Where is Spring?
Thursday, March 27, 2008
I thought it was supposed to be here by now... after all, we have SPRUNG forward. Much to my surprise, there were a couple of inches of snow on the ground when we awoke this morning.
Snow, though usually a pleasant surprise, shouldn't be here... when it's almost April. They say more is coming to the Puget Sound area this weekend. Maybe we'll postpone the trip to the zoo on Sunday in exchange for breakfast (brunch, probably) in bed and morning playtime with the kittens.
Now only if Ki would realize that our toes are not mice to attack.....
Author: Cat » Comments:
Hell Has Frozen Over... I've BAKED
Saturday, March 15, 2008
And no, Mr. Seno, it's not just mixing water and putting it a pan to bake... I actually measured flour, baking soda and mashed up over-riped bananas to make this masterpiece. There are pictures for proof!
I'm calling it a masterpiece, even though it looks slightly off. Here is the recipe I used from AllRecipes.com
The brown sugar and butter mix
The kitten curious what mom's put in the oven
The final product... cooling on a rack
Author: Cat » Comments:
The Dreaded 15th of the Month
For me, I dread the middle of each month because that is the paycheck where most the bills come from. Well, not most, but the bigger ones - like the mortgage.
I've never been fantastic with money, but improvement has come over the last couple years as I've learned to do the management on my own. The whole process has been trial and error with more error than anything. The process and pressure of the task was something I was oblivious to when I was with my ex. And if I could tell him one thing now, it would be that I should have been more thankful about his diligence on the task.
First came the money management software - MS Money. Too complicated. Doesn't interact well with my bank which made for extra steps just to get all my transactions sorted and what not.
I am now attempting another site, which I've had much more luck with an online system - Mint.com . It's supposedly still in Beta - and I figure that's because the updates don't happen as automatically as you'd like, but it's easy to remedy - just click the update button.
Obviously, there are many security issues that come with using a website for money management. But if you take the necessary per cautions, you should be safe. What per cautions? ... well, first, don't link it with a web-based email account like yahoo or gmail. And your password, better not be your pet's name or your birthdate.
The site doesn't display your account numbers or your social security number, etc, but it does store your log-in IDs to various banking/cc/etc accounts as well as your password so it can connect.
So far so good! As far as money management goes, I just now have to stop spending money on toys for myself... or D. The next big expense is coming up...and that is something we really need to save for.
Author: Cat » Comments:
The only gardening I can do
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Is helping figure out my family tree. The last week, I have been obsessed with the site geni.com (http://www.geni.com) and building up my family tree. Coming from an originally Catholic family - it was always to keep track who my relatives are.
Currently, I'm working on finding out the identity of my great grandparents are... and my parents' aunts, uncles and cousins are. So far so good, but the next steps are going to be difficult as I don't know really where to research that information. If anyone has any ideas, please do share!
Author: Cat » Comments:
Rock Band On!
Friday, March 07, 2008
My Friday night consists of watching my other half and his bff playing the latest video game craze, Rock Band. As they've progressed from laughable to garage band status (in my eyes, at least), I've noticed their increasing likeness in the rocker behavior their character plays.
D, who swore up and down that he has no drumming skills, now holds the sticks like a true drummer and rocks out like one as he is playing. D2 turns up his guitar and bites his lip in concentration of his task.
Honestly, my lack of rhythm would cause me serious playing issues like its counterpart, Guitar Hero III, did. I have to give them credit for making rapid progress in their skill set. There is no ground for me to laugh too hard when they struggle.
Overall, it's not a bad way to end a week - listening to good music and hanging out with great friends... however, the kittens would probably beg to differ with all the racket they're making!
Author: Cat » Comments:
Gardening for the Impatient - Part 2
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
See the Flickr photoset on the right - I guess the AeroGarden does work. The little Thyme pod was the first to bring some life to this experiment... And so far so good... we haven't had to add any water or tend to it.
The light just comes on when it's supposed to and it turns off 16 hours later. Now all I have to figure out is how to keep the kittens from attacking the little dome pods - which I caught Ossie doing this morning.
Author: Cat » Comments:
House Guests
Monday, March 03, 2008
Call me crazy, but I love having house guests.
It's even better that our current house guest is from out of the country. D's best friend, D2, is over for a little over a week, and he is the best kind of house guest: laid back, content and down for anything.
There hasn't been a lot of sightseeing, but it really isn't D2's purpose here - at least that's what he says. Funny enough, they are so much alike that it's been easy to take care of both of them. All it seems to require is football (soccer) on TV, Gatorade, fast food, and video games.
Hopefully this week, D will be able to take him around the city some more this week. It'd be sad that he flew all this way to mostly sit in our living room.
Author: Cat » Comments:
