Saturday, March 29, 2008

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Success!

I knew I had a psychology assignment due yesterday. I was prepared; all my schoolbooks and things went with us to my parents' house for Easter, and even though I put the actual writing off until the last minute, I knew it was there.

The problem came when I logged on to my school email to submit my assignment. I had a message from my math professor - a reminder that the due date for taking the next test was Monday (today). So I had 35 hours to learn the entire chapter and take the test.

But I pulled it off! I've been doing well in this class, but I only got a C on the midterm (the last thing I had to do for the class) and that's thrown me off completely. Plus, the material was unfamiliar in its particulars and not conducive to cramming in an adrenaline-fueled rush. Fortunately, the chapter tests continue to be ridiculously easy.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Universe is Laughing at Me

Miss L and I have been halfheartedly going through the motions of potty training for the last couple of weeks. She's on the young side and I don't have a lot of spare attention, but she's interested in the process and tall enough that she's going to be ready for some things (that also require no diapers) sooner than later. Like Småland at IKEA.

The major stumbling block is just getting her to understand what I want her to do while sitting on the toilet. She's perfectly happy to sit there, especially since she gets my undivided attention and we read books and look at catalogues. She'll even ask to go to the potty, but previously it's just been when my attention has been focused on other things, like making dinner or the baby crying. On the upside, she's very good at telling me when she's gone on the floor while I was looking the other way. (She refers to everything as "poopy" when it's not in her diaper.)

This morning, we went through the normal routine of her asking, then sitting there with nothing happening for several minutes until she got bored and wanted down. Less than half an hour later, she asked again while doing something that looked a lot like a gotta-go dance. So off we went, and within a few minutes of sitting down...tinkle, tinkle, tinkle.

I, of course, went nuts. She just gave me this look like, "Yeah, Mom, that's great; can we go back to looking at the ducks now?" We cleaned up and washed our hands, and I finally got to break open the big container of individually-wrapped Twizzlers that's been sitting on the back of the toilet since we began this process. (Note to self: chocolate was a much better idea. Must get M&Ms and a big jar.) Then I called everyone I know.

As I was crowing to my mother, Miss L comes up to me announcing, "Poopy!" I peer around the corner to see a very small puddle on the floor. Oh, well. I take her to the bathroom, pull down her training pants, and exclaim in dismay as several toddler turds roll out and across the floor.

*sigh* One step forward, one step back.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

WTF?

I was on campus a week or so back to take a midterm. On the way in, I drove past the backlit, movable-letter sign announcing upcoming campus events. All fine.

On the way out, I literally stopped in the middle of the street to stare at the back of the sign. It said:

ZOMBIES
ARE
COMING

I repeat, WTF? (I tried to take a picture, but my crappy camera phone couldn't deal with the backlight.)

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Tea Cake

This recipe is brought to you by the good folks at Bigelow.

5 "Constant Comment" teabags
1/2 cup milk
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 2/3 cup flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350˚. Scald the milk in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add teabags, making sure they're submerged. Set aside to cool. Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs. Squeeze and remove the teabags and add milk to butter mixture. Combine flour and baking powder, gradually add to wet ingredients, and mix until blended. Pour into a greased, 9" round pan and bake for 35 minutes until the center springs back.

Verdict: weird but tasty. It also turned out to be a lot more like quickbread than like cake.

Lightning: 2; Flyers: 3

I think hooking and diving should be mutually exclusive.

We're really not making the playoffs this year, are we?

Catching Up

Based on my history with things like this, I really need to concentrate on posting more often. If not, this is going to fall completely by the wayside.

The past couple of weeks have been oddly busy: 5-year anniversary, midterms, American Idol, one child teething and the other potty training. And I've found a new corner of the internet that I haven't quite sorted out my opinions on. Plus my parents were in New Zealand for two weeks, which meant no breaks in the routine to visit the grandparents (and no automatic babysitters to give the Committee and me a break!).