Winter Wear

So, per my friend's advise (see January 23 entry) I wore sensible shoes (winter sensible, not business environment sensible) to work today. My tried and true Doc's! (It hasn't snowed yet.) My shoe laces for these shoes died, but the shoes are still going strong. I got new laces, and going by the advice on the box, purchased the ones that it instructed for the number of eyelets on the shoe. WRONG. They are so long, I have to tie 4 knots to keep them from dragging on the ground!



And I also wore my fabulous fuzzy scarf, a Christmas gift from my friend Joellen (made by her mother). The scarf has been named Elmo (Seasame Street) by Matt and Animal (Muppets) by Wilson. Isn't it snazzy?

Talents

I had sharing time earlier this month in Primary, and briefly talked about talents. I explained to the kids that even if we're not great at something it can still be a talent. Maybe it's something we enjoy doing, try it or practice it often, aren't necessarily great at, but we're making steady improvement or attempts at improvement.

Anyhow .... I brought up baking as one of those things for me. Very often when I bake, my attempt falls FLAT! But, I think it's so much fun that I keep doing it. Occasionally I'll run across something that just WORKS. That's my favorite part.

In December, Matt and I found a cheesecake recipe book at Spoons 'n Spice. There were colored pictures of each cheesecake creation! I was especially inspired by the pomegranite cheesecake (darn, they're already not in the grocery store!) ...

So, now that the crazy holidays are over and there's nothing pleasant to do in the freezing outdoors (no, I don't want to try winter camping), it was the perfect time to start working through my cheesecake book!

I got these really fun springform pans (also from Spoons 'n Spice - love that place) that are 5" round instead of the large 8". They're great because I can split the cheesecake recipe in half and have two cute little ones instead of one over-the-top large one.

We got a new stove last fall, with the convection oven, and I'm still working through the up's and down's of that little development. I love that it gets the center of the cheesecake cooked, I think the fan takes some of the "moist" out .... hmmm. Thoughts anyone?

Anyhow - it's been fun. I made a Black Forrest cheesecake, which is plain cheesecake, chocolate cheesecake, cherries, and a vanilla wafer crust. I also did a Banana Lime cheesecake with a ginger snap crust. That was interesting. (Thanks to all my neighborhood buddies who helped me taste-test. Hope they weren't too bad!) Next I'll be trying a kumquat cheesecake with ricotta cheese instead of cream cheese. And also a buttermilk cheesecake, which uses ricotta cheese and yogurt.

I'm still pretty bummed that pomegranates are out of season! Darn! Next year ....

Mukluk & Oatmeal

I wore my cute fuzzy brown shoes to work today. A friend of mine told me if it snowed, I wouldn't be too happy walking to my car with cold, wet feet. My shoes are open in the back, but it didn't snow today so all was well.

On my way out to the car in the evening, I was laughing to myself as I thought about my shoes and Matt.

A few months back, near the time when I bought these shoes, he started calling them mukluks. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he briefly explained that my shoes looked like they were made from "baby seal fur". I admit I was a little irritated. Where did this come from!?!?! I still don't know, but it stuck with him.

Whenever I wore these shoes, he would call me Mukluk, not just referring to the shoes. And now he just calls me Mukluk, shoes or no.

A month or so back, Matt began wearing a wool sweater that he bought on sale during a business trip to Boise. He bought it as a Christmas gift for someone, decided he liked it, started wearing it, and .... it became his. I teased him a bit at first that he was a gift-stealer.

As he kept calling me Mukluk, I picked up on the the funny name that was on the tag of the sweater. The manufacturer named the wool sweater, for the color of the fabric, as oatmeal.

Each time Matt called me Mukluk, I called him Oatmeal. Silly enough, I've warmed to my nickname. I'm not sure if he's as fond of Oatmeal.

Reader

I don't know much, but I know I love Google Reader. This is a great little tool! If you haven't used it, you should try it out.

What does it do? If you have a website/blog that you like to keep tabs on, you enter the URL as a "subscription". Anytime there is an update to that website/blog Reader will let you know.

It is great to open one page and see everything that's new!

Blog Vortex

Hee-hee! Last night I found Matt caught in a blog vortex! Yes!

He went onto a friends blog and read. Clicked into one of their friends blogs and read. And kept clicking and reading about unknown people and their situations.

I have frequently been caught in this spiraling affect, to the point that I'm reading a blog, and confusedly pondering how I ever got there!?

Now there are blogs of people that I have never met, but I know the in's and out's of their family, friends, children, hobbies, and dreams. I will refer to them by first name, and tell Matt their current news. It is a crazy result, but I really enjoy my "blog buddies". Matt thinks it is very odd (and I agree) and he looks at me in wonder and shakes his head.

I think after yesterday that he may have a small idea of the spiraling, sucking vortex that are blogs.

Restroom Ghost

Boo! I was informed last week by my office buddy Suzanne that the first floor women's restroom at American Express has a ghost. She told me she was alone in the restrooom and the last faucet kept turning on and off during her entire visit.

During a visit this morning, alone in the restroom, I got to experience the faucet turning on and off! I had forgotten what she told me last week, and so it was very unexpected. It really creeped me out.

Now, to be completely honest and to take the edge off of my story, I must confess that the faucet in question is a motion activated faucet. The only one in the restroom. And so obviously it must just be having technical difficulties.

But, I have a very vivid imagination, and although I knew logically what was happening, I still rushed out of there as quickly as possible!

One month!

After a long absence, I can report that nothing much has happened in our neck-of-the-woods. Matt and I are currently recovering from after-holiday blues. We are coming to terms with the fact that we have 2-3 months more of short, cold, hazy days. The hazy part is the worst. If you refer to a previous blog, you'll know that January is my least favorite month of the year.


My favorite thing about January is planning vacations that will transport me somewhere pretty! Of course I usually don't end up going those places, but it makes me feel like there is an exit if I really need one.


It really isn't the cold and the snow I hate. It could snow constantly and break periodically with a cloudly blue sky and I would LOVE it! Instead it warms up. The snow melts or turns black and the sky gets hazy. Yuck.