The little scroll button on our mouse hasn't been working, and apparently this morning David got fed up enough that he decided to take it in to the Apple Store. (there they told him to call AppleCare instead.) So he's out at a client, with the mouse in his briefcase, and I'm at home trying to write a newsletter and check my mail and LJ with no mouse. I'm learning a lot of shortcuts but I'm not really able to read any comments today,so I feel like I'm missing a lot.

Also, I'm a bit ashamed of the amount of panic I had when I realized I might not be able to use the computer for FIVE MORE HOURS. OH NO.

Come back mousie.

Noggin (it's like preschool on tv!) is promoting the First Book program this month, and Henry was saddened to learn that only 1 out of 300 children from low-income families owns an age-appropriate book of their own. I'm saddened, too. I can hardly believe the number is real.

He wants to do something to help, but the concept of fundraising is difficult to grasp. He's talked of taking some of our books to the kids next door, but beyond that it's pretty abstract.

For now, we're clicking to earn free books. You can click, too.

Yum. One of my favorite salads. It takes a lot of blueberries, so it's best to make it a lot when the blueberries are on sale (like right now at my neighborhood grocery.) It could use a better name. Henry calls it Rainbow Salad. I call it delicious.

Bleu-berry Salad

8 cups greens
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cups blueberries
1/2 to 1 cup bleu cheese crumbles
1/4 cup sliced almonds

dressing: combine in blender

1/3 cup water
1/3 cup balsmic vinegar
2/3 cup oil
1 tsp. onion powder
1 cup blueberries
salt and pepper to taste

I will be so disappointed if Chris Sligh doesn't make the Top 12 tonight. He's quite possibly my favorite American Idol contestant ever.

YouTube of his audition here

LOVE HIM.

I spent Saturday evening on the banks of the Penobscot River clapping my hands and dancing with my children to the polka sounds of Karl and His Country Dutchmen, who had traveled to Bangor all the way from Wisconsin (where else?) for the American Folk Festival.

The preceding act was a bluegrass group from Virginia, and we later listened to zydeco and a dance band from Zimbabwe, but I swear to you that there's nothing I'd rather do, I think, than to sit on a lawn on a fair summer evening and listen to a polka.

Well, dancing to it would be an improvement. My only true regret in spouse selection is that he doesn't polka with me. :)

That's it. I give up. (Thanks for the color tip, mabel_morgan)

lincoln I'm not sure why I have so much trouble with photos here. It's probably not nearly as funny when you've had to wait for it so long and had all these expectations building up. :)

EDIT: Or, let's try this one:

I'm obviously nothing even close to the cameraphone artist derspatchel is, but I felt this was worth sharing. Sorry for the poor quality. As a bonus, though, you get to see me in the reflection!




I laughed heartily.

I left off the "herpes: Pass It On" at the end. Part of humor is knowing when to stop, I think.

I'm really thinking that it shouldn't be such a big deal to change hosting companies, but here we are. I've moved two domains there. One works pretty well, although I had trouble with e-mail for a while. The second is a big screaming disaster so far. Can't access the website, e-mails just plain disappear (well, they were just disappearing, and now I'm not sure because I get a 400 error when I try to access the webmail).

And then there's the joy of dealing with support, who seem to only skim the e-mails so that it takes three or four go-rounds before they get the gist of the problem which was actually pretty clearly outlined in the first support request.

ARGH.


(so. anyone else having trouble with Dreamhost?)

Poor thing. That dress was at least a size too small for you. No wonder the buttons popped open and you gave all of America a crotch shot on live television. And anything that has to highlight your back fat in order to highlight your cleavage is probably just not the right dress for you.

...I didn't feel it was wasteful to post something like, "Hey, these Cheez-its Twisterz, in Hot Wings & Cheesy Blue flavor, are pretty darn good."

In February
it will be
my snowman's
anniversary
with cake for him
and soup for me!
Happy once
happy twice
happy chicken soup
with rice.





(that's it, until March, at least.)

For Christmas, I got a little paperwhite/narcissis bulb forcing kit. It's been growing in the kitchen window for a few weeks now and has started to bloom. The flowers are beautiful and smell...

...just like urine. Ewwww.

Thanks, qxam




create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Breast is natural. Breast is good.
Not every baby does it, but every baby should.

Breast is easier, breast is fun.
Breast is best 'til they're at least one [year old].





I suppose this might be a great public service ad campaign if it weren't for the "should" in there.

And along those lines, suggestions/advice on how I might do some consulting/editing/PR/etc. work from home are very welcome. I've got a few skills, at least, and once in a while I have some free time and I feel like I ought to put it to good use. Volunteering is great, but getting paid once in a while would be a good thing, too.