Jessica.

Six years ago today I lost my aunt Jessica in a terrible tragedy. I miss you Jess, and I love you. I can still hear you in my head when you called me Jillie, and told me that Todd and I were to be married in the year of the Aquarius. My heart aches. Love to you in heaven above and beyond

Brothers From Another Mother.

That's all I have to say.

HAIR.

WELL SHIT. Do you think I'm still high off of Christmas and the subsequent excitement? WELL YOU'RE (partly) WRONG. I am excited about this shit:

This has saved my hair. Remember that post I did about Brocato shampoo? Yeah, whatever! I mean, I'm still going to keep using it, because it's mild, still cleans well and smells delightful, but... Man. I finally figured out what my hair needs.

Can I just tell you? That today? I put my hair in braids? And the ends of each braid did that curly-up thing because it was so full of moisture and so healthy? And the ends of my hair, despite months of drying and very rare straightening, were still so bouncy and fucking fabulous? BECAUSE IT'S TRUE.

This stuff... Oh my God, this stuff is the answer. The ends of my hair now feel like the roots of my hair. WHAT. Yeah. You read that right.

Now, Organix recommends you coat your dry hair root to tip with this stuff, cover it with a plastic cap and then with a hot wet towel. I have a toddler so I read that and after I cried over not having the goddamn time to mince around the house with a plastic bag and hot wet towel wrapped around my head.

So I said screw it, and just applied it to my shampooed, wet but wrung out hair in the shower one evening. It was AMAHZING. I now do it every time I shampoo my hair which may or may not be every other day. It doesn't weigh it down and quite frankly I try not to wash it out completely. Then I apply an Aveda leave in conditioner and if I blow dry my hair I use my Brocato serum. I was doing all that before but this argan oil has made the absolute difference.

They don't know me and this is not an ad or anything, I just LOVE this shit.

Grade: A++, would drive through the Mayan Apocalypse just to buy another jar.

A Winter Road.

We recently spent a riotous weekend up on Mt. Lemmon in a cute cabin right outside of Summerhaven. We got through the sheriff blockade by the skins of our teeth, too, and Dave and Gneiss almost didn't get up later that Friday evening. After 10 minutes of waiting for us to check our stupid cell phones to verify that they were coming to stay for the weekend in the rental, finally the sheriff just rolled his eyes and said "Just go."

It stormed like crazy all of Saturday but Sunday was a glorious sun-soaked winter wonderland. The roads were perfectly cleared but at one point we drove through a cloud (I was slightly hungover and just kept saying "We're in a cloud, Todd. We're in a cloud"), and suddenly the landscape took on a spooky, haunting quality.

Dude, bro, we're in a cloud.

I loved the streams of melting snow running down the windshield.

The sun is trying to burn through.  Some streams of melted snow may or may not look like sperm attempting to reach the egg. I hope I didn't ruin it for you.

A cloud, man.

Love!

She loves me again, you guys! Yesterday I came home for lunch and I was greeted with "MOMMY. Happy birthday, mama!" and I died. Then I found this picture from Sunday night when we ordered Chinese food. 

She loves putting that bucket on her head. I love it too. And remember when I posted about Christmas, and how Todd taught her how to gnaw on a pork chop? That skill apparently has transferred to BBQ ribs. She ate them all. Let's just go ahead and say our little carnivore loves to chomp ("I'm chomping, mama! I'm chomping, dada!").

Soup, but then Alex slapped me.

Yeah, man! That title totally sums up my thoughts this morning when I wondered if I should blog about the amazing soup I made for dinner last night, but then as I leaned over the crib to kiss my daughter goodbye before work, she slapped her little hand against my face, pushing me away from her because she wanted her daddy to open the door and get her out.

Happy birthday mom! You're a bitch and I hate you!

You know, I thought I'd have to wait until at least 13 before getting 100% rejection from my kid. I guess that's my birthday lesson today! Happy birthday mom! You're a fucking idiot for thinking that!

Oh well. At least the soup was good.

Christmas Happened.

I've been chomping at the bit to get our house in the Christmas spirit and yesterday it finally happened. Our plan was to get a tree, FINALLY (she says only ten days into December). Todd's folks dropped in to join us so first, we needed to load up on a delicious breakfast. Can I just say, pork chops and eggs are God's gift? Because damn they are so good. Even Alexandra got in on the fun when dada taught her how to gnaw on a pork chop bone.

Get it girl! You are so your mama's daughter! She really went to town on her food. She ate all of Todd's eggs plus one of the ones we got for her, two strips of bacon, one of Todd's sausages, and half a piece of toast. Oh, then she started clamoring for grandma's pork chop, and then Todd's, and then he was like, dude, just take this, and boom, that photo happened.

Anyways, we went to Home Depot and I am officially a fan of noble firs. Noble fir. That looks like the name of a font or something. But I digress. Noble firs! So beautiful, so regal, and not itchy and stabby like a douglas fir! Amazing. We found a super wet and springy tree that was so heavy and full of water that I could hardly pull it into an upright position, and took it home where we decorated the hell out of it while Alexandra pulled down the cookie ornaments and ate them.

BOOM goes the dynamite! Look at that thing! It's massive and gorgeous, just like me. I had gotten a box of 50 ornaments from Target, plus another little kit with smaller ornaments, and I am glad I did because this tree is so big, we wouldn't have had enough to go around (literally). Oh, and please direct your attention to that utterly badass and beautiful tree skirt THAT I MADE BY MYSELF.

You see how blurry that picture is? It's because I was trembling with excitement over finally getting to display the fruits of my labor from over two months ago. I literally jumped up and down up and down when we brought the tree inside because I was so goddamn excited about that tree skirt.

All that decorating took it out of us, so when the pizzas came, I made some pretty delicious, and pretty pretty, Christmas gimlets.

WHAT

THE

HELL

Yeah, that right there is a masterpiece, a holiday explosion of deliciousness and visual perfection. Ignore the shapeless twist, OKAY? I WAS EXCITED. AND HUNGRY. Focus instead on the jolly red sugar rim, the evergreen glow of the vodka concoction, and the base of red which miraculously didn't muddle up the green but instead settled beautifully on the bottom, like a cat in front of a fire. By the way, Bingley slept with us all last night and NEVER CATERWAULED. Mind blown? Yes. Yes it is.

German Beer Stew with Sausage, Cabbage & Onion

Um, sooo yeah. This stew was so freaking good I could not stop going back to the pot for bites. I got it off Pinterest (GO FIGURE) and it was originally posted on The Cozy Apron in this here post: Oktoberfest Lager Stew. I want to post you to this place because this is where this here photo comes from and I want to offer credit where it's due.

I don't call mine Oktoberfest stew because I didn't use that type of beer. So actually I guess this should be called Fat Tire Stew. But gross! That doesn't appeal to me in any way and I know how delicious that beer tastes. Hey girl. Come over here. Here. Eat this stew. It's called Fat Tire. Hey girl, where you going? I didn't mean it would make you into a fat tire! Stop crying! Oh my God, are you calling your mom? No, I don't want to talk to her! I didn't do anything wrong.



Uh, let's get to the soup.

German Beer Stew with Sausage, Cabbage and Onion

serves four

1 tbsp olive oil

4 links smoked beef sausage, cut into bite size pieces

1 onion, cut in half and sliced thin

1/2 head cabbage, halved again, cored and cut into thin slices

1/2 tsp fresh black pepper

1/4 tsp ground caraway seeds (I didn't have this, so I used cumin with dill)

salt to taste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup German style beer (I used Fat Tire upon Todd's recommendation and he knows beer)

2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced into small bite size pieces

2.5 cups hot chicken stock (I used salt free boullion powder)

1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp snipped fresh parsley

Oh my God, oh my God this was so good. OKAY. So, heat your olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Once it's hot, add your sausage and cook until browned, about five minutes.

Add your onions and let those carmelize a bit (another few minutes) before adding the cabbage. Toss to combine and let THAT mix cook down about for ANOTHER four or five minutes.

Now, add your pepper, caraway (or cumin/dill mix) and salt, give it a stir and toss in the garlic. Once it's fragrant, add the beer, potatoes and stock.

Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat, partly cover (to allow steam to escape) and simmer for 40 minutes. Stir in your vinegar and parsley and TRY not to kill the other people eating it so you can have it all to yourself. My God, man. It was full of stars.

The Gift of Reading.

Well what do we have here? I guess Patton lamented to Alexandra about not having a lot of reading material lying around at his disposal.

"DOGS CANNOT READ" you scream. "This picture is such a set up!! Alexandra is dumb for thinking dogs can read!!"

Oh yeah?

Snapseed and Afterglow.

So since I recently got an iPhone I've also recently developed a thirst for apps. I've also really enjoyed getting to take some decent pictures of stuff, especially of things I want to blog about (I'm relieved to report that I no longer take greenish brownish food pictures). And then there was the perfect timing of a Dooce post all about photography apps, specifically Snapseed and Afterglow. So since I absolutely fangirl over Dooce (AKA Heather Armstrong) and also want to learn more about taking pictures with my phone, I whipped out my iPhone and immediately downloaded both of them.

I can already tell you that Snapseed is my absolute favorite. It doesn't rely so heavily on filters alone, and in the different sorts of filters you DO have, you can manipulate the outcomes with much more control.

That's the original. And can I just pause here to say how much I adore white tulips? Crisp and clean, and then the stems do their funky thing and get all twisty and artsy. Anyways, I futzed around in Snapseed and came out with this:

There are different sort of textures you can apply through Drama, Grunge, and Vintage, for example. You can mess around with the focus points, the amount of lightness and brightness in the center of the photo or on the peripheries. SO cool. The saturation, brightness, focus, texture, all can be played with. The end result of my tulip photo looks creepy and old and like it was found stashed in an old shed or attic.

That's the original and isn't she ADORABLE?

This is Snapseed again. I was really getting into it with this photo, and you can tell I messed with the light and the focus on the edges and in the center. I am absolutely a complete and utter photography noob so all this is probably old news and boring as hell for anyone with an ounce of experience. But I really enjoyed learning how to manipulate the images and seeing how the mood of a photo can be completely changed by a just a few tweaks.

This is Afterglow. There's not a whole lot that I did to it but I did like the warmth of the filter I used and I think I made the shadows a little richer. The filters are loads more subtle than in Instagram. I will admit that I haven't fully explored Afterglow but you can mess around with highlights, brightness, contrast, shadows and exposure.You can even add lens flares, twist the photo around. And both apps are really easy and really fun to play around with. That is not an advertisement either, they don't know I even exist.

Workout Wednesday!

Thanks for this workout, Pinterest. By the way I've totally guzzled all the kool-aid, seen all the brain washing films and covered my wall in the propaganda ads. I LOVE PINTEREST.

Bliss.

There is utter magic in the moment when you realize your child has fallen asleep on you. You really do feel blessed to be chosen as their pillow, and conversations are continued in awed whispers, hushed giggles at that wonderful feeling that an angel has paused the beating of her wings for a brief slumber in your arms.

The sleep is so true that the thumb slides out of that perfect little mouth, so deep already that you can play with her hair and she won't stir, not even a little. All snuggled up together, mama under her head, dada under her perfect little twinkle toes. Once Upon A Time was on, I was bundled up under a blanket with a glass of wine and a delicious calzone. Life really couldn't have been better. When she eventually woke up and we took her to her crib, there was a tangible, touchable loss, and the perfect moment was over. But man, was it nice living it.

Death of a Dog Bed.

Saturday night, my mom and stepdad came over to watch Alex so we could go party down with friends, and they had a great time. I have a feeling, though, that they left Patton outside for the majority of that time, because apparently he had a good time too. It's like he knew I just did a Bingley post and wanted in on the action. Just take a gander.

This is just one portion of the yard that was utterly covered. The grass patch was littered with stuffing. The area by the gate was covered. There was fluff on the patio. There was fluff in potted plants. It was impressive in its coverage. I literally said "OH MY GOD." when I opened the rolling shutter that covers the sliding glass doors. Even Alexandra knew something was amiss.

You know, we had just gotten finished discussing how awesome and gorgeous Patton was, when he came in to visit us that Sunday morning. I guess we spoke too soon! Or too kindly. I know the bed probably thinks so.

That right there is $30 and a PetSmart membership card. If I hadn't have gotten the membership discount, it would have been $50 and Patton would be dead right now. Needless to say, we won't be buying another PetSmart bed, and I urge you dog owners to avoid them as well. Kirkland needs to restock their $20 big dog beds. Those stupid ones with the bumper on two sides is too small, and I am not paying $40 for something that will just end up partially digested.

Pets. I tell you.

This is me playing Angry Birds.

I once read that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I fundamentally disagree with this idea. I think that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of hope.

-Debbie Millman

Bingley.

Just look at that smug son of a bitch. Full of self-entitlement and Kirkland brand cat food. He's 10lbs now. I found that out after spending about $120 on him at the vet after he decided to get into a tussle with something obviously much, much larger than he, all because he is a jerk who caterwauls in the middle of the night until you let him out. Regardless of the dangers lurking in a midnight desert neighborhood. So they weighed him at the vet, and he's 10lbs. I don't know why this pisses me off, unless it's just further proof that all I do is feed this fucker despite the way he treats the family (Patton excluded).

Anyways, despite that warm and fuzzy intro paragraph, I've actually grown fond of him. I'll never love him the way I loved Kittums because Kittums was like my familiar, and would sleep belly to belly with me. If I ever did that with Bingley I'd wake up with no face. But I have affectionate feelings for him now. It only took a year!

He's definitely mellowed out now, though and that has a major impact on our day to day interactions. Thank God we chopped his balls off, is all I have to say. Now he lets me pet him which is just such a bizarre thing. I almost forgot that the purpose of even owning a cat is to share a little love instead of possible inter-species tranmissible diseases through blood contact.

And I have to say that perhaps my re-thinking how I behave during our interactions has had a positive effect. See, about six or seven months ago if I tried to pet him he'd immediately sink his claws and teeth into me. He wouldn't let go so I'd have to pry him off and throw him to the ground, trying desperately not to cry like a baby. We tried spraying him with water, everything. Eventually we just made up a rhyme to remind Alex that he sucks ("orange and white, loves to bite") and then stopped touching him altogether.

Hey, maybe THAT is the reason he purrs now when we scratch his ears and massage the back of his neck (any other area appears to be strictly off limits), and lets us pick him up. Maybe a few months of laissez faire made him realize that a little human love isn't such a bad thing. There's been times that I have walked into a room and he will lift his head and look at me with kindness. He will actually semi seek out some loves from me. And then I'm turned into a teenage girl whose crush glanced at her in the hallway so I run off to tell Todd that the cat let me pet him and didn't try to bite me. Yes. It's that rare.

He's still a pain in the ass. Do you know, if one of us sleeps in, the fucking cat will actually come into the BEDROOM to caterwaul that he wants back out after his breakfast. He will walk past Todd or me, awake and sipping a caffinated beverage, to go into the BEDROOM TO WAIL. I mean, if that is not the very definition of sadistic shit, I do not know what is.

And he still bites. I seem to have tamed the beast a little more than Todd. Instead of dropping him to the floor after getting bitten, I lightly blow a little air in his face, which is just such an affront to his sensibilities he stops immediately to stare at me as if I just served him cold french fried or paired steak with warm white wine. Then I set him down on the sofa or something. But yeah, he still bites. He bites Todd when he picks him up. He bites Alex on the forehead when she tries to hug him (me: Alex, remember about Bingley? Alex, forlornly: "orange an' white, love a bite"). The only one who receives his unadulterated and unconditional love is Patton. Which really, why?

In conclusion, he's a bastard, but he's our bastard. And I think I've literally written that sentence in another Bingley post. He's funny, he's weird, he's a jerk, but I just described everyone on the internet ever, so I guess he's normal. Plus, I know he'll stick around longer than any other cat we've ever owned, any other cat on the goddamn planet, so I might as well just resolve myself to loving him. He just may end up choosing my nursing home.

Pan-seared Chicken with Olive Relish & Warm Lentil Salad

Well that was a goddamn mouthful, and it was only the name of the recipe. Although if you REALLY want a mouthful, just try this awesome dish. There's a lot going on flavor-wise, and though the portion is smaller than American standards, thanks to the lentils it fills you up without filling you out. Did I just say that? I DID.

Pan-seared Chicken with Olive Relish & Warm Lentil Salad
serves 2
1/2 cup lentils
1/3 cup mixture of chopped kalamata and green olives
1/2 cup chopped celery, divided
3.5 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chopped red onion
3 tsp fresh thyme (or 2 tsp dried)
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped parsley
4 oz feta or goat cheese crumbles
8oz chicken breast

Place the lentils in 2 cups water and bring to a boil. After that, lower the heat and simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 20 - 30 minutes.

Combine the following for the relish: olives, half the celery, 1 tbsp lemon juice, half the thyme, 1 tsp olive oil, salt and pepper.

For the stuff that's going into the lentils, combine the remaining celery, lemon juice, thyme and olive oil, the red onion and parsley.

 I like to add the goat cheese to the lentils once they're done, like so:

Mix that up!

Now we cover that with the lid and get to work on our chicken. Remember, it's warm lentil salad, not piping hot lentil salad. Which makes this recipe ideal for summer or, if you're in Tucson, an 80 degree day in goddamn NOVEMBER.

Ahem. Anyways, the chicken! I used 5 tenderloins, two for me and three for Todd.

After several minutes in a hot skillet and olive oil, out they come!

Cut up your chicken any old way you like, and it's time to plate up. I like using my shallow bowls for this dish. Put the lentil salad in, then the chicken, and top with the olives. Presto!

Deeelicious!

The Bug Queen!

Two Christmasses ago, I got Alexandra these B. Bugs that connect together. She was about six months or so at that time so they were basically baby chew toys for awhile and then she got bored, and I tossed them in her toy trunk and there they stayed for the longest time. I don't think she was crawling then so she wasn't really exploring stuff in that way, either. I can't remember.

Wow. Parent of the year! I have a video that Todd took of her first crawl, but I forget the time stamp on it. Thank God for technology! Thank God for blogs! I never have to print another photo of her, I'll just pull up my blog and scroll through the Oh Baby tag. I guess I should probably go print some pictures. Grandparents everywhere just took a collective gasp of shock and outrage. "I want photos in my hand!"

Anyways, for some reason, these bugs have come back into her favor. She's strong enough and possessive of enough finesse to actually get the little knobs into the holes in order to make a bug chain, and then the other day, after I had done it once for her (I posted that picture), she figured out how to make herself a crown. Enter, the Bug Queen.

Let's not forget that her very first nickname as a tiny little glow worm newborn was Bug.

Which morphed into Buglette. Which is really rather cute.

And then because the inevitability of evolution, another nickname that has cropped up is Bug Butt.

Don't you side-eye ME, young lady! You're the one who tantrums when I open the door before you can!

Turkey, Spinach and Artichoke Heart Calzones.

Whaaaat, two food posts in a row, that hasn't happened in like a year. Not that my super short and lame Roasted Veggies post was a stellar thing of creativity and gastronomic genius, but it did taste good.

Anyways, last night's meal was specifically planned to occur the day after Second Thanksgiving, which makes us sound like hobbits. See, we forgot to steal a bunch of leftovers from Thanksgiving at my mom's, and Todd and I were craving those flavors, so Friday afternoon I got a turkey, some stuffing and potatoes.

I called/texted Kendra and Amery and before I knew it, I had roasted my first turkey (delicious, might I add), mashed up some potatoes, cooked up some delicious stuffing and had family and friends around my table by 7pm. Kendra brought an amazing fresh spin on green bean casserole (um, stand aside, cream of mushroom soup, here comes creme fraiche).

Needless to say, I knew I'd have some leftovers, so I checked my little recipe box and found the extremely tasty, extremely easy concoction you are fixing to read about. If you've got turkey leftovers, I strongly suggest this recipe. It's a fresh twist on turkey leftovers. Originally it called for a rotisserie chicken, so if you already hoovered all your turkey, use that.

Turkey, Spinach and Artichoke Heart Calzones
serves 4 - 6

3 cups turkey, chopped into bite size pieces
2 packed cups fresh baby spinach, torn up
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1.5 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup crumbled feta
1.4 cup fresh basil, torn up
1 (1lb) ball ready made pizza dough - $2.50 at Trader Joe's!
2 tbsp olive oil


Look how fun and kinda badass the whole operation looks!

Ok. Put rack in upper middle position in the oven and set to 450. Put turkey, spinach, artichoke hearts, cheeses and basil in a bowl and stir to combine.

Take your pizza dough and divide it into two. Roll out into 9" rounds one at a time. This will take some time and some elbow grease with a rolling pin, but in a few minutes, it will stretch out without returning to a ball shape, I promise.

Place half of the filling onto half of the dough round, leaving about an inch of dough on the outer edges. Brush water on the edges of the dough and seal it up, using a fork to crimp the edges shut. Hey, is that a kid's book on the floor there?

And I just want everyone to know I had flour on my hands when I started taking pictures, so sue me if they came out a tad blurry. Anyways, once you've done your second calzone, brush one tablespoon of olive oil on a rimmed cookie sheet. Then, brush the tops of your calzones with the second tablespoon of olive oil, cut two one inch slits on top of each calzone and pop in the oven.

The best part of this relatively easy dinner is that it only takes twenty minutes in the oven for this magic to happen.

Boom! Enjoy with red wine and the knowledge that you are indeed a total fucking badass.

Roasted Veggies.

Look at those gorgeous things.

Roasted Veggies
2 - 4 side servings

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced small
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into thick chunks
1/2 green bell pepper, diced thick
8oz small white mushrooms
1 parsnip, peeled and diced small
1 handful baby carrots, diced
1 small handful sun-dried tomatoes
5-6 cloves garlic, halved
olive oil
salt and pepper
pinch red pepper flakes

Set oven to 375 and pop this dish in for about 30 minutes. YUM

Wednesday Workout!

 I've avoided plyometric workouts due to the old knee issue but I dipped my little toesies into that fitness pond yesterday and am happily pain free today. Another good thing about this workout is that it can be done in your living room.

I might have posted this one already but if so I don't care.

Wednesday Workout

4 sun salutations
30 jumping jacks
20 push ups (I do mine on an exercise ball)e
100 ab moves: 30 crunches on the ball, 30 bicycles, 20 crunches on the floor, 10 metronomes, 10 foldouts
20 push ups
10 burpees
40 second plank
50 squats
40 second plank
10 burpees
30 leg lifts
20 push ups
40 second plank
10 burpees

Woo hoo!

Well, it's about time.

I always find it amusing when something dawns on me all of a sudden. One day, for whatever reason, clarity slaps you upside the head and you go "Oh my God, I never said thank you!" or "Oh my God, Alex's crib rungs are all dusty!" or "Oh my God, that is my ALARM going off!"

The sort of thing I'm talking about falls more into the dusty rungs category, but at least in that I'm not alone. Todd had the blinders clapped onto his face too. See, we live in a charming little house that needs a lot of little things done, but we sort of closed ourselves off to them because it was orignally purchased to be a rental. See, with rental properties you tend to want to keep everything a little more bare bones because the more money you put into fancying up a rental, the greater the likelihood of the renters absolutely trashing it. I speak from experience.

But when Alex was born, I wanted to work part time and in order to do that we had to downsize, somewhat drastically (good bye three bedroom, 2.5 bath, hello two bedroom, 1 bath), in order to keep things budget friendly. Hello, new house. And like I said, if you're going to spend a ton of money fixing a place up, you more than likely would want to spend it in a house you intend to live in for a goodly amount of time.

But there were things that needed immediate attention. The backyard, for example, used to be a literal dust bowl. Add a dog that loves to run around, and that means the house turned into a dust bowl. We have repainted all the rooms finally, we got the kitchen sink re-painted, and Todd patched the gaping hole in the hallway where there once lived a light fixture, upon which poor Todd would whack his forehead several times throughout the course of the day. You can imagine the ferocious victory with which he wrenched that sucker (I myself did something similar to a towel bar in the shower after hitting my hip against it all the time). Todd also recently scraped away all the junk that was hanging out in the caulk around the tub and repainted it. He also used a razor and scraped all the soap scum off the tile. By the way, that is the only way to take care of that problem.

When Todd went hunting, I repainted the front walkway and porch slab and my GOD it was such a face lift for the house. Before it was a faded red, painted over with a chipped and faded sage green. It looked horrible. But it was one of those things that we never thought about. The front yard is basically a hot mess anyway, and since the front door area gets constant sun beating on it, it's like a convection oven. Not pleasant. Best to just block it out of your mind.

But I'm delighted to report that it totally got Todd fired up to fix up other things. He's painting the back patio today, for example, and this holiday weekend we'll be painting the exterior of the house, if everything goes as planned. And that's very exciting stuff! If you can believe it, we opted for all that manual labor instead of a family camping trip. So, yeah, we're putting time and money into the old girl, but I figure there are some things that are just worth it, and Todd and I are two of them. It's worth it to get rid of the eyesores, to live in a decent place, and leave it for a future tenant. If they fuck it up, fine, because I won't be living there anymore.

iFinally got an iPhone 5

Can you tell? Notice any... startling differences in this photo and, say, this one?

Yeah, me neither.

Anyways, I am officially in love with this phone. I can't compare it to other smart phones, as this is the first I've ever owned, but I can tell you that I love it and I never never ever never want to be without it. Already this weekend I've used it in somewhat crucial ways. 

Yesterday, on our way to a birthday party, I was able to go through my old emails, find the electronic invitation, open it up, find the address and then Google map it to get directions, all while in the car, less than five minutes away from the destination.

Later that afternoon, after thinking I'd dropped a stitch (Kendra recently taught me how to knit), I was able to text an extremely vivid and close up photo of the knitting to Kendra, who in turn texted me a link to http://knittinghelp.com and then reassured me that I hadn't dropped a stitch at all, I had just neglected to finish off my purl row and only needed to turn it around, complete the purl and boom, done. Crisis averted.

And those two instances don't even include all the fucking fun I've had on the phone. I downloaded a free Draw app so Alexandra can play with it, I got Siri to call me Pups, I started three Draw Something games and Todd and I kicked some small ass with Angry Birds last night.

And did I mention the photography skills?! This blog is moving on up in the world, man.