Come to the dark side. We have cookies!

Nom nom nom

2008-05-14T14:17:40Z

Pesto Pizza!

Recipe here:
http://kiraskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/05/pesto-pizza.html

It's really simple and yummy!

Books, books, books!

2008-05-13T19:59:58Z

I've been reading and listening to audiobooks a lot lately! I just finished Howards End by E. M. Forster and loved it. I'm listening to one of M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth stories, Death of a Hussy. And thanks to my mom, I have a copy of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. I've been looking for that one ever since I saw the movie. So I'm almost halfway to my goal of reading 50 books in 2008. I still have more on my shelf to read.

I've gotten a little bit behind on reading Post Captain for mandc_read , though. They're starting chapter six, and I haven't finished chapter five yet!

House was really good last night. I hope SVU is good tonight...though the last few episodes have left me thinking it's time to kill the show. Ugh. The less said about Robin Williams' episode the better. I hope there won't be another tornado Thursday- I'd hate to miss Lost again. :p

6/10 of a mile.

2008-05-12T22:42:15Z

As the crow flies, as they say. A little over one mile by the road. That's how close last Thursday's EF2 tornado was to my home. *shudders* I really dodged a bullet on that one...The tornado just missed the local synagogue (it's in that subdivision). I knew I heard it, I just didn't realize how damn close it was! And the season is just beginning, folks...

A cake!

2008-05-12T01:59:20Z

I made this for my family's Mother's Day dinner. It was eaten up! The recipe is here:

http://kiraskitchen.blogspot.com/

It really wasn't that hard to bake. Just time consuming...

Mom loved her card and bracelet. I even made a gift bag to put her presents in:

Church was exhausting today. We had two anthems, plus it was Pentecost Sunday and youth Confirmation. The director made us do the Tallis "If Ye Love Me" again as a communion anthem- this time we did it right. I hope we don't mess up like the first time we sang it ever again!

Mother's Day stuff!

2008-05-11T01:38:26Z

I made a card and a beaded bracelet for my mom!

I hope she likes them! I also made a cake- it's a new recipe, so I'll post it with a picture at my cooking blog tomorrow.

Closer than I thought...

2008-05-10T03:15:12Z

Whoa. I've been watching the news reports about the tornado in Stafford County- there were about 100 houses damaged, several almost completely destroyed. And those were less than three miles away...Counting my blessings here tonight! A few branches down, some plants knocked over, and garbage can moved about 100 feet away! I didn't get to sleep until 3 a.m. last night. The Late Show was mostly preempted for weather coverage...and that damned tornado watch lasted until 3. Plus there was a lot of thunder and lightning, and heavy rain and wind. Not fun.

In other news, I went back to the doctor for a follow up- I've lost ten pounds, and she seemed pleased with my progress with Effexor (it is getting better). So I'm going to continue what I've been doing, and hopefully will lose more weight and get even less depressed!

Finally caught up with Doctor Who, though I missed the Pompeii episode. I watched my tapes of Voyage of the Damned and Partners in Crime and enjoyed them a great deal- I want one of those cute little fat eating creatures for a pet! Of course, they'd make a buffet out of me... :p I watched The Planet of the Ood tonight on Sci-Fi. That was pretty good, too.

I hate bad weather!

2008-05-09T03:35:57Z

I missed Lost tonight- because I was hiding in the basement. There was a tornado warning that lasted about an hour, and there's still a watch until the middle of the night! It sure sounded bad out there. Lots of rain and wind, and trees were bending. I'll probably find a bunch of branches on the ground in the morning!

Tonight was just not fun! I had a bad headache, too. Weather related, I'm sure.

ETA- new warning issued. Oh noes...

Choir today...

2008-05-05T00:28:06Z

...went very well for a change. Unfortunately, the air conditioning was out, so the choir loft was unbearably hot! All the windows in the sanctuary were open. According to the ushers, when we sang our anthem, people on the street stopped to listen to us! The director sent us all a nice email praising us. That's very rare.

I wasn't the only one in the family who cried after the Derby yesterday! My sister called last night...and the first thing she said was: "MY HORSEY DIED!!!!" :( The Derby was all anyone talked about in choir before practice started.

It really was too hot this morning. I hated wearing my robe. They aren't designed for warm weather.

Derby Day...

2008-05-03T23:39:46Z

I never thought the Kentucky Derby would end so badly. My thoughts about the race and a recipe from my Derby Day lunch behind the cut...I was rooting for Eight Belles, the first filly to run in a decade. She ran well, but obviously too hard. What a horrible end to the race. She broke both front ankles and had to be put down right there on the track. *cries* She was such a beautiful horse. She came in second and then just collapsed. It's very hard to celebrate the (expected) win of Big Brown after what happened...but it was a big win for him.

Despite the sad ending, I really enjoyed watching the Derby. I could have done without all the fawning over celebrities (yawn), but I loved seeing the horses and hearing their stories.

I had a nice Derby celebration with Mom and Dad. I made Benedictine sandwiches as always, and added cherry cream cheese sandwiches and country ham biscuits. And we ate off of Louisville made stoneware (M.A. Hadley). I love the horse platter...

The cherry sandwiches are the easiest thing in the world. I found it in Paula Deen Celebrates . It's just 8 ounces of cream cheese and a jar of maraschino cherries (drained) blended together in a food processor, then spread on very thin white sandwich bread. Simple and delicious.

Sopranos rule!

2008-05-01T02:02:41Z

I went into choir tonight thinking that our director would chew us out for our lousy performance Sunday. Instead, he complimented us for not stopping when he tried to start over. He singled out the sopranos for keeping it all together! We are pretty awesome...:p I still think it was a disaster, though. Catastrophe and fiasco also apply. But maybe it was just the beginning of the piece that was bad. Anyway, practice went well tonight. I'm still planning on taking a break, though!

Coolness!

2008-04-29T00:03:00Z

Someone posted a link to Tom Lehrer clips at YouTube!

National Brotherhood week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIlJ8ZCs4jY

The Element Song (required listening in my high school chemistry class!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNfx0FO4hzs&feature=related

My friend did these two for his recital in college- Poisoning Pigeons in the Park and The Masochism Tango

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhuMLpdnOjY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TytGOeiW0aE&feature=related

I got it from Agnes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKZR3Bcj4jw&feature=related

My dad has the Tom Lehrer Songbook somewhere...I'll have to ask him to find it.

I loved the stuff Lehrer did for The Electric Company!

Edited to add- a site with the lyrics!

http://www.casualhacker.net/tom.lehrer/song_index.html

AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!

2008-04-28T01:21:17Z

From the "I hate my choir director" files...

We did one of my favorite works today: If Ye Love Me by Thomas Tallis. We practiced and practiced and had sung it well in rehearsal...but when it came time to sing in church, something went wrong. The director insisted on doing it without organ, and he directed from a spot where many of us couldn't see him. We started off wrong (his fault, totally), and he tried to get us to stop! None of us stopped...we kept on going. I think it would have been far worse to stop and start over. We did finally get it together, but he was not pleased. What the hell did he expect from us? If we can't see him, and we don't have the notes, we're not going to be able to sing. He insulted us by trying to make us stop. I never want to sing this work again. :( I'm dreading practice on Wednesday. He's going to chew us out for things that were his doing! I have a feeling that people are going to quit. I know that once Pentecost has come and gone, I'm going to take a long break.

It really was awful. I had to leave before the last hymn because I thought I might cry.

The bell choir rang this morning, too. We didn't do as well as we did in practice. The youth bells were much better than we were!

Other stuff- I read You Suck by Christopher Moore, which was hilarious. I didn't know that it was a sequel! I'll have to read the first book, Bloodsucking Fiends, later. Also, I'm going to start reading M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth series. My mom and I loved watching the T.V. series (though the episodes really didn't resemble the books much!), so now I want to read the books! The library has a bunch of them on audio cassette/CD/MP3.

Wow...

2008-04-26T19:48:17Z

Seven years at TrekBBS. How time flies...has it really been that long? And I'm still there...

Lost...

2008-04-25T03:05:26Z

If you haven't seen it...avoid the cut.

They killed Alex! The bastards!!!!!!

Very good episode. We found out why Sayid works for Ben in the future...and that Ben plans to kill Widmore's daughter Penny to avenge Alex (though it was his fault she was killed).

And Claire almost got killed! At least, her house got blown up!

And Lostzilla made an appearance! Took out a bunch of bad guys. Wheeeee, what fun!

Four years!

2008-04-24T15:40:06Z

I can't believe I've kept this journal for so long. And I don't know what I'd do without it, or the people who post here! *hugs f-list*

Meow.

2008-04-22T00:36:10Z

Eddie says hello.

He was just posing. Kira was hiding that day, so no new pictures!

I just updated my recipe blog with a nice chicken and mushroom dish.

http://kiraskitchen.blogspot.com/

It's yummy!

Swiped from terri

2008-04-21T12:43:43Z

What Your Taste in Chocolate Says About You

You are sophisticated, modern, and high class.

Your taste is refined, but you are not picky.

You are often the first to try something new.

You are lively, goofy, and a total blast.

You're incredibly happy, and you always are lifting spirits.

You love new adventures and activities. You enjoy living a full life, even if it is chaotic.

You feel lost when things are quiet. You rather not think... you prefer to just do!

The Chocolate Oracle

Help me, I'm turning into a Whovian!

2008-04-20T03:10:25Z

That's all I need, another fandom! *laughs* I had a whole night of Doctor Who and Torchwood! That was fun. First it was Utopia, The Sound of Drums, and Last of the Timelords. Whee! So much fun. I admit to not having a huge knowledge of Who-lore, but I got enough to enjoy everything.The Master was so evil! And I actually like Martha, and won't mind if she really does end up on Torchwood. I finally understand that "Tinkerbell Jesus" thing about the Doctor now. Hee! I thought for a moment that Martha had told everyone "If you believe in the Doctor, clap your hands!" That seemed like a too-easy way to break The Master's hold on the world. I just love David Tennant. It was fun watching Jack with the Doctor, too.

Q, you've gotten me hooked on yet another show. I've even added a shiny new Doctor Who tag! :p I still haven't watched my tape of Voyage of the Damned. I'll make sure to check out the seasons I missed. I did watch older Who (and Red Dwarf, too...) in college with friends...it was a fun show to get drunk to. :p

I watched Fragments and Exit Wounds again. Waaaaaaaaaaaahhh! I cried again. :(

Movie night!

2008-04-19T02:34:58Z

Just got back from seeing Leatherheads. That was a funny, cute movie! I can't believe I ever disliked George Clooney. Now I think he's just awesome...

Some other thoughts behind a cut as they may contain spoilers (for those who haven't seen the last two Torchwood episodes)...

Now I'm going to watch my tape of Doctor Who, Voyage of the Damned...hope it's good. Tomorrow The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords air on BBC America, then Torchwood and Fragments/Exit Wounds. Sob. Not sure I really want to watch Exit Wounds again. Well, any hopes anyone had of Owen possibly returning for series three? Likely gone, as Burn Gorman is already working on a new show, Bonekickers. I have absolutely no idea what it's about.

A finished piece!

2008-04-16T14:20:02Z

I finished my cousin's wedding present last night!

It really came out nice. I think it's a much better present than The Bride, which I gave up on. It took me thirty hours to do.

In other news, I went to a bell festival last weekend. It wasn't as good as last year's- the classes weren't interesting. I didn't go to any. The rehearsals and concert went really well, though. And I got a new bell shirt:

Hee, hee!

Only about half of the choir went this year. My nephew was a substitute for one of the players. He did really well.

I'm still tired from the weekend! And my new medicine is making me sick. I'm having a hard time adjusting to it. Yuck.

More awesome TWOP Motivation...

2008-04-13T17:08:16Z

From Fragments, mostly. Two pages of 'em, starting at this link.

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=3142036&view=findpost&p=10093505

Got home really late from the bell festival last night...and I forgot to tape Doctor Who (yes, I'm starting to like Who too) and Torchwood. Oops. Thank God they repeat next week!

Medicine is already making me sick. Hope I adjust to it soon...I'm only taking a quarter of the dose I'm going to end up with!

Something to cheer myself up...

2008-04-10T02:33:31Z

I found a cross stitched piece that I'd finished but had never done anything with last night. I finally decided to make a journal cover out of it:

Something I need to remember....

FYI, I print out all of my journal entries (usually exclude the memes) and paste them in books like these- it's like a diary and scrapbook in one!

Well, at least the weather is cooperating...

2008-04-09T21:22:43Z

It was a pretty day today, warm, somewhat sunny, and a bit breezy. Would have taken a nice long walk if I hadn't been feeling so sick. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow...yet another new one. A woman this time, at least. I find it so much easier to talk to a woman doctor...

This weekend is the bell festival. That should cheer me up a bit.

Still not sleeping well.

Of course, bananas are far more interesting...

2008-04-08T00:03:47Z

Had to use up some old bananas today. I made fritters:

Recipe here:

http://kiraskitchen.blogspot.com/

I couldn't resist using one of Ianto's big lines for my entry title.

A birthday!

2008-04-07T11:05:34Z

Happy birthday, ghost07 !!