Shhh....

In The Simpsons episode "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes", Homer gets a computer and creates a web page full of animated gif and wav files. He proudly shows off his page and says,

"You'd think it'd be annoying, but it's not!"

It turns out I feel like that about a lot of web pages and blogs that have the cute little music players. Yes, I'm in the minority. Yes, I'm an old stick in the mud. Yes, I can, and do, avoid the music by hitting pause or the mute button on my computer. Still I wonder why these little pieces of technological noise pollution are so popular. What if it was quiet?

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
1 Kings 19:11-12 (New International Version)

In Pursuit of Stromboli Perfection

Last night my parents came up for dinner, and I'd say I made the most overall successful stromboli to date. I think photos and maybe even the recipe will be coming soon.

Ben has decided his break has been long enough, so it's time for tooth #5 to start coming. I bet it's all of the talk of eating stromboli that has his teeth racing to the surface.

Dave is now in Iraq, and I do have an address for him for those who might want it. He sent gifts from Iceland for Ben and I: He gave me a pretty and very comfy sweater, and sent Ben a stuffed animal. I really need to take photos of his menagerie while they're still in good shape.

Oh, and sweet darling boy has been letting me scrapbook while he plays. I think I've done about a dozen pages for his album in the last 72 hours. Turns out that when you have a thousand pictures of an adorable kid, the pages aren't too hard to do.

Six Month Status Report

Yesterday, after several days of pain and crabbiness, two more teeth finally broke through. Where are your teeth, Ben?



Instead of being the top front teeth, it's a top front and the one to the side of it, so he's a bit off center for now. But for now, he is so very much happier. Happier, at least, until it's time for the next teeth.


What, more teeth??

I'm going to be able to cut back my hours a bit starting next week. My hats off to all of the single moms out there who work full time or more and keep everything running. I'm looking forward to being able to get to the Y a little easier, take Ben to the park when the weather's nice, and just keep up with the house.

Holy Stromboli

At lunchtime, Minda helped me roll out the dough for stromboli take 2. It was sooo good. It helped to get the dough rolled out thin enough, and to have less Parmesan cheese. I might be ready to try it out on my Dad.

Of course I realized after the fact that it probably wasn't the right choice for Good Friday. D'oh!

And, how could I talk about Mr. Bananaman without a photo?

Now He Wants a Motorcycle.

Chie sent this to Ben, and even though it's marked "12 Months", it fits him NOW. And it's so stinkin' cute. Right now he's working on his top front teeth, and it hasn't helped his mood the last few days. He's sitting in his high chair next to me, smacking on a banana in a self-feeder. Banana juice is running down his naked little chest and tummy, so it's lucky it's bath night!

I love this...

Stromboli, take one!

Ok, I can't remember if I mentioned it previously, but when we were in Florida, we had the most delicious stromboli, and it inspired me to come home and perfect a recipe.
Tonight, I made one, using a combination of a couple of recipes, and my memory of the one we had in Florida. It turned out yummy! The cheese was 2 mozzarella, 2 provolone 1 parmesan, and it needed less parmesan, maybe more mozzarella. I made the dough in the bread maker, and I didn't do a very good job of rolling it out evenly. So the crust came out thick on the edges and too thin in the middle. I'm going to have to try a different kind of sausage next time, too.
I should have taken a picture before I started eatin' on it...

T'aint Funny, McGee....

Enough is enough already!


On a brighter note, Minda threw out a scrapping challenge on her blog yesterday to scrap a favorite hymn. My favorite is an uncommon Swedish hymn, "O Let Your Soul Now Be Filled With Gladness". I think it's one of my Dad's favorites too. It speaks to me because it talks of more than just "God loves you so be happy, happy, happy!". It reminds me that "when dark assails from every side, still yours the promise... that you are purchased as you are." The message is pretty deep and fairly dark for a peppy little Swedish melody.



Who can tell me who said, "T'aint funny, McGee"?