spinning-jennie: archives « September 2007 | Main | November 2007 »

October 30, 2007

Okay. That?
That I felt.


10/30/07 08:14 PM |  Comments


More Skeleton Fun
Even if I didn't make Daniel's costume (we're re-playing the Old Navy monkey from last year, since it fits, and he wants to), I thought I might inject at least a little home-grown creativity into his trick-or-treating tomorrow. So I whipped up this little skeleton bag. Just the right size for him, and he's really into cute little skellies right now.

Super easy and inexpensive, and it took less than two hours start to finish.
10/30/07 06:13 PM |  Comments


October 26, 2007

Another Favor
Please click to support the Waterloo team in the Week 5 task, "Local Ad." Thank you!



10/26/07 01:10 PM |  Comments


October 22, 2007

Rainbows and Flowers and Brotherly Love
D's dad and family are visiting this week. Today we took them down to Fisherman's Wharf (yes, we have an autopilot itinerary for new visitors now; lather, rinse, repeat). Saw the sea lions, rode the carousel, visited the Musée Mechanique. Parked in the exact same lot we always do, across from the Petco on North Point.

Not expecting to return -- in broad burning daylight, in a fenced lot, in a relatively busy area -- to find the back window of D's dad's brand-new Pacifica smashed in.

Fantastic.
10/22/07 08:46 PM |  Comments


October 20, 2007

Little Skelly
Thanks to Sewing Stars, Daniel and I had some fun this morning making a cute little paper skeleton for our Halloween-less hallway!

I didn't have any brads, so I connected the pieces with a needle and embroidery floss. Which makes him a little more jiggly than poseable, but we like him all the same. I covered both sides with clear Contact paper before cutting out the parts, for durability.

Daniel likes Skelly so much, I've promised to make another later just for him!
10/20/07 10:49 AM |  Comments


October 19, 2007

Moving & Shaking


Keeping in mind that this is out of thousands of players. For posterity, because it'll probably be the last time I see myself on that page!
10/19/07 11:21 AM |  Comments


October 16, 2007

McFly's Ghost
The woman who lives directly across the street from us has an outdoor cat, a cat that has always rather reminded us of the departed McFly. Kind of spooky.

Lately, the cat has taken a liking to our patio. The first time I saw him out there (sometime last week, I guess) it was mid-stalk, and the visit ended with a juicy mouse dangling from his mouth. Maybe rodent hunting is why we've always been so popular with the local felines? If they take care of the scritchy-scratchy noises beneath the floorboards and behind the fireplace, they're all more than welcome to take up permanent residence!
10/16/07 08:53 PM |  Comments


October 12, 2007

A Little Self Promotion
If you're an Office fan, you might be familiar with the Dunder Mifflin Infinity game, with which I've been playing along. Well, the results from our first task are in, and I won our branch logo contest! I was a little geeked, since the tools they gave us were infinitely frustrating, and there were nearly 200 entries. Mine may be among the least creative (I really admire the shapes that some were able to acheive given such fickle tools!), but it is corporate-y, which was my goal.

And then there's nepotism. Goooo nepotism!

So now, the logo chosen by each branch goes to a public vote. Not only would I win real honest-to-goodness swag from the cast (squee!), points (or, SchruteBucks, in the game vernacular) would be earned for every one of the over 700 members in our branch.

If you could drop in and vote, that would be fantastic! Just go to:

http://www.dundermifflininfinity.com/tasks/globalvote?week=1

Our Waterloo logo is on the last page (page four). Just click on the image, and then hit vote. Easy peasy!

And I think you can still join the game, too. Sign up for the Waterloo, IA branch, and our Regional Manager will approve you ASAP. We have such a fun little community already, so I hope you do!
10/12/07 03:22 PM |  Comments


Friday
The upswing in posting is me warming up for NaBloPoMo. I'm not certain there'll be any official organized thing this year, but it's still a good goal. (ETA: Oh! New shmancy site and everything.)

Daniel woke up with a little cold yesterday. I sure wish I could bounce back from stuff as quickly as he does! The silver lining is that he sleeps in for two or three hours.

It's been raining, and the oven is getting a workout. Baked wild pears, banana cornmeal muffins, acorn squash... More chickpeas and maybe iced pumpkin cookies over the weekend.

We were planning on the pumpkin patch this weekend, but, if Daniel is up to it (and it's not raining in Vallejo) we may go to Discovery Kingdom instead. The lower temperatures will scare off the natives, and it won't yet be too chilly to enjoy it.
10/12/07 10:48 AM |  Comments


October 11, 2007

Psychiatric Help, 5 Cents - The Doctor is In
I took the Autism Spectrum Quotient yesterday, and scored 30. Apparently the average for women is 15, and scores above 32 have been shown to correlate strongly with autism spectrum disorders. Scores below 26 generally indicate normality.

So, interesting. I mean, I won't be falling over myself to see a psychiatrist anytime soon, but there are some components of Asperger syndrome that did strike a deep chord. Especially this bit:

People with AS may analyze and distill their observation of social interaction into rigid behavioral guidelines and apply these rules in awkward ways—such as forced eye contact—resulting in demeanor that appears rigid or socially naive.
My motor skills have always been well below average (ask every one of my gymbeastresses; at the time, I would've given my own teeth to even be slightly competent on the balance beam). I can drop the same object several times in the span of a few seconds; it needn't be slippery or necessarily difficult to hold. If there's a way to bruise an elbow, shin, or knee, I guarantee I'll find it (I'm nursing a deep and nasty one on my kneecap from last week). Tripping on nothing is my special speciality.

And then there are the vocal issues -- pitch, volume, rhythm, etc. I've seen and heard the footage, so don't try to deny it! Ha.

To sum, yes -- I am a blast at parties. And I book fast, so call now! ;-)
10/11/07 08:36 PM |  Comments


October 10, 2007

A Good Man
Charlie Rose interviews Charles Schulz in 1997, three years before his death. Via TV Squad.

I feel fortunate that we live very near and can visit often the places where he lived and worked and created. Even though there've been some concerns expressed by his family that the upcoming bio (10/16) and American Masters documentary (10/29) portray him as far more dour and depressed than he was, I'm still excited for both, albeit taking them with a healthy grain of salt.
10/10/07 10:52 AM |  Comments


October 09, 2007

Putting the Scary in Halloween
And skanky, too. Strollerderby talks a little about a shudder-inducing trend:
I'm not some Puritan -- if you're an adult or my prom date and you feel like Witch Crack Whore looks good on you, fine, here's a pipe and $5 for a blow job -- but the thought of dressing up young girls in midriff-baring costumes, slinky skirts and laced-up baby heels had me spinning. It got worse as the girl costumes got older, as if every year in a girl's life means another inch of skirt above the knee.
Frankly, the Bratz Cheerleader makes me relieved I have a boy.
10/09/07 08:04 AM |  Comments


October 08, 2007

These Two Things are Related
Let's see if you can guess how.

1. As soon as I was out the bedroom door, Elli was whining and trying to ramrod her hard little head past my legs through the bathroom door and up into the sink. This usually means that the cats have emptied their water bowl. But that didn't seem quite right, because it was full when I checked it last night, and it's a pretty big bowl.

2. Last night, while I was cooking tortellini for dinner, the bub snuck away with the container of parmesan cheese.
10/08/07 08:58 AM |  Comments


October 07, 2007

Num.
Another way you can tell it's really fall: I can't stop thinking about food. A few more things that are good right now:

  • Orville Redenbacher Natural. Particularly the Buttery Salt and Cracked Pepper and Buttery Garlic varieties (though the former has a bit of a kick, and the latter maybe not quite enough). They come in the cute little gorge-control mini bags that I love. I've only been able to find them at a local supermarket chain, but I see the Cracked Pepper is offered on Amazon.

  • Jet-Puffed ChocoMallows. Good for when I have a chocolate craving, but only want to be a little evil. I've never seen the HolidayMallows; have to keep an eye out in a month or so.

  • Parking lot pears. Yes, after three autumns, we realized there are perfectly good little wild pears just hanging there, mostly going to waste. Not anymore! We were a bit wary at first; they aren't shaped much like a commercial pear -- cute wee round things. Maybe I'll make another pie.

    • 10/07/07 08:38 PM |  Comments