One Millionth Billionth of a Millisecond on A Sunday Morning

My "Spanish Word of the Day" was parasito. This means something.

Lately, Maddy has the ability to be both a complete angel and evil hell-fiend, typically at the same time. (i.e. smiling as she pours cider onto her high-chair tray and onto the floor.) I think I will lose weight just because I now spend most of my meals mopping up after her.

No progress on the costume front. We have thought maybe Wonder Woman and maybe Wednesday Addams. Mainly so we can dress up accordingly as well (i.e. other superheros or Gomez & Morticia). Yes, I will be a glorified Accessory to Maddy's Halloween costume.

I bought a new oven. It took much convincing on the part of my meddling family. Apparently, when given a good dose of mojito, I do nothing but complain about my kitchen, especially my oven. (Good to know I don't have any real problems). So my family was dismayed when I passed up an extremely good deal on a ceramic flat-top black Maytag oven. After a barrage of insults and name-calling from the family and a half-hearted discussion with my husband, I decided to go get it. With the help of my parents, especially my dad, who, fortunately, knows how to wire an oven and accepts Sam Adams as a form of payment, I have a brand new oven.

Of course, I was so tired after the trip home and hanging up Halloween decorations all day that I was too tired to cook and try it out. But it shore do look pretty!

I made caramel apples this weekend but don't like how they came out. I will have to try again. Will be making Spirited Pumpkin Pie sometime this week.

Did I mention I am teaching college-level ESL at a local community college? I love it. But sometimes I feel like a talkative wombat, flapping my wings when I am in front of the class. Despite the fact I am not sure if wombats have wings and I am fairly certain they do not talk. But talkative, wing-flappin' wombat seems to be a good description.

Ugh. Need to start Christmas shopping soon.

Don't get me wrong...

I'm not saying it's right. I am not advocating this in any way and I have not, nor will ever do this to my own kid. All I'm saying is don't think the thought hasn't crossed many people's minds.

Surprise Pie!

is the best type of pie. Thanks, Kelly, for inviting us over for surprise apple pie. Yum!

I've been thinking a lot about retirement lately. I want to retire. Soon.

The Maryland Cleavagssaince Festival

Otherwise known as the Maryland Renaissance Festival. It's something I have wanted to attend for years but never got around to doing. Thanks to my parents, I went on a whim and took Maddy with me. I would have wanted to totally geek out and dress up, but I've been extremely busy lately and have not yet learned how to sew. As it was, it would have been boiling given the 100something degree temperature today (doesn't the planet realize it's autumn now?)

As it was, the festival is full of pretty yummy food, excellent craftmanship, and lots of....cleavage. The cleavage actually became a bit of obsession for my sister who was mesmerized by chin-level bosoms. She actually began a photojournal of some of the worst offenders, sort of like a Medieval What Not to Wear.

Maddy was mainly fascinated by rocks and tried to pick up every one she saw. And yes, the streets were made of gravel.

But she did get to ride a horse.....




And I tried not to spaz out with mother, father, sister, and two small kids in tow....



Rory got a princess hat and both her and Maddy danced to some lovely bagpipes on stage.

Cheese!

Sing for Fall!

Thank goodness for my sister. Without her, no pictures of Maddy would be taken and as an adult she might wonder if she was spawned out of thin air at the age of 18.

This pic is from Wild Goose Brewery in Frederick, MD. They gave out free beer for several hours. No strings attached. Oh, except that children were not allowed. Which I understand, but still...so we were banished to the lawn while we took turns sampling and babysitting. Overall, not bad for free beer.

By the way, the "Singing Alarm Clock" (pictured at left) is what woke me up at 720 this Sunday morning.

Really? No shite!

Thanks for the happiness report, CNN....(btw, it only took me 2 hours to commute in today)

No job can be worth that, right?

He shot a man in Hagerstown, just to watch him die

On the trail of finding out more about our family, we've recently learned that my great-grandfather was in prison because he had shot another man. To the microfiche cave!

Boston Runs on Dunkin

Whodathunkit? Dunkin Donuts is apparently the preferred choice of Bostonians when seeking caffeinated beverages. You are looked down upon if you tote a Starbucks cup. Krispy Kreme is blasphemous in terms of donuts.

It's like I found my long-lost peeps.

BORED!

Bored, bored.

Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored.

Hmmmm....robot. Wearing a Celtics jersey. Humming past me. .

Robot is gone. Down the hall. Out of sight.

Back to "bored."

Boston Pt III

Tell me, when you move to Boston, does the city government automatically issue you a Red Sox t-shirt? It seems to be standard attire for every other person I see.

Damn You, "Irish" Pubs

You ain't Irish. You ain't nothin'.

They trick me with their damn Gaelic names. Gaelic writing on the walls. Wood beams on the ceilings. It looked like some of the real pubs I visited in Scotland. But damn it-there are quesadillas on the menu. And the beers range from crap to everyday mediocre. Damn you, tricksy "pubs."

Grrr.

In Boston, people pay no attention to crosswalks, pedestrian lights, etc...Instead, one idiot will look up and down the street, evaluate the traffic and decide to go for it anyway. Others will follow the idiot and cross the street with cars barreling towards them at full speed. I decided I could easily become a mass murderer simply by crossing the street at the right (i.e. wrong) time.

Boston Pop Rocks

So, here in Boston on another business trip. Staying at a super-nice hotel, although one of the amenities offered is that, for a fee, they will put a bathroom scale in your room.

Um, why would anyone want that?

The flight here was beautiful since the East Coast is currently experiencing magnificent weather. Clear skies, low humidity and cool temperatures. But it was quite depressing that it took less time for me to fly from Baltimore to Boston than it has for me to drive to work every day this week. In fact, I could have flown to Boston and back and it still would have been a shorter trip.

Egad.

But since the weather was so clear and we were flying so low, it was cool to look at the land below. At one point, I saw a huge graveyard with tiny tombstones surrounded by acres and acres of bigger tombstones. I had to do a double take to realize that it was a graveyard surround by suburban houses. Funny that from a certain viewpoint, they don't look too different from one another.

Upon arriving in the airport and getting down to baggage claim, the first thing I saw there was a pigeon. Like he was try to pick up some bags after a long flight.

At night, though, it actually got chilly enough to where I wished I had brought a sweater with me. I know my sister and brother-in-law would dub me a wuss for this. Oh well.

Anyhow, my goal this weekend is to find some fantastic clam chowdah. Supposedly the hotel I am staying at has a chowder that is so good and has won so many chowder competitions that it is no longer eligible to participate anymore. So we'll see about that.

Pomegranate martinis are genius. I totally have to make them for Christmas.

"This is Ripley, last surving crew member of the Nostromo, signing off. "

Daily Buddhist Wisdom

This is e-mailed to me daily via beliefnet.com
I found it particularly striking today.

I see all the different religious traditions as paths for the development of inner peace, which is the true foundation of world peace. These ancient traditions come to us as a gift from our common past. Will we continue to cherish it as a gift and hand it over the the future generations as a legacy of our shared desire for peace?

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Oh, the humanity!

You've got to be &*%$@ kidding me

http://anniescostumes.com/flipphone.htm

Nightmare Fuel...

The Bad News Bares All

I check the news pretty religiously. I watch the morning news while groggily downing my coffee. I listen to NPR and the local news station on the way to work (an hour and a half drive). I check CNN.com while at work. I listen to NPR again on the way home. I check CNN.com before I go to bed.

Wow. Now that I spell it out like that, I'm a sad individual, aren't I?

Anyways, you can imagine my thoughts when I saw this headline on CNN.com today-

"Police want Maddy's mom to 'confess': Relative"

Well, then.

I have somewhat followed the story since it broke, but honestly haven't paid too much attention to it. While the evidence they have recently found in this case does raise eyebrows, I am not one to jump to conclusions. The one thing that has bothered me about this story is all of the media attention and support from celebrities (J. K Rowling, the Pope) this family has gotten. Don't get me wrong-I can imagine no fate worse than losing my daughter, a concept one can only understand if they have had kids. It is the one thing that I know would drive me over the edge, into prison, or into the wilderness where I would live like John the Baptist, eating berries and twigs and acting as the local looney. So why has it bothered me? Because I have not heard anyone mention that this couple left their kids (both under 4 I believe?) alone. I can't imagine leaving Maddy alone anywhere. Not only for her own safety, but for her remarkable ability to color a whole wall in under a minute (by the way, she is forbidden to have crayons, so I don't even know where she gets them from. She probably smuggles them out of daycare). And she's only 2. Surely, a three year old would be far more destructive?

I don't get it. And I don't understand why it has gotten all of the international attention it has when children go missing every day. Even those whose parents keep them close.

The Curse of the Maddy Mummy