Taiwan '08

Here I come! See y'all on the flip side.

Nip 'em in the bud

Gardening is not really my thing, but I do what I gotta do to make my yard somewhat presentable. The lovely little landscaped flowerbed in my front yard has been an eyesore for quite awhile. Last year, weeds took it over, and I just turned a blind eye. This year, I vowed to reclaim what's rightfully mine. So, on Sunday, I set about clearing away the Creeping Charlie, dandelions, ivy and grass that had invaded my flowerbed. Surprisingly, I found the work to be relaxing, and dare I say, enjoyable? I'm not finished yet, but I think I made some good progress.

Before

AfterAs much as I would like to say that those plants grew three-fold just by me clearing away the weeds, alas, that's not the case. These pictures were taken a couple of weeks apart.

Rhubarb

One of the best things about my yard is my little rhubarb plant out back. It cooks up into some really tasty desserts, which is great for me since I love all things sweet. Tonight, I baked a rhubarb crisp.

Since desserts are clearly my weakness, I always look for ways to tweak the recipes to make them just a smidgen more nutritious without compromising the deliciousness. So, without further adieu, here's my tweaked recipe:

Rhubarb Crisp*
Part one
2 cups diced rhubarb
2 T. flour
1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar (I like my rhubarb tart; you can adjust the sugar to your tastes)

Part two
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour (I used equal parts white flour and wheat flour)
1/4 cup oatmeal
2-3 T. margarine

Dump the rhubarb into a greased baking dish (I used an 8x8 casserole dish). Sprinkle with flour and sugar from part one. In a separate bowl, combine the ingredients from part two. Use two table knives to cut the ingredients together until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of the rhubarb. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

My rhubarb plant. I don't have a picture of the rhubarb crisp because I started eating it almost as soon as it got out of the oven.

*Hey, family! This was originally Inez's recipe from everyone's favorite yellow cookbook.

Guilty as charged

A few weeks ago, I was talking with my brother-in-law about simple guilty pleasures. His? Potato olés from Taco John's. Mine? Fake-cheddar flavored snacks (like Cheetos and Cheez-its). mmm...tasty. I kind of gross myself out thinking what the cheese must be made of, but really, that doesn't deter me. I make sure not to keep any around my house because I know I won't be able to stop myself from eating them. This week at work, I've really been lacking self-control and have indulged in that cheddary goodness twice from the vending machine (typically a no-fly zone). I vow to do better.

My good friend Chester.

The rug is here!

My new rug is here! After a week and a half of repeatedly checking Overstock for customer comments on the red mosaic tile rug, and failing to find any, I finally just went ahead and purchased it (reckless, I know). I was able to get 10 percent off (I just googled "overstock.com promo code" and a bunch of different codes popped up), so that made me feel a little bit better about the whole thing. Also, thanks everyone for all your encouraging comments!

Flash forward to tonight. My rug was waiting on my doorstep for me when I got home. And I couldn't be happier with it. The colors were true to how they appeared online and the pile is nice and cushy as promised. I'm in love.

The rug and my couch. Hey, there's the framed couch print too (not hung yet, but still)!

I liked the rug so much, I just had to get in one of the shots. So, here I am.

Framed: American Frame

At last! Nearly a month and a half later, I've finally assembled my frame from American Frame. I would have put it together the day I received it in the mail, but it didn't come with the required framing hardware...or so I thought. I'd called the company about the "missing" hardware and they promptly sent me a new set.

By the time the hardware arrived, good old procrastination had set in and I never bothered to deal with frame until tonight. As I was hard at work drilling some pilot holes, I couldn't figure out why the piece of cardboard the frame was on wasn't lying flat on the table. As I checked over the cardboard, what should I find? The original hardware - securely taped to it just like the customer service rep said it would be and I had sworn it wasn't. So now, my little picture-frame-assembly victory is dampened by the fact that I swindled the good folks at American Frame.

I've framed American Frame. The original hardware is on the left (with the green sticker). The replacement hardware is on the right (in the canvas bag).

Frozen embryos

Big news - I froze some of my eggs this weekend. Now, I know I am only 24 and have many, many years ahead of me. So why did I do it? I don't really have a good answer. And truth be told, the whole thing was kind of surreal. Throughout the entire process I really didn't even know what was happening. One minute, my eggs were nestled safely away, and the next, they were frozen.

I ended up freezing five of my eggs. Technically, seven were frozen, but two were destroyed before I had a chance to snap the picture. To be completely honest, this is just five in a long string of frozen embryos since I've been in my house. By my count, I've probably frozen two dozen eggs.

These are my frozen eggs - cracked and oozing

I've tried adjusting the temperature in the refrigerator, but that doesn't seem to help. Upon closer inspection, I think the cold air vent blows directly at the designated egg carton spot in the door, thereby flash freezing the eggs in a perpetual state of uselessness.