Monday, September 28, 2009

A Happy Marriage

Do you have 39min and 32sec?  If so, I think you would greatly enjoy the Fresh Air interview with Rafael Yglesias about his new book A Happy Marriage (you can also read the first chapter). Or if you would rather, you can read the interview transcript here

I am halfway through the book and wish tomorrow morning I would wake up to 3' of snow so that I could call in sick to work, build a fire to sit by and finish reading this beautiful story with either hot chocolate or wine...or both.

The story is about Enrique and his wife Margaret and their story.  We are there when they meet and I assume we will be there when Margaret dies...yes, she is dying of cancer but she has decided to die on her terms.  The story is through Enriques eyes and bounces back and forth between Margarets last two weeks of life and the 30 years the spent together prior.

You'll laugh, you may cry, but I promise that you will cherish more of the small things in life and take the time to understand you spouse better. 

Check it out, you won't be disappointed

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Motor-bike time!


I think it is time to buy another motorcycle (sold mine last fall).  A buddy of mine let me borrow his Honda trail 90


These little guys are a lot of fun and get great gas millage...100+ mpg!  Top speed is between 40-45mph. 

After talking with BIL (Brother-In-Law) I am now leaning towards a Honda CL 160.  Here are the two I am looking at.

 

Which one do you like better?  Please leave me a comment and let me know! 

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Oh the joys of being outside...


Iphone Internet Tethering


Internet tethering allows you to share the internet from one device to another...in this case, from your iphone to your Mac or pc.

Why is this useful?

  • How about if you have a few hours to kill in the airport and don't want to surf the net on your phone or pay the daily rate to use the WIFI in the airport.
  • Or, what if you are in a room with no WIFI but your phone still has a signal...tether time!
  • Or, anytime you want to use your laptop and there is no free WIFI available
Goto this site on your laptop: http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/chris-dannen/techwatch/simple-secret-iphone-tethering-fix

And this site on your Iphone (must have 3G, this will not work on EDGE): http://help.benm.at/help.php

Setup should only take about 5min...remember to restart your phone after you install the mobile config or your voicemail might not work right.  Works like normal after a quick restart. Leave me a comment if you get stuck and need help.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Wordless Wednesdays


 
 
 
 

 
 

Yay for Fall!

Without a doubt, fall is my favorite time of year.  I love that it is now getting cold enough to pull out all my favorite long selves shirts and that we get to start eating soup, stews, and baked potatoes again.  I love that things start to slow down and cool off.  No longer this year will I spend hours and hours working in the yard, shovel in hand, sweating my bum off.

Now that fall is here, we get to trade shovels for wine glasses and hole digging for dinners with friends.  Short sleaves become long again and beard growing contest kick off.  Soon there will be falling leaves to add mulch to our yard and the stress of holiday dinners...who parents this year (or maybe even in OUR new house).

For me, fall is a time to catch up with friends and work on family relationships.  It's a time to say hello sweaters and goodbye allergies!

Do you enjoy fall or just the change of season?

p.s.
I think our potatoes are confused...they are now covered with flowers again :)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Holiday Challange from Crunchy Chicken

So... I am challenging you all to a challenge that I have been challeged to via the blog Crunchy Chicken

Here's the info:

Well, the goal of the challenge is to have you do one or more of the following:


  • hand-make your gifts



  • buy your gifts that are handmade by someone else (like from Etsy or a local craftsperson)



  • buy it used either at a thrift store, yard sale, Craigslist or Freecycle, etc.



  • barter for your gifts

    Giving you all these choices allows that you can still get products for gifts if you don't know necessarily what to make, but you aren't contributing to new purchases and all the environmental impact associated with that. Now, I know this is a HUGE chunk to bite off, so I'm going to let you be flexible about it. Some of you might try to shoot for 100% Buy Hand and some will choose to buy certain objects they know they can't get away with otherwise.






  • If you want to take the challenge, cruise on over to Crunchy Chicken and sign up in the comments.  You can also click on the banner I have on the side bar or just leave me a comment and I'll pass along your infomation.

    Good luck!

    Sunday, September 20, 2009

    Front Yard Transformation

    Today is a good day. Today we got to put a big fat mark through a large item on our to-do list...Today we put the sod down in the front yard.





      


     






     
     

     The last several days have been super busy around here!  First we removed about 6 yards of topsoil from the front yard to get ready to lay the sod.  The original soil was full of weeds and rocks so we decided to bring in better, cleaner top soil. 

    Next we had to raise a few sprinkler heads (and replace one that I accidentally broke) and spread out and roll smooth the 5 yards of fresh topsoil that we had delivered.  I then had to fix two broken sprinklers pipes...(guess i got a little carried away with the pick-axe) After that, we were ready for the sod which we put down this morning with the help of friends and family.  Shout out to the Crystals!

    Once the sod was all down my beautiful Wif rolled it one last time and with that and a few high-fives, we had grass.  I reprogrammed the sprinkler clock and fixed one more broken sprinkler head...I had to lower it anyways, and out came the pen to cross front yard off of our ever shrinking list!


    Friday, September 18, 2009

    Natural way to unclog a sink

    So remember a little while back when I was bumming about using Drano because I couldn't find a more natural way to unclog the sink.... Well, we might now have a way thanks to L.A. @ The Perfect Thyme who has the following suggestion:

    "Pour about a cup of baking soda in the drain and follow with a cup of vinegar. For bad clog's it may take two or three tries.


    We had a bad hair clog in our bathroom sink a few weeks ago and I didn't think this would work but after two times it did bring the clog up to the service so we could remove."
    I'll try this next time we have a leak and let you know if it works...although i seem to recall that this is also how you make a volcano!


    Tuesday, September 15, 2009

    Sunday, September 13, 2009

    Moments of Life



    -Radiolab blog

    Radio Lab


    I want to tell you about my new favorite radio show... RadioLab!  I love listening to the radio and thankfully I am able to listen all day long while I'm at work. I think what I enjoy most is that I get to use my imagination to form the picture I see in my mind...unlike watching tv which does nothing to stimulate my brain.

    So, what is RadioLab all about... honestly, I'm not really sure!  But I really like it.  Here is the blurb on the website:
    Radiolab believes your ears are a portal to another world. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience. Big questions are investigated, tinkered with, and encouraged to grow. Bring your curiosity, and we'll feed it with possibility.
    So there ya go.  It is a lot like, This American Life which is also a great radio show.  I think the thing I like the most is that the show points out that things are never quite the way we think they are.  It makes me question the way I see nouns (people, places, things, and ideas)  check it out and let me know what you think.

    Check it out on Itunes or online at http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/

    Wednesday, September 9, 2009

    Wordless Wednesday

    Wordless Wednesday is a new idea that I got from the blog UNSTUFFED check it out when you have some time.

    And now...Wordless Wednesday





































    Monday, September 7, 2009

    Harvest from the "Neighbors"

    Wow!  That's a lot of berries!

    So we've decided to start canning!  We've been talking about it for a while now and this weekend we started.  Our 23qt pressure canner (biggest pot ever!) arrived Saturday morning and we broke it in last night.  We picked the above fruit from two houses around town.  The berries and tomoatoes came from the in-laws neighbor house and the apples are from Morgan's mom's friend's (our hygienist) mom's house (they also gave us our couches three years ago!).

    Last night we turned the pounds and pounds of blackberries into 20 pints of really good, really sweet blackberry jam.
    This afternoon we are going to be making salsa, spaghetti sauce, and applesauce. 

    Can you guess what you're getting for Christmas this year...? :)