I'm glad that Pelosi met with Pope Benedict XVI. His job is to shepherd the flock, and she is obviously ignorant of Church teaching. What a wonderful opportunity to enlighten her about what an "ardent Catholic" (her words) believes! I can only hope that the Holy Spirit did find the meeting irresistible, as a few Catholic bloggers have speculated.

I'm a bad mommy. Guess what I forgot to buy this week? (That's a pineapple upside down cake, with cherries on half since Mr R can't eat them. I do love upside down cakes. I don't have to make frosting for them!)


Truth be told, it's not that I forgot to buy birthday candles, it's that I forgot to check and make sure the 1 yo hadn't eaten them before it was time for cake.

And the newly minted 5 year old has declared she has outgrown all of her 4T clothes and will only wear things with a 5 on the label. Poor, deluded, nekkid girl!

I still have not bought a new pair of shoes. And I'm a bad hillbilly wannabe, too. I could not find a roll of duct tape to save my life, and my neighbor didn't have one either (despite the fact that I bought two rolls prior to Ike, they are not in my hurricane box!). Related: electrical tape does not stick well to rubber soles, but will do in a pinch. And did I mention how much I hate shoe shopping?

I am so very irritated with our electric company's ridiculous billing policies. It's all green energy (mostly from wind, some hydro) but I have about had it and am calling around to switch. Bills are printed on the 5th of the month, and due on the 20th. But they are mailed out bulk mail and are not available online until the due date. My latest bill had a billing date of Feb. 5, but the envelope was postmarked Feb. 13th.

In Houston in the summer, the electric bill can be several hundred dollars and it can be hard to budget precisely.

They do email it but my spam almost always eats it. Why can they email the bill but not show it to me online? Enquiring Minds Want to Know! Paying online costs a fee, but there isn't enough time to mail it in. And if it's a day late, they assess another fee ($7.99)

Also, our rate went up 2¢ per kilowatt hour, so the other companies are cheaper now, too.

This graphic is way better than the stupid one the Houston Chronicle published over the weekend.

Where is the Stimulus Going?

My friend posted about Governmentium, the heaviest element ever discovered. Go read for a laugh!

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete.

Is this not the cutest little house you have every seen? Can you believe it is only 382 sq. ft, and she has a toddler? It was on the sidebar of Eyes of Wonder blog.

See more Quick Takes over at Jen's blog!

Labels: 7 Quick Takes, Friday Fun, Frugal, In The News, politics, V