oh boy

Umm
Have you (fountainmist) seen this??? Oh Boy. Oh my. (Blood sugar level is an issue, keep calm and don't click just dream. But wow- whaddadream!) ;)

And is this a bit.... uff? Not even really funny.

And I guess that's me for now. I'm here, you're there. Life spins. That's not so bad, is it? :)

a few recent links

I want to eat make this salad. Recipe found here.

I want this room bed. More? Here.

I did a whole month of lessons on this (Nov- go figure) and used this song (and tried not to cry) and stuff I've gleaned from these posts over the past months. 

Some fun links from today's feedreader stuff
  Language game? Now this is interesting. :)
  This little girl in the rain- absolutely adorable! But I'll bet there were some tears when they finally hauled her back inside. ;)

Mornings outside our kitchen window are never dull. That path road out there goes right to an elementary school- next building down from ours, in fact. So there's a steady stream of parents with small children, bigger children (too big to walk with their parents, that's for sure!) as well as people walking dogs and people hurrying to work (or wherever). This pic only has a smattering of people in it, actually. You'll have to come see for yourself! ;)

N was in a cookie baking mood. She made 'hedgehogs'- which, if you google 'hedgehog cookies'- do not look like this. This is a local variation, I guess. Strips of dry cookie dough cut into short strips (like short noodles) and baked, then clustered together and doused in egg whites beaten with sugar....

...and baked. Being as how I love meringue in nearly any form, these are pretty ok with me! 

Today was the day we got a new floor in the bathroom! Now this truly is big stuff! I don't think I have a pic of how it was...but the old floor was composed of smaller tiles that had mostly broken up altogether. The middle was just the bare yucky cement (we had a mat there). 

And the finished product. (Excuse that board- it is really truly there for us to stand on while we brush our teeth, wash our hands, etc...since the cement he used to set the tiles isn't dry yet. ;) 

Ahhhh yes! Winter!

Remember those days? We did this. I loved it! :) 

We had a really warm winter until about 2 weeks ago. And then it was like someone flipped a switch. So now, instead of mud we do, indeed, have ice. And snow. And very cold temps.
And in some places, there's been lots of wind. Which is why I've been alone this whole week. Sometimes when you go make a short visit to your parents you end up getting 'wintered' in there. N was supposed to be there for a couple days but they've had so much wind that they can't keep the roads open and no bus has been by in days. (Or hadn't been.)
Yesterday, I made a pot of this (sort of) potato soup- only there's not much in the recipe that we actually can get here- like canned soup (which isn't good for you anyway, right?)- boiled chicken on the bones and used the broth and milk and white sauce for the soup and the broth in the recipe; no hash browns- used potatoes; no cream cheese- used a local sort of same thing; no cheddar cheese- used regular cheese; no bacon bits- used fried, diced ham. So- um, I guess that's the whole ingredient list. The thing is, while it needs some tweaking (not thick enough, needs more pepper in the actual cooking), it's pretty good was very easy to make and didn't take long. One thing living here does is break your dependence on processed foods... there just aren't many.
And then, when I needed a break in the evening, I went back to the kitchen and made these fun little donut-y things- also found here at PW. Ok- they need to be eaten while they're hot. But they sure are yummy! And kind of fun. I saw them on someone's page- don't remember whose- but Thanks, Whoever you are!
And I found this in my newsfeed- a fun first-lines-of-various-novels quiz.

And if you've been around Facebook, you maybe know that my parents got hung up in the Atlanta Snow Jam. Let me tell you- from across the ocean, it suddenly felt like they were tiny, helpless children caught up in a mad crush of danger. Ok, I'm sure it wasn't quite like that. We were all really really glad when some very nice people helped get them into a hotel room for Night #2 in the Snow Jam. (All the time they were holed up in that Waffle House, I was nourishing this hope that they were in a booth where they could sort of fall over sideways and catch a nap...which turns out to not have been the case.)

This is for Mom who had these nervous kids that kept calling and texting to make sure they were still frost-bite free and alive and not starving...every time she'd just managed to doze off again. See when we were little, we kept her up with our incessant crying (I suppose); now that we're not little, we keep her awake with our incessant worrying. ;)

Link post, did you say???

Hello there People. I cleared out (finally) all my saved stuff from Feedly...which still included a bunch of stuff brought over from Reader...where I apparently saved everything I thought was remotely interesting once upon a time. Here are the best of those (according to me)!

Spiced Pumpkin Smoothie- made this on my birthday and it was pretty good, actually. Couldn't find coconut milk so used some regular milk with lots of shredded coconut- not bad, actually. :)

A visitor to L'viv- the first city I lived in here- This city wasn't one where you'd walk down the street and meet people you knew. In fact, people here were mostly too busy to care about what you were doing. The first place we lived, though, had a nice neighborly feel to it. L'viv is still my favorite of the cities I've lived in here. L'viv is just plain cool. Hills. Cobblestones. Old buildings. Ancient buildings. And some grocery-cart grocery stores. :)

Whose toddler needs one of these? I mean. I wish I was a toddler! ;) Ok- I wish I was not so artistically challenged. My GORGEOUS niece- Baby B- NEEDS one!

A world wide driving tour. Gulp. These are quite the roads. I can't actually say that I have much desire to see some of these. But they are amazing. I was on one in Spain (that never made this list) that did it for me. It wound around a valley and you could see several wrecks down over the sides- they were irretrievable so left there...and then served as warnings to other motorists to Be Careful! And that wasn't even the road up to Dalsnibba. Gulp. (I'mSorryMrBerghForBeingSuchAWimp). And yes, it's gorgeous up there. But I'm still amazed I'm still alive. (Remember the cow that ran in front of the car part of the way, Trude? Poor thing. I'm still fretting about it!) ;)

And this is one of my favorites- Kids' drawings of their grandparents recreated in photographs!

Oh my- and the part of me that loves the Lord of the Rings (I mean the book) and The Hobbit (again, the book)- I love this interactive map of Middle Earth. Google does some cool stuff every now and again. Although this is, apparently based on the movies as there are characters in here I've never heard of. grrr

A Chernobyl post- something I'm always interested in. The original post. And the one it links to- a good and simple explanation of why the accident happened.

Um- some old time baby names? Whee- some good ones here! How many of these have you met? I know some from this list and some others that could be on this list!

Oh yes- and where to get (highly overpriced) American food when you don't live on the other side of the ocean. Ahem. When you see a small box of HayBale Shredded Wheat for $13 in the 'ethnic foods' aisle you might be tempted (I did not cave, though. Sigh. I fasted. :0 )

You want to know what the countries around you are best at? What they lead the world in? Here You Go. (And cough- I have no idea what they mean about Ukraine and THAT. Um.)

Long Break

I'm not sure where the time went. Ever heard that one? ;)
Yeah, original.

One thing I did this summer is occasionally save a link I found and enjoyed on this post. I'm sure you'll be just over the moon with them, too.

This really interesting article about vintage bathing suits...wow

Have you ever wondered what the EU is? Well-- wonder no more! Or maybe do... (And- in case you're wondering- We here in the Wild East are trying to get into the EU. I don't really understand it all but it's causing quite a row with Russia and there is some resolution being signed very soon- next month, I think- about it. Not that much will change here, methinks. Call me a pessimist. And see that other post about the Norman Rockwell pic.)

This needs to be tried. Seriously. Frozen coffee. Oh Yum.

Oh wow- so does this. Greek Shrimpy things done some amazing way with feta cheese... I'm drooling. Time for my Shredded Wheat, I guess... what a substitute...(On the other hand- if you ever come to see us and want to tuck a box of the big 'hay bale' kind of Shredded Wheat in your suitcase, Well- feel free. I mean, I don't know anyone who'd mind. ;)

The Trees of Chernobyl - My first lesson with the students is a general one about stereotypes and how people see Ukrainians (and how they see Americans- now that's fun! We're fat and rich and dumb or smart (depending) and smile all the time, in case you were wondering!)- and Chernobyl is part of that. They live in a place that is still under the shadow of Chernobyl (although not as much here as in the NW) but they don't think about it. They don't think about radiation or its long term effects on them or the environment. And I think I understand that. I don't think about it, either. It's just part of being here. And here is where we are. And we live here. That's what we do. We Live.

A transcript of a space flight. The part about 'my watch is 10 seconds fast' sort of made me giggle. Imagine that being important. But I suppose it might be...might have been...(FYI- I did NOT read the whole thing. I skimmed the first 20 or so pages and then threw in the towel. But it did sort of look interesting. If you have a chunk of time you were wondering what to do with.)

hand drawn (beautiful) atlas of the early US. (another link to that atlas...and more links from this one. Really beautiful work) I wish I had this kind of talent!

and one about naps!! Nap On, Everyone! ;)

Recent stuff on the net and things from my Google Reader starred list. (And when did I begin to use Reader? Well- I'm not quite sure but the first starred item is from April 18, 2007. Uh yeah- the digital closet needed cleaning.)
Chernobyl 27 years later The disaster itself happened April 26, 1986.

Cab drivers meet all kinds. And there are all kinds of cabbies. Here's a great story by a great cabbie from a Sept 2008 post I'd saved.

How about some double-mint stuffed Oreo cookies?

Or how about Reese's Overload (for sure) cake?

Along the food line but not so sweet this time- English Muffin bread. Is there any bread quite as yummy as an English Muffin? I think not. 

Alzheimer's prevention? Little Anecdote #1: My friend and cohort Lillian used to try to beat me to the crossword (and here's the thing- she was a lot older than me and I'd let her have first crack, usually). Do crosswords, she'd say. Prevent Alzheimer's. In 2000, I left the US and didn't see her again until the fall of 2005. By which time she no longer knew me and often didn't know what she'd just done. I've wondered since if she knew back in '97 that something was up. That there were things going missing. I still enjoy the crossword. Now if we only knew if Angry Birds or Words With Friends are good for keeping your mind active. The second one maybe. hmmm

Abandoned mansions from around the world. The first one's from Ukraine...which is basically why the article made it into this post (but stuff like this always catches my eye. There's the mansion down in Kentucky, visible from a major highway. The story, as I remember it: Rich Man builds it for his wife. Wife divorces him. Rich Man loses everything and isn't able to finish the 'house'. When I saw it, someone had fenced it and was pasturing cattle on the grounds. Right up to the house. Which truly was magnificent. That pic often comes to mind. How sad we humans can be sometimes.). Ukraine has quite a lot of old fortresses/castles/the likes. Unfortunately, the country has no idea, for the most part, of how to capitalize on this potential wealth of tourist dollars.

"A satirist is a man who discovers unpleasant things about himself and then says them about other people." (Peter McArthur- whoever he is) 

and this remodeled saying: "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll buy a funny hat. Talk to a hungry man about fish, and you're a consultant." (Scott Adams this time)

And another- from Mark Twain: "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything."

One way to figure out what to set the alarm for (this came in a newsletter):
The Best Part of Waking Up...

... Is Sleepyti.me, a Site That Maximizes Restfulness

We all wish for a little more shut-eye, but the truth is sleeping longer isn’t always better. Let us explain using Sleepyti.me, a barebones website that calculates the optimal time for you to go to bed or wake up depending on your current sleep schedule. But first, a quick science lesson. Sleep is broken up into 90-minute cycles, and it is much easier to wake up at the end of a cycle than in the middle of one. Hence, shortening your beauty sleep to accommodate this cycle actually leaves you feeling more rested. That’s where Sleepyti.me comes in. Tell it when you need to wake up, and it tells you when to fall asleep, counting backward in 90-minute increments. Skeptical? We were too. But in our tests it worked. Sleepyti.me can also work in reverse, helping you set your alarm if you are going to bed right now. In which case, you should probably get off the computer.