Spoiled Rotten

As seen at Purple Kangaroo's:

Tick the ones that are true. If you tick 40 or more, you're spoiled. And I am.

Do you have...

X☑ your own cell phone
☐ a television in your bedroom
☐ an iPod
☐ a photo printer
☐ your own phone line
X☐ TiVo or a generic digital video recorder
X☑ high-speed internet access (i.e., not dialup)
☐ a surround sound system in bedroom
☐ DVD player in bedroom
☐ at least a hundred DVDs
☑ a childfree bathroom (Mostly)
X ☑ your own in-house office (does a corner of the bedroom count?)
X ☐ a pool (It's an inflatable one, does that count?)
☐ a guest house
☐ a game room
X ☑ a queen-size bed (we actually have two of these, one in our room that we made and one in the guest room.)
☑ a stocked bar
X☑ a working dishwasher
X☐ an icemaker
X☐ a working washer and dryer
☐ more than 20 pairs of shoes
X☐ at least ten things from a designer store (if Nordstrom's counts.)
☐ expensive sunglasses
X☐ framed original art (not lithographs or prints) (Both my father and step-father are artists)☐ Egyptian cotton sheets or towels
X☑ a multi-speed bike
☑ a gym membership
X☑ large exercise equipment at home (an exercycle in the bedroom, which I often hang clothes on.
☐ your own set of golf clubs
☐ a pool table
☐ a tennis court
☐ local access to a lake, large pond, or the sea (lots of water within an hour's drive of here)
☑ your own pair of skis
☑ enough camping gear for a weekend trip in an isolated area
☐ a boat
☐ a jet ski
X☐ a neighborhood committee membership
☐ a beach house or a vacation house/cabin
X☐ wealthy family members
X☐ two or more family cars
X☐ a walk-in closet or pantry (closets)
X☐ a yard
☑ a hammock
☐ a personal trainer
X☑ good credit
X☐ expensive jewelry (5 nice things)
☐ a designer bag that required being on a waiting list to get
X☑ at least $100 cash in your possession right now
X☐ more than two credit cards bearing your name (not counting gas cards or debit cards)
X☑ a stock portfolio (small, but we do have a few shares of mutual funds)
X☑ a passport
☐ a horse
☐ a trust fund (either for you or created by you)
X☐ private medical insurance
☑ a college degree, and no outstanding student loans

Do you:
☐ shop for non-needed items for yourself (like clothes, jewelry, electronics) at least once a week X☐ do your regular grocery shopping at high-end or specialty stores
X☐ pay someone else to clean your house, do dishes, or launder your clothes (not counting dry-cleaning) (if hiring a teenager for a few hours every now and then counts)
X☐ go on weekend mini-vacations
☐ send dinners back with every flaw
☐ wear perfume or cologne (not body spray)
☐ regularly get your hair styled or nails done in a salon
☐ have a job but don't need the money OR
X☐ stay at home with little financial sacrifice (my husband is carrying the freight while I go to school)
☐ pay someone else to cook your meals
X☐ pay someone else to watch your children or walk your dogs (Posh New Place)
☐ regularly pay someone else to drive you
☐ expect a gift after you fight with your partner

Are you:
☐ an only child
☐ married/partnered to a wealthy person
☐ baffled/surprised when you don't get your way

Have you:
☐ been on a cruise
X☑ traveled out of the country (France)
X☑ met a celebrity (Dude! Native New Yorker!)
☐ been to the Caribbean
X☑ been to Europe
☑ BEEN TO HONG KONG
X☐ been to Hawaii
X☐ been to New York (Dude! BORN in New York!)
☐ eaten at the space needle in Seattle
☐ been to the Mall of America
☐ been on the Eiffel tower in Paris (Too tall, too small)
X☐ been on the Statue of Liberty in New York (This is why I didn't go up the Eiffel Tower)
☐ moved more than three times because you wanted to
X☑ dined with local political figures
X☑ been to both the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast

Did you:
☐ go to another country for your honeymoon (We honeymooned at my mom's house.)
X☐ hire a professional photographer for your wedding or party
X☐ take riding or swimming lessons as a child (swimming)
X☐ attend private school (elementary school)
X☐ have a Sweet 16 birthday party thrown for you (I had about 10 friends over for a Roaring Twenties party)

A conversation...

With a friend from grade school. She's in Florida now...a musician. She sounds mellow and happy.

It's hard to believe that I haven't seen her in over 15 years.........

Stolen from Overread

Who I've just added to my blogroll over here-->
Hi Overread!!!

The list is Ebert's 101 Movies You Must See Before You Die. Bold the ones you've seen.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) Stanley Kubrick
"The 400 Blows" (1959) Francois Truffaut
"8 1/2" (1963) Federico Fellini
"Aguirre, the Wrath of God" (1972) Werner Herzog
"Alien" (1979) Ridley Scott. (Ick, ick, ick. )
"All About Eve" (1950) Joseph L. Mankiewicz (still on my DVD shelf. I'll watch it after finals are over)
"Annie Hall" (1977) Woody Allen
"Bambi" (1942) Disney
"Battleship Potemkin" (1925) Sergei Eisenstein
"The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) William Wyler
"The Big Red One" (1980) Samuel Fuller
"The Bicycle Thief" (1949) Vittorio De Sica
"The Big Sleep" (1946) Howard Hawks
"Blade Runner" (1982) Ridley Scott
"Blowup" (1966) Michelangelo Antonioni
"Blue Velvet" (1986) David Lynch (also ick)
"Bonnie and Clyde"(1967) Arthur Penn
"Breathless" (1959 Jean-Luc Godard
"Bringing Up Baby" (1938) Howard Hawks
"Carrie" (1975) Brian DePalma
"Casablanca"(1942) Michael Curtiz (God, I love this movie.)
"Un Chien Andalou" (1928) Luis Bunuel & Salvador Dali
"Children of Paradise"/ "Les Enfants du Paradis" (1945) Marcel Carne
"Chinatown"(1974) Roman Polanski
"Citizen Kane" (1941) Orson Welles
"A Clockwork Orange"(1971) StanleyKubrick (icky, icky)
"The Crying Game" (1992) Neil Jordan (Jaye sat next to me on the subway once. I saw him reflected in the window opposite. I nodded at him. He nodded back. I went back to my book.)
"The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) Robert Wise (soundtrack by Bernard Herrmann)
"Days of Heaven" (1978) Terence Malick
"Dirty Harry" (1971) Don Siegel
"The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" (1972) Luis Bunuel
"Do the Right Thing" (1989) Spike Lee
"La Dolce Vita" (1960) Federico Fellini
"Double Indemnity" (1944) Billy Wilder
"Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying andLove the Bomb" (1964) StanleyKubrick ("What is the good of a Doomsday device if you don't tell anyone about it?")
"Duck Soup" (1933) Leo McCarey
"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982) StevenSpielberg
"Easy Rider" (1969) Dennis Hopper
"The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) Irvin Kershner
"The Exorcist" (1973) William Friedkin
"Fargo"(1995) Joel & Ethan Coen
"Fight Club" (1999) David Fincher
"Frankenstein" (1931) James Whale
"The General" (1927) Buster Keaton & ClydeBruckman
"The Godfather," "The Godfather, PartII" (1972, 1974) Francis Ford Coppola
"Gone With the Wind" (1939) Victor Fleming
"GoodFellas" (1990) Martin Scorsese
"The Graduate" (1967) Mike Nichols
"Halloween" (1978) John Carpenter
"A Hard Day's Night" (1964) Richard Lester
"Intolerance" (1916) D.W. Griffith
"It's A Gift" (1934) Norman Z. McLeod
"It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) Frank Capra ("Hotdog!")
"Jaws" (1975) Steven Spielberg
"The Lady Eve" (1941) PrestonSturges
"Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) David Lean
"M" (1931) Fritz Lang
"Mad Max 2" / "The Road Warrior" (1981)George Miller
"The Maltese Falcon" (1941) John Huston
"The Manchurian Candidate" (1962) JohnFrankenheimer
"Metropolis" (1926) Fritz Lang
"Modern Times" (1936) Charles Chaplin
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975) TerryJones & Terry Gilliam ("Help! Help! I'm being repressed! Come see the violence inherent in the system!")
"Nashville"(1975) Robert Altman
"The Night of the Hunter" (1955) Charles Laughton
"Night of the Living Dead" (1968) George Romero
"North by Northwest" (1959) Alfred Hitchcock (sigh)
"Nosferatu" (1922) F.W. Murnau
"On the Waterfront" (1954) Elia Kazan
"Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968) Sergio Leone
"Out of the Past" (1947) Jacques Tournier
"Persona" (1966) Ingmar Bergman
"Pink Flamingos" (1972) John Waters
"Psycho" (1960) Alfred Hitchcock
"Pulp Fiction" (1994) Quentin Tarantino
"Rashomon" (1950) Akira Kurosawa
"Rear Window" (1954) Alfred Hitchcock (sigh)
"Rebel Without a Cause" (1955) Nicholas Ray (Is there anyone out there who didn't cry at the end?)
"Red River" (1948) Howard Hawks
"Repulsion" (1965) Roman Polanski
"Rules of the Game" (1939) Jean Renoir
"Scarface" (1932) Howard Hawks
"The Scarlet Empress" (1934) Josef von Sternberg
"Schindler's List" (1993) Steven Spielberg
"The Searchers" (1956) John Ford
"The Seven Samurai" (1954) Akira Kurosawa
"Singin' in the Rain" (1952) Stanley Donen &Gene Kelly
"Some Like It Hot" (1959) Billy Wilder ("I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop")
"A Star Is Born" (1954) George Cukor
"A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951) Elia Kazan
"Sunset Boulevard" (1950) Billy Wilder
"Taxi Driver" (1976) Martin Scorsese
"The Third Man" (1949) Carol Reed
"Tokyo Story" (1953) Yasujiro Ozu
"Touch of Evil" (1958) Orson Welles
"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) JohnHuston
"Trouble in Paradise" (1932) Ernst Lubitsch
"Vertigo" (1958) Alfred Hitchcock
"West Side Story" (1961) Jerome Robbins/RobertWise
"The Wild Bunch" (1969) Sam Peckinpah
"The Wizard of Oz" (1939) Victor Fleming

On my way...

...to becoming a Psychology major. I've got my sign-off from the Psych. Dept., now I need to get one from English Lit. then I hand the change form in to the Registrar's office.

I'm feeling...odd...about this. My self-conception for years - heck my blog's name! - is that of a reader, a Lit. major. Even for those two decades when I was between schools, I never questioned that if I ever graduated, it would be with a degree in English Lit.

But I'm feeling really excited about the decision. It feels right. It feels good.

I knew I had to change when I was looking at the Fall catalog and most of the classes that really interested me were psychology classes. Many more of them grabbed my attention than the English classes (though I am taking one that really got me - Historical Criticism of Children's Literature. Doesn't that sound yummy?). And I admitted to myself that the same thing had happened for the Summer schedule as well.

And another plus is it won't take me any longer to graduate.

I can't wait for the Summer session to start! Developmental Psychology, here I come!

Odd coincidence

My driving instructor (I'm taking a refresher course, because I'm somewhat of a distracted driver) was born the same day as me. The exact same day. And she didn't learn to drive until she was 27 - exactly the same as me. How weird is that? That we both were born at the same time and were learning to drive at the same time and that we met because of driving????

I am...

This is an exercise from my communications class. Write 20 sentences that start "I am..."

1. I am a mother.
2. I am a wife.
3. I am a daughter.
4. I am a sister.
5. I am a (good) student.
6. I am an avid reader.
7. I am a blogger.
8. I am a good friend.
9. I am better at math and science than I thought.
10. I am a good cook.
11. I am short.
12. I am Jewish.
13. I am easily distracted.
14. I am taking refresher driving lessons.
15. I am a pretty good navigator (navigatrix?)
16. I am a sports jinx.
17. I am having a hard time giving up foods I shouldn't eat.
18. I am often disorganized.
19. I am a procrastinator.
20. I am sometimes very silly.

Holy Guacamole, Phantom!

Phantom Scribbler is a goddess.


Go congratulate her, if you haven't already.

Yipes! I've been gone a while!

Busy, busy, busy...doing end of term crap. Almost finished with a paper for one class (need feedback from Prof.), then need to adapt it for another class. I've been researching for another paper in another class - due next Friday with a presentation. Good news? It's on how leadership roles are shown to good effect in Casablanca. Bad news? Reading scholarly articles on leadership.

Bought a book today for a class I'm going to test out of. Good news? I could probably pass the test today without reading the book. Bad news? The book cost $100!

Lots of other homework and reading assignments...yadda, yadda, yadda.

But I'll leave you with this thought.
My opinion: Casablanca has the highest number of best lines of any movie ever made.
"Play it, Sam"
"I'm shocked, shocked! to find gambling going on here!"
"Here's looking at you, Kid."
"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she had to walk into mine."
"Round up the usual suspects."
"This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
"I'm only a poor corrupt official."
"We'll always have Paris"
"The problems of three little people doesn't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."

Discuss.

D'oh!!!

This blog is one year and 2 days old. I can't believe I missed its birthday.

I've gotten an enormous amount of enjoyment from being here and knowing you all. Last year had a lot of changes, I can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Recurring Nightmare

When I was little I had a recurring nightmare. I would be in the house in Truro standing in front of that window looking out toward Fisher Beach. And I could see a wave coming, taller than the hill the house was on, rolling over the sand, up the hill and crashing through the window.

I would wake up panicking, unable to breathe.

I didn't even know then that there were such things as tsunamis. The wave that destroyed everything in my dream as a child was a product of my own imagination, my own anxieties.

I don't know where I was going with this. I was going to say something deep and meaningful, but it keeps coming out trite and self-centered.

The Words Meme UPDATED

As seen at Bookworm

Words that always look misspelled to me:
Definite
Independent

Words that look nicer in italics:
Serving size: 1

Words I enjoy saying:
Douchebag
popover

Words I enjoy hearing:
I love you
Mommy

Abbreviations I dislike:
OMG

Proper nouns I enjoy:
Hackensack
Mashpee

Words I associate with happiness:
Book
Casablanca
Cozy
Comfy

Words I always misspell:
See above (words that always look misspelled to me)

Words I enjoy spelling correctly, every time:
Schedule (long story involving piano lessons. Perhaps I'll tell it one day.)
Arctic (I enjoy saying it correctly, too.)

Words that, though I love their meaning, I'm too embarrassed to say out loud: I can't think of any. Not much for word embarrassment.

Edited to Add:
Words I can't spell out loud without getting a song stuck in my head:
Mickey
Mouse
Saturday

As seen at Phantom Scribbler's - the Women Writers Meme

Instructions: Bold the ones you've read. Italicize the ones you've been wanting/might like to read. ??Place question marks by any titles/authors you've never heard of?? Plus I'm adding this, as Turtlebella noted that the choice of books by each author is a mite idiosyncratic: put an asterisk if you've read something else by the same author.

Allcott, Louisa May–Little Women (Have any of you read "Work"? Waaaay ahead of its time.)
Allende, Isabel–The House of Spirits
Angelou, Maya–I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
*Atwood, Margaret–Cat's Eye
Austen, Jane–Emma (and everything else she ever wrote)
Bambara, Toni Cade–Salt Eaters??
Barnes, Djuna–Nightwoodde ??
Beauvoir, Simone–The Second Sex
Blume, Judy–Are You There God? It's Me Margaret (I don't think they should have taken out the belts, either.)
Burnett, Frances–The Secret Garden (And everything else I could get my hands on. I agree with PS, those potatoes sounded delish.)
Bronte, Charlotte–Jane Eyre
Bronte, Emily–Wuthering Heights
Buck, Pearl S.–The Good Earth
Byatt, A.S.–Possession
Cather, Willa–My Antonia
Chopin, Kate–The Awakening
Christie, Agatha–Murder on the Orient Express (and everything else she wrote.)
*Cisneros, Sandra–The House on Mango Street
Clinton, Hillary Rodham–Living History
Cooper, Anna Julia–A Voice From the South??
Danticat, Edwidge–Breath, Eyes, Memory??
Davis, Angela–Women, Culture, and Politics
Desai, Anita–Clear Light of Day??
Dickinson, Emily–Collected Poems (a few of them anyway.)
Duncan, Lois–I Know What You Did Last Summer
DuMaurier, Daphne–Rebecca ("I dreamed last night I went to Manderly again...")
*Eliot, George–Middlemarch
Emecheta, Buchi–Second Class Citizen??
Erdrich, Louise–Tracks
Esquivel, Laura–Like Water for Chocolate
Flagg, Fannie–Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Friedan, Betty–The Feminine Mystique
Frank, Anne–Diary of a Young Girl (and it still haunts me)
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins–The Yellow Wallpaper
Gordimer, Nadine–July's People
*Grafton, Sue–S is for Silence (why this one and not the best of the series, "G is for Gumshoe"?)
Hamilton, Edith–Mythology
*Highsmith, Patricia–The Talented Mr. Ripley (I think she either ties or wins for most books or stories made into a movie by Hitchcock. I think she has 3, DuMaurier had 2)
hooks, bell–Bone Black
*Hurston, Zora Neale–Dust Tracks on the Road
Jacobs, Harriet–Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl??
Jackson, Helen Hunt–Ramona??
Jackson, Shirley–The Haunting of Hill House
Jong, Erica–Fear of Flying
*Keene, Carolyn–The Nancy Drew Mysteries (any of them)
Kidd, Sue Monk–The Secret Life of Bees
*Kincaid, Jamaica–Lucy
Kingsolver, Barbara–The Poisonwood Bible
Kingston, Maxine Hong–The Woman Warrior
Larsen, Nella–Passing??
L'Engle, Madeleine–A Wrinkle in Time
*Le Guin, Ursula K.–The Left Hand of Darkness
Lee, Harper–To Kill a Mockingbird
*Lessing, Doris–The Golden Notebook
Lively, Penelope–Moon Tiger??
Lorde, Audre–The Cancer Journals??
Martin, Ann M.–The Babysitters Club Series (any of them)
McCullers, Carson–The Member of the Wedding
*McMillan, Terry–Disappearing Acts
Markandaya, Kamala–Nectar in a Sieve??
Marshall, Paule–Brown Girl, Brownstones
Mitchell, Margaret–Gone with the Wind
Montgomery, Lucy Maud–Anne of Green Gables (and, once again, all her other books and stories that I could get my hands on.)
Morgan, Joan–When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost??
Morrison, Toni–Song of Solomon
Murasaki, Lady Shikibu–The Tale of Genji??
Munro, Alice–Lives of Girls and Women
Murdoch, Iris–Severed Head
Naylor, Gloria–Mama Day
Niffenegger, Audrey–The Time Traveller's Wife
*Oates, Joyce Carol–We Were the Mulvaneys
*O'Connor, Flannery–A Good Man is Hard to Find
*Piercy, Marge–Woman on the Edge of Time
Picoult, Jodi–My Sister's Keeper?
Plath, Sylvia–The Bell Jar
Porter, Katharine Anne–Ship of Fools
Proulx, E. Annie–The Shipping News
Rand, Ayn–The Fountainhead
Ray, Rachel–365: No Repeats (Again, agreeing with PS here. Rombauer yes, Ray no.)
Rhys, Jean–Wide Sargasso Sea
Robinson, Marilynne–Housekeeping??
Rocha, Sharon–For Laci??
Sebold, Alice–The Lovely Bones
Shelley, Mary–Frankenstein (Kind of. I got 3 chapters in and had to give it up. Dull. Dull. Dull.)
Smith, Betty–A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Smith, Zadie–White Teeth??
Spark, Muriel–The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Spyri, Johanna–Heidi
Strout, Elizabeth–Amy and Isabelle??
*Steel, Danielle–The House
Tan, Amy–The Joy Luck Club
Tannen, Deborah–You're Wearing That
Ulrich, Laurel–A Midwife's Tale (Mark me down as another fan)
Urquhart, Jane–Away??
*Walker, Alice–The Temple of My Familiar
*Welty, Eudora–One Writer's Beginnings
Wharton, Edith–Age of Innocence (parts of the movie were filmed at my mom and stepdad's friend's house)
Wilder, Laura Ingalls–Little House in the Big Woods (and the rest and the cookbook. I even cooked the goose for Christmas the year I was 10)
Wollstonecraft, Mary–A Vindication of the Rights of Women
*Woolf, Virginia–A Room of One's Own

There are an awful lot of authors that could be on this list, and aren't. Such as Georgette Heyer, Dorothy L. Sayers, Josephine Tey...and those are just the 1930's British Mystery Writers!

Who do you think is the most glaring admission?

Laughing until my face hurt.

Red-haired Friend and I went out for dinner. We haven't seen much of each other lately due to work (her) and school (both of us) and what not.

We ate at an Italian restaurant while she vented about her employer (where I used to work) and I told her about my score on my latest Statistics test (cough, 97, cough) and we both bitched about things we bitch to each other about and then we went for dessert and talked some more and then we went to DSW.

Have y'all ever been to DSW?

Rows upon rows upon rows of shoes. Sneakers, sandals, boots, pumps, slingbacks, slippers, and everything in between. And while they do have some really nice shoes they also have some doozies.

Like the pump that was made of a horsehair upper, dyed in a leopard print that someone went a little too crazy with the Bedazzler on. And the bronze lame loafer. And the rose tapestry print number that had a pink snake skin toe and heel and was finished off with a lavender suede bow in back. Ooooh! And the VERY high top sneaker that was frayed along the edges and had an embroidered dragon up the side. And let's not forget the sandal that had a monkey climbing a palmtree on it. And the pumps made of orange gum-boot rubber. I only wish that DSW had an on-line store so that I could show you how truly hideous these shoes were.

And then there was the selection of purses. There was one that looked pretty good. Black. Basic. But....then we turned it around. It was covered on the other side with loosely sewn on pieces of abalone. HIDEOUS!

We couldn't stop laughing. "Here!" we'd say. "THIS is the shoe you've been looking for!" We'd discuss the shoes that almost worked and what would have made them not atrocious. Like the linen sandal that was nice and normal looking from the front and had this truly abominable 4" high narrow cork wedge.

I love Red-haired Friend. I especially love that she appreciates the power of an amazingly ugly shoe.

Mr. Potato-head comes to our house

After months and months of stubborn refusal, Muffin Man made a poop in the potty. At school. With witnesses.

This deserves praise and a prize.

I've stocked up on other prizes in the hopes that this isn't a one-off.

I'm hoping this is the end of diapers for the Mystery household...keep your fingers crossed for us!

And, I'm going out for dinner tonight with Red-Haired Friend. Could this day be any better?

Oh well...

...it was fun while it lasted.

Apropos of nothing...

Can someone please explain to me why Muffin Man was up four times last night?

Last Night's Dinner and a Muffin Man Update

Yesterday, after my Statistics study group was over, I drove to our nearby Wegman's. Inside, I bought:

• Fruit (strawberries and bananas, both of which Muffin Man will eat greedily)
• Spinach (intended for last night's dinner, but in the end not used)
• A package of sliced miniture portabello mushrooms
• A package of coiled sweet italian sausage (I wanted to buy bulk, but they didn't have any) and
• A small container of ricotta cheese (Mr. Spock is not a fan)

When I got home, I rummaged through the 'fridge and took out 2 tennis-ball-sized onions. I opened up our little clay jar and got out two cloves of garlic. I went down into our cellar and found a small can of tomato paste and a large can of crushed tomatoes. From the freezer, I took a small ziplock bag of shredded mozzarella (this is a good tip, btw. If you do your shopping at a place like Costco, you can buy their monster-sized bag of shredded mozzarella and divvy it up and freeze the cheese)

I diced the garlic and the onions and cut the mushrooms smaller.

In our Calphelon chef's pan (a wedding gift and, after our cast iron skillets, the most-used pot in the house), I sauted the onions in olive oil until they were translucent and starting to turn gold, then I added the garlic and when they were also translucent and starting to turn gold, I added the mushrooms and sauted them until they started giving up their liquid.

Then I took the coil of sausage and squeezed the sausage out of its skin into the pan. As it browned, I salted it and dumped in some dried oregano and basil. I stirred it and broke it up, I'm not going for meatballs here.

When the sausage was completely browned, I added the cans of tomato glop and kept stirring. I tasted--a bit acidic, so I added some sugar. Tasted again...added some chili powder (just a touch, for a little zing). Tasted again...pretty good. I made sure the coast was clear and added a secret ingredient. Tasted again. Delicious.

Mr. Spock tasted. Agreed it was delicious.

I started some water boiling. And preheated the oven to 350.

At this point, I went on a search for ziti. I absolutely knew we had some in the house. Nope. So I used small shells. Cooked 'em, drained 'em, added them to a cassarole dish my mother gave me recently.

Poured on the sauce, mixed thoroughly, topped with cheese. Put the whole mess in the oven for a half-hour. Where upon we went to pick up Muffin Man.

Got home.

Served the baked shells.

Ate out on the new screened-in porch.

Delicious.

-----------------

Mr. Spock just finished reading all of Winnie-the-Pooh to Muffin Man. Now they're starting on The Little Prince. Can Farmer Boy be far behind?

Quick chance to breathe before the next deluge

I just finished the 2-3 page paper that's due tomorrow based on an on-line collaboration I did on Monday. Fun! No...truly. It was. The collaboration anyway, the paper not so much.

My school will be featured tomorrow on a national morning show. Why? Is it because our Forensics team is doing so well? Nope. It's because our basketball team is kicking some serious ass. I don't dare watch the game...I hope they win!

Crazy composition prof is still crazy. 750 words due for her on Monday, but at least it's actually a draft of our term paper, so not a complete waste of time.

I also have a test in Statistics that day. Study group for that is tomorrow.

Muffin Man is still amazing. Sweet, funny, delicious. Occasionally a noodge, but he's four, what would you expect. Now, if he would only decide that it's a good idea to poop in the potty.

Do you remember me mentioning my dear friends who just got married? I was just reminded by one of them that they met on the internet. Isn't that cool? Just like Angie. Go on over and offer up some congratulations, won't you?

If you folks aren't watching Dr. Who, you should be.

Yesterday was individual picture day at PNP and tomorrow is class picture day. I hope that this photographer is better than the one at the old school. I love dressing Muffin Man up for picture day. He looks so cute in his little hawaiian print shirt and chinos.

Does anyone else have the theme song from "Little Einsteins" stuck in their heads? I'm trying to get it out by humming the theme from "Higgly Town Heroes" but it's not working.

Well, that's it. See you all later!

Sunday....

Muffin Man and I went to visit Aunt and Uncle-Tandem-Bicycle and Cousin Sweet-and-Shy (who turned nine the day I turned 37). They live near the National Zoo, so Uncle-Tandem-Bicycle, Cousin Sweet-and-Shy, Muffin Man and I went to pay our respects to the lions and tigers and (panda) bears. Well, we didn't actually go to see the pandas, but we did see some HONKING GIANT turtles and three elephants and some prairie dogs and silly orangutans. Then MM & S&S played on the giant pizza and then we all went to the nearby playground and then we all went back to their house where MM played on S&S's trampoline and they gave us some left-over birthday balloons and then we went home.

It was a lovely day.

And Mr. Spock made a low-fat cheese cake which was simply fantastic.

And that was our Sunday.

Weekend Update

Mr. Spock was at work from 8 til 5 today, so Muffin Man and I kept each other company. I admit I wasn't the best of company for a friendly, sweet, active 4-year-old today...I had some reading to do for one class (while MM watched The Incredibles) and an on-line assignment due at noon today in another (which I finally decided I could do faster if MM were NOT popping in and out of his room where he was supposed to be having Quiet Time so I let him play on his computer. I posted the assignment a couple of hours late...oh well) And then MM and I went out for a spot of luncheon. And then we listened to "NO!" by TMBG and then I let him play on Disn3y.com while I took a shower and got dressed and then Mr. Spock came home. I gave them both kisses and then...

I went out. To dinner. And a movie. With Two Lovely Neighbor Women.

We ate at Sweetwater's (tex-mex eggrolls and short smoked grilled salmon salad) and went to see Failure to Launch (which I found fluffy and hysterically funny - though Matthew McConneghy's teeth are frighteningly perfect.)

It was fabulous. They called and invited me this morning. We had a great time.

Quick question:

Any of you read "Dispatches From a Not-So-Perfect Life"?

An odd thing

Today in my Communications class we were all asked to write down the names of people who fit the descriptions from a long list. One of the descriptions was: Your Best Friends.

And without a second's hesitation I wrote down the real life names of two people I know through the blog world. One I've met in person and the other I've never met.

And as soon as I wrote their names I felt strange about it. Because I could have written Red-Haired friend. Or FriendWhoLivesWestofMe. Or SweetYoungFriend. Or DearFriendsWhoGotMarriedLastWeek (who also have blogs). Or....

But there it is. I wrote down the names of 2 people I feel I know really well, who I like and care about and who like and care about me. I don't have to be the strong happy thin one with these friends. I can be not perfect and (ahem) whiny. I can be sad.

And they can be sad or whiny or not-perfect and we understand each other.

Maybe it's because none of my friends who I met out of the blog-world are moms? Or that one of DearFriends was Mr. Spock's friend first and I don't want to poach? I don't know. All I know is I think of you all as my friends and two of you got written down as my best friends.

And there it is.

In which I fight against the bureaucracy and win, one day too late to whine about.

1. My advisor told me I could register for Summer Term on Wednesday, March 22nd - because with the credits I will have at the end of this semester, I will be fully a Sophomore. Unfortunately, the On-line Registration program doesn't count the credits I will have, only those I do have and so it told me that I couldn't register until 9:00 this morning with the rest of the Freshman.

2. At 9:01, I log in to register and it says I can't because there is a hold on my account. I click on the link to find out WTF the hold-up is and it says I'm not up-to-date on my immunizations. WHAT?!?! I got two gonzo shots in January! I handed in the paperwork! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT???

3. So I call and just get an answering machine. I leave a message and decide to be proactive so...

4. I call the doctor's office and ask them to fax over a copy of what I got done in January. It is now 9:10 in the morning. They are very pleasant and act as though they will do it right away. I drop Muffin Man off at PNP and I go to my first class (starts at 10:30) and after class at 11:45 I go to the University Immunization office where I am informed that they have not received a fax from my doctor's office. The Immunization office says that the doctor must not have filled out the sheet properly since they are missing a current MMR.

5. I call the doctor's office. Am on hold for 4 minutes. They say they will get to it as soon as they can. I reiterate that I cannot register until they send the fax.

6. I go to my Women and Work class where I discover that in all the aggravation this morning, I have forgotten my assignment. It is on my desk at home. I will have to e-mail it.

7. I have lunch and return to the Immunization office at 2:00. Still no fax. I call the doctor's office again and get attitude from the receptionist. I tell her I'll wait on hold until she faxes it. She does so.

8. My records do not show an MMR given in January. What? But I got everything I needed to be up-to-date!

9. I ask the nice nurse at the Immunization office if I can get an MMR there. "Only Mondays and Wednesdays" she says. She gives me the number for the Public Health office.

10. I call. They don't do immunizations on Thursdays but I could go in tomorrow.

11. I call my doctor's office. They can't do immunizations today because they are short staffed. One of the doctors is on vacation.

12. I take another look at the immunization form. The field for MMR is blank. BUT...the fields for Measles only, Mumps only, and Rubella only are filled in. Don't they count?

13. I bring the form over to the nice nurse and ask her. "Yes" she says. "They count. But they have to have been given after your first birthday."

14. I look. The form says, "Measles: 2/10/70, 4/17/77; Mumps: 3/19/70; Rubella: (some date or other in '72)" and it specifies that they have to be after the 1st birthday AND after 1967. Well, I had my last shots of all of these after my first birthday! I'm golden! I bring it back to the nice nurse. "No." she says sadly. "You had to have gotten ALL of your shots after your first birthday. Any shot you received before then doesn't count."

"And there isn't any way you can give me an MMR shot today so that I can register?"

Long pause. She reaches behind the counter and gets some forms.

"Fill these out. The shot costs $45.00."




So, I am now sporting a bandaid and am registered for Summer: 1st half: Intro to Creative Writing and General Linguistics, 2nd half: Micro-economics and Social Psychology.

My college is going crazy

Because apparently our uh...volley ball?...team is doing rather well. And oh, yeah, our basketball team is going to the prom or something. No, seriously...our basketball team is in the Sweet 16, and our volleyball team is also in the top ranks. I'm trying not to pay attention, 'cause the moment I do, they'll both lose badly. I mean it. (Did I ever tell you about the time I went to see the 1977 Yankees play against the Blue Jays?)

So the campus has gone nuts. News crews everywhere. People wearing the school colors. The bookstore is selling out of sweatshirts, I went in to check the bargain book bin and the line was out the door with people buying school logo paraphenalia - I decided that no bargain would be worth waiting on a line 200 people long.

It's sure chasing away the "After Spring Break" blahs.

I'm going to take just a moment to brag...I hope you don't mind

Psychology Midterm: 95. This gives me a 93.5 for the course so far.
Women and Work Midterm: 94. The highest score in the class. I'm about to plotz.

Seriously, people. I am not--absolutely not--the same person I was 18 years ago.

A conversation

"Muffin Man, would you like a hard-boiled egg for breakfast"
"Oh! Yes, my dear. I would like a hard-boiled egg, if you please."

Where the heck did that come from?

Another conversation:

"Are you my big, big, Muffin Man?"
"No!"
"No? Well, who am I kissing then?"

Doesn't this look like a good birthday dinner?

Dinner
Originally uploaded by Mystery Mommy.

Yummy!

Good thing, since I'm in college...

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 8/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

It's my party and I'll cook if I want to.

37.

Yup.

Me.

Happy Birthday!

The menu: Osso Buco, risotto, kale, and triple chocolate cake with vanilla icing and vanilla ice cream.

The guests: Me, Mr. Spock (he made the risotto and the kale, I made the o.b. and the cake), Muffin Man, Mr. Spock's sister and her husband.

The verdict: Delicious. Lovely evening. Lots of good chatter. Muffin Man regaled us with songs.

The aftermath: not too bad, most of the dishes are in the dishwasher and the pots and pans just need a quick rinse before I rub them down with oil. (Cast iron, God's cookware.)

I took pictures, but I used actual film so I won't be able to post them until tomorrow sometime.

This is how we've been getting ready in the morning...

Pajamas off
doo do di do do
Pajamas off
Doo do di do
Pajamas off
doo do di do do
di do do di dah dah dah di dah

Underpants off
doo do di do do...

Go make a pee
doo do di do do...

And wash your hands
doo do di do do...

Put on your shirt
doo do di do do...

And underpants...
doo do di do do

Put on your socks
doo do di do do...

Put on your pants
doo do di do do...

Put on your shoes
doo do di do do
Put on your shoes
Doo do di do
Put on your shoes
doo do di do do
And now it's breakfast time.

The Magic 8 Ball's cousin, The Pioneer 300 disc Carosel

(With 264 discs inside!)

Via APL

Go to your music player of choice and hit shuffle (or in my case, random). Say the following questions out loud and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING!

How does the world see me?
Mozart, "Die Zieberflote: Overture". Huh? I'm a magic flute?

Will I have a happy life?
Front Street, "The Beginnings".

Uh-oh. This is a song by a band from Pittsburgh. Not a particularly happy song.

What do my friends really think of me?
Marlo Thomas and Friends, "Dudley Pippen and the Principal" (off the Free to Be You and Me CD).

Am I Dudley, whose teacher didn't believe he didn't tip over the sand table? Or am I the principal who is so understanding and plays a wonderful tune on his flute? And does it wierd anyone else out that a flute is prominent in both this and the first answer?

Do people secretly lust after me?
Crash Test Dummies, "I Think I'll Disappear Now".

Oooh! Good one!

How can I make myself happy?
The Christmas Revels, "Aro Que Nostre Seign Es Nat" (off the Sing We Now of Christmas CD).

Yes, celebrating Christmas makes me very happy.

What should I do with my life?
The Wizard of Oz soundtrack, "Wicked Witch Theme/Toto runs away from Mrs. Gulch"

Hmmmm....Maybe it has to do with the fact that I've left a career I was unhappy in, and am going to school to get into a career I'll like more?

What is some good advice for me?
First came a song off of one of Mr. Spock's cds. I couldn't find the album cover, so no clue as to what song it was. I decided to try again and came up with:
Sting, "Shadows in the Rain" (from Dream of the Blue Turtles).

Someone else is gonna have to figure this one out. It's beyond me.

How will I be remembered?
David Bowie, "Diamond Dogs" (from the Changes album)

Beats me.

What is my signature dancing song?
Stravinsky, "Lullaby" from The Firebird.

Is this the Pioneer trying to tell me that it's no use trying to find a tune with some rhythm 'cause I can't dance anyway?

What do I think my current theme song is?
The Day the Earth Stood Still soundtrack, "The Glowing/Alone/Gort's Rage"

Ahhhh...so true.

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
REM, "Strange"

Doesn't this fit nicely with the previous answer?

What song will play at my funeral?
k.d. lang, "Mind of Love"

What type of men/women do I like?
Women: John Fogerty, "Rock and Roll Girls". Rock on!
Men: Steeleye Span, "Twa Corbies". Ick, Pioneer thinks I like rotting dead knights?

What is my day going to be like?
Annie Lennox, "Walking on Broken Glass"

Very true. Allergies are giving me a sinus headache. (BTW, this is the one song of the whole list I stopped and listened to the whole way through. And I bopped up and down. Made me feel a whole bunch better.)

What one thing could I not live without?
Woody Allen, "European Trip" (from his Standup Comic cd, recorded in 1965 before he was a complete asshole.)

We're back!!

The good news:
1) Bitter is the New Black was an awesome read. Go. Get it. Now.
2) We had a good beach day. Took pictures. May post some.
3) Lobster. Tiramisu. Yum.

The bad news:
1) The flight down. Supposed to leave IAD at 3:00. Left (finally!) at 5:30.
2) The flight up. The second leg from Charlotte was supposed to leave at 1:30. We finally left around 6:30. We got home tonight at 8:30. We'd been in transit since before 10:00 AM.
3) As discussed earlier.

I'll go whine in the proper forum now.

Glad to be home.

Wheeeee!

Spring break!

Tomorrow we head off to my MIL's until Wednesday. Am I bringing the homework I have to do? I am not.

Instead, I'm bringing this.

And the presentation went well. I am so glad that's over...but there's plenty more to come after the break.

I am so looking forward to wearing summer clothes for a few days.

I'm ready

I have to do a presentation with a small group of my classmates tomorrow in my Communications class. Basically, we have to teach the class for 20 minutes. I just finished putting the finishing touches on our hand-outs and--after e-mailing them to the group, the professor (Prof. LooksLikeSheMightBeJo(e)), and the department as required--I printed out 30 copies.

Our topic is Cultural Stereotyping. My little section is on the benefits for the stereotyper. What are the benefits, you ask? I'm so glad you asked!

The benefits of cultural stereotyping are as follows: They help you predict what will happen and they help you behave appropriately with people from other cultures. If, while walking down Central Park West on the 24th of December, you saw a man wearing a yarmulke, you would probably refrain from wishing him a Merry Christmas and, instead, express your hope that he would have a Happy Hanukah. If you saw a man wearing a yarmulke in Rome, you'd probably kiss his ring. Stereotypes are shortcuts, roadmaps that can assist us in unfamiliar territory.

One of my team-mates will be doing the drawbacks. Of which there are many. We have a pretty good activity for the class to do, as well.

And then....Spring Break!

Warning: May trigger an asthma attack

Marla's brilliant description of a difficult situation

Today is blog against sexism day

And I'd participate except that I'm studying for my Women and Work exam tomorrow.

The exam is on various historical instances of sexism in the American work place, including domestic labor, factory work (think Triangle Shirtwaist), unions, promotions, hiring practices, pay scales, undervalued "pink collar" work, racism (against African Americans, Asians, Irish (did you know that the Irish weren't considered "white" in the 1800's?)), etc. etc.

A quick post after homework

Tonight I came home to a wonderful aroma. Mr. Spock was baking potatoes for our dinner. We had chicken, baked potatoes and spinach and I was happy.

Muffin Man asked for, received, and ate a whopping pile o' spinach. He ate his potato too. The chicken, not so much. And then, my friends, then he ate not one but TWO bananas. I sense a growth spurt.

I spent most of the weekend working on an lit review for my adv. comp. class. It didn't turn out too badly. Saturday afternoon I went to a test prep class for my Psych midterm on Thursday. I'm prepared. Didn't really need the review, but I figured my professor's giving up his weekend...and I'm always sitting in the front row, and he might notice if I weren't there. Don't want to piss him off. It would undo the good sitting up front and center does me.

Tonight I got some stuff ready for my communications class - I'm meeting with a group of my fellow students tomorrow. We have to teach the class for 20 minutes together on Friday. And I looked over my notes for my Women & Work midterm (also Thursday).

So, if you folks don't hear from me until Friday, don't be alarmed, okay?

My slippers

Slippers
Originally uploaded by Mystery Mommy.

He loves wearing 'em. Here he is playing on one of our laundry baskets.

More pix in this series on Flickr.

Sleepy...

Muffin Man woke me 4 times last night.

1. "I need to go pee." Well, couldn't he have done that without waking me up?
2. "I'm pooping. I need a diaper." Okay, I wish he'd just poop in the toilet already, but that's just me.
3. "I need you to change my diaper." Fine. I saw that one coming. I really need to teach him how to change his own diaper and wipe his own butt.
4. "There are monsters in my room." No. No there aren't.
"Spray my room." Awwww....I really don't want to.
"Pleeeeeeeease?" Oh alright, alright. But if you wake me one more time there will be no tv tomorrow.

I'm beat.

I'm a bit blue

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

It seems I pretty much stick to the East Coast, with just a few exceptions. And, like Phantom, there's at least one state out there I'm never going to visit.

Adventures in test-taking

Last Wednesday I took my first test in Statistics. I went in pretty confident. I knew my stuff. I was even excited about it.

I left an hour later feeling like day-old warmed-over puke. I knew nothing. I was a complete and total fraud.

Today we got our tests back. The average score out of a possible 99? 44.

I got a 77.

I am a rock star.

And on my Psychology test two weeks ago? 92. My Communications test wasn't quite so hot, but I did better than the average shmoe in my class. So I'm pretty happy.

I can't believe that my two best subjects are science and math. I think maybe that I might have gone to the right high school after all.

Blogger meetups everywhere you look!

Saturday: APL and Corndog, live at Jammin' Java. AB was there too, and he just gets more adorable everyday...

...a fact which I've proved conclusively today, Sunday: APL and Halloween Lover, live at a nearby Barnes & Noble. I brought Muffin Man along to play with AB. And though the two little people made discussion among the three big people a little difficult, we did talk about nothing and everything up to and including the weather (cold and windy). Halloween Lover is even more lovely than she appears on her blog and I hope she truly didn't mind having the little people along.

Muffin Man wanted to bring home EVERYTHING he saw, but I managed to keep it to a somewhat sensible 2 items: a stencil set with magic markers (on sale) and a set of Disney Princess playing cards (crazy 8's, go-fish, and old maid - also on sale)

We played go fish when we got home.

A very good weekend!

Holy Guacamole

As seen at Phantom Scribbler's...basket ball.

Consequences

Muffin Man loves to play on his computer. And he hates to get dressed in the morning. So the rule is, no computer on school days until fully clothed for the day. Sometimes, he gets the concept - other days, not so much.

Today was one of those days. "I WANT TO PLAY ON THE COMPUTER!!"
"You took too long. I told you that you were using up computer time."
"I WASN'T! I'M DRESSED NOW!"
"Yes, but you took a long time to get dressed. When you take too long, you end up not having enough time to play on the computer."
"I WANT TO! I WANT TO PLAY!"

Let the sobbing begin.

This means you. And you. And you. And you.

If there is someone on your blogroll who makes your world a better place just because that person exists and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence on your blog.

As seen in tons of places.

Annika Updates

Courtesy of Phantom Scribbler.

Annika's COTA page is up. Please donate generously. Annika, stay strong.

Baking with Muffin Man

Oy, it's been a long time since I posted. Homework and two exams...Got another one on Wednesday.


Last night Muffin Man helped me make dinner. Today we baked Butterscotch Bars (recipe fromo Weight Watchers). They came out pretty yummy. I think they'd be better if they had chocolate in them, but then what isn't better with chocolate?

Thanks to Genevieve's recommendation, we ordered Pretend Soup - a cookbook for kids. It looks really good and fun, but we haven't made anything from it yet.

Muffin Man had a great time helping me measure and stir. And last night he breaded the cutlets all by himself. First in the milk, then in the breadcrumbs, then on the plate all ready for me to saute with garlic. He only took one bite of the cutlets, but he was very proud to see Mr. Spock and me have seconds.

Breaded veal cutlets with spaghetti was the first meal I made all by myself...I remember being the breader for years before my mom let me loose with the frypan.

The first thing I was ever allowed to help with on the stove was Campbell's Tomato Soup. Either that or My-T-Fine chocolate pudding (not the instant stuff). Probably it was the soup. I'm looking forward to cooking many, many meals with my boy.

One year ago today...

I read Corndog's blog for the first time. It was the post on bad cover songs, taking nominations on the Worst Cover Song Ever. Joel Achenbach led me there.

After I nominated Adam Ant's cover of "Hello, I Love You", I read Corndog's archives. Then I read through his blog roll.

Eventually (in April), I stumbled on a blog that wouldn't let me comment if I didn't have a blogger account. I believe it may actually have been someone I found through Falling Down is Also a Gift, because I was thinking of Annika when I came up with my password.

So, Corndog, thank you for that post. Thank you for being smart and funny. Thank you for being there and leading me to Angry Pregnant Lawyer and Phantom Scribbler and by extension, everyone else on my blog roll.

I love you guys. I love this community. Big hugs and kisses to you all.

Helping hands across the internet

Annika, who I spoke of below, is a five-year-old girl with congenital liver disease. She's had two liver transplants in her young life and is currently having serious health problems after a few years of relatively good health. You can read all about her and her little sister Frankie on their mom's blog, Falling Down is Also a Gift.

The per-year limit on their insurance - One Million Dollars - has already been reached for this year. It's the middle of February! As of today, they may have no insurance to cover Anni's hospital bills.

All over the internet, people are coming together to raise money. Andrea of Beanie Baby is keeping the complete list. As soon as they are up and running, I'm going to have buttons with links over here to the right -->

There are so many good ideas: a cassarole campaign, raffles, auctions.

So much love, so many prayers. If it is at all possible to make someone healthy by an effort of many wills, then Annika's prognosis must be excellent.

Just to say

Annika.

Annika, I wish for you what I wish for my son. I wish for you to outlive your parents. I wish for your parents to be at your 60th birthday party. I wish for your life to be happy and easy from here on out.

God knows, you've been through enough.

I wish for you to have a lovely prom dress and a handsome prom date. (I'd wish for Muffin Man to be your handsome prom date, but that's geographically infeasible)

I wish for you to have a goofball freshman year in college and then buckle down and get to work.

I wish for you to kiss the toes of your own little baby.

Big hugs and kisses to you, Annika. Get healthy. Stay stubborn.

Hey you guys!!!!

I just found out from Danigirl that The Electric Company is being release on DVD! It was released today!!!

Silent E! LY! Letter Man! Holy guacamole, I need this DVD.

I've put it on my wish list. It's at the top. My birthday is next month.



Can I possibly wait that long?

SNARK!

Boy howdy! The entire class just got an e-mail that was just intended to go to the prof (I hope it was just intended to go to the prof.) It's from a girl who dropped the class and basically asks to be removed from the prof's mailing list. And it is SNARKY with a capital Snark.

It would, however, have been more effective as a slap-down if she had actually capitalized appropriately and used better grammar, but we can't have everything.





Am I evil that I am gloating over this? Yes. Yes, I am evil. I hate me.



No, actually, I don't. I am evil, but it is not affecting my self-esteem one bit.

Advanced Composition Haiku

My teacher is nuts,
Disorganized, phrenetic.
Classmates are dropping.

Despite good reviews,
previewed online, enjoyment
is beyond our reach.

E-mail this, print that
Post the other on-line now.
Respond by Monday.

We are never sure what
we need to send where or when
any of this is due.

Writing this haiku
Is very theraputic
Now for the essay.

Blogging with Muffin Man on my lap

Hectic weekend. We had a party for Muffin Man's birthday. Three of his friends came over with their parents (plus MakesBooksForGrandkids, SingsLullabyes, my SIL and her husband) and we all had a really, really good time. Unfortunately, I forgot to charge the camera before the party, so I have a little video and two pictures of MM's friends, but no cake picture. And the
cake was HUGELY POPULAR.

Can anyone guess what frickin' character was on the cake?

That's right! Tt(f)TE!!!

I think we will be having leftover cake for breakfast.

MakesBooksForGrandkids lived up to his name! Muffin Man has a book that's all about him.

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away

God said "Let there be lips!"

Trivia question: Whose lips were they?

Fives Meme

Dr. Four Eyes tagged me for this last week.

Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so.
1) zerodoll
2) Overread
3) BrightStar
4) dr four eyes
5) Mystery Mommy

Next select five people to tag:
I'm only doing one, since I think everybody else has done this, if you haven't, feel free to tag yourself: 1) Musiclover Marc

What were you doing 10 years ago? February 1996:
I had just quit my job at Murder Ink after the robbery. I was living with Mr. Spock in a two-room apartment on West 96th Street, and we were planning our wedding.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Celebrating Muffin Man's 3rd Birthday. Happy 4th Birthday, Muffin Man!

Five snacks you enjoy:
1) Smoked and salted almonds
2) Hummus (w/pita)
3) Guacamole (w/cornchips)
4) Take5 candy bars
5) Ritz Bits cheese-flavored sandwiches

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:
1) Every song from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Plus call-backs)
2) It's a Small World After All (and how I wish I couldn't)
3) Every song off the Aladdin soundtrack (ditto)
4) Every song Tom Lehrer ever recorded (And will sing them at the drop of a hat, just try me!)
5) Dona Nobis Pacem (Not that that's any great feat, the title includes all the lyrics)

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
Like Dr. Four Eyes, I'm assuming this means multi-millionaire...
1) Pay off the house (and our sisters's houses and our parents's houses - if they wanted us to)
2) Get all the landscaping done
3) Put lots of money into Muffin Man's college fund (and his cousins's)
4) Spend lots of time in Kauai.
5) Send Mr. Spock back to school for his PhD if he wanted.

Five bad habits:
1) Chewing my fingers
2) Procrastinating
3) Messiness
4) Ordering out too much
5) Watching too much tv

Five things you like doing:
1) Reading
2) Blogging
3) Playing with Muffin Man
4) Snugglebunnies
5) Lazing in the sun like a lizard.

Five things you would never wear again:
1) My Frankenfurter outfit
2) My Columbia outfit
3) A size 4.
4) Dr. Scholls
5) Dayglo.

Five favorite toys:
1) The DVR
2) The digital camera
3) A deck of cards
4) Muffin Man's TtTE train tracks.
5) Muffin Man's Trax marble race.
I love setting up 4 and 5 into different configurations for Muffin Man to play with.

Woooooohooooooooo!

And the winner is....

VOTE!

If you live in Northern Virginia (Eastern Loudoun or Western Fairfax - 33rd Senatorial district) then tomorrow is an election day! Go out and vote for Mark Herring. MARK HERRING. Go. Vote.

If you don't know which district you're in, check here.

Seen EVERYWHERE

I saw this first at Phantom Scribbler's and please note, her name is up front and center, bold and beautiful, just like her.

Click here if you want your own.

Psychology Haiku

As the AV guys
work on the projector, I
stare at the blank screen

Strange dichotomy:
Chalk boards, computer screens and
wireless connections

As seen at Selkie

This site gives you your Professor Poopypants name.

I am Crusty Bananabuns.

As seen at R2K's

A new version of 23rd and 5th.

Instructions:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don’t you dare dig for that cool or intellectual book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

To the left of me: Disposable Domestics: Immigrant Women Workers in the Global Economy by Grace Chang.
I'm just gonna give you the fifth sentence, 'cause boy howdy is it ever wordy.

"They reflect these women's clear recognition that their land, products, labor,
and lives are extracted for other people's profit through these programs."

To the right of me: The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (not this edition, though)
Again, just the 5th sentence, 'cause I've got to get back to work.

"Shasta, half mad with horror, managed to lurch towards the brute."

The answers to numbers 5 & 12 below

#5 is Angela. A friend from my job which I celebrated a week of freedom from today, by going to my Communications class. Excellent class. I think it's being taught by Jo(e). Beautiful long hair. Passel of kids. Excellent sense of humor. Talks with her hands.

But I know it's not Jo(e) because Jo(e) lives somewhere that has had snow in the last year and Mrs. Aptonym lives in Woodbridge.

#12 is a message from Mr. Spock. And I'm not sayin' what it says.

And to give a re-cap of my week: My favorite class so far is Statistics, followed VERY closely by Communications, followed by Advanced Composition, Psychology, and Women & Work in that order. Pray forgive me if my posting goes WAAAAAAY down, I'm gonna be writing my ass off for these classes.

Did you folks know that students have to bring their own Scantron sheets to tests? Isn't that like asking Lady Jane Grey to bring her own axe?

Stolen from CCW

25 Questions meme
As seen at ccw.
1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
What the heck happened to my hair?
2. How much cash do you have on you? In my pocket? $0. In my purse? About $100.
3. What's a word that rhymes with TEST? Vest
4. planet? Earth
5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list? My phone is downstairs, I'll check and get back to y'all tomorrow.
6. What is your favorite ring on your phone? What CCW said, the one that just rings.
7. What shirt are you wearing? This one in Evening.
8. What do you label yourself? Short.
9. Name the brand of shoes you've recently worn. Reeboks.
10. Bright or Dark Room?
11. What were you doing at midnight last night? Like CCW, I was sleeping.
12. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? My phone is downstairs, I'll check and get back to y'all on this tomorrow.
13. Where is your nearest 7-11? Uhhhhh.....maybe across from Karate Bagels?
14. What's a saying that you say a lot? Holy Guacamole!
15.Who told you they loved you last? Muffin Man.
16. Last furry thing you touched? Probably something at the petting zoo.
17. How Many Drugs Have You Done In The Past three Days? 3. Zyrtec, Tricor, and baby aspirin.
18. How many rolls of film do you need to get developed? None. It's all digital now, babe.
19. Favorite age you have been so far? 32.
20. your worst enemy? Uncomfortable bras.
21. What is your current desktop picture? There are several, this is one of them.

FordMommyBeach
Originally uploaded by Mystery Mommy.

22. What was the last thing you said to someone? Night-night, sweetheart. I love you.
23. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly, which would you choose?
24. Do you like someone? Yes, I like many someones. Not so much myself tonight though.
25. The last song you listened to? Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld), operetta Can Can, Composed by Jacques Offenbach, Performed by Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (track #15 from the Beethovan's Wig CD.) Muffin Man and I sang the words.

I am ashamed

Single parenting again this weekend starting tonight and ending Sunday.

I'm kind of tired from hauling my under-exercised butt from class to class today (10,400 steps) and when I picked up Muffin Man from PNP, he was kinda Tigger-ish. So we went out for fast food and a game of tag at Booger King (one of the ones with a habitrail for kids). And when we got home he was just NOT LISTENING. NOT. LISTENING. And we managed to spill mineral oil on the floor which he then STEPPED IN AFTER I TOLD HIM NOT TO.

And so I yelled at him. Loudly.

Not my best moment.

Just dropped in to say "Hi!"

I have time for the quickest of quick posts before I dash off to write 500 words on three different topics for my Advanced Composition class.

I love school. LOVE IT! Statistics: We're doing sets. Who knew that developing databases would have useful applications in academia?

Advanced Composition: Lots and lots and lots of writing. Loving the class, fearing the work.

Psychology: Both the lab and the lecture look good so far.

Women & Work: I'm interested in the subject matter, but I wish it were less about the contemporary (which NPR has given me a good grounding in) and more about the historical. Though we are going to talk about the Triangle Shirtwaist fire on Thursday.

I don't have my communications class until Friday.

General impressions:

1. Lots of walking. I'd forgotten how much walking one does, going to and from classes.
2. COMPUTERS. Ohmigod, what a difference 16 years makes. Many of our assignments are being given to us on-line. We're e-mailing assignments in, chatting on discussion boards with our classmates.
3. As I'd already gathered from Scrivener and others, plagiarism is a big issue. BIG.

Again, to sum up, I LOVE SCHOOL. Me. I can hardly believe it.

Gotta go now, to write non-bloggy stuff. (Why is that always less fun?)

A good weekend...

Starting with today:

Blogger Meet-up!!! So the Fish Said... and I met up at a nearby Italian chain for Sunday Brunch. She's just as nice in person as she is on her blog and her daughter is just the sweetest 6 month old. We had a great time talking and eating. Muffin Man showed off and flirted and Mia was enthralled by all the things to see and forgot to be annoyed that her teeth were bothering her. I hope we can do it again soon!

Yesterday:

SoupAndBread, followed by shopping for a new train from the Tt(F)TE collection (Emily and her tender, if anyone's interested). And then I got to go by myself to LL Bean to spend a gift certificate I got for Christmas. Did you know that they're having a sale of their winter stuff?

I got this in Evening and Chocolate, this in Dark Mulberry, this in Navy (not shown), and two pairs of pants, one Chocolate brown and one mustard-y chino. And I also bought a tin of mints. Total cost: $95.00. I handed over my $100 gift certificate. I got five bucks back. YAY!

Big Sister Brag

My sister and her family are doing something incredibly wonderful. I can't give you the details, because it involves someone else, but I can't help but shout to the world how much I love, admire, and look up to them.

Hurrah!

Mr. Spock is coming home today
Hurrah, hurrah!
He's on a plane, he's on his way
Hurrah, hurrah!
He's coming home 5 days early
Muffin Man will squeal when he
Sees that Mr. Spock is
In the living room

My new schedule

Monday/Wednesday classes from 1:30 until 4:15 (Math(Statistics) and English (Advanced Composition))
Tuesday recitation from 9:30 until 10:20 (Psychology)
Tuesday/Thursday classes from 10:30 until 1:15 (Psychology and History (Women and Work))
Friday class from 9:00 - 11:40 (Communications (Interpersonal and Group Interactions))

To sum up: 5 pretty short days. 2 Mornings battling traffic. 4 classes that look pretty darn interesting and the 1 that's not so darn interesting at least looks pretty darn useful. 3 100-level courses, 2 300-level courses. 15 credits total.

I'm on my way!

I saw the towers

Over Sting's shoulder in the video for "An Englishman in New York".

It's always a shock to remember that they're gone.

It's even worse when I remember that I always thought they were a blight on the landscape.

Doo doo didoo doo

Laid Off Dad was talking about the word "phenomenon" and repeated it over and over. Now I'm got it in my head to the tune of "Mahna Mahna".

Oooooh! Shopping!

My giftee for the Holiday Extravaganza was Jen at MUBAR. So I did my research and came away with a few ideas...

Christmas Dreams

Silver and gold and ice blue
Warm and toasty
Pretty shiny happy
Yummy
Small
Surprising

It was clear, what with the price limit, that cashmere was not going to be on the agenda. But to me, cashmere says comfort. A fondness for silver and gold crayons, for ice blue and pretzels, for chocolate and buying organic....

From the beginning I was thinking of a mug. But it had to be the right mug. It couldn't be too Christmasy because that smacked of sappiness, and sappiness was out. But on the other hand it couldn't be a plain mug, 'cause where's the fun in that? I couldn't find the mug I was looking for. It wasn't at Wegman's. It wasn't at Nearby Mall. I looked and I looked. And finally, while on a totally different errand, I found it. White with a silver rim and a silver snowflake. It was The Mug.

Meanwhile I had bought the other elements of the package. The silver earrings were hand-made by a friend of mine. The chocolate-covered-pretzels were bought fresh at Wegman's (and so was the hot cocoa for use in The Mug.) I looked for organic hot cocoa mix, but their choices didn't look...cashmere...enough.

And then I packed the package. The tin I already had on hand. I love collecting little boxes and tins for just such occasions.

And then I mailed the package. And as I was driving home I said,

"DOH! I FORGOT TO TAKE ANY PICTURES!!!"

so you'll have to check out Jen's post about receiving it if you want to see them.

It came in the mail...

And it jingled. So tantalizing, so mysterious. How could I wait to open it?
Every so often after it arrived, I gave it a little shake to hear that joyful jingle.

Would I be able to cool my ardor for discovery long enough to wait for the proper time and then remember to take photos?



Oooooh! Look how pretty! Do you see the bell and the cute ornaments? I tied ribbon on the bell and the three of them went on the tree.




My secret Santa revealed: It's DANI!!!



My prezzies all together (minus one magnet that was hiding on the underside of the tin it came in, naughty magnet!!!) 4 beautiful hand-painted magnets - a moon and three stars - with that blue that I love so much featured prominently; a book clip with pretty beads and a little triad of stars hanging off it (is that not the most perfect thing?), and the bell and two ornaments.

My cup runneth over.

Fours

Self-tagged on Phantom's site

Four Jobs I've Had
1. Cashier at Wholey's fish market in Pittsburgh. You haven't been smelly until you've worked through the Christmas rush at a fish store.
2. Door-to-door Beggar for Clean Water Action Project (also Pittsburgh)
3. Waitress (donut shop in Park Slope and upscale Greek place in Pgh.)
4. Kiosk sales person for an ISP.

Four Movies I Love to Watch Over and Over
1. Casablanca
2. When Harry Met Sally
3. The Princess Bride
4. Young Frankenstein

Four Movies I'm Forced to Watch Over and Over
1. Cinderella
2. Aladdin
3. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
4. Finding Nemo (not that any of these are bad, mind you, but there is a limit)

Four Movies That Haven't Hit That Limit Yet
1. Madagascar
2. Chicken Run
3. The Incredibles
4. Monsters, Inc.

Four Books I First Read as an Adult that I Read Over and Over
1. Brat Farrar
2. Pictures of Perfection
3. Venetia
4. The Blue Sword

Four Things I Cannot Do
1. Whistle
2. Touch my toes when my legs are straight
3. Turn a cartwheel
4. Word problems.

Four Places I've Lived (as a grown-up)
1. Park Slope, Brooklyn
2. Upper West Side, Manhatten
3. Pittsburgh, PA
4. Ashburn, VA

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch (that are still running)
1. West Wing
2. Gilmore Girls
3. Good Eats
4. Boston Legal

Four TV Shows We Record for Muffin Man (links are noisy)
1. Oobi
2. Higglytown Heroes
3. Little Einsteins
4. There is no number 4.

Four Things I Say Often
1. "Holy Guacamole!"
2. "Wash your hands"
3. "Did you flush?"
4. "Oh, God."

Four Places I've Been on Vacation
1. Cape Cod
2. Kauaii
3. Ottsville, PA
4. Paris, France

Four Blogs I Visit Daily That I Don't Link To In My Sidebar
1. Uterine Wars. I'm going to miss her.
2. So Close
3. Life's Jest Book. I'm going to link to you tomorrow, though!
4. In the Barren Season

Four of My Favorite Foods (that I cook)
1. Ham
2. Prime Rib (Wegman's dry aged it for me and I used my cast iron dutch oven instead of a terra cotta planter)
3. Turkey
4. Risotto

Four Cars I've owned
1. 1995 Ford Taurus Sedan (sadly, got rammed from behind by a Toyota.)
2. 1994 Ford Taurus Wagon (died an honorable death at 120,000)
3. 2002 Kia Sedona (My current vehicle)
4. There is no 4. (What? I only learned to drive 9 years ago.)

Marc volunteered to be tagged. Is there anyone else who hasn't done it yet and wants to? Consider yourself tagged.

Jabs for school

I had to get the tetanus shot and the TB test (OUCH! My arm still hurts), but I got to skip the Meningitis and the Hepatitis B, and I pointed out to my doctor that I didn't need the MMR, because although I only had one Rubella shot back in the early 70's, according to the "Required Immunizations" form, that's all you need if you take them separately. YAY!

So I'm immunized for school. I feel like a kindergartener.

Muffin Man's gonna get a big buncha jabs the day after he turns four, poor fella.

When did they stop doing the tine test for TB? Now they use a HONKING big needle and make a swollen place in your arm that turns into a mini-hickey by the end of the day.



Last night's toy: Little People Bunny
Tonight's toy: Little People Farmer (girl)

It seems he's saving the cars for last.

I can't believe I forgot to tell you!

Last night Muffin Man and I were going to the store on our way home (eggs, bread, and a treat for him) and we're passing by the Japanese place and he says, "Ooooh! Can we have Sushi for dinner?"

So we did.

New additions to the list

Those with asterisks after them belong to people with whom I have actually shared a meal.

Genevieve is up there as a place-holder for if she ever gets a blog.

You may have noticed that I've listed some folks I knew in high school below the main list. I'll post more there as I find 'em.

Can you spot the Muffin Man in this picture?

And tonight's toy was..........

A Little People DOG!

Comment! Comment! Comment!

Button courtesy of Papernapkin

If you're visiting and have never commented, don't be shy - speak right up! If you're a regular commenter, say hi as well. Let's make everybody feel welcome! I'm going to comment everywhere.

BTW, I'll be updating my blog list soon. There are lots of people I read who are still not listed. And you may notice that there's a new guy over there on the right, Music Lover Marc, please go and pay him a visit - he works two cubes away from me!

Sleeping soundly in his new bed

What we did today

SoupAndBread
New shoes (just like the old shoes only BIGGER!)
Haircuts (Wiggles, Elmo, Dora, and THREE lollipops)
Merry-go-Round (twice)
PIZZA!
Quiet time (bribed to stay in bed until....)
Babysitter time (he looooooves his babysitter)

****Mystery Mommy goes out and buys one small toy for everyday that Mr. Spock is gone (and file folders, wrapping paper that was on sale, coloring/work books that were on sale, and a new thing to go under the dish drying rack) Exciting, no? Uh...no.****

Mystery Mommy cooks dinner while trying to detach Muffin Man from her legs. Problem solved with "Wallace & Gromit - A Close Shave"
Babysitter leaves
Dinner time
Bath time
LotionAndScissors (dry legs, long nails)
Pajama time
Toy from the prize bag!! (Fisher Price Little People Chicken - 15 toys to go)
Story time
Bed time

He hasn't made a peep since I left his room. Perhaps it's the thought of the BIG prize he'll get if he's a good cooperator while Mr. Spock is gone?

And now it's West Wing time.

Two and a half weeks

Mr. Spock left for his business trip abroad yesterday. He won't be coming back until the day after I start school.

I miss him already and Muffin Man keeps asking when Daddy's coming home.

Genevieve is soooooooo cool

We met at the Silver Diner, our kids in tow. Her son looks like what Muffin Man will look like in 2 years. We talked and talked and talked some more and then we went back to her house where her son and Muffin Man played for hours while we talked some more.

We're going to have to do that again!

As seen at Scrivenings

There's No Such Thing As Too Many Books


Here's Your Sign {pictures included}
brought to you by Quizilla

First full day at PNP

And he had a blast. He knew he was in for a good day when he walked in and the letter of the day was his favorite one. "That's the first letter of MY NAME!!!"

Then he went to Art (chickens with yellow crumpled paper feathers), and then Spanish (parehas(sp?)), and then Gym (he showed off his skill at somersaults). Lunch was tacos. That's when he decided it was okay to let me leave to go to work (I'd been leaving him for long periods during the morning "making phonecalls")

When I came back to pick him up, he was playing in the kitchen area (straight out of Pottery Barn Kids - my God, the microwave!), and he didn't want to leave.

"We'll come back tomorrow, Sweetie."
"Promise?"
"I promise. This is going to be your school for a long, long time."

Playdate

Muffin Man had a playdate yesterday with his best friend in the whole wide world, DeepVoicedToddler. DeepVoicedToddler and Muffin Man were in the same class at the old school for over three years. Every weekend for the last month, MM has been asking, "When can I play with DVT?"

You should have seen the joy and excitement as they spotted each other, DVT coming up the driveway, MM standing at the open door. They rushed toward each other and embraced as though they had been separated for years.

For the next 4 hours they played and snacked and coloured and talked and read books and played some more. And there were only two meltdowns (over a Matchbox double decker "school bus" and a Melissa and Doug mailbox MM got for Christmas). Other than that, the sharing of the toys was flawless.

They played so nicely together that I was able to sit in the comfy chair and read a bit while they made noises like "brrrrrppppbbrrrppp", "woooooowoooooo", "roaaaaarrrr", and "look out! We're going to crash!"

And during one of their 3 or 4 snack breaks, DVT said in his really quite gravelly voice, "I like your mom. She's almost as nice as mine."

I feel like I could be given no higher compliment. I can now consider myself a hostess extraordinaire.

At the end of the visit, they gave each other big hugs and blew kisses until they were out of sight. "Can DVT come back and play tomorrow?" MM asked as we closed the door.

DVT's mom and I enjoyed a good gossip when she came by to pick him up. She's looking into sending DVT to PNP. Muffin Man would be so thrilled!

AFI's top 100 films

As seen at Mrs. Coulter's. I've seen all but 28 of them.

1. CITIZEN KANE (1941)
2. CASABLANCA (1942)
3. THE GODFATHER (1972)
4. GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
5. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
6. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
7. THE GRADUATE (1967)
8. ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
9. SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)
10. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)
11. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
12. SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)
13. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)
14. SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
15. STAR WARS (1977)
16. ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) (I'm watching it next week, while Mr. Spock is abroad)
17. THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
18. PSYCHO (1960)
19. CHINATOWN (1974)
20. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975)
21. THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940)
22. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
23. THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)
24. RAGING BULL (1980)
25. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)
26. DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
27. BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)
28. APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
29. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)
30. THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)
31. ANNIE HALL (1977)
32. THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)
33. HIGH NOON (1952)
34. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
35. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
36. MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)
37. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)
38. DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
39. DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965)
40. NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
41. WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
42. REAR WINDOW (1954)
43. KING KONG (1933)
44. THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915)
45. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951)
46. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)
47. TAXI DRIVER (1976)
48. JAWS (1975)
49. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937) (3 times in the last 3 weeks)
50. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)
51. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
52. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)
53. AMADEUS (1984)
54. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930)
55. THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)
56. M*A*S*H (1970)
57. THE THIRD MAN (1949)
58. FANTASIA (1940)
59. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955)
60. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
61. VERTIGO (1958)
62. TOOTSIE (1982)
63. STAGECOACH (1939)
64. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)
65. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
66. NETWORK (1976)
67. THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
68. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)
69. SHANE (1953)
70. THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
71. FORREST GUMP (1994)
72. BEN-HUR (1959)
73. WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939)
74. THE GOLD RUSH (1925)
75. DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990) (and oh, by the way, IT SUCKED!!!)
76. CITY LIGHTS (1931)
77. AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
78. ROCKY (1976)
79. THE DEER HUNTER (1978)
80. THE WILD BUNCH (1969)
81. MODERN TIMES (1936)
82. GIANT (1956)
83. PLATOON (1986)
84. FARGO (1996)
85. DUCK SOUP (1933)
86. MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935)
87. FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
88. EASY RIDER (1969)
89. PATTON (1970)
90. THE JAZZ SINGER (1927)
91. MY FAIR LADY (1964)
92. A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951)
93. THE APARTMENT (1960)
94. GOODFELLAS (1990)
95. PULP FICTION (1994)
96. THE SEARCHERS (1956)
97. BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
98. UNFORGIVEN (1992)
99. GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967)
100. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)

New Year's Resolutions and Rememberances

Resolutions:

My sister-in-law and her husband gave us gift certificates to a movie theatre and a promise of free baby-sitting when we go to the movies. Thus one of my resolutions for the year is to see at least one non-G-rated film before it comes out on DVD.

We're losing my income this year since I'll be going to school full-time, so another resolution is to take my lunch at least 3 times a week, and to cook ahead more often.

Exercise more.

Rememberances:
APL has a post about 2005 and the events in her life during that year.

So I thought I'd copycat off her and list mine too.

* Achenblog led me to Corndog who led me to APL who led me to Phantom Scribbler and I knew I'd met at least three people I'd like to keep as friends for life. Many more now. And I also met APL (and AB) and Corndog in person.
* Muffin Man learned what toilets are for, and matured in lots of other ways - he constantly amazes me.
* I applied and got accepted to my first choice of college. I'm really looking forward to finishing my Bachelor's Degree.
* We got a screened-in porch built on the back of our house.
* My husband and I, like APL, gave more money to charity than ever before, for the same reasons.
* I quit a job to take a new one simply to cut my commute by more than half.
* I took Muffin Man to see his first film in a theater and thus went to the movie theatre for the first time since the first Lord of the Rings film.