Faire to middlin'

We're in the final few days of prep for our little WA "Renaissance (ahem)" festival. I'm in sewing hell, because I'm the only person within 100 miles who actually sews, apparently. I hope this goes well, because we want them to pay us a realistic fee next year instead of the chicken scratch they're paying this time. In the meanwhile, I have no life and I'm worrying about who will take care of the cats/chickens/other horses when we're down near Gig Harbor over the next three weekends...

The Frugal Gourmet

When does frugality become painful? Here's a clue: that Pure Mint Extract that you inherited from your mother-in-law, which she bought sometime before 1990 (and probably more like in the late 70s...)? ...throw it out NOW! The shelf life isn't infinite, apparantly.

I made a super yummy white cake from scratch the other day, and thought, "Hm, it's hot...I'll make mint buttercream frosting!" Gordon, who will eat anything, took one bite and started scraping off the innocuous looking stuff. OK, I know he's not a big mint fan, but after I sampled it, I came up with the perfect name for this dessert: Nyquil Cake! Yes, the frosting tastes like cold medicine. Bleh.

All of those little bottles I've been saving are empty and in the recycle bin...

Young Eager Space Cadet

I've reached a new pinnacle of geekiness. I've joined Starfleet. Well, in Second Life I've joined Starfleet. I'm looking forward to many hours of tactical excercises and wacky role-play adventures. It's heaven...

Here's a little documentary, filmed on "location" in Second Life, that gives a kind of virtual tour.

Yo Ho Ho!!!

I haven't been this psyched to see a movie in...I can't remember. Our real estate agent sent us some comp tickets months ago, but there hasn't been anything I wanted to use them on until now.

Monday matinee, here we come!

Goofy Fun Quiz

Got this from virtual pal Aurora's blog...kinda fun!

Have you had sex in the past 24 hours? Nope...better work on that...
Are you gay? No.
Do you have hairy legs? I try not to.
Do you smoke anything? Salmon!
Do you like monkeys? I like my sock monkey...does that count?
How many fillings do you have? One.
Would you rather swim in the ocean or a lake? OCEAN!
Have you ever licked one of those square batteries? No...is this a common practice?
Have you ever read the Bible? Often, though not as much as I should.
Did you ever go to Sunday School? All through my childhood.
Do you wear a lot of black? In the Winter, yes.
Did you ever bring a weapon to high school? Does my Swiss Army knife count?
Have you ever hugged a tree? Yes, but it was a platonic hug. I've also punched a tree. It hurt.
Do you know what a sphincter actually is? Yes...and it's not just an anatomical reference, thank you.
Describe your hair? Long and brown (with extra zip from the henna plant)
Are you a wildbeast? If I were, I wouldn't be typing, would I?
Do you like to have fun? Yes
Do you like drama? Only on the stage and screen, please.
Have you ever taken a bong hit? Nope.
Do you like mayonnaise? A little bit on a sandwich is fine.
Are you afraid to die? No, I rather look forward to it.
Do you like playing in leaves? Don't know about playing in them, but I love the scent.
Do you like lyme tics? Only good one is a dead one.
Have you ever peed your pants as an adult? I hope not!
Have you ever thrown up on somebody as an adult? No!
Are you an adult? Not a very good one.
Ever won a spelling bee? I think so...a loooooong time ago.
Do you ever eat because your depressed? No, I stop eating when I'm depressed. I eat when I'm nervous.
Are you a television addict? No, we don't get cable or have an antenna because there is NOTHING on worth watching. We have a lot of DVDs. Unfortunately, I'm a computer addict.
Do you think OJ is guilty? Yes.
Do you enjoy spending time with your mother? Yes!
Have you ever had sex in a hot tub? No.
On a swing? No!
Do you like Elvis? Never met him.
Do you enjoy watching animals “do it” on the Discovery channel? Not on the Discovery channel or anywhere else...yeesh.
Ever been hit on at a zoo? Not that I am aware of.
Have you ever had sex with a total stranger? No way, not even a partial stranger.
Do you enjoy the calming effects of turkeys? Haven't noticed.
Does your mom think someone is hot? I don't think so.
Are you a sugar freak? No...it's evil.
Ever been arrested? Nope.
Ever commit a crime and get away with it? Nope.
Do you like orange juice? Yes, but it doesn't like me.
What sign are you? I don't participate in Astrological pursuits.
Ever do the party boy dance in front of the elderly? What in the world is that?
Where do you wish you were right now? Heaven.
Did you enjoy this? It was diverting.

Independence Day Blast

For the first time in my life I participated in a parade as something other than a uniformed color guard! Yay! Not that I don't LOVE being in a color guard, but Sea Scouts was a long time ago...

Claudine, my dance teacher buddy, roped me into doing the Bainbridge Is. 4th of July parade with her students, and it was a hoot. Left is my picture from the local paper: mouth wide open, of course. A rare photo of me NOT eating!

On another note, one of the aspects of the 4th that used to amuse me has lost its luster: fireworks. We live in an area where unsafe & insane pyro is rampant. It's not that I'm against going "boom", mind you, I just think there's a time and place for everything. The middle of the night, when I'd like to be asleep and NOT worried about the horses going crazy and crashing through fences, is not the time, thankyouverymuch. We ended up giving our old horse, Taxi, some light meds to calm him down. The dog we're "babysitting" ended up in the house with us. Thanks to SCIENCE! there are air freshening substances to deal with puppy pong (poor old guy).