Scribble Nation

New New

Captain Neville is just one of many "news" going on in Scribble Nation.  Scott Bobleo recently aquired a new nephew.  Little Lucas was born on January 9th.  Coincidentally, the same birthday that belongs to my good friend Lauren Lapierre, owner of the fabulous jewelry shop Ornametal.  She entered a new decade on the 9th, and Lucas entered a new life!  We got to meet him a few days after he was born.  Boy was he ever cute! I love when babies faces are full of character.   You could pull Lucas out of a baby line up pretty easily. 

Here we are with Lucas and Liz's sister.

Michelle's newest addition, Natalia, is coming along nicely. She has left red wrinkly stage and entered soft big drooly stage. Any time now she'll be heading full steam into cute giggle wiggly stage. (That's my favorite baby stage of all)

Here she is staring all drooly into space.

As for me, I got a new haircut!  I've been in hair depression since my favorite hair stylist, Lauren, moved to Brooklyn.  Heads up Brooklyn ladies - Lauren is the MASTER!!  It's really true that you don't know what you've got till it's gone.  I've tried a few hair dressers since she left. Expensive ones, cheap ones, young ones, and old ones, none hold a candle to Lauren.  She is fantastic at giving haircuts that will flatter you EVERY TIME. Plus, every cut she ever gave me grew out well.  So if I couldn't go see her, my hair would stay cute for months and months.  Plus she knew my style and my taste really well.  I'm considering trekking to Brooklyn for my haircuts once she gets a new gig.  Until then, I'm rocking the mall salon.  An old acquaintance of mine works there. She does a good job, and she's not stuffy. Plus the cut is only 14 bucks. I went for the ever popular Amelie.  The cut came out pretty well, though when I go back I may request some more layering to bring up the back a little.

I also received my NEW business check card in the mail.  It reads "Scribble Nation LLC".  How thrilling is that? I'm in business baby.

Oh! One more thing.   Bobleo got the full time position at Lowes!   AND  the friend we were considering moving to Maine with just found out their pay won't decrease when they transfer.  Bobleo also has managed to befriend a few managers in his store that coincidentally ALL hail from Maine.  Supposedly they know all the folks running the new store in Brewer.  The dream lives on!

Houston, We Have Wheels

What's that?  You heard that I was about to be the proud owner of a vehicle that was actually built in this decade?  Well sir, you heard RIGHT.  Feast your eyes on this kickin' 2004 Hyundai Elantra.  It's small, swanky, and from far far away, it looks kind of European. 

Check out the bells and whistles too!  Power windows! Power locks!! Power sunroof!!! CLICKY BUTTON THAT OPENS THE DOORS!!!  I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to own a car that had a clicky button door opener.  That is super ultra mad mega swank.  That's what that is.

Speaking of swanky ultra mad mega shit, I was training this kid at the warehouse the other day and he told me that he didn't understand all of my "weird 80's slang."  Since when are the words "mad crazy" unfamiliar to to today's youth?  I guess I'm out of touch.  Heavy.

Anyway, this car is pretty hot, but I plan on making some serious modifications.  That's how I "roll", see.  If I'm going to be big pimpin' I got to spend some cheez.  Check out my to do list:

• Install novelty horn that plays La Cucaracha
• Purchase decal for front windshield that reads "Scott Loves Mary" in Olde English
• Replace rims with free spinning chrome
• Apply neon pink pom-pom  fringe to the ceiling edges
• Fill the glove box with vanillaroma trees
• Attach testicle shaped tow hitch to the rear of the vehicle so everyone knows I've got "balls"
• Purchase decal for back of windshield that reads "FOREVER" in Olde English
• Install Bobleo-proof alarm system to keep the boyfriend from filling the car with taco bell wrappers
• Order vanity plates that say "FSHIZZL"

You all know you're going to want a ride.  Let's take another look at him for the road.  What WILL his name be?  In honor of a road sign Bobleo pointed out today, we'll be naming this beauty "Captain Neville".

WTF Quizno's?

I love you Quizno's, but sometimes love hurts. Like when I got a side salad the other day and cut the inside of my mouth on your unnecessarily sharp plastic fork... twice! Ow Quizno's! OW. I knew that shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and a couple of sliced onions in a black plastic octagon wasn't going to be heavenly or anything, but I didn't think it would be OUCHY. Geez.

Another New Obsession

St. Vincent, ooo la la!

I Like My Milk Like I Like My Seafood

I just purchased my first half gallon of Raw Milk. Here are the highlights of my first pint in:

• It's creamy, delicious, and unlike some rumors I heard, not at all chunky.
• There are some things that even the most adventurous Bobleo will not jump on board with. Raw milk is one of them. Que Sera Sera - he can have his own jug of Nature's Promise then - that's OK with me.
• There's nothing non-granola's love more than pasteurization. People get quite touchy when you let it slip that you're trying raw milk. Be sure to keep your lips sealed unless you are in the company of foody granola's only.
• Raw milk changes your #2 in a very unexpected way. Not to toot my own horn, but in the past couple of days my ___ literally has not stunk. It is borderline pleasant. Now that is frigging weird.

The verdict is far from decided. I suppose the real question at hand is whether or not the benefits are worth the risk? The most likely negative effect would be a bout of salmonella (or other such unpleasant bug). The worst case would be an outbreak of E.Coli. Considerably more unpleasant, and possibly deadly under the wrong conditions. But, a healthy twenty something whose doctor would be made immediately aware of the risk of exposure to such a bug would be pretty sure of getting over even the worst food-borne virus. I think. I hope.

Then there is the fact that 100,00+ people are doing the very same thing every day in California alone. From the amount of folks drinking raw milk, it appears that raw milk coming from closely monitored facilities, taken from healthy, grass-fed cows, is in fact at a very low risk of food-borne illness outbreak.

We shall see - I'll keep you all updated, if I begin to feel like superwoman, drop an unexplained amount of cellulite, or end up in the hospital I will let you know.

Stop! STOP!!! I'm gonna Pee...

For some unexplainable reason this made me cry laughing. Tears were streaming down my face for a good ten minutes. Those lolcats get me every time.

Shove It In Your Pie Hole

Looky what I made!

My very first pies, and aren't they swell? I used a mix for the pie crust, and a can for the blueberry filling, but I made up for all that cheating with the cherry pie! Well, sort of. MAYBE I had some help from Michelle pitting all those damned cherries... and getting the crusts into the pie plates... and she GAVE me a pie plate... and she loaned me the other.... and we used her kitchen. So I guess I should really say Michelle and I made some pies. They were my first pies, I needed help. Plus, I don't LIKE pie, so that made it even harder to know what to do. These pies really were for Mr. Scott Bobleo. He is always bitching about how much he loves pie, but how he only gets to eat it at Thanksgiving, where there are inevitably only apple and pumpkin to choose from. Poor guy, he needs some pie variety! So I made the two top pies on his list.

The cherry pie filling was made from scratch! Michelle and I sat down and pitted a whole crap load of cherries, but luckily we had a tip from you know who... (Overly successful DIY guru whose name begins with "M" and is mentioned by me more than is probably healthy) Find a little cake decorating tip that has a hole a tiny bit smaller than a cherry pit. Now sit it upright on a plate (with a little paper towel) and push the  cherry over it, popping the pit out the top! It really works, but watch your eyes!! Many a squirt was Squat at the two of us during this pit fest. Of course, I couldn't settle with plain jane pie tops, so I added a little cookie cutter love to these babies. Michelle rolled her eyes a lot, but they look great, don't they? Especially the "M".

Which Candidate Matches Your Views Best?

90% Dennis Kucinich
88% Mike Gravel
83% Barack Obama
81% Chris Dodd
80% John Edwards
80% Bill Richardson
76% Hillary Clinton
72% Joe Biden
40% Rudy Giuliani
34% John McCain
31% Ron Paul
30% Mike Huckabee
26% Mitt Romney
17% Fred Thompson
15% Tom Tancredo

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Wowee - Can you tell I'm a super lefty or what?

Someone's in the Kitchen With Martha

For Christmas I received a generously sized gift certificate to Amazon.com from my bosses, Jay & Kibby. Besides buying a nifty Bamboo Tablet, (which was no picnic to install btw - if you are considering one email me, I'll give you the low down on the ups and downs of mine.)

I also treated myself to two new cookbooks. I scoped out quite a few baking books before choosing the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. It is huge! So far I really like it. It has a great section that goes over basic baking equipment, ingredients and techniques, including those obscure baking terms that I've heard my mother say, but didn't always quite understand. I can't speak for how the book would stand up to an expert baker's eye, but as a beginner, I quite like it. It includes six recipe sections, including simple baked goods, cookies, cakes, pies (and cobblers, tarts, etc.), yeasted baked goods, and pastries. This book is going to get a lot of use thanks to the gift my awesome parents gave me this year.

Meet Edna. She likes to party.

I am looking for a simple cozy pattern for her. Anyone know a good one? I can always wing it, but it would be nice to have something to work with.

The other cookbook I got was also a Martha. I can't wait to try some more of the recipes in Great Food Fast, another Martha Book - I know, I have a Martha problem. I couldn't help myself! The recipes are divided into four seasons, then each season has several soups, salads, and THEN several entrees based  each: fish, poultry, meat, and vegetables. (Oh - and desserts) The first thing I made from this book, strangely enough since I had an entire baking cookbook right next to it, was a Blueberry Crumb Cake. It was pretty damned good. And Edna creamed that butter like a champ! Go Edna, GO!

Black Snake Hormone

Yesterday, Bobleo's brother, Chris, and SIL Liz, welcomed their first baby into the world! Lucas Fisher was born at 10:32 AM, at 7 lbs, 12 oz. We're going to meet him for the first time tonight and I can't wait!! Oh the babyness! The tinyness! The darling-ness of it all! I’ve been pestering Bobleo constantly, saying in my best James Earl Jones voice, “Luke, I am your UNCLE”. I don’t know why he doesn’t think it’s as funny as I do.

The baby fever is killing me people. IT'S KILLING ME. I actually told Scott we could get a beagle puppy the other day during a moment of baby-itis induced weakness. I'll have to retract that sooner or later. I really don't need to be chasing a little furry pee machine around the place. Unless of course the little furry pee machine was sharing my DNA. Beagles might be cute, but they do not make good replacements for babies. I need to snap out of it, beagles ain't babies!

I’m also being overcome lately with insane desires to get married. I can’t shake it. I keep having these deluded daydreams of elaborate wedding plans. I even made a wish list on Macy’s the other day of everything I would register for if I were to get married. It must be some kind of turn of the quarter-century female instinct. Plus jealousy, I think seeing all of his friend's getting married just reminds me of that crumby feeling that he'll never want to marry me, ever. He loves to make jokes about it, though. They're SO hilarious. They don't make me want to KILL HIM or anything, honest. What’s five years of close friendship, 6 years of dating, joint bank accounts, and completely intertwined lives even MEAN anyway? Jeez. We’re only living the complete married life without any sort of perks (ex: big party, gifts, and commitment). That just puts me into some kind of crazy rage!!

Who does he think he is being married to me without being married to me? WTF?! Makes me want to split our money back in half, and make him a hire a personal assistant instead of keeping me as his personal banker, chef, and life coach.  I guess in reality, BOBLEO is getting all the perks of marriage, while I get squat! RRRrrrrr - hormone rage imminent!! Hulk ANGRY!!!

Ugghhh... I feel like I am fighting off some kind of female fever. Somebody get me some testosterone, STAT!!  I’ll take steroids, HGH, anything, just make this irrationality end!! I’m not getting babies, weddings, or even promises of these things anytime soon so I just have to snap the hell out of it. BUT I CAN’T!!!!!!!!! And meanwhile I am just surrounded by more weddings and babies!! I think Bobleo had better reconsider moving to Maine so he can get me out of this estrogen ground zero, or I might just snap.