Still More Serendipitous Neighboring Tweets

Yippee! The Chilean miners have all reached the surface. Good news via Twitter. Also, kinda funny that these 2 tweets were right next to each other in my stream.

On a side note, I found a new screen capture program so I don't have to use Alt-Print Screen anymore. It's called Awesome Screenshot and you can find it at http://awesomescreenshot.com/ -- Enjoy!

Let the Homeschooling Begin!

Last night I tweeted this in an effort to save myself some googling:

(As an aside, since their Evil Agreement with Verizon, I'm not going out of my way to capitalize or avoid using the word "google" as a verb.)

This morning I found these fantabulous tweets waiting for me:

I love Twitter, I love Portland, I think I'm going to love homeschooling. I think having goals to shoot for will give me some purpose instead of just vague "learning" -- although I don't want to miss out on opportunities for random learning that pop up. I'm very excited to start down this path, and feel SO MUCH BETTER than I have since May when I was ambushed with a Kindergarten IEP. I bet I haven't blogged about that. I think  I should, but no time today. I have laundry to fold while we wait for an ugly storm cloud to pass so we can go to the store. I wonder how many lessons will naturally happen during the trip to the store if I'm paying attention to counting them?

Best Comment Ever?

I regularly read The Bloggess and occasionally see comments from Jamie, The Very Worst Missionary. Finally a post title made me click through and read her blog. It's not that it was a supremely compelling title, it was actually the "y'all" that caught my ear/eye. And it turns out it's a great post, funny and insightful at the same time. You should go read it. Then I came across this comment from Erica (my apologies for not being able to link directly to the comment):

...I am SO. FREAKIN'. HAPPY FOR YOU! ABOUT YOUR HAMBURGER! Good God in the hot tub, praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ who died to set us free from the law that we may have cheese and bacon on the flesh of a cow that has been flame broiled, I praise his holy name.

It never clicked for me that keeping Kosher means no cheeseburgers, and certainly no bacon cheeseburgers, but of course it does. This has been making me laugh for days. I thought that made it worthy of blogging, if only so I can come back and laugh more.

(Edited for a typo)

Conversation with The Cupcake

Me: I'll be right back. Mommy has to pee.
Her: Whatcha doing, Mommy?
Me: I just told you. Weren't you listening?
Her: No. Whatcha doing?

Funny to me because 1) I totally expected her to answer "Yes" not "No," and 2) she follows me around asking what I'm doing and if I'm ok ALL.DAY.LONG. Laugh or cry? I choose laugh.

Letter Factory is soporific

Letter Factory is soporific
Originally uploaded by KYouell.
So adorable I had to share. Does it count as a sugar crash if she doesn't finish the sandwich?

Cards for Donya

Want to send a card to a woman with Down syndrome for her 50th birthday? I've looked at Snopes (found nothing) and Googled (just links back to the same post I'm sending you to), so I have my fingers crossed and my heart open that this is true.

You need to go to My Blessed Life's post and comment to get involved and get the address, so I'm just going to send you there to read the story. Join in or don't, but we are going to send a card as soon as Myra sends me the address.

Ear bud zipper

I got inspired quite awhile ago to solve the "my wires get tangled when I put my ear buds away in my backpack" problem by this lovely post by Lau Pre (tweeted by @SisterDiane -- my siren of crafting).

I did things slightly differently because of the backpack, but it worked great. If you want to do it my way you only need a 12" zipper. I didn't separate the wires because I still wanted to thread it through the headphone wire slot on my backpack and I thought a single wire would work best; I needed to control the bit that was already separate. Other than that I did just what she said and it works, and looks, great.

Here they are unzipped.

And here they are all zipped up.

This is after I reinstalled the wire in my backpack.

It's easy to fold it into the pocket now to store them.

Nice and neat!











Go check out the simple instructions and do it yourself. All you need are a zipper, needle, thread & scissors.

More Serendipitous Neighboring Tweets

Tweet stream - 2
Originally uploaded by KYouell.

It happened again, this time with LeVar Burton and the Dalai Lama.

Serendipitous Neighboring Tweets

Tweet stream - 1
Originally uploaded by KYouell.

Every once-in-awhile I happen to get 2 tweets in my stream that make me happy just because they are next to each other. I thought I'd share them here.

Edit: I have no idea how to force clicking on that jpg to open in another tab or window. Sorry. Right-click and select "Open in new tab" like I have to, if you don't wish to navigate away.

Horace and Doris Beans

Note: "Horace" and "Doris" were nicknames for my Grandma June's cousin and his wife. Not sure where they got those names. I kind of assumed it was a radio show, but if so it wasn't popular enough to last and get a Wikipedia page. Grandpa Dutchy gave me this recipe for a company picnic in the late '80s - early '90s. These beans are runny so if you're taking them somewhere to share make sure there are bowls and spoons. And napkins. And water or wet-naps (or just lick your fingers). Whatever.

Ingredients:
1 can of V-8 juice (46 fluid oz., it's the tallest can)
1 can of Pork and Beans (tallest can, same size as the V-8, but it's measured in weight -- net wt 53 oz.)
1 med white onion, minced (can substitute yellow, but other onions change the taste)
1 lb. bacon, minced (Oh, this is the awful part! Partially freezing it and using kitchen shears helps, but it's still a miserable chore.)
pepper (to taste, careful because of the mustard)
salt (to taste, careful because the bacon is salty)
molasses (to taste, a few tablespoons)
dry mustard (to taste, a teaspoon or two)

Directions:
In a gargantuan stock pot that is NOT aluminum (aluminum and tomato do not get along well with each other), dump in the V-8 juice. Add the Pork and Beans next (so they aren't on the bottom of the pan sticking and turning black). Put this pot over low heat. You will be occasionally stirring it while tending to the bacon and onion.

Saute the bacon. You may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your skillet. I use a 3-qt saute pan and I do 2 batches so that there's a single layer in the pan. Drain each batch of bacon on paper towels and then dump it into the bean pot. Leave a small amount of bacon drippings in the skillet after the last batch.

Now saute the onion in the drippings. I can usually do the onion in 1 batch. Just cook until they're soft, don't let them brown. When done dump them into the bean pot.

Let these flavors simmer together a while and then start tasting & adding the seasonings. BE CAREFUL! The most common thing I do is over-pepper. The only way to counter this is with more V-8. Start with a teaspoon each of salt, pepper & dry mustard and a tablespoon of molasses. Let it simmer a while and then taste again. Adjust, simmer and taste. Repeat until you're satisfied or you just have to go because you're doing this at the last minute and need to get these beans to the darn picnic!

Number Of Servings:412

Preparation Time:days & days & days

The most amazing art I've ever seen

Thanks to The Bloggess for linking to this. Absolutely amazing. Go watch it.

Meet a New Internet Friend

I've been silent a long time, and I've discovered it's time to get back to writing. I'm inspired this post by Kit at Blogging Dangerously. Most of her blog is NSFW, but that one post is. Frankly, her blog has helped some of the blocks that I didn't even realized I'd put up in my own mind, so I think the whole "safe" thing is kind of funny. Because really, should you be reading any blogs at work? No. So is hers worse to read at work than others? No. Read it on your own time like a grown-up.

So, if you'd like, go read some of her writing for herself. She's a mom with 4 kids, a husband & a healthy sex life. No shame there.