouldn't matter-but sometimes it does. Two years later, I was disgusted with the two party system and went independent.

A few years on and a move to another part of the country, I found myself surrounded by many who did not share the point of view that politics and elections should be decided on issues, not just the affiliation you had on your voter registration card (mine now had Democrat). Instead, if asked for an opinion, I'd get derided for having one that didn't match the rhetoric of a radio host that the person listened to every afternoon.

Meanwhile, it was important to me to listen to the candidates speak, to read their platform and weigh which one aligned with my point of view. Maturity slowly colored that a bit to help me decide that the speeches were from the 'I'll say whatever they want me to in order to win the election.' It meant that sometimes, that lever went down on a Republican candidate.

I moved just outside the beltway (we're talking 3 miles) and at nearly 30, I found my political brethren. People from all political ideologies, all willing to gather the differing opinions for the sake of understanding. My assistant manager was the most conservative fellow you would ever meet and he and I had some of the most fascinating discussions on topics like gun control, immigration and taxes. It was good to get a differing perspective.

A few years later, Ed and I moved to a planned community that I likened to Stepford. I was definitely outnumbered politically, but it didn't matter all that much. When topics came up, even hot button ones, conversations seemed to stay level headed. I don't know how much of that was colored by the fact that our television and radio dials were well stocked with programming that ran the gamut on current interest. My commutes to work had me listening to a lot of talk radio, DC politics shows and news. It was enriching.

Now, we live in Florida. I feel disconnected from politics here, there's not as much discourse as I was used to before. The media coverage tends to go to extremes. Thankfully, the internet provides what the airwaves do not. I don't talk about what's going on in Washington the way I once did.

Part of that is because I feel that our elected leaders and candidates have become one giant mass of finger pointers, thinking that if they don't own up to the fact that we ALL are responsible for our nation's ills, they'll be returned to their offices next November (or the November after that, if that's the case). As a nation, we shouldn't be looking in the rear view mirror and the wreck we've caused, we should be looking at the road in front of us and trying to figure out what needs to be done to FIX this damn mess we're in.

Yes, I know politics are not a topic I write about very often. Those who know me in real life know I'm passionate about some hot button topics. It is something we all need to get a fire in our britches about right now.

In a first, I'm going to put up some of my opinions on the political issues that are important to me. I do this to spur you to think about the issues that are important to YOU, not what the leaders of your party tell you should be important. Why? Because you may see that your views run the gamut (like mine). I am not completely aligned with the party on my Voter ID card.

What is important to me?

1. Taxes-we can't have big government and all the services it provides us without paying for it. This means that we have to pay taxes. No tax cuts to make people happy in the short term.

And no tax breaks for businesses. Sorry, you're turning a profit, you pay a share to the government. The only tax breaks should be for hiring the unemployed, underemployed or someone getting themselves off the welfare roles.

2. Welfare-it is one huge mess. Personally, I think there should be a limit on on. Five years, maximum. I don't care how many kids you have, you get the same amount, because employers don't give raises to their staff for having more kids. I'm all for helping someone get back on their feet when they're down, but the way welfare is in our nation nowadays, it is a HUGE crutch for people. (And I agree with the drug testing to keep benefits-both of these opinions definitely don't agree with my named party)

3.Government-is too big. We need to cut it, first by figuring out duplication of services. We need to cut the perks our elected officials receive. It is nuts that someone who spends 2 or 6 years in office gets a pension and health insurance for life. Do you get the same from your jobs? What would your boss say if you walked in and said "I'm getting a raise, and you're giving me a pension and insurance, even after I'm gone."? Seriously, you'd be kicked out and someone would be sent to collect your belongings out of your desk for you.

4. Charity begins at home-When our country is such bad shape economically, why are we bailing out other countries? Cut the aid to other countries, many of whom don't pay us back. It's time for another country to pick up the slack.

5. China-human rights abuses, trade benefits and they're one of the world's worst offenders on pollution. Why are we even trading with them?

6. Gay Marriage- I'm sorry, if a couple can have a big media event wedding for a union that lasts for 72 days, does that really protect the sanctity of marriage? No, it doesn't. Married or not, gay and lesbian couples are not a threat to others. I've spoken on the topic before, but I really doubt all the gay couples I know (and I know many) are a threat to your ability to marry-why should we deny them the ability to legally commit to each other?

So, you see, my ideology isn't simple. I'll bet yours isn't either. Or your husband, sister, dad, daughter, boss, coworker, clergyperson, dentist, hairdresser or anyone else you know.

The point of laying this all out is to ask all of us to THINK about the issues that are near and dear to us. Don't listen to one political pundit and adopt that person's rhetoric as your personal beliefs. Don't watch ONE news program and decide that it is why you have to vote for Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, Mickey Mouse or Spongebob Squarepants.

Explore as much as you can from many sources to make your decisions. Put at least as much effort into your ability to select your representatives as you do buying a car or a house, heck, where you're going for vacation this year. Ask others their opinions, especially when you know their views are different from yours. Ask them WHY they believe what they do.

If you have the opportunity to speak with your elected official, ask them tough questions. If they respond with finger pointing, stop them and let them know that you're tired of that, that you want to hear solutions, not accusations.

Ultimately, it boils down to a quote by Voltaire "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." We owe it to ourselves and our fellow Americans to consider these words when it comes to our political system.

Don't you think?

I Survived the Biggest Shopping Weekend of the Year

2011-11-28T23:58:00.002-05:00

By purchasing three blu-rays, none of which will be gifts.

The Harry Potter movies will be going on moratorium after the first of the year. Yep, all eight movies. This is a strategy Disney uses with their movies, to good effect. Their movies go in and out of the vault all the time.

We were missing Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, and I found them for 9.00 with free shipping. Sold. They arrived today.

Yesterday, we took advantage of Ed's last day home by walking around the local outdoor shopping center. In the Books a Million, I found a blu ray copy of Rocky Horror Picture Show. The boys are a couple of years too young for the movie I spent many a weekend night viewing, but 11 bucks for a copy so I can yell at my television is worth it.

While there were many cyber Monday deals that would have been good, I really can't think of anything I need. The kids presents are better left to the very last minute and Ed and I talked of getting each other tickets to a concert in DC in June. It's a nice, light shopping year here.

Which is why we only spent 29 dollars over the course of the weekend!

Apple Bourbon Turkey Brine

2011-11-27T23:50:00.002-05:00

Last week, I saw an Apple Bourbon marinade in one of the magazines we've been getting (yes, still-I'd like to say more, but won't). Anyway, it sounded really good, but it was a marinade, with cheesecloth and basting and well, ugh.

I'm not into the basting thing and I'd rather cook on the grill. So, I took the elements of that marinade and went a few steps further. It had nothing savory and wasn't designed for brining-but that's exactly what I modified it to be:

Apple Bourbon Turkey Marinade:

3 quarts apple juice
1 quart chicken stock
1 cup bourbon
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup salt
3 tablespoons sage
2 tablespoons granulated garlic
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon black pepper

Stir until the sugar dissolves. To brine, place a rinsed off turkey into a large bucket and pour the brine over it, then top with ice. Keep in a refrigerator (or unheated part of your house, if you live in colder climates) for 12-24 hours.

This was enough to brine a 16 pound bird.

Oh, and on a pellet grill, this bird was cooked in just under three hours.

Now I have a bunch of leftovers. Yum!

Then and Now

2011-11-26T19:14:00.005-05:00

Thirty years ago, I wanted a career in radio. I was an avid music fan and constantly had the radio tuned to the various offerings that one can get in the nation's top radio market (and my county was the 11th market at that time, while still being within the listening area of #1).

A friend had a low wattage station that he ran out of his house, fully above board with his FCC Engineer's license and when I was 16, I was bestowed with an air shift on his station. As he was a college student, all the talent at the station pre-recorded their shows, which Joe replayed at more convenient times. Even then, he had a knack for automation, as we'd spend many an evening hanging out at his house, my house and my friend Lisa's house and if we were at mine or his, we could tune in the station and listen. At two miles away, Lisa's house fell outside the range of the station's very small transmitter.

Still, the desire was rooted and I ventured off to college with plans of majoring in Radio/TV production and eventually getting a job in the business. I got 'hired' on at the college radio station, where I started as a news reporter and eventually, I got coveted air shifts, then the prized Saturday afternoon rock shift, where I could play whatever I wanted for two hours. We even had a decent audience and sometimes, that phone would ring constantly with requests for Zepplin, Floyd, B 52's, Depeche Mode and Kool and the Gang (the last was from a good friend who didn't quite 'get' the rock format.)

I learned a lot in those first few months at the station, like how to produce some of the talk programming, run a board during news broadcasts and produce public service announcements and news actualities (short human interest stories) onto cartridges that others could use during their news broadcasts.

It was great, I became skilled at audio production, to the point that one of the Radio/TV professors walked into the station's production studio (which I'd been using to make some PSA's) with his class of 20 or so students and said "Hey, Sue, teach my class how to edit."

It changed my course in college somewhat, because I didn't see the point in paying for a class to the learn production skills I already had, and that sent me over to the Theatre department and a major in Technical Theatre. (Yes, I chose the majors you didn't find many girls in-what of it?). Still, over the next two years, I remained at the station and got quite adept at producing content.

(Someday, I'm going to pull out my remix of Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You" and transfer it to the digital medium"-it is my first production effort.)

Anyway, I moved to Maryland and quickly got a job at an AM station and found that I could make more money flipping hamburgers, so my bubble burst pretty quickly.

However, those skills? They were stored away. Several years ago, Ed got a copy of Sonic Foundry and I now could use those audio production skills, but in a new way. No longer did I need a white grease pencil, razor, editing block and splicing tape.

Now, if I want to edit my recordings, I just had to place a marker at the start and end points of the recording I wished to remove and with a couple of keystrokes, I was golden. Heck, if I overcut my edit, a mere 'undo' would restore what I needed, so I could retry. No more 1/2" splice after splice to restore a mismarked piece of reel to reel tape.

Well, with video, it's equally easy to edit what I produce from raw data to something closer to what I had envisioned. For example, this semester, one class required our small group to produce educational content for web-delivery of our choosing. As I had the voice over experience, I was tasked with that work. I was able to bang it all out in one or two takes.

The video was a little different, for it required screen captures of me using software and voicing over in real time. I could have done that in two steps, but it made more sense to me to not bother with synching the two later.

These past couple of weeks, I've worked on creating all the audio (21 segments from 30 seconds to two minutes) and six video screen captures. My skill set made it clear where my experience lay, because those segments were done in about three hours, including editing. The video? Well, it took more time, but I'm happy to say that I still have all my hair-and all the video I intended to use.

I suspect that if you showed students in the Radio/TV major this picture today, they wouldn't know what the heck it is-or that it pertains to what they wish to do after they graduate!

Yay, It's Over!

2011-11-25T23:52:00.002-05:00

I won't have to hear that horrible song again! (Kohls, I hate you.)

We didn't even leave the house today, because 25 years of retail has trained me well-don't go out unless you absolutely have to do so. As it was, I took advantage of the online deals to get the two Harry Potter blu ray disks we don't own, before they go on moratorium.

At that, those weren't even gifts.

Maybe I'll go spend some money tomorrow during small business Saturday, but that's a big if right now.

Call us the anti-consumers right now.

Gobbling

2011-11-24T23:36:00.003-05:00

Today was nice and quiet, just the four of us vegging and relaxing. Well, in between the cooking, that is. The men made their specific requests and I did those, with a twist.

I'd read online about crock pot mashed potatoes and it appealed on the fix it all without draining the pot front (too heavy for me) and the don't worry about drying them out front. I will say that it couldn't have been easier-or turned out as well. Nice, fluffy potatoes that were very hot and tasty. The recipe said 4 to 4 1/2 hours, but they really were ready in 3 1/2.

Chef asked for his stuffing, because he will eat an entire pan of it himself. Ed suggested cornbread (which I've done several times) and I got the idea to make from scratch. A note here: I've been making the same rough recipe for over 20 years, so this was a swap to do stuffing completely from scratch.

It was very light, almost too light, but now I know to modify things for next time around. Ed's family has a recipe called bacon rings (I've shown them in WFDW before), and I think I may just repurpose some of this batch for that.

The reason for doing that is I made the cornbread, but the recipe was supposed to serve 16! Instead, I made half, and figured I could alter the rest for Saturday's turkey dinner.

In an effort to minimize my standing time in the kitchen, I bought pie crusts and made crumb topping for the apple and cherry pies. They turned out great, but I did end up standing too much anyway and I'm definitely paying for it.

At least when I do Saturday's turkey on the grill, most of the sides are going to be leftovers. I just have to boil some cranberries, because turkey has to have cranberries.

Gel Color by OPI

2011-11-23T22:09:00.003-05:00

And now for something completely different...

I know, they don't look all that different, but they're done up differently this time. (and no, not just the color). There's a new product on my nails.

OPI, the company that you'll find most nail salons, has delved into the brush on UV Gel polish market (their Axxiom is more traditional UV gel that has to be chipped off) with the introduction of their Gel Color line.

It's more similar to CND's Shellac than it is different. Both do a base coat, two layers and a top coat, but there are differences. There is a little less prep to the nails with the OPI line, but the big difference is that OPI's line dries with LED nails in a spaceship looking dryer.

Honestly, the amount of UV you encounter in the CND dryers is less than you would laying out in the sun, but it looks like OPI is trying to cater to those who worry. I will say this, it's easier to get my hand in and out, the timer doesn't start until my hand is inside and depressing a button. Plus, if you do pedicures, it's designed to sit on small legs.

The color variety is already large at launch, 30 colors, and more are slated soon. OPI's most popular colors come in Gel Color, although your nail tech might not get them right away (Katie didn't have Big Apple Red). I don't expect her to stock the three blue shades I liked, because I may be her only client gravitating towards the blues.

The question for me is whether it will hold up as well as the Shellac polish has for me since June?

Keep checking in for updates.

Exhale

2011-11-22T23:56:00.001-05:00

I got the feedback on the prototype of the final project I put together. It was probably the hardest part of the project, as it contained two videos.

We got a 99. The one point deduction was something we'd already gotten feedback to change.

For the most part, I'm done with it. I have three videos to record, two to modify and that's pretty much it. So now, I can focus the attention on the other two classes.

Maybe I can pull a rabbit out of my hat.

Sometimes

2011-11-21T21:54:00.002-05:00

It is much harder to edit someone else's mangulation of the Englsh language than it would be to write something new from scratch.

If I put up the exhibits, I think you'd all be doubting that the work was a college student.

My brain hurts now.

What Will Be on Your Dinner Table Thursday?

2011-11-20T23:55:00.003-05:00

One of my kids will not be happy with Thursday's main dish: he wants turkey, and it will be ham on the dinner table.

He's in good company, because I love turkey, but Ed does not. In fact, as a kid, my family all worked Thanksgiving and I had to endure delayed gratification. When the rest of the world was bored of turkey on Monday morning, I was looking forward to having exactly that for dinner that night.

One year, my mom decided she was going to make something else, and we kids all protested. We got the traditional turkey, but the following Monday? The meal she'd wanted the week before was made. (We usually did prime rib for Christmas dinner).

Meanwhile, Ed and GameTeen are all about a ham for Thanksgiving and I planned to do that, but Chef loves his poultry. I found this awesome apple/bourbon brine that I'm anxious to try, so I told him that we'd need to have more proteins to enjoy with the leftover sides, anyway.

In the meantime, we'll be having each family member's favorite side, so they shouldn't complain too much.

What about you and yours?

Down Under Chicago

2011-11-19T23:56:00.003-05:00

The other day, Ed and I noticed a place in Lakeland that tweaked his attention, a place named Down Under Chicago.

Ed looks extremely favorably on the almost two years he spent in Chicagoland, in fact, he was doing everything he could to get me to move there instead of him moving to Maryland when we decided that long-distance dating wasn't cutting it.

While the fact that the people were just so darn nice, a huge switch from metro New York, that wasn't the only reason he wanted to stay. He was a fan of the Chicago dog, the deep dish pies, the Lienenkugel beer, the Italian Beef sandwich and other unique Illinois treats. (Had he known about Art Smith's place, I think he may have been more adamant that I'd be the one packing up and moving a thousand miles.

Anyway, we saw the place and when we decided to leave the house to grab some lunch today, Urban Spoon and Yelp provided some favorable reviews of that beloved Beef sandwich and off we went to Memorial Boulevard.

Down Under Chicago did not disappoint. Both Ed and Chef were quite pleased with their Chicago Beef sandwiches, and I was pleased with my deep dish pepperoni pizza. Game Teen turned up his nose at the requested Meatball sub because it had too much marinara (but he ate a meatball separate), but most people would love the fact that this sandwich had large meatballs and ample sauce.

The owners run the place, with the wife serving our table and the husband spending some time chatting, both talking to us about the other not-so-local places to get a taste of Chicago. Ed told them it was the BEST sandwich he'd had outside Chicago and that the only thing close is the one at Murray Brother's Caddyshack (and that's over in St. Augustine!)

I think the best part is that, unlike our beloved Romeos, Down Under Chicago is open Mondays.

If an urge to have pizza strikes on a Monday night, I think I know where we're headed.

It Never Fails

2011-11-18T22:51:00.002-05:00

That I decide I'm going to bed early and something comes on television that will prevent me from doing just that.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries.

I think that makes it clear to other Pythonites why I probably won't go to bed anytime soon. (Never mind that we already own multiple copies and I have the digital copy on all my idevices).

Your fa

Ahhh, Technology!

2011-11-17T23:55:00.003-05:00

I've mentioned before, one of my classes has a group project that is 50% of the grade. I've also mentioned that one group member is pulling less than her weight. If not for the other group member's expertise and talent, we'd be up a tree.

She's out of the country this week.

In the old days, we'd be incommunicado this week, and the problems that member #3 is creating would be all on me. However, we just spent an hour IMing back and forth on the University chat client to iron out the rest of the project. When member #3 can't even follow basic instructions (edit these scripts into a PDF file for the end users, but she leaves in all the directions for the instructional designers), the workload will be greater and the stress lower by doing it this way.

Another good thing:
The courseware we're creating this project in only works on PCs (the output will work on anything). The screen capture software I use is only available on Macs, but the output also works on anything. Five years ago, I would have ended up emailing documents and audio files to myself and stressing that they were bigger than gmail's file limits.

Now, I just sit there with the Mac and Toshiba side by side, save my work to a flash drive and pop it out of one laptop and into the other.

Not What You'd Expect to See

2011-11-16T22:07:00.002-05:00

When you're driving in a suburban neighborhood:

For the record, there is not farm anywhere near where this little guy was trotting around!

Never Thought to Find This

2011-11-15T23:58:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite scenes from the movie Ferris Bueller is one that originally wasn't well received, the Art Institute of Chicago segment where they show some wonderful works of art.

The instrumental that played during the segment was lovely. I knew it was from the Dream Academy, but the lack of a movie soundtrack release meant I really didn't find out the name of the track.

Until tonight's showing of a documentary about the making of the movie on Biography. Curious, I looked it up, and found it's a cover of a Smith's song. When heard with the lyrics, it is clear that it's a Smiths song-but the Dream Academy version is so pretty, I had to share it.

Hit Me With That Google Search, Hit Me

2011-11-14T23:03:00.003-05:00

with apologies to Ian Dury and the Blockheads

I decided to change one of my site trackers to a paid service, in preparation for the move to a hosted site early in the new year. This jump is partly due to the need to host my portfolio online, free of the school's website. It's great for in house, but sometimes, people outside of USF cannot access my content.

It is sometimes fascinating to see what brings people to the site. Lately, I've noticed quite a few spikes in traffic, going up to 70 and 80 hits a day. SiteMeter's free service is very good, but cumbersome in navigating some of the particulars.

So, the new provider is shedding some light on the situation and I find that apparently, Adam, Jamie and the crew of Mythbusters are going on tour. I blogged about their visit to USF two years ago and the whole world apparently is coming to check out my crappy picture taken from miles away.

In 5th place is the visit Duff Goldman made to USF and I'm happy to report that those pictures are much better, but I'm sure that Google surfers don't want to hear that both presentations were free to students. Which reminds me, I need to see what big name we've got coming this year!

Four of the top ten places? CND's Shellac, because a lot of people are curious about the UV gel polishes. Wonder if OPI's GelColor will bump any of those out soon?

The Plan and the Reality

2011-11-13T23:49:00.002-05:00

The major component of my grade in one class this semester is a group project. This weekend, I was tasked with taking a video screen capture, layering a voice over to it, and then assembling both into a presentation software packet to submit for class Tuesday. No biggie, right? Piece of cake, even.

What none of us considered is that when we walk through a software application without describing what we're doing during screen captures, it takes a LOT less time than when we speak.

Add to that the small matter of software conflicts, such as my Mac isn't dual boot, the software I need to screen capture in use is a windows only product, but the screen capturing tools I have are all Mac based.

It's not a major problem, in fact, in the long run, it's a good learning experience on how to mesh all these products together, but I'm reshooting video that my teammate spent a lot of time on to make it look just right.

I'll be here for a while.

Gone Dotty for CND's Shellac

2011-11-12T14:36:00.006-05:00

I love Shellac in Hotski to Tchotchke so much that I'd told Katie, my nail tech, that I wanted to alternate every other manicure with the shade. So yesterday, she didn't even ask what was going on my nails this time around. What she didn't expect is that I'd show her a Pinterest picture of a similar teal (but creme) with polka dots all over it, kind of in a lighter teal and cement shade.

She was willing to do all my nails in polka dots (I love that woman!), but I just wanted a little bit of accent, so my pinkies were festooned in dots of Purple Purple and Studio White. Now I understand why nail art looks so much better when other people do it-they've got these cool tools to work with.

Katie's been working with the Shellac line since shortly after CND launched it (and she's the only local nail tech listed on CND's site that answers emails inquiring about it, too), so I guess it should be no surprise that she was contacted by an OPI sales rep about the OPI GelColor line.

She'd tried working with Gelish and OPI's Axxium products and was not impressed, but saw the new GelColor line and had a chance to see how it works a few months ago, so that when the rep came to call, she was willing to invest the money in their system.

It is NOT cheap, but 80% of her traditional polishes are the very cool OPI shades, including the limited edition crackles and ones like the Pirates of the Carribbean colors. The idea of having more colors to offer her clients, and hundreds of more layering options definitely is appealing to her (and to us clients, no doubt.)

So, even though the line is currently heavy on the orangey-reds that don't look right on us fair-skinned women, there are enough colors in the nine she got after I left yesterday that I'll be giving them a try and reporting my results. I don't think she got I'm not Really a Waitress in that initial allotment, but if she did, I forsee it being the first in that line to be run through the paces.

In the meantime, I don't see jumping ship entirely. I love how the Shellac wears, protects my nails, the layering options and many of the solo colors that it'll just be a case of what color I feel like wearing for two weeks when I walk in the door of the salon.

Not a bad place to be for a non-girly girl who likes colorful nails.

Nigel Tufnel Day

2011-11-11T23:18:00.003-05:00

At 11:11pm on 11/11/11, Chef concluded his premiere viewing of "This is Spıṅal Tap", and as we'd hoped, he found the movie very funny.

However, one of the funniest scenes, the infamous 'but these go to eleven' that inspired naming today as Nigel Tufnel day produced something else: my list of eleven songs that I like to play at eleven.

*Disclaimer-I could probably use about 50 songs, so take this list as eleven for this moment in time.*

Baba O'Riley, The Who

Red Barchetta, Rush

(though to be honest, Camera Eye is the one that gets played at 11 most often)

All Star, Smashmouth

Rock Lobster, B52's

Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen

What I Like About You, The Romantics

It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine), R.E.M.

Don't Fear the Reaper, Blue Oyster Cult

Dream Weaver, Gary Wright

Saturday in the Park, Chicago

Life's Been Good, Joe Walsh

How about you? Which songs do you thing MUST be played at 11?

The Slate You Don't Want to See

2011-11-10T23:26:00.003-05:00

When you play Words with Friends:
Only slightly better is one in which you see seven consonants, which I finally pawned off enough to have a few vowels. They weren't easy to use ones, more like JVCXKBL. Yeah, You can make a big enough word pairing those with a stray vowel to possibly get enough vowels to get out of slate hell.

What about you? Have you had a slate of five O's and two U's, too?

Paying it Forward Again

2011-11-09T23:45:00.002-05:00

A classmate from my undergraduate program is planning on starting graduate school in January. What is cool is that everything that I learned along the way to my program is now passed on to H, and she's constantly thanking me for helping her out.

Things like:
*Don't apply to a program within our school until you start your final semester unless you like getting letters that your financial aid is in limbo.

*The Kaplan guides for the GRE are very helpful and even have two free online sessions that help you study efficiently.

*How to find various offices in the Education building.

The bonus today is that after having the 'what do I want to be when I grow up?' conversation, she met the program coordinator for my program, who is an absolute angel. All the time spent perusing the CoEdu website definitely came in handy when H had questions.

What's the point of all this knowledge, if not to share it with others?

Enbrel

2011-11-08T22:28:00.003-05:00

Ed has inverse psoriasis, a form of the skin condition that happens where skin meets skin (or in his case, with the added location of his neck). He's always had severe eczema, but it appeared to switch over to this after his first bout with MSSA two years ago.

It looks horrible and painful, but it's not. It's a little unsightly, especially when others see the neck, but there really isn't much to cure it. Or there wasn't, until the release of a drug called Enbrel. The commercials started showing up on television about a year ago and they target an audience that is embarrassed about their skin.

The first thing in the long list of disclaimers is that it reduces one's immunity to illness. So, the first time we saw this commercial, both Ed and I thought that was not a risk to take. (This was before that his particular psoriasis was the Inverse variety.) He did some research of his own about Enbrel and psoriasis and found that those who have the inverse form also have a very active immune system.

We realized in retrospect that yes, he'd had a lot less colds in the previous couple of years, but didn't really think much more about it. He lives with it and goes about his days.

Then, he spent two weeks in the hospital with MSSA, strep C and acinetobacter infections. Not fun. He's still recovering here at home. These are scary infections, but each time a health care professional saw the inverse psoriasis, they asked the same things, namely "doesn't that hurt?", "are you taking anything to treat that?" and "are you sure that's not a fungal infection?" His answers were no, no and no.

Then when the questions came about not taking medication, his response was always along the lines "I can take Enbrel. Can you imagine what kind of shape I'd be in right now if my immune system was suppressed?"

Right now, I'm glad that the Enbrel ads give the laundry list of disclaimers and they were intimidating enough that Ed wouldn't even consider asking a dermatologist for it to treat his psoriasis. And if you're considering Enbrel to treat your psoriasis, please consider those disclaimers seriously before you do.

As for me, I'm really glad that Ed's home and didn't deal with more severe ramifications from taking that medication when the nasty infections took hold in his body!

Why Do We Still Have Daylight Savings Time?

2011-11-07T23:56:00.001-05:00

Do farmers need it anymore?

It's darn annoying to come home when the sun has set.

Random Thoughts

2011-11-06T21:20:00.003-05:00

Several thoughts not worthy of a full blog post are the fodder for today. Well, I have a nice, long topic, but it will remain unpublished for now.

* It has been a bad week for friends. My boss's companion lost her mother, my best friend Donna lost her mom Friday and another friend's family made the difficult decision to bring Hospice in for her mom. All three had Hospice intervention for their final hours, and once again, I am grateful for that organization.

It's a sisterhood you don't want others to join you in.

* I wonder why, if someone has an issue with me, 1. why they don't actually *talk* to me about it or 2. why they drag my children into their stupid games. The party involved doesn't realize that not talking to me speaks volumes about their guilt in other arenas...

* I'd been on the fence whether to tack on a couple of classes to get a graduate certificate along with the Master's degree. It is a good idea to increase my Instructional Technology base before starting the doctoral program-it leaves me more room in the schedule to plug in special education courses.

Now I have another reason. Graduation falls on the same day as a large-scale reunion for my high school choirs and our director. I'd rather walk in the summer, anyway-less students means a shorter ceremony!

Okay, back to work...

Ahhh, Fall

2011-11-05T23:57:00.003-04:00

Sixty degrees.

While that used to mean spring had most definitely arrived in the northern climes, here in Florida, it means we have achieved fall. Let the lanai vegging begin.

To that end, I grabbed a nice top round roast and figured that it would either make pit beef or a nice, cooked all day pot roast. I asked Ed what he'd prefer and there was no hesitation: pot roast.

I guess the little dip in temperature has him thinking of comfort foods...

Important Musical Education Going on Here

2011-11-04T23:21:00.003-04:00

Chef has a knack for repurposing songs. No, he won't take Weird Al's undisputed title as the King of Parodies, but he does tend to do it in such a way that Ed and I are amused often.

Until he messes with a Ramones song. Son, you don't mess with the Ramones, they are not to be considered parody fodder. It just isn't done.

Then we realized that our rock-loving child had not been exposed to music perfect for his early-arrival teen angst: punk rock. So, we started with Blizkrieg Bop, then went to TV Party and added a few more classics from the mosh pit standards.

He appears to fit right in, and if he'd had a lighter, he would have been burning his fingertips in appropriate respect by holding that Bic lighter aloft. I see further introductions to groups like the Dead Kennedys.

On the other hand, Scamp was utterly terrified by the music. I guess that's the down side of inheriting an animal: I think he cut his milk teeth on Michael Crawford.

Now, that music, I'd gladly watch Chef construct elaborate parodies. Just don't mess with the classics of punk, okay?

GRE Scores

2011-11-03T23:27:00.003-04:00

The scores weren't expected to be released until the 8th, but ETS released those new GRE exam scores this morning for those of us who took the exam in the first six weeks.

I walked out of the exam with an old scale range of where I'd be, varying by 100 points. So, I assumed the middle number and mentioned to the professor that heads up the program what my estimated score would be.

Ends up that I was a little low on that number-but strangely, my verbal score ended up being the equivalent of a 720 and my quantitative score was much lower, like even lower than the bottom range equivalent I was given. Bleh. Still, I was given a range of 1100-1300 on the old scale and it worked out to a 1250, so I really am pleased.

But the perfectionist in me still wants to retake the test, once I get all the incompleted assignments from this semester turned in. I think I can bring that quantitative score way up, especially if 8 of 40 questions aren't on circles!

I Get It, More Than You Know

2011-11-02T23:38:00.002-04:00

For all the things I love about Game Teen's school, there is one thing that has been a bit of an annoyance since pretty much day one: the secretary.

Maybe it's because she is not trained in Special Education, she seems to lack patience with some of the students, mine being one of them. She has several children around the ages of my two, and it seems as if she expects these kids to behave exactly like her offspring.

There's a problem, these are kids who have varying degrees of emotional blindness and are, in many cases, fall well below their chronological age behaviorally. I just have to walk on the campus to see it with my own eyes, to know that my son may keep pace (and even excel) academically, but he behaves like the younger elementary school kids.

With my child, there seems to be a snarky tone, when she is explaining to me incidents that happen, it's more like an older kid tattling "well, he did THIS, and he did THAT and well, that's just unacceptable and I can't deal with this and you need to come get him RIGHT. NOW! "

What she doesn't realize is 1. I live with him, and well, the behavior you think I don't know about? I see far more of it than you do, because he does actually *try* to hold things together in school-we aren't afforded that same luxury at home. And 2. By coming to get him when he misbehaves, that sends him a message that if he acts out enough, he'll get to come home and by going home, he won't have to do any work.

We know the precipitate for this: He failed to take his medication yesterday morning and last night, what Ed thought was the night time dose of one medication was actually a morning dose, so the child went to school under medicated. (We remedied the dose situation last night and this morning, but it takes a while for these medications to kick in.)

My concern in all this is the tone she takes with the kids and their parents when telling of the problems. These are kids who take it all in, trying to comprehend this foreign concept of emotion and normal interaction. So, the emotion coming off of her probably should be a little more (okay, a lot more) compassionate. One can be firm and kind, the teachers and directors do a great job of this every day.

It just frustrates me that the school does so much good and this one person? Is not reinforcing the lessons the professionals are working so hard to instill in these students.

Halloween

2011-11-01T23:41:00.002-04:00

Two years ago, we nearly ran out of candy, so last year, I bought about 40 bucks worth of candy-and only had a dozen or so trick or treaters. This year, I thought it was an aberration, so I bought about 25 bucks worth of candy.

Again, we only had about 10 trick or treaters and I've got a lot of leftover candy, even with Chef giving each ghoul and goblin a handful of fun sized treats. Lessons learned: let the kids pick out the treats we give out, then they'll have some of their favorites waiting at home. Then again, neither one of mine went out, because Chef prefers handing the goodies out.

I did something different this year, and Ed and Chef scoffed at the idea. I bought Capri Suns and we had those for the ones who got thirsty from walking through our neighborhood and they told me that it would rank up there with raisins on the lousy treats front.

And every kid that came took one with their handful of candy. Take that, doubting menfolk!

But the best part? I found a recipe for homemade Butterfingers on Pinterest, and it calls for candy corn. I grabbed three bags of them when I went to CVS today. Half price candy is probably the best part of Halloween, don't you think?

Facebook, I Really Want to Dislike This!

2011-10-31T23:10:00.006-04:00

One of my major frustrations with Facebook, is that there is no way to contact them directly. When I had the annoyance of my house listed as a location, there was only a report box, and no listing of department emails or live chat or even a way to Tweet them. (OTOH, I had a Twitter question, posted an @Twitter on their feed and had an answer in 20 minutes.)

Yeah, so that lack of direct contact is annoying, but most of the time, it's not a big deal.

The latest dislike, the one you may not have noticed is that in the last two weeks, is that every post you make, or picture you place on your wall now has a location on it. Last week, I posted a picture of my new chair, and it took four tries and about twenty minutes on my phone and computer to finally post a picture that didn't have that 'near Tampa' when I was at school or 'near mytown' when I was at home. I hadn't even noticed it until my ex-husband's sister posted on my wall and sent me a message to remove the location. (One of the many reasons I adore Mary-she has my back on that front.)

So, after fiddling around with the new IOS settings on the 4S, which are different from the previous IOS settings, I finally got the location services on the phone, camera and Facebook changed (as opposed to the old IOS, where you only had to shut off one thing). The Mac was a different story.

Ed discovered that when you upload a picture, there was a little 'x' underneath the browse box, located next to the location, and with that, I clicked it and my location disappeared from my pictures. My general posts didn't have locations. Okay, we're good.

Until today.

I posted something this evening about Halloween candy and didn't realize that Facebook reverted back to placing my location on my posts. Then I looked at everything else I posted today and surprise, they all list a location, after I'd specifically deselected it.

In searching Facebook for a fix to the initial discovery, all of their information talked about 'show all your friends where you're posting from' as a positive enhancement to the Facebook 'experience.' What gets me is that, once again, something that affects privacy concerns was rolled out without any announcement or a page to show you how to opt out of this 'great benefit'-the user has to do that on their own.

So, I am adding pictures of what there is and how you can remove them from the Apple IOS 5 phones and on your Mac running Firefox. If you're running a Windows based machine and/or another browser, I can't speak to how you can remove your location from your posts, but I'd hazard a guess that it is somewhat similar process.

Next to your city (on the bottom), hover your mouse and a 'X' will appear. Click it to remove location.

Once you've done this, you'll notice there is no city listed. However, knowing Facebook, you'll need to check this regularly to ensure they haven't changed your settings with one of their 'upgrades'!When you select 'Settings' on the iPhone 4S, this is the screen you will see. Touch the 'Location Services' bar to get to the screen that allows you to change things. (Or you can completely shut off locations, but I like allowing some apps to know where I am)

Now, to fully remove my location from my pictures, I deselected location from both camera and Facebook. I'm not taking any chances...

And Facebook, you need to understand, when you add features that can affect privacy concerns of your users, first announce it, and provide an easy way to opt out of the feature. You know, since your service does not provide a way to directly contact anyone who can fix these issues.

That said: if you have a direct contact resource, please, please, please, write a comment and share it with others! If we had that option, I'm sure there are many of us who would tell them we dislike this feature.

Breaking Tradition

2011-10-30T23:54:00.002-04:00

For a while, I've had this nagging urge to do something different for Thanksgiving. Really, the urge was to get the hell out of Dodge, but I knew that wasn't feasible with Ed's work schedule. Still, the voice in my head was telling me to go away for the day.

It wasn't until a friend asked what culinary delights I was planning to prepare for Thanksgiving that I put my finger on it. His comment was 'but you LOVE to cook!', along with some comments about the things I'd prepared last year.

Ding ding ding, we have arrived at the reason why I want to do something different. Last Thanksgiving was a fiasco and I want to erase that memory. Spending the whole day cooking, only to schlep it to Jane's apartment (because she refused to come here), only to get there and find no surface to put the food upon, let alone eat, was frustrating.

Let's just say that all day cooking marathons take a lot out of me, what with all that standing. To have to clean off tables to put food down, then a coffee table so the kids had someplace to put their plates, then wash plates so we adults could eat soured my feelings of gratitude for family.

There were other events of that day, the last we'd spend as a family with Jane outside a hospital, that I want to erase. I want a do-over, and since we won't get one of those, I want a holiday so outside traditions so that the enjoyment of the day can be restored.

Thing is, I have no idea where to begin on going somewhere for a holiday meal! A coworker suggested a very nice country club buffet about 45 minutes away, and she is a person who I can trust to steer me right on fine dining. However, I'm wondering if there is something closer to home that measures up. We had a fine meal years ago at the Branch Ranch, over in Plant City, but the restaurant has since closed down.

At least I've got four weeks to figure out a different holiday for us.

Red, Red Wine-The Shellac Edition

2011-10-29T23:57:00.004-04:00

As much as I love Shellac's new Hotski to Tchotchke, it would be bad to wear it all the time. I'd be bored. So, the current plan is to switch back and forth between another color that that awesome, awesome teal metallic.

Yesterday, I went in, and for the first time, had to peruse the colors Katie has to decide, which is when she pulled out the layering effects samples to give me more options.

The first one was a winner. It's Decadence on the bottom and Rock Royalty on top. It looks like a glass of burgundy or merlot and has such a rich shade that stands out. I love the look-and the fact that I am not hiding my nails anymore. (The only down spot is the one torn nail that popped up, despite an ample coating of nail glue.)

The King and His Throne

2011-10-28T23:52:00.001-04:00

My chaise was delivered Wednesday afternoon. I'm looking forward to studying in a seat that elevates my leg and supports my neck and shoulders. Now I'm on the hunt for something like a hospital patient table to use when I'm studying and have the books and laptop at the same time.

In 48 hours, Scamp seems to have the idea that we bought this lovely huge chaise as HIS chair. I woke up the morning after it was delivered to find him laying on it. Once he saw that I was watching, he rolled on his back to show his belly in the 'aren't I the cutest cat ever?' pose. (Good thing I selected 'Scamp' as the color of this thing!)

Tonight, after coming home from being out, he was splayed on the chair and got off to greet us. He shot laser eyes at me as I got myself situated in my lovely new seat. As if I was stealing his throne.

Do I need to find a cat-sized version of this thing for him?

Feel the Burn

2011-10-27T23:49:00.000-04:00

A day later and a lot stiffer.

I did too much, though at the time, it didn't seem too bad. At least I'm not in as much pain as doing an aerobics class or weight training.

It just tells me my body wants me to move, because when I keep moving it, it doesn't hurt.

Owwwww.

Yoga

2011-10-26T23:48:00.001-04:00

I think I've mentioned in the past that I work as a secret shopper for a small company. (No, not one of those that fill your inbox with spam, a local enterprise that's been around for a long time.) Most of the shops I perform are observations at bars and restaurants, but sometimes I get sent to check out seminars and well, very occasionally, I am asked to 'shop' a fitness chain.

Yeah, I know. Me + Fitness Chain = epic fail.

The shops are as a prospective member, so it's not like I'm trying to fake the ability to do a Zumba workout or take a spinning class. More like, I go do some calisthenics in the pool, talk to some people, take a look around and write up a report.

Anyway, they tend to call me in a pinch to do shops, especially when it's the end of the month and reports are due and no one else has taken the job. Which is how, every couple three months or so, I'm asked to pinch hit a location. That's what happened this week.

This one, though, required participating in a class, and well, there was only one class that I have medical clearance to attend, yoga. So for the first time tonight, I participated in a yoga class.

I went into it, fully expecting to wash out in about 10 minutes. I am no longer flexible, my body doesn't move the way it should and well, I hurt most of the time. My balance, an important component of yoga, is pretty crappy on a good day.

The first fifteen minutes were torture. It was all standing, with much of the time spent putting 90% of our weight on the heel of one foot. The rest of the exercise was fine, but the feet were screaming. In the middle section, I saw an opportunity to sit and still do the upper body portion-so I did and still got a decent amount of stretch out of it all.

Then somehow, I don't know exactly HOW, the hour was up. Maybe someone played with the hands of the clock when I wasn't looking, because the last thing I knew, we were 25 minute in and I blinked and the instructor thanked us for coming.

Maybe because I went into it expecting to do poorly, I surprised myself. While I am not as limber as I once was, I still was able to keep pace on everything. I never got out of breath or so far into pain that I had to leave. Modifying the tree pose and doing floor work isn't bad for my first time ever class.

And now, I'm trying to figure out how I can get back, because if I could keep pace as an out of shape, balance and flexibility challenged person, what can happen if I keep going?

I Love Siri

2011-10-25T23:57:00.002-04:00

When they came out with the iPhone 4 almost two years ago, I made fun of the FaceTime app. Then I ate crow when I got the iPad and found the app was actually more useful than the insipid commercials for it when the phone was launched. (Let me tell you, it has helped Chef's sanity while Ed's been in the hospital.)

Anyway, one of the features touted with the iPhone 4S was Siri, a voice activated 'assistant' that fortunately, escaped the dumb commercial route. However, I really didn't play with 'her' until someone mentioned online that you get some interesting responses to the question "Where can I hide a body?" Let's just say that it's pretty funny, along with asking Siri how she likes living in my phone, what her age is and anything else that implies that Siri is human.

Well, over the past couple of days, I've really used Siri for 'her' intended purposes and I am really pleased with her skills at understanding speech and the AI 'she' uses. (I wish I could use the voice packs like they do with the various GPS devices, because I'd love Siri to sound like Darth Vader).

For instance, I put the phone to my ear and tell Siri to call Ed-and then I have him on the phone. A text comes to me while I'm driving and I can tell Siri "read me the new text message" and she does, then asks if I'd like to reply. So far, the replies I've dictated have been spot on.

Ed had asked me if I'd used the turn-by-turn navigation that Siri provides, but that's probably one feature I *don't* need. That said, Siri has proven to be an excellent addition to the iPhone.

Now, if only they'd offer Siri for the iPad, because there are plenty of uses for 'her' on that device. Hopefully soon, Siri will pack her bags for the thinner, but bigger quarters of an iPad 2.

I'll be waiting for her there...to tell me where to hide a body.

Snowflakes

2011-10-24T11:17:00.002-04:00

The term 'snowflake' has been around for several years, but some people I know haven't heard the expression. Usually it's accompanied by special, or 'speshul snowflake.' The term refers to a child who is so unique that mom or dad must pave the way for the child to go through life. It is not a compliment.

As an example, the parent of a snowflake might call the teacher and say "Suzie is already burdened with homework in Mrs. Jone's class for a whole half hour each night, can you please reduce the amount of homework you send home?" Mind you, Suzie is a 7th grader and each subject should have homework every night.

You get the picture, right?

Now, imagine a college student's mom or dad making their appointments OR making appointments themselves to speak to professors or academic advisors. Yep, it happens, and far more than you would think. Mommy calls and says "Suzie needs to come see her advisor, but I'm at work until 4:30-can we have an appoinment for 5:00?"

This is not a 12 year old 7th grader, but a 20-21 year old upper classman we're talking about. There are enough of them that one has to worry what the workforce will look like in twenty years!

Though, I have to say, I am so glad that my mom and dad raised Giggles and I (mom's #7 and #8 child) to be self sufficient at a very young age. Some examples:

I learned to cook starting at 3, and made dinner nightly by the time I was 12.
I had chores like drying dishes (6), washing dishes (8), doing my own laundry (7-ish), cleaning the living room, raking leaves, mowing the lawn and shoveling snow while still in elementary school.

When I started going to the orthodontist at 10, part of the reason why we chose one locally is so that I could ride my bike to his office, which I did every month and made my appointments. (There were quite a few bikes outside his office, btw.)

When my wrist started acting up at 14, my dad took me to several doctors. The first one we saw was at a hospital that was 7 miles away. The follow up appointment conflicted with my dad's own appointment in Manhattan with an oncologist. I figured out the bus route (no Internet back then) and took two buses to get there, and then back to school.

By the time I started college, my parents had paved the way for me to chose the school, get myself there, get a job myself and do all the things a responsible adult should do.

I sometimes feel like I'm letting my kids down by doing the things that I do, but then I look at these snowflakes and realize that while I do a lot more for my kids than my parents did for me (partly because times are different), there are many more things that my 12 and 15 year old do for themselves that more than a few college juniors do not.

It's a shame that while I thanked my Mom and Dad for the things they did, I don't think I ever thanked them enough for raising us to be self-sufficient by the time we finished high school. As I look a the impending snowstorm of special snowflakes, I'm so grateful that I was handed a shovel early on and shown how to clear the path full of snow.

Lessons in Letting My Son Use the Computer

2011-10-23T23:42:00.000-04:00

He likes Mangas. He likes Pokemon sites.

He doesn't get the fact that people build malware into many of these sites. They look fine to him. Nevermind the fact that Ed and I tell him over and over that he cannot download anything, that we should probably check out each new site to determine its safety.

The Toshiba is still my laptop, for the rare occasion that I need to use software for class that doesn't work on a Mac. Like now, for instance-my final project uses Articulate and Atlas.ti, two programs that are only available for PC. I need to do screen caps tomorrow for the group project storyboard.

Gameteen has been complaining for a little over a week that he doesn't want to leave the laptop, because it will shut down. Ed and I both told him we need to look at the machine, as this is a sign of a virus or malware. He refused. Tonight, he didn't want to give it to me when it did this again, he was upset and said I'd probably be mad at the sites he's been using.

This tells me he downloaded something.

Whatever he downloaded, it shut the machine down. I'm trying to restore from a previous version, but I'm 25 minutes in and it's still trying to repair.

I'm thinking NetNanny goes on the machine before he gets to use it again, because he disobeyed the rule of no downloading.

I saw a 60 Minutes segment tonight on Autism and iPads. It was interesting, in that there are studies that parallel what I wish to explore with computer based curriculum. For a moment, I thought that perhaps getting him an iPad would be good, because he'd be less likely to damage that, and the proliferation of apps to help him would be beneficial.

We shall see, because I'm not sure whether the money I'd use for that might have to go into repairing the Toshiba.

This is Probably Wrong...

2011-10-22T23:53:00.002-04:00