The cretin stole candy from my baby
Iain’s truck was broken into last weekend. The lowlife or -lifes responsible found fit to steal:
- a roll of pennies
- a roll of toilet paper
- a roll of Pez.
That Pez was part of Owen’s reward for a successful week of potty training. He diligently answered nature’s call from his thronely repose many, many times a day. He carefully placed each sticker in its own grid-like box on the chart I made him by hand. He earned that candy, man.
And some dumb cluck mucked it up. It’s not a great loss, I know. But I wish I knew what kind of dunderhead breaks into a parked vehicle in the dead of night to steal toilet paper, pennies, and a kid’s candy. He must be pretty hard up.
My husband’s skull finally arrived in the mail
For Christmas, my parents gave my husband a reproduction of a skull specimen of australopithecus africanus. My husband is a biology teacher who is extremely interested in the study of evolution, so this makes perfect sense. We were expecting it by Christmas, but it didn’t arrive until this week.
The specimen is called the Taung Child, and was discovered in 1924 in South Africa. It is believed to be of a three year old child. It fits in the palm of my hand. It’s crazy to hold that in my hand, and then look at my own three year old, who has a huge head in comparison, and think that they came from the same distant ancestor. Kind of the same feeling I get when I take him to the zoo.
Spending my hypothetical “tax rebate”
According to the New York Times, the House approved a quick-fix tax rebate:
As it was presented on Thursday afternoon, the package calls for workers who paid income taxes to receive $300 to $600, and couples to receive up to $1,200 — plus $300 more for each child. The stipend, which some lawmakers were calling a “tax rebate,” would be subject to income limits so that the wealthiest taxpayers would not receive it. Payments would go to individuals with adjusted gross incomes under $75,000 and couples with adjusted gross incomes under $150,000.
I do not think tax rebates are any kind of solution to the general problem of the faltering middle class, and I suppose it isn’t meant to be, anyway. When you’re bleeding from an artery, even a band-aid is better than nothing.
Here’s the problem: the smart thing would be to hang on to that windfall and try to earn a few percent’s worth on it. But that defeats the economic purpose of a rebate, and unfortunately we always have something that $1800 could be put toward, like the $800 in repairs my car is waiting on.
So what do you think: spend it or save it?
I’m learning to speak Cormackese
Cormac taught me a new word. He made it up; you can see it above. It’s sign language. He puts his left arm in the air, and then brings his head down to that shoulder. After a lot of trial and error, I found that he does that to mean, Pick me up, which in Owen parlance was “Uppee.” Most kids just hold their arms out, I think, but Cormac does a definitive archer-type pose and then the head movement.
I haven’t done as much signing with Mac as I did with Owen, but nevertheless he is learning to communicate in his own preverbal way. This is one of the reasons I find having children to be a fascinating anthropological study — watching them develop communication, for one. Watching Mac develop a relationship with his older brother is another. It’s all kind of universal to humans, and it’s all kind of specific to each kid. Fascinating.
And way cute.
Another Built By Wendy book
I had a little money to spend at Barnes and Noble over the weekend, and I was so disappointed I couldn’t buy this:
because it’s on pre-order. It’s Wendy Mullins’s second book, Sew U Home Stretch: The Built by Wendy Guide to Sewing Knit Fabrics. Sewing knits is still very much a mystery to me, which is why I can’t contain myself that this book is coming out. At last, I’ll have answers. According to the publisher’s blurb, she has tips even for people without sergers, such as myself.
I have her first book, Sew U, and love it — and I especially love that her books come with full-size tissue patterns. So I have high hopes for this one, as well. I only have to wait until May.
Reading: How to prepare for a recession
How to prepare for a recession. (Move to Canada! Then turn around and blow all your extra loonies and toonies on super cheap American goods. Wait, that’s not on the list. Hmm.)
This paragraph from the NYT struck me, all the way down at the end of the story:
“We want people owning homes. But oftentimes, to be able to do so requires literacy when it comes to financial matters,” Mr Bush said. “And sometimes people just simply don’t know what they’re looking at and reading. And it can lead to personal financial crisis, and that personal financial crisis, if accumulated to too many folks, hurts our country.”
I agree. So I’m reading a lot about personal finance lately. It’s a mom thing, really — I look at those sweet cherubic little children of mine, and I think, “When I don’t feel like strangling them, I feel like providing for their future.” And seeing as I’ve never been formally educated in the matters of personal finance — no business degree for me, just Hard Knocks University — it only makes sense for me to turn it into an academic question, read a bunch of books on the matter, and reassure myself that the sky is not falling.
Working OK so far, I suppose.
Crockpot challenge: BBQ pulled pork
Challenge Day One! This came out pretty good. It was a wing-it type recipe from my friend Matt; I did a spice rub (paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, brown sugar, onion salt, cayenne) on the Boston butt last night and plopped it in the cooker this morning with some barbecue sauce, 2 chopped onions, water and half a beer. It came out pretty well — might even be the most edible crockpot meal I’ve made so far.
So hey! Come join the Flickr group and play!
I need a Single Girl
Denyse Schmidt knows what I want before I even know I want it.
I just saw this on Sew Mama Sew and ohhh, how I want. I love quilts with lots of white like this. And boy, what an excellent way to use up your scraps. WANT.
Top 8 reasons old ladies are the diggity
- Rain bonnets: Smart.
- Vegetable gardens: Organic!
- Aprons: Tidy.
- Girdles: Easy!
- Knitting: Zen.
- Pot roast: Delicious.
- Fiber supplements: healthful.
- Clothes lines: Eco-friendly!
I aspire to be an old lady when I grow up.
CROCKPOT CHALLENGE
… she said, in her best Monster Truck Rally voice.
I dislike rules but I like making things. So here. Logo and everything.
CROCKPOT CHALLENGE
- One recipe per week
- take a picture
- share the recipe
- Discuss.
- Post on Sundays if you can
Crockpot challenge is open to everyone! Download the graphic if you like and upload it to your own blog, and you can link to this post as explanation.
There are many good recipes over in the comments on this post if you need inspiration. Thank you to everyone who has shared a recipe so far.
Updated! My partner in slow-cooking crime, Keely, so wisely created a Flickr group for us! We’re welcoming all comers over at the Crockpot Challenge Flickr Pool! Bust that slow-cooker out of storage and come join us.
recent flickr
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my sewing tutorials
See my tutorials featured on SMS' Handmade Holidays!
