Not Your Usual Domestic Goddess

From Clancy even though she didn't tag me :-)

1. Cloth or disposable? Both, prefer cloth.
2. Breast or bottle? Bottle
3. Eczema or reflux? Reflux, and it's pretty bad.
4. Jumparoo or play mat? Playmat, she's too young for jumparoo.
5. Mommy or Daddy? Mommy, of course.
6. Sling, front carrier, or stroller? Front carrier
7. Pacifier or thumb? BINKY!
8. Bumbo seat or bouncy seat? BOUNCY, STILL TOO YOUNG FOR BUMBO
9. White noise or silence while sleeping? White noise, LOUD -- and ceiling fan
10. Crib, Pack'n'Play, or parents' bed? Pack'n'Play

I don't like New Year's Resolutions, so this isn't really one. Let's think of this as an amended scholarly work plan. Here goes. This year I will:

1. Write more. This includes blog posts, articles, book chapters (as in for one book), and grant applications.

2. Read more. Read more scholarly work (including more stuff that is not specifically about video games or virtual worlds)

3. Relax more. Unplug at night (from work stuff at least). This may include removing the laptop from the family room and actually using my office to work rather than working all day and night because the laptop is in front of me guilting me into working. This will also include not answering my cell phone after work hours, if they don't have my home phone number they don't need to get me, right? I also reserve the right to ignore calls to my home phone from whiny ass friends and relatives. (If you are in my family and reading this...no, I am not talking about you)

4. Observe the date night law. I am no longer allowed to bow out of date night because I have "too much work to do". If I have that much damned work to do it will still be there after dinner and a movie and 3-4 hours really is not going to make a big damned dent in it. This is my resolution all on my own...really! Lisa really shouldn't let me get away with that shit.

5. Spend more time on the things that make me feel good...make time for things that feed the spirit. Charities, public service, religion, you name it.

6. Go back to playing racquetball. Stop letting my health slip (ok, plummet) into the f*cking toilet.

All of this more is going to involve some reorganizing on my part. This means I get to stop doing things that I don't want to do and stop wasting so much time dealing with other peoples' problems when I have a life of my own to live.

For over a week now Lisa has been claiming the right to make dinner for Christmas Eve. Then she started in with "How about hot dogs?" and other craziness. Well today she called me to the front door and said "Look!". This is what I saw...

Open

Yep, Chicago Style Hot Dogs with everything including Celery Salt and the funky bright green relish

Baby Back Ribs and Eli's Cheesecake

And Finally, a deep dish sausage pizza

Of course we won't eat it all tonight, but there will be lots of sampling :-)

So I have served my time as a yarnista (think a barista for yarn shops) and while I won't be resigning from the university to open a yarn shop I can definitely say that if I were to become an overnight super multi-millionaire I could see the yarn/coffee/pastry shop in our future.

Mmmmmmmmm...knitting, eating pastries, and drinking coffee all day! I can dream, right?

Tomorrow (ok, today) I get to work my dream job. Yep, I get to work in a yarn shop...at least for a day. I can't tell you how many times I've threatened to kick the whole academic thing to the curb, move to a quiet town near some big water (one with real seasons) and open a yarn and coffee shop. Let's see if I still feel that way after a day of actually working my "dream job" :-)

The Put Sam in Pink Challenge is over and I lost. Fellow sock knitters finished 8 pair of of socks by Saturday so I had to wear a pink Sock Boot Camp t-shirt to sock club (Mignon's green socks with pink accents didn't make the picture, but I saw them as she was finishing them up). I tried to butch it up with green camo shorts and gym shoes. At least I know that my public humiliation will lead to 8 orphans with warm feet.

It is over and we will never speak of this again.

Today I drove a dump truck!

'Nuff said.

Oh well, back to my C&W presentation!

I didn't take very many pictures at the 4Cs SnB, but I did finally take them off of the memory stick. Here they are! I never cease to be impressed by the creativity of a bunch of Rhet Comp folks.

Pictures are below the jump. Click the title of the post to get the pictures.

Remember the bread that I was making on Sunday/Monday? Well I forgot to post pictures. It came out well. I am going to tweak the wheat recipe a bit and play around with add-ins for the white. Maybe I'll work with some whole grain white flour so it's at least a little healthy!

Here's the wheat:

Sliced:

Now for the white:

Sliced. The crumb and interior was much better for this one.

Now that I am posting pictures I am really wanting to make some more bread!