Best present ever!

I caught Biscuit being cute:

It's not as good as the Mittens one, that's for sure, but I got a kick out of the way he made a beeline for under the tree as soon as it was up. Like he's channeling Mittens' spirit or something.

Can you believe I only have 11, well now 12, posts labeled as "cats"? I'll have to get to work improving that number.

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Less grainy ice cream

My ice cream is grainy. That's from too much ice crystal growth. So, I've just spent the last couple minutes looking up how to get homemade ice cream to be less grainy. I have several options:

1) add about 1 tsp vodka. The alcohol helps prevent large crystal formation.

2) cook ingredients to 170F, put in fridge for a while to chill and mellow before adding to ice cream maker. Does something sciencey with proteins and enzymes.

3) remove milk completely from the recipe I'm using, fill in the volume with the cream and 0.5/0.5. There's a lot of water in the milk, no matter what grade it is. So, remove a source of water and remove a source of crystals.


Option 1 is appealing because it's easy and I like alcohol. Option 3 looks appealing because it's easy and I apparently like being fat. Option 2 is not appealing, as it adds infinitely more work to the process. But this option is probably the real way to do things, like the way professionals do it, you know?

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Christmas (un)wrap-up

So. It's Sunday after Christmas. I have to go to work tomorrow, after taking all of last week off (some voluntarily, some not). I had a killer cold that really knocked me on my ass worse than a cold usually does. Seriously: I slept in my recliner for two nights so my head wouldn't fill up. It worked in that regard, but the day after the first night's recliner sleep I was really sore. That achyness made me feel way worse on Day 2 (Wednesday) than I normally would have. I was pretty good on Christmas day, after guarding the Christmas tree all night long. Hubby got me an ice cream attachment for my electric mixer. We tried that last night with peppermint (that's why I put so many candy canes on the tree), and it worked pretty well. I've only had a small spoonful of it today, but initial predictions are that it was a success. My parents got us some brain food: lots of puzzles of different types Hubby specifically asked for almond roca, which he got in his stocking. "Not as good as I remember" is what he says about that. I got him a bitchin' flashlight, so now he's reading up on the latest in the flashlight world. Also he got a hat. Pictures coming, as soon as I edit his face to spare (me) the shame.

We ate Christmas dinner at a friends house. They had two of their kids (the two they have with each other, the other two were off with the other parents) with them this holiday, ages 8 and 9? 8 and 10? 9 and 10? don't remember, but they still believe in Santy. Anyway, they apparently snuck down at midnight (just missing Dad putting bikes and things together) and then tried to wake Mom up at like 3, but were allowed to get up at 7 or so. Dad was pissed because the girls didn't freak out at their awesome presents (because they weren't surprised)! But of course he can only yell at them for sneaking, he can't explain how he wants them to be excited over his presents, because they aren't from him! They're from Santy Claus!

Friday I used another box of kleenex because the other nostril was running like a faucet. Saturday and Sunday we did absolutely nothing. It was awesome. Except tomorrow we have an appraiser coming because we're applying for a refi! So I've been trying to clean a little. So, we have a 5/1 ARM (30 years!!) and the rate is 5.875% during these first 5 years years of fixed rate. We've been thinking about refinancing for like a year now, so we're finally doing it. Looks like we can get a 30 year fixed for 5.0% That'll save us a couple hundred a month. I was hoping to get down into the 4s, but I guess this is good enough. And the best part? The loan will be sold off the Fannie Mae. Yes. It still exists, apparently. Hubby says "Isn't that what got us in trouble in the first place?" Oh! and the lady we talked to was the same from the original deal, and she actually recognized us! After more than two years! I mean, she didn't blurt out "Mr and Mrs ___!! So nice to see you!" or anything, but she did acknowledge we looked familiar. Anyway, by getting this payment as low as possible, it'll help if we ever try to rent the place out if we have to move away ("Army!!" said with fist shake like Kirk saying "Kahn!!") to either make more money on rent income, or be able to offer lower rent and still breaking even, etc. I have never rented a single family home before, so I really don't have any idea what kind of rent a family pays to live there. I thought that our mortgage payment was going to be too high of a price to ask for a family to pay. But I could be way off. Either way, saving money is good. So the inspector whatever guy is coming tomorrow. If he needs to get into the attic space, the hole is in my closet. I better hide my dirty underwear.

More Holidays adventures: apparently we're going on a dinner cruise for New Year's Eve. This is news to me, because I thought the guy of the couple we're going with had a gig and we were going to watch him play. I love being kept in the loop! So I have no details on the dinner at all. Don't know where it is or anything. Also, I'm suspicious of the fact this thing hasn't been sold out for months already.

OK, I'm tasting my ice cream: Pretty good, not as good as my mom's but way better than when I did it by hand last year. The flavor is just fine, but the consistency is a touch grainy and icy.

Oh! how could I forget the week before Christmas. Thursday was our holiday party, for which I may get a Commander's coin for my picture taking (even though I only took a couple, the emcee stole it and took tons of really excellent pictures of people, but she's already getting a coin for emceeing). After that was drinking at the local bar for four hours. The party was held on base, so no alcohol at all, and we were glad to get to the bar. Then the next night was more drinking at a work friend's Christmas party. They live out in the middle of nowhere in a house the same size and build quality as my parents' but for half the price. Literally half the price. I Zillowed it. This guy's house is freaking amazing. The great room has a full two story ceiling, and the Christmas tree at 13 feet still looked small. OK, it looked like a giant when you were standing next to it, but when you look at it and all the space it still has to take up, then it looks small:
OK, fine. It doesn't look small any way you look at it because it was a giant freaking beautiful tree. And real too.

The iPhone takes really horrible pictures, by the way.

Friday after Christmas we had lunch with friends and their new baby:
Too cute to not take a picture! And note to my mom, who's reading this I know: They came in with your binky banky wrapped over her. They all absolutely love it, and are very thankful. Binky means blanket, right? and not bottle? Ba ba is bottle? EDIT: WB thinks "binky" means pacifier, and I think that sounds right. So how about "banky" for blanket? Click for full post and comments

Got a little treat coming

for my hippie parents. I'm going to wait until it's dark so you can see the flames...

Nevermind.

It was going to be a picture of the Time cover of Obama in the fireplace, but then I got sick for freaking three days, Christmas came and went, and also the magazine is buried at the very bottom of the trash can.

Oh well, it would have made me look like a racist anyway.


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Waiting til the last moment

After finally watching The Dark Knight (awesome!) we went out for some lunch. I was just thinking a place in the mall, but as soon as we got into town we realized that was an unrealistic option. You see, it's the Saturday before Christmas, so apparently everyone in the county has descended on our one mall to do their last minute shopping. The streets all around the mall were packed, the streets going into the mall were backed up. So yeah, we drove right on by for another place.

Doesn't anyone shop online? I am expecting two last presents that I got online. No actual interacting with (ugh) people for me.

PS. About the movie: I tried to rip the movie onto my computer, as I do with most rentals, but I was getting an error on a certain part of the disc. The last time that happened I was able to get around it, but not this time. So we put in the movie, and guess what the first thing up was (before previews)? Yeah, a redone story using Casablanca footage about "Rick" (the Bogart) and "Lisa" (Ms. Bergman) and the evils of piracy. Hmm. I get the hint, you DRM loving assholes. But it won't stop me from trying to rip the next good movie to come into my possession.


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Christmas pictures

Look at the candles on the coffee table. They were a freebie Christmas present (meaning I didn't have to wait to open it!) Apparently river rocks make for a heavy box to ship.

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Tree is up

It's a fake prelit (white lights) we got a couple years ago. It has approximately 1,000 candy canes on it, as I am planning on making peppermint ice cream sometime. I didn't have time to take a picture of it, I'll do that tomorrow maybe. Biscuit has already discovered that under the tree is a good hiding place, but there's no water for him to drink. I wonder if he was expecting that from his past life before I got him?

Also done today is a batch of sugar covered nuts and a loaf of banana bread. The nuts could have come out better because the lady who did them before (who I got the recipe from) used pecan. I used walnuts, and I have to say even though I don't really like pecans, walnuts are not very good for this:

1 egg white + 1 Tbsp water whipped until foamy.
1 pound pecans not walnuts stirred in until covered
1 cup sugar + 1 tsp cinnamon stirred in until covered

bake 250F spread out in a large cookie sheet for 1hr, stirring up and turning nuts over halfway through.

The pecan version was so good. But the walnuts just have too much of a flavor for this to work.


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Putting things on animals

Click all pictures for bigger. Especially the last one.

God, I thought the other one was on my side. Gonna have to kill him too.

As soon as I get out of here, I swear all you bitches are gonna die for this!

I'm trying to hibernate, bitches

Santa taste yummy

I haven't done anything to Saffron yet. I have a feeling she'll just sit there, because any attention is good attention.

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Not what he had in mind

Hubby and I were at Target looking for things to put on animals. He also wanted a Santa hat. This is what we found until we finally found the Santa hat section (in the food section, duh!) Who would wear this? And how worried should I be that this was the only one left out of two slots?

PS. Here's a tip for going out shopping during the busiest time of the year: don't let your 1 year old kid who's not all that great at walking yet loose down the main aisle in the front of the store. It causes just a few holdups.

That trip to Target was as life-force draining as a trip to Walmart.


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I have gas

I just bought premium gas for $1.39!!! How'd I do it? By going to Safeway and plugging in my old phone number from before moving out to Maryland. Some other guy's name is now on "my" Club Card receipts, but crap. That's my phone number, buddy! Anyway, the current price for premium is $1.99, so that's a savings of 60 cents PER GALLON!!! I actually feel a little bad about using up (OK, stealing) this deal. But it's my phone number!


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Shoot me please

So tonight at the pottery place there was a tableful of moms. One in particular spent the entire four hours I was there talking about how many ounces the baby ate at each feeding; how many hours the baby slept for the first six months; weaning off the bottle. Agh!! I was sick of it, and even the two ladies I was with said how they are so over that part of their lives (they both have grade school aged kids). But I still had fun, as usual. All I know is those moms need to have conversations about worldly matters. Even talking about whatever insipid TV show they're watching would have been better.


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Color me mine

It's a lightup Christmas tree, if you can't tell.

PS. It came out really well. The white was opaque as promised.


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Confirmed: Pantene is telling the truth

I use Pantene shampoo and conditioner. Have been since high school. When I started coloring my hair I made sure to use the color protecting formula. Now I'm tired of dying my hair so I've got some pretty good roots going. Well, I was using the color formula just to use up the bottle, thinking it wouldn't make much difference. Well let me tell you, it does make a difference! Who'da thought? The undyed roots had such a gross residue after washing, it was like I didn't get all the conditioner out, even when I would make extra sure to rinse super well. Well now that bottle is done, and I got some smooth formula. My hair is back to normal!! No residue!! Thanks, Pantene, for all your animal testing to make such a good product!


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Pop, don't look at this unless you like drool on your shirt

I don't know how to do "below the fold" in a blogspot blog.


It's my dad's Christmas present, which came today so I had to play with it. Already managed to lose a piece. Also, I wanted to see if I could get pictures of a model to look like pictures of a life sized car. The headlight picture I took look pretty life sized, but then he would have seen the color. Click for full post and comments

My surprise [Updated]

is that I have put together all my purdy pictures on another blogspot site in the hopes of selling them and making some money. But now I've decided to donate any money I get from that to the charity writersblock is working her ass off for: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Traning. She's going to run a freakin marathon! It's to fight cancer, yo. So get on it and spend some money.

Here's her TNT site

But of course when her deadline is up (end of December) I'll go back to keeping all that sweet sweet cash.

UPDATE: Only two weeks left. Go to the TNT site and donate! Now!

UPDATE: GOAL REACHED!! Hooray! Yippee! Awesome! Yay!

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Cold feet

Biscuit was very excited to be let in this morning.

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Yes, I really am that much of an idoiot idiot

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Something's missing

Now that it's Christmas time, I like to do a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream (spray kind) with sprinkles on top. All that is stirred with a candy cane. So I'm doing up my drink (nothing says class like Nestle instant hot chocolate and spray Rediwhip) and realize the old candycanes I had extra from last year don't smell right. They smelled like plastic and not like peppermint. So I threw those out. I'm drinking my missing ingredient drink, thinking it could use some punch or zing or something. "If only I had a source of peppermint" I thought. It was good, because anything with Rediwhip is good. But it was missing that last little bit.

Today I looked at the cupboard as saw the peppermint schnapps. dammit!

Today at the commissary I got candycanes and freshened my multi-year-old hot chocolate.


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Me likey

So I grabbed a Kleenex off of a secretary's desk and said "this thing smells funny." Turns out Puffs makes kleenex imbued with the power of Vicks vaporub. Needless to say, I've been inhaling deeply on my crack-filled snotrag, just because I love that stuff so much! (er, the Vicks, not the snot.)


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Look what my mommy made

It's a baby blanket for a friend's newborn. She is coming to terms that she will never make one for her own grandchildren.


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Uh, I think something might be moving in...

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