Until the Weekend

While I have a ton of projects to talk about, posting is going to be spotty this weekend.

A bit of a life dump is occuring here at the Nest, and these things have to be dealt with first.

I had thought the only "extra" I would be dealing with this week would be furball # 3's trip to the vet to pull her out of the gene pool, but instead this weekend is going to be spent waiting for a call to tell me an elderly relative has passed.

Sorry to start the weekend out on a bummer note for everyone. Go look at www.icanhascheezburger.com if you need a mood stabalizer.

Addendum to a Complaint -

Sigh.

While I understand that several people's comments were meant as tongue and cheek as my own post yesterday... the fact that several readers decided I was serious over my confusion and consternation regarding the ambient temperature and the falling snow and took it upon themselves to write private emails outlining my educational deficiencies forces me to readdress yesterdays post. I would have left it and just moved on, but three emails* decided to take me to task and inform me that I am not as as smart as I think I am, and am in fact, quite the idiot.

In case I have failed to make something clear... I, am a smartass. Sarcasm and the love of wordplay have throughout the course of my life gotten me into more trouble then any other deviant behavior I may exhibit. Granted, this particular predilection also gained me a husband... but far more often I get myself in trouble because the folks I am speaking to don't quite catch the tongue-in-cheek nature I use to express myself.

So to clarify... yes. I understand how it can snow and be 34 degree. I was being facetious because I was frustrated at being snowbound – again. It was meant as a mildly cranky joke as I watched my world go white once more.

I understand that almost everyone who reads these little brain blots of mine comprehends and recognises when I am just being a sarcastic twit. I believe there were even a few comments and emails sent that prove I'm not the only one wandering around with a smartypants nature - let's do lunch one day. I have a feeling the conversation will be insane, but fun for all. Just ask Oonagh over in the corner what happens when we get rolling together. But for the three in the back who spent far too much time patting themselves on the back for setting me straight...

Do yourself a favor and pull your heads out of your respective asses. Thanks.

Tomorrow? Gardening at last.



*So help me, Oonagh, if you think I'm speaking about you, I"ll spank you! And to all of you trying to read this little type, go to her site (it's listed on the side) AND her ebay site. Buy much, buy often.

I Feel I Should Complain....

I distinctly remember being told in the 4th grade that water only freezes at 32 degrees. Point of fact, I also recall having to write that little immutable fact of life onto a chalkboard 20 times as I had apparently been talking to a friend while the teacher was explaining water only freezes at 32 degrees.... and not a jot above.

Will someone please call my science teacher and ask him to drop me a line? I have a small bone to pick with him.

The four temperature gauges in the Nerdly Nest all report conclusively (and the weather channel agrees) that it is 34-36 degrees outside.

So how the Hades do I have THIS out my window:

5 inches and still growing.

I feel owed a retroactive gold star.

Someone please tell me spring is on the way? I'll be spending my afternoon planting seed trays in an attempt to remind myself that I won't be stuck in this frigid hell for much longer.

And if anyone see Mr. Miller? Give him a smack for me, would you?

Rethinking Fast Food Part Two

The first step in fixing a problem is to identify it. In other words – we have to stop eat so much fast food and ready made crap. Check.

The second took a bit more time... mainly because I had to swipe the Prime Geek's cell phone to begin. After a few furtive moments I managed to separate him from his electronic baby (I can't be the only person who hates those stupid ear pieces. I never know if he's talking to me, on the phone, or temporarily gone out of his mind and is talking to the pixies again.) and quickly thumbed down through his rolodex. Pizza parlors – deleted. Chinese take out – gone. Local chicken and jo-jo's* delivery joint – eliminated. Hey, can't make just an easy call if you don't have the numbers, right? The bellow when he found out I had done some corrective surgery to his beloved cell was staggering, but in the end even he saw the reasoning behind it.** Flyers advertising daily specials and sales went straight into the woodburner with take-out menus fast after. I'm not at a point where I am going to throw away the ready-made mixes I have in the pantry, (IE – I'm too darn cheap to toss things I paid cold hard cash for.) and while a few friends suggested donating it all to a local food pantry (why should poor folks have to eat crap? I'll donate... but it will be the real stuff, not leavings and leftovers I simply don't want.) I've instead decided to simply use up what I have and just not buy more. The mixes and quick fixes I often reach for will be replaced by some quick thinking and homemade mixes where I not only know what all is in the food... but I can spell it as well! (Honestly, I'm at the point where a food being recognized by my spell checker is becoming a requirement to me ingesting it.)

Third step... and the one I've begun to work on. The real motivation between fast food fixes and drive-thru letdowns is simple. Outta time, outta energy, outta motivation, and outta ideas. I need some quick to's that will let this often beleaguered bard have a solution in a hurry. A solution that won't tax my brain OR my bank balance. Where to start? First came the realization that one of the first go-tos we have for the dinner blues is Chinese food. Quick, semi-not-too-terrible for us, and relatively cheap as well. So... time to figure out some Asian inspired home hasties*** I can keep on hand.

Repeat after me - “In wontons we will trust.” Ahhh... the miraculous marvels that having those handy little pasta skins in the fridge will allow. I tend to drop these little jewels into the grocery cart almost every time I shop... which is why I found five packages in the meat tray during my rummage today. (I buy with good intentions... but once tossed into the chill chest I tend to forget what's in there.) Two pans of leftovers filled my first home hasties needs. One pan – a roasted pork loin I had cooked for Sunday dinner on a nest of brown rice and some veggies. The other pot held the remains of a rotisserie chicken I had picked up earlier in the week for a last minute dinner (yeah yeah... fast food, I know. I'm working on it! At least I'm getting better at using everything up, I even have the carcase simmering away for broth.).

The meats got minced fine (separately), mixed with a bit of this and a splash of that, and then the real work began. Two messy hours later and I went from this –

****

to these-.

Lovely little wontons for a myriad of uses. Potstickers are the favorite in this house, served with an amazing pomegranate soy sauce the Prime Geek dreamed up one night (I'm trying to get him to A- make a ton more and B- please PLEASE get the recipe written down so we don't lose it! Once I force the pen and paper on him, I'll share it here.) along the side. But for meals in a moment - I can also toss them in broth for soup, give them a steam, or even deep fry if I'm feeling like going all the way.

Tossed onto a cookie sheet and flash frozen, these will get tagged and bagged for future meal emergencies.

Tomorrow, I'll begin to tackle one of the largest projects of the nerdly year..... hope you all are up for a ride!

* One of the weirdest things for this nerd when I moved to northern Ohio was discovering the almost ultish following of mom and pop eateries to combine pizza with chicken and jo-jos. I disn't understnad then... still don't today.

** I may have also deleted a few old girlfriends of his as well as a club or two. Oops?

*** Sadly, home hasties -no matter how much I am aware is an odd little phrase to go with, my nerdly brain will allow me to use no other.

**** Finally - in refrence to the purple gloves under the bowl. No, I don't have some squimishness regarding handling food. I just managed to burn/slice/spinter/and otherwise mangle my hands this week. I don't use bandaids, just clean it all out and use a bit of honey. As I don't want hot sauce in a cut... or an open wound in my food - gloves.

This weeks mental digression is brought to you by the letters B, H, R and the number 3. Thank you.

Rethinking Fast Food

Confession time for this nerd. While I was raised on real food, and even truly enjoy cooking... I can get lazy quick. I know all the arguments for resisting the siren call of fast food; heart clogging saturated fats, over the roof salt levels, mystery meats and only vaguely understood sauces, jacked-up prices WAY out of range of the actual price of ingredients, and the vague nauseous feeling you get soon after you suck the last drop out of your biggie gulp to name just a few reasons to avoid the drive-thru window. Far too often meal times arrive with ninja-swiftness, blindsiding this nerd (I mean really... we just ate five hours ago... it can't be time to do it again, can it?) and causing complete shutdown of the meal programming systems.

I start out earnestly enough, the weekly meals get roughly sketched out on the weekends. I industriously scout the freezer/pantry/fridge for what we have, what we need, and what I can substitute for. But one day the Prime Geek will be late getting home – so that meal gets put on the back burner. Another day will find us staying home all day, so the defrosted chicken for Thursday gets eaten on Tuesday for lunch... and now Thursday finds us without a plan. Leftovers put aside for a quick soup on the weekend get snacked on and Saturday is spent staring forlornly into an empty fridge. We could thaw the roast... but that's going to take a few hours. Cook the chicken... but it's tomorrows dinner.

So a call to the pizza joint, a quick pass through the burger joints arches, or a run into the Chinese place down the street. One quick meal won't hurt us.... right?

Except its becoming a far more common occurrence lately. Between the battle of the plagues that rocked the PG and I'd world for a few months, a promotion that has the PG working a far more erratic schedule, and my tendency to get so wrapped upped in projects that I completely forget I actually DO require food at some point during the day, we've strayed a wee bit (okay, a couple of times a week may constitute more then a wee bit) when it comes to eating “real” food.

Having the largest garden possible, sourcing all our meat locally, or refusing to buy boxed foods and switching to home cooked will not help us one jot if we're still shoveling down the cardboard crap the fast food restaurants serve.*

Its time to snip this bad habit in the bud. Well, alright, its more like we're pulling out the shrub by the roots... but still. Today is the first day of attack. One of the reasons 7o'clock rolls around and finds me scrabbling for dinner plans (and all too often giving it up as a bad job and ordering a pizza) is that I seem incapable of remembering to eat lunch. ** I can be relied upon to cook a balanced meal for others, but the thought of dirtying all those pans just for myself has me choosing to graze on handfuls of chips and a few slurps of a fizzy water over the course of the day. Hunger (along with dizziness and a rather lethargic feeling) makes planning a “real” meal at the end of the day a mountain to climb. Time to at least pretend to be an adult and start eating meals during the day.

Oh joy. I do SO love being mature.


* The really embarrassing part of this is, the Prime Geek's father is an executive chef and I grew up a food snob. We really do know better.

** Sadly, I really do seem incapable of remembering this basic human fact. I have a slight heart "issue" that can cause me to get dizzy at the best if times, going without food just guarentees at some point I'm going down, usually at the most embarrassing moment. Chalk in the fact that at 6' something, I run the risk of crushing fleeing villagers in my tumble and it can get embarrassing.

Owe

I was going to have a long post today, meandering from some green but still nerdy Valentine ideas to the unveiling of the first of the multitude of nifty things that are beginning to occur in the Prime Geek and I's life....

But, I just fell down half a flight of stairs and ripped all the skin off my palm (on my UNBURNED hand... its been a week here at the nest folks), jarred my elbow, and I think I also managed to skin my back as I slid down the carpeting to finally come to rest with a less then happy feeling spine.

So.

With really no ado, the reason the Prime Geek and I are getting passport photos?

His job – realizing that if they want him to continue working a job that has him getting phone calls at all hours of the day as well as trundling into the office on weekends and late nights after he's already driven home, and also realizing that finding a matching pair of Japanese twin acrobats with a willing nature is difficult to hide on the company books – put him up for a bit of an award.

He won. 17 months behind, we're going to get our honeymoon. In June, we'll be heading out onto a 5 day cruise through Catalina and Baja. (Yes, I squealed like a teenager when I found out!) On one hand... we're taking a trip with 2,000 other insurance company workers – which kinda sounds like a really bad joke setup – but I don't care. I'll have my scuba training by then (I love having friends that can teach AND certify me in things), and the PG is thrilled the ship has a trained Sushi-ya. Hey, as long as they don't mind dropping mine in the deep fryer before serving me, its all good. I've moved all over, even done my share of traveling, but the cruise thing is completely new to both of us.

There. Nothing green. Short – for me. Back to the natural nerdliness tomorrow (where a brand new toy will be unveiled... and it actually is on topic for a change).

I'm going to go soak my pride and valiantly refrain from calling my mommy.

Happy Valentine's Day folks. Give those you care about a hug – its carbon free and completely environmentally friendly.

Keeping things interesting

While the Prime Geek and I have only been married for a tad bit longer then a year, we have been together pretty much nonstop for the better part of four and a half. Truth be told, we met – became good friends, noticed after six months that we were killing multiple cordless phones each night in our lengthy discussions (our emails were also suspected in a sudden onset of mild carpal tunnel syndrome), decided to try one “date” wherein we closed a restaurant down (they let us stay while they closed, at first thinking we were celebrating an anniversary... shock and awe – as well as a few “ahhhsss” and knowing winks when we admitted to it being a first date) spent the better part of the rest of the evening laying in my parents field desperately trying to not say anything “too soon, too fast, too much” - we failed in that – and three weeks later I moved to this cold city a full block away from his house. From that point on, we were together. Separated when he went to work and to bed... only apart in mailing addresses and shoe storage*.

Weird, I know. While our conversations range wildly... and I do mean wildly**, we've never really had the “getting to know you” speeches. He knew how I take my tea, when the time came I knew which side of the bed he slept on. We just, well, fit.

Things are never boring here at the nest. We challenge each other constantly, forcing each other to stretch in new ways to keep up with the other. To that end, we're attempting something new.

He and I have very similar gifts – with VERY different applications. What do I mean? He, annoyingly, can hear a language and begin to absorb it. He speaks Germen with a thick Germen accent – no formal training – and has picked up French, Spanish, and enough Arabic to get himself in trouble. Can't really read a lick of it though.

Me? While accents are an issue to me (Allow me to apologize in advance. If we should ever meet, I tend to absorb accents. A holdover from having moved hither and yon my whole life, but I tend to begin speaking in whatever accent I hear. Blame the fact I had a Boston accent as a child, have southern relatives, and a mother who force fed me PBS and British movies. I'm not mocking, I just can't help it.) I can't really speak anything other then English. Reading? Whole other story. As a kid I took Latin (which gives you a basis for all the romance languages, seriously. Take Latin and you can muddle your way through just about everything.) AND had a serious British mystery fetish. If you read Christie or Sayers, you know back in the 20's authors had the annoying tendency of dropping into French at the drop of the hat. I learned to read it mainly to figure out what the hades Hercule had gotten himself into! So in the end, I can read my way through five or six languages. Can't speak them... and my ear is nowhere near tuned enough to pick them up.

See? Similar, yet different. To that end, we're tackling a new challenge together. We've decided that anything in the Romance languages is a cheat. No matter what we would choose, one of us would be ahead. So after a wrangle in the bookstore, we finally settled on one with even a brand new alphabet. We're learning Russian. Do we plan to go to Russia? Not really, perhaps one day. Are we of Russian extraction? Nope. I doubt we'd be such fair weather babies if our ancestors stomped the Russian steppes. Want to read the great Russian authors in their original language? No. I've read War and Peace... I prefer Tolkien and Pratchett. We're just weird enough that something new like this gives us both a happy. Just keeping things fresh - without investing in those embarrassing relationship tapes. I know we're still new to this whole marriage “thang” but I figure as long as things as simple as learning together keep our attention... we're doing okay.

Where is this going? Hey, I'm just trying to build a little momentum before one of the first big announcements I have for Valentine's day!




*And even then it wasn't always clear who lived where. My place had the shower, so his ablutions tended to be at my place. HIS home had the big screen tv, so movie nights had us cuddled pretty tightly at his.

** He is the only one who has ever been able to not only keep up but at times out pace me in a conversation that ricochet from medieval languages, to sub atomic particles, to African tree frogs, without a pause for breath as three Seussian couplets make their way into being. He is also the only one who will get into endless word games while holding five conversation treks as once. I had no choice but to marry him!

Tagged?

After posting for about six months I had thought I had successfully dodged a particular little oddity running around the internet. The sporadic outbreaks of meme's (essentially virtual games of tag) however, has finally caught up to my corner of the web and I've been tagged. Not really what I was planning to do this evening... but the Prime Geek and myself are currently sitting in the center of a vicious weather system that has him trying to sleep off a migraine in the corner while I just hope for the Excedrin to kick in.

That being said... might as well burn through one blog post by answering the meme.

Let's see.

1) The rules for this meme are:
2) Link to the person that tagged you.
3) Post the rules on your blog.
4) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
5) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
6) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

So – the lady who started this whole weirdness for me is Chile over at http://chilechews.blogspot.com/ . Do yourself a favor and check this lady out. I only found her a few weeks ago, and really am loving what I'm reading. The Prime Geek and myself aren't about to become vegetarians*... but the way she presents her material is both entertaining and intriguing. Her site has definitely become part of my morning reading ritual over my morning mug of tea.

The rules are posted... guess its time for the six non-important things (so much easier to think of it all she had asked for was 6 improbable things, but I'll work with the rules this time.) about this nerd.

1- I'm mildly colorblind. Not the dangerous at stop lights red/green kind, but I have a heck of a time differentiating between two shades. No big deal, but a pain in the butt when I am trying to match my socks. (This is one of the reason why I almost always wear mismatched socks.

2 - I hate the texture of onions. Love the taste... hate the mouth feel. I almost always have to grate onions to cook with them to compensate for this.

3 – I have based the adoption of every pet I have had on one feature. Ears.

4 – I've dislocated my shoulders so many times I can pop them in and out with little or no effort.

5 – After seven read-thru's, I still think Moby Dick is just a good adventure story about a whale.

6 – I don't care about the hype... I honestly can't tell the difference between cheap “jug-o-wine” and the supposedly good stuff.

That was far harder then I would ever have guessed.

Now... who to pick on?

First, wander on over to http://redshirtknitting.com/ , Erica has a great site I check often.
Another on that gets checked daily is http://cheaplikeme.wordpress.com/
I might get blasted by her ire... but hey, Proff... you're it - http://crankyprof.blogspot.com/
Just found her a few weeks ago and love her stuff so : http://cleanerplateclub.wordpress.com/
http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/ is worth to just drool over her recipes and finally -
http://limenviolet.blogspot.com/ . Technically a podcast, but as they kept me sane this week while knitting. Check them out!

Okay... 6 things, 6 people bothered. Off for more migraine meds.





* Short explanation for why no argument will sway me. My body is weird, it starts shutting down without meat based protein. Ive had rude questions regarding my families marital relations with cats. Just doesn't work, so not gonna happen.

End of the Pink Monster

The Prime Geek is off with a friend doing his home heating duties (in other words, the poor lad is chopping/stacking/loading/unloading a metric butt ton of wood tonight) so I have the nest all to myself for the evening.

Did I spend it soaking in a bubble bath?
Perhaps watching a couple of chick flicks with a delivered pizza and a bottle of girly beer?
Manicure? Pedicure? A good book?

Nope. The bath comes later, I'm more likely to watch an action flick then Steel Magnolias, no pizza (although the beer sounds tasty right about now... I may look into that for tomorrow), my nails are so far gone its not worth trying to salvage them, and frankly... I haven't sat and read for over a week. (Will be rectified with the bath later on.)

However.

The pink monster is now finished. Well. Knitted. 17+ hours of relentless knitting - including a terrible bout of unraveling and reknitting after Trouble #2 & #3 grabbed it during a catfight, but we won't go into that now because I have to eat something before I can start drinking tequila.

Tomorrow, the blocking, seaming, and finishing... and I can resume my nerdly life (yes... green updates at last on the 'morrow.)

While I can't feel my wrists, I've been stuck in one place for three days, and I have begun to loathe pink to an unnatural length - I learned how to make a sweater, listened to some amazing podcasts (if you knit, get thee to Lime & Violet's place at http://limenviolet.blogspot.com/ posthaste!), AND begun a new project the Prime Geek and myself are settling into. Gotta keep the marriage interesting, now don't we?

Later. Gonna go find A) food B) alchohol and C) a VERY hot tub of water.

Have a good night.

What's the Nerd Up To?

This is what I had yesterday morning :





This, well, this is what I have tonight :

One more day of frantic knitting and the Mason-Dixon baby kimono (a baby gift for the Prime Geek's boss) will be finished. At the moment? I am truly begining to loathe pink. On the up side? Who knew I could knit a baby sweater in three days. Granted... the dishes are stacking up, we had to go out for dinner, and I couldn't tell you if I am wearing clean jeans or not.

(I did mail out a letter to my congressman and senator regarding the bags, thanks to a handy website full of address - http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml. Your turn!)

Tomorrow I finally get to start letting several cats out of the bag regarding some big news for the Prime Geek and myself.....

And I plan to spend much of the day figuring out what the PG is gonna owe me for dropping me into this pink hell. Don't know what yet, but its gonna be big.*

* On the up side? Its a warm sweater for a cute little girl. All things being equal, not a bad three days work. Just don't tell the PG that... I am trying to guilt him into buying me a spinning wheel.

The Nerd Party

As it happens to be Super Tuesday, I figure I'll risk my nerdly neck and venture out into the wilds of political speaking and toss an idea into the ring that I think we all can agree on together. Dangerous? You bet, these political wrangles can get ugly – FAST. But I figure if I can manage a holiday dinner with my parents (retired Marine* NRA father and dedicated homemaker mother**... with that pedigree I bet me outing them as staunch Republicans will come as little shock to my readers) and the Prime Geeks parents (Democrat to the bone, teacher's union, and things haven't been the same since Kennedy was killed) without bloodshed, I think I can wind my way through this tango without too much terror.

After a few sleepless nights (I might also confess to a few glasses of sangria – applied medically, of course) I feel I have hit upon the perfect act to unify our nation. Republicans holding hands with Democrats, Treehuggers with Gunnuts, Grannies and Bikers, Cheerleaders and Chess players....

The idea came to me the way many kernels of insight come to me – the Prime Geek, bored out of his nut while a program compiles tends to surf the web (strictly to multi task, of course) a wee bit obsessively. This means I will sometimes receive dozens of emails over the course of a 24 hour period, with topics ranging from the environmental... to the newest posting on icanhascheezburger.com. On one hand these emails remind me that my husband thinks of me often over the course of the day, on the other – well, sometimes it would be easier if he would just roll over and tell me instead of IM'ing me from the other side of the bed. These are the burdens a mixed marriage holds. When Nerds and Geeks join their lives together, compromises must be found... if only for the sake of the Mp3 collection.

Anyway... it all started with an email containing the following link : http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/world/europe/02bags.html?hp=&pagewanted=all .

We've walked this path before, journaling my attempts to corral the ever present plastic grocery bag from my home... but this seems to take the whole effort to a truly logical conclusion. Want a plastic bag to carry your goods home in? Okay, fine. That's allowed... but you're going to have to pay for it. Not a huge amount (Ireland's tax of $0.33 seems reasonable. Less then a can of soda on the way out of the store, the price means if you really really just have to have the plastic it is still a doable cost for most.), no shouting, no tsking, no guilt inducing fingers being shaken at you. Simply pay the nice cashier as you would for any other item being purchased at the store and move on about your day. Not want to pay an extra tax on your box of Capt'n Crunch and 6-pack of Coke? No worries, just grab a bag on your way out of the house or keep one in the car for last minute sugar rushes.

A green option – one that the environmentally vocal Democrats should love. Ireland reduced their use of the planet damaging by 94% in a single year... think how our nations parks and streets would look in just a year with that kind of reduction in trash littering the sidewalks. We accept a tax on other items not so great for us – soda, cigarettes, and beer topping the list – why not on something everyone agrees is harmful?

Don't think I'm leaving the Republicans out of the happy dance we can all waltz to with this idea. Think of it – all those flimsy bags being made by the million in foreign countries. There would be an overnight explosion in American craftspersons desperately trying to fill a bag-induced void. Heck, we're already working on it -search ebay, etsy, or any of a dozen other craft sale sites and you'll find thousands of versions of the new style of grocery bag. The first republican who grabs onto this idea and presents it in their campaign is going to FORCE inter-party cooperation. No democrat can argue its a needed idea, no republican can come up with a reason to resist.

Let's make our leaders play nicely in their chosen sandboxes. Forward the link (and hey, this site as well) to your friends and let's see if we can make a difference in this politically fraught year.

If you carry a purse, remember your car keys, or make sure to grab your id badge before heading off to work, then grabbing a bag before you head out for a day of shopping should be easy.

Tomorrow I'll post some addresses to forward your requests for a bag tax to... and include a few nifty ways to cut down on our use as well. Til then, remember – no politics at the dinner table. It just causes indigestion and tossed mashed potatoes.


Viva la' Nerdly Revolution!


*My father requires I explain – there are only two kinds of people in the world. Marines and those that wish they were. There apparently is no such thing as a retired Marine... there are only Marines currently serving, and those on standby.+
** Mom prefers the term “Domestic Goddess” and has begun to insist my father refer to her as such when he is introducing her to his friends.+
+ And people wonder why I turned out just slightly odd. Frankly, its amazing I can even SEE normal on a good day.

Cut Off!

Wanna know if you might be a teeny tiny bit addicted to trawling the internet?

Don't choose to stay offline (easy enough when its my call to work on more importent things) but, instead, simply wake up and wander computer-wards with hot tea in hand ready to check the news and mail and discover -GASP, HORROR!

No signal. Then spend the rest of your day relentlessly checking and rechecking to see if the problem is fixed.

The Prime Geek spanked it firmly when he got home... and now I'm trying to get caught up on my work.

Check back this evening.... I should have gotten past the withdrawel shakes by then!

Shorty

I'm in a bit of a twitter at the moment... several grand events are drawing to a head, and drat it all if I'm not allowed to spill the beans until later on in the coming week!

A few wee hints and them I'm off to soak in a hot bath and indulge in a quick maniacal giggle or two as I contemplate upcoming events.

1) The mad experiment in discerning how far one can go in the realm of self-sufficiency is about to begin... arrivals of great import are in the near offing. Granted, these items have the Prime Geek shaking his head over my supreme slide into nerdiness.

2) We seem to be in need of passports. Rather pressing need in fact... as well as a conclusion that has me facing the terrifying prospect of requiring a bikini. (As well as the body to wear one!)

Any more and I'll burst out with all the news at once (There's a reason family members get their Christmas presents staged out over the whole year... I can't keep goodies quiet, I always have to share it at once.)


'Scuse me, I'm off to go whisper it into the cats ears in the hope it will ease the desire to bounce!





No. I'm not. We're not. Not for at least another year or two. Honestly... would I be contemplating both a bikini and a bassinet at the same time? Now way... not until the hollywood types give up their sources of stunt bodies to take the brunt of the stretch marks!