Kathy At 49

The End

2009-01-13T15:40:00.000-06:00

A little over a year ago I heard a radio program that changed my life.

When I listened an interview on NPR with Jen Mac, where she talked about her year-long project to do a new thing every day, I was fascinated. I was almost ready to turn 49 and I wondered if I could pull off a similar project. In less than a week I set up a blog (although I barely knew what a blog was!) told all my friends what I was doing, and solicited ideas for activities.

Now, a year later, the project is done. Three hundred and sixty-six activities (plus a bonus one) have been completed. I'd like to say thank you to everyone who's read this blog or left a comment. I've "met" so many wonderful people along the way.

The biggest thank yous, though, have to be for my family and friends. Hubby Tony was my partner in many of my activities, provided lots of moral support, and patiently put up with my daily writing. Sons Tony, Brian, and Donald also participated in a few enterprises, and supplied me with lots of ideas.

My wonderful friends kept me supplied with ideas, encouraged me, and were always ready to embark on activities with me. In no particular order, they are Dani, Kathy C, Dana, Stephanie, Patty, Debbie, Nicole, Peter, Joe, and Denise. If I've forgotten someone, I apologize; let me know and I'll include your name.

I'm finished posting here, but now I'm sort of addicted to blogging. If you're so inclined, you'll be able to find me at my NEW blog, The Second Half of My Life. I won't be posting everyday; I'm aiming for quality rather than quantity.

Bonus New Thing #367--Ducky

2009-01-12T21:50:00.019-06:00

Even though it's past my birthday, my trip still has a day to go; I can't finish yet!

After yesterday's full day at Epcot, I had hoped to sleep in. However, our hotel is expanding and the construction site we could see from our window, which was closed down during the weekend, started up again right at 7:30. I tried to go back to sleep, but it was impossible. Since Tony was already up, I decided to join him.

Our first objective was breakfast. We decided to eat in the hotel, at the B-Line Diner. Afterwards, because we could, we put on our suits and used the hotel's outdoor pool and hot tub. Even though the air temperature was in the 50s, it wasn't a problem; the pool was heated, and the hot tub felt great. The only bad part was getting out!

After we got dressed, it was down to the lobby to watch the March of The Peabody Ducks. I've seen the ducks leave their fountain in the hotel lobby (both at the original Peabody in Memphis, and on the day we arrived in Orlando), but I've never seen them march to the fountain at the start of the day.

Every day at 11:00 A.M., the Peabody Ducks are escorted from their penthouse home on the mezzanine level to the lobby via elevator. To the sounds of the King Cotton March by John Phillip Sousa, the ducks proceed down a red carpet to the hotel fountain. They're accompanied by their "Duckmaster", who makes sure things go smoothly.

This was one of the funniest things I've ever seen! At night, the ducks walk down a red staircase and leisurely stroll the red carpet back to their elevator to go home. In the morning, as soon as they turn the corner from the elevator they start running to the fountain; that's where their food is!

New Thing #366--Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow

2009-01-11T23:08:00.013-06:00

When Tony was revealing all his secrets last night, he told me that we were going to a Disney park today; I got to choose which one. The pressure was on, but after much deliberation I decided on Epcot (the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). I chose it mainly because it had the latest closing time, and I wanted to do as much as I could on my magical day.

I'd seen the ads on TV about getting into Disney free on your birthday. Tony had, too, and had completed all the steps for me to be their guest. After I turned in the certificate at the Will Call, they gave me my ticket, and wrote my name on a "Happy Birthday" button. Almost every Disney employee I saw (and a few guests, too) wished me a Happy Birthday. At one attraction, I was told the office had a message for me; I picked up a house phone, dialed a number, and listened to Goofy tell me to have a great birthday!

On our last trip to Orlando, we went with some friends who had kids the same ages as ours. It was certainly a family vacation; every morning I'd make peanut butter or bologna sandwiches, and fill a backpack with lunch and snacks for the day. We got to the park when it opened, because we needed to be out of there by mid-afternoon to take a break for recharging. The kids had a big say in what activities we did and at what times.

In contrast, my adult day was perfect. The temperature made it up to 80 degrees. Tony and I got to pick exactly what we wanted to do, and when we did it. We got to the park about 11:00, a few hours after it opened, because we went to Mass first. I was a little concerned when our first ride gave us the option of standing in line for 55 minutes, or coming back with a Fast Pass at 3:30 in the afternoon (it was 11:30 at the time), but every other ride had a minimal wait. We did everything we wanted to in both Future World and the World Showcase, had a great dinner in the Moroccan restaurant, and saw the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks at the end of the night.

New Thing #365--Revealed

2009-01-10T15:20:00.001-06:00

Today is the day I went on a mystery trip.

I'm sure if I had tried I could have figured out where we were doing, but I didn't want to. My first clue came in the tram from the parking garage to the airport; the driver asked what airline we were taking. Based on Tony's answer (AirTran), he asked if we were going to Atlanta or Orlando (the two options from the St. Louis airport). When the answer was Orlando, he asked if "we were going to see the "Big Mouse". I asked Tony to stop there, because I didn't want to know.

We did indeed end up in Orlando. The mystery continued when we boarded the shuttle to the hotel. The driver was making several stops, and announced the order before he started. Tony asked me if I wanted to know which one was ours; I didn't. I soon found out, though, that our "home" for the weekend was the Peabody.

Tony had planned everything--he had dinner reservations and a suggested itinerary for the weekend. I think he was glad that the cat was out of the bag, and he didn't have to keep secrets any more.

New Thing #364--Why Yes, It IS All About Me!

2009-01-09T23:55:00.001-06:00

What do you do when you've come to the end of a year-long project? You throw a party for yourself!

The invitation said:

On my 49th birthday last January, I committed to do a new activity every day for a year. Come help me celebrate the completion of my project with food and dancing.

The whole experience was wonderful! Because I wanted to dance, we hired a DJ. Our house isn't big enough for dancing, so we rented a facility. I made mountains of mostaccioli, chopped and blanched veggies, and bought food, beverages, and cake.

Here's the table decorations. I started with paper bags I made myself, then added blades of ornamental grass from my garden that I spray painted gold, and pieces of garland with black "stems" and metallic discs.

I've made food for large groups before, but the events have always been at our house; tonight we had to take the food somewhere else. It was a challenge to keep the cold things cold and the hot things hot. Tony and I both took a car, and they were both filled to the brim!

It took a while to set the room up, but when the first guests showed up it really started to feel like a party. After dinner the dancing started; the DJ played a song from the year I was born and the years I turned 10, 17, and 20. Those were followed by a song from the year I got married and the year each of my children were born. The whole room was dancing along with me.

All too soon the night was over. We cleaned our stuff up and drove home. I'd turn 50 every year from now on if I could have another party like this one!

New Thing #363--Singalong

2009-01-08T21:18:00.000-06:00

I was at home by myself tonight, so it was time for a chick flick. I put on "Mamma Mia! The Movie", one of the DVDs I got for Christmas; in addition to the regular movie, one of the bonus features on the disc is a sing-along version. Tonight I sang with the sing-along version of a movie.

In case you're not familiar with "Mamma Mia!", (which is scripted around the songs of the '70s musical group Abba) it's about Sophie, who wants to discover her father's identity on the eve of her wedding. She secretly invites three men from her mother's past back to the Greek island they last visited 20 years ago. However, in this movie the plot is secondary to the music. There's one great song after another--22 of them, to be exact.

The sing-along feature was great! The lyrics to every musical number were subtitled on the screen, karaoke-style. Since there was nobody else around, I cranked up the stereo, and didn't have to worry that my horrible voice would disturb anyone else. The cats, though, were not amused with my performance:

There was one downside to the sing-along version, though. When I was able to read the words, I realized how some cheesy some of them were. In the song Our Last Summer, they manage to rhyme Paris restaurants and morning croissants. That still didn't stop me from bopping around the family room, dancing and singing.

New Thing #362--It's A Mystery To Me

2009-01-07T19:31:00.006-06:00

I'm going on a vacation this weekend. I just don't know where.

Tony has informed me that I have to be ready to leave Saturday morning for a trip; we won't return until sometime late Monday. Today I started packing a suitcase for a mystery trip.

I was instructed to bring:

Jeans (for the airplane!)
Shorts
Jacket or sweater
"Church" clothes
Swimsuit
Toiletries and makeup

Tony is great at planning, so I know everything will be taken care of. I have no idea where we're going, but not knowing is part of the fun!

New Thing #361--Doggie Depiction

2009-01-06T19:51:00.000-06:00

Have you ever seen one of those images made out of text or patterns? I did that today when I made a picture out of text using Word.

Once again, I turned to wikiHow for my inspiration. The process was very easy. After I found a picture (I used clip art), I drew a text box around it, then made the box transparent so the graphic showed through. The next step was to completely fill the text box with small-font size letters. I used the word "dog" repeated over and over. After I typed the first row, I was able to copy and paste the subsequent rows.

Once the typing was completed, I went back and changed the text color; brown for the dog, and white for the background (which made it disappear). The most challenging part was deciding what color to make a letter when only part of it fell into the dog's outline.

When the project was done, I used the Zoom command to make my graphic fill up the whole monitor screen. It looked pretty good!

New Thing #360--Assistance

2009-01-05T16:37:00.001-06:00

When I made the decision to close my tutoring center last year, I knew there would be a small number of students who wouldn't be finished with all the classes for their high school diploma. I told them (and their parents) I would be happy to offer support as they completed the requirements for graduation.

The students were all using a correspondence curriculum. They worked at their own pace, and the tests were mailed to the school as they got completed. However, one of the purposes of my center was to provide encouragement and assistance to the students. Now they'd be doing the work on their own.

Today was the first day back to school for many schools, and the first time I met one of my former students to answer questions he had about a test.

We arranged to meet outside the library of the community college that's closest to his house. He arrived right on time, and we went into the library to find a table. I was impressed with the amount of work he had done on his own; after I answered a couple of questions, he quickly completed a test. We agreed that he would call me in a couple of days and let me know if he needed help with anything else.

I think I'll be doing this for a couple of months, depending on how many students I hear from.

New Thing #359--Noteworthy

2009-01-04T21:40:00.007-06:00

I volunteered to help Tony wrap up a project at church tonight. He had to remove some things from the ends of each of the pews, organize them, and return them to the proper place. The church is a short drive from our house, so we left shortly before we thought the lass Mass would be finished.

However, when we got there we found out that the Mass, which is in Spanish, was only about halfway through. We took a seat in the back; as the remainder of the celebration unfolded I got to hear Christmas carols sung in Spanish.

I love traditional carols. Although they've been played on the radio since before Thanksgiving, in the Catholic church they only get sung between Christmas and Epiphany (a twelve day period, which is where the title of the song "Twelve Days of Christmas" comes from). It's always a treat to sing and hear them in a reverent setting every year.

Even though tonight the carol's language was unfamiliar, the tunes were still the same. The choir sang We Three Kings and Angels We Have Heard on High; one of the women had a mesmerizing alto voice that harmonized beautifully with the others.

New Thing #358--Kraft It

2009-01-03T16:52:00.001-06:00

Today I learned how to make a paper bag.

I used the tutorial "How to Make a Paper Bag" at eHow, which was very easy to follow.

One bag used a piece of paper 9 1/2" by 15". I found some pieces of Kraft Paper downstairs; each was 8 1/2" by 15", so my bag was a bit shorter than the directions indicated. My bag is also pretty crinkled, because the paper had originally been used as box cushioning, but it was just fine for my experimental purposes.

Other than the paper, all I needed was a ruler, a pencil, and some glue. The project only took about fifteen minutes, part of which was just waiting for the glue to dry.

My new found knowledge may (or may not) come in handy for a project during the next week...I haven't decided.

New Thing #357--The Crib

2009-01-02T21:15:00.007-06:00

Tony has offered to teach me a couple of times before, but today I learned how to play cribbage.

Cribbage is a card game that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations to earn points. A distinctive feature is the cribbage board (which has a series of holes and a set of pegs for each player) that's used to keep score. The object of the game is to obtain 121 points before your opponent does. This is accomplished by "pegging", or moving your pegs around the board.

The major rules of the game:

To start the game, each player is dealt six cards. Both players pick two cards from their hands and place them face down to form a "crib" that's used by the dealer at the end of play. The "pone", or non-dealer, cuts the remainder of the pack to select a starter card, which is used in counting the value of each player's hand and the crib.

The pone lays down the first card, then the players take turns laying cards down trying to get to 31 points. The cumulative value of the cards played is announced as each card is played. Face cards are 10 points, aces are 1 point, and everything else is its numerical value. When a player cannot play a card without the total exceeding 31, that player calls "go" and the opponent continues to play all cards possible.

After all the cards have been played on the table, the second part of the game takes place. Each player reexamines their cards, trying to get points for different combinations of cards in their hands. As points are earned, the peg is moved on the cribbage board.

Tony was a good sport as I tried to remember all the rules and the intricate scoring of the game. He even pointed out some points I missed, even though by some rules he could have taken advantage of my mistake and claimed the points for his own.

New Thing #356--Hand It Over

2009-01-01T20:20:00.002-06:00

Tony and I were walking this afternoon. I wasn't watching where I was going, stepped on a sweet gum ball, and almost fell flat on my face.

(In case you're lucky enough not to know what I'm talking about, a sweet gum ball is the fruit of the sweet gum tree. When the spiky little balls mature, they turn brown, drop their seeds, and fall off the tree. The balls aren't good for anything. The spikes hurt when you step on them barefoot and they don't decompose; they're still hard and firm months after they fall. In normal years there are a good number of balls under the trees in the fall and winter, but this summer we had enough moisture that the trees were able to produce prodigious amounts of fruit.)

After I steadied myself, I took a good look at the brown orbs scattered all over the sidewalk and decided to see how many sweet gum balls I could hold in my hand at one time. I stooped down and started grabbing, picking them up with my left hand and setting them in my cupped right hand.

The spines of the balls stuck together, so I was able to stack them really high. I stopped when I got to 37, but I probably could have gone higher if I'd stacked them more carefully. When I was done, I threw the balls back on the grass where I found them, and continued walking.

New Thing #355--Auld Lang Syne

2008-12-31T23:59:00.001-06:00

I've done a variety of things on New Year's Eve. Many years we've gone to dinners, dances, and house parties with friends. When the kids were younger, we took them to our city's First Night. The last several years we've attended a lockin in conjunction with a group Sons Brian and Donald were involved in; there were parallel activities for parents and children, but both groups came together to celebrate midnight and the turning of the year. We wanted to do something different this year, so when I heard about a promotion by Wehrenberg Theaters, we decided to stay close to home and take in a movie. Tonight I welcomed in the new year by going to a movie, but actually celebrated New Years Eve by dancing in the theater parking lot.

The promotion was a good deal; the package included a movie ticket (for any "9:00 hour" movie), refillable popcorn and soda, and a goodie bag with hats and party favors. We purchased our tickets several days ago, to make sure we got our first choice of movies. When we arrived at the theater tonight, the ticket-taker stamped our hand, indicating that we were entitled to all the extras. It was great to not open my wallet again at the concession stand; carrying our sodas and Diet Cokes, we entered the auditorium and picked out seats.

The movie (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) ran for more than 2 1/2 hours, so it was close to midnight when it finished. In the lobby, our hand stamp got us plastic leis, party hats, and bags containing noisemakers, bubbles, streamers, and party poppers. Although the promotion had indicated that "guests are welcome to stay in the lobby to welcome in 2009", the lobby was practically deserted; everyone was leaving after they received their things. We put our hats and leis on, grabbed our bags, and left too.

Tony and I walked to the car, turned on the radio as loud as it would go, and rolled down the car windows. We danced to techno music for a couple of minutes until midnight, then shot our poppers, threw streamers at each other, and blew our noisemakers at the other people who were still in the parking lot.

After a few minutes of revelry, we realized it was cold! We got in the car, closed the windows, turned the radio down to a reasonable level, and drove away. It was a great night.

New Thing #354--Talk To Me

2008-12-30T17:48:00.001-06:00

Did you know that your computer can talk? I didn't until today, when I used the Microsoft Narrator utility on my computer.

Narrator is a basic Microsoft accessibility option that uses Text-to-Speech (TTS) technology to read what is displayed on the screen. It allows people with little or no sight to use computers that have Windows operating systems.

I had to do two things before Narrator could start vocalizing to me. First, I had to set up the speech properties for my computer, and then I had to configure Narrator itself. I found the Speech Properties folder in the Control Panel (because I still use Windows XP). In the text-to-speech tab, there were three voices to choose from-I picked "Microsoft Sam", and set him to speak at a normal rate of speed.

Narrator was in the Accessories menu, under the Accessibility category. Once you open the Narrator, a dialog box lets you select from several different TTS functions that include, among others:

Announcing events on the screen, where the narrator will read aloud new windows, menus, or shortcuts when they are displayed

Reading typed characters (including every keystroke you make, like shifts, spaces, backspaces, and deletes).

The Voice Settings box lets you adjust the speed, volume and pitch of the voice you've chosen. When the Narrator settings configured and the volume turned up, it was time for me to put Microsoft Sam to the test. I opened a Word document and started typing.

I found Narrator very annoying. It would probably be helpful to someone who couldn't see well, but the voice was way too slow-paced for my typing rate; it tried to keep up, but it couldn't, even when I put it on the fastest speed. When I tried to end the program, it asked if I was sure I wanted to exit; I didn't have to think twice before I clicked "Yes".

New Thing #353--Chill Out

2008-12-29T20:05:00.000-06:00

I wanted a soda with my lunch today. There were some cans in the pantry, but none in the refrigerator, and I think nothing is worse than warm soda. I could have gotten a glass and poured the soda over ice, but today I used everyday ingredients to chill my can of soda in two minutes.

The principle is the same one that I used years ago when we made homemade ice cream. When you add salt to a ice and water mixture, the salt lowers the freezing point of the water, meaning it gets colder than it normally could. Agitating the can of soda makes the whole cooling process go faster.

The steps:

Fill a container with water and add ice to it. (I used a 50/50 mix of ice and water, and performed my experiment in a six-cup measuring cup since I was only chilling one can of soda.)

Add a handful of salt to the ice. (Rock salt would probably have worked better, but all we had in the garage was something called "ice melt"; I didn't know if it would have the same effect. I used table salt, and it did the trick.)

Place your drink in the ice water solution and rapidly stir it around. (My hands were already cold, so I used a wooden spoon for this step.)

Wait two minutes, then test.

I was skeptical that my room-temperature soda could get cold so quickly, but it really worked! Next time, though, I would chill the can another minute, because I like my soda really cold.

New Thing #352--Measure Up

2008-12-28T19:45:00.006-06:00

I've heard that cats can sleep eighteen to twenty hours a day. An intestinal virus has caught up with me, and I've been laying around a lot since yesterday. Today I compared my sleep schedule to my cats'.

Me	*Cats*
7:30 AM--Woke up, rolled over, went back to sleep	Are you kidding? We got up at 4:30, ate breakfast, and then started our early-morning nap.
9:15--Pulled myself out of bed. Pepper was sleeping on my feet. Showered, dressed, and passed Jackson curled up in the hallway as I went downstairs.	Ahhh…nothing like a cat nap. Makes the day go so much faster!
9:45--Made some tea for breakfast, and ate a handful of Cheerios.	The cats thought the cereal sounded like kibbles, and came into the kitchen to see if there was anything for them. They walked under the table a couple of times, and then went to take their mid-morning nap.
10:30--I’m not feeling so good, so I go into the family room to stretch out on the couch. Pushed Jackson out of the way, and take the prime spot in the sun.	Jackson opened one eye, looked at me, and then went back to sleep. After a half-hour, he got up, stretched, and lay back down (with his head facing the opposite direction as before). Pepper tried to join us at some point, but decided it was too crowded on the couch.
1:00--Decided to go to church; although I couldn’t sleep there, at least I wasn’t exerting any energy.	Pepper joined me in the bathroom as I was getting ready, and then followed me into the hall. As I was leaving, he was getting ready to curl up for his early-afternoon nap.
2:00--Went in the car with Tony to run several errands. Dozed almost the entire time.	The cats got fed before we left; expending the most energy they had all day. Afterwards, it was time for the all-important mid-afternoon nap.
3:00--Fell asleep on the couch, and woke up about 4:00 to the sound of dinner preparations. Got up and drank a cup of coffee (which did not agree with me!)	The cats are still missing in action; based on past experience they’re on or under one of the beds in the house
4:30--Back to the family room to stretch out, although for variety I chose the couch on the other side of the room.	Jackson was taking his late-afternoon nap on a blanket which was thrown over the top of the couch. He passed on the opportunity to join me.
6:00--Dinner time. Eggs, sausage, and pancakes for everyone else; one dry pancake and tea for me.	The cats make a couple of passes under the table, looking for crumbs. They don’t find anything, so they left to go curl up together somewhere.
7:15--Finally starting to feel better.	Pepper joins me at the computer, sitting on the desk as I type.

New Thing #351--Going Bananas

2008-12-27T21:52:00.000-06:00

Today I used a food dehydrator to dry fruit.

Son Brian's is a pro with his food dehydrator. His specialty is beef jerky, but he's also dabbled with drying apples and other fruits. For Christmas I got a dehydrator of my own, and I was excited to try it out. I've sun-dried tomatoes a couple of times in the summer, but it's hard to do in the Midwest humidity, and a pain to bring the trays in each night and when it rains. It's also impossible to sun dry anything in our cold winter weather.

A food dehydrator has an electric element for heat and a fan for air circulation. Dehydrators work by increasing air current around food to remove the moist air, which makes the whole drying process is faster and easier.

My dehydrator fit nicely on the island in the kitchen. It has a lid that contains the heater and fan; the lid sits on top of four round stackable trays. (However, I can buy more trays and expand the tower up to 12 layers). It has adjustable temperature settings for herbs, nuts, fruits and vegetables, and meats. Another nice feature is a top handle that makes it easy to check on things by lifting up the entire lid.

Brian was full of information about the dehydrator, the operation of my setup, and the drying process. I barely had to read the manual!

I decided to dry bananas today. They're easily available, inexpensive, and wouldn't take as much preparation as some other fruits. The biggest problem with bananas is their tendency to turn brown. I peeled and sliced them, tossed the slices in an ascorbic acid mixture, then laid them out on two layers of the dehydrator. The slices completely filled each tray.

The directions indicated the bananas would dry in 6-12 hours. However, if the surrounding air is humid, then drying will take longer. Our weather forecast called for several inches of rain over the course of the day, so at the six hour mark the bananas were still quite rubbery. They were also a bit browner than I would have liked, but they tasted good. The fruit flavor was intensifying nicely.

After about nine hours the process was almost complete. I took most of the dry banana chips out, leaving a few that were still sticky. Ten hours after I started, I was cleaning the racks and getting ready to put the dehydrator away.

The bananas had shrunk substantially in the dehydration process. I started with a little over two pounds of fruit, and finished with two cups of chips.

I'm looking forward to drying fruits and vegetables, and making fruit leathers and jerky

New Thing #350--Next Blog

2008-12-26T21:30:00.001-06:00

One thing I enjoy doing is searching within Blogger to find new and different blogs to read. There is a "Next Blog" link at the top of the page that leads you to a random writer's thoughts. Many of the pages are not in English, but that makes it more interesting. It's fun to try to figure out the subject of a post by picking out a word that may be familiar, or by the pictures that were added to a post.

Today I left a comment on a random blog I found by searching within Blogger.

The author that received my comment is a farmer who lives in the United Kingdom. The blog detailed his everyday life, and was written in quite an amusing style. In addition, the photos he posted were spectacular. I commented on a post from a couple of days ago when he wrote about some shenanigans his two dogs got into.

I hope the author enjoys getting a comment from someone he's never even met!

New Thing #349--Swap It

2008-12-24T22:50:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas!

This morning we opened presents within our nuclear family; later in the afternoon the extended family came over for dinner and another round of presents. However, we changed things up this year and we did a rob-your-neighbor gift exchange.

There are infinite variations on the rules of Rob Your Neighbor, so we set ours before we started. Everyone had to bring a wrapped gift--with a price limit to make sure all of the gifts were of similar value. After dinner we gathered in the family room and put all the packages on the floor. There was a wide variety of sizes and shapes.

Each person drew a number from a basket; the person who drew #1 picked a gift from the pile. Starting with #2, each person had the option to select an already-opened gift or pick an unopened gift from the pile. If the person robbed someone of their gift, the one without a gift had two options--take someone else's gift or select a from the gift pile.

We decided that a gift couldn't be stolen more than two times each round, which led to some interesting strategies as the game unfolded. The game started out sedately, but soon got wild as people began to rob others. When all the numbers had been used, the first player got one last chance to take a gift, which led to a domino effect of robbing until all were satisfied.

The most fought-over gifts were a hot sauce set and a fajita cooking set. However, the box full of energy drinks went around the room a bit, and the Cars logo hot cocoa mix set had some fans too. I was satisfied to end up with a Dora The Explorer bubble bath set, and the cow I gifted, while not exactly sought after, made someone else's eyes light up.

After the game was over, there was a bit of unofficial trading going on. Everyone got something they wanted, and we agreed we'll definitely play the game again next year!

New Thing #348--Dinero Deposit

2008-12-24T14:15:00.000-06:00

Nothing says "holidays" like the Salvation Army red kettle; the unofficial start of the season is the sound of the first bell ringing outside a store. I usually try to put something in the kettle a couple of times each season, but today I put a big bill in the Salvation Army kettle.

Or at least it was a big one to me; the largest I normally carry in my wallet. Nothing like the anonymous donor in this story, who dropped $50,000 (five cashier's checks for $10,000 each) into kettles in Joplin Missouri. Having collected money for various charitable organizations over the years, I know that by far the most common gift is a handful of change or a dollar bill. Anything higher than that is cause for celebration.

However, this Thing almost didn't happen. I started trying to find a kettle last week, but there were none to be found! Although I saw stands for kettles outside a half-dozen stores, there was no bell ringer collecting donations at any of them. It turned into a game. What store could I drive by that might take my money? Tony said he saw one in Columbia, but I wasn't with him.

This morning, Christmas Eve, was my last chance. I went to a grocery store early, but once again I just saw an empty red kettle stand outside the store's door. I came home to drop off the first load, and headed out in a different direction to buy more food for dinner tomorrow.

Once again, I was disappointed to see a red stand with no attendant. On a whim, I drove to a third shopping center. This time, I heard the bell ringing as soon as my car got close to the store! I parked in the (very full) parking lot, walked up to the receptacle, and slipped my bill into the very full kettle. The bell ringer gave me a friendly smile, a genuine thank you and a warm Merry Christmas.

New Thing #347--"...Merry Christmas to You"

2008-12-23T21:17:00.000-06:00

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos..."

The Christmas Song (Mel Tormé and Bob Wells 1944)

Today I roasted (and ate) chestnuts.

Earlier this year, I read in the newspaper that Missouri produces a fair number of chestnuts, but they need to do a better job of promotion; nobody I know uses them. (According to this website, U.S. consumers consume 0.1 lb of chestnut per capita, Europeans average 1.0 lb per capita, and Koreans are the world's largest chestnut consumers at 4.0 lbs per capita).

After I read the article I added "roasting chestnuts" to my list of Things to do and promptly forgot about it until last week. I was in the grocery store, saw a bin of chestnuts, and added some to my cart.

The Internet was full of information about how to prepare chestnuts:

The most popular method of cooking chestnuts is roasting.

It's important to puncture or cut the shell before roasting. Use a sharp knife to cut a ½-inch "X" on the flat side of each nut, cutting down to the meat. DO NOT roast a chestnut until the shell has been cut; if the shell is not punctured, steam pressure will build up and cause the nuts to explode.

Preheat the oven to 425 °. Spread the nuts on a cookie sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes (or until the shells open and the nuts can be removed easily). Partially cool the nuts and peel them while they're still warm.

I only bought about a dozen chestnuts at the store, because I didn't know who'd be around to eat them. Turns out that was plenty, because there were only three of us. A couple of hours after dinner, I cut the shells, put the chestnuts in the oven, and set the timer. When they were done, I poured them in a bowl and carried them into the family room. Everyone grabbed a nut and started peeling; since it was my project, I got to peel the remaining ones!

The shells were much easier to peel then I imagined; I found out that the better the cut on the shell, the easier it was to take off. Hot chestnuts peeled easier than cool ones (but were harder on the fingers), so there was a fine line between tractability and comfort.

I was surprised at the texture of the nutmeat. It was much softer than a pecan or walnut, and not at all crunchy. The flavor was sweet and nutty. Overall, quite a treat.

New Thing #346--Towering

2008-12-22T20:02:00.000-06:00

Thursday was the final day for my tutoring center. Although I had been bringing home extra supplies for a week or so, there was still quite a bit to move. At the end of the day, the students helped me load everything into my car before they left. When I got home, I brought it into the house and put all the boxes in a corner of the dining room.

Today's job was to organize the crates so I could take them all down to the basement. First, I took out the things that belonged to me and returned them to their correct place in the house. Next, I grouped the books by category and organized them in crates, and put all the office supplies in a box. The last activity was to take care of all the paper that had accumulated over the last three years. Most of it (student records and completed tests) needed to be shredded before I could dispose of it.

Scolding myself for leaving all of the shredding till the end, instead of taking care of it as I went along, I got out the shredder, set it on the island in the kitchen, and started on the task. Within minutes I had filled the shredder bin, an office wastebasket, with strips of paper. I emptied the strips into a bag and kept going. Soon I had filled every bag in the pantry, and I started stuffing the shreds into folders that were also being recycled. I filled one milk crate with paper-laden folders, then a second, followed by a third. The job took several hours, and every empty milk crate I had!

When I was done, there were paper strips strewn all around the kitchen. Milk crates and bags littered the floor. I swept the floor and threw all the stray shreds into an open bag before I closed it up. The last part of the project involved taking my handiwork to the paper recycling bin at our local elementary school. Before I put the paper in the car, I stacked it all up to see how much there was. Much to my surprise, today I made a tower of shredded paper taller than me.

The tower of paper was tall, but not heavy at all. I was able to take it out to the car in two trips. When I got to the paper recycling bin, I opened the lid, threw the bags of shreds in, and dumped the milk crates. It took all afternoon to create the shreds, but only a few minutes to dispose of them.

New Thing #345--Go Elf Yourself

2008-12-21T20:25:00.000-06:00

Today I Elfed myself.

The ElfYourself site is a cute little site from Office Max. It lets you upload up to five photos, then the people in the pictures show up dressed as elves. After the characters are created, you can have them perform a dance, choosing one of several styles. (And if you don't have enough pictures to upload, the program will substitute "real" elves!)

Here's me as an elf doing my best Saturday Night Live imitation:

The biggest problem is that although you can embed a video, it's only available for about three weeks. If you want to have it for a longer period, you have to pay for the privilege of downloading it to your hard drive.

New Thing #344--Commencement

2008-12-20T17:40:00.028-06:00

Today Son Brian became a graduate of the University of Missouri.

Mizzou is a big school, and even though fewer people graduate in December, there would still be a lot of students for a campus-wide ceremony. Instead, each college has its own convocation ceremony. The one we went to was held this afternoon in Jesse Auditorium.

About 200 students marched in at the beginning of the ceremony, all looking proud to be there. After the opening ceremonies, speeches, and student presentations, it was time for the graduating seniors to walk across the stage and receive their diploma.

The presentations were done by department. As each department was called, the graduates lined up at the steps to the stage. The announcer was at a podium at stage left; at the other end the dignitaries and faculty lined up to congratulate the students. As each student reached the announcer, they gave their name card to her. After she read the name, it took a good 30 seconds for the graduate to walk across the stage and shake the hand of each of the people at the other end.

Some students had quite a cheering section. Others didn't have much at all. There were eight of us (family and friends) waiting to applaud when Brian's name was read. I clapped loudly and gave a polite "whoo hoo". Brian worked hard for his diploma!

After Brian crossed the stage, there were still several departments to go. I began to feel sorry for the students who didn't seem to have someone in the audience to acknowledge their accomplishments. I decided to be a one-person cheering section, and I clapped for graduates who didn't have anyone to clap for them. It actually made the ceremony go faster!

At the end of the presentation of students, they announced the "turning of the tassel", had a short benediction, and then it was time for the recessional song. All of the people in the audience hurried out to meet the new graduates.

New Thing #343--In Love With A Tub

2008-12-19T21:55:00.042-06:00

We're in Columbia, Missouri for the December commencement of the University of Missouri. We will be attending the ceremony tomorrow afternoon, but tonight we're staying at the University Avenue B&B. Our room, the Blue Room, came equipped with a beautiful clawfoot tub in the bathroom. Of course I had to try it out, so today I took a bath in a clawfoot bathtub.

I love a nice hot soak, especially in cold weather, and this tub was long enough that I could stretch out completely. That's quite a contrast to the bathtub in my house, where you can have either your knees or your shoulders in the water.

Of course, what's a long soak without bubbles? Tony and I stopped in a Walgreens after dinner. I checked in several different aisles, but I couldn't find what I was looking for; there was an empty shelf where a selection of bath salts should have been. I had to settle for a small bottle of baby shampoo. When I added it to the water, it foamed up nicely, but the bubbles didn't last as long as they should have.

I filled the tub up as far as I could without water spilling out the overflow drain. The back of the tub was very cold to lean against at first; the water took a while to warm it up. However, once the tub warmed up, it really held the heat.

After I'd soaked long enough to turn into a human prune, it was time to get out. The tub was much higher off the ground than I'm used to. It took a bit of maneuvering to make sure I didn't end up falling on the floor.

New Thing #342--Furbish

2008-12-18T18:17:00.004-06:00

I have several black shirts that are still in good shape structurally, but they're quite faded. When I heard that adding coffee or tea a washer's rinse cycle would restore some of the color, I knew I had to try it. Today I rinsed black clothes with coffee to make them darker.

I didn't have a complete load of dark-colored clothes, so I decided to perform my experiment on a couple of black tee shirts. I wore one of them yesterday, so first I had to make sure it was clean. I got out a bucket, added some detergent, and hand-washed it. This shirt has never been treated so well! For comparison, I got a Mizzou tee out of my closet. The shirt is a few years old and pretty dingy looking.

I put both shirts in the bucket, poured a cup or so of coffee over the top, and agitated them with my hands until the coffee was incorporated. I let the shirts sit for a few minutes, then I squeezed all the excess water out and threw the shirts in the dryer.

I took them out when they were dry and hung them in the laundry room. I was pleased to find out there was no noticeable coffee smell. At first I didn't think there was a substantial color difference, but when I compared the "Before" (above) and "After" (left) photos I discovered the Mizzou shirt was quite a bit darker as a result of its coffee bath. The other shirt wasn't quite as faded to start with; its transformation wasn't as dramatic.

The darker color is temporary; it will rinse out the next time I launder the shirts. I can't see myself using a coffee rinse every time I wash something black, but it's nice to know how to do it.

New Thing #341--Egosurfing

2008-12-17T19:25:00.002-06:00

Son Donald told me in that he saw his brother Brian's name and picture on the Internet (as a result of his participation in a contest for school). I asked Donald how he knew this about his brother; he said he often Googled people's names to see what came up. The concept intrigued me, and I wondered if I showed up anywhere on the Internet. Today I Googled myself to find out.

I typed my first and last name into the Google search bar and hit Enter. There were more than a hundred responses to my search. The first and second hits were profiles for a social networking site; the first was someone with my same name, but the second result was "me".

It was interesting to see other people that had "my" name. There were results for a business owner, a person who works in the medical field, a teacher's assistant, a photographer, and a woman who was inducted into the Old-Time Country Music Hall of Fame. When I expanded my search to include alternate spellings of my first name, I also found a medical technician and a veterinarian.

I was glad to see that none of the sites I checked had mean-spirited or salacious information about anyone who shared my name. I'd like to think that all of the people who share my name are upstanding citizens who wouldn't do anything wrong.

New Thing #340--When You Care Enough

2008-12-16T19:19:00.000-06:00

We're going to a college graduation this weekend, and today I was looking for a card. I went to three different stores, but didn't have any luck. However, at one of my stops the clerk opened up the bottom of the rack and I browsed a "secret stash" of greeting cards.

Card manufacturers mustn't care about December graduates, because they sure don't have appropriate cards on their racks. At my first stop (a "factory" card store) I actually ran into another woman looking for the same thing I was. We commiserated about the poor selection of graduation cards available; I assured her the fancier "brand name" shop down the street would certainly have what we were looking for. Boy, was I disappointed!

The "brand name" store had a small selection of specialty cards in the last aisle, which seemed to be a catch-all category for anything that wasn't Christmas, birthday, wedding, anniversary, or get well. I was amazed at what you can buy a card for now: among others, you can give a card to someone going into the armed forces-a specific card for each branch, a Boy Scouts who's receiving his Eagle Scout award, a Girl Scout who's being awarded the Gold Award, a priest celebrating an anniversary, and cards for people undergoing chemotherapy.

When I asked about graduation cards at the cashier's desk, one of the clerks smiled sadly and said they didn't really have much right now. She walked back to the area with me, though, and showed me what they had. There were specific cards (one for each category) for someone receiving a bachelors degree, a masters degree, or a doctorate. However, I didn't care for "the" card. She also pointed out more generic "congratulation" cards, with no mention of what the person was being congratulated for.

When neither of these were acceptable to me, she opened the drawer underneath the display case and let me look down there. Sadly, there were still no graduation cards. I thanked her for her time, and went to a third store closer to my home, where I gave up my search and bought one of the generic cards they had available.

New Thing #339--Aerobic Advantage

2008-12-15T18:21:00.000-06:00

It’s cold and icy out today, and my foot is still a little bruised and finky, so I didn't feel like going to the gym. I definitely needed some aerobic exercise, though, to counteract all the rich holiday food I've been eating. A little bit of Internet research allowed me to do aerobic exercise at my desk.

There were thousands of results for my search, but this article from GoodHealth.com was exactly what I was looking for. The exercises could be done sitting down; if I wanted to do jumping jacks and running in place (which was what several other articles recommended), I'd go walk on a treadmill!

The routine had seven steps:

Step One - PUMP. Pump each of your arms overhead five times. Pump both arms overhead five time. Repeat for three sets; this should take about one minute.

Step Two - PUNCH. Punch the air across your body 20 times with each arm. Repeat for two sets, which should take about one minute. (Punching has an added advantage - you can work out frustrations with an imaginary foe!)

Step Three - JOG. Point and flex your toes a few times to limber up your legs then jog in place while seated in your chair. If you need more challenge, lift your knees higher. Use a timer, and jog for two minutes. (Note: This is harder than you think! I started out too fast and had trouble finishing.)

Step Four - BIKE. Lift both feet off the floor and bicycle in place. This works better without shoes, so slip them off if you can. If you need more challenge, lift both knees higher. Use a timer, and bicycle for two minutes. (This one is harder than you'd think, too. I had to pace myself to complete the two minutes).

Step Five - JUMP. Cross your arms across your chest and cross extended legs about calf level. To jump, swing arms outward at the same time as you extend legs outward. Jump back to original position. If you need more challenge, lift your arms above your head. You will get even more challenge if you lift your arms above your head and your feet off the floor. Use a timer. Jump for two minutes.

Steps Six and Seven - REPEAT. Repeat Pump and Punch to cool down.

This routine (which I did two times in succession) definitely got my heart rate up! Since I was by myself, I didn't have to worry about looking funny as I punched at imaginary opponents and jogged in place. However, the cat that was sitting on my desk looked mildly alarmed when I started pumping my arms, and quickly ran away when the punching started.

The only problem I had was my vintage desk chair; it's getting pretty creaky and all the movement made it shake even more. I though it might fall apart, so I moved to a kitchen chair to complete my workout.

New Thing #338--Fun On The Freeway

2008-12-14T18:50:00.001-06:00

Back in the summer, I took a walk on a closed road that was being rebuilt and wasn't open to traffic yet. That was practice for today's Thing, where I walked on an Interstate that hadn't been opened to traffic.

I had a lot of company today, though. Highway 40 (also known as I-64) is a major route through the St. Louis area. Parts of the road were built in the 1930s and were overdue for a renovation. The highway department decided it the whole job could be done faster and more efficiently if they completely shut down portions of the highway. They closed five miles at the beginning of this year. (Now that it's completed they're closing a second five-mile section until the end of 2009.)

Before they cut the ribbon for the new section this afternoon they opened the lanes to everyone but drivers. There were organized runs and bike rides in the westbound lanes, but the eastbound lanes were open for anyone.

It was quite a party; there were hundreds of people on the newly-constructed area. I saw people walking, running, bike riding, skateboarding, and even a man on a Segway. There were grandparents, teenagers, young children in strollers, and entire families out for a bike ride or stroll. A lot of people had cameras or video cameras to record the whole thing for posterity.

The highway pavement was in perfect shape. It was nearly white, with no skid marks or oil stains to dirty it. In some places the meridian walls had been chalked and were quite colorful. I found a piece of chalk and added a design to the ones already there.

Although traffic will be using the road starting tomorrow, there's still some cosmetic things that need to be done on this section. Not all the sound walls were up in the section we walked on, and there was some landscaping at the bottom of one of the exit ramps that was waiting to be installed. I'm looking forward to driving on this section soon to see what it looks like from behind the wheel.

New Thing #337--That's Entertainment

2008-12-13T23:50:00.003-06:00

When Tony and I plan our "date night" on Saturdays we always include dinner out, but the rest of the activities vary. In good weather we like to take walks; we often pick a neighborhood we're unfamiliar with to stroll through. When the weather isn't good for being outside, we'll watch a movie at home, go to a movie theater (rarely), or scan the Calendar section of the newspaper for a special event that catches our interest.

Although there's a wide variety of theater companies and venues in the area, for some reason that activity usually doesn't make the top of our list. However, tonight we decided to take in a live performance, and had it narrowed down to two. One was a conventional cabaret show; the second was a bit more edgy play. Tonight we went to a performance of Die! Mommie! Die! by the Stray Dog Theatre at the Tower Grove Abbey.

According to the Website, the play is:

A campy melodrama evoking the 1960’s B-movie thrillers that featured aging cinematic icons like Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Lana Turner. Faded pop singer Angela Arden is trapped in a corrosive marriage to film producer Sol Sussman. In pursuit of happiness with her young unemployed T.V. star lover, Angela schemes to murder her husband. A resentful daughter, an emotionally disturbed son, and a botched acid trip eventually expose all of Angela’s dark secrets.

When we received our programs, we also got a brochure with information about this year's season for the Stray Dog Theatre (SDT), which has been around for six seasons. The plays are a good variety of comedies, musicals, and thrillers, but the troupe also seem to be interested in more than performing. The brochure stated they have a "mission of 'unleashing the art' both onstage and off" through education and community outreach.

Tower Grove Abbey, where SDT performs, is an old church. The Main Stage area had beautiful stained glass windows and comfortable pews with plenty of leg room arranged around the stage. The area wasn't very big; it looked like it could hold about 150 people, and the room was almost full for tonight's performance.

The fast-paced play was hilarious, but pretty R-rated. The two acts went quickly. As the house lights came up at the end of the play I realized I'd had a great evening. All of the actors were wonderful in their roles. They really chewed up the scenery, but in this play that was a good thing!

New Thing #336--Electrifying

2008-12-12T21:00:00.001-06:00

Remember how I fell and hurt my ankle yesterday? It didn't get any better last night, although I figured out it was more my foot than my ankle. This morning walking downstairs from the bedroom was agony. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, but when I moved my foot the wrong way and it hurt so bad I started crying, I knew I should take the time to go get it checked out.

After two hours in the urgent care I found out all I had was a bad sprain; my instructions were rest and ibuprofen. I had big plans for the day that couldn't happen anymore since I couldn't walk. I rested on the couch and snoozed on and off. When it was time to think about dinner, I went to the grocery store where I used an electric cart to do my shopping.

This activity was actually on my original list of Things to do. The electric carts look like fun, but I wasn't sure if it was ok to use them since I'm not handicapped. There's no sign that lists any restrictions, but I felt funny unplugging one and driving away. Not today, though.

Tony came with me to help me pick out the food. He parked the car, and I hobbled into the store. There were several grocery-mobiles available in the lobby; I picked the one that was the easiest to get to, unplugged it and tried to it figure out.

The cart was easy to use. Pushing a lever forward sent the cart in that direction, and pushing it the opposite direction caused it to back up (while making a lovely beeping sound!). It took me several tries to figure out the speed control, as the cart went faster than I would have thought. Turns were easy; the cart just needed a little extra turning room. I actually mastered a three-point turn in an empty frozen-food aisle.

There were a couple of problems, though. It was hard to see things on the shelves unless they were right at eye level. Other shoppers didn't seem to see me; a couple of times someone walked right in front of me and I had to make a quick stop. Passing another cart in an aisle was difficult, especially if a shopper hadn't pulled it all the way over to the side.

Tony and I picked out our lettuce and frozen pizza, paid for the food, and returned the cart. I enjoyed my trip around the store, but I don't know if I'd want to do it on a regular basis.

* * * * * *

We forgot to even bring a camera with us, so enjoy this video.

New Thing #335--In The Studio

2008-12-11T17:11:00.002-06:00

I had plans to do something more spectacular today, but as I was walking to my car after work I tripped and fell. My hands hurt, my ankle hurts, and all I want to do is go sit on the couch.

So, for your consideration, here is the South Park character I created:

New Thing #334--Note This

2008-12-10T17:10:00.000-06:00

In every movie that involves a kidnapping, there's always a scene with a ransom note, where the kidnappers state their demands.

If the movie is really old, or takes place in the past, the note is made from random letters cut from a newspaper, to reduce the chances that the kidnapper's handwriting will be recognized.

Today I wrote a ransom note with letters cut out of a newspaper.

This activity was fun to do, but way too much work. It’s one of those things that seem real easy and quick, but it took me more than an hour to make a short note. I wrote out what I wanted to say, then grabbed the newspapers from the recycling bin and started looking for the letters I needed. I concentrated on letters from headlines, since they're larger and easier to read. A couple of times I was lucky enough to find two letters consecutively so I cut them out together.

As I cut the letters out, I arranged them on a piece of computer paper. Next, I used a glue stick to affix the letters. The last thing I did was take a marker and add punctuation to my letter; I don't think a kidnapper would worry about commas and periods, but I wanted to make sure my letter was correct!

Note: Today's criminals don't have to take the time to cut and paste letters together to make a note. Instead, they can use a Ransom Note Generator like this one to do it for them!

New Thing #333-Giving Credit Where It's Due

2008-12-09T10:16:00.001-06:00

On Sunday I wrote about my commitment to scale back Christmas, and included a list of free holiday gifts e-mailed to me by a friend. The e-mail credited the author, but failed to include the source of the list.

I tried Googling the list by name and the author's name, but came up short. After I published the post, I sent a link to the author, Melissa Mayntz, asking her where the original piece could be found so I could give her credit.

I received her response today:

I'm glad you enjoyed the list of free holiday gifts, and I want to say thank you for offering to give proper credit for the piece... Thanks again, and all the best for a wonderful (and frugal!) holiday season.

Today I went back and revised one of my posts to give acknowledgment to the author of something I quoted.

After I linked to Melissa's article, I wandered around the Website, The Dollar Stretcher, for a while. I found A LOT of tips that will come in handy!

New Thing #332--Slumber

2008-12-08T18:50:00.000-06:00

I've been waiting all year to do this one since I read about it on In The New, the original new thing-a-day blog. Today I took a nap next to the Christmas tree.

We put the tree up in the living room yesterday. Although it's still missing some decorations (each of the boys has a box of ornaments they'll put on the tree as they arrive in town), it looks very nice.

I came home from work feeling like I really needed a power nap before I moved on to the evening's activities. When I nap, I curl up on the couch, snooze for fifteen minutes, and wake up feeling refreshed. Tonight, the soft carpet on the floor in front of the tree beckoned me to lay down and enjoy the glow of the lights, so I just slept in a different place!

I used a pillow from the couch, and spread a soft polar fleece blanket over my body. It didn't take long to doze off. I woke up right on schedule, put the pillow and blanket away, and started to get ready for dinner.

New Thing #331--Give Presence

2008-12-07T19:40:00.001-06:00

I received an e-mail that said:

Take a few minutes and check out this site--Advent Conspiracy. It could change your holidays!

Today I joined the Advent Conspiracy [AC] to do my part to de-commercialize Christmas.

Advent Conspiracy has four simple concepts. Worship Fully. Spend Less. Give More. Love All. According to their Website, it started in 2006 as a collaboration of four churches (one of which is in Chesterfield, MO) that decided to try to bring back the true meaning of Christmas. The point is to spend less on Christmas to be able to give to others relationally and to the poor.

I don't get carried away at Christmas, but it's still a shock when the charge card bill comes in January. There are several people I exchange gifts with because I feel obligated to. Advent Conspiracy suggests buying ONE LESS GIFT this Christmas and reallocating that money to those who need help.

Another one of their ideas is to give the gift of time instead of tangible presents. A friend sent me this list that really sums this idea up:

10 Free Holiday Gifts
by Melissa Mayntz

Add more value to your holiday than any price tag can measure

Holiday gifts may be one of the last things to purchase on a strict budget, but they are often the first things that recipients notice missing, even without ill will. Gift givers whose budgets are stretched this year, however, do not have to play Scrooge with gift lists. These ten gifts are completely free to give and will make a lasting impression both on the giver and the recipient.

1. Companionship

Visiting an old friend or spending a chilly winter afternoon with someone who is unable to get out is a great gift to warm the hearts of both parties. A simple conversation, board game, shared meal, or watching a movie is a great way to spend the time together enjoying the holiday spirit.

2. A Letter

The "happy family update letter" is a popular feature for many holiday cards, but nothing beats a hand-written, personal letter. Longer than a quick note or signed greeting card, a special letter can be reread and enjoyed throughout the holiday season.

3. Coupons

It is easy to draw or print simple personal coupons to give as stocking stuffers or meaningful gifts. A free kiss coupon is perfect for couples, while kids will appreciate a "get out of trouble free" coupon or a "dinner pick" certificate to choose a favorite home cooked meal.

4. Services

Free labor is a great gift to share to help ease that special someone's holiday burden. Offer to shovel snow for a week, baby-sit during another holiday, or share special skills the recipient can use, such as professional advice or tips that are free to give but will be invaluable for them.

5. Quitting a Habit

Making a concerted effort to quit a bothersome habit like biting fingernails, interrupting, etc. is a thoughtful way to show someone that you've been listening to their requests for you to stop throughout the year. Stronger habits such as smoking and gambling may be more difficult to quit, but doing so is an even more meaningful gift.

6. No Arguing

The perfect gift kids can give their parents is a day free from petty arguments and fights. The same concept applies to tense family situations or any social occasion when not everyone may get along, but time free from that tension is a great gift to offer.

7. Pampering

Pampering someone special doesn't have to cost a mint. Offer a neck or foot massage, draw a warm bubble bath, or otherwise treat them like they deserve all of this and more for a thoughtful gift that will be thoroughly enjoyed.

8. Time Alone

Parents especially will appreciate the gift of time alone. Offer to take care of the kids, answer the phone, and deal with any emergencies that crop up in order to give the recipient time to enjoy whatever they want or to catch up with their own to-do list.

9. Day of Chores

A day of chores can be a useful and productive gift. Whether it includes daily tasks such as cooking a meal and cleaning the kitchen or too long delayed chores such as cleaning out the garage or attic, offering a 24-hour period of complaint-free servitude is sure to be appreciated.

10. Forgiveness

The holidays often bring family and personal problems into the spotlight when fights break out or estrangements become apparent. Make this holiday season extra special with the gift of forgiveness, and move past disagreements to welcome the new year with a new attitude toward one another.

There will still be presents under our tree this year, but I'll also be trying to rethink what I want Christmas to be about.

New Thing #330--Fold "Em

2008-12-06T12:50:00.001-06:00

Today I learned how to make animals out of towels.

I've been on a few cruises, and I always looked forward to seeing what and where our bath towels would be. The cabin stewards made great-looking animals, often incorporating things they found laying around the cabin. Once they used a pair of sunglasses and gave the animal "eyes". Most of the time the towel animals would be on the bed, but occasionally they'd be hanging from a towel rack or hanger, or laying on a shelf in the closet.

wikiHow had tutorials on making an elephant, monkey, cat, lobster, swan, or dog. Some of the animals took more towels than I had available, so I decided to make a swan and a dog.

The swan used just one towel:

The dog was made from one bath and one hand towel. My hand towel was printed on one side, so you can see a bit of the color peeking out:

It took me a while to get the hang of this. It was hard to roll the towels tightly and keep them folded when they were supposed to be. I guess those cabin stewards have a lot of practice to do such a good job!

New Thing #329--Beautify

2008-12-05T22:10:00.001-06:00

I was shopping at the mall today. After I finished the things I had to do, I decided to do something I've always thought about doing. I made myself up using samples from cosmetics stores.

My "makeup" consists of sunscreen, mascara, and Chapstick. I haven't worn foundation, blush, eye color, or lipstick in several years. Cosmetic counters at department stores intimidate me, but I felt brave today. The store I picked sells nothing but cosmetics, and is known for having a lot of products (from different companies) on display, so you can try everything.

I stepped into the store, and was immediately greeted by a salesperson. After we exchanged pleasantries, I started looking at the foundations. As soon as my hand touched one, she was ready with a applicator. She squirted out a dab, rubbed it on my jawbone, and said it looked "great". I'm sure she had visions of ringing up the sale, but I couldn't see the part of my face she'd covered, so I asked for a little bit more to put on a visible area. She didn't hesitate, and gave me so much I was able to apply it to the rest of my face.

When I was done, I told her I needed to walk around for a while to see if the foundation worked well on my skin. As I was leaving the store, my skin felt oily and greasy. This foundation was certainly not for me! At the next store I went into, I was pleasantly surprised to see a self-serve makeup counter near the entrance. I used a few swipes of blush to complete my look.

New Thing #328--It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

2008-12-04T18:00:00.001-06:00

I was getting out the boxes of Christmas things this morning. There's one huge cardboard box that contains the tree, and quite a few plastic tubs that contain decorations, lights, and ornaments. Tucked way in the back of the closet is one box that has older things (most of which the boys made in preschool and elementary school) that I can't bring myself to get rid of, but that we don't use any more.

Because I didn't want to tackle the decorating job by myself, I opened this last box and took a trip down memory lane. There were an assortment of hand-made Advent wreaths, sock dolls, and pine-cone ornaments. However, one thing really caught my eye; it was a Christmas door hanger made with manila rope, red ribbon, and jingle bells. The rope was braided together and tied with knots on each end. I decided that this hanger would see duty this season; I went out to the garage and put a Christmas decoration on my car.

I draped the rope over the driver's side mirror, and secured it with some green garden twine. The extra color made it look even more festive:

As I was driving around today, I could see the rope clearly every time I looked in the mirror. Since the window was closed, I couldn't hear if the bells were making a noise, but they definitely jingled each time I opened and closed the door!

New Thing #327--Incompatible?

2008-12-03T19:00:00.001-06:00

When I opened the refrigerator at lunchtime today I heard the leftover pumpkin pie calling my name. However, I'm trying eat healthy meals at home to counteract all the holiday eating out (and I really don't think there's enough pumpkin in a slice of pie to count as a serving of vegetables) so I continued my search.

The fruit and vegetable bins were full, but the refrigerator shelves were pretty bare. One thing we did have was yogurt, both plain nonfat and fruit-flavored.

I enjoy eating yogurt. One of my favorite snacks is a cup of fruit-flavored yogurt mixed with uncooked oatmeal and a spoonful of cocoa powder. It keeps me full for a long time, and takes care of my chocolate cravings.

I also like plain yogurt. I use it in place of sour cream on baked potatoes and chili. Sometimes I add cut up vegetables, or mix it with salsa and cumin when I want a light meal. That's what I decided to do today; after the yogurt and salsa were mixed I realized I wanted to add some fiber. We were gifted with a "Sams-sized" box of instant oatmeal last weekend, so I grabbed a packet of Original flavor, added it to my yogurt, and mixed it in. Today I ate oatmeal with salsa.

It was ok, but not great. It's almost like a non-transitive paradox--if two pairs of food go well together, it doesn't necessarily mean that putting them all together will be good. I realized that I associate oatmeal with sweet, not savory seasonings.

I don't think I'll be recreating this dish any time soon.

New Thing #326--Fragrance

2008-12-02T18:07:00.002-06:00

I have a problem with perfumes. When I'm close to someone who's drenched in scent I get a headache and feel wheezy. It even bothers me when the scent is on my own body; consequently, I don't wear fragrances. However, today I used the "cook's perfume" when I wore vanilla extract.

I love the taste and scent of vanilla, and usually add a dash in sweet dishes, even when the recipe doesn't specifically call for it. As I was cooking today, I wondered what would happen if I used the extract as a fragrance.

According to the label, my pure vanilla extract contained water, alcohol, and vanilla bean extract. I took the cap off the bottle and dabbed a bit of it behind my ears and on my wrists. At first there was no noticeable scent, but when I used a second dab, it smelled wonderful! A couple of times during the day I thought I smelled something baking, then I realized IT WAS ME!

New Thing #325--Otherwise Known As Braces

2008-12-01T17:08:00.000-06:00

I got out a bag of Christmas clothes yesterday, and I found a pair of suspenders I'd somehow acquired a couple of years ago. They were adjustable, one-size-fits-all red elastic with Santa heads running down the length. I don't recall ever using them, but I did today when I wore suspenders.

I clipped the suspenders to my pants in the front and the back. My shirt needed to be tucked in, which was a problem after too much Thanksgiving! Thank goodness for stretch denim.

I didn't even have to unhook them when I used the rest room; I was able to slip them off my shoulders and pull them back up when I was finished.

New Thing #324--You're Invited...

2008-11-30T20:50:00.000-06:00

I've started to plan for a celebration for the end of this project. Today I created an Evite invitation.

Evite is an online personal party planning service. Although I was familiar with the invitation component because I've received them in the past, I was surprised to see that the Website also has entertaining tips and party planning tools (a budget estimator, a drink calculator, and a checklist for tasks). Everything in one place!

There were hundreds of invitation templates to choose from, arranged by category. After I picked one, I customized it with the location, date, and time of my event, and included a message at the bottom of the page. It was a bit of a pain to add e-mail addresses to the guest list (evite wouldn't play nicely with my personal e-mail contact book), but with a bit of cutting and pasting the problem was solved.

After I had the draft finalized, I sent it to myself to see what it looked like. In addition to the invitation, there's a spot to RSVP, and a guest list. The website keeps an updated list of who's attending and who's not.

I still have a couple of email addresses to gather before my invitation is ready to go out, but it feels good to have most of it done. I'm looking forward to receiving my first replies.

New Thing #323--Creative

2008-11-29T20:04:00.000-06:00

I completely stole today's Thing from Jen at Everyday Giving when I created my own Pringles can.

On the Pringles Pop Art Website, you start with a white can containing only the "Julius Pringles" logo. There are options to choose the label background, text, and images; you can even upload your own pictures! When you're done, you can choose to save it (which donates $1 to the Children's Miracle Network), download the image, or print the label to use on your own can.

Another option is to browse the gallery of already-created can designs, vote for your favorites, or print any of the designs. Some of them were much more elaborate and creative than mine!

This was a quick, easy way to do a good deed and have fun at the same time.

New Thing #322--Adults

2008-11-28T23:30:00.000-06:00

All the boys came home for Thanksgiving...and will stay until the end of the weekend. It's been great having them all here.

Tonight Tony and I went out to dinner at Jake's Steaks on Laclede's Landing with Brian and his friend Nicole, then we all went to Lumiere Place Casino for the first time. This is the first time I've gone gambling with any of my children. As we approached the gaming floor, I stopped and thought about how old my "babies" are getting.

After we entered we all went our separate ways, agreeing on a time and place to rendezvous. Since I visit the casino very infrequently, and I'm quite the low roller, I found a penny slot machine to sit at. That way I could get a lot of gambling for a little bit of money.

On a penny slot machine you can bet one cent for a single line, or add more lines for a higher bet. My 20 lines cost me 20 cents for each spin. At one point my "return" on my initial dollar investment was pretty good; I was able to play for a long time with my winnings. However, that money disappeared, as did a bit more of my bankroll. I was more than happy to quit when it was time to meet up with the group.

The young people wanted to play a bit longer, so Tony and I left the casino and walked over to the Four Seasons Hotel that's attached to the casino. It was quiet compared to the bustle of the gaming floor. There was a cozy fireplace and a wonderful view of the skyline from the reception area. When it was time to return, we exited at the lobby level of the hotel and walked back to the casino.

New Thing #321--Negotiation

2008-11-27T14:06:00.002-06:00

A while back I wrote about my decision to close my tutoring center. Not knowing exactly when I would be completely finished with it, I've not been looking too hard for a new job. However, I got a lead on one last weekend; it would be working with an acquaintance in her office.

The process has been very informal. There was no interview; I got first crack at this opening, and all of the communication has been by e-mail. In the latest message, I was asked what my salary requirements were. I know that's a commonly-asked question, but one I've never had to think about before. Today I discussed my salary requirements for a job.

My job history:

In high school and college I worked at minimum-wage jobs in retail or service positions.
After graduation I taught for several years, and got paid according to the salary schedule.
I took a verrry long break from paid employment after my children were born. When I eased back into the work force, it was at our local parochial school doing playground duty and substitute teaching. There were set amounts for each of these
Next I worked part time in an office. Each of the people working there were part-time, and we all received the same hourly wage.
I started working with a friend at the tutoring center (for a set monthly amount) that I later took over (my compensation depended on how many students were enrolled)

I sent an e-mail asking what the salary range for the job was, then checked a few Web sites to find out what the averages for the type of job I'd be doing. When I got a response back with the minimum and maximum amount they were willing to pay, I was able to let them know the reasons I was worth an amount closer to the higher level, but that I was willing to be flexible.

New Thing #320--Write On

2008-11-26T12:07:00.005-06:00

The One-Minute Writer was a Blogger Blog of Note for November. Although I've read it on a semi-regular basis since then, none of its ideas appealed to me until today, when I participated in a One-Minute Writer Prompt.

The blog's premise:

Who's got the time to journal daily? You do.

1. Read the daily writing prompt.

2. Push "Play" on the timer on the right side of the screen.

3. Spend 60 seconds or less writing a response to the daily prompt.

Beth, the blog's author, offers a daily prompt to help inspire creativity. Today's was Transportation: "Describe your primary mode of transportation. Do you wish it was different?"

Because I wanted to write my response here, I used two screens (one for each blog) so I could still take advantage of the timer. It was quite challenging to write when time was literally ticking away.

After thinking about the prompt for a while, I started writing. This is what I came up with:

My primary mode of transportation is my car.

I don't have to drive very much; many days all I do is go to the gym (5 miles round trip) and work (3 miles round trip). I try to do errands once a week, and plan them to minimize driving.

I wish my area had better public transportation so I didn't have to always rely on my car, but our area defeated a tax increase earlier in the month, so if anything there'll be fewer buses running.

I have to admit that when I was composing, I didn't worry about spelling or punctuation; I went back and cleaned things up in my selection after the minute was up.

New Thing #319--Contribute

2008-11-25T11:25:00.001-06:00

Sometimes new Things just drop into your lap...

I got an e-mail today from Marijean, the STLWorkingMom, which said in part:

I'm writing to invite you to contribute to a wiki -- if you haven't done it before, it could be your new thing for the day. The site is: http://thanksgivingfavorites.wetpaint.com and it's been created to collect Thanksgiving recipes, ideas and memories for family and friends.

How could I refuse the invitation? Today I contributed to a Wiki.

A wiki is a collaborative Web site that anyone can edit; Wikipedia is probably the most well-known (and the only one I've used). Marijean's Wiki was all about Thanksgiving. Wetpaint, the hosting service, allows anyone to create a site, and provides templates to make it easy. They state that there's been over one million social Websites created.

After I registered, I added my contribution. The whole thing was very easy (although at first I had my recipe in the wrong section). There's not a whole lot of entries in Marijean's Wiki yet, but I'm looking forward to checking to see what's there later.

New Thing #318--Experiment

2008-11-24T17:39:00.004-06:00

I generally put my music CDs in a sleeve or jewel box, so I don't have to worry about them getting messed up. However, accidents happen; today I found a disc floating loose in my car. Turning it over, I noticed it was dirty and had several scratches on it. I tried playing it, but it wouldn't play.

Cleaning it didn't work; the imperfections remained on the surface. The disk wasn't essential to my collection, but I wanted to try to fix it. I remembered a friend telling me about a radical repair for malfunctioning media. Today I boiled a CD to remove the scratches.

I put a couple of inches of water in a pan on the stove, let it boil, then added the disc. After approximately 10 seconds I took it out with a pair of tongs, set it on a towel, and patted it dry carefully.

I put the disc in my computer's drive, opened the media player, and hit start. It worked great now! No skipping.

New Thing #317--Well Read

2008-11-23T17:15:00.000-06:00

The retreat ended this morning. We left the retreat center and drove back to the church to attend Mass together. During the service, I served as a lector, reading in front of the entire congregation.

The lector reads two passages from the Bible, as well as intercession prayers, while standing at a lectern (called the ambo) and looking out at the crowd. I didn't have to do the entire job today; another woman did the first reading, and a deacon took care of the intercessions.

At this church, both lectors approach the altar at the same time, bow, then head towards the lectern. I sat off to the side during the first reading; it was my turn when the other lector came and sat beside me. As I approached the ambo, I realized I've read for classroom-sized groups before, but never for this many people, and never with a microphone!

Before I started, I picked out a few familiar faces to look at directly; this wasn't difficult because the women I had spent the weekend with were sitting right in front. I took a deep breath and started, trying to read slowly and sound confident. After I had finished we returned to our seats.

As we were leaving the church, one of my retreatant team members came up to me and told me I did a good job!

New Thing #316--Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

2008-11-22T20:00:00.000-06:00

I'm still in the middle of my weekend experience.

When the retreatants arrived, one of the announcements the director made was that they would have the gift of a "timeless weekend"; they were asked to give up all electronic devices until they left on Sunday morning. Of course, the members of the retreat team can't have timepieces, or the effect would be lost.

Most of the activities are done as a group, so we rely on the directors to tell us where to go and when to be there. When necessary, someone rings a bell to signal gathering times. I never thought about how the directors kept things on track!

One of the activities I'm leading had to end after a certain amount of time. My first plan was to use background music, and listen for the end of a selection to know when the time was up. However, it was decided that the activity should be done in meditative silence.

When I asked how I would know when the time was up one of the directors told me, "look at a watch!" Today I used a watch when it wasn't technically allowed.

I certainly couldn't have the watch on my wrist, but I put it in my pocket until I needed it. During my activity, I sat in the back of the room and surreptitiously glanced at it now and then. Nobody was the wiser!

When the correct amount of time was up, we moved on to the next activity.

New Thing #315--Extreme

2008-11-21T17:05:00.000-06:00

I'm in the middle of a very jam-packed weekend, with early rising times and late bed times. I knew from past experience that I'll get tired just when I need to have my energy pumping, so today I used an energy drink.

Not just any energy drink; I drank an Extreme Energy™ 6-Hour Shot. According to the packaging, it's "The World's Most Extreme Energy Shot!" It contains many vitamins and herbs that are believed to be energy-enhancing, but it doesn't contain sugar.

According to the Website Energy Fiend, a 2 ounce bottle of Extreme Energy 6-Hour Shot contains 220 milligrams of caffeine, substantially more than the Diet Mountain Dew (55 milligrams) or Diet Pepsi Max (69 milligrams) that I usually drink when I need a cold pick-me-up.

The directions on the package said:

For maximum-impact rapid energy: Drink entire 2-oz bottle at one time. For optimal 6-hour duration: Drink contents of half the bottle and reseal. Drink the remainder three hours later.

I was REALLY dragging, so I downed the entire bottle at once. It tasted similar to cough syrup, with a vaguely orange flavor followed by a nasty aftertaste that lasted until I chewed some gum.

The shot allowed me to function well for the rest of the afternoon (actually more than the stated six hours), and they were right-I didn't get a shaky sugar-crash feeling.

New Thing #314--In The Beginning

2008-11-20T07:00:00.001-06:00

I'm off today for a weekend adventure.

Since the middle of August, I've been part of a team that has been planning a woman's religious retreat. I've attended this same retreat, and served on a planning team before, but both have been at my parish. This time it's been for a different church, at a different retreat facility.

I'm actually in charge of a small part of the weekend experience. At the beginning of the planning process, I received a notebook with summaries from several past leaders. They were quite detailed, describing how each activity should flow and how each room should be set up.

As my group was planning for our activities, we consulted the notes; they were very helpful. However, our plans still have holes because we need to decide how things will be set up. Today I get to set something up for the first time.

This morning we get to take a look at the rooms and figure out how to arrange them. Which way the chairs will face? Should we incorporate decorations? Should we use small or large tables?

At the end of the weekend, we'll write a summary detailing what we did. I wonder if future leaders will follow the way we decide to set things up today?

New Thing #313--Don't Slurp!

2008-11-19T12:15:00.000-06:00

Today is a very busy day, with several projects that have to get done. The morning flew by in a flurry of e-mails, housework, and yard work. All of a sudden I realized I was hungry; I looked at the clock and it was lunchtime! I didn't want to stop for a real meal, so I surveyed the pantry to see what was quick.

I found some ramen noodles on a shelf near the back. I'm not a big fan of ramen, but I knew it would be an easy meal. I looked around for a container to microwave them in, and found a carryout bowl from a Japanese restaurant that seemed appropriate.

What goes with a Japanese-style bowl? Chopsticks! However, I didn't want to take the time to dig out a pair. Looking through the drawer, I found something that served the same purpose. Today I ate ramen using a pair of straws.

It actually worked out great. I could use the straws like chopsticks to pick up the noodles, or put the bowl to my mouth and shovel them in. I didn't need to get a spoon for the juice; I just used a straw!

To complete the meal, I added turkey lunch meat to the noodles, and carrot sticks on the side. Meal finished, I moved on to the next thing on my to-do list.

New Thing #312--Neighborly

2008-11-18T21:39:00.001-06:00

I'm a Trustee for my subdivision, because last year at this time a friend who had the position asked me if I would consider taking her place. She had served for several years and wanted to move on.

The job isn't time consuming. We've met a couple of times over the past year to talk about issues, mainly related to the common ground that surrounds a retaining basin. However, the subdivision indentures mandate one yearly meeting that's announced to all homeowners in advance. Tonight I took part in our subdivision's annual meeting as a trustee.

The meeting is held in the courtroom of our municipality's city hall (which is where the Board of Aldermen also meets). The building a restored theater; the courtroom is on the second floor, and there are stairs at the back of the room leading up to a balcony. The dais for the judge (or the Aldermen) is at the front of the room, with tables in front of it; they probably serve as attorney's tables.

Our group sat at the tables, facing the gallery, set out the sign in sheets and agendas, and waited for the homeowners to arrive. Sad to say, we didn't get a large group, although the mayor and one of the Aldermen for our ward stopped by and answered questions.

We quickly went through all the items on the agenda, and asked for comments from the floor. With a small audience, that didn't take long, and the meeting was soon concluded.

New Thing #311--Contest Central

2008-11-17T18:57:00.005-06:00

Today I entered a recipe in a contest.

I chose one sponsored by the California Walnut Board. The contest was called "Smart Holidays Menu Makeover". According to their Website:

The holiday season is celebrated by people of all cultures who share traditional foods and festive times with those they love, but it’s also when they pay less attention to their nutritional intake. The California Walnut Board is encouraging all families to makeover their favorite holiday dishes in a smart way that embraces the taste and tradition of holiday meals while improving their diet.

As stated in the contest rules, the Grand Prizes for the contest are stand mixers, but randomly-picked submissions receive an apron, and every entry receives a promotional grocery bag. Any of those prizes sounded good to me, so I went through my recipe files to find an appropriate one to submit.

I chose a recipe for a quick bread that my Mom used to make every Christmas. Her recipe was loaded with butter and sugar. Over the years, I've decreased the sugar and butter, and swapped out some of the white flour for whole wheat. I still think it tastes good with the changes.

I submitted my recipe online; it showed up on the Website in just a couple of minutes. I guess it's now up to the judges to decide if its prizeworthy.

New Thing #310--Preaching and Teaching

2008-11-16T21:04:00.002-06:00

Today I heard a friend (who happens to be a layman) preach at Mass. This was most unusual, because in the Catholic church, it's usually the priest who does the preaching.

We met Joe and Donna a couple of years ago, through a group that our children were involved in. They attend a church in South St. Louis, and have invited us to come with them several times over the years; when we heard that Joe would be preaching we decided that today would be the day.

The neighborhood where the church is located was about a half hour drive from our house. The church (which is more than 100 years old) is housed in a beautiful old building, but the inside had been remodeled; the building still has stained glass windows lining the walls, but the sanctuary area was simple, decorated with a crucifix and fall decorations.

The parish is considered fairly liberal; lay preachers aren't the only visible sign that this church is different. Every time God was referred to with a masculine pronoun (He, Him, His) in a prayer or a song, it was changed to something gender-neutral. During the Eucharistic Prayer, a section where the congregation usually kneels, we continued standing. At the end of the General Intersessions, which are petitions offered by the priest and the members of the congregation, a parishioner prayed for someone who was ill and starting cancer treatments. She sent around a prayer shawl for the woman and asked each person to pray over it as the Mass continued.

A Sunday Mass has three readings from the Bible. The first two readings were done by laypeople, which I'm used to, but after the priest read the Gospel, Joe got up and started speaking. He did a great job of relating today's readings to everyday life, even including anecdotes from his work life which emphasized his points.

At the end of Mass the priest publicity welcomed all of the visitors (about a half-dozen of us), and asked them to stand up and introduce themselves. We tried to remain anonymous, but Joe spoke up and pointed out me and Tony.

All in all, it was a very interesting morning.

New Thing #309--Out, Damned Spot

2008-11-15T15:05:00.002-06:00

Since we have cats in the house, I'm used to them regurgitating on a semi-regular basis. They spend a lot of time grooming themselves and each other, so they're usually hawking up hairballs, which are accompanied by yellow stomach bile and sometimes undigested food. When it happens, I pick up the solids, then use some carpet spotter that we got the last time the carpets were cleaned; the mess comes right up.

However, when I came home a couple of days ago I saw that one of the cats had nibbled on a houseplant and upchucked all over the stairs. The mess looked like a big grass stain; it was dark green with bits of undigested plant in the middle. (As usual, neither cat would admit to doing it!) I tried to clean it up the usual way, but to my dismay the spotter didn't do much for this mess.

You can see the stairs right when you come in the front door, so the ugly stain was predominant. Tony was hosting his poker group tonight, and I wanted to make sure the stairs were clean.

Unlike a piece of clothing, I couldn't put my carpet in the washer, so it was more difficult to find something that would successfully remove the stain. A little Internet research revealed several options. Today I removed a grass stain from my carpet with normal kitchen ingredients.

eHow suggested I make a paste from equal parts salt and cream of tartar plus a few drops of water, let the mixture dry, then brush it off. I had both ingredients in the spice cabinet. I stirred everything together in a custard cup, spread it on the stain, and left for the grocery store.

When I returned I checked out the stairs. Much to my surprise, the concoction worked! The stain was not completely gone, but it had disappeared substantially. I repeated the process again and the splotch was even lighter in color; it could hardly been seen.

I vacuumed up the dried salt and cream of tartar and decided the job was a success.

New Thing #308--Fascinating!

2008-11-14T16:14:00.001-06:00

I've been seeing this commercials on the Food Network a lot:

I had no idea what it were talking about, so today I learned about umami.

When I was in school, I learned that the human tongue could identify four tastes: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. However, they've now added a fifth taste that's called umami.

According to the UMAMI Information Center, umami is "a pleasant savory taste imparted by glutamate, a type of amino acid...which occurs naturally in many foods including meat, fish, vegetables and dairy products." A Japanese chemist named Kikunae Ikeda coined the word umami in the early 1900s, although it wasn't officially recognized until this decade.

Some sources of umami (compliments of The Nibble):

foods made from fermented beans or grains like soy sauce

foods made from fermented seafood such as anchovy paste and Asian fish sauces

condiments like bouillon cubes, ketchup, MSG, steak sauce and Worcestershire sauce

dairy products such as aged cheeses, blue cheese, yogurt and sour cream

cured pork products like bacon, ham, ham hocks, salt pork, and sausages

fish and fish products like anchovies, dried shrimp, and seafood broths like bouillabaisse, gumbo, and Japanese dashi

meat stocks, particularly beef and veal stock

mushrooms, especially dried

tomatoes and tomato products

***Although it's not technically a food, monosodium glutamate (MSG) has a strong umami taste

New Thing #307--Ponderous Pedestrian

2008-11-13T11:56:00.000-06:00

I came home from an appointment this morning and noticed that the tree in the back yard had shed a substantial number of leaves since I mowed the grass a week ago. In my opinion, it’s a whole lot easier to mow over the leaves than it is to rake them up, so I wanted to pull out the lawn mower and take care of that section of the yard today; the forecast calls for rain tomorrow, followed by colder weather.

I didn't want to walk into the house and go all the way upstairs to the bedroom to get my nasty green-stained grass cutting shoes, so I grabbed the pair that Tony keeps in the garage and put them on. I used them to walk in someone else's shoes while doing yard work.

Tony's feet are substantially larger than mine. Even though I hitched the shoelaces on his shoes up as tight as they would go, I still felt like a clown when I tried to walk. By the end of my fifteen-minute chore I was starting to get blisters on my feet. I was glad to put his shoes away and go back to my comfy ones.

New Thing #306--Transformation

2008-11-12T21:27:00.001-06:00

Today's Thing is compliments of Kathy at Available Light. When I read her post a while back, I thought it was interesting, and filed it for future use. Today I made an inkjet transfer picture.

According to Kathy, I had everything I needed:

an inkjet printer (mine's geriatric, but serviceable)
a good image to work with (or the best of what I've taken!)

I chose a picture from a couple of months ago. Son Donald had been growing his hair out for awhile. He was going to cut it in preparation for a job interview, but wanted a radical style for a day or so before he went "corporate". His brother Tony gladly agreed to assist him; they grabbed the scissors and clippers and went out to the garage. I have a whole series of pictures of the process. This is the first:

After I had chosen my picture, I needed a sheet of inkjet address labels--but just the glossy backing sheet with no labels on it. When you print on the glossy surface, the ink doesn't adhere, but beads up on it; it can then be transferred to a sheet of paper to make the print.

I inserted the backing sheet in the printer, and printed out the image on the glossy side. While the picture was printing, I dampened a sheet of paper. When the printing was finished I pressed the two pages together. The last step was to carefully pull the pieces apart; most of the ink was now on the damp paper.

My first try was very blurry, so I tried again. I wiped the excess ink off the backing sheet and ran it through the printer again. This time I barely dampened the printer paper, and I tried really hard not to smudge the transfer when I removed it from the backing sheet. Here's the result (a mirror image of the original):

I'm not sure if the poor quality can be attributed to my picture taking, my printer, or the fact it was my first time attempting this. It was a very interesting project, though, and I think I'll be trying this again.

New Thing #305--Good Manners

2008-11-11T16:13:00.003-06:00

(In the interests of full disclosure, I got this idea from Sydney of Adventures in the Extraordinary, who got it from a Seinfeld episode.)

Today was one of those things were nothing was going according to plan.

I decided that chocolate would go a long way towards making me feel better, so I bought a bar (on clearance) as I was running errands this afternoon. I came home, unwrapped it, put it on a plate, then I ate a candy bar with a knife and fork.

Not just any chocolate, but a Choxie Dark Chocolate Cocoa Nib Truffle bar. From Target. I had no idea you could get good chocolate there. The label says the bar is, "a trifecta of dark chocolate filled with dark chocolate truffle and even more chocolate in the form of tasty cacao bean nibs". If one kind of chocolate is good, three kinds should be glorious!

I took a good look at the bar on the plate before I started eating. It was a little ashy (probably why it was on the clearance rack), but I knew from past experience the appearance wouldn't affect the taste. I cut it into bite-sized pieces, picked one up with the fork, and put it in my mouth. It tasted fine. The dark chocolate wasn't too bitter, the truffle added a nice smooth texture, and the cocoa nibs gave the bar a bit of a crunch.

By cutting the candy with a knife and using a fork to carry it to my mouth, I had to eat slowly. I was able to savor the chocolate, and I was satisfied when the bar was gone.

It's still cold and gloomy outside, and I still have too much to do, but my elegant snack helped me feel better.

New Thing #304--Do Your Pants Hang Low?

2008-11-10T14:40:00.000-06:00

Sagging is a "fashion" trend that doesn't seem to want to go away. Most of my male students wear their pants a size or two too large, so they rest on their hipbones instead of their waistline. How do I know this? They wear shirts that are normal length, so when they raise their arms you can see a portion of their boxers sticking up above their pants.

Since the whole point of sagging seems to be to get adults to roll their eyes, maybe if "old people" banded together and joined in with this fashion, the kids would decide it wasn't cool. Today I wore sagging pants.

From my observations, there are two parts to a successful sag: colorful boxer shorts and too-big pants. Since I don't have anything in my closet that meets the criteria, I was forced to be creative. My "boxers" were striped cotton pajama shorts. The outer layer was a pair of black knit ankle-length pants that I pulled down about eight inches so they were correct pant length. That made the pant's seat and the crotch come down proportionally, and showed the top of the shorts . I wore a white dress shirt that hung down and covered the exposed "undergarment". The stripes could be seen through the shirt if you looked hard, though, and when I raised my arms, the shirt rose up enough to show the top of the shorts.

My pants fit snugly around my hips. I definitely didn't have to worry about them falling down! Walking around was uncomfortable, and going up and down the stairs was a real challenge. The pants pocket, which normally sits at the hip on these pants, ended up being halfway down my thigh; it was very annoying when I put my cell phone in there.

I was glad when I got home and was able to swap out my "sags" for normal pants!

New Thing #303--Pile It On

2008-11-09T21:25:00.001-06:00

I was craving a bite of something sweet tonight after dinner. Rummaging through the pantry, I found a bag of marshmallows (mmmm....pure sugar!) that we'd bought for roasting last month and didn't use.

I opened the bag and took a marshmallow out; before I put it in my mouth I took a good look at it, and realized it looked a bit like a building block. I wondered how they would stack, so today I made a stack of marshmallows, then ate them.

I thought this would an easy activity, but it was surprisingly difficult. Most of the marshmallows weren't completely flat on top, so they didn't stack nicely. I found that if I pushed down on the top, then released them, they became a bit flatter. They also got a bit sticky, and adhered to each other better.

After several tries, a stack of three marshmallows was only a little wobbly, but a stack of four would only stand up for a second before it fell over. However, unlike blocks, the marshmallows stayed stuck together after they fell over.

New Thing #302--Run, Run, Run

2008-11-08T19:50:00.004-06:00

Energizer Ball Machine

When the kids were young, we had a family membership to the St. Louis Science Center, and went multiple times each year. I haven't been been there in a long time; when Tony suggested we go today it sounded good to me.

They've done some remodeling since my last visit. In the lobby, there was a fascinating display. The Energizer Ball Machine is a huge kinetic sculpture that's three stories tall and almost as wide as the lobby. It has balls that move up and down through spirals, funnels, loops, and slides. The machine is powered by kinetic energy that's supplied by a treadmill that resembles a giant hamster wheel. It looked like anyone could take a turn walking on the wheel, so I got in line to operate the Energizer Ball Machine at the Science Center.

Tony decided not to join me in my adventure, so I felt a little strange. I was the only adult in the line; everyone else was under 10 years old. When it was my turn I joked with the attendant how I was decades older than anyone else. I felt better when he indicated that there was no age limit to participate.

Operating the machine was harder than I thought it was going to be. The "wheel" was about six feet in diameter, and had a bar to hold on to as you ran. I easily started the wheel spinning, but after about 30 seconds I was winded and ready to stop. I was happy to step off and give my place to the next person in line.

New Thing #301--A boost?

2008-11-07T17:22:00.008-06:00

I woke up today sensing that I was "coming down with something"; my symptoms included a scratchy throat, a vague headache, and a feeling of tiredness. As the day wore on, I started feeling worse, so I decided to go home and take care of myself.

On the way home, I stopped by Whole Foods to buy some tea and see what they had supplement-wise to boost immune systems. I know there's conflicting reports about the effectiveness of herbal cold and flu remedies, but I have friends that swear by them. Whole Foods had a SECTION devoted to immune system boosting! Who knew? I must have looked lost, because an associate came by and asked if I needed help. In response to my question, she pointed out several products, one of which caught my eye. Today I bought a product to boost my immune system so I wouldn't get sick.

The product I chose was Emergen-C Immune Defense. From the Website:

When your immune system needs a boost try this extra power-packed Emergen-C drink mix. It starts with 1,000 mg of Vitamin C and key B vitamins, then adds a full day's supply of Zinc, Vitamins A & D, Selenium, Hibiscus extract and Elderberry concentrate. All in a soothing blend of natural fruit and honey flavors you mix with water. .. Since when was pumping up your immune health such a pleasure?

Although Emergen-C was packaged in boxes that contained 36 packets, the packets were also sold individually; I could sample the product without a big money commitment. I added several packets to my bag. When I got home I followed the package directions and added the packet to 4 ounces of water and stirred it together. The powder fizzed in the cup, and dissolved completely. The Ruby Lemon Honey flavor was very tasty.

I wish I could say that my symptoms disappeared immediately, but they didn't. However, I hope that I'm back to normal faster than I would have been on my own.

New Thing #300--The Burn

2008-11-06T17:35:00.001-06:00

Today I created a playlist and burned it onto a CD.

You're laughing! No, I've never done this before.

I love music, but I generally listen to it on the radio. My CD collection is just middlin', and the music on my MP3 player is many of those same albums that I've ripped to my computer; I spend most of my time listening to the best radio station around, KDHX, which comes in strong and clear in my area.

Last year I wanted a mix of love songs to give to Tony for our anniversary. I compiled the list of songs and handed it and the CDs to son Donald who did the actual burning. However, Donald doesn't live here anymore, so I was on my own. I need some meditative music for an event later in the month; after much searching, I couldn't find exactly what I needed so I decided to make my own.

I went through my library picking out appropriate songs. I ended up purchasing some new downloads, and used some songs already on my hard drive. Some selections had vocals, and some were instrumental, but they all fit the mood I was looking for.

I made a playlist, then listened to it on the computer. Some of the segues weren't quite right, so I played with the arrangement of the tracks, then listened to the whole thing once more before I was ready to burn it onto a CD. When I looked around for blank media, I discovered we didn't have any; I called Donald, who was happy to supply me with some from his stash.

After the CD was burned, the last step was to listen to it in my car to make sure there weren't any skips. It was perfect!

New Thing #299--"Born A Mutt, Died A Prince"

2008-11-05T17:05:00.000-06:00

Tucked away at the end of a quiet street close to my house is a very interesting place. Memory Park Pet Cemetery has been around for a long time, but I'd never been there before today, when I visited a pet cemetery.

I'm a animal lover, but I've never felt the need to formally entomb any of my pets. However, there must be a lot of people who do, because there were thousands of graves at Memory Park. The dates on the tombstones ranged from the early 1960s to the present day.

I was the only person in the serene area this afternoon. Huge oak trees dotted the space; their leaves were falling quietly to the ground. There were two sections of the cemetery, separated by a small pond. Each part had benches to sit on.

It was very interesting to wander around and look at the tombstones, which fell into several categories. Some had just the pet's name, but most included the year of birth and death. A good chunk of them also had an epitaph; my favorite became the title for this post. On some stones, the cherished pet became a member of the family (i.e., "Sparky" Smith). There were also some stones that had an engraved graphic of the animal, or an actual picture of their pet covered in plastic and attached to the stone. A good number of the graves had decorations on them; some had permanent vases installed so visitors could easily add flowers or other mementos.

As I left, I wondered about the people whose "furry kids" were buried at Memory Park. I hope they're happy that their pet is in this special place.

New Thing #298--Goodies For Voters

2008-11-04T17:44:00.003-06:00

Today I voted (NOT a New Thing), but then I got rewarded for voting by getting a free cup of Starbucks Coffee for proving that I voted.

My voting experience this morning was quick and painless, despite all the media predictions. I made an adventure of casting my ballot by walking to my polling place, counting all the political signs I saw along the way. When I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see there was no line to speak of. I had to wait behind one person at the processing table, and then for about five minutes for a machine after I'd received my ballot. I'd done my research, so filling out the ballot was easy. When I finished, I received an "I Voted" sticker. I walked home in the beautiful fall weather satisfied I had done my part in this historic election.

Later, when I was reading the newspaper, an article caught my eye. It was about places where you could get "freebies" for proving you voted. That's how I found myself at Starbucks after work, along with a couple dozen other people, the vast majority there for the same reason I was.

The atmosphere was festive. We exchanged stories of our voting experiences while we waited to reach the counter. Although the baristas were cranking out the promotional coffees (no choices allowed--a Tall Coffee of the Day), it took almost as long to receive my drink as it did to cast my ballot!

My schedule won't allow me to leverage my voting sticker for any other free items today, but it's sure nice of all the companies to acknowledge people who exercise their rights.

New Thing #297--Plug It

2008-11-03T20:35:00.000-06:00

When I came home from work today, there was a horrible noise coming from the basement. Upon investigation, I found that the alarm for the computer backup battery was emitting a high-pitched wail. I attempted a couple of quick fixes on it (which didn't work) then I had to start working on dinner.

The noise from the basement was really annoying, even in the kitchen. I tried turning up the radio; that helped some, but I could still hear the shriek of the alarm in the background. It was really aggravating, so to take care of it I wore ear plugs.

I looked around the house for some of the disposable yellow ear plugs that Tony used to take on Boy Scout camping trips, but I couldn't find any. I tried to think what other things I had in the house that would work. Suddenly I remembered that when I had earaches as a little girl, my mom used to put in ear drops then plug up my ear canal with cotton. I decided to try cotton balls to block the noise.

I grabbed two pieces of cotton from the container upstairs, rolled them into cylinders, and pushed them into my ears. The first try was very uncomfortable, but after I took the cotton out and rolled the pieces a bit thinner they felt fine.

Turns out that cotton makes great earplugs for light-duty use. I could hear the kitchen radio, and even the oven cycling on and off as dinner cooked, but no more alarm from the basement. I left the plugs in until Tony's car pulled into the garage, then took them out. It probably would send the wrong message if he saw my ears plugged up when he walked into the house!

New Thing #296--Par-tee

2008-11-02T20:20:00.005-06:00

Today was beautiful for early November; it was sunny, the temperature was in the mid-70s, and the trees were at the peak of color. It was a perfect day to be outside.

Son Donald, Son Brian, and Brian's friend Nicole were visiting for the day. We decided to play a round of miniature golf at a course not too far from the house. On the drive there, we talked about our respective skills. None of us were accomplished golfers, so I knew it would be a nice friendly game.

We paid the fee, picked out our balls and scorecard, and headed to Hole #1. Most holes on this course were Par 2 or Par 3. Through the first nine holes I only made par a couple of times. On many of the holes I hit the maximum number of strokes allowed without even sinking the ball!

When we got to the back nine, I started to get a more consistent with my shots. Then, much to my amazement, I shot a hole-in-one! Even more amazing, I shot three consecutive hole-in-ones on a miniature golf course. I was astonished at my good fortune. The holes weren't particularly easy; others in the group were hitting above-par or maxing out on strokes.

After my three miracles my play returned to normal. However, my incredible feat allowed my to come in second place, one stroke back of the winner.

New Thing #295--Clean The Canines

2008-11-01T14:10:00.004-05:00

Do you know how long it should take to brush your teeth?

I didn't, but when I recently learned that dentists recommend a minimum of 2 minutes twice a day, I decided to see how my brushing measured up. Today I brushed my teeth for two minutes.

I'm lucky to have good teeth. My biannual visits to the dentist usually end with the hygienist telling me I don't need to come back until the next cleaning. However, I've been trying to treat all parts of my body better, so I grabbed my toothbrush and used the second hand of the clock in the bathroom as my timer.

Turns out that two minutes is a very long time! I did my normal brushing, then had to repeat the procedure two more times in order to fill up the allotted period. However, when I finished my teeth and gums felt really clean.

**************************************************

If you spent the minimum recommended time brushing your teeth, you'd do it:

Four minutes a day (2 minutes morning and evening)
8 minutes a week
24.3 hours a year
77 days in a lifetime

That's a lot of brushing!

New Thing #294--Hang 'Em High

2008-10-31T20:40:00.000-05:00

In honor of Halloween, today I learned how to tie a noose.

A noose, or hangman's knot, is a scary Halloween symbol. Since many horror movies have a shot of a gallows, or a body swinging from a tree, I thought it would be fun to master the knot. (Although I would never actually put a noose outside; I like to keep my decorations family-friendly.)

I found a length of rope in the basement and followed the steps:

Lay the rope in a big "U".
Bring the right end of the "U" down parallel to the original rope, forming a wide, sideways, "S". The lead on the left side should be long, so that it can be tied to something when the noose is completed.
Hold the bottom of the original "U" and wrap the right end of the rope around the loop several times, starting at the bottom near your hand. (According to popular belief, the hangman's noose must have 13 coils, but six to eight loops are adequate.)
Poke the end of the rope through the top of the loop left by the "S"
Pull the right hand side of the 'U' through the coil that you have just created, until it securely holds the end of the rope.

The know was actually pretty simple to tie. When I was finished, I "hung" a plastic pink flamingo that usually peeks out from behind my computer monitor:

New Thing #293--Remember To Use ALL Fingers When Waving At A Police Officer!

2008-10-30T20:19:00.003-05:00

Although I don't have much opportunity to chat with the police officers for my city, I get the impression they do a good job. Their patrol cars drive through our neighborhood on a regular basis looking for problems, and they seem to corral speeders on a regular basis. The couple of times I've called the precinct I've been transferred to a helpful person.

I know, though, that the friendly officers are always on the job when they're in uniform. I try not to draw attention to myself, especially when I'm driving; I don't want to give them any reason to pull me over. However, as I was going to work today I saw a police car with a radar gun sitting on a side road not even trying to hide. I wondered what what would happen when I waved to a police officer who was on the job.

When I went by the patrol car I looked right at the officer and gave a huge wave. There was no way he could have missed it! I wasn't sure if he'd now spring into action and try to find a violation to stop me for. As I passed him, he had no expression on his face. Nothing happened!

If I can find the courage, I might perform this experiment again and see if I get the same or a different result next time.

New Thing #292--At The Sound Of The Bell

2008-10-29T17:50:00.000-05:00

This morning I restrung a broken wind chime that had been hanging on my deck. The chime has a resin cardinal sitting on a resin branch with a metal bell hanging underneath the branch. The bell makes a beautiful sound when the wind blows, but the location must get too much wind, because I've had to put the whole thing back together more than once. Rather than hang it up in the same place again after today's repair, I decided to put it somewhere where more people could enjoy it, so today I hung a wind chime on a tree in a parking lot.

My inspiration for this Thing was the Website Learning To Love You More:

Learning to Love You More is comprised of work made by the general public in response to assignments given by artists Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher. Participants accept an assignment, complete it by following the simple but specific instructions, send in the required report (photograph, text, video, etc), and see their work posted on-line.

The specific directions for my assignment were:

Make or buy or find a wind chime. Hang the wind chime on a tree branch in a median strip at a largish shopping center parking lot. Leave the wind chime there.

I took my newly-fixed chime and drove to a strip mall on Manchester Road. There were several trees to choose from, but I selected a crab apple tree that was at the far east edge of the parking lot. I picked a tree branch close to the bottom, so the chime would have room to move, and maneuvered the hang cord onto the branch until it wouldn't go any farther.

The wind chime blended in with the red crab apples, and was almost unnoticeable. I imagine if it's still there when the tree loses its leaves it will be more visible.

I didn't fulfill all the requirements of the assignment, which were to take a photo of the wind chime on the tree in the parking lot and make an audio recording of the wind chime. There was no noticeable breeze blowing, so my chime didn't make any noise. Nothing to record! However, I had fun doing the assignment whether or not I get "credit" for it.

New Thing #291--What A Rebel!

2008-10-28T17:02:00.000-05:00

When I was out in the car today, I drove by a crew pouring a new section of concrete. I know that I shouldn't have, but today I succumbed to the temptation and drew in fresh cement.

The job was completed and the workmen were gone when I drove by again on my way home. The strip of wet cement was dark gray and pristine. I parked the car a little way down the street, got out and checked in both directions to make sure no one was watching. I grabbed a pencil out of the car and walked stealthily over to the new area.

I used the tip of the pencil to draw a small heart (about an inch tall) in the corner of the square. It was pretty inconspicuous unless you happened to be looking for it. After I finished, I was worried that someone would catch me and I quickly walked back to my car.

I'm looking forward to going back and seeing my creation next time I'm in the area.

New Thing #290--The Fix

2008-10-27T19:45:00.004-05:00

Each of the bedrooms in the front of my house have two windows. A while back I noticed that the blind on one of the windows wouldn't raise anymore. A closer look showed me what the problem was: the cord on the blind was broken at the top.

I didn't really want to buy a new blind for several reasons. First of all, it would need to be be a pair of blinds, because it wouldn't look right to have one new and one old one in the same room. At some point I'll have to re-do all the window coverings, but I don't want it to be right now. Second, in my experience the new blind wouldn't fit in the old brackets, so my simple activity would turn into a big project. And most importantly, I also wanted to see if I could fix the old one. Today I restrung a broken window blind.

I've shortened blinds before, and replaced broken slats, but I've never tackled a job this complex. I found a Website that gave me easy-to-follow directions for restringing. Basically, there are two pieces of cord, one on each side of the blind. The left-hand piece goes through the slats, over the top to a pulley, through the pulley, and hangs loose to make one half of the lift cord. The right-hand side goes through the slats, through the pulley and hangs down to make the other side of the lift cord.

I went to the fabric store to buy what I needed for the job. The new cord was cheap; it cost a little bit more than three dollars. Once I started the task, it went quickly. I pulled out the old cord and started weaving the new through the slats. The hardest part was threading the end through the little holes on top of the blind, but after I wrapped it with scotch tape to make it stiffer, it went right through.

I also did some maintenance while things was disassembled. The blind was too long for the window, so I took the opportunity to shorten it. I even replaced a couple of broken slats as I went along, using the ones I removed from the bottom.

When I finished, I stood back to admire my work. It's not often I get the satisfaction of fixing something that's broken.

New Thing #289--Full Circle

2008-10-26T19:53:00.004-05:00

Tonight Tony and I were taking a walk in the neighborhood. I needed to burn off some energy and get some exercise to counteract a weekend full of fried food. Even though Tony was moving at a brisk pace, he wasn't going fast enough for me. I didn't want to walk so fast that I got ahead of him, so I decided to run circles around a slow-moving walking partner.

I did a couple of circles to the left, then turned the other direction and went a few times to the right. Something like this guy (Although I politely stayed out of Tony's path as he was walking...):

I came home exhausted. My plan certainly worked!

New Thing #288--Lawn Mowing 201

2008-10-25T16:24:00.003-05:00

I was mowing the grass this afternoon, and noticing how much it had grown in the past week. I enjoy this job because it's satisfying to see the obvious difference between the cut and the uncut grass. I use the mowing time to let my mind relax and wander.

Today I started thinking about the elaborate patterns they make in the grass in major league baseball stadiums. I decided to create a minor-league version of my own; today I mowed a design in the grass.

I opted to create the letter G (for my last name). I turned the mower off, moved to a sunny part of the back yard, and turned it back on. I carefully reproduced the circular part of the letter (making two passes with the mower so it would be twice as thick), then turned it off, moved into position and cut the straight part of the letter. When I was done, I turned off the mower and went up on the deck to admire my work from above.

I called Tony outside to admire with me. Our conversation went something like this:

ME--"Can you see the design I just mowed?"

TONY--(obviously stalling for time) "Hmm...is it a circle?"

ME--"No"

TONY--"A face? An oval?"

ME--"It's a letter."

TONY--"O? Q? C?"

ME--"Nope, Nope, Nope. It's a G."

TONY--Oh yeah. I see it now. Good job!" (He high-tails it back inside before I can ask him any more questions.)

The design was meant to be temporary, so after Tony went back inside I finished cutting the grass, mowing right over my work. My masterpiece disappeared as quickly as it was created.

New Thing #287--Welcome To The Club

2008-10-24T15:06:00.004-05:00

I read about NaBloPoMo a couple of days ago on Fluid Pudding. The idea is to write a blog post every day for the entire month of November. Since I'm already posting every day, I thought it might be nice to get a little extra acknowledgment for my work, so today I signed up for NaBloPoMo.

NaBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month. As their Website says:

National Blog Posting Month is the epicenter of daily blogging! People who want to set the habit of blogging by doing it every day for a month, including weekends, can come here for moral support, inspiration, and the camaraderie that only marathon blogging can provide.

Joining was easy. After I joined I set up my profile, and added myself to the Blogroll. According to my member number, there are more than 7,000 other members. I'm part of a pretty large group!

Visit NaBloPoMo

New Thing #286--So, What's It Like?

2008-10-23T18:21:00.000-05:00

This may be the weirdest Thing I've done this year. Today I tasted cat food.

Why? I'm not sure. A couple of weeks ago I watched an episode of Ace of Cakes where Duff and Ben egged each other on to eat a Milk Bone. They decided it didn't taste too bad. Cat food is almost like a dog biscuit, right?

When I was pouring out food for the cats tonight, I decided to pick up a kibble and take a whiff of it; there was no discernible smell. When I felt it, it was a bit oily and had a rough texture. I raised it to my mouth and took a small nibble, to see what it was like. It was good, in a weird sort of way...a bit bland, but savory, with a crunchy texture. One taste was enough, though. I put the rest of the piece in the bowl for the cat to eat.

After my tasting adventure, I checked out the list of ingredients on the side of the food bag. They sounded pretty normal: chicken, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal, wheat flour, animal fat, whole grain corn, fish meal, soy protein isolate, caramel color, salt, and a whole bunch of vitamins and minerals. Nothing too exotic.

After dinner, one of the cats came and sat next to me. He seemed especially friendly; either he wanted a lap to sit on or figured we shared a special bond...

New Thing #285--The End Of An Era

2008-10-22T19:10:00.001-05:00

I've been affiliated with my tutoring center for four years, first as an employee and then on my own. Recently there have been several signs that perhaps it was time to move on professionally. Today I made the decision to close my business.

It was a big decision. I truly enjoy what I'm doing, and I think I'm good at it. However, at this point I only have a few students, and they're getting close to finishing the requirements for a high school diploma. Although there are a few who left temporarily and may be returning, I decided it would be a better to help them independently rather than continue things as they are now.

After a few days of mulling over my options, I drafted a letter and asked a couple of trusted people to read it. I incorporated their suggestions into a final draft, but didn't print it. Yesterday I made my decision, but I slept on it one more night to be absolutely sure.

Once I was satisfied with my decision I wanted to let several people know personally, rather than by mail. I made a list of people to call and started dialing. I talked to a couple, and left voice mails at the other numbers with a generic "please call me" message. Once the first call was made, there was no turning back! After I went through the list of phone numbers, I printed copies of the letter and put them in envelopes, addressed and stamped the envelopes, and put them in the mailbox.

Although my decision is made, I can't just end things and walk away. An end of the year closing date seemed logical, but it may stretch into the new year before things are all wrapped up. After that I'll have to figure out what I want to do!

New Thing #284--Inside Voice, Please

2008-10-21T16:57:00.001-05:00

I'm a very live-and-let-live, non-confrontational type of person, especially when it comes to minor affairs. Life's too short to get bent out of shape for things that aren't important. That's why it was so completely out of character today when I told a stranger to be quiet during an exercise class.

The gym I go to has a room for group classes that's pretty industrial looking, and another room for Yoga and Pilates classes that has much more ambiance. The problem is, though, in the morning the attendance for the Pilates classes exceeds the capacity of the room, so the entire class moves down the hall to the group exercise room. The instructor does her best to create a serene atmosphere by turning down the lights and playing music conducive to setting a mood.

There's one class attendee, however, "Princess", who does her best to ruin the mood. She lets loose with loud grunts and howls when things are difficult, and will sometimes sing along with the music. After "Princess'" outbursts, the instructor will make comments about keeping quiet, but they're always addressed to the general population in the room. "Princess" never seems to think the comments are being addressed to her.

Today, however, I'd had enough. The first time "Princess" grunted, I jokingly shushed her. She also laughed, but stopped her noises for a while. About ten minutes later she started again; I looked over at her and hissed, "Princess, stop it". I was afraid she'd have a comeback for me, but she just looked surprised.

It was too dark in the room to be sure, but I sensed the people around me were happy I'd spoken up.

New Thing #283--Up On The Roof

2008-10-20T15:25:00.003-05:00

Last week I washed the windows on the main floor of the house. They hadn't been done in quite a while, and were really dirty. The results were so satisfying that I decided to tackle the windows on the second floor this morning. That's how I ended up having a conversation while standing on the roof of my porch today.

Our house is a typical two-story, but since it has a walkout basement, the back windows are in effect the third floor. In the front of the house there's a porch that runs the length of the house; it's easy to take the screens off the bedroom windows and climb out to stand on the porch roof. The roof has a slope, but as long as you pay attention to what you're doing it's ok.

I was on the roof washing one of the windows when I heard a noise on the sidewalk below me. A young man was dropping off a flyer promoting a candidate that's running for office. I said hello from my perch; he seemed surprised to see me, but we exchanged pleasantries before he launched into his "elevator speech" about the candidate. When he was finished, he indicated he would leave literature at the front door. I told him I'd take a look at it later, thanked him, and went back to cleaning.

I finished the job, climbed in the window, and said a silent hurray that my roof-walking days were over for a while.

New Thing #282--Dribble Or Drip?

2008-10-19T19:57:00.002-05:00

Jackson Pollock was a painter who was part of the Abstract Expressionist movement. He is noted for, among other things, creating paintings by dripping paint onto a canvas laid on the floor. Today I created a work in the style of Jackson Pollock.

I'm not very artistic, but with some help from The Internet I was able to create this picture at the Website Jackson Pollock by Miltos Manetas. The process was very easy and very addicting. There were absolutely NO directions given for the site, but I quickly learned the simple procedures:

Move the mouse slowly to leave large drops of color
Quick mouse movement will splatter or leave thin lines
Left click mouse to change color
Refresh button on browser to get a new screen
CtrlT to "sign" picture

I didn't try it, but I suppose just like any Web page, you could create a hard copy by right-clicking on your creation and selecting Print. I experimented with using mine for my desktop wallpaper; it was waaay too busy!

New Thing #281--Swab The Deck

2008-10-18T16:25:00.002-05:00

My kitchen is just the right size when the whole family is here for dinner, but way too big when it comes time to clean the floor. It takes at least a half hour to do a credible job. When we got the vinyl replaced several years ago, I washed it religiously a couple of times a week. Soon the frequency decreased to once a week, and then less even less often.

Needless to say, the floor no longer looks pristine. In addition to the normal wear-and-tear, there's dirt embedded in the texture of the vinyl. Although I've tried several different types of cleansers, mopping no longer gets all the dirt up. In an effort to try to improve the way my floor looked today I got down and scrubbed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees.

Actually, I only scrubbed part of the floor. Sad to say, even though I used a lot of elbow grease and tried a scrub brush, a dish scrubby, and a toothbrush, nothing I used made a whole lot of difference. I gave up and went back to using the mop to do a once-over to get the big dirt off the floor.

New Thing #280--Legendary

2008-10-17T19:04:00.007-05:00

I've driven through that city of Alton Illinois many times, but for some reason I've never stopped there. Today Tony and I visited the city of Alton and had lunch at Fast Eddies Bon Air.

Alton is only about 45 minutes away from my house...a quick drive up Highway 270, then north on 367 over the Clark Bridge. Our first stop there was the visitor's center, where we got maps and brochures. We spent about an hour and a half shopping in the downtown area; there are a lot of antique stores and several boutiques. When our stomachs told us it was time to eat, we got back in the car and drove to our lunch destination.

Fast Eddie's Bon Air has been around as long as I can remember, but I didn't know anything about it except its reputation for cheap food and a fun atmosphere. I found out that the Bon Air was opened in 1921 by Anheuser Busch. About ten years later, Busch had to sell the tavern because the laws changed to prohibit breweries from owning drinking establishments. There have been several owners since then, the latest of which is Eddie Sholar (AKA Fast Eddie).

Fast Eddie has increased the size of the place, started having music every weekend, and has food that's still sold at the same price it was nineteen years ago (99¢ for a half-pound hamburger, bratwurst, or basket of fries, peel and eat shrimp for 29¢ each, and beef kabobs, pork kabobs, and chick-on-a-stick for slightly higher prices). There are a couple of restrictions -- no one under 21 can enter the building, everyone must purchase at least one drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic), and no food can be taken from the building.

When we walked in, I realized that Fast Eddie's Bon Air was a dive, but in a good sense. The bar was right in the front of the building, the inside was dark, and the canned music was loud. I saw a couple of biker-types sitting at the bar, some college-aged kids at a table next to them, and some senior citizens waiting for their food.

We ordered our food and found a table in the outside beer garden, so we could enjoy the beautiful weather. Our waitress came quickly to take our drink orders, then I went and got some popcorn to munch on while we waited for the food. After about 20 minutes they called our order number. The food lived up to its billing. The hamburger was tasty and the huge order of fries could have easily fed two people.

After we finished lunch, we drove around the area looking for fall color, but we realized it was a bit too early for that. We stopped at Pere Marquette State Park and hiked a couple of the trails, then headed down the Great River Road to Alton, and back over the bridge towards home.

New Thing #279--Mixed Ticket

2008-10-16T15:45:00.003-05:00

The 2008 General Election is only a few weeks away; I get to help decide who will run our country and state for the next four years.

I've watched the presidential (and the vice-presidential) debates. I've been reading the newspaper, the Internet, and magazines to gather information, and listening to a variety of radio programs to learn about the national, state, and local candidates. Despite all my research, I'm still not sure who I'm voting for in some races. Today I researched third-party and independent candidates that are running for office.

There was a sample ballot in a community newspaper that came in the mail yesterday. In addition to the Presidential race, our U.S. Representative seat is up for grabs, as well as all the state-wide offices. We'll also be electing a state Representative and Senator. Many of the major races have at least three candidates--Republican, Democrat, and Libertarian. The Constitution party and one Independent candidate are on the presidential ballot in Missouri; the State Treasurer and Attorney General races are the only state-wide elections that have candidates from just the two mainstream parties.

As I did my research, I tried to read a variety of Websites. This article from Wikipedia had a good comparison of politics and ideologies of each of the parties. I also went to each party's official Website to read about their platforms, then to the candidate's sites to learn about each of them.

After all my analysis, I concluded that there is no PERFECT candidate. However, I can go to the polls knowing that I've chosen the candidate that's best for me. Now that I've finished researching the candidates, I still have to learn about the numerous other measures that will be on the ballot!

New Thing #278--The Rub

2008-10-15T18:24:00.003-05:00

Manchester, the city where I live, has quite a history. The explorers Marquette and Joliet first came through what’s now Manchester in 1673. By the early 1800s Manchester was a one-day stagecoach ride from St. Louis along the Overland Trail, and a small rural community (of mainly German settlers) had developed.

There are several area churches that trace their roots back to those days. Manchester Methodist Church dates to 1826, St. Joseph Catholic Church started as a mission in 1851 and built their first church in 1865, and St. John United Church of Christ was formed in 1860. Each has its own cemetery dating back to the beginning of the church. I find old cemeteries and tombstones fascinating, and have wandered through them on several occasions. However today for the first time I took newsprint and charcoal with me and did a tombstone rubbing.

Although all of the cemeteries are convent to me, St. John's is closest to where I work, so I decided to go there. The cemetery is divided into several sections. The oldest is at the bottom of a steep hill, a second section is halfway up the hill, and the newest section is at the top of the hill, closest to the parking lot. I started at the top, and picked a tombstone that had been placed within the last couple of years. I set a piece of paper over the top and started rubbing. Much to my surprise, I wasn't able to get a clean copy, probably because the new engraving was thinner and more precise.

I moved down to the second section and picked a tombstone for a woman who had died in the mid-1950s. Again, I placed my paper and began rubbing. This one worked well; I was able to clearly read the name on my copy and see the details of the decorations in the corners.

I walked down to the oldest section, but just to take a look at the graves there. Although some tombstones had fallen over and some had crumbled so much they were hard to read, I found several from the 1890s. I stopped for a moment of respect, then gathered my supplies and went back to the modern world.

New Thing #277--Project Propel

2008-10-14T12:05:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks ago one of my students was playing with a water bottle. I watched him twist the empty water bottle (with the cap on), then loosen the cap so it shot across the room. Although he did it when he was supposed to be working I had to come down hard on him, but I was secretly fascinated. Today I tried it myself and I shot the lid off a water bottle.

There was a half-empty bottle of water that had been sitting on a shelf in the basement for quite some time; I decided to have a little fun with it before it got recycled. I didn't want to waste the extra water, so I dumped it onto one of the plants on the deck, then put the lid back on the bottle. I started pinching the area right under the label, then twisted it tightly. This was harder than it looked. I had a hard time getting my hands around the bottle and keeping it twisted. (The cap shoots off because of the air pressure you create by twisting the bottom of the bottle. The more you pinch, the harder and farther the cap will shoot.)

This is a great explanation of the process:

I sat in a chair on the front porch and pointed the bottle towards the yard. The cap was supposed to fly off with a lot of pressure, so I didn't want it to hit anything; I could see how the cap could cause some serious injury when it flew. Unfortunately, my cap didn't fly too far, probably because I wasn't able to twist it as tightly as it should have been. It crossed the sidewalk and ended up on the grass. I got the tape measure for an official measurement-- it was about eight feet away.

Since you can only use a bottle once, when I was done I put it in the recycling bin. However, I may have to try again next time I have an empty bottle of soda or water.

New Thing #276--Quickie

2008-10-13T19:40:00.000-05:00

My Things are a combination of my ideas and activities that other people have suggested. I'm not sure who to attribute today's Thing to; I tried to take a three-minute shower.

It usually takes me between seven and ten minutes to finish up in the shower, depending on if I have to shampoo my hair or not. I linger longer in the winter because the hot water feels good and I know it's going to be cold when I get out. Sometimes I let the water run while I clean the grout between the tiles, so I'm in there for a very long time.

It takes about a minute for the water to heat up in my shower; I decided not to count that time in my budget. When the water was hot, I looked at the clock to see what time it was, got in the shower, and closed the door. My hair wasn't dirty, so I just got it wet while I soaped up with shower gel. After my body was rinsed, I turned the water off immediately. I didn't linger at all.

I grabbed my towel and quickly dried off. When I was finished, I exited the shower, put my glasses on, and checked the clock. It was four minutes and ten seconds since I had entered the shower. Deducting the time I spent drying, I believe I reached my goal!

I don't know if I'm ready to completely give up my leisurely shower, though.

New Thing #275--Off The Leash

2008-10-12T19:15:00.001-05:00

Today was another beautiful, above-average temperature day in our area. I was taking a walk this afternoon when I saw something lying on the sidewalk. I walked past it, but then I stopped, backed up, and took a better look. It was a piece of cotton webbing about six feet long, dirty, and with frayed ends. It looked like it could have been a dog leash (but without the metal end and hand strap). I decided to carry it with me on the way home; today I played with a length of webbing while walking down the street.

The things I did:

Dragged it along the sidewalk and through the grass (which made me feel like I was five years old again)

Twirled it over my head (this was easier when I doubled the webbing)

Whipped it back and forth (also easier when it was doubled)

Folded it multiple times to make it very stiff and ran the ends across a fence as I walked by

Used it as a sling to pick a worm up off the sidewalk and deposit it in the grass

Stood still and twirled so it wrapped around my body. I only did this once; I almost tripped and fell on my face when my feet got tangled in the webbing!

It took me about 20 minutes to get home. The extra exertion of all these activities raised my heart rate, so my walk became more aerobic. I said hello to an acquaintance who was working in their yard; they wanted to know where my dog was if I was carrying a leash?

New Thing #274--Forting

2008-10-11T17:30:00.001-05:00

We had the couches cleaned yesterday. When the technicians were done, they leaned each couch's cushions against each other in a kind of tripod. The arrangement reminded me of a fort. I hadn't thought about fort-making for years. When the boys were young they would use every blanket in the house to make elaborate "habitats". In their honor today I made a fort under the coffee table in the family room.

My fort only took about 30 seconds to make, because I just threw an old tablecloth over the coffee table. It ended up being more like a one-person backpacking tent than a fort. I had to back in and slither out.

I started with my head and body inside my creation; it was quite cozy. The opaque tablecloth made the area dim but not dark. However, I wanted to read the newspaper and there wasn't enough light under the table, so I ended up sticking my head out. Tony was in the room flipping back and forth between two different football games (Texas vs Oklahoma and Illinois vs Minnesota), so I half-watched those too.

(In case you were wondering, the cushions aren't how the cleaners left them. I picked them up this morning to see how dry they were, and I obviously missed the seminar in cushion-arranging.)

We still have fans running to dry the couches out. The cats were fascinated by the way the cloth covering the coffee table flapped in the breeze. I thought maybe I'd have a visitor under the cover with me, but they weren't brave enough to come in.

New Thing #273--No Applause, Just Throw Money

2008-10-10T20:31:00.006-05:00

The charity fundraiser that I helped Tony with last weekend is divided into two parts (because of staffing issues) and continues this weekend. Tony is actually a store captain this weekend; one of his duties is collecting the donations at the end of each shift and turning them in to the chairman of the drive. He graciously allowed me to fulfill a long-standing desire when he let me to use his donations to throw a bunch of paper money in the air.

After several hours of the drive, the scrunched-up bills filled a plastic grocery bag a little less than halfway. Instead of smoothing the money out and stacking it in preparation for counting it, Tony dumped the money on the kitchen table where we admired it for a minute. I started by picking up two big handfuls or currency and throwing it straight towards the ceiling. It was beautiful to see it fluttering down to the floor. Tony did the same thing, then picked up a handful of bills and threw them AT me! Of course I had to reciprocate, and we had about thirty seconds of bedlam before we were done.

The money landed on the table, under the table, and covered a good portion of the floor. We each took a side of the room and started picking up the mess.

This was the most fun I've had all week!

New Thing #272--Get The Lead Out

2008-10-09T21:16:00.002-05:00

I'm not a big fan of the History Channe l, but occasionally a show will catch my attention. That's what happened tonight when I watched a show that showcased the company my husband works for.

The show was Modern Marvels, and tonight's episode was entitled Lead. The summary of the show, according to the History Channel Website:

A versatile yet toxic metal, lead has served mankind for 6,000 years. Explore the vast mines where heavy machinery extracts and refines lead. Visit a car battery factory that makes a superior battery from pure lead. See how a team of experts safely remove harmful lead products from homes and businesses. How can a metal as dark as lead make lead crystal not only sparkle, but manage to stay transparent?

It was a very interesting hour that discussed lead from a historical standpoint and in the present day. Some of the program was was shot at the company's facilities, and described how the company mines, processes, and recycles lead. It also had segments on things I knew contained lead, like car batteries and lead crystal. However, they also talked about some lesser-known uses of lead, such as stained glass windows (lead strips hold each piece of glass in place) and pipe organs (lead helps give the pipes their unique tone).

Tony and I watched the show together. He pointed out the people and places he knew as the show went along.

New Thing #271--Can You See Me?

2008-10-08T17:41:00.003-05:00

I've needed glasses since second grade, when an eye exam revealed I couldn't even see the big E at the top of the vision chart. I switched to contact lenses as a teenager, and wore them for almost 30 years before they became too much of a hassle and I went back to glasses.

Most of the time the glasses aren't too inconvenient, and sometimes it's even an advantage to have them on all the time. Now that I need glasses for reading too, I never have to worry about misplacing the "readers", because I have lineless bifocals; reading glasses and distance glasses rolled into one.

However, the glasses can be a big problem at the gym. I sweat a lot whenever I'm doing any type of aerobic activity. I'm continually taking off my glasses to wipe the sweat off my face. Today I had a revelation and I took off my glasses while I was working out.

I was taking a cycling class, which is a roomful of people on stationary bikes riding along to music. The instructor tells everyone what to do--go faster, slow down, turn up the bike's resistance dial (to simulate riding up a hill), or decrease it to "race". I've been doing the class for about nine months; it was only today that I realized that I didn't have to see to do what the instructor was saying. I took my glasses off and laid them on a ledge behind me.

It was very surreal. Without my glasses I can see shapes but not much else. The spinning room is part of the larger gym complex in a strip mall, but it has a big window that looks out over Manchester Road. I like to use a bike that affords a view out the window, but I today I couldn't see anything with the glasses off.

When the class started, the music was pumping, and the instructor was shouting out commands. After about 10 minutes, the sweat started pouring off my face; it was even dripping off the tip of my nose. However, it was very easy to use my sleeve or my towel to wipe the sweat off, because there were no glasses in the way.

At the end of the class I put my glasses back on and everything came back into focus. As I left the building, I realized that this Thing was a winner; I'm DEFINITELY doing it again!

New Thing #270--Appreciation

2008-10-07T11:10:00.001-05:00

I've referred to the wikiHow site several times over the course of this project. When I was completing yesterday's Thing, I noticed for the first time that the authors of the article were listed at the bottom. There were four authors listed--Sondra C, Anonymous, Rob S, and Chris Hadley. Right above their names were several options, one of which was to thank them for their work. Today I sent a message and thanked the authors of a wikiHow article.

According to the "thank you" page..."Countless editors volunteer their time to create this free how-to manual, so your positive feedback is greatly appreciated!" It went on to say that the area was only for positive remarks; any questions or constructive criticism should be sent elsewhere, so the article could be improved.

The note I composed will be sent to each of the authors on their 'kudos' page, and they will each receive my message of thanks. From now on I'll try to acknowledge the authors of any of the articles I use.

New Thing #269--Make Your Own

2008-10-06T19:20:00.002-05:00

I was browsing through the entries on wikiHow this morning and saw a whole category, Pop Up Cards, that I'd not noticed before. I was in a crafty mood, so today I made a pop up card using the Robert Sabuda Method.

I was not familiar with Robert Sabuda, but a little research enlightened me. He is a children's book author, illustrator and pop-up book maker. According to his bibliography, he's produced almost two dozen "engineered" books.

wikiHow had more than a dozen choices for pop up cards; many of them were holiday-themed. I chose the Frankenstein card, because Halloween is coming up in a couple of weeks. The card was easy to make. There were two pages that needed to be printed. (The directions suggested a heavy paper like cardstock). The next step was to cut everything out, score the fold lines, and do all the folding. After gluing all the pieces together, the card was done. The directions suggested coloring it, but I actually liked it in black and white.

I may be making several of these cards to send out to friends.