Tuesday, March 24, 2009

First Tooth

Jack lost his first tooth today.


He was persistent, independent, and proud. He was calm in the face of something sort of scary. He was cool under pressure. He was unruffled. He was...


COMPLETELY like his mother.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Rattin' it Up! Gettin' Ratty With it! Rat Games 2009! RATS!

It's the week prior to spring break. My coworkers and I know that we must find a way to make the time pass quickly. If we don't, the week prior to a long vacation could feel like it... was... taking... forever... to... pass. So what do we do? We urge time forward with a little rat business. Or a lot.


Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Jack Rides a Bike!

Flowers

Jim sent me flowers yesterday.

I'm not a "send me flowers" kind of girl. I've been a little surprised to find this out about myself as I've grown into adulthood, actually, but I don't think this has been a shock to Jim at all. Actually, I think he's known all along that I'll quickly kill the flowers because I'll forget to add water to the vase. Along these lines, it's no surprise to him when I turn up my nose at the average cookie-cutter, formulaic, and predictable romantic chic-flick. I don't enjoy candlelit dinners... cheesy. I don't want to slow dance with Jim in the middle of our livingroom, for no particular reason. I don't want surprise necklaces or earrings. Jim knows this. He knows all of these things.

Nevertheless, Jim sent me "flowers" yesterday. He's got me figured out. His flowers weren't daisies, roses, or tulips. They were so, so much better. Here... I'll take them out of my email inbox and set them on the mantle, so that everyone can admire them:

If I had a blog, this would be today's entry:

I love mac n cheese. I love mac n cheese a lot. I love Kraft mac n cheese; it's by far my favorite. I'm fairly sure my introduction to mac n cheese began with Kraft. I've been cooking myself mac n cheese since I was 9 or 10 years old. At some point, probably high school era, I was introduced to Velveeta shells n cheese. Wow, good stuff. Velveeta is in its own league of creamy, cheesy goodness. I very much enjoy a box of Velveeta from time to time, but Kraft remains my favorite.

Now sure, in college I was on a tight budget and I opted a few times for the cheaper, lesser quality brands (Always Save, Best Choice). Those attempts were futile and always ended poorly. Sure my stomach was filled with mac n cheese, but I did not receive the same level of satisfaction from those lesser brands. They just weren't up to par, so upon leaving college, even when money was tight, I have exclusively chosen Kraft.

I like Kraft in many many different forms; spirals, thick n creamy, white cheddar, an occasional cartoon character, ect. But some of my favorite forms are those I have concocted myself; chili mac, mac with hot dogs or turkey sausage, protein noodle replacement... And, of course, there have been some failures; mac with Spaghetti O's, mac with BBQ sauce. In the end a clear favorite emerged, and it's by far and away the most popular - Kraft mac with Velveeta added!

Now some may think there is a conflict of interest there. Kraft and Velveeta at the same time!? "Jim, you're being untrue to your love for Kraft by adding in those few hunks of Velveeta." I say, "not so!” Why not take a good thing and make it better? This way I get the great taste and genuine quality of my favorite, while adding a shot of the Velveeta creamy goodness at the same time. Would you say a Coke lover is disloyal to Coke by partaking in the tried and true enjoyment of adding in a shot of vanilla syrup? I didn't think so.

In conclusion, I love Kraft mac n cheese and will continue loving it for the rest of my days. There is, and never will be any substitute! And whenever possible, I will be adding two good size hunks of Velveeta into the pot. Do I still love the Kraft when there is no Velveeta added? Heck YEAH! But I get so much more pleasure when those two hunks are added ;)

Jim

Thanks for the flowers, Jim. I love them.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Mission Woody: Failed

The mission (as requested by my mother) was simple. "Can you do one of Woody staring at Jim? I want to see that."

What a great mission. Funny. Simple. And funny some more. I accepted the task.

My partner in espionage would be Jack, a lovable little sidekick... long on strategic advice but short on guts. Watch how it all unfolded. Spies like us don't come along everyday.


The plan.

The bail out.

The solo run.

The debriefing.

Sunday, March 1, 2009