Outside My Window... the parking lots are almost empty
I am thinking... that I should get to bed soon
I am thankful for... a bed next to the heater
From the kitchen... instant cocoa
I am wearing... my work clothes still
I am creating... this post?
I am going... to finish tossing some clothes in a suitcase and to bed
I am reading... nothing at the moment
I am hoping... that I can get someone to work for me on Sunday
I am hearing... "Hush" by Deep Purple
Around the dorm... my roommate is gone for the weekend
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Home!

Outside My Window... people are getting picked up early for break
I am thinking... that a nap would be nice if I had time
I am thankful for... a nice blanket to snuggle up under
From the kitchen... a peanut butter, cream cheese and strawberry jam sandwich
I am wearing... jeans and a zip-up sweater
I am (re)creating... my blog template a bit
I am going... to drop into class tonight, just for a project consult and then we're free for the evening.
I am reading... html code
I am hoping... that I get Sunday off of work
I am hearing... Bill Bailey playing The Scale of Evil
Around the dorm... my desk is still in need of a good cleaning
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Two more classes, homework, work tomorrow, and then home.

Outside My Window... the over-lit common area between the dorms
I am thinking... that I have a lot of writing to do
I am thankful for... a fiance that works ton of overtime and chooses to use it to buy a house for us.
From the kitchen... instant cocoa and cheetos
I am wearing... flannel pjs
I am creating... a draft of my literature review
I am going... to bed soon
I am reading... journal articles for my thesis
I am hoping... to get to spend more than just Thanksgiving Day at home this weekend
I am hearing... Never Mind the Buzzcocks playing on YouTube
Around the dorm... My roommate is studying for anatomy and my desk is in need of a good cleaning
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Two more days of classes, homework, and finally some real, non-cafeteria food!

Avocado Ice Cream

I haven't done this in a while but I couldn't resist.

Avocado Ice Cream

Ingredients:
1/2 pint (250ml) double (heavy) cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 pint (375ml) milk
3 ripe avocados

Take the avocados, peel and seed them then put into a blender with the milk and make a purée. Pour the purée into a mixing bowl, add the sugar, lemon juice and cream and beat until creamy. Then transfer the complete mixture into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions.

Outside My Window... rainy greyness.
I am thinking... that I should finish making up my package for Grant.
I am thankful for... large mugs of peppermint tea.
From the kitchen... a fresh pan of Almond Roca.
I am wearing... jeans and a grey shirt.
I am creating... a letter for Nina.
I am going... to hopefully pick up my computer today.
I am reading... Easy to Kill.
I am hoping... to make more progress cleaning my room today.
I am hearing... some unknown song on the radio.
Around the house... it is kind of empty with everyone else gone doing things.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: The Conference.

Outside My Window... the lilacs are in bloom.
I am thinking... that Apple is really quick about repairs.
I am thankful for... tax returns.
From the kitchen... absolutely nothing is happening.
I am wearing... jeans and a work shirt.
I am creating... mental additions to my book list.
I am going... to set up sprinklers for the vegetable garden.
I am reading... Easy to Kill.
I am hoping... they aren't serious about the new dress code at work.
I am hearing... Kennedy's Kitchen, and Jenni singing along.
Around the house... there is conference prep going on(Jenni collating as she sings).
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Picking up my laptop, and The Conference.

The Summer Reading List

So, due to 5 days without my laptop, and not much to do for leisure aside from lots of gardening, a trip to the library was in order last week. And a very small library resulted in not having a very worthwhile selection of fiction to choose from without planning ahead and ordering things in. But they do have a few Agatha Christies, and now I'm hooked. So my summer reading list is mostly short pleasure books(aside from Sheen and Mallory). But here it is in all its length, and I'm sure it will continue to grow.

(Italics are finished)
Endless Darkness – Agatha Christie
Murder for Christmas – Agatha Christie
Easy to Kill – Agatha Christie
Cards on the Table – Agatha Christie
The Sittaford Mystery – Agatha Christie
Sparkling Cyanide – Agatha Christie
The Hollow – Agatha Christie
Funerals Are Fatal – Agatha Christie
Third Girl – Agatha Christie
The Man in the Brown Suit – Agatha Christie
N or M? – Agatha Christie
Passenger to Frankfurt – Agatha Christie
Three Blind Mice – Agatha Christie
Murder in Three Acts – Agatha Christie
Dead Man’s Mirror – Agatha Christie
Thirteen at Dinner – Agatha Christie
The Clocks – Agatha Christie
Dead Man’s Folly – Agatha Christie
At Bertram’s Hotel – Agatha Christie
Mystery of the Blue Train – Agatha Christie
Ordeal by Innocence – Agatha Christie
Postern of Fate – Agatha Christie
The Secret of Chimneys – Agatha Christie
There is a Tide – Agatha Christie
The Body in the Library – Agatha Christie
The Boomerang Clue – Agatha Christie
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency – Alexander McCall Smith
Tears of the Giraffe – Alexander McCall Smith
Morality for Beautiful Girls – Alexander McCall Smith
The Kalahari Typing School for Men – Alexander McCall Smith
The Full Cupboard of Life – Alexander McCall Smith
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies – Alexander McCall Smith
Blue Shoes and Happiness – Alexander McCall Smith
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive – Alexander McCall Smith
The Miracle at Speedy Motors – Alexander McCall Smith
Le Morte d’Arthur – Thomas Mallory
Three to Get Married – Fulton Sheen

Outside My Window... darkness.
I am thinking... that maybe this is a cold instead of allergies.
I am thankful for... good friends and good food.
From the kitchen... more chocolate chip cookies, though not as fresh.
I am wearing... capris with socks(yeah, yeah, but I didn't do it in public).
I am creating... a mental list for the next couple of weeks.
I am going... to be working lots next week.
I am reading... nothing at the moment because I finished a book just before I left this evening.
I am hoping... that next week isn't so stressful as it looks like it will be.
I am hearing... the news in the next room.
Around the house... there is conference stuff being assembled.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Work in the morning and the Conference this weekend.

Until I can find something subtantial to blog about. . .

I'm going to steal Gianna's form for blogging.

Outside My Window... the freshly planted and almost finished garden.
I am thinking... that I need to take a Claritin before bed.
I am thankful for... Smithwick's(because "it's damn good!").
From the kitchen... The smell of fresh chocolate chip cookies, and the sound of Dad emptying the dishwasher.
I am wearing... jeans and a slightly dirt-streaked t-shirt.
I am creating... Well, I picked up the fabric for a really cute top this afternoon, so I'll be creating soon.
I am going... to bed soon because I have work in the morning.
I am reading... Murder for Christmas.
I am hoping... that this allergy goes away.
I am hearing... the TV in the family room, and cups being stacked in the kitchen.
Around the house... all the gardens are just about finished, two flowers left to plant.
One of my favorite things... satin PJ's.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: A bit of work, some room cleaning, and The Conference.

Dead Tired

So I'm off to a bit a slackerly start here, but I'm about to drop over dead asleep. I had a long day of work and some play as well and have definitely earned my rest. I'll have a real post sometime after work tomorrow.

NaBloPoMo

So, because both the fiance and I are slackers lately when it comes to blogging, I threw down the colloquial gauntlet and challenged him to participate in NaBloPoMo. So let the posting begin!

Saint Gianna Pray For Us

From Adoro

"In the spirit of St Gianna Beretta Molla, Dr. Ellice Hammond of Australia gave her life to save that of her unborn daughter, Mia. Dr Hammond was diagnosed with Hogkins Lymphoma in the 21st week of her pregnancy and refused the chemotheraphy which might have saved her life. Instead she had mild chemo just to protect Mia (the baby) and then they induced Mia at the 31st week. Mia is being cared for in Monash Medical Centre's neonatal unit and doing well. Ellice died three weeks after Mia was born. As can be expected, there was an American press silence on this story."

Actually, there was more than just American press silence on this, I could only find one real news story on it here.

Pictorial

Alright not quite 3 months away from blogging has certainly been pleasant, at least in some ways. I was nice not to feel the need to write something(not that I'm sure I ever had that feeling. . .), but, on the other hand, I've shorted myself of a creative outlet and I'm beginning to feel my brain atrophy. So, to explain at least some of my absence here's my summer so far.



Myself and Kate toasting my 21st, albeit a day late.



Thursday drinking a fruity blue drink(which completely goes against his scotch-drinking grain).



The handsome Fiance at lunch in the lovely town of Stockbridge.



Shooting lots and lots of photos of a crumbling historic prison. And of course touring the mines underneath, a thing which is probably best done before watching the video in the main building that tells prison horror stories.



Playing lots of 9-ball with vintage cues.


Well, at least that was the later half of June, my July has been mostly working and getting ready for school. Oh, and trying to get in all that reading that I've been meaning to do all summer.


(And getting to gratuitously show off photos of the Fiance.)

I'm Engaged

Hosted on Zooomr

I realized that it's almost been a month already(Easter Vigil) and I hadn't mentioned this. So in the efforts of keeping The Fiance happy, I should mention it.

I'll get around to posting the story eventually here. . .

What American accent do you have? Your Result: North Central "North Central" is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. If you saw "Fargo" you probably didn't think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.
The Midland
The West
Boston
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
The South
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

For those of us who can't have real pumpkins...

There's virtual pumpkin carving.

Oh I'm a wanderer, yeah, I'm a wanderer...

create your own personalized map of the USA.


I think that's everywhere I've been(correct me if I'm wrong).

H/T to The Dork

Very, very interesting...but stupid!

It's official, the latest version of iTunes is definitly not empathic. In fact it may well be posessed. The older versions of iTunes seemed to be at least somewhat empathic; I could be thinking that I'd like to hear a song and it would be the next song that played(I suppose that may also point to posession), or at least it would pick music that could make me feel better.

The new version is just strange. I've had the flu all week and my brain, nerves, and emotions have all been a little bit on edge. I was feeling better today for the most part and was eating again(only light stuff) and now I'm still up because I'm sick again. In the time since I started feeling worse(5-ish hours), and out of 1600 songs, iTunes has played "Jumper" by Third Eye Blind three times, "Sounds of Silence" four times and "Brick" by Ben Folds three times. I'm mildly worried about my computer being preoccupied with playing songs about suicide and abortion. I'm having a really hard time trying to get it to randomly select any of the upbeat music that it normally goes with.

Just a tad odd.

Five things

Five things in my freezer:
1. Ice cubes
2. Vermonty Python Ice Cream
3. Pizza Rolls
4. Half of a chocolate orange
5. Socks

Five things in my closet
1. Scrapbooking stuff
2. Trauma kit
3. A box of sweaters and other clothes that I don't need just yet
4. Shower caddy
5. The legs to my bed

Five things in my car
I don't have a car up here, so this is kind of moot, but I have a good idea of what might be in the car at home.
1. Jumper cables
2. Lots of bottled water
3. Tool kit
4. A jacket
5. Maps

Five interesting things in my backpack
1. My stress ball
2. Digital sudoku
3. Headphones
4. Sketch pencils
5. A laptop mouse