Buckyquack

This may have something to do with it

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 04:01:43 GMT

In the past two years, I have acquired pairs of shoes specific to the following activities:

Running
Cycling
Soccer (indoor)
Soccer (outdoor)
Rock climbing
Hiking

...and they are ALL OVER THE FLOOR.

Kickball games are mostly a forum for witticism

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:09:19 GMT

Probably my favorite thing yelled in tonight's game:

Batter takes off his remaining shoe after he kicks the other in the air along with the ball.

"You're wearing two different socks!"

"That's intentional. It's so I know which feet I have!"

I said this in the kitchen last night

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:29:48 GMT

[regarding pea shoots being a healthy side dish]

"While that is among its virtues, it is certainly not its principal virtue."

Pause...

"You can tell I've been reading Jane Austen, can't you?"

Mon, 25 May 2009 07:59:24 GMT

Dear Universe,

Can a girl get a break?

Seriously.

Thanks,

B

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:28:27 GMT

Hey, guess what, internet!

I had three athletic accomplishments this weekend:

I ran 5 kilometers.

I did 117 pushups (sets of 25-30-20-20-22-death).

and

(drumroll, please)

I scored my first goal ever in soccer!!

It was totally awesome. I had the ball, and I crossed it to Sue, and we pushed up the field and she passed it to me at the outside corner of the box and WHAM! I toe-kicked the crap out of it right past the goalie, where it made a most satisfying thunk into the back of the goal. And then I had to sub off the field, because I thought I might cry.

In other soccer-related news, I think someone stole my underwear.

All of these were things I never thought would happen! I sort of feel like I rule at life today. Also, am slightly weirded out by the underwear thing.

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:13:49 GMT

A thing that is cool:

When you realize you should reduce your weight on your Nike + settings.

A thing that is lame:

When you realize that the weight reduction means that you have burned fewer calories by running the same distance.

...

I have discovered relativity.

Meme-ity Meme!!

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:17:07 GMT

Craft time!

The first five people to respond to this post will receive, within a year, a... something... made especially for you by me. Maybe it will be food. Maybe it will be an article of clothing, or a piece of art. Maybe it'll be a weird graph I drew. Whatever it is, it will be a custom-built piece of awesome.

The catch? Why, that you have to post this offer in your own journal, of course. (Srsly, are you new?)

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:22:35 GMT

What a difference a day makes.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

... in which our little Becky is an excellent homemaker

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:09:02 GMT

I am never too busy to be working zombie apocalypse skills... most recently: canning!

The fruits of the garden (and nearby places) are pouring in faster than ever. I decided one Saturday evening that I had to make strawberry jam RIGHT ELIZABETH NOW, and it was quite successful (with the help of the lovely sakuratea). We made tiny jars of jam, and some seriously delicious strawberry shortcake.

Thinking myself very clever, I sent the Boy to get a flat of Palisade peaches from the farmer's market while I was on a business trip. I came home to 20 pounds of giant juicy peaches. *drool* Best. Post-plane snack. EVAR.

The last few days have been a blur. We made peach cobbler, a peach/apple jam with no added sugar, peach rum sauce, and traditional peach jam (for those of us who still eat refined sugars with little regard for life or limb!). To accomplish all of this canning, we bought a GINORMOUS pot -- a 16 quart stainless steel multi-cooker that could make spaghetti enough for thousands. I rarely (though I will not say never) have such a physical response to cookware. I would make out with the thing if I could. I may or may not have snuggled it. (Don't judge me!)

Oh, AND, for people who are fans of science and food, or food science, you may be as interested as I am to learn of a kind of pectin I'd never seen before. Most pectin requires that you add about 1 million cups of granulated sugar to your jams and jellies to activate it and thereby make the jelly... gel-y. Nate randomly bought me some "Universal Pectine" or something that requires you to add some amount of powdered pectin and some amount of a solution of calcium phosphate. Since the calcium is what allows the pectin to set, you can add as much or as little sweetener as your tiny heart desires! I still used good ol' fashioned white sugar (though about 1/5th the recommended volume) because I didn't trust a sugarless pectin just yet, but the jam finished quite firm. I can use honey! Or cane juice! Or nothing! I feel like a budding molecular gastronomist, with my calcium solution.

I forget what my point was. Anyway, I have a bunch of peach product, still have about 1/3rd of a box of peaches, and I'm in love with a pot. My one concern is that when the zombies DO come, I will have to lug the pot with me in order to survive (via food preservation) later. Hopefully, it makes an effective bludgeoning weapon.

Covet my peaches, bitches.

Oh, AND, I'm giving up jam-making in favor of playing Spore. That is all.

Oh yeah, I climbed a mountain.

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 05:47:50 GMT

So, the Boy has these friends that are nutty mountaineers. I'm housesitting for them for the next 3 weeks because they've rolled out to Ecuador to climb the mountain that's farthest from the earth's center or some nonsense.

Anyway, I was convinced to go climb a 14er (they were trying to bag a bunch for both the normal reasons, and as part of their training for this trip). Neither I nor the Boy has ever climbed a 14er (a mountain whose elevation is greater than 14,000 feet, for you non-Coloradoans), and it's just one of those things you really should do if you live here.

Sarah picked Mt. Huron for our first outing. She had it on good authority that it was a good mix of "easy" and "pretty." "Class 2 all the way!!" she said. (There is a rating system for hikes and such -- Class 1 is like a sidewalk, whereas the various degrees of roped technical climbing are in Class 5).

She was right about the pretty.

This is Sarah and I doing a controlled slide down a scree field on the descent:

Here we are (minus Boy, who is photographing) in front of the peak. If you look, you can see the thundery clouds that made us race down a mere 700 feet from victory!

Pink Columbine! There were tons of columbines in the middle bit of the climb.

These flowers look like elephants:

So yeah, we kind of lost the trail, and ended up doing some ridiculous scrambles to get up to the saddle, only to be chased down to another circuitous and ultimately incorrect route by lightning. All told, we were hiking for 9 hours, and I thought I might die from lack of oxygen and/or falling off of rocks. I have so far only lost 1 toenail, however!

It was really gorgeous, though, and I am excited to try again after a little more preparation. Also, next time, we're going to freaking camp. We left Boulder at 5 am and didn't get back until after 11 pm. If we'd started hiking at 6 instead of 9, we totally would have beat the storm. Ah, well. Learning experiences. And pretty pictures.

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:31:31 GMT

I just spent, like, $30 on the Ichiban Kan site. Lunch boxes! Chopsticks! A device that molds a hard-boiled egg into a car!?!? Considering that everything I bought was like, $1.50, it's an impressive haul.

I got some lychee gummies! I bet I know a someone who wants to share them with me... :)

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:39:46 GMT

I'm never near a computer when I think of something appropriate to write here.

My heart is full, and I wish the whole world well.

This does not mean that I'm any less serious about preparing for the zombie apocalypse.

Clearly...

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:27:29 GMT

Baby Nephew

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:03:32 GMT

This weekend, I bought him a tiny onesie that says, "Pimpin' Ain't Easy."

That's Aunt Becky to you, sir.

Sun, 11 May 2008 18:18:25 GMT

Baby nephew has arrived! 6 lbs, 5 oz, 20.5 inches, all fingers and toes intact, full head of hair, and quite possibly a genius.

My poor, poor, not-quite-sister-in-law was in labor for, like, 3 days. We were up there Thursday night, Friday night, and most of the day Saturday. Adorable bit: since DJ didn't appear until about 2 am on Friday night/Saturday morning, he shares a birthday with his uncle.

Sadly, my teensiest family member has not been available for cuddling. He has some blockage or something in his little bitty nostril, and has been in the NICU on oxygen until it works itself out.

He is sooooo adorable, though! He looks just like my brother! He has this tiny dimple on his right cheek right where Greg does (and right where I do, for that matter). I'll post pictures when I have some digitally. He's totally rockin' the faux-hawk right now -- The Boy and I have discussed buying him the world's smallest Beckham jersey.

I'm so impressed with my brother. I think of him as mostly just a baby himself, and seeing him man up and take care of his girl and his baby has been amazing. He's so calm! He's so excited about being a daddy!

I will now pout about dearth of baby snuggles. Hopefully this is rectified soon.

3 things I totally hate

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:56:13 GMT

Squid.

Licorice.

Rachel Ray.

That is all.

In which I care about basketball for the first time ever

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:13:25 GMT

...because my alma mater is, in fact, the NCAA champion.

Rock Chalk, Jayhawk, KU!

General Update

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:43:21 GMT

Things are good!

I find myself identifying with Dilbert cartoons, which is kind of okay, because I know this is a temporary thing. I'm being horrifically micromanaged and underutilized, which is... I suppose par for the course, eh?

Medical stuff is under review at the Peace Corps. Cross your fingers!

It feels like everyone I know is getting married. Welcome to my mid-twenties. This is somewhat expensive, but also really fun! I just went to Kansas for a wedding and saw tons of people I haven't seen in a while.

Also, however, a lot of people around me are experiencing loss right now -- not necessarily close people, but I'm feeling the effects. It is strange.

Weddings are getting in the way of my attendance at my soccer games. This is not great. On the other hand, I am on two whole soccer teams. When I turn over a new leaf, I turn that thing the hell over. Almost one year ago, Kristie and I had a stated goal of becoming more athletic. She embraced it like crazy -- I've never seen her so happy and healthy in our whole friendship. I would say that the changes I've made have been a little slower in coming, but heck -- team sports! biking to work! baseball tickets! (Ok, so that's watching other people be athletic, but it's still cool, and a relatively recently cultivated interest. M made me read Moneyball and I fell in love.)

*shrug* I got nothin'. I'm pleased. I'm ready for barbecue season. I'm out.

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:46:15 GMT

Just as was starting to believe that I was going to make it through an ENTIRE winter without a brush with illness of any real note-worthiness (aside from a few tummy upsets around the holidays which may have had more to do with "family time" and "money/unemployment woes" than "pathogens"), I was struck with the ick from hell.

Tuesday morning, as I was walking to the bus, I had the distinct feeling of being winded. This was strange, as it's a path I walk daily without a second thought, and certainly has never overly taxed my cardiovascular capacity... and yet, I had the strange sensation of having not quite enough air in my (somewhat pained) lungs. Hmm.

Tuesday evening passed without event, really... Westy had an acoustic show at a coffee shop for his birthday, so I got to go see him play and chat with people I haven't seen in ages. I also ran into an old grad school classmate of mine, which was somewhat awkward.

Wednesday, while at work, I grew progressively paler, until I decided around 2 that I couldn't handle being upright anymore. Also, the walk home from the bus seemed insurmountable, so I went to the Boy's house to convalesce. I napped in his bed until he came home, and he made me tea and soup, and tucked me in. Thursday I slept ALL DAY, and once he came home from work, we repeated the tea and soup routine, and he put on the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice for me to watch when I felt I could move from bed to couch for a few (ok, several...) hours.

Friday I went to work, for whatever reason... I had to leave early, though, because my whole "brush with respiratory death" had kept me from preparing for our Friday night plans. (We were invited to the Colorado Dems annual fundraiser-y dinner thing... one of the Boy's friends is involved with them and bought a table.) I was not fully satisfied with the closet options at my disposal, so I stopped by the mall on my way home and picked up an ADORABLE version of the proverbial little black dress for $20. It is perfect! It has the cutest little sleeves! and a sweetheart neckline! and is kind of short, so it shows off the soccer on my legs! I'll have to post pictures if I find any...

The whole "new dress" thing led to one of my favorite conversations of all time:

The Boy: Oh, sweetie, you look so cute!

Me: Thanks! But I'm totally not wearing a bra. Is that inappropriate for this kind of event? Or do you think it's, I don't know, a more democratic approach to my breasts?

The Boy: I'd say it's quite liberal of you.

Me: I didn't SET FIRE to my bra. I'm just not wearing one.

I only made some faces about having to dress cute and smile at old men when I felt like crap. It was fun, but it would have been more fun with less mucus.

SPEAKING OF, I am glad to be back at my own house (FINALLY) where we believe in some forms of Western medicine. (The Boy's house has more herbs than you can shake a stick at, but he had to go out on a special trip to buy Advil for my headache, and tried to offer me ELDERBERRY SYRUP when I asked if he had something for my hacking cough. For some things, I think, you need the chemical badness. Tea and kisses, though, go a long way!)

I return to my recovery (and soon party!). No soccer for me tomorrow, but I hope to be able to play some video games and stuff. Yays!

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:54:34 GMT

I got to take serpentstar snowshoeing!

and these are our butts:

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 05:53:34 GMT

You know what's awesome? Seeing your ex and going, "Oh yeah. I'm waaaaaaaaaaay better off now."

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:58:50 GMT

I've always been a firm believer in the balance of the universe.

On Sunday, I had this perfect moment. I had a soccer game, then went out to eat delicious foods at Lucille's, and went over to the Boy's place. I was lying on his bed, tired from running, sated with food, a cat purring on my chest, with his arms around both of us. I thought I might explode with contentment. Really.

After that, I took a shower and his basement flooded. I got in a fight with my mom (never happens). The next day, I lost my hat on the bus, lost BOTH the buttons on my pants (they stayed up through sheer force of will), found out I had an eye infection, my phone died (so I had to walk home while people were waiting on me for dinner), and all this other nonsense.

Totally worth it.

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:12:38 GMT

I have never lived by myself.

I moved from my parents house into Watkins (I did spend a semester in a SINGLE ROOM in Germany, but it was still in a coop-type situation). From Watkins, I moved into the house full of 19-year-old boys, then back to my parents' house, and now with roommates.

This means that... I have serious "being alone in a house" paranoia.

This was amplified yesterday when I didn't bother to get out of bed and go downstairs to lock the door after The Boy left, preferring to stay in my cozy warmth.

All was fine until about 5 am, when I heard A NOISE.

I know I didn't imagine it because the two little components of my kitteh blanket both picked up their heads when I did.

I was CERTAIN that there was an intruder in the house due to my negligence. Oh noes! Do I confront said intruder, or lie quietly and pretend to sleep?

After a few minutes of panicked stillness, I went to investigate and found ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. No one is holed up in the basement or any of the closets tonight, either.

I can't decide whether I should just accept that I am not an "alone in the house" kind of person, or whether this is something I should work on.

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 05:51:42 GMT

Cats are so freaking capricious.

I've been spending some time with kittehs of various sorts. I'm absolutely crazy about one of The Boy's cats... The other one is 23 years old, which is creepy itself, plus she moves around like an animatronic version of what a cat should be. Sometimes, when you pet her, you get weird clumps of hair falling off in your hand. Also, she sneezes on your leg. The other one, though, is just the right kind of standoffish, so that the affection she does bestow seems more special. I was extremely comforted when, staying at his house without him a week or so ago, we fell asleep with my arms around her. I was less pleased when I woke up to a 4 am face bath, but that's not the point.

I'm catsitting for some folks in Boulder this week, also. The Siamese cat and I are in a standoff of sorts, where I won't admit that I want to hang out with her, because she looks very soft, and she won't admit that she probably likes to be rubbed at the base of her tail, the little slut.

The big black cat thinks he's a dog, I think. He plays fetch. He just tried to climb my back while I was sitting here at the computer. NOT COOL. Ow. He would destroy the world, given the opportunity. Yarrrgh.

The house also has FISH, for which I am currently responsible. It is taking some serious effort on my part to be serious in my caretaking efforts, and not just STAY THE HELL AWAY, as I would if left to my devices. Luckily, fish don't need to be pet or touched or whatever, but just given some food pellets.

Why do people keep fish? They are TERRIFYING!

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:01:50 GMT

Dear 2007,

Good riddance.

Love,

Becky