Ouch!

Just pre-paid for my books on-line, and boy did it hurt- $1,100 dollars worth of hurt. I might be getting some of that back though, which would be very nice. The way it works is that the school knows it won't cost more than that, so they charge the maximum amount at first, and then the actual amount when they get all of the books in. And they're sneaky too. I went online to see if I could find a book list, so I could buy on my own- no dice. But at least this way I'll have everything I need, and not have to worry about it.

Saw "The Dark Knight" yesterday, and I'm withholding final judgement until I see it again. Part of this is due to the fact that I'm not sure how much of the movie I actually saw. I saw it in I-MAX, but was sitting in the second row, off to the side- it took a lot of shifting and scrunching to find a position that was both comfortable, and that I could somewhat see the screen.

Also took an archery class yesterday evening, which was a lot of fun. Hit a dead on bulls-eye once, and had nice tight groupings the rest of the time- I'll be there next week for sure.

Third time's the charm

It's a sad thing, when a frosting recipe takes over your life- for the past 24 hours, that's been the case. The frosting in question- Grandma's Chocolate Fudge Icing- an incredibly thick, gooey, chocolate concoction that can send diabetics into shock just by looking at it. The problem- a separation of the oil/butter and all of the other ingredients, turning it into a sludgy, oily mess- frankly, like something you'd expect to see in a baby's diaper.

I've made this recipe before, and never had a problems, so when I started out yesterday morning, I didn't have any worries- followed the recipe to the letter, set it to cool, and 10 minutes later, it was an oily, unappealing mess. So I though I would try to fix it with powered sugar- after three cups, it was obvious that that wasn't going to work- so into the garbage disposal it went.

Later that evening, tried it again, with the exact same results- my Mom and worked and worked at it, but couldn't salvage it. We posited that maybe the amount of butter had been too much, but a quick check to Joy of Cooking confirmed that indeed 8 tablespoons did equal half a cup, which is what I had put in. Too tired at this point to try again, not to mention being out of unsweetened chocolate, we decided to the next day.

So it was with some trepidation today that I started out on my third attempt in 24 hours- this time, it worked, beautifully, I have to say. The problem- too high of a heat during the cooking- when the recipe says medium to low heat, it really means it. This time I turned down the flame as low as it would go without going out, and I think that did the trick. Needless to say, now the peanut butter cupcakes are even tastier than before!

Where there's smoke- or "in case of fire" redux.

I think that the fire fiasco from last night permanently damaged the toaster. I was making toast again this morning, and while there were no flames, there was plenty of smoke- billows of smoke, actually. I ended up taking the toaster outside and making toast al fresco, so that it wouldn't smoke up the kitchen again. I'm going to hate to break the news to my mom, since just the other day she was saying how much she liked this toaster, and how long it has lasted- a good five or six years- we're hard on toasters.

It's a good thing we're going to Target tomorrow...

In case of fire...

Well, I just tried to set the house on fire- I was impatient for my toast to be done, so I tilted the toaster over to see how done it was, lost my grip, and the thing hit the counter, and all of the loose crumbs at the bottom (about 4 months worth) burst into flames- it was impressive. Luckily, nothing else caught on fire or melted.

I kind of have a history of doing this- I set a pretty big grease fire on accident, trying to light a tick on fire- I had heard that was one way to kill them, or at least it makes them pop really loud. That time I remembered a split second before tossing a whole glass of water on it that water and grease fires don't mix, and smothered it with a pot lid instead. Seems I haven't learned my lesson!

They say the best things in life are free, but you can leave them to the birds and bees...

Hurray! Yesterday was a very good mail day. Not only did I receive my stimulus check in the mail, but the refund on my deposit from my apartment in San Francisco finally came as well- it's been a month and a half since I moved. It wasn't as much as I thought it would be, but I'm not complaining at all. That's books for school right there, and probably a new pair of tennis shoes too- and maybe even part of a guitar.

Yes, I plan on learning the guitar- you really can't get more cliche than that- college (well, grad school) student learning guitar. But, I figure I need something to distract me from law school, apart from all of the running/walking/inline skating- I would still like to have knees at age thirty. I was hoping ballet class would take that role, but right now it's too expensive, and not very easy to get to. As is the firing range- though I doubt anything gets aggression and frustration out like putting a few rounds into a paper target- keeps you from doing to the real thing!

Hopefully I can get some tips from my cousin this weekend, and maybe make a trip up to L.A. later in the summer and actually buy one- I took a look around for shops locally, and it's pretty slim pickings, as far as I can tell. Or maybe not- I really don't have any idea of what I should be looking for at this point- everything I can find to read just keeps the confusion alive and well.

Another success in the kitchen- chocolate sour cream cupcakes with white buttercream icing- with sprinkles, of course- it wouldn't be a cupcake without sprinkles. The recipe is actually extremely similar to the double chocolate chip muffin recipe in Joy of Cooking, just substituting the sour cream and water for the buttermilk in the batter (or the milk and vinegar for those of us too cheap to buy buttermilk!)- and leaving out the chocolate chips as well, though I bet that would be tasty.

Well, my stomach is making all sorts of odd noises, so I had better go and find something for lunch- an avocado, bacon, and lettuce sandwich sounds pretty tasty!

Just like riding a bicycle...

It's funny, but you know, riding a bicycle is something you don't forget. My Mom just got her bike back from the shop on Monday- it had been sitting in the garage for years, and needed the tires replaced and a full tuneup- and so we took it down to the schoolyard to give it a spin. She hopped on and did a circuit, and then it was my turn. Aside from a few wobbles in the beginning, I was fine. And I haven't ridden one since the reunion in Duck, about four years ago. Hmmm....maybe I should get mine overhauled too.

Back from the wilds of rural southern Ohio

So, back from the wilds of rural southern Ohio- still in one piece, more or less. Actually, I made out pretty well- only came away with three bug bites, and even got a little bit of a tan, at least on my arms- it’s not much, but it’s there.

Overall, it was a decent trip. We took a red-eye out from San Diego, via Los Vegas (where I missed out on a chance to go and fire an AK-47- some people are no fun!), and arrived in Columbus a little after 6:30 in the morning. After collecting our luggage and the rental car ( it stuck out like a sore thumb where we were), getting breakfast, and driving through almost every town in between Columbus and Lake Hope State Park to kill time, we finally arrived around 12:30- the cabins weren't ready, so we went and did some grocery shopping, and then returned, by which time we could check in, and everyone else had arrived.

The cabins we had were nice- we were either number 31 or 32- Ash, at any rate, which we found funny, given we lived on an Ash street in Beaufort. Our cabin was fairly large- there was a front room with a couch, coffee table, chair, rocking chair, fireplace, and tv with a vcr/dvd player. Then in the back was a full kitchen (well, no dishwasher), and also an small enclosed porched. To the left of the main room was a bedroom with two twin beds and then to the right was the bathroom (which had scalding hot water and decent pressure, a definite relief!), and two other bedrooms- one with a double bed, where Mom and Dad stayed, and the other with two sets of bunk beds, where I (and eventually the twins and Katherine) stayed. Oh, and air-conditioning, which was wonderful- though it really didn’t get hot until the last two days we were there- and that was mostly due to the humidity.

Overall, it was a pretty decent trip. The low point was definitely Monday, when we had a 9 hour power outage- from two or three in the afternoon to 11 in the evening. That was trying. The irritating thing was that it wasn’t hardly even raining where we were, but somewhere down the line it was. I snapped that day- everyone crowded into our cabin for dinner (sandwiches) and I couldn’t take all of the bodies, the noise, and all the sniping- I slapped together some dinner and escaped outside.

I was awake when the power came on- I was almost done getting ready for bed- I had taken a shower despite everyone’s protestations that it would be dark- which is was, but that’s what the flashlight was for- reminded me of the student days in SF when the power went out all the time- and that there would be no hot water left- I’m sure I was as red as a lobster when I got out- it felt sooo good! I was just getting ready to brush my teeth when the lights and fan burst on, and I could hear the tv in the front room too. I gave a little squeal and did a little dance, and when I got out of the bathroom I turned things off, but was happy in the knowledge that when I got up in the morning and flicked on the light switch, everything would work.

The high point, was, ironically, the last night there (last Friday). We all feasted on left-overs, which made dinner, usually the point were people’s tempers were the most frayed, a very relaxed and low-keyed affair. After dinner there was a fire and s’mores, and Helen and I and one of the twins took a short walk, and came back to sparklers- I admit I ran over, not wanting to miss any of the fun- I love sparklers! Joel gave us an excellent fireworks show, and afterwards people just sat/stood around and talked. It was very atmospheric, with the fire, the sounds of adults and kids, Elias and Geoff trading off playing the guitar (first time I had head Geoff play). Later in the evening Geoff, Katherine, Helen, Elias, and Joel went to the haunted train tunnel, where Geoff scared the hell out of Katherine, and also succeed in scaring everyone else as well- I begged off at the time, wanting to take my shower in peace and quiet, but I wish I had gone now.

The rest of the time I spent reading or walking- I finished four books and started a fifth and a sixth, visiting with people, and taking a lot of walks. One or two of them were in the woods, but because it rained nearly every evening, the ground was usually pretty wet, and the bugs were bad. So, it was the road for me- did a lot of short walks, and also walked three or four times down to the lake- a good 3-4 mile walk, I think. The lake was very pretty- ringed with trees, and water lilies- bright pink ones, which surprised everyone. I didn’t go swimming (I’m not a big fan of lake swimming) and didn’t get to go canoeing either, which I had wanted to do- the only thing on my list, actually. No-one else seemed terribly enthused about it, and I didn’t want to push the subject at all.

And Geoff and I did do our semi-traditional drive through the country on Thursday. While everyone else went to Hocking Hills State Park to do a hike there, Geoff and I made a run to the Nelsonville Kroger's for a birthday cake for Grandma and Grandpa- their 80th/85th birthdays respectively are coming up this year, and the kids (Mom, Aunts Mimi and Margaret, and Uncle Mark) all thought a small celebration with the whole family would be a nice thing to do. After getting the cake and some other odds and ends, we went through the drive through of the Diary Queen next door. Geoff got a chocolate milkshake, and treated me to an M&M blizzard- medium, although I had asked for a small.

Oh, it was bliss!! I hadn’t had one in a good four years, but it was just as good as I had remembered- maybe even better. After the blizzard had been reduced to a small melted puddle at the bottom of the cup, and I had licked my spoon clean with a small cat-like smile of satisfaction, Geoff asked me wasn’t I happy I had gotten the medium blizzard, and I said yes I was! He laughed, and then pointed out that because he had ordered the medium for me, my happiness had gone up 33% because of him- that made me laugh!

The flights back went well- just long and uncomfortable- we stopped over in Houston and had lunch there. Let me tell you, it’s pretty grim to be a vegetarian in Texas- poor Katherine! Luckily, the place we ate, Ruby’s, had a veggie patty option for any of their burgers, so Mom, Katherine, and I all opted for that. They were good veggie patties, and had good fries as well. The last leg of our trip was interesting- we flew Continental, and not only did we get a movie, but we also got a meal, free of charge! I tried a few bites of the burger, which, I have to agree with Dad, was pretty tasty. I was still full from the lunch we had, or I probably would have eaten the whole thing.

We landed a little behind schedule, and by the time we collected the luggage and the car and got home, it was near 10:30 p.m.- a very long day!

And that’s about it- the bad thing about coming back is the vacation let-down, and already I’m suffering from ennui and the “anywhere-but-here” syndrome. I’ve written to Geoff to see if I could visit him up in L.A.- he’s always complaining no-one comes to visit him, so I thought I would give it a shot. I think it’d be fun, and a change of pace/scenery would be nice too.

Well, my alarm is going to go off soon, so I should go and turn that off, and finish getting ready for the day and my walk this morning. Be back later!