Wednesday, April 30, 2008

sleeping update

As discussed previously, this is the week where we’re going for broke with getting little man to sleep through the night. So far, mixed results. Last night brought us one large step forward and one small step back.

Large step forward, we’re up to SIX consecutive hours of him all by himself in the crib, 2 hours more than his previous record. That’s not six consecutive hours without crying – HAHAHAHA – but one step at a time, right?

Small step back, due to his off-and-on crying for those six hours, he only made it until 3:30am or so before needing to eat. Which is pretty understandable as it takes a lot more energy to scream and cry than it does to sleep on Mommy.

Anyway, we’re getting there. We are getting there, right? Please let us be getting there.

Here’s picture goodness from a recent diaper change. To keep it g-rated he’s rocking the loincloth.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Sleeping update

2 days ago Wife wrote about our (mis)adventures trying to get little man to sleep through the night. we spent 2 hours that night getting up every 20 minutes to comfort and console and SHHHHH and ho-boy was that fun.

well, we tried it again last night. considering how well the previous night went, we figured that we'd go to bed earlier, so we'd have more stamina and could fight him for longer. and that worked! we fought him for twice as long, for about four hours. after that point we gave up and he slept on Mommy for the rest of the night. so, continued progress in that he didn't eat for the whole overnight . . . but he still had to sleep on Mom, so, you know, that sucked.

as a result of his tumultuous night last night his mood today has been SUPER CRANK, and of course we are just exhausted. he fell asleep on my chest tonight after dinner and I was just soooo tired that I gave up and took a nap along with him. I'm sure I'll need the energy for tonight.

So here it is, 8:30 and we're gearing up for round three. parenthood is awesome and everything, but this... this sucks.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Trader Joes

I wish there was a trader joe's within walking distance from my house. do you shop at trader joe's? if not - if it's not even something you've thought of before - then you should get with the program. they're an eclectic grocery store. they definitely don't have everything - I've never successfully purchased breadcrumbs from tj's - but the stuff they do have - my oh my.

they're generally on the smaller side - they are a "market" not a "supermarket". but there's still produce and meats and cheeses and vitamins and shampoo and beer and wine.

the things that sets them apart are
... lots of food that's heat and eat that's not terrible for you OR disgusting. you're still supposed to cook all your meals and not eat from a box, but on the night when you're just not going to cook no matter what, this is better than the fast food option by miles and miles.
... 2 gallon apple juice jugs for five bucks - good apple juice, too, the cloudy stuff
... many organic choices for meats and cheeses and dairy and all kinds of stuff like that. why in the world do products have to be labeled if they're organic? it should be the other way around. "made with poison!" or "toxins added - no extra charge!". so messed up.
... beer and wine - many a yummy wine can be found at tj's in the $5 range. plus lots of beers
... there's many more, but I have to end the post at some point so I'll go with tj's brands - they don't make their own (whatever), but they partner up with some sweet companies for some awesome products. you kind of have to comparison shop and shop at other places and overspend to truly appreciate what they bring to the table in this regard, but trust me.

anyhoo, shop at trader joe's & live better. be good!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

S is for sleeping (through the night!!!!!)

Holy crap I think it's really happening. Fenix slept from 10 pm til 6:30 am last night! Now I should mention that Feeny McG cosleeps. We actually have an Arms Reach mini cosleeper but he refuses to sleep in it nowadays. He insists on being held. If you try to put him down to sleep in the cosleeper at night he wakes up screaming in short order.

So last night we tried to make him sleep in the cosleeper because I could really use a solid night of sleep and I haven't had one in months. Also my back is killing me from sleeping with 13 lbs of baby on my chest. Well he was having none of that. He would fall asleep, then we would place him in the cosleeper and then within a minute or so he would start screaming. We would try to shush him back to sleep, turn up the white noise on the sound machine, and give him a paci but that was a waste of time because he just would scream more and more. So we finally would pick him up and get him to calm down and fall back to sleep. Well take all that and repeat it 3 more times and that's how the first 2 hours of bedtime went for us last night. Oy. On the 4th attempt, I fell asleep trying to calm him down and so did he. When we woke up it was 6:30 am.

So yeah. He slept through the night but it was in my arms. Does that count? God, I'm tired.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

april milestones

April has been a big month for Feeny McG.

He has reached some important (and fun) developmental milestones and he's just gotten to be so cute and funny and interactive. We are having a great time!
This month he rolled over for the first time. Hasn't mastered it yet but he definitely did it. He's also become quite the chatty Cathy. When he babbles I just nod and say "oh really?", "wow, that's great", "yeah, the mariners are sucking it up this year aren't they??"... and so on. This only gets him more worked up and hence, more babbling.

Another cool thing is that he is now able to hold his own bottles, though this is an interesting one because he only does it when he's in the mood. But I have proof that he can do it:

And lastly, we broke down and bought him this gaudy plastic monstrosity called the "Jumperoo". It's absolutely hideous but lord how he loves this thing. I have never seen him more excited. Judge for yourself:


And a video as further evidence:

Friday, April 25, 2008

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Tight spaces

let me tell you what i'm fucking sick of: people that complain that they have a "small workshop". i read this magazine called family handyman, which is actually a really great rag for someone like me who likes to work in the woodshop and in the house and in the yard and the kitchen and on the family car and all that stuff. recently, though, they had a couple articles titled shit like "solutions for the small workshop" or "small workshop tips and tricks" or some shit. all of these assholes that they profile have 2 car garages as their woodshop or a 15' x 20' outbuilding or some nonsense.

look at this. this is my fucking woodshop:





fuck you, assholes with 2 car garages. if i'm ever lucky enough to have a 2 car garage woodshop, i sure as fuck will not call it a "small shop". I'll call it The Biggest Motherfucking Shop I Could Ever Hope To Have. how about that?

sorry for all the profanity. I'm fucking cranky today.

OK, so here's what happened.

man I was tired last night. so, so tired. it sucks when I look at the clock when going to bed only to see it show me "11:00" when I know that I'll be up at least once during the overnight to feed His Majesty and my alarm is set for 5:15. that's a discouraging feeling right there, let me tell you. plus with the sleep deprivation from sunday night and monday night and the all day headache on wednesday, i was wrecked by bedtime.

i lay in bed and close my little eyes . . . only to realize that i forgot to blog. damnit. ok. rally the troops. get up. get. up.

ok, get up. up. get up. get. up.

ok, i'm up.

stagger to the living room. didn't even put the glasses on though i can't see worth a damn without them. i only have to make a post and i already have it saved as draft i just have to log in and "publish". get up. i mean, stay up. ok. here we go.

i'm at the couch. i open the laptop. it wakes itself. success so far, thank goodness. ok. nav to the page. stay awake. ok. page is up. i'm doing it, almost do--

machine goes dark. no worky. stay awake. press the button to wake it up. not the power button, the other one. ok. no. wait. what? why...? the screen flashes alive! i'm back in busin--- zzz, machine goes dark. press the button again. nothing. again. nothing.

ok, fuckit. i'm going back to bed. no blog post.

sigh. at least i get to sleep, though not with a clean conscience.

nablopomo fail haiku

Jason did you blog?
No the computer shut down
Are you kidding me???


Alternate title for this post: "But I was to tired too restart it..."

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Monday, April 21, 2008

finally a pic of these two little angels


my new niece and nephew, sebastien and sienna! i can't wait to hold them!

ok, usually I don't share these but...

but damn, this is just too good:

humorous pictures
see more crazy cat pics

Sunday, April 20, 2008

research project and other dry things such as this

So I am working on my research project for my history class and it keeps alternating between being hella boring and really interesting. Today's most troubling (annoying) aspect is this citation business that has consumed the last 5 hours of my Sunday night. Yes, I know why it's important but I really don't care right now (neither does Fenix, btw, because he's screaming in my ear to let me know just that). I'm hoping that at some point the proper way to cite all of the 100 million different types of sources will become something that I can do in my sleep. But until then, here I sit with Rampolla's Guide to Writing in History, toiling away at my annotated bibliography.

L is for Love

It's still snowing here, btw.


Saturday, April 19, 2008

S is for snow


WTF was with the snow yesterday? Here's the backyard at 5:30:

....aaaand here it is just 2 hours later. after I took this I went out and knocked the snow off all them branches. they are supposed to point up. up!



Friday, April 18, 2008

speaking of letters

Well no one was really talking about letters but this being April and the nablopomo theme being letters I thought I might actually talk about something related.

I am taking this class on the history of American immigration and it's been an incredible eye opener. There are so many things that got glossed over in my high school history classes and I feel like I really am learning some important things now. One of my favorite aspects of this class has been some of the reading assignments. There is one book in particular that I am really enjoying - Thomas Dublin's Immigrant Voices. The book is a collection of letters and journals written by American immigrants between 1773 and 1986. My favorite so far has been the writings of the immigrant John Harrower (he came to America from the Shetland islands). His musings about his journey across to the Atlantic and life in his new country are really interesting to read.

I would never have picked up this book had it not been for this class because truthfully it doesn't sound terribly fun to read. But I think that I've awakened some great love of history inside of me because I'm really having an awesome time with this class.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Craft room update

Howdy kids!

Been awhile since we talked about the craft room project (link and link) & wanted to provide an update. the project is going OK, all things considered. not moving too fast because life keeps us pretty disgustingly busy.

the best part about this project is reaching a minor milestone without screwing anything up, running out of materials, or hurting myself. the worst part has been tying twelve foot lengths of 2x4's and 2x6's to the roof of the jeep and driving home in the rain.

so anyway, here's the proposed floor plan, for reference (click to see it full size):



aaand here's the progress! First I had to do all the site plans and measurements and all that jazz, then relocate every damn thing in the garage to make room to work on the project.

I got up the walls as noted and the door temporarily installed.



After the main wall was up then I put on the 2 @ 2x6 header on top of the wall, then ran the joists as referred to here. the joists are also 2x6's, which should be strong enough to allow me to throw a bunch of storage on top of this whole thing.


it's really hard to see due to the cramped quarters in there and my non-wide-angle lens on my cell phone, but here's a couple shots of the space...


I'll keep working it and try not to hurt myself. cross y'fingers for me!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

J to the O to the B

Yeah so like I told you before I am looking for work. But I don't want to go back to just some run of the mill QA engineer job. I don't mean to sound ungrateful... it has been good to me all this time but I'm really ready to do something else - to use my brain in a different way and experience a different set of work challenges.

I had an interview today and I haven't been that nervous in a loooong time. I was pysching myself out because it was for an opportunity in a field where I have very little work experience and I just didn't have that confidence that you have when you are interviewing for a position in a job that you know like the back of your hand. However in this case I'm pretty sure that I can rock it out if I just get the chance.

Well as it turns out the whole thing went really well. I think I left a great impression and the feedback was really positive so it looks like I'll get the chance to show them what I can do in the near term via some contract work which is exactly what I wanted. I hope it all works out because this company rocks and one of my greatest friends works there too.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Happy Birthday Sienna and Sebastien!!!

About 5 minutes ago my sister Lisa gave birth to a healthy little boy and girl. Their names are Sienna Rain and Sebastien Ray. I am so happy and immensely proud of my little sister. I am crying tears of joy!!!

I can't wait to see their beautiful little baby faces.

CONGRATULATIONS LISA AND JOHNNY!

B is for BYOB

we tried to go out to a bar for a friends birthday a few weeks ago. the bartender was super cool and nice, but he kicked us out. well, actually, he kicked out this guy here (apparently he's not "of drinking age" or something):

This is my son. You may not have him.

Getting kicked out got me thinking and reminiscing about Hoboken, NJ, where Wife and I met. It was very hard to come by a liquor license in Hoboken ("the birth place of baseball and Frank Sinatra"). From wikipedia: Hoboken was once known as the city with "a bar on every corner" and in fact was once listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the city with "Most bars in a square mile". There were well over 200 bars in town in the first half of the 20th century. There are still well over 100 now. Hoboken limits by law the number of liquor licenses to the number of blocks and the limit is usually reached. Additionally, no license can be moved to within 200 feet of another bar or 500 feet from a church, which makes it nearly impossible to open a new bar (except in newly renovated perimeter regions of the city).

It's no surprise that running a restaurant is a business with a very thin profit margin. Combine that with the... uh, interesting rules about the liquor licenses in Hoboken... created a really cool thing in that little city: BYOB. Lots and lots and lots of restaurants (basically all those that couldn't get a liquor license) would let you bring your own. And they wouldn't care what you brought! bottle of wine? bring it! six pack of beer? bring it! bottle of vodka & 1 liter of sprite? bring it!

it made it totally fun - and different! - to go out to eat. we used to stop by any of the numerous places to pick up beer, wine, or hard alcohol, then . . .

go to zafra, the cuban place, and get their awesome empanadas & yucca fries. we'd bring a bottle of red wine and they'd make us some fresh sangria! and yes, the two of us would finish the bottle, every time, no doubt.

how about picking up some chimay and hitting the chinese food place? the best chinese food ever at Precious on washington street.

or a bottle of red and grab some indian food? the options were nearly endless.

we should focus some future post on the sham businesses in Hoboken that were considered mob fronts. or more posts on the food there! or the drinking! or the hubbub about saint patty's day! many options await.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

G is for Green (Festival)

So we ventured out to the Green Festival today. The entrance fee was $15 but we got in free because we had one free pass (thanks Kathleen!) and then a kind soul just walked up to J and gave him another. Score!

In case you don't know, the Green Festival is an event where a bunch of exhibitors come together to present their products and services that promote green living. I think I was the most excited about all of the kids and baby stuff and the really lovely women's apparel made from eco friendly, organic fibers like bamboo, hemp and cotton. J was most into all of the products and services for making your home more green (photovoltaic panels, low or no VOC paints, tankless water heaters, etc...). There was also alot of free organic food and drink being given away. I have a giant bag of wheat/dairy/soy free granola, several packets of tea and mate, chewy kids vitamins and a bunch of other yummy looking stuff.

I should also add that as much as I hate the whole "green is the new black" thing that is happening in this country right now, I feel like if you are going to spend your money on something you might as well make good choices.

I wanted to buy alot of things but I had self control and we actually only bought 1 thing. As you know we switched to cloth diapers a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to explore the all in one diapers (we are using prefolds and wraps). Fuzzibunz and Bumgenius both had booths but I wasn't totally in love with either. I wanted something made from organic natural fibers.

So we got this starter kit that came with one Growing Greens hemp fitted diaper, one Kissaluvs fitted diaper, a cute wet bag for stashing the dirties when you are out and about, and another Bummis super brite wrap (we already have 2 of the Bummis wraps).

The Growing Greens can be worn without a wrap and they are one size fits all so they are probably my favorite right now. I can't wait to use them - both of the diapers that came in the kit are incredibly soft and plush. I wish they made undies for grownups out of this material. If they work really well I will definitely buy several more for Fee.

The Kissaluvs (we got the green one):


The Growing Greens (they only come in the color shown):

Saturday, April 12, 2008

B is for beautiful day!

Holy crap it was 80 degrees today. In Seattle! In April!!

We went to a surprise birthday party for our dear friend Liana (Happy Birthday!). And wow the weather was perfect. Sun, no clouds, perfect.

Tomorrow isn't supposed to be nice at all but we are headed to the Green Festival (you should go!) and that's indoors so weather isn't a factor.

Hope you are having a great weekend too!

Friday, April 11, 2008

Whisky!

today we bring you a family favorite and big hit at parties - our house whiskey. you don't actually make the whiskey... this is really one of those "take some whiskey and make it better" type of things. enjoy!


McG family recipe – Sweet & Spicy Whisky

Ingredients
· cheap whisky (after trying several I've settled on Black Velvet as my default )
· 1 cinnamon stick
· 2 vanilla beans
· regular honey

Other stuff you’ll need
· a funnel
· 2 quart size mason jars
· a glass measuring cup
· a coffee filter (a strainer can do in a pinch)

Process
first, taste the whisky – it’s important that you have a feel for what your base is. a tablespoon is probably enough.
· drop the cinnamon stick into the bottle of whisky
· wait 2 days, shake it up, then taste the whisky. the cinnamon will need to be in there for 2-6 days depending on how fresh/potent your cinnamon is & your personal taste. you’ll know that “it’s done” when you can clearly taste the cinnamon – it should add depth and spice.
· don’t rush! the process is half the fun.
· when the cinnamon essence is properly represented in the whisky, pour the entire bottle equally into your 2 mason jars. remove the cinnamon & discard.

now it’s time to add vanilla!
· Here’s a quick primer on how to prepare vanilla (from Official McG Family Vanilla Bean Supplier - they have a store on eBay)
· split the bean as described, scrape out the caviar, then dump the caviar and the bean pod into your mason jar, one bean per jar. don’t chop up the bean pod as described in the tutorial - you want the bean pod in large pieces for easy removal later.
· shake the jars. shake ‘em! every day until you pull the vanilla, shake the jars.
· just like the cinnamon, now it’s time to wait & taste. it will probably be 2-7 days depending on the freshness of your vanilla beans.
· make sure to shake the jars before tasting - a teaspoon is probably enough to taste.
· you’ll know it’s done when you can clearly taste the vanilla – it should add flavor and your whisky should taste smoother.

you’ll need to filter the debris at this point.
· shake your jars up - then pour the whisky from your mason jars back into the bottle it came in. after you spill all over the counter you’ll remember that a funnel is listed above.
· even if you don't drink coffee, having a reusable filter in your house can come in quite handy at times like these. there's also an advantage to not chopping up the vanilla bean pod - it should be easy to pull that out.
· note that the more you filter the more clear your fluid will be. if you don't mind little vanilla bean flecks in the whisky then minimal filtering is required – just yank out the chunks.
· note, however, that flecks mean that you have to shake it up before you pour since the flecks will settle to the bottom.
· if you filter through a re-usable coffee filter there will probably be some flecks. if you use a paper filter there will probably be very few flecks. your call.

all right, home stretch! next we gotta incorporate the honey
· pour three or four ounces of whisky into your measuring cup. add *only a little bit* of honey, say 1/2 shot glass per 1 liter of whisky.

· you can always add more later, but if you add too much then it will be way too sweet.
· put your measuring cup into the microwave and heat the bejeesus out of the whisky/honey.
· after a minute, take it out every 30 seconds or so and stir it up.
· you want it to get hot enough that *every bit* of that honey incorporates into the whisky. this might take a couple minutes - don't rush it.
· if you don't get the honey hot enough at this point then it won't fully be incorporated into your beverage & it will settle at the bottom of the bottle - so you'll have to shake before pouring - then it will settle at the bottom of the glass. you don't want whisky with a honey caboose - you want equal parts honey throughout the whole thing. so, like I said, heat the bejeesus out of it.
· pour your honey-ized whiskey back into your bottle, shake it, and taste.
· depending on how heavy handed you were with the honey, you may need to add more.
· if you think that you didn't add enough honey, PLEASE wait a day or two and taste it again before adding more. the longer the flavors chill out together the more they work together, and you might taste more honey on Friday than you did on Tuesday.
· if you accidentally go overboard with the honey, go out and buy another bottle of cheap whisky, then mix up the two bottles. you will probably be good at that point.

when complete there should be a lot happening in your mouth when you taste … it should be equal parts warm, spicy, sweet, and mellow. it should taste really yummy and should barely resemble the cheap garbage you started out with.
· I drink this straight but it’s also an excellent mixer. and it’s great in tea. or over ice cream! on toast! with oatmeal! you get the picture.
· you can keep this in the container it came from the store in and/or bottle it up and give it away.

for your bottle needs check out the McG Endorsed Bottle Vendor

enjoy!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

O is for orange (chocolate chip yogurt loaf)

I made this delicious snack bread or whatever you wanna call it last night. It's based on the smitten kitchen recipe for lemon yogurt anything loaf. and. holy. crap. it's. good.

The smitten kitchen lady made hers with lemon/blueberries but one of her suggested mods was orange/chocolate chip. So that's what I did. Plus I threw in some chopped walnuts to take it even further. I was going to do lemon/blackberry but the only blackberries we have are frozen from last year's harvest (thanks to the crazy bush in my inlaws' backyard) and I wanted to bake it last night so that J would have it as a surprise breakfast treat today.
Anyway my combo resulted in a very rad cake/bread/loaf thingie that I will most certainly make again. And I suppose that I can eat like 3 slices in one sitting because it is made with yogurt so that obviously means that it's healthy or whatever. Yeah.

So go make yourself one but change it up and use a different citrus/fruit/flavoring combo.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

B is for Best Places

Some friends that are so close they're family decided to move out of the Seattle area, in no small part due to the general non-affordability of housing in Seattle. I was curious about the differences between Seattle and Portland, so searched around for a bit and found www.bestplaces.net, which among other things can bring up some city-by-city comparison charts which are kind of fun to review.

Here's a screen capture (you'll have to click it to see it properly). Check out the site for yourself! plug in where you've lived vs. where you've lived. Plus in where you live vs. where you'd like to live.

Okthen


Tuesday, April 8, 2008

My son is beautiful

And I don’t care what you say about it!

T is for... traffic?

I don't know anybody that likes traffic. I love road tripping, but don't
particularly like driving, especially to work.

*Currently* my commute is 22 miles each way and takes anywhere from 35
to 75-85 minutes, depending on weather, accidents, whether there's a
game, etc. Of the things that would get me to, say, leave my job (ahem
not that I'm thinking about that cough cough) would be the annoying
traffic and long commute. It really, truly is a grind.

I don't mind grinding it out ... not all the time, anyway. I've been at
my current job for 2 years and have had some fun and done some cool
things. But oh how I miss working in NYC when I walked 8 blocks to the
train, took 2 trains with no-brainer underground connections, then
walked 4 blocks to my job. Those were the days, man! I listened to
music, read books and magazines, and napped on the train. I never had to
gas up the car and it was an easy detour to walk past the grocery store
on my way home.

Yesterday I gassed up our little 4-cylinder Passat wagon, which rocks,
and it was *just* $47. I do that weekly, and my car gets 30 or so
m.p.g.... what a bummer. It's not like public transport is a reasonable
option for me - it would be 3 buses and a minimum of 90 minutes door to
door, plus delays for traffic.

One thing that's cool about Wife is that we get each other. Duh, right?
Anyway, when one of us, yes it's usually me, are driving and really
stuck in traffic, we'll send a picture of the road or a picture of the
speedometer stuck at 4 m.p.h.

Here's the pic is from today. What I wrote to Wife when I sent her the pic: Don't mind me, I'm just driving to work in first gear.

Good times. :)

Monday, April 7, 2008

abcd... via flickr


A
Originally uploaded by Leo Reynolds

Have you seen the flickr pool dedicated to photographs of letters? It's pretty cool. At some point I'd like to make a framed collage that spells out Fenix's name using this concept - I'd photograph letters all around Seattle to build my collage. The picture above is one of my faves from this pool.



The One Letter pool

Sunday, April 6, 2008

V is for Vanilla!

howdy kids!

its time for an official McG Endorsed Recipe - homemade vanilla. awesome as always, Wife forwarded this to me last year. I loved the idea so much that I made a big batch and now we don't ever need to buy vanilla extract again. Click the link to check it out!

If you're interested but don't want to overpay for vanilla, check out the Official McG Family Vanilla Bean Supplier - they have a store on eBay.

enjoy!

Saturday, April 5, 2008

M is for Movies

For, oh I don't know, a year or so now, Wife and I have not been watching too many movies. Just one of those things that got lost in the shuffle of work and taking care of Son and chores and scoring blow. Last weekend Wife went out with her girlfriends and I stayed home with the Fenix. I was looking forward to a quiet night at home, just me and the birdman, so I stopped by the movie rental place before Wife left for the evening. It was a lonely stroll for me along the new release wall, only seeing garbage that I had no interest in watching. girls gone wild has it's place and everything, but I saw as much Ashely Dupre as I could stand from the news.

Eventually, I ran across Stephen King's The Mist, which was a story I had quite a bit of affection for since listening to it as an audio book back in the day. It was one of those stories that I thought would translate really well to the big screen.

With a spring in my step, I picked it up and headed for the checkout counter for the obligatory 15 minutes of incompetence. On the way I picked up another movie that I knew Wife would like as well, No Country For Old Men.

For me, I waited until dark and watched my little suspense movie and really, really enjoyed it. Liked it so much I convinced Wife to watch it the next morning while I made breakfast and did things around the house. I had forgotten that I'd rigged up the sound system to play movies through the receiver, not through the TV, and was excited when I realized that I was going to watch a movie in wide screen format and with the full sound experience.

It seemed like years since I'd sat in the dark and just *watched a movie*, not multi tasked goofing around on the computer or doing some other thing at the same time. It was nice and simple and ... just nice. Very comforting.

The next night Wife and I watched the second movie, appropriately first waiting for after dusk - scary movies really are better in the dark.

M is for movies! Watch one yourself soon. . . and don't do anything else - just enjoy the movie.

Friday, April 4, 2008

P is for Polident

there's no equation where I thought I'd be purchasing denture cleaner at my age. I mean, seriously, I still have over HALF my teeth! but this stuff rocks, if you know what to use it for.

awhile ago Wife and I were in the thrift store and found some wicked cool old booze bottles, so we picked them up (naturally). unfortunately, they were funky. super funky. nope, the dishwasher didn't help (I know! very disappointing).

so there they sat, atop our kitchen cabinets.

for a year.

when it was time for us to move they got packed, then unpacked at the new place... which is super annoying. I can't fucking stand storing shit that I don't use. it takes up valuable storage space and it's always in the way when I'm trying to find whatever it is that I'm actually trying to find. it seriously pisses me off. I was vaguely determined to do something about it. which meant that I assigned some future date that if on that date we still had the bottles and they still were not being used then I'd donate them back to goodwill. ashes to ashes, dust to dust, thrift store to thrift store.

time passed and I was reading Ready Made, which used to be a fantastic publication, and there was a tip in there about rescuing old bottles. maybe it was Real Simple. I don't know. I don't know! sigh. bottles! bottles and how to clean them.

how to clean a bottle that is funky: fill it full of hot water, drop in a denture tablet, wait overnight, rinse. that is all. your bottle is as good as new. this also works well for nalgene-type water bottles and coffee pots and thermoses and the like.

the best part is that I purchased my first box of denture tabs over six months ago and I'm still not done with that little box. and it was like three bux at the drug store! fantastic value.

the weirdest part - and I don't think this is bad, per se, just ... you know... not what I was expecting - is that the denture tabs smell like toothpaste. I guess that makes sense, considering their intended use and everything, but I was really surprised at the smell. I'm a tom's of maine fan, so I don't exactly consider the smell of crest to be an overwhelmingly positive thing... but whatever, it cleans my bottles and I likes it!

any dish that comes home from the thrift store gets "polidented", believe it. and yes, we occasionally buy dish ware from the thrift store. I'd recommend you do it too - I mean, you'd be a fool not to - but frankly, I don't want the competition. continue shopping at pottery barn, suckers.

and two thumbs up for denture tabs!



Thursday, April 3, 2008

we interrupt this nablopomo themed month.....

to bring you this special bulletin.

The time has come. My exciting life as a SAHM is coming to a close. It has been grand and I get really sad thinking about how it's going to end soon but mama needs to pay the mortgage.

I hope to find something that will allow me to start mid May or the beginning of June this year because that is when I will have fulfilled some personal obligations (trip to NYC - YES!) and will be able to put Fenix into the daycare facility that we found and really like.

Also I can only work 3 days per week so that is another prerequisite for whatever position I find. Surely this job exists in Seattle (yeah, I don't think I'm up for the cross lake commute to the east side).

And if you are saying to yourself... 'Now what do I really know about this Reese McG person? Maybe she's a total slacker? Sure she is cute and clever but would I want her to work for me/with me??'

Well consider this(!), I am a person who:
- has outstanding technical skills.
- has a keen eye for detail.
- has strong work ethic.
- is passionate about doing a great job.
- has primarily been a software test engineer but can do a bunch of other jobs really well.
- is funny and friendly but never in a weirdo, overly familiar way.

See? I'm awesome right? I eagerly await your responses :-D

.....you may now return to your reading of letter themed posts.

M is for Mountaintop

Greetings. Today marks the 40th anniversary of Dr. King's last speech, what became known as the "Mountaintop" speech. He was in Memphis supporting the garbage workers who were on strike. Dr. King was assassinated the next day on the balcony of his Memphis hotel room.

Had he lived, Dr. King would be 79 today. Seems like he didn't expect to live that long. He closed the speech with:

"Well, I don't know what will happen now; we've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life - longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And so I'm happy tonight; I'm not worried about anything; I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

click here for the complete text of Dr. King's speech. check out NPR coverage here.



Wednesday, April 2, 2008

B is for baseball (and baby!)

So this week marks the beginning of the baseball season. Much to our surprise the Mariners did not suck in their game against the Rangers. But we still have the whole season for them to f*ck it up :-)

Anyway I should have known how delighted my little boy would be at the sight of a baseball game on the tv. He smiled so brightly when I slipped the Mariners onesie over his head. This kid was born to love baseball! I can't wait till he is old enough to go to a game and actually appreciate it.

Here are some pics from opening day:

"I want some rally fries!"


Learning the rules of the game:

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

D is for Drano

Remember the third grade? that first "volcano" that you ever made? come on, you remember... there was a lumpy papier mache mound, i mean mountain, that had some paper cup of baking soda inside... then you poured in some vinegar with red food coloring to watch it "erupt"? remember that?

it's funny how adults look at kids in that situation. seems like they can never help themselves from sharing some jackass comment, like "remember that these are the best days of your life" and all that. shut up, old man, I don't even have a Sega. life sucks. leave me alone.

ok, I'm off topic already. that didn't take long. where was I? that's right, DRANO (TM). and my bathroom sink.

my bathroom sink sucks. sorry sink, but you SUCK! actually, the sink is cool or whatever, but the drain... she sucks. or that she DOESN'T suck is the problem, really. anyhoo, every few months I have to take all the crap out from under the sink, put a bucket down there, unscrew the doohicky that holds the drain plug in, pull out the drain plug, bend up a wire coat hanger and fish around for the rat king of hair and phlegm and whatever other disgusting awfulness is down there, then put everything back together again which of course doesn't go as planned so the other doohickey that connects with the first doohickey keeps falling off and then I bust my knuckles trying to fix it and I'm not sure if I mentioned this but it's not easy access down there, just a little tiny door, only room for one hand if you can see what you're doing, both hands if you're going on feel but then your face is smushed up against the vanity and what fun is that? sigh. anyway, then I pour rubbing alcohol on my hands and eyes and go play in traffic to distract myself from the rat king. [shudder]

our most recent episode of this was just this weekend. except... when I jiggered around with the coat hook to wake the rat king... nothing. bupkis.

Wife is around, offering encouragement, so I sez to her "you know, we really need to have a thing of drano around for times like these." because that's how we used to live. don't even get me started on the sink at our last place! we bought that stuff by the gallon. so anyway I sez Wife, go check under the kitchen sink for the drano and she goes and checks and we don't have it. but Wife is good, Wife is smart. she sez hey, lets not use that drano shit anymore. it's poison. lets try this other thing instead.

insert the 3rd grade "science project" mentioned above. so, skeptically, I dumped some baking soda down the drain hole, then poured in the vinegar while Wife boiled some water. let me tell you, what happened next was fucking disgusting. with the bubbling and the debris that rose to the surface? YUK! anyway, in goes the boiling water. but draining didn't happen. WTF? sigh.

ok, repeat. more baking soda, more vinegar, more disgustingness. no draining, though. you SUCK, sink!

I'm done, ready to throw in the towel. lets go get the drano I sez. you're so impatient, Wife sez. try it again. ok. so we try it again. third time's the charm or three strikes and you're out?

third time's the charm! third time's the charm! we successfully unclogged the sink without buying poison. now THAT is cool. that's some green living that I can get behind.

when doing a few seconds of research for this post, I also found this, which is hilarious but Definitely Not Endorsed, and this page which has even more tips about how to use that volcano properly. apparently we should have used salt - will try that next time.

sigh. you still suck, sink. you SUCK!