riotbrrd

Super-cute kid's stationery

I just stumbled on this site, and the stuff looks fabulous: www.invitationmonkey.com

Seen out my window

Angy finally got Isaac and Ryan to head out to the park. I peeked through my window to watch them go.

Isaac wore a small black and white shopping bag on his head as a helmet as he rolled down the street on his pink scooter. Angy and Ryan followed. After a few yards, he got off the scooter and gave it to Angy. He took her hand, then held out his other to Ryan. The three walked down the street out of sight.

Lonely pig

Apparently there is only one pig in Afghanistan. One. In the entire country.

And now the poor lonely porcine is being quarantined so he won't give chickens the flu.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8038368.stm

Overheard in the playroom

Angy: We need to clean up your Legos. Do you want to do it by yourself or do it together?

Isaac: I don't want to do it together.

Angy: So you want to do it yourself?

Isaac: I want you to do it.

Enough already!

Thursday, I hit my head very hard on the edge of a windowsill while trying to locate Isaac's monkey. I had a minor concussion.

Friday, I slammed my head really hard into a metal jungle gym while playing Ring Around the Rosie at nursery school. Apparently, the jungle gym rang out loud as a bell. Later that day, I went to a doctor to get checked out. She said I was ok, but should probably watch where I'm going a little better.

Today, I was riding in our VW with Christopher and Isaac when we got rear-ended by a large SUV.

Motherf*ing OUCH.

Dreamweaver CS4

Just installed a trial version of the upgrade, and, as usual, I am having a sucky initial experience. Adobe failed to fix the one item I was desperately hoping they'd fix. The new "Live View" nearly crashed the application the first time I tried it. And by trying to be clever and integrate "community help" into their help system, they've made it incredibly difficult for me to find basic instructions about the application.

BTW, why isn't it a law that when software is upgraded, the company has to create a special guide for upgraders?

Top WTF?!

My husband has been watching a show called Top Sniper lately. Should I be worried?

Daddy has never been more proud

Isaac reached an important developmental milestone today. He opened a bottle of beer all by himself. Not the twist-off kind, mind you. The pry off. He had to use a bottle opener. And boy, did he wield that thing like a pro!

His dad had tears of joy. His mom is calling AA to see if they have a toddlers program.

Peas!

The sugar snap peas are coming in, and they are delicious! You have to pick them at just the right time...too small and they're not very sweet, too late and they turn starchy.

Also, the broccoli is in bloom. And I'm trying to forgive my husband for maiming a couple of my tomato seedlings while I was out of town.

Root Canal

Do not want.

Eco/gardening links 3/3/09

Less Lawn. Straightforward, step-by-step advice for getting rid of your lawn and replacing it with something more ecologically useful. I can't wait to spend more time on this site.

Earthcraft. Local landscape design company specializes in rainwater harvesting. The resources page looks like a great resource.

Off my rocker

It's official. I've lost it.

It started innocently enough. I read a book about permaculture, which emphasizes reducing external inputs to and waste streams from your garden. Makes sense. Then I decided to grow lots of blueberries. But blueberries need acid soil, which I don't have. Normally you would continually amend the soil with peat moss and sulphur. But those are external inputs, and -- in the case of peat moss -- somewhat questionable ones ecologically.

So, what else to use to acidify my soil? Hmmm... pine needles? No pine trees on my property. But wait! What about all those Christmas trees dotting my neighborhood? They're like little pine trees, right? And they'll just get thrown out. Brilliant! It'll be kind of like respectfully using all the parts of the animal you eat -- only with a Christmas tree.

So, I asked a couple of neighbors for their used trees. They happily obliged, and I ended up with six chopped down trees in my backyard. Now, how to make mulch out of them? I don't have a chipper or a shredder or a chainsaw or a hedge trimmer. But I do have loppers.

And that, dear readers, is how I ended up spending countless hours butchering Christmas trees in my backyard. One by one, each tree is dragged across the yard and laid on a large tarp. I proceed to hack the tree to bits with my loppers. Then, when most of the greenery is gone, I drag the sad little naked trunk back across the yard and start all over again on the next tree.

To the casual observer, it might look like a Jewess getting her revenge (at last!) on the whole Christmas thing that has for so long tormented me and my people -- making us feel like outcasts, mocking us with the cheerful "Merry Christmas"s of obliviously sollipsistic gentiles, inducing feelings of guilty jealousy, driving us to join in the orgy of religiously motivated consumerism that is "the holidays" by elevating a previously minor holiday (Channukah) to the status of major shopping event.

But no. It was none of that. I have nothing against Christmas trees; I rather like them. It was just me, as usual, taking a nice idea a wee bit too far.

On the plus side, I will not be running out of mulch any time soon.

I should get royalties on this lettuce

Look! They've named a lettuce after me. About time, too.

 

(Courtesy of Territorial Seed)

Lotsa giveaways

Over at Simple Mom: http://simplemom.net/potty-training-help/

Tip: Automated phone spam

How much do a I love picking up my phone to hear a recording try to sell me something? "Put me on your fucking Do Not Call list!" I want to shout. But no one is listening.

But recently, I learned that pressing 2 on your phone can get you removed from their list. Not sure if this always works, but it does at least sometimes.

The new world of mortgages

This is really un-f*ing-believable.

Last fall we finally found a buyer for our condo (it's been on the market since May). Inspections fine, contract signed, etc... I was sooooooo relieved that the financial burden would be lifted from our shoulders.

Then it all starting going to hell when Wells Fargo refused final approval on the loan because of some obscure language issue in our condo association's CC&Rs. My realtor pulled out all the stops trying to convince them to approve. She had a high-falutin' real estate attorney call the underwriter to explain that there was a state law which made the issue moot. But no luck. Wells still said no.

So, the buyers went to some other lenders, who found the same problem and another one in the CC&Rs. At which point, our buyers became discouraged and cancelled the whole deal. So the sale fell through.

Now, we're scrambling to try to fix the language in the CC&Rs, so that any condo in our HOA could ever be sold. And then we get this via email from the lender:

Don’t change them right now. We had some enlightenment happen on this issue yesterday and today.  We got some information from the D.R.E. that they are aware that they conflict with FNMA.  In actuality the verbiage is something the D.R.E. has required attorneys to put in their docs.  We brought this up to FNMA and they responded yesterday, they did not want to conflict with the state on this issue, so they are willing to accept the verbiage as is so you don’t need to have the amendment done.

Then, my realtor asked whether they could go ahead and approve the buyers' loan. And Wells wrote back (emphasis mine):

Yes - it's very interesting turn of events.It appears that your HOA has caused Wells Fargo underwriting in California to revolutionize an entire set of underwriting guidelines - looks like we made history here ;-)

 

My only concern at this point is that we have cancelled the loan at the client's request and would need to start over more or less when they get back - should the client still be interested in the property. But this guideline, which has caused us so many issues, appears to now be finally resolved...

 

I especially appreciate the happy face smiley he attached to his note. To summarize: you're still screwed, but thanks for helping us make history.

Some fabulous book ideas

Do you think any publishers would go for these?

• Mommy Needs a Drink
• Isaac and the Giant Poo
• Last of the Mojitos
• The Dao of Poo(p)

jQuery, example 1

I've just posted a very simple page showing some basic tools in jQuery for prototyping interfaces.

One more thing to celebrate this week

The Toy Hall of Fame has just announced three new inductees: the baby doll, the skateboard, and the stick! How fabulous is that in the face of all the expensive battery-powered walking talking beeping licensed-character interactive “developmental” toys out there?!?

Here’s an excerpt from the press release:

And last but not least, one very unconventional “plaything”—the Stick!—has now taken its honored place in the hall. Found in all sizes in nature, sticks inspire spontaneous, unstructured play and can be used in unendingly imaginative ways—to draw in the sand on a beach, or to use as a magic wand, slingshot, light saber, fishing rod, or walking stick; not to mention playing stickball, toasting marshmallows, or playing “fetch” with your dog. Sticks are the original construction toys: children make toy buildings out of sticks and design toy boats with leaves for sails. Many an adult has picked up a driftwood souvenir from the beach, and artists and crafters use sticks in wreaths, chairs, and sculptures. The stick now keeps proud company with another untraditional “toy”—the Cardboard Box—inducted into the hall in 2005. After all, the best toy is often a plaything that’s free, easy to get, and a source of endless creativity. (http://www.strongmuseum.org/about_us/press/NTHOF/PressReleases/2008/winners%202008%20release.pdf)

Go, stick, go!

-Kim

 

Two thoughts on the election

1. Wow. Holy Shit. Awesome!

2. Maybe Sarah Palin could give some of those fancy new clothes to Michelle Obama?

Taking a stand

"i think the text field is morally wrong" (im'd from a client)

The bedtime wars have been joined!

Tonight Isaac finally figured out he could get out of his bed and wander around the house -- AFTER his bedtime! He partied upstairs by himself for a while, turning all the lights on, throwing his stuffed animals around, and knocking things over, then he happily tripped down the stairs with Monkey and Blankey to find me.

Imagine Isaac's surprise when he found that -- far from being thrilled with the opportunity to play with him yet again -- I actually wanted him to RETURN to bed. Yes, shocking, I know.

Excellent barbecued chicken

I just made really delicious BBQ chicken. For future reference, here's how I did it. Cooking method is (as is so often the case) from Cook's Illustrated.

• Bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
• Christopher's "magic dust" (some sort of rub, I forget what's in it)
• Red Tail Ale BBQ sauce

Rub the chicken several hours before cooking, and refrigerate. Take it out of the fridge to warm up about 15-20 minutes before cooking.

Heat your grill to high and close the cover. When it's super hot, scrape any old goop off the grill, and lightly brush it with oil. Lower the temperature on part of the grill to medium-low. Place the chicken pieces on the hot part of the grill to sear, 2-3 minutes per side.

Move the chicken to the lower temp. area and cook, skin-side up and grill cover down, about 10 minutes. Flip and cook another 5-20 minutes, till chicken is close to done.Then mop with BBQ sauce and cook a few minutes on each sauced side. Internal temp should be 165 or more when the chicken is done.

Whiny women

Hilary Clinton supporters, I mean. The ones who just can't get past the fact that they didn't get what they wanted. And think it's right that their candidate basically threw a week-long temper tantrum when she finally realized she'd lost. And who keep talking about some need for "healing" -- which I guess is a code word for Obama choosing Clinton for VP, or else turning over the nomination to her.

These people need to find something else to whine about. How about...ummm...genocide in Darfour? Global habitat destruction? The international sex trade? No, let's stomp our feet because the black man won the primary instead of the white woman.

Snarky fucking spider

So I left a few pots in the sink over the weekend. When I came downstairs this morning, I found a cobweb in one of the pots. Apparently, Miss Martha Stewart Spider doesn't approve of my housekeeping.

twiddle twiddle

...just twiddling my thumbs while Excel pivottables crash my computer. Wonder how long it'll take?

My Parenthack!

Salad Spinner as Dolly Thrill Ride

Dare to Discipline? Maybe not.

Tonight I stuck to my disciplinary guns and apparently severely traumatized my child. Sigh. As CH said, "Put a hundred bucks in the Therapy Jar."

A programmer, I am not.

JQuery, Aptana, Selectors, YUI, Functions, Firebug, Event Bubbling... Fuck me.

Whatever happened to little boxes with arrows between them in Visio?

Mother's little helper

I'm thinking of writing a children's book, titled "Mommy Needs a Drink."