What your appliances talk about when you're at work

From
Married to the Sea

I got golf clubs!

I also got all the little bits and pieces to go with my clubs including some practice balls.

'Scuse me now, I'm going back outside to the yard to play.

The solstice is coming, the solstice is coming!

We are getting to that holiday time of year. Here at casa de Logophilia we celebrate the winter solstice (after a fashion, there will be no skyclad dancing around a fire).
Frankly, the kids are looking forward to our summer solstice bonfire much more. Mostly, I think, because I said they could throw their completed workbooks on the fire. Anyway, the idea is to stay up through the long night of the year and watch the sunrise. FINALLY the days will start getting longer, ooooh yes, much with the sun shining and warmth, and the motorcycling. I'm looking forward to that.

Next on the calendar is Festivus, that's the 23rd. You may not think it's a real holidy, but we enjoy it.
Then on Christmas Eve we will be heading to the Aged Ps' house for the rest of the holiday stuff.

Today we are delivering Christmas cookies and what not to our neighbors, aren't we kind?
Also, here is a gingerbread house we made. Aren't we crafty and festive?

Alright, given my usual frequency of posting this may be it till after the holidays. Hope you all have a grand and glorious occasion with lots of good food and fun times.

Mwah!

I must say, it's been a good day...

Today we went to a concert and then to eat at Tutta Bella, authentic Neopolitan pizza, mmmmm.
It was lovely and we had good friends with us, which made it even better.
Two of our friends are staying the night with their 4 month old little one who is completely precious. So tomorrow is going to be awesome as well!

In other good news...
well, first I guess I ought to catch up with the bad news.
In October an MRI showed that my mom's breast cancer had metastasized to her brain and she had four tumors.
Obviously, that was the bad news part.

The GOOD news is that a recent MRI shows that three tumors are gone altogether and the 4th may disappear by the time the radiation effects are fully realized and if not then it may be a good candidate for gamma ray treatment.
So...Yay!
That is somewhat qualified good news.
Here's to hoping, hm?

One of my favorite Christmas tunes

What can I say? I'm a child of the 80s.

Who am I?

Another stroke of genius from Toothpaste for Dinner

It's Mr. Logo's birthday...again!

He is getting so OOOOOLD!
:p

This is the third time I've celebrated his birthday in blog.
Here's the first time,
and here's the second time.

This has been an exciting and interesting year.

Here is a pic of Mr. Logo in May on a motorcycle trip with some buddies in May.

Then there was the motorcycle trip with the family in June.
Seen below attempting to sacrifice his children on a Stonehenge replica.

What can I say, there is some stress involved in traveling with children.

He's had an interesting year. He just celebrated a year at his job, quite the change from the military. He has survived 17 years with me, an amazing feat of strength and flexibility. He managed to squeeze a couple thousands miles of motorcycling in this year, and a lot of those were with the full entourage which is no small feat.

He hardly missed any of Thing One's baseball games, even with his insane commute. he also managed to take the Things fishing a lot, and he reads to them almost every night. He is really a good daddy.

He's a pretty good husband too, fun and interesting to talk with, understanding and supportive, and more often bemused than bemoaning.

Yup, he's mostly an all around amazing guy.

Happy birthday, baby, I love you!

Wow, can you believe it's December already?

That means its time to get the Christmas decorations out, and hope we have good weather to do a solstice bonfire. Then there is Festivus, the 7 seafood Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas with the family and Boxing Day to celebrate.
Are you getting into it all or are you a grinch?

I'm not only not a grinch, I'm also a gingerbread house, so there!

You Are a Gingerbread House

A little spicy and a little sweet, anyone would like to be lost in the woods with you.

What Holiday Food Are You?

Mr. Logo brought home a book a while ago

and ya know, it's a lot of fun. Check it out!

Editorial Reviews from Amazon
Book Description

For most people spending time in the bathroom has become just plain dull. Now there is finally a way to alleviate the tedious task of using the toilet with this quick-fix mix of pop culture, trivia, fiction, humor, history, quizzes, and wordplay. Amazing distractions to help pass the necessary time: - How to build an igloo - 12 reasons ya gotta love Alabama (and other states of the Union) - Obscure Aesop Fables-what Aesop didn't tell you - Everything you didn't know about butter - Ben Franklin's naughty advice on taking a mistress - A concise history of bathroom graffiti - Food, Law, or Ailment: A Latin Quiz - How to translate diner lingo Composed of jokes, stories, sayings, facts, and other quick-read articles, the Companion is sure to cause a big splash in the smallest room in the house.

It time for the whole famn damily to celebrate

Thanksgiving.

There are about 40 of us getting together today. The vast majority of us are smartasses, as evidenced by the picture below, from a previous T'day.

It will be a fun day of family togetherness. Most people in my family truly really enjoy one another so I'm actually saying that straight, no sarcasm.

Here is a pic of Mr. Logo and the esteemed elder sister exchanging recipes amid the remnants of the feast.

I hope you are all feeling thankful for something.

A friend just sent us...

this photo of our little family arriving at the picnic held in Oregon at the end of the riding season.

Feel free to mentally add a soundtrack.

Here was one of the coolest thing about riding with this group;

they were not scary biker people!

Now Mr. Logo, who doesn't particularly frighten or alarm me, apparently feels comfortable with a broader cross-section of the biking population than I do. There are some bike rallies and events where I feel incredibly out of place, and maybe that is just because of my petty hang ups but...

I really enjoyed this group of riders.

I am looking forward to more riding and seeing them again next year.

For now Red Molly is all winterized and tucked away in the garage but my helmet is still hanging on the hall tree and whispering to me on occasion.

I have to say, taking up riding a couple years ago is one of the best things I've done in a long while.

Musical Monday

Wreckless requested some classic alt and I decided to oblige him.
I couldn't pick just one though.

Rockaway Beach

London Calling

I didn't believe in reincarnation in my last life either.

There are a couple other things I don't really buy. For example, listed below are the character traits listed for a star sign. Any guess on which group of people it might purport to describe?

• Positive Traits: Honest, open-minded, straight forward, ethical, charitable, generous, good sense of humor, sexual.
• Negative Traits: Exaggerating, blunt, impatient, pushy, tactless, restless, talks way too much, and rebellious.
• Likes: A sense of adventure, Honesty, Freedom, Intellectual compatibility, Taking risks, Flirting, Socializing, Feeling trusted, Active partner, Daydreaming
• Dislikes: Routine, Being doubted, Having to explain self, Control, Being forced to make promises, Apathy/laziness
• Ideal Careers: Veterinarian, Priest, Lawyer, Writer, Teacher, Athlete, or Small Business Owner
  

Think you know that one? How about this one?

• Positive Traits- Playful, friendly, spontaneous, caring, devoted, liberal, understanding, tolerant, benevolent, charming, patient, free-spirited, independent and open minded.
• Negative Traits- Erratic, undependable, self oriented, cold, aloof, mean, self centered, and judgmental, fickle. May have equilibrium issues with a propensity to run into objects or fall out of chairs.
• Likes- Friendship, Freedom, Intellectual stimulation, Camaraderie, Surprises, Heavy drinking, Companionship, Feeling understood, Emotional safety.
• Dislikes- Jealousy, Possessiveness, Control, Ego plays, Pointless meetings, Narrow mindedness, Being ridiculed, Routines, Fighting/violence, Inequality, Being taken for granted
• Ideal Careers- Astronomy, Scientist, Aviation, Admissions, Photography, Acting and Music.

I don't believe fortune cookies either.

The other night I was making sausage and tomatoes in a red wine sauce and while it was simmering I got involved in something else and sort of, well... forgot about dinner.
Mr. Logo came through the door which reminded me that there was, in fact, a world outside my own mind and so quickly made my way to the kitchen where my sauce had become a thick reduction. It's a good thing I caught it just then; it would have burnt within a minute or two. Mr. Logo watched all this with a bemused expression on his face and I explained, "I uh, got distracted."
"I know," he said. "That happens, it's just another charming part of who you are."
Feeling understood, and appreciated, and loved I said,
"Really?"
He shrugged, "Well, it seemed like the appropriate thing to say."


There is a moral in that story somewhere for someone. I'm just sure of it.
Alternately, I'm just rambling and...oh look! A chicken!

We're sorta kinda mostly done, in a way...

This is how my breakfast room looks now.

The bamboo flooring is lovely and the walls and trim are just about done.

The baseboards still need to be painted and reinstalled and there are some curtains yet to come.

We are going to replace the chairs, possibly the light fixture, and put some cute storage cabinets into the room as well but I already love it. The absence of pink probably has a lot to do with that affection.

Here is the flying frog in his new home; he seems comfortable.

Oh, and it's Monday again, so here is some music,

by special request of Diesel (blame him).

My blog pal Susie

does Musical Monday, and well, I'm a little behind schedule.
This is Carbon Leaf (and their myspace, which I only post so you can hear some tunes and this should not be considered an endorsement of myspace).
They are going to be on the Ships and Dips cruise with mah boys, if their music was not already reason enough to love them they also keep good company.


"Life Less Ordinary"
Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me
Live a life less sedentary
Live a life evolutionary with me
Well I hate to be a bother,
But it's you and there's no other, I do believe
You can call me naive
but...I know me very well (at least as far as I can tell)
And I know what I needThe night you came into my life
Well it took the bones of me, took the bones of me
You blew away my storm and strife
And shook the bones of me, shook the bones of me
By the way, I do know why you stayed away...
I will keep tongue-tied next time
Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me
My face had said too much
Before our hands could even touch
To greet a 'hello' (So much for going slow...)
A little later on that year
I told you that I loved you dear
What do you know?
This you weren't prepared to hear
I'm a saddened man, I'm a broken boy
I'm a toddler with a complex toy
I've fallen apart, since the ambush of your heart
The night you came into my life
Well it took the bones of me, took the bones of me
You blew away my storm and strife
And shook the bones of me, shook the bones of me.
By the way, I do know why you stayed away
I will keep tongue-tied but...
Honey understand, honey understand
I won't make demands
Honey understand, honey understand
We could walk without a plan.
Honey understand (honey), honey understand
I won't rest in stone all alone
Honey understand, honey understand
I'm all ready to go
But you already know...
Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me.
If I could name you in this song
Would it make you smile and sing along?
This is the goal: to get into your soul
If I could make you dance for joy
Could that be the second-chance decoy?
The bird-in-hand I would need
To help you understand?
The night you came into my life
well, it took the bones of me, took the bones of me
You blew away my storm and strife
And shook the bones of me, shook the bones of me
By the way, I do know why you stayed away
I will keep tongue-tied next time.

The way things are

The way things ought to be

Madeleine L'Engle died...

and I only just found out. She passed away in September. Most people know her best for this book,

and perhaps this one.

but she wrote many other things and her thoughts about science, art, and faith have resonated with me in a way few other authors or poets ever have. She said all good art is Christian, though not all Christian art is good. She said this because she believed that the creative spark and impulse was, in the most literal sense, mankind displaying the image of a creative supreme being.

Here is a quote from her, “Bad art is bad religion, no matter how pious the subject.”

Anyway, here is one of her poems that I really like.

Pharaoh's Cross

It would be easier to be an atheist; it is the simple way out.
But each time I turn toward that wide and welcoming door
it slams in my face, and I- like my forbears- Adam, Eve--
am left outside the garden of reason and limited, chill science
and the arguments of intellect.
Who is this wild cherubim who whirls the flaming sword
'twixt the door to the house of atheism and me?

Sometime in the groping dark of my not knowing
I am exhausted with the struggle to believe in you, O God.
Your ways are not our ways. Your ways are extraordinary.
You sent evil angels to the Egyptians and killed;
you killed countless babes in order that Pharaoh,
whose heart was hardened by you (that worries me, Lord)
might be slow to let the Hebrew children go.
You turned back the waters of the Red Sea
and your Chosen People went through on dry land
and the Egyptians were drowned, men with wives and children,
young men with mothers and fathers (your ways are not our ways)
and there was much rejoicing at all this death,
and the angels laughed and sang, and you stopped then, saying,
"How can you sing when my children are drowning?"

When your people reached Mount Sinai you warned Moses
not to let any of them near you lest you break forth
on them with death in your hand.

You are Love, and you command us to love,
and yet you yourself turn men's hearts to evil,
and you wipe out nations with one sweep of the hand-
the Amorites and the Hittities and the Peruzzites-
gone, all gone. It seems that any means will do, and yet-
all these things are but stories told about you by fallen man,
part of the story (for your ways are not our ways)
but not the whole story. You are our author,
and we try to listen and set down what you say,
but we suffer from faulty hearing and loss of language
and we get the words wrong.
Listen: you came as one of us
and lived with us and died for us and descended into hell for us
and burst out into life for us:

Do you now hold Pharaoh in your arms?

Yeah huh! It IS a word!

I find as a parent my vocabulary is sometimes limited by what I am willing to have my children hear. Therefore when I find words that are expressive and satisfying and yet not likely to get either myself or my children in trouble I am pleased.
For several years one such word has been,
asshat.
Recently Mr. Logo was debating whether or not asshat is a real word.
I submit to you all that it really, really is, and here is some evidence to support my claim.

Definitions found on Urban dictionary
1. ass-hat
A general term for someone who carries out actions with such stupidity that they might as well wear their ass as a hat.

2. ass-hat
One whose head is so far up their rear end it could pass for a hat; used to describe a person who is stubborn, cruel, or otherwise unpleasant to be around.

4. ass-hat
Someone so incredibly stupid and/or ignorant that everything above their waist is useless; i.e. a hat for their ass.

According the online fount of all reliable knowledge, wikipedia...

Arsehat is a slightly trendier and less severe variation of arsehole, graphically describing someone who has his “head up his own arse” (i.e., not knowing what’s going on): one is wearing one’s arse for a hat. A more modern usage of arsehat describes a person doing something stupid, and can apply to anyone: “The boss is up to arsehattery because he broke the computer even though he knew he was doing the wrong thing.” This meaning was popularized by Something Awful character Jeff K. The word is popular in many online communities, serving as a more palatable version of its antecedent. According to Google’s Usenet statistics, the word only saw a token appearance every day or two starting in July 1999, but following a slow rise in 2002, it entered popular usage in May 2003. As it continued to grow in popularity, arsehat began to be used by online gamers, in first person shooter and massively multiplayer role playing games. It was a commonplace word on servers where vulgar language was not allowed.

An entry in the Mother Tongue Annoyances weblog from March of last year discussed the origins of the word, and sited a much OLDER conversation thread in an archive which had someone questioning it's definition in 2003.

Ok, so, I'm just saying, it's a word, ok, it IS. So there!

P.S.

For those of you who are still popping in on my little blog, I'm very glad to see you and I am reading your comments even though I'm not replying to them much. For those of you who have the details on the current sitch, thanks so much for your prayers and good thoughts and for those of you who keep showing up here even though I'm more absent than present in the blogworld, thank you!

I heart you all!

Sisterly love, personified

This is the Esteemed Elder Sister and I at the orchard when I was last visiting her.

Are we not cute?

Painting

Of all home improvement projects I most prefer painting. We decided to paint our breakfast room and so I went and got a sample of a shade of green that seemed to go well with the palette we are interested in using. After much contemplation and making friends and relatives evaluate colors I decided it was in fact, exactly the right color.

So finally the weekend arrived and I set the Things to scrubbing the walls. Then I painted the ceiling.

The color seemed a bit more minty than I'd intended but I tried my best to rely on bravado and just kept painting. After the ceiling was done I got started on the walls and what to my wondering eyes should appear...THEY MIXED THE WRONG COLOR!!!

That is supposedly the same paint.

Look different to you??

Then I checked the color I had just painted the ceiling. I stuck some on the correct sample color I'd used. You can see how the sample matched the swatch, but the ceiling color, I'd just spent hours applying...did not.After HOURS and HOURS,

a trip BACK to the home store,

redoing the ceiling,

and even a whole 'nother day I finally have the room mostly done.
Mr. Logo will be replacing the flooring next weekend, YAY!

Alright, I have to go now, the Aged Ps are coming to spend the night.

Stuff I hate:

1. Stepping in squooshy things,

2. Forgetting what I was saying midsentence,

3. Getting the wrong paint from the dork at the paint counter, having to drive 30 minutes to go get the right paint, waiting for over an hour while the paint clerk tries three different ways to GET the color I want and THEN driving back home and being late to get my son from the birthday party he was attending, etc. etc. etc.

4. Long winded complaints.

I like this shirt.

And, for those of us who enjoy poor translation humor, here are a couple bumper stickers.

It's HUMP day, go forth and behave appropriately for the occasion!

"File that...

in the Look at Later folder."
I actually have one of those.
Today I'm going to pull out a couple of links from that folder and share them with you,
because you are special, and I'm not just saying that.

Here is a list of 50 things you should know by the time you are fifty.

Here is a BBC website to work on various basic math and English skills, really good for kids.

Here is a group of people who spread only love, love, love.

My beloved, and much linked Shakepearean insulter.

A daily puzzle, like a tasty lil appetizer for your brain.

Lastly we have my little addiction. Just because we don't do Dish Network anymore doesn't mean I don't get my fix.

55 Flash Fiction

"No" she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not related."
But golly, what an original thought, she added mentally. The inevitable explanation followed because evidently she was lacking a keen grasp of the obvious.

WhatEVER, she thought; I have a better tongue, better hair, and between that and my mastery of make up essentials?

No contest!

lil trips are fun!

We went down to Portland for a little motorcycle thing. It was great weather and good fun.

One of my bike trip rules (in addition to stopping every hour or so for stretching and caffeine, and regular candy and gum at gas stops) is that hotels should have pools so there is a good way of working off all the pent up energy The Things thoroughly approve of this rule.
Family time is a good thing.

P.S. I know I haven't been a great blog buddy, but it's not tht I don't love you all, I really, really do, lots and lots. I'm just busier than a body oughta be and trying to get it all done.

I don't see what the big deal is!

I overheard some people talking about math and how hard it is and stuff, and I have to say, I think people overthink these things sometimes.

OUCH!

I used them to open a box and dang it, I cut an inch long gash into my index finger.
It hurts to type now. Susie is going to see retribution in this, I suspect.

Oh, oh, it's also Lime's birthday!

Wow, a post two days in row, hold me back!

The Esteemed Elder Sister, her two offspring and yours truly managed to successfully negotiate a day of shopping and in reward we decided to drop by my tea shoppe. Since I had spent the day shopping and had nothing to show for it I decided to buy a couple tins to help organize my tea cupboard. It may not look GREAT now, but you should have seen it before!
Next we have birthday gift. My Limers, the pretzel queen, is having a birthday this Friday and since she will be gone, and there is no way her gift will arrive before she leaves, I thought I would post this pic so she can enjoy it after a fashion. These are notecards, from one curly girl to another;

If you couldn't quite make them out it says, "Her life, like her hair, had become unmanageable."

Hope you have a very happy birthday, Lime!

Speaking annual remembrances, I forgot my blog's birthday. It's two now. This blog started out as a dog blog, which is a piece of information that comes in handy if you ever archive dive around here.

The highlights of the last two years...

(just pick one or two, there should be something to interest everyone, I don't actually expect all of you to check each and every link)

Nutella, Ariella, political humor, apolitical humor, Confessions, poetry, flash fiction, trivia quizzes, red hair and naked flesh, music, religion, clumsiness, motorcycles, unusual holidays, scenes of domestic bliss, memes, and beaches.

It's Monday

let's be musical for a moment. Here is a song I quite like:

That I would be good even if I did nothing

That I would be good even if I got the thumbs down

That I would be good if I got and stayed sick

That I would be good even if I gained ten pounds

That I would be fine even even if I went bankrupt

That I would be good if I lost my hair and my youth

That I would be great if I was no longer queen

That I would be grand if I was not all knowing

That I would be loved even when I numb myself

That I would be good even when I am overwhelmed

That I would be loved even when I was fuming

That I would be good even if I was clingy

That I would be good even if I lost sanity

That I would be good

Whether with or without you

Now then, this last weekend Mr. Logo and Thing One went off together into the sunset and had a great time together in Eastern WA. Thing Two and I played video games, watched movies, visited book stores and tea shops, playgrounds and generally ran amuck. Also, a friend came by Saturday night and brought hazelnuts he had picked himself. We made a yummy pie and watched MORE movies. Sunday we scampered around with only an hour or so to spare and got the place looking all shipshape for the homecoming.

Oh, and by the way, is it just me that thinks having to break out the lawn mower in October is just wrong? I think I mentioned this last year (hate to be repetitive) but look,

mowing fall leaves just seems WRONG!

Alright, the Esteemed Elder Sister is in town and I'm off to meet her at the mall. Yes, that's right, the mall, because I truly love her.

Have a lovely day!

What day is it?

My normal level of confusion with the whole keeping track of the calendar thing is badly exacerbated by the fact my normal routine had been completely done away with over the last week. Between the Things getting ill and then going to see my sister my sense of groundedness in the I was thinking today was Monday, then I was thinking it was Wednesday...somehow Tuesday got skipped DESPITE the fact it's the right answer. Thankfully, I have a Mint Chocolat™ phone to tell me the date and time and take calls from Mr. Logo informing me about what I am suppose to be doing and why, and how, etc.
Anyway... on Saturday we went to an apple orchard and picked about 65 pounds of apples. We also made our own cider which was delicious!
We also stopped to take a picturesque walk along some train tracks. Because I grew up on an island I didn't have any tracks to play on as a kid and there aren't any in the area we live now either. We had a good time and no one fell into the river so it was officially a fabulous excursion.
The six hour drive home was completely uncomplicated. We made really good time and even managed to get to Seattle around 2:30 just as Mr. Logo was getting out of a meeting and so he joined us on our way home. He even drove for the last hour while I took a nap.
The Aged Ps joined us for dinner, Mr. Logo made a pork loin roast with apples and rice and some yummy asparagus. I made an apple pie for dessert, mmmm.
It was a lovely trip and it is so nice to be home.
Now, what was I suppose to be doing?

The Esteemed Elder Sister...

invited the Things and I to visit her.
So we packed up on Thursday and headed to eastern WA and not just a little east, oh no. We are practically on the Idaho border.
We've been having a great time but on Monday we will be driving back.
It's a mere 6 hour drive.

I love to laugh

Lil Mary Poppins reference there in the title, didja catch that?
I do though, really. Tonight Mr. Logo and I watched a stand up act by Brian Regan.
He is very, very funny. Here is a lil clip, enjoy!

Stuff you never need to hear in stereo...

1. the sound of two Things barfing.

What I did this weekend

Well, I'm afraid I could restrain myself no longer. Sorry, Susie, I had to use the Gingher's on paper, but at least I used fancy paper, right?

Then I went and spent the night at the hospital for a sleep study. Lime wanted pic of me all wired up but after I took the photo it even scared ME, so instead I snapped this one.

That is how one looks after getting next to NO sleep because of being hooked up to a spaghetti platter of wires, carefully scrutinized via night vision digital video cameras, and being told to sleep lying flat. I CAN'T sleep that way, people! I have to curl up with Phil (my body pillow).

Anyway, after I left there, and probably due to the lack of sleep, I got this.

Yup, that's right, I got a tattoo. The little Japanese symbol there means Wicked. You can see the lovely rash left on my chest my the tape used to fasten EKG wires to me. Very, very sexy, I know. It's an airbrushed tat though, it will wash off over the next day or two.

I already have one permanent commitment, to Mr. Logo, I'm just not prepared for another one, it's just too much pressure!!

Flash Fiction Friday

55 word story

Guiltily she glanced around. It was just a small lapse, surely it wouldn’t really matter. After all, it was dark and who was going to see her? Of course she would know, but hey, everyone knows it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission, right? Besides, error was inevitable and isn’t that why confession was invented?

YAY!

The deer are back!

They are eating all our bird seed,
snacking on rhody clippings,
annoying the dog,and just being about as cute as possible.
Say it with me now, "Aaaaaaaw."