420 words - a new record!

Tonight I used the dough I mixed on Sunday evening and made our homemade pizza. As I prepared the crust with sauce and toppings, the cat stood nearby and supervised the entire process. He took deep sniffs of the fontinella (a very smelly semi-hard cheese with a salty bite) that I blend in with the mozarella but was not interested in sampling any of the ingredients. I've set up a separate site to deposit his pictures: Cat on the Typer.


My ongoing cross stitch project is almost finished, and I'm looking at ordering another kit at a particular site. I will not, however, be ordering MR.FECES.

mistressemi wins Sister of the Year Award.  Applause now!

My screams and victory dance made the cat flee for his life when I opened my brand new Sims 3!  Apparently your brother mentioned that I was apprehensive about some of the new changes (your created sims can move away forever and make other autonomous life choices while you play different households) but he didn't realize I'd come to terms with them and I'm pleased it will mean less micromanaging every single generation and give a more realistic "Story Mode" as it's called.  

Since then I've been super excited and perhaps just a bit mopey that I didn't have it yet, but now I'm all set to kick Justin off of his fast computer to get my Simmin' on. 

Thanks a bunch!

Completely unrelated, last night I was browsing the channels and found a 1974 Italian(?) film called "Blood for Dracula."  I switched it on halfway-through and was greeted by what I later learned was the Count himself vomiting about a half pint of blood into a bathtub.  This went on for several minutes and pretty much set the tone for the rest of the movie, which gets ALL UP ONS with nudity and gore and a sleazy rapist for a hero.  Can imagine an emo Arnold Swarzenneger? Now I can!  Also, I can picture him rolling around on the floor whining about the poor quality of blood he's been receiving from the tramps he's been wooing. 

Now I'm all boggled and confused.  (One!  One confused Parser! Ah-ah-ah!)

     Justin's laptop is not currently functioning, but he's joking about it and told me I need a sippy-cup.  I spent this morning looking for the receipt and warranty information and, after some organization and cleaning, I found both.  It is well under the three year warranty and hopefully we can find a solution.  With the rest of the time I had while Justin was furiously fighting a ferocious tennis battle, I made To Die For Blueberry Muffins.  The reviews were not misleading and they came out with a great firm texture and subtle flavor.  Next time I'll skip the streusel or use less butter.

     Last night after work I had some misadventures with frying in my cast iron skillet (the bastard gets hot FAST) and then sat down to watch the MST3k episode "Angels Revenge."  The confusingly edited femsploitation flick with no fewer than two Gilligan's island actors had some great riffing and featured my favorite of the Two Hosts, Mike Nelson (He Who Is Dreamy).  Today I couldn't resist watching another one of the 2nd volume DVD collection and popped in "Pod People" while Justin slept on the couch.  Joel gives us one of the funniest host segments I've ever seen, recreating a song from the film with the unintelligible lyrics as best as he can manage ("Peas on Pie!").

     In conclusion, Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M's are fairly decent but the fruit flavor is a bit artificial.  Strawberry must be hard to replicate.
 

Amazingly enough, my laptop works again!  I made Justin take off some of the panels on the bottom so I could see what had happened and the sonabitch just started back up again.  Yesterday I managed to keep myself entertained and screw up some more cross-stitch projects, but I'm overjoyed to have it with me at work again tonight.

Apparently, though, I repay his awesomeness by letting a combination of my stupidity and the drink-obsessed cat get a very tiny amount of Diet Pepsi on the keyboard of HIS fancy laptop.  I turned it off immediately and seemed to clean it out well enough, but I feel awful.  It is hopefully not screwed up but I have to wait until he gets back from tennis to tell him about it.  I have to leave early to pick up the clients from their work programs, so I don't have much time to spend with him today as it is.

It seems as though I may have turned Justin's very old laptop into a brick.  I was setting it up at the kitchen table at work and ended up having a full cup of water jump out of my hands and land next to it, letting some of the water flow under it and probably frying the motherboard.   At least I have Gastroanomalies to read. 

Out of nowhere, the Sims 3 released on Tuesday.  I'm not sure I should pick it up until I can afford to upgrade my computer a bit, because my gosh was S2 a resource hog.  It's massively tempting but I have plenty to occupy myself with until then.

YOU ARE NOT EVEN FOOD

Well, I screwed up the strawberry icing by adding milk at the end, making it separate into something resembling clumpy fruit barf. Luckily we're not frosting fanatics and care more about the cake itself. Also, the taste was fine and I used my Single Flayed Berry decoration.

Other highlights include trying a mojito with dinner and joining the ranks of cooks with cast iron skillets.

Essentially, that is impression of the new movie. One thing I was not expecting, however, was for the new Spock to be so terribly attractive. His characterization is great but there are scenes where he just subtly smoulders.  

The cat would be mortified if he knew.

I can't take credit for this: Justin took the fabulous picture while I was at work. He might not admit it but he's completely enamoured with his kitty and loves to talk and play with him. As of today, Frank has been with us for one week. Go Frank!

This is my yet-unnamed adopted boy. He's about ten months old and we took him home yesterday.

( Kittah Pictures! )

Justin convinced me to sign up for a beginner's tennis class every Monday for eight weeks.  I have to admit, the first lesson was pretty fun and I was finally able to meet the little black poodle that spends a lot of time at the racquet club.   

Something completely unexpected happened on Saturday.  I had wanted to stop into Petsmart to get a better idea of what aquarium supplies cost because one of the grouphome clients is going to be getting a fish as part of her achievement goals.  Apparently it was Adoption Day as the cat rescue organization that rents space there had a big cage display right in the middle of the center aisle, filled with adorable felines.  Two of them were big black fluffy babies and I squealed that they reminded me of a late family pet before I regained my composure and quickly scampered away so as not to tease myself.  To my amazement, Justin (my allergic dog-loving husband) started reading their information.  Later on in a different aisle he commented that if we had a litterbox it would have to be changed frequently.  Wait, are you suggesting we get a cat?!  "Well, you want a cat."  I spent that night researching supplies and vaccine costs (they come neutered and some are microchipped) and strategies on minimizing allergen.  When I emailed the rescue organization, they told me the name of the cat I described and that Madrid was not adopted (we had returned on Sunday to try to check him out but he must be housed in a foster home instead of in the store).  Petfinder even has a page with a video.  Right now I'm still trying to decide if this is a good idea.  I really want to make sure that Justin can live comfortably with a cat, and then there's the chance the rescue won't adopt to homes with allergies.  This Saturday is another adoption day, so I may have another update then.

On Saturday night, while Justin was away at a tennis match, I turned off all the lights and started a new game of Fatal Frame III, which I hadn't touched in a year or so.  I had played most of the way through previously but had forgotten everything in the meantime so I decided to play through from the beginning.  The dark, eerie ambiance was interrupted when my upstairs neighbor came home and I was able to deliver the pan of cinnamon rolls I had baked as a thank-you for her party last weekend and for general Eastertraditionness.

Then it was back to the world of terror and shrine maidens and waiting until you see the ghost's nosehairs before snapping a shot and blasting them with soul power.

We couldn't find any recipe results containing “clow fat brownies”

Did you mean clown fat brownies?

Pay no attention to the suspicious pile of rubber chickens and floppy shoes outside the kitchen door.  It's baked goods time!

Our first Valentine's as a married couple!

The laptop I currently use is the only one I've ever owned, and it has become indispensable to me for passing time at work.  On Monday I rooted through my Old Games & Stuff cabinet and found my collection of CDs containing The Sims 1 and various expansion packs.  I've been arduously loading them all onto my laptop, swapping disks and entering registration keys like mad.  Now that I have everything installed, I'm reminded of just how antiquated it really is compared to the 2004 release of The Sims 2. 

I've previously stated that taking an original Sim into the world of the sequel would be like taking a paper doll to the prom; whereas in the old days a person consisted of a head (unchangeable) and body with clothes built in (able to be swapped around using a dresser or bureau), in a more civilized 3D age everything from nose shape and bracelets is separate and adjustable.  Remember those pea plant cultivation experiments in biology?  Sims2 is down with Gregor Mendel, albeit in its simplest dominant/recessive forms.  Eye color and other genetic features are passed down through generations, something the static Sims1 world never explored.

Surprisingly, though, the graphics for the furniture and other environmental aspects were rather lovingly detailed, probably as well as can be rendered in two dimensions.

I need to bake something. 






I mean, something besides the chocolate chip cookies I made last weekend using the standard Tollhouse recipe and swapped baking powder for baking soda because where is the acid that will activate the sodium bicarbonate I tell you nowhere and then dyed blue which came out seafoam green because how fun is it to color food very fun.





Perhaps cupcakes.

This is what I've been up to lately, besides work, WoW and cleaning.



I keep consulting the Glencroft Construction Blog for pictures of other works in progress so I can figure out things like where the hell Side Left Gable Upper Support goes and whether wallpaper looks terribly tacky in a Tudor home (it does).