Someone in marketing didn't think this one through.
Thanks for entering my first-ever contest based on my first-ever Muxtape! I really enjoyed reading all of your entries...especially this one, which is especially funny if you've ever dissected a movie with Heidi's mom.
The question: What do the following songs all have in common?
"Celebration" by Kool and the Gang
"Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple
"Funkytown" by Lipps, Inc (really, that's the name of a group?!)
"Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones
"Papa's Got a Brand-New Bag" by James Brown
"Teenager in Love" originally by Dion and the Belmonts
The answer: They are all on Raving Rabbids 2, a game for the Wii. They have a series Rock Band-like levels where you can "play" the instruments to the songs by doing the appropriate Wii motions in time with the music. My kids have played this a lot. A WHOLE lot.
My friend Aaron came through with the winning entry - on only one try! Way to go, Aaron! He says he doesn't have a Wii (yet), so his 3 boys can't torture him with these songs. All in due time, Aaron....all in due time. Maybe you can use that Amazon gift certificate toward RR for your Xbox?
Mike and Jen* got the bonus prize (booby prize?): A CD with all the songs on it! They answered so many times and cracked me up - I had to give them something. And now I hear that their son Eric likes to go to sleep to "Smoke on the Water" as a lullaby. Oh yes, my work here is done.
Thanks for playing, and stay tuned for the next contest!
*Unfortunately, Jen looks like this in EVERY SINGLE picture I have of her. It's truly amazing. In person, her eyes are balanced, vibrant, and an attractive shade of brown.
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From China Daily, via AP:
Fish pedicures are creating something of a splash in the D.C. area, where a northern Virginia spa has been offering them for the past four months. John Ho, who runs the Yvonne Hair and Nails salon with his wife, Yvonne Le, said 5,000 people have taken the plunge so far."This is a good treatment for everyone who likes to have nice feet," Ho said.
He said he wanted to come up with something unique while finding a replacement for pedicures that use razors to scrape off dead skin. The razors have fallen out of favor with state regulators because of concerns about whether they're sanitary.
Ho was skeptical at first about the fish, which are called garra rufa but typically known as doctor fish. They were first used in Turkey and have become popular in some Asian countries.
But Ho doubted they would thrive in the warm water needed for a comfortable footbath. And he didn't know if customers would like the idea.
"I know people were a little intimidated at first," Ho said. "But I just said, 'Let's give it a shot.' "
Customers were quickly hooked.
Tracy Roberts, 33, of Rockville, Md., heard about it on a local radio show. She said it was "the best pedicure I ever had" and has spread the word to friends and co-workers.
[h/t to my MOM - who cut the article out of the local paper for me]
Don't forget to enter my contest. I've gotten many entertaining guesses so far, but no one has got it yet. I may have to post a couple hints.
I thought I'd try something new and check out this Muxtape thing the kids are all talking about these days. As a result, I was inspired to create my own Muxtape (which took we quite a while - but hey - now I know how to rip and burn and slash and warp like all the cool kids). What mix should I make? Why, a mix of the six gosh-dang songs that are in my head on SERIOUSLY heavy rotation these days, of course!
So I had this great idea to post my mix and have a contest: You tell me what all these songs have in common, and WHY THEY ARE RUNNING THROUGH MY HEAD (leave your answer in the comments), and I'll send the winner a $10 Amazon or iTunes gift certificate to buy your own songs with. Feel free to buy the ones in this mix, if you'd like them to be in YOUR head ALL THE LIVE-LONG DAY! Track 2 is a killer - just TRY to forget it!
So, let the guessing begin! Contest closes at 7pm Pacific Time on Sunday, July 27. (I'm giving you a while, so those who don't check that often because I've been a slacker poster can have a chance to stop by and enter). The first correct answer (by timestamp on comments) wins. If no one guesses the correct answer by that time (and yes - there is a specific, correct answer), then I'll draw a number at random for the winner.
Good luck, have fun, and enjoy the INTERNAL AUDIO MONOTONY!
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Yes, I succumbed. But, they are adorable, aren’t they?! The salesman totally buttered me up, saying I had THE foot for this kind of peep-toe, and that they needed a perfect pedicure, like mine. I knew he was laying it on, but I ate it up anyway - it made this girl feel good! He continued by saying, "Men LOVE women in shoes like this. You are so tall, this makes you all legs! And men love pedicured toes, trust me!" I laughed, "Actually my husband hates shoes and doesn't see the point of pedicures".
Thanks to Kim for tipping me off to the fact that come Saturday, they’ll be on sale at Nordstrom – I’ll have to take them in next week to get a partial discount.
Also - yes - my feet are very very narrow - see how much the strap hovers above my foot? I’m going to have to get those taken in a bit. But? So. Worth. It.
Abigail is getting married in November. I MUST find a way to wear these to the wedding. Which means I need a new outfit, of course! This is how it starts...no wonder my husband hates it when I buy shoes.
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As in, when I see adorable things like these that actually COME IN MY SIZE! Of course, if I still had my day job, I wouldn't have the time to sit and browse for these darlings. (Not that I really have the time NOW - but the laundry can wait a few minutes more). And, I taught Junior High school, so these (adorable) pumps wouldn't be the most practical thing. But man oh man, they are precious!
I literally collapsed into tears when I got the news. Now I understand when people say, "You should sit down before I continue". My dad was home and called out to Mom because the phone was for her. She spun around and waved weirdly, so he knew something was wrong. He ran down to the beach, and she was talking jibberish moving oddly. Dad turned her around to head her up to the house when she collapsed. He raced up to the house with her in his arms and called 911.
After Dad called, I got my ducks in a row, got my children cared for (thanks Katharine and Giseli!), packed and headed up to the peninsula. The ferry service kindly let me go to the head of the line, passing the long wait for a boat to Bremerton, so I could get to the hospital quickly. Mom had a ton of tests, pokes, prods, questions and procedures, and then they sent her home. Paul, Shanti, and I cooked a salmon dinner and we all ate together at the beach. It seemed surreal to have Mom at the table with us.
I had long planned to take all the kids up to the family beach house for this week, and Mom and Dad still really wanted us to come. So I ran home and had a 36-hour turn-around to get us all ready for the week. Whew! We loaded up the bikes (so cute to have 3 little bikes hanging from the back of my van), the kids and headed up here.
So, no long thoughtful posts, just photos of my kids and niece and friends at the beach. My best childhood friend, Hallie, joined us yesterday with her two sweet little boys. Her oldest and my youngest are just a few weeks apart in age and are good friends. (Her youngest is the cute one napping in the photo) We had a wonderful time, getting baked in the (rare) warm sun. The kids surprised us all by jumping right in to the water and hanging out.
The rhythm of the waves is centering and refreshing in this time. Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers - my body is holding up well under the stress.
]]>THAT was before I tasted THESE:
Oh. My.
I have always used dark chocolate in baking and ganache-making, but semi-sweet used to cut it just fine for me. Then, I decided to go out on a limb and try a DARK chocolate for baking. As in, chocolate dark enough to actually list the % cacao. I used Trader Joe's "Pound Plus 72% chocolate" bars and they DID seem to make the ganache just a bit more ganache-ier.
And here is wherin I wish my camera and accompanying photo (non)skills were up to snuff. Look - just look - at the shape and contours of the individual chips. Are you swooning yet? Oh my! Let's just say that not only are they the perfect shape and size to give chocolate chip cookies the right balance of oomph, crunch, and chocolatey goodness, but they are also the perfect size and shape to sneak right out of the bag and plop into your mouth.
But they are the very very best when made into a scrumptious cookie. (Recipe will be posted tomorrow).
Two days later, I had a very scary experience. I could NOT get up out of bed. My brain did not focus. My mom was having surgery and I needed to drive (and park) in downtown Seattle for her appointments. I was very late, and very freaked out. I had to keep blinking my eyes open and willing myself to concentrate. I felt like it was 3am after a long cross-state drive and I was trying to do just a few more miles. But it was 10 am. And I’d had plenty of sleep. I have never thought so hard about driving and parking and walking in my life.
I thought maybe it had just been a freak reaction of the Lyrica compounded with the couple few many capirinhas I’d had the night before, but the next day was even worse. I had the same staying-awake-after-taking-a-sleeping-pill-feeling, but instead of wearing off at about 2, it lasted until 4:30. And even scarier than being a danger to myself, all of Seattle, and my children by driving my mini-van? Was not being able to write. I sat at my computer, and what was in my brain was not what I typed. What was in my head, I could not put the right words to. I typed and backspaced and typed and backspaced and typed and backspaced and FREAKED THE HELL OUT.
At that point, I knew I could not take this drug any more. I did the customary paranoid Google search and found out that Lyrica was trying to kill me. Of course, according to the internet, my tap water is trying to kill me too. And, orange juice causes three-headed newts with purple glowing tails to grow OUT OF YOUR EAR. But this Lyrica? It can be some scary stuff. Turns out I'd been having more side-effects at the lower doses than I realized - like having conversations with my sister-in-law that I don't even remember.
My doctor’s office said that I could stop it altogether, assuring me that I was not on a large enough dose (!) nor had I been on it long enough for it to cause the Google-proven brain damage by going cold turkey. Or I could taper it over a week if I wanted to. That night I took a half-dose and slept from 7:15 pm till 8:45 am. I tapered one more day and then said, “forget it”. Today, I can sit and write and think my thoughts and my typing is only as crappy as usual and my writing only as bad as my normal brain makes it.
The clinical trial dosages are 400 mg or 600 mg between ONE and THREE TIMES A DAY! How anyone’s brain can work on that is a mystery to me. I’d rather eat nitrate-laden hot dogs, wash them down with fluoride-poisoned tap water, and munch some trans-fat-infused snack cakes than take THAT kind of risk. Or, gargle with radiator fluid.
I now have much more compassion for people who have to deal with horrible drug side-effects. Thankfully for me, I can manage my fibro well enough most of the time through an ever-changing combo of rest, exercise, significantly reduced expectations, heat, Mariner’s games, and tears. (Significantly-reduced expectations help with making it through the Mariner’s games as well, but that’s another story). Some people are in excruciating pain ALL THE TIME. Mine is low-level all the time, and only excruciating occasionally - the fatigue kicks my ass every day. People with nerve damage are grateful for Lyrica because they can actually function. I also know that for some fibro sufferers, Lyrica has been a miracle drug that gives them some function back. I hope the side-effects for them are less than mine were, and I also know their pain is much greater Yeah, the pain's been worse since I stopped taking it, but I'll take it over the alternative.
The biggest irony: the DAY I tapered the Lyrica was the DAY the FDA approved Cymbalta for fibro. I’ve been taking Cymbalta for a while now because it has two other components I already need (anti-depressant, and anti-anxiety) and I had read it could help with chronic pain. I'll stick with that.
How was I able to finish it? My mother-in-law had Peter and I had Henry watch a movie after school so I could completely ignore him and all my other responsibilities and read. Also, it was a really easy read: straight-forward narrative (the daughter and mother supposedly traded off chapters, yet it made NO difference to the story), simple plot, wooden characters...sigh. Since I like to think of myself as a literary snob lover of good literature, I was disappointed (I did bring the book after all - so the blame is all mine).
I still brought the cocktails, but watered them down a bit since I didn't need everyone to feel quite so generous. Even though the book was less-than-stellar, the discussion was spirited enough.
We had my family over on Sunday night where I served these tasty drinks yet again. And this wouldn't be my blog if I didn't go ahead and share the recipe with you.
These cocktails are considered Brazil's national drink (my Brazilian friends assure me I have correct info on this). Like the Cuban Mojito, Caipirinhas have been gaining popularity over the last couple years, especially after they became all the rage in Germany, of all places.
The mojito has citrus, rum and mint going for it - the caipirinha shows off a combo of crunchy turbinado sugar, tart lime chunks and caçhaca. Caçhaca is made from pure sugar cane juice (rum is made from molasses - a byproduct). Some people think it's lighter and smoother than rum, but I think it has a tiny bit of whisky/bourbon taste to it. I don't care for whisky myself, but I like the bit of sweetness the caçhaca adds to the drink.
They are bright, tart, and a bit sweet - perfect for summer (if it ever shows up here in Seattle). Cheers!
1/2 of a generous lime, scrubbed and then quartered
1 T. + 1t.Turbinado sugar (like Sugar in the Raw)
2 ounces Caçhaca
cracked ice
(optional club soda)
Put the lime quarters in the bottom of a mixing glass, add 1T. sugar, and then muddle well, extracting all the juice from the limes, and some of the oils from their rinds. (I have a cool muddler that Shona gave me for my birthday last year, but you can use the handle end of a wooden spoon in a pinch).
Add about 1 cup of cracked ice, and shake well to mix. Pour (WITHOUT straining) directly into a glass (traditionally a rocks glass, but who cares?) - ice, limes and all.
Sprinkle remaining 1 t sugar over the top (this makes a nice little crunch).
Some gringos (Giseli - what's the equivalent word for this in Portuguese?) top off the cocktail with an ounce or two of club soda - that's up to you, and whether or not you read the book you're supposed to discuss.
I may have gotten an "A" in all the classes I've taken this year, but I'm pretty close to being on probation for my dismal grade in Life Management. We have missed birthday parties, eaten poorly, and rummaged for clothes in laundry baskets. I have mis-remembered more appointment times than I care to count.
Sure, I've had a lot going on with two close family members having serious health problems, having chronic health problems myself, and still having a 3 year-old. Did I mention I also took 15 credits this year? Just these things combined have more than swamped me. I've been bailing my boat for a long time, yet I sail clumsily along - arriving late, awkward, and looking like a wreck.
I ponder the "fairness" of it all - I often feel that I'm not enough because I can't be Wonder Woman (wouldn't you love to look that great in Granny Undies?). I continue to struggle and process and pray. I need to realize that I did not "win" the genetic lottery and get the unfettered body that only needs 6 hours of sleep and can go like the Energizer Bunny the rest of the time. I actually "won" the entire other end of the spectrum: A body that needs lots of sleep, that is prone to overwhelming fatigue, that can collapse me into bed with bone-crushing pain without much warning. Mostly I'm OK with it now. Sometimes I think I can maybe even see that God is teaching me through it. But mostly I'm just OK. I'm still learning how to balance everything I NEED to do, WANT to do, and CAN'T do. Sometimes, all the balls and plates drop.
This is one of those times.
The latest crash bounce thud crash bang happened this morning. I had planned my next two days of baking and celebrating out in a way that would be (almost) do-able for the real me - and then I discovered Book Group is tonight. TONIGHT! AND: we are discussing THE BOOK I BROUGHT. I had lost the book for a while and just found it last night. I've sure enjoyed the 30 pages I've read so far...but I hear it has a big "twist" ending I need to be able to opine intelligently about.
My strategy? Get my Book Group drunk. OK, so not drunk drunk, but "pleasantly tipsy and therefore generous feeling". I'm hoping that way that they won't notice how little I have to say (about the book anyway). Think it will work?
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I know I'm lucky to live in an urban center on the West Coast where such multi-racial families are so prevalent. I have many friends who are kids of such relationships, or in a relationship of such themselves. It doesn't seem like a big deal to me. But, I am totally white myself (whatever that means, really) and married a very pasty white guy. Our kids are really white. In fact, my youngest has white-blond hair (he's a novelty to my Brazilian friends). I am not naive enough to assume we no longer struggle with this issue in America.
I was also encouraged by the fact that one of the current presidential candidates is a product of a mixed-race marriage himself. If we as a nation could put up for election a mixed-race man with black heritage (which I think is still harder for our country to swallow than, say, mixed-race Asian couples....but feel free to beat me up in the comments if you disagree!), then we have come far, indeed.
Along these same lines, the Forbes Most Powerful Celebrities list is topped by a black woman - Oprah Winfrey. She is followed by Tiger Woods, who has a multi-racial ethnicity. The top ten is pretty mulit-ethnic...but with the exception of Woods, I don't see any other Asian celebrities listed. Latin/Hispanics are under-represented as well, with Alex Rodriguez being the only member of the top 25. So I'm encouraged by this news, but realize we still have a ways to go.
So, what do you think? Are you in a "mixed-race" relationship? Are you the child of a "mixed-race" couple? What have your experiences been? Have we come a long way? How far do we have left to go?
]]>Sometimes I use Twitter as a way to share an observation, sometimes just as a "what I am doing" update, and often as a way to share a cute thing my kids said. I don't come up with too many great one-liners, but hey - maybe I'll improve! You can install programs that automatically post a daily digest of your "tweets" to your blog, but I think that would overwhelm my blog pretty fast. So, I'm starting a new category: "Twitter Tuesdays". Each Tuesday (more or less) I'll post my favorite tweets of the week, and maybe even point you to a Twitterer or two that I adore.
Want to follow me at Twitter? You can read my updates on my sidebar...on my Facebook page...or by going to my Twitter page.
Do you Twitter? Let me know what your username is in the comments so I can follow you!
Here are a few of my favorite tweets:
I was a reluctant baseball fan. I did not grow up with a love of the game. In fact, I thought it was boring and pointless until the ripe old age of 25. I'm not even sure why I fell in love with the game. I mean, there was the magical Mariners' season of '95 of and all, but I didn't become a fan until 1997. In fact, when the ballot measure to fund the new stadium came up in 1995, I was soundly against it. I remember saying something along the lines of "if they won't stay here without a new stadium, then I'll personally tie a bow around the team and send them off".
But somehow, the game of baseball grew on me. Specifically, the Mariners grew on me. I fell in love with the team of 1997. Slowly, I began to watch the games, to learn the rules, and to care. We took a road trip to Glacier and Yellowstone that year and I begged sports sections off of other travelers so I could check the AL West standings. In 1999, while backpacking through Europe, I was thrilled to get a glimpse on CNN of the new Safeco Field - as much as I could see on the Ken Griffey Jr. highlight reel, anyway.
For my 30th birthday, Dave bought a block of tickets and invited my best friends out to Safeco Field. Heidi and Jen even made a Baseball Bingo game to play while we watched. I drug the same Heidi and Jen down to Arizona under the guise of a "girls' weekend" to see spring training. My 32nd birthday was on Opening Day, and Dave took the day off to take me to the game. That same year, friends of ours graciously invited us to sit in a suite with them. When I went into early labor with Peter, my prayer was that I'd make it past the date of that game. (I did).
Unfortunately, the Mariners now are not a good baseball team. In fact, there are currently the worst team in baseball, with a winning percentage so low, it is right around a great slugger's batting average. I'm afraid it may even slip below the Mendoza line.
Every April for the last few seasons, I've been surprised and a bit concerned that I wasn't chomping at the bit for baseball. I have been ho-hum about spring training, and even missed Opening Day and the first couple weeks of the season this year. Was I losing the baseball bug? Was it a phase? Even worse, was I the dreaded "Fair Weather Fan"?
Turns out the answers are no, no, and no. Even though none of the players I fell in love with play for the team anymore (I especially miss that dish-at-the-dish Dan Wilson), I still love the game. Perhaps because an entire baseball season and its 180 games are more like a marathon than a sprint, I have to warm up to the game every spring. I watch a game here and there, half-heartedly turn into the radio, worry that I'm losing my love for the game, and then - BAM - by the middle of May I'm hooked again.
Peter has always liked baseball, but he's more of my sports-guy anyway. In the past I tried to get Henry to watch the games with me, but he was glued to the commercials instead. But this year, they are both really in to the game. They ask me about rules, they have learned the players' names (if a 3-year-old saying Rauuuuuuul Ibanez! doesn't melt your heart, I don't know what will), and they even watch and listen to the games with me. I don't have to fight for TV time, or listen to the radio in a corner of the house.
This last weekend, I had a dream come true: I attended a Mariners game with my boys (and my niece and my dad), who WATCHED THE ENTIRE THING. I couldn't have been happier, or more proud.
]]>I need to get deeper into what it is that I’m avoiding. I have plenty to do, and plenty that I want to do. Then why don’t I do it? Sometimes, it’s because of the horrible fatigue that I get from the fibro (but if that’s the case, why do I keep surfing instead of going to bed at night?). Sometimes, it’s because I really am tired and need a break. Sometimes, well sometimes, I don’t know why I do it. I’m avoiding something, but I don’t really know what.
I have lots of things I want to write about – why do I never get to that point?
I have books I want to read….website redesigns to ponder….many things on my to-do list that have been put off for far too long.
I used to feel guilty about spending time on myself – on resting, relaxing, or taking time out for me. Thankfully I am doing a bit better about that and thanks to counseling can see sometimes when that’s the case.
But times like this, I don’t really understand what’s keeping me back. What am I afraid of? What do I really want?
Maybe I am afraid to know.
