Babysittersby Angie
21 Nov 2007
9:11 am0
How do people go about finding a new babysitter for their kids? I have no experience whatsoever, and I rarely babysat other people’s kids when I was a teenager. The silly thing is, we don’t have kids… but we do have a cat; so instead, I’m having a hard time working out the whole cat-sitting thing! Do you ask a neighbor you barely know – and give them a key to your house and everything? Or ask a friend or member of the ward, who lives much further away and must therefore take a drive to come visit your pet?
As you can see, worrying is an exasperating hobby of mine, so I’m sure this is not as big a deal as I feel it is… but our cat is pretty special to us, and we are new here and don’t know many people, so this whole process is a little unnerving. Any advice?
Should I really guess?by Angie
20 Nov 2007
8:11 am2
Call me a linguistic nut, but I am confused by the phrase, “guess what…”. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve used it quite a bit myself; and perhaps the very fact that Americans in general understand the convention validates its use. However, it does tend to create a conundrum for the person being asked: should I really guess (and risk getting it right and stealing their thunder!), or just say, “I have no idea,”? Some people respond to this plight by jokingly guessing outrageous things, but – by personal experience – I have found this to be less effective, since it sometimes irritates the person who has wonderful news to tell.
I’d like to know what you think. Do you use the phrase? Why do we say it? What’s the craziest guess you’ve ever offered or received? Do we really intend for someone to guess at all?
Name that Carby Jim
20 Nov 2007
8:11 am1
So the other day I was on my way to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield. It takes about an hour and we were driving caravan-style with a friend of mine from work (Justin Bradley and his family). We were about 20 minutes from our destination when I saw pulling onto the freeway this red truck with a bright yellow sports car on the bed. I didn’t get a good look at the car because the on-ramp was one of those
circle-y ones and the so the front of the truck faced the whole time I drove by. I knew if it was being pulled by a truck, it had to be a nice car, so I got in the right lane and slowed down hoping to let the truck catch up with me so I could get a good look at it. Well, the cars behind me probably didn’t appreciate that and the truck was in the slow lane too, so there was really no courteous way to get the gander I wanted. So, on the next exit, I pulled off and immediately got back on. When we got close enough, I knew my effort had been worth it. Sitting on the bed of this truck was a brand new Lamborghini. I had Angie snap a picture of it on my (old) cell phone camera. Nice, eh? (Click on the image for the full size.) So, anyone recognize this model? Props to whoever can tell me what kind it is.
Money is Expensiveby Jim
19 Nov 2007
6:11 pm0
Well, first of all I would like to say, “Welcome to our new blog!” I hope you enjoy your stay. A few days ago I downloaded the latest version of WordPress and gave it to Angie to do with as she pleased. I’ve got an account and will post occasionally, and although this blog is for our little family, she is in charge of the everyday upkeep and such. As you can already see, she’s done a great job setting it up, picking a nice theme, etc. So, please have fun and come back often!
So, today I called around to get an estimate on some car repairs we need done. We went to San Francisco with Angie’s sister, Emily, and her roommate Kim. We wanted to go down Lombard Street, so I made the turn and we got in this HUGE line of cars. The problem is we have a manual transmission and sitting on those great big hills is bad for a clutch. After a few minutes of waiting, I started to smell a burning smell and I thought to myself, “this is bad.” We got out of line as soon as we could and drove around to the other side and laughed at all the people driving down Lombard Street who had to wait in line. Well, actually, we didn’t laugh at anyone, but we still did get to see it from the other side — not as cool as driving on it, but we were pressed for time. Well, I’ve noticed the clutch is a little softer than it was before and since both Angie and I learned to drive manual on this car it was due for a clutch replacement. I called one place and they quoted me $720. I thought that was a little high, so I called a couple others: $880 and then $817. Well, this was also on top of the $300 for brakes they were all quoting me on. After consulting with my car consultant (and co-worker Justin Bradley), I decided that until my clutch starts slipping, I don’t need a new one. And for the brakes… well, I’ll wait on those too. Sheesh! Money is expensive!
Try-Me-Night Review: Crock-pot Meat Loafby Angie
19 Nov 2007
9:11 am0
This recipe was pretty good, but I had some problems with it. I didn’t follow it exactly (which was, I’m sure, the source problems): I had some zucchini and carrots that I wanted to use up, so I grated them and added them with the onion. I should have realized that additional veggies would add liquid, and adjusted the rest of the recipe accordingly, but I didn’t. So, the meat mixture didn’t stay in a “loaf” very well – it kind of just melted all over the top of the potatoes. Because it spread out so much, quite a bit of the mixture touched the sides of the crock-pot and was burned. I just scooped those bits out, though, when it was done cooking.
Actually, the flavor was still quite good, and we really liked the way the potatoes were cooked. It ended up more like a beef & potato casserole than meat loaf, but it was tasty anyway. I will definitely try it again, because it was super easy, but I’ll follow directions better next time 🙂
For the full recipe, visit the “Try-Me-Night Recipes” page.
Autumnby Angie
17 Nov 2007
6:11 pm2
When I was little, my mom wrote a song called “Days, Months, and Seasons.” I remember thinking that it was pretty silly of her to say in the lyrics that Winter starts in December, since where I lived (which, to a kid, is the whole world) we often had snow on the ground by Halloween. Well, here in California, I have discovered that November really is part of Fall! The trees are slowly changing colors, and the perfect weather makes it feel like just the first tinglings of Autumn.
We visited the Oakland Temple today, and it is a beautiful drive. For the last few miles, you drive on CA 13, which is a little 2-lane highway that diverts off I-580. Much of it is uphill as you drive north, and both sides of the freeway are covered with dense trees and thick foliage. Off to the left (to the West) there are a few breaks in the trees, and once in a while and you can catch glimpses of the Bay. Up at the temple, there is a gorgeous vista overlooking the Bay and San Francisco on the far side.
I love it here!
Congratulations to Me…and Whitney!by Angie
16 Nov 2007
9:11 pm2
Tonight we attended the Springtown Ward Thanksgiving Pie Bake-Off. There were lots of people there and about a dozen pies were submitted for thorough scrutiny. I had spent the afternoon preparing Whitney’s Famous Apple Pie. Although I think it will take me a few more tries to approach Whitney’s prowess on this recipe, my pie actually took second place!
It was a very fun evening. We also did a white elephant gift exchange: the first gift we unwrapped was an aerosol can of Pledge, and we actually had it stolen away from us; we ended up with a babysitter’s reminder white board thingy. Not very useful to us, I’m afraid; but we couldn’t convince anyone else to steal it from us.
The most surprising gift was actually the most unique white elephant gift I have ever seen in my life: A live salamander, with a cage and sand and water and everything, that had been captured/rescued from someone’s backyard pool this very morning. The poor sister who unwrapped it was obviously very uncomfortable with an amphibian and was very unwilling to take it home. Luckily it was stolen from her by a mom who knew her kids would love it.