Pieing Friends

For the second Saturday in a row, I had friends over. This time, it turned out to be a bigger group. 10 of us in all, including Kurt and Kellie and several mutual friends. I hadn't seen many of them since before Christmas, so it was great to catch up. We played Taboo and Apples to Apples. And I made key lime pie.

Yes, after having the title recipe for Joanne Fluke's next book for several months, I finally got a chance to make it. And it turned out great. Not that that's any surprise given the great (and easy to follow) recipes that Joanne always creates. She was quite the topic of discussion for a while between the desserts (I also made a peach cobbler) and the posters I have in the living room. And I impressed everyone with my baking ability.

But boy, those key limes are tiny. I could easily fit 6 of them in my hand at once. And it took 19 of them to get the half a cup needed for the recipe.

Sunday, of course, Paul and I "watched" the super bowl. Or I should say he watched and I played around on the computer. I created one of my things for the Jixaversary next month. Now I need to get working and see if the other idea I want to persue will work or not. I did lots of other stuff as well. As a result, I missed most of the commercials and the play, usually looking up only when Paul indicated the game was going great.

And I forgot to mention a major disappointment Debbie and I discovered last weekend. Glendale Centre Theater was supposed to be doing Fiddler on the Roof this month. In stead, it's been changed at the last minute to My Fair Lady. Don't know if we're going to go see it or not since neither one of us are fans.

Paul is actually out of town most of this week at a conference for work. So what have I been doing with the place to myself? Nothing I wouldn't have been doing anyway. Watching a little of my Friends DVD set and working on reviews. I've let myself get behind again and am trying to catch up. Of course, catching up on reviews seems to only last for a day or two anyway. Not that I mind too much. Gives me a hobby to keep me busy at night.

However, I'm about to be busy with something else. Lost returns in 8 minutes, so I think I'm going to go.

Word Association for Super Bowl Sunday

Yes, I do have the game on. But I'm doing things like this as well.

1. Plaster :: Cast
2. Cabbage :: Yuck!
3. Jazz :: Sax
4. Darts :: Bullseye
5. Poke :: Stomach
6. Bribe :: Money
7. Whale :: Tale
8. Receipt :: Charge
9. Answer :: Question
10. Dentist :: Drill

I Feel Like I Should Blog

I'm just as a loss as to what to blog about.

Life has been rather quiet. Not much outside of work and youth group at the moment. I've been staying up too late for my own good, making it hard to get up in the morning.

In my last post, did I mention that they finished fixing the ceiling in my kitchen? A year and two months later, and it's all taken care of.

The news of excitement was a visit from Debbie last weekend. She came over and we hung out and watched Spider-man. It was absolutely fabulous to catch up with her.

In other blatant self-promotion news, I've posted my top 10 movies of 2006, so if you care, follow the link. As here's the review of Guilty Conscience I promised last time, too. And yes, I made 900 reviews at Amazon before January ended.

Everyone else is gone for the weekend, so I think I'm going to close down the credit card batch and hit the road myself. Have a good weekend all.

Thursday Threesome for February 1st

Can you believe one month of 2007 is gone already?

Anyway, this week's edition is brought to us by chopping sprees and The Back Porch.

Onesome: Slicing-- your way through the fairways of life? Terrible metaphor, -eh? Do you have metaphor or simile that just drives you bonkers when you hear it?
Not that I can think of off hand, but I'm sure I drive others crazy with cliches I use.

Twosome: and-- on and on and on. What's the duration of your 'long' phone calls? You know, the ones where you just chat and chat and chat? Guys, you may be able to pull an exemption on this one...
I usually spend an hour talking to my parents and my brother and sister in law on the phone on Sundays.

Threesome: dicing-- up anything for the game this weekend? ...or are you taking advantage of the sales? ...or is it a case of "what game?"
Nothing exciting for the game Sunday for me. I'll have it on, but who knows how much attention I'll pay it.

Word Association for January 28th

I do this what, every two months or so now?

1. Limit :: Fishing
2. Voice :: Singing
3. Change :: Coins
4. Expression :: Face
5. Tailor :: Suit
6. Lemonade :: Summer
7. Thought :: Bubble
8. Phoebe :: Friends
9. Impression :: Comedian
10. Sister :: Brother

Thursday Threesome for January 25th

Welcome to this week's edition, brought to us by psychedelic nightmares and The Back Porch.

Onesome: Plaid-- Yes? No? Wouldn't even consider it? Makes the outfit? Makes terrible wallpaper?
Yes and no. Depends on the colors involved mostly.

Twosome: Kittens-- Cutest things in the world? Creatures from another planet? Things other people have?
They are so incredibly cute. Unfortunately, they are also things other people have because of my allergies.

Threesome: Attack!-- of the Killer Tomatoes! Okay, what's your vote for the worst movie title of all time?
I actually kinda like that title. Let's see. I've always thought that Santa Claus Conquers the Martians was pretty bad. It certainly doesn't make me want to watch the film. I'm sure I'll think of a worse one later.

Change

So, I've upgraded my template to the new blogger layouts. I think I have everything from the old one here, but if you see something missing, let me know.

I have gotten rid of my old comments. Yes, I'm finally using Blogger's comments after avoiding them for how long now? I have it set so anyone can comment whether they have a Blogger blog or not. Let me know if it doesn't work.

I've also changed the layout, something I can now do quickly and painlessly. I used to have to recreate me side bar everytime I did it. Now, Blogger does it for me. I think I like this new template. At least for the time being.

Speaking of the sidebar, you'll notice I have added the RSS feed for my Epinion reviews. Just in case you want to keep track of what I am reviewing there. The majority of my reviews are still at Amazon, but my new reviews will show up both places within a couple days of each other or at Epinions first in the case of movie in theaters.

So, tell me what you think.

Random Ramblings from Snowy Southern CA

Ok, so the title would have been best last week when I promised Matt I'd have a fun play on blog's title for the post title.

Confused yet? Me, too. Let's just move on, shall we?

Last week it was downright cold here in Southern CA. Highs in the 40's. Lows in the teens. For just about a week. We're finally getting weather in the 60's during the day and 40's at night. Decent winter weather.

And Wednesday last week, we had some seriously freaky weather. Some day it snowed, but the only thing I ever saw was hail. I did hear it snowed in Malibu. That's just not supposed to happen around here.

Frankly, I wish it had snowed. That would have been something fun to talk about later.

Other then freezing to death, I've been busy as always. The 13th we took the youth to a conference down in Anaheim. Yes, I was that close to Disneyland and didn't go. I haven't been in over a year and am having serious withdrawls. Other then that, it was a great day. Several different sessions and some fun games in the afternoon, including human foozeball. And, unlike when we did it in June, I got to play, too.

TV shows are starting up again. Veronica Mars tonight, in fact. And last week was 24, which I guess I won't be watching any more. After they killed me off at 10 AM. Do dead people watch TV? (Yes, I'm joking.)

Saturday night, I had a movie marathon, watching Jump In (new Disney channel original movie) and Guilty Conscience, a mystery recommended by Paul. Very interesting. Look for the review coming soon to an Epinions near you.

And speaking of reviewing, I'm two reviews away from 900 reviews at Amazon. Plan to write both of them by the end of the month.

Thursday Threesome for January 18th

Of course this post is brought to us by The Back Porch, but also curtisy of the freezing weather we've had this last week.

Onesome: No California-- drivers allowed! Do you drive and talk on the cell phone? Come on, fess up...
Well, since I have to fess up...I don't. It helps to not have a cell phone. Makes talking on one impossible unless I've borrowed one. And I don't borrow one while driving.

Twosome: Oranges-- and Apples and Pears, oh my! Do you have a favorite fruit?
Strawberries and, unfortunately this year, oranges.

Threesome: this Year-- I'm going to _______ (go ahead; fill in the blank. No, it's not a resolution !)
Get back into shape now that I have my health back.

Stuff

So, I did this big life update on Tuesday, then realized I forgot somethings I wanted to blog about.

Did you hear about the youth group from Dallas that got stranded in the snow storm in Colorado over New Years? Well, that wasn't my brother and his youth group, but it was very close. Apparently, they and that bus were at a rest stop at the same time. Bro decided to seek selter in the town, while that bus kept going, slid off the road, and got stuck.

So instead of the youth group staying in a hotel and skiing, they camped out at a church for the duration of their trip until the weather cleared up and the roads cleared enough for them to drive home. God, and the church, really took care of them. Still, some people got sick. No permanent damage, however. I'm just thankful he has enough sense not to continue on when it looks dangerous out there.

Then there was last weekend when I joined Kurt, Kellie, Kenny, and Katherine (yes, I was feeling outnumbered) for a round of disc golf. It was the first time I've made it to the course here in town. It was quite nice. Only nine holes, but we played forward and backward. I came in third. Lots of fun. And the weather was so nice. Mid 70's.

Then Casey and I went to see Happily N'ever After. Definitely a movie for the kids. Not bad, but not super great either.

The weather sure has been weird around here lated. It was in the 80's earlier this week. Now it's cold. If the percipitation had materialized last night, it would have snowed. As it is, it'll be down around freezing just about every night for the next week with the highs barely reaching 55. I bet you can guess which weather I prefer.