Categories
life

freecyclin’

So, what with the in-laws coming later this month and all, the husband and I decided to get the house in order. Which means we had no choice but to take notice of all the stuff we had managed to acquire. Stuff that was just sitting around and collecting dust.

The last time we did serious purging, we used Craigslist to give items away for free. Which turned out to be kind of a pain. There were all kinds of people who said they’d take stuff, only to never show up. Or to change their minds after haggling for a week about a pick up time. There were a few items that just ended up in the trash because that was so much easier than finding someone to take our perfectly good stuff.

So this time around, we tried Freecycle. Since it is a somewhat closed community (you have to get approved for membership) that is heavily moderated (you break the rules, you get kicked out), we figured we might have better luck. Also, it is local – you can only join your local Freecycle group – so we wouldn’t run into the problem of people deciding they didn’t feel like making an hour-long drive for something. At the most, if you hit all the lights, it might take you 15 minutes. Best case scenario, you’ll be within walking distance.

So we spent Friday night and Saturday posting items on Freecycle. And then we started watching our stuff head out the door! PS3 controllers, a camera bag, old video cards, a computer desk, a tv, a three hole punch, leftover thank you cards from our wedding – nothing is too big or too small for freecycling.

The husband just wanted to trash everything, to get it out of the house ASAP. But I, having grown up in Washington state, couldn’t bear the thought of filling up our landfills with stuff that still worked fine. Also, I have pretty serious hoarder genes that run in my family. Thankfully, I have little desire to keep stuff I don’t use; I just hate to see things go to waste.

And so our perfectly good stuff has found new homes where it will be loved before it ends up in a landfill. Not to mention all the people we made happy! The winner of the box of DVDs is set for family movie night till the end of the year. The video cards get a second life in a new machine. And somewhere, in the next block over, someone is rocking out on their new rock band guitar.

Categories
life

nom nom nom

This is what happens to a squash when it comes up against a turtle who hasn’t eaten in six months. Poor thing never stood a chance.

20110327-013033.jpg

Categories
life technogeeky

don’t even try to out-nerd me …

I’m blogging from my doctor’s office!

Thanks to the marvel that is iPad, I can take my computing just about anywhere! Unlike the husband, I didn’t opt for the 3G version, so I assume the blog won’t update until I get back home to the safety of my wifi network. But because I’ve got the handy-dandy wordpress iPad app, it doesn’t matter that I can’t reach the internet.

My hope is that my new iPad will replace the aging laptop. So far, there’s been one ie-only website, drag-and-drop website functionality, and office docs that I’m missing out on. But that’s what the work computer is for, right?

My 15 minutes is up, I haven’t died from my allergy shot. Time to go!

Categories
cats general complaints life

the best part of waking up …

Is cat vomit on the granite kitchen countertop! Catchy jingle, no? Hmm, well one of the holy terrors sure thought so.

There are not enough clorox wipes in the world. Also, I think my pancake batter station will be on the other side of the stove now.

Categories
life

spring!

Even though there are snow showers in this weekend’s forecast, spring has finally made it to my house! After months of moping around and ignoring her expertly prepared romaine and squash (presented on a paper plate! on top of a sheet of newspaper!), Tortellini has finally decided that it’s time to wake up.

She generally has a winter-time lull, where her eating slows down or even stops for a few weeks, but this time she took her hibernation seriously. She’s been ignoring her food for months! I was starting to get a little worried, but the google assured me that Russian tortoises can, indeed, hibernate for half the year if they set their minds to it.

As reassuring as that was, though, there’s just something creepy about hibernation. All that not eating! It defies logic.

So this morning, I plopped Tortellini down directly under her heat lamp. I put out a fresh plate of spring salad and lima beans within easy turtle reach. And then I left for work.

Much to my dismay, when I got home, she hadn’t eaten. All she had done was rotate herself 90 degrees, so that she was no longer looking directly at her food. And her head was tucked oh-so-tightly into her shell.

A short while later, though, the husband noticed that her head was out, so I made my move. I unzipped the terrarium, and held a lima bean in front of her face. After an agonizing wait, she finally snapped at the bean and almost snagged it. (Having eyes on the side of your head makes it hard to eat lima beans out of someone’s hand. Just sayin’.)

After another agonizing wait, she tried again and finally got it. While she worked on that bean, I made a call to refill a prescription, and then I fed her another one. I followed that up with a piece of romaine, but she wasn’t much interested, so I let her be. Since all she has to do is turn 90 degrees and take a step forward to, you know, eat a whole plateful of turtle yumminess all on her own.

So yeah. Spring! It’s here! Snow showers and all.

Categories
confession life

procrastination

So I’ve got this project to do for the dad, that really won’t take terribly long, I just need to sit down and do it.

But instead of just doing it, I feel like I’m back in college.  Back in college and avoiding my homework …

So far, instead of coding up the dad’s POS (his acronym, not mine, I promise), I bought some pink shirts.  And then I bought some knitting books and yarn.  I’ve eaten some apple pie.

And now, I’m blogging!

After this, I’m thinking about maybe doing the dishes.  Or playing some Lego Harry Potter.  Or Rock Band.  Or doing my wow dailies.  Oh, and practicing my piano!  Oh, and then there’s still some banana cream pie with my name on it …

And THEN, I think I can get to work.

Categories
food life

what’s for lunch?

This weekend, the husband and I made ourselves sandwiches for lunch.  As I assembled my turkey pita pocket sandwich, there just may have been a jealous onlooker …

the husband: Somebody made me a sandwich like that one time!

me: Oh?

the husband: It was really good.

me: Was it me?

the husband: Ohhhh, yeah, I think so.

me: <suppressed laugh> I see.

As he was already halfway through making  his wonder bread concoction, I didn’t figure it made sense to make him a pita sandwich.  But his child psychology worked, he got ‘somebody’ to make him turkey on pita (turkey in pita?) for dinner tonight.  I’m a sucker for a compliment, what can I say.  🙂

Categories
food life

what’s for dinner?

the husband’s menu: tater tot casserole

my menu: lentils, couscous, pita crisps

the husband: What are you making?  That smells so good?  For you?

me: Lentils?

the husband: It smells like Macaroni Grill!

me: Oh, that’s the garlic.  I bought real garlic for my lentils.

Hmm, one of these days, the husband may just eat a lentil!

Categories
life

savin’ the planet

My company recently moved to a new building.  A bright, shiny new building.  A bright, shiny new building, where energy consciousness is the name of the game.

The lights are triggered by motion, and if there is no motion, the lights turn themselves off.  This is the case in my cube farm.  This is the case in the kitchen.  This is the case in the bathroom.

The bathroom has also been outfitted with florescent bulbs.  But not just any florescent bulbs!  They are the kind of bulbs that need a few minutes to warm up.

At home, in the middle of the night, I usually opt to use the bathroom with very dim lighting.  No need for bright lights then!  Not when I’m about to get right back into bed.

But at work?  At work, I prefer my bathroom visits to include good lighting.  I suppose, though, for the sake of the planet, I will have to get used to scary gas station bathroom lighting.  Especially since I’m a lady in a dev shop.  The ladies’ room lights spend a good portion of the day off.  Ya know, saving the planet!

Categories
food life

disaster averted

the husband: <gets bread from cupboard, places two slices of bread on a plate>

the husband: <gets mayo from fridge, spreads mayo on each slice>

the husband: <gets mustard from fridge, squirts a circle of mustard on each slice>

the husband: <gets american cheese from fridge, peels off a slice, places on one slice of bread>

the husband: <tries to get ham from fridge>

the husband: <distraught> I don’t… I don’t have anything to put on my sandwich!

me: <looks at nearly finished sandwich>

me: I could fry you an egg.  Oh, I could if we HAD any eggs.

me: Well that’s really … that’s really sad.

me: Oh!  There’s chicken nuggets!  Or fish sticks!  In the freezer.  You could microwave some up real quick.

the husband: <rummages in freezer>

the husband: DINOSAUR CHICKEN NUGGETS!!!

And thus, disaster was averted, and dinner was not a sad affair.  In fact, there may have been a song about a stegosaurus in there somewhere …