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

We live in a rental. Our door has two large glass panels in it, which I HATE because, IMO, it's not safe. How hard is it to smash the glass and flip the knob?

Today, my 10 year old son picked the lock on the front door. He's been at it over and over again, convincing my 4 year old to lock him out. She thinks it's great fun.

I think we're going to have to get a security chain, despite our security deposit!

Labels: Misc., R, V

Please prepare yourself for gratuitous family picture posting.

What personality are you? A lion? An otter? Choleric? INTJ? Huh? There are as many scales as there are books for sale on the topic.

Labels: C, E, Family Life, Friday Fun, S, V, X

I was tagged by Proverbs 31 to tell you 8 random things about my kitchen forever ago - I didn't forget!

My life is pretty random, and I don't know if it's interesting enough for a post - here goes. Try not to fall asleep.

1. I have some really big pots, and I know how to use them. I bought husband dear a 24" wok from a restaurant store last year for Christmas, and he knows how to use it!


2. This house has the biggest kitchen I've ever had, but I still needed more storage. I have a bookshelf that holds my potatoes, etc., cookbooks, mixing bowls, and dishtowels; a dresser holds my small appliances, tupperwares, misc. supplies, and a whole drawer taken up by tea.

3. A few years ago, I saw a flat topped stove in a store and decided that was the perfect solution to a messy kitchen. I always wanted one, and now I finally have one! And the are terrible. I hate it. If I spill anything while cooking, it instantly sears to cooktop. Heaven help me if I let the noodles boil over! There is nowhere for the water to go, so it covers the entire stovetop before dripping to the floor - boiling hot.

4. I have a naked woman on my counter. Okay, it's really a vintage tin from Godiva chocolates, and you can't really tell she's naked because of the hair and all. I keep Mr R's vitamins in it.

5. I do not own a food processor, an electric can opener, or a blender. My waffle maker gets lots of use, as does my coffee pot! The coffee pot is the only appliance that gets left out and plugged in all the time (since the demise of the crockpot, that is!) I'm intrinsically lazy, so I make waffles on the waffle maker and then make "waffle eggs" to go with it - it saves washing the scrambled egg pan.

6. The smallest "kitchen" I ever had was when we lived in a motel for two months. We plugged our microwave and crockpot in on top of the dresser, and paid $15 extra a week for a small fridge. Dishes had to be washed in the bathtub. The kids got used to powdered milk - I would mix up one quart in the morning, and it's all that would fit in the little fridge! You can cook anything in a crockpot.

7. Every year in September, husband dear likes to buy a couple of bushels of green chiles, roast them, and then freeze them. The smell of peppers cooking makes me sick - luckily, I was spared this year because no one sells green chiles on the side of the road in SC. I have been made sick by the smell of boiled peanuts and ONE WHOLE CAN of salt. Husband dear also makes other weird things that I won't touch (but that the kids love), including tripe menudo and tako. Tako is raw octopus steeped in soy sauce, kind of like ceviche. No thanks. Husband dear likes to cook, but we don't really cook together. My dishes might get cooties.

8. I cook by the seat of my pants. My recipes go something like this: Add about the same amount of rice and milk. Stir in some sugar (rice pudding) or pour milk over it like cereal (scalloped potatoes). I think this is an inherited trait, as I have a family recipe for oatmeal cookies that instructs "add milk until it [the dough] is juicy". The only thing I really use recipes for are baking. I also substitute A LOT. Maybe too much!

I tag my most faithful commenters who also have blogs: Daja, Birdie, Mom2Fur, Heather, and Barb SFO.

And any one else that wants to play! Leave a note in the comments if you do it and I'll take a peek.

Labels: Better Budget Challenge, Bible Study, cooking, Friday Fun, homemaking, Meme, V, X