But here's a quick blog I stumbled on that I think might be fun to share.
http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/
*yawn*
Thoughts ?
28 November 2007
27 November 2007
Fairytale Brownies Story -- Bonus Post
Okay -- I figure I've teased my "fans" long enough. All three of you. =D
Here's the story about Fairytale Brownies.
It begins in a kingdom far, far away. . . okay, maybe not. But it DOES begin with Google ! I was checking my Gmail the other day and actually clicked on one of those links at the top.
Lo and behold (as if by magic !), I was directed to the site for Fairytale Brownies. Well, who can resist brownies ? Certainly not me ! So I started poking around and I found a little something. A little something that makes my eyes bleed -- a typo ! EGAD ! Normal people see these all the time and just shrug them off. I have a genetic defect that makes that pretty much impossible.
So -- I send a little note to Fairytale Brownies' webmaster. I include the link to the page and cut & paste the actual piece where the typo occurred (as well as using several happy little asterisks (Thanks, Bob Ross !) to designate the word that was misspelled.
Most of the time when I do stuff like this, here's where the end of the story would be. The Fairytale Brownie people, however, do things a little differently. I received a very nice little email back thanking me for my assistance and asking for my address so that they could send me a little "thank you" gift. Of course, they send it to "Mr. Gifford", but. . . hey ! Who cares ?
Yep. Of COURSE I (very politely) let them know that a) I am not a Mr. and b) my last name now has an "s" at the end. They are completely unfazed and offer their abject apologies. =D
Two days later -- bing, bong ! FedEx calling ! Whatever could it be ?
It's a box. . . of BROWNIES ! Oh. Mah. Gah !
They sent me a TWELVE-PACK of brownies and a sack of coffee ! As a THANK YOU !
Well, then -- Imma gonna help them out ! Here's their website and. . . the brownies are DEE LISH US ! They are not cheap (but they aren't unreasonable by any stretch), but, heck, they sent 12 different flavors and that seems worth it to me not to have to make 12 batches myself.
Anyhow, if anyone needs an "all-occasion" gift that you don't have to wrap & ship yourself, please avail yourself of these folks. (Speaking of the wrapping & shipping, btw -- the packaging is basically a kraft paper look with some very sophisticated trappings. Custom stickers, custom bands, and a custom outer box all speak to the quality of the operation. Have no fear -- it's VERY sharp. It's also based out of Phoenix.)
Thoughts ?
Here's the story about Fairytale Brownies.
It begins in a kingdom far, far away. . . okay, maybe not. But it DOES begin with Google ! I was checking my Gmail the other day and actually clicked on one of those links at the top.
Lo and behold (as if by magic !), I was directed to the site for Fairytale Brownies. Well, who can resist brownies ? Certainly not me ! So I started poking around and I found a little something. A little something that makes my eyes bleed -- a typo ! EGAD ! Normal people see these all the time and just shrug them off. I have a genetic defect that makes that pretty much impossible.
So -- I send a little note to Fairytale Brownies' webmaster. I include the link to the page and cut & paste the actual piece where the typo occurred (as well as using several happy little asterisks (Thanks, Bob Ross !) to designate the word that was misspelled.
Most of the time when I do stuff like this, here's where the end of the story would be. The Fairytale Brownie people, however, do things a little differently. I received a very nice little email back thanking me for my assistance and asking for my address so that they could send me a little "thank you" gift. Of course, they send it to "Mr. Gifford", but. . . hey ! Who cares ?
Yep. Of COURSE I (very politely) let them know that a) I am not a Mr. and b) my last name now has an "s" at the end. They are completely unfazed and offer their abject apologies. =D
Two days later -- bing, bong ! FedEx calling ! Whatever could it be ?
It's a box. . . of BROWNIES ! Oh. Mah. Gah !
They sent me a TWELVE-PACK of brownies and a sack of coffee ! As a THANK YOU !
Well, then -- Imma gonna help them out ! Here's their website and. . . the brownies are DEE LISH US ! They are not cheap (but they aren't unreasonable by any stretch), but, heck, they sent 12 different flavors and that seems worth it to me not to have to make 12 batches myself.
Anyhow, if anyone needs an "all-occasion" gift that you don't have to wrap & ship yourself, please avail yourself of these folks. (Speaking of the wrapping & shipping, btw -- the packaging is basically a kraft paper look with some very sophisticated trappings. Custom stickers, custom bands, and a custom outer box all speak to the quality of the operation. Have no fear -- it's VERY sharp. It's also based out of Phoenix.)
Thoughts ?
OMG ! Stealth Post !
So. . . the stars all aligned last night and it was amazing !
I got some sleep because Baxter finally figured out that the garage door leads to. . . NOTHING. He slept like a rock, which meant that I actually got some solid snoozing. It was glorious !
This morning I got up and went to work and actually was very productive. That was very good as I had a lot to do. Sooo. . . work -- ever have one of those days where you just don't feel like all the alleged "crises" of the moment are really critical ? Nah, me neither. =P
When I got done with work, I came downstairs and relaxed by using the new-ish carpet cleaner on our living room carpet. It works _okay_ but not great but, hey, it was less than a hundred bucks ! It does what I want it to do for the price I was willing to pay at the time and, besides, it never hurts to try one out. It's a Dirt Devil Vibe, for those of you dying to know. . . this is it
Then, I still had a little energy left and I made. . . COOOOOOOKIEEEEEEEEEEES.
I had the two doughs chilling in the fridge, but this time I thought about my time management skills BEFORE I started baking and. . . only baked one set. They are the chocolate crinkles that my mom sent the recipe for the other day. Yummy !
[[ placeholder for cookie sheets ]]
[[ placeholder for cookies ]]
Now, when the sugar high wears off. . . I am gonna craaaasssssshhhh.
Night-night.
(P.S. How much do I LURVES Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe ? )
Thoughts ?
I got some sleep because Baxter finally figured out that the garage door leads to. . . NOTHING. He slept like a rock, which meant that I actually got some solid snoozing. It was glorious !
This morning I got up and went to work and actually was very productive. That was very good as I had a lot to do. Sooo. . . work -- ever have one of those days where you just don't feel like all the alleged "crises" of the moment are really critical ? Nah, me neither. =P
When I got done with work, I came downstairs and relaxed by using the new-ish carpet cleaner on our living room carpet. It works _okay_ but not great but, hey, it was less than a hundred bucks ! It does what I want it to do for the price I was willing to pay at the time and, besides, it never hurts to try one out. It's a Dirt Devil Vibe, for those of you dying to know. . . this is it
Then, I still had a little energy left and I made. . . COOOOOOOKIEEEEEEEEEEES.
I had the two doughs chilling in the fridge, but this time I thought about my time management skills BEFORE I started baking and. . . only baked one set. They are the chocolate crinkles that my mom sent the recipe for the other day. Yummy !
[[ placeholder for cookie sheets ]]
[[ placeholder for cookies ]]
Now, when the sugar high wears off. . . I am gonna craaaasssssshhhh.
Night-night.
(P.S. How much do I LURVES Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe ? )
Thoughts ?
26 November 2007
So. . . I *Was* Sleeping
but then Baxter got the heebie-jeebies and scratched on the door for "Haylp, Momma, haylp !"
Got him outside to pee and whatever else dogs do late at night. Party like rock stars ? Well, maybe -- but only if we compare them to the two oldest Stones. And even then, I think Keith has him beat. . . He's back inside and snoozing merrily on the couch now. And I'm awake. I shouldn't be awake, but I am. At least my massive headache is finally subsiding. I don't mind having them (okay, I so do), but I'd like to know at least what the CAUSE is so that I can treat it. Tylenol PM (yum, vanilla!) only works when the dog is asleep as well. *sigh*
It's kinda weird being the only one awake in the house like this. (Scratch that. Kismet just came to join me and by "join", I mean "walk on the laptop keyboard" and otter around the office looking for breakable items and things that go kasmash. [Note: I hate it when stuff becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Cleanup on aisle Giffords !] ) Shoo ! Shoo !
Anyhow, I also took a quick tour through the "news of the day" and something caught my eye that makes me sad. It also makes me very, very angry.
Baby Grace story (not for the kiddos)
For those of you who know. . . you know. For those of you who don't, a little girl is no longer with us due, it appears, to the unmitigated evil of the two people who should have cared for her and loved her. I won't go into detail, but it disturbs me to think that these two people are still drawing breath.
I don't want to end this post here so. . . for those who know all the names. . .
Got him outside to pee and whatever else dogs do late at night. Party like rock stars ? Well, maybe -- but only if we compare them to the two oldest Stones. And even then, I think Keith has him beat. . . He's back inside and snoozing merrily on the couch now. And I'm awake. I shouldn't be awake, but I am. At least my massive headache is finally subsiding. I don't mind having them (okay, I so do), but I'd like to know at least what the CAUSE is so that I can treat it. Tylenol PM (yum, vanilla!) only works when the dog is asleep as well. *sigh*
It's kinda weird being the only one awake in the house like this. (Scratch that. Kismet just came to join me and by "join", I mean "walk on the laptop keyboard" and otter around the office looking for breakable items and things that go kasmash. [Note: I hate it when stuff becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Cleanup on aisle Giffords !] ) Shoo ! Shoo !
Anyhow, I also took a quick tour through the "news of the day" and something caught my eye that makes me sad. It also makes me very, very angry.
Baby Grace story (not for the kiddos)
For those of you who know. . . you know. For those of you who don't, a little girl is no longer with us due, it appears, to the unmitigated evil of the two people who should have cared for her and loved her. I won't go into detail, but it disturbs me to think that these two people are still drawing breath.
I don't want to end this post here so. . . for those who know all the names. . .
- Scooterpoo (S'prise) will be visiting the vet on Wednesday for his attitude adjustment
- Kismet has settled in quite nicely and she and S'prise have done a great deal of "monkey-rolling" (my neighbor's phrase) this last couple of weeks. We're very glad that they have taken to each other so well that they play together like this. I have to confess that I was a teensy bit worried when we first brought Kismet home -- she was so laid-back and mellow.
- I broke the original "kitty-playstick". =( I will just have to get another dowel and transfer the yarn, I guess.
- Bix & Baxter are still as fine as they are going to be.
- I don't have a tree (yet), but will have one soon. YAY !
- Chocolate crinkle and snickerdoodle doughs are still chilling in the icebox. I would have made them tonight, but. . . please see above re: massive headache.
- (For Kate) -- I leveled most of my little toons and skilled them up in cooking, fishing, first aid, etc. during the long four-day weekend. No, I wasn't avoiding chores. Nooooo. =D My plan is to get everyone to 20 sometime in the next couple of months to leverage all the tskills.
Okay -- still have a little bit of a headache, but the massive part is gone. Baxter is still asleep (thank God) and I might be able to log some rack time myself.
Signing off.
Thoughts ?
11 November 2007
October Summary --
Geez, how did I manage to never have time to post in October ? Well, let's see. . . shaalllll weeeee ?
First week of October basically started out with the last day of September -- the Norwood Neighborhood Picnic. I had gotten the invitations designed, created, folded, and distributed earlier this month, so I guess it shouldn't be a shock to me that people actually showed up ! All in all, I consider it to be a success -- got to meet quite a few of our neighbors and, of course, they are lovely people.
Jumped right into work the rest of the week and got everything done and ready because Robert had a friend coming up from Southern California for a few days. Kevin came in with no issues at the airport, so we got him settled in to watch sports with Robert the whole weekend. Phew !
Kevin took off Tuesday to go meet another friend of his, so we got back into the swing of regular work & chores, but we also made time to go out with a few friends of ours on Friday. Kelley and her boyfriend, Joel, and Tracy and her husband, Cole, met up with us at Tides Tavern, which is a local watering hole here in Gig Harbor. We all had a great time and made promises to do it again, although our schedules so far have not coincided to the point where that's been possible.
Turns out it was a good thing that we had Friday night with our friends because Saturday was our day to. . . [drum roll, please] CLEAN THE GUTTERS !! UGH ! I will spare you the details in case you are reading this while eating, but suffice it to say, it's nasty. Oh ! But we found peanuts ! Really ! In the shell ! Apparently, we have found the squirrel's favorite hidey-hole, but I like to think that we have saved yet another backyard varmint from ptomaine. =P
Midway into the following workweek, I attended a work happy hour and I think that went reasonably well. Got to talk with quite a few co-workers and we kicked around a lot of different conversations and such - most non-work-related which, of course, made them WAY more fun than usual !
[Post story on Fairytale Brownies somewhere around here. It's so long that it really requires something all by itself.]
A couple of days later, I noticed that Jinx had not been acting like she was feeling well. She was having periods when it looked like she was having trouble catching her breath and I realized that she had basically stopped eating and drinking. That never bodes well, so I kinda co-opted her to stay in my office while I was working so that I could keep a better eye on her, just in case. She did fine while she was in my office, but I never could get her to drink much, nor eat. S'prise was no help, either, as he danced outside my closed office door, screaming in Kitty "Let me in ! I'll eat whatever she doesn't want ! HONEST !" Unfortunately, he got his wish the next day, as Jinx decided that she was done putting up with him and changed addresses from this world to the next. Robert took her in to the vet and did the hard work as I was still asleep. When he returned, he woke me up and let me know and that's when we kicked around the idea that S'prise did not need to be an only cat if we could help it. We headed down to the Humane Society location and looked at all their adoptable kitties and Kismet was chosen to come and grace our home. (She still hasn't made it there yet, but we're hoping to pick her up Monday afternoon. She got a little cold right after we visited her the first time, so the surgery to have her fixed has had to be postponed several times. C'est la vie.)
On Wednesday, I had a difficult day at work, so I chose to avail myself of some retail therapy that night. Christmas shopping seems to calm me down a little, so. . . that's what I did. =)
On Friday of the same week, we welcomed the Hongs. They are friends of ours from our time in Boise and Albert & Brian had been scheduled to attend a chess tournament in Tacoma, so we went ahead and put them up, along with Geck, their dad. Since I wasn't sure exactly how the chess rounds were scheduled, I scheduled myself to head up to Marysville to check out the outlet stores that I had heard about. Mall report: they are fabulous and I will go back up there, probably after Christmas, to take advantage of some of the sales that I anticipate them running. They have a bunch of shops that you've probably heard of and a few that were new to me. [Seattle Premium Outlets]
The Hongs took off for home Sunday afternoon, so we got ready for the next few days. I had another company function to attend Monday night -- the Annual Tour event, which was held at Hotel 1000 in downtown Seattle. It was a lovely event and I think a good time was had by all.
Momma came up on Wednesday, which was Halloween night and we gave out candy to all our trick-or-treaters dressed as witches this year. No, the bacon & egg suit still didn't work, but I have a much better idea of a couple things to do to fix the obvious issues that are present. Maybe next year. . . sigh. Or. . . maybe I will have time to execute the other idea that I have kicking around in my brain. . . [evil snicker]
And so ended October. . .
November post/s (I swear!) to come.
Thoughts ?
First week of October basically started out with the last day of September -- the Norwood Neighborhood Picnic. I had gotten the invitations designed, created, folded, and distributed earlier this month, so I guess it shouldn't be a shock to me that people actually showed up ! All in all, I consider it to be a success -- got to meet quite a few of our neighbors and, of course, they are lovely people.
Jumped right into work the rest of the week and got everything done and ready because Robert had a friend coming up from Southern California for a few days. Kevin came in with no issues at the airport, so we got him settled in to watch sports with Robert the whole weekend. Phew !
Kevin took off Tuesday to go meet another friend of his, so we got back into the swing of regular work & chores, but we also made time to go out with a few friends of ours on Friday. Kelley and her boyfriend, Joel, and Tracy and her husband, Cole, met up with us at Tides Tavern, which is a local watering hole here in Gig Harbor. We all had a great time and made promises to do it again, although our schedules so far have not coincided to the point where that's been possible.
Turns out it was a good thing that we had Friday night with our friends because Saturday was our day to. . . [drum roll, please] CLEAN THE GUTTERS !! UGH ! I will spare you the details in case you are reading this while eating, but suffice it to say, it's nasty. Oh ! But we found peanuts ! Really ! In the shell ! Apparently, we have found the squirrel's favorite hidey-hole, but I like to think that we have saved yet another backyard varmint from ptomaine. =P
Midway into the following workweek, I attended a work happy hour and I think that went reasonably well. Got to talk with quite a few co-workers and we kicked around a lot of different conversations and such - most non-work-related which, of course, made them WAY more fun than usual !
[Post story on Fairytale Brownies somewhere around here. It's so long that it really requires something all by itself.]
A couple of days later, I noticed that Jinx had not been acting like she was feeling well. She was having periods when it looked like she was having trouble catching her breath and I realized that she had basically stopped eating and drinking. That never bodes well, so I kinda co-opted her to stay in my office while I was working so that I could keep a better eye on her, just in case. She did fine while she was in my office, but I never could get her to drink much, nor eat. S'prise was no help, either, as he danced outside my closed office door, screaming in Kitty "Let me in ! I'll eat whatever she doesn't want ! HONEST !" Unfortunately, he got his wish the next day, as Jinx decided that she was done putting up with him and changed addresses from this world to the next. Robert took her in to the vet and did the hard work as I was still asleep. When he returned, he woke me up and let me know and that's when we kicked around the idea that S'prise did not need to be an only cat if we could help it. We headed down to the Humane Society location and looked at all their adoptable kitties and Kismet was chosen to come and grace our home. (She still hasn't made it there yet, but we're hoping to pick her up Monday afternoon. She got a little cold right after we visited her the first time, so the surgery to have her fixed has had to be postponed several times. C'est la vie.)
On Wednesday, I had a difficult day at work, so I chose to avail myself of some retail therapy that night. Christmas shopping seems to calm me down a little, so. . . that's what I did. =)
On Friday of the same week, we welcomed the Hongs. They are friends of ours from our time in Boise and Albert & Brian had been scheduled to attend a chess tournament in Tacoma, so we went ahead and put them up, along with Geck, their dad. Since I wasn't sure exactly how the chess rounds were scheduled, I scheduled myself to head up to Marysville to check out the outlet stores that I had heard about. Mall report: they are fabulous and I will go back up there, probably after Christmas, to take advantage of some of the sales that I anticipate them running. They have a bunch of shops that you've probably heard of and a few that were new to me. [Seattle Premium Outlets]
The Hongs took off for home Sunday afternoon, so we got ready for the next few days. I had another company function to attend Monday night -- the Annual Tour event, which was held at Hotel 1000 in downtown Seattle. It was a lovely event and I think a good time was had by all.
Momma came up on Wednesday, which was Halloween night and we gave out candy to all our trick-or-treaters dressed as witches this year. No, the bacon & egg suit still didn't work, but I have a much better idea of a couple things to do to fix the obvious issues that are present. Maybe next year. . . sigh. Or. . . maybe I will have time to execute the other idea that I have kicking around in my brain. . . [evil snicker]
And so ended October. . .
November post/s (I swear!) to come.
Thoughts ?
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