Links: Time Wasters

Matt's playing softball, so I'm in time-waster mode tonight.

Links: Time-Wasters:

• Terminology - believe it or not, I remember a time when I thought east was always "going towards the Atlantic" This cartoon reminds me of that.
  
• Shaun the Sheep game (from the folks who brought you Wallace & Grommit)
• Fantastic Contraption - I've passed almost every level. Yes, I cheated a bit by looking for solutions on youtube, but even that was a challenge.
  
• HGTV dream home give away. You can only click that link if you promise to let me visit if you win!
  

Our little birdie

This is not very interesting at all, but I felt like writing something, so I shall tell you the story of the world's most hard-headed bird...

Last fall, when I was working at home a lot, there would be plenty of days that I'd spend hunched over my work laptop and home computer, simultaneously. I'd be working in our office, (as I am now), with the sun filtering in thru the window near my desk (as I wish it was now).

On one such day, I was working, peacefully, when I heard a huge THUNK which sounded like it came from the dining room, directly below where I sit. I ran downstairs, panicked that something had broken. Yet, nothing was out of place. So, I walked upstairs and got back to work, only to have the same thing happen again and again. A few more trips downstairs and I finally figured out what the noise was...

The world's most hard-headed bird.

Yes, it seems that we have a very dumb bird, with an increasingly hard head living in the bushes outside our house. He apparently is a busy bird, needing frequent breaks sitting on a branch. He can't rest long, though. He must get up soon and head out into the world. However, he apparently has issues telling the difference between our window panes and open air. Often, he'll rush into the window several times in a row -- clearly not learning from the lumps on his head. I wonder - does he see little birdies flying around his head like characters do in old cartoons when they get hit on the head?

Since those sunny days last fall, we've been interrupted many times by this little bird. I've tried washing the windows or making them dirtier, closing the shades or opening them. Nothing makes a difference. This just seems to be the not a very smart member of the aviary class. I'd be slightly worried about the bird, but he seems to still have reasons to sing.

I tried several times this weekend to snap a picture of the little guy (I think he's greyish brown with a little bit of orange), but he seems to know I'm there, and flies away. Odd that he's aware enough to tell that, but he can't tell the difference between open air and a dirty window pane.

I'm wondering if he might migrate north one of these days. Maybe in a few months he'll start pecking on your windows instead. Say hi from me if he does. :)

Poem about reading

The lines of a poem have been stuck in my head today. This isn't some great work of poetry, it's just a 4-line stanza that is written in my preschool yearbook (if you can call it that - it was preschool after all).

This is the poem:

A story is a special thing
The ones that I have read
They do not stay inside the books
They stay inside my head.

I find it interesting that I first was exposed to those lines way back in preschool, but that I still remember them, and the idea still applies to my life. I still love reading (non-fiction mostly, but some fiction is tolerable) - and the best books are ones that wind up staying inside my head, not just on the pages.

I've been considering books lately that might offer me an intellectual challenge or inspire me in deeper thinking. We'll see where that goes.

Time-waster, but it's work-related

I'm working on the list I keep of the hundreds of people who are involved with leadership at our church. I was looking at photos online, trying to put faces to names for the many people I don't know. While doing so, I stumbled onto an album from our church's 10th anniversary party. In that set, Matt pointed me to this photo of him.

And yes, for those who don't know, he's the one in the middle. So cute! :)

Inauguration Prayer

I found this today - text of Rick Warren's prayer for our country and our new President at the Inauguration. I was working, so I didn't watch the entire ceremony (I did watch President Obama's speech when it was replayed that night), so it was nice to be able to read this:

Link via Out of Ur

Best. Sauce. Ever.

I made this sauce for the second time tonight. Matt declared it to be "even better than your tortilla soup" which is high praise in our household. Great on tacos or rellenos, and would probably also be great on enchiladas, or perhaps also just as a dip.

I modified this from several versions I found online. I made it first last summer - in some small way inspired by an avocado sauce we had while at Frontera Grill in Chicago.

Avocado Tomatillo Sauce:
Ingredients:

• 3 to 5 tomatillos (3 if they're big, 5 if they're small).
• Small handful of cilantro (don't bother chopping it)
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup of onion, roughly chopped
• One serrano pepper, seeded and stemmed, then chopped pretty small (in case your blender doesn't chop it enough, you should start with this in smaller pieces)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 of a small container of sour cream. I think that's a 1/4 cup.
• 1 large avocado or 2 small ones
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 (or maybe 2) cloves of garlic, roughly chopped (your blender will do the rest)

Process:

1. Remove tomatillo husks and rinse thoroughly (these are so sticky!). Put in a small pan, cover with water, then boil until they first turn a bit brighter green, then turn darker green. Allow to cool a bit, while you cut other ingredients. Then, drain off the water (but don't puncture the tomatillos) and put into the blender.
2. Put all ingredients into the blender and blend until quite smooth.
3. Divide into several of your tiniest storage containers (1/2 cup size are great). Keep one container out for this week, and the rest go into the freezer for later.
   

Tastes great when fresh (and still slightly warm) or also good cold (when unfrozen). A spoonful or two over grilled chicken in hot flour tortillas is most excellent.

100 things about me (ok, 102)

Well, I missed blog post #100 by just 2. So, rather than this being 100 things about me (as seems to be the tradition), it will be 102. I hope I can come up with that many.

In no particular order, of course... This is a stream-of-consciousness look into my brain, tonight, January 14, 2009.

1. My name is Becky. Yes, I hope you knew that already. My real name is actually Rebecca. (ok... no surprises for #1, I hope the rest are better)
   
2. I'm married to Matt.
   
3. I live in beautiful Austin, Texas.
4. Sometimes, like today, I actually miss the snow. Just a little.
5. I'm wearing my most favorite sweatshirt today, from my alma mater, South Dakota State University. I imagine there's a little snow at SDSU today.
   
6. I love to quilt. The part I love most is designing the patterns. I've been designing one the past couple of days for a friend who is expecting a baby.
7. I could see myself being a professional quilt designer someday, if I ever found the time.
8. I come from a whole line of quilters. My mom is a professional quilter. My grandma, too, still quilts (though I don't know it's what it used to be, she likes to do small blocks, all hand-pieced). My great-grandma was a quilter, too. We saw a quilt that she helped make (I'm pretty sure) on my school trip to the South Dakota State Cultural Museum.
   
9. I was born in Iowa, but didn't live there very long (my dad was a high school teacher and got the opportunity to move to the college level, so we moved).
10. One of my first memories is from the town we moved to - Winona, Minnesota. I have a distinct memory of our house having an odd arrangement - that you had to walk thru one bedroom to get to something else that was interesting. No idea why I remember that, I was probably 2 or 3 years old.
11. I have a calendar of islands on my desk at work. I've been saving pictures from this calendar for the past several years. Looking up and seeing those pictures makes me happy.
12. I love to figure out the Car Talk Puzzler each week. My dad and I email our answers back and forth most weeks. I like that we can interact this way, and hope to continue it for years.
    
13. I can quote along to an amazing number of episodes of The Simpsons.
14. I have several Simpsons figurines in my office. I have no idea what people think about them. Nor the Jesus Action Figure that a friend gave me. All these things make me smile.
    
15. I type really fast. Haven't been timed in a while, but it's quite fast.
16. I graduated from college early - just 7 semesters.
17. I have two boxes stored under our guest bed which are full of debate trophies. I have no idea what to do with them, but somehow want to keep them.
18. I really like buying storage and organizational containers.The Container Store is a place of great temptation for me.
19. Naps on weekends aren't optional for me. They are a necessity. I love how Matt supports me in this, though I know that not napping can also be good for me.
    
20. One of my favorite days of the year is the first time I walk into Target in August and see the school supplies sitting out. It's hard to resist buying new pens.
21. Someday, I wish to have a house with a secret passage, or at least a secret door.
    
22. I live within a day's drive of Mexico, but I've never been there.
23. I really like board games, but don't own very many of them (board games just aren't so fun when there are only 2 people in the house).
24. I'm excited because, soon, Matt & I are getting new bedroom furniture!
25. I rode the short bus in elementary school. And, yes, it was because I was special. (I went to "gifted and talented" classes one morning a week at another school in town - and we rode the short bus with the kindergarten class.)
26. I didn't know the difference between a noun and a verb until I was in high school. I apparently started speaking in complete sentences very early, and apparently also wrote well, so everybody assumed I knew (so put me into those gifted classes referenced in #25 while others were learning). It took a very nice teacher to help me figure that out.
    
27. I still struggle sometimes with right and left. Thru high school, that was a big struggle, especially in driver's ed (I failed the first time because of that) and in theatre. I mostly know it now, but still find myself making an "L" with my hand, or imagining myself holding a pen in my hand to remember.
28. I remember where I was sitting in 2nd grade when the Challenger exploded.
29. I used to really like Dr. Pepper. The taste of it is now completely nasty to me.
30. I had my gallbladder taken out in 2007. #29 seems to have happened right after the surgery.
31. I have big hands - bigger than most men (but slender fingers, thankfully).
32. I was a girl scout. I was the top-cookie-selling-champion for our region at least once. I had a leg up because I set up shop outside the cafeteria at Dakota State - college students buy lots of cookies.
    
33. I love hanging out in the middle of a cow pasture for a week each summer, with my husband, brother, and some of the best friends imaginable.
    
34. I prefer decaf coffee.
35. I enjoy cooking tex-mex foods. I want to learn to make good flour tortillas next, I think.
    
36. I want to go back to Hawaii. Soon. How about tomorrow?
37. I remember being in the back of a classroom once when my dad was teaching (I think it was in East Hall at DSU, and I was probably 7), and I was clamping erasers together. I imagine that was awfully annoying.
    
38. I have been a bridesmaid just once - for my brother Steve & his wife Sara.
39. No, I haven't actually taken down our Christmas tree yet. I started, but just didn't want to finish.
40. I own a lot of books. I've read most of them, too.
41. I enjoy Battlestar Galactica. Looking forward to the new season.
42. My favorite kind of cake is carrot and I really like bread with Irish butter (mmm... Kerry Gold...)
    
43. I think it is fun to rearrange furniture, and cleaning out a coffee pot is remarkably relaxing.
44. I have an irrational fear of most bugs. At least I know it's irrational.
45. I love logic problems. I often work on them before bed.
    
46. My first trip out of the US was to French Polynesia (aka Tahiti). Not bad! Thank Matt for that one. :)
47. I have the gift of gab because I kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland (we visited there with my family a few years ago).
48. I think the engineering disasters episodes of Modern Marvels on the History Channel are the best. Can watch those again and again.
49. I have a strange fascination with bridges. I wonder, if things had gone differently, if I could have been a bridge designer.
50. Instead of architeching bridges, I architect plans & processes to help our church's leaders be more effective.
51. Next week marks my 7-year anniversary of working at Gateway. I wonder if I should bring donuts to celebrate. Will anybody else remember?
    
52. According to my advisors in college, I'm the only person who had graduated from SDSU with a degree in "General Communications" (i.e. not Theatre, not Speech, not Org Comm, etc.) and also the only person in a long time who has a Bachelor of Science (and not Arts) in History. I must be the only person ever to do both.
    
53. I spoke at my high school graduation, but I was not valedictorian. I think I'd be embarassed now to hear that speech.
54. SDSU apparently doesn't know Latin, so I graduated "With Highest Honors" instead of something with "laude" in it.
55. I've only ever taken one business trip entirely alone - to Washington, DC. I had a lot of fun exploring the city, but also got rather lost.
56. I shook hands last summer with someone involved in Watergate (Chuck Colson).
57. When I need to recall the order of the books of the New Testament (which in my job, matters quite a lot), I sing a little song in my head.
58. I get really funny if I stay up too late and drink too much Mountain Dew. Good thing I don't like the taste of alcohol, I suppose.
    
59. I have quilted during a hip-hop show. Hip-hop is good music to quilt to.
    
60. I have a really short commute, and I like it that way.
61. My favorite TV show is currently Mythbusters. I often try to think of myths to suggest, but haven't come up with anything yet.
62. I hate horror movies. Yuk.
63. I'm not really into romantic comedies, either, though. At least not the sugary-sweet variety many women seem to like - older movies like Sleepless in Seattle are another story.
64. I used to not like fish at all, unless it was breaded and covered in tartar sauce. I'm more adventurous now, just a little.
65. Please don't ever invite me to a crawfish boil. It won't be fun for either of us. :)
66. I like silly mystery novels, featuring small-town heroines, who always have some sort of connection to the local police. I borrow them from my mom, and I think that's just about perfect.
    
67. I think Pepe's Pizzaria in New Haven, CT is the best pizza in the entire world.
68. Somewhere in my parents' attic, there are Cabbage Patch Kids who belong to me. If I remember correctly, they are in a box with pillow cases covering their heads. That may be creepy when someone opens it.
69. I enjoy making model rockets. I really hope we can go to PiRho this year (on 3.14).
70. Matt & I dated for a long time before getting married, and I think it worked out well that way. I got him, didn't I? :)
    
71. I wish Chuy's would bottle their creamy jalapeno ranch dip.
72. I'm glad my commute goes slightly north, and not south, since the temptation to get breakfast tacos at Rudy's each day might be too much for me.
73. I once tumbled down the dunes at White Sands National Monument. I giggled in delight. And, I wasn't exactly a child at the time.
    
74. I wear noise-cancelling headphones almost 8 hours a day, Monday thru Friday. It's the way I cope with some of the noise around our office, which can be remarkably bad.
75. I need to clean off our bathroom counters. I keep too many random things sitting out.
76. I like Fiestaware. So happy to eat from!
77. We once had a racoon living in our house (between the walls). I did not like that at all. Trust me - if this happens to you, immediately go out and buy lots of Oust.
    
78. The Goonies is my favorite movie. I watched some of it one night last week when I couldn't sleep. I could probably quote along to all of it, if I tried.
    
79. I wish I could have something from Andy's Frozen Custard in Springfield, Missouri right about now.
80. I prefer to sort CDs alphabetically by artist, but books by size or color.
81. I think that, one of these years, we should actually send out Christmas Cards. I enjoy getting them from others.
    
82. I think daytime TV is reason enough to never quit my job. What would I do all day?
83. I like writing reviews on Trip Advisor, and watching to see if other people rate them as helpful or not. One of my recent reviews was rated as unhelpful, and I wanted to find out who did it and argue with them. (OK, maybe not that bad.)
84. I survived my teenage years covered in bad acne. The nurses at the doctors office all knew my name. This is not something I'd aspire to, but I guess I didn't turn out too badly.
    
85. I don't like driving in downtown Austin. One-way streets and parallel parking and I don't go together well.
86. #85 is too bad because I think Wahoo's Fish Tacos is a great place for lunch.
87. I consider myself to be an "Austinite" but doubt I'd ever call myself a "Texan."
88. I like to share stories of living thru blizzards, perhaps as a horrible way to one-up people. I like to tell them about my first few weeks in the dorms at SDSU, when it was taking our lives into our hands to walk 50 steps from Hansen Hall across the street to eat at Medary.
    
89. I'm surprised I just said "no thank you" when Matt asked if I wanted ice cream (see #79).
    
90. I've spent much of the last year thinking "wow, am I exhausted." That needs to change.
91. I like to be right, especially in meetings. I'm learning to listen more, though. It has encouraged me several times lately when I've spoken up in a meeting and then had people come up to me privately later to say "Thanks for saying that."
    
92. I feel strong when I am thinking about big ideas.
93. When I make documents at work, they need to look good. I think an organized presentation is the first step at helping it be accepted. (If I see something in Times New Roman font, I presume you didn't care very much about it, which is an unfortunate generalization, sorry).
    
94. I think ideas really do have consequences.
95. I think I'm often too self-centered. Writing a whole list of things about me may be fueling this right now.
96. I really, really, really, really hate having my blood drawn or having an iv inserted. It takes forever, and I rever to an odd state of childlike fear.
    
97. Even though there are things about my job which sometimes drive me crazy (any job does for anybody), I think it's pretty cool that they pay me to do things which help others grow to love God more.
98. I wish we lived closer to our families. Most of the time, at least. :)
99. I think our nieces and nephews are just adorable, and from what I can tell, smart too. I hope that if/when we have kids, they are too.
100. I think there's something freeing about driving around in a convertible on a nice day (especially if in Hawaii). Even though my hair gets all tangled and that can annoy me, it's somehow special, too.
101. I love it when Matt & I drive places together (in my car - not the convertible with the top down in this case) and we're both singing along to our favorite songs at the top of our lungs.
102. I hope this list has been interesting to you. If you read this far, you're pretty amazing. I hope you know that. :)
     

Vacation ideas

I'm at home this afternoon - took a sick day. I'm not sick in the definition that implies contagious - but sick in the way that implies in pain and not really up to working. I had a mole removed from my forehead today, and though my doctor was great at doing the procedure itself without much pain, she told me to take it easy today, since I do have an open wound on my head.

Anyhow, to keep my mind off that lovely subject, I've been thinking about where to go on vacation this year. Any ideas for us?



This year marks my 7-year anniversary at my job, which should entitle me to an 8-week sabbatical. So, perhaps that's the time to take this vacation - or perhaps not.

Any great ideas for us?

Yes, I realize I misspelled "Mediterranean" in the poll - but I can't go back and edit it now. :(

2008 in Photos

Plus, see our photos from Maui here.