Sophie Chronicles: Day Two

Today was day two with little miss Sophie and I have been watching her closely. She has a few makeshift toys at antie Kristen's house that she enjoys but they seem to be lacking. I decided after Lance came to pick her up today that I would go on the hunt for a special present. She needed a toy that:

1. Has buttons, like the remote control.
2. Has blinking lights and colors like the phone.
3. Had a chewable, child-friendly surface--unlike either of the above.

This is what I do, I am a careful student of my nearest and dearest to compile enough data to find the perfect and unexpected gift. I found just such a gift for Sophie at target--a little trinket from our good friends at Baby Einstein. This gift is special because it's the first one I am buying her based on actually 'knowing' her.

I think she'll like it... I'll let you know.

Niece in a Box

The phrase made famous by the SNL short (Note: link takes viewer to uncensored content... when viewing it won't be 'bleep' in a box) here is a similar take on my first full day watching my niece Sophie. Old school play pen courtesy of Ikea.


We had fun today... she was extremely patient with me.

And the winner is...

I mentioned in my Christmas letter my new obsession with recipe/food tasting judging contests and Easter Sunday was the perfect opportunity to get cooking. It was the Hollandaise showdown and classic Eggs Benedict was my canvas.

Lance and Sarah--my willing diners and seasoned judges--and I tasted four different Hollandaise sauces using three different methods. The winning recipe, featured below, was the most tasty and the easiest to pull off:

Blender Hollandaise Sauce

INGREDIENTS
3 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 dash hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)
1/2 cup butter

DIRECTIONS
In the container of a blender, combine the egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice and hot pepper sauce. Cover, and blend for about 5 seconds. Place the butter in a glass measuring cup. Heat butter in the microwave for about 1 minute, or until completely melted and hot. Set the blender on high speed, and pour the butter into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream. It should thicken almost immediately. Keep the sauce warm until serving by placing the blender container in a pan of hot tap water.

The runners up were; 2nd place, Cub Foods sauce mix, 3rd place, Knorr (by Lipton) sauce mix and the 4th place, Good Housekeeping classic recipe proved too lemony for Benedict but I suspect it would brighten up the spring asparagus harvest.

Pigg vs. Pig

Well, it finally happened, after nearly 20 years with an unblemished driving record I received my first moving violation yesterday. I rock 'n rolled a stop sign at an intersection that had tumbleweed rolling through it. A po-po was waiting for me around the corner.

The funny thing is that I was truly just lost in the day. It was a beautiful blue-sky Friday at 4:30 and my spring fever is in high gear. Was headed over to the rents house for some dinner and quality time with my niece Sophie. Here is where it gets a little weird... I was completely engrossed in this interview on the radio with a current favorite musician of mine, Landon Pigg.

Curious that I was busted by the pig while listening to the Pigg and not a strip of bacon anywhere.

In a word... Eeewww

After putting the vacuum together and took it for a test drive in my living room. Below is a picture of my results. Allow me to give you some context:

• I live alone.
• I have no pets.
• I have wood floor laminate throughout my first floor.
• I take my shoes off in the foyer and spend my time barefoot or in socks.
• I have actually vacuumed before.

These are the results of vacumming a 4x7 patch of a 3-year-old wool area rug.

Needless to say my new Dyson sucks big time... in a good way.

Worth every penny!

Conflicted and Torn

After four days of troubleshooting my new PC decided to take it back and start over. Am relieved to know that it was not user error but a manufacturer defect. While out running errands I cashed in some gift cards at Target and bought a long coveted Dyson vacuum.

Here's my dilemma... surf or vacuum. Surf or vacuum?
By the looks of my living room carpet I think the decision is easy: vacuum.

Vista Can Suck It

I am hate, Hate, HATIN' on Vista.
Microsofts OCD for 'security' has completely ruined my new computer experience.
I am so angry all the curse words I know, in more than a few languages, plus a few primal screams have not helped.

Note to Microsoft... I can understand what your trying to do. Next time release two versions:

• 1.0 For retards and drunken monkeys. You can employ a new packaging concept of a crayon font with the 'R' backwards.
• 2.0 For normal, non-paranoid users who don't need this over secure piece of shite...

Help me Technorati, you're our only hope.

Unorganized Bliss

Tonight I am pecking out this entry basking in the blue glow of my new HP laptop. It is a bittersweet post and could have been composed a full 80 minutes sooner. The set up was seamless and truly as simple as the 1-2-3 illustrated inside the box however I had it in my head that I would need to install my Comcast disk onto the PC and I have torn my house apart looking for the CD.

I knew exactly where it was... in theory. I recall sliding it in the the envelop with the drivers for my modem and putting them in the file cabinet. Alas, there is only a modem disk in that envelop. I have torn through the house and have found every other set of drivers but not my trusty Comcast CD.

Through the cursing and rifling I could hear my new PC beckoning me so I came down to see if there was any way to access the Internet at all without the Comcast disk of Wonder and much to my delight here I am! My first action on my new PC was to tell you all the story of how truly disorganized I am at home. No shock to my family.

I still won't rest until I have found that d@mn disk. It's personal now.