Finished

All my finals are done. Now, hopefully, I can have some fun.

The Whole Gang!

Jesse's parents came from Wisconsin for Thanksgiving and we had a really fun visit! Here we are, after a great dinner (free range, grass-fed turkey from a local farm!) and a rousing game of Apples to Apples, which is my favorite.

I love our family!

Overheard in the J and L House

Lisa to Jesse: Please don't step on my pizza because I love it.

For This, We Are Grateful

in no particular order: a strong, fun marriage * a smart, helpful, cute, supportive, funny husby who I looooooooooove * generous and loving family, near and far * Herb * great friends * decent, hassle-free (knock on wood) health insurance * new adventures * Mother Jones * chickens * Obama * The Stranger (they gave me this idea and I used and/or changed some of their thanks) * stable jobs (omg, I hope I haven't jinxed us!) * Purity's cinnamon ice cream * a warm (albeit dumpy and with an awful landlord), affordable, and probably safe apartment * access to fair trade and direct trade coffee * NPR * reliable transportation * Wegmans * access to local meats, eggs, cheeses, butter * Roku box and NetFlix * a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving with my family and Jesse's parents all in one room * my new super-cute and fast puter * Google * close proximity to Ithaca * Joel and Ethan Coen * our mostly good health and that of our family and friends * learning to make the best of things * 30 Rock * Apples to Apples * things that used to be disposable but now are compostable! * Cook's Illustrated * turbo-fast internet * kefir * extra, extra, extra sharp cheddar * kombucha * AVG * smoosh-faced dogs * too many other things to list

International Transgender Day of Remembrance

International Transgender Day of Remembrance was November 20, 2009

via Slog

Overheard in the J and L House

scene: Jesse is at his computer playing Mafia Wars. Lisa is on the couch taking a break from her paper on Sally Mann by playing a quick game of Mahjong Tiles.

Jesse: People keep attacking me with fever.

Lisa: What?

Jesse: People keep attacking me with fever.

Lisa: What do you mean?

Jesse: People keep beating me up and I heal myself and then another person beats me up right away.

Lisa: Do you mean they keep attacking you with fervor?

Jesse: You know what I mean.

Lisa: Well, I wasn't sure. I didn't know if they had some sort of cold-season-inspired boost or something. Like, attack of the fever.

Overheard Re: In and Around During the Sick

Jesse: Your blog post is wrong.

Lisa: Yeah?

Jesse: I only get sick once every few years.

In and Around During the Sick

Despite all my precautions to protect and boost my immune system (enzymes, pro-biotics, herbs, vitamins and vigorous, repetitive handwashing), I still got siiiiiick. The pressure in my head and behind my right ear drum in particular is so bad that my teeth hurt.

Blerg!

And to add insult to injury, Jesse, who takes almost no precautions to avoid getting sick (but also comes in contact with much fewer people), is only sick about one day a year. Yeah, that's right. That's how brief his sick is. ONE DAY. What the WHAT??

Things That (Soon Will) Go On

• Jesse's parents are coming for Thanksgiving!
• Rachel@Philly is coming to visit us in December!! This is very exciting news for me. We haven't spent much time together in many years and it's time to change that!
• I only have a few more weeks to go in this semester! I will be so happy to be done with math because I hate it, and math homework makes the J and L house tense.

Overheard in the J and L House

Lisa, looking through the novelty catalog, Archie McPhee, to Jesse: I wish we knew someone who really loved pickles so I could gift them these Pickle Bandages or these Terrified Pickles.

image via Archie McPhee

Why I Love My Husby (The First in a Series)

Reason #348

J tucks me in at night and I love it.

Reason #14

J is considering the possibility of a pet hedgehog. Yes, really!!

Reason #92

J helps me make decisions.

Things That Go On

• I GOT INTO BIGHAMTON UNIVERSITY which is not what happened last year! I've been accepted to the College of Community and Public Affairs and will be studying Human Development. Don't ask me quite yet what my ultimate goal because I don't know. Just be happy for me for getting this far, ok? I don't know many details yet, and I also don't know if I'll be doing a B.S. or a B.A. but as things become clear for me, I'll pass them on.
• Some nerd hit my poor, poor Subie. It's not bad, just a bumper, but it is annoying and it adds another thing to my list of things to keep track of/take care of. Boo. Stupid kid. Plus it happened right when I was in my appt. with BU, so things were really crazy for a few minutes there.
• I got a new, super sweet, normal-person sized laptop (my other laptop, though super cute and tiny, is one of the original net books and has trouble doing some things. Like flash. Which is important).
• We have the WOOOOOOOOOOOORST neighbors and I HAAAAATE them. They are total dirt bags. They don't share the driveway very well, they stored 4 months of trash in our shared garage and only got rid of it after we asked once and then had to complain about them. Also, they hang out their window to smoke and then toss their cigarette butts out the window. Plus, and this is the worst part, I think, they put a broken glass jar into my compost bin. WTF?? I could have cut myself plus you can't dispose of broken glass in the same way you dispose of a cheeseburger plus that compost bin is mine! Who puts unprotected broken glass into someone else's receptacle for some sort of trash (mine, of course, was compost). I hate, hate, hate them and they make me yell. Please help me by crossing your fingers and hoping they get evicted.
• Plus, our landlord is the worst. But if I tell you why, it's gonna totally piss me off again so.... We are definitely moving again next May.
• J and I bought Halloween candy but no trick-or-treaters came. Our street is too scary. I wouldn't let my kids trick-or-treat at our foreboding-looking house. Ack. What a dump.
• We're kinda poor cause I work at bagel town and am going to school, so our Christmas prezzies to everyone will be less fancy than I'd like them to be. I heart Christmas shopping soo, sooo much, so it's completely sad for me and an exercise in self-contol (wow, this is difficult for me). Someday, things will be fancy again. Until then, meeep.

Overheard in the J and L House

scene: 4:38 a.m. Lisa wakes up with a start.

Lisa: Jesse, do you hear that noise?

Jesse: No, what does it sound like?

Lisa, making a farting noise with her lips: Like that, only mechanical. Like someone is trying to saw into the house.

Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen

Cut Hairs

I Can't Believe Charlie Brown!

Ha ha ha! This is so funny. Especially since one no-sense-of-humor-reader got upset about the paper printing the letter. Nerd! Ha ha ha!

via today's local paper:

I can't believe Charlie Brown, again this year, played Lucy in his outfield. Lucy is the worst player in the history of baseball.

John Andrews

Vestal


image via Peanuts Wiki

Rainn Wilson Makes a Giant Halloween Mess!

I looove Rainn Wilson!



via HuffPo

Is It Crazy...

Is it crazy that I want to put on my wedding dress again, make Jesse rent another tux, have my hair and makeup done, and have new (read: better) wedding pictures taken? I'm kind of serious about this....

I hate our wedding pictures.

What He Said

I love you, B. I really do. But Michael Moore has got a point (or several):

Dear President Obama,

How outstanding that you've been recognized today as a man of peace. Your swift, early pronouncements -- you will close Guantanamo, you will bring the troops home from Iraq, you want a nuclear weapon-free world, you admitted to the Iranians that we overthrew their democratically-elected president in 1953, you made that great speech to the Islamic world in Cairo, you've eliminated that useless term "The War on Terror," you've put an end to torture -- these have all made us and the rest of the world feel a bit more safe considering the disaster of the past eight years. In eight months you have done an about face and taken this country in a much more sane direction.

But...

The irony that you have been awarded this prize on the 2nd day of the ninth year of what is quickly becoming your War in Afghanistan is not lost on anyone. You are truly at a crossroads now. You can listen to the generals and expand the war (only to result in a far-too-predictable defeat) or you can declare Bush's Wars over, and bring all the troops home. Now. That's what a true man of peace would do.

There is nothing wrong with you doing what the last guy failed to do -- capture the man or men responsible for the mass murder of 3,000 people on 9/11. BUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT WITH TANKS AND TROOPS. You are pursuing a criminal, not an army. You do not use a stick of dynamite to get rid of a mouse.

The Taliban is another matter. That is a problem for the people of Afghanistan to resolve -- just as we did in 1776, the French did in 1789, the Cubans did in 1959, the Nicaraguans did in 1979 and the people of East Berlin did in 1989. One thing is certain through all revolutions by people who wish to be free -- they ultimately have to bring about that freedom themselves. Others can be supportive, but freedom can not be delivered from the front seat of someone else's Humvee.

You have to end our involvement in Afghanistan now. If you don't, you'll have no choice but to return the prize to Oslo.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Your opposition has spent the morning attacking you for bringing such good will to this country. Why do they hate America so much? I get the feeling that if you found the cure for cancer this afternoon they'd be denouncing you for destroying free enterprise because cancer centers would have to close. There are those who say you've done nothing yet to deserve this award. As far as I'm concerned, the very fact that you've offered to walk into the minefield of hate and try to undo the irreparable damage the last president did is not only appreciated by me and millions of others, it is also an act of true bravery. That's why you got the prize. The whole world is depending on the U.S. -- and you -- to literally save this planet. Let's not let them down.

Overheard in the J and L House

Lisa: God damn it, Jesse!

Jesse, alarmed: What?

Lisa: You're in big trouble.

Jesse, laughing nervously: What's wrong?

Lisa: Another one of my high school friends is pregnant!