Digging Out
Dec 26th
Yeah, the snowed in Christmas thing was okay. . . sort of. Yesterday.
But not today.
I woke up this morning and looked out the front window. The city crews had either forgotten about our street, or we were waaaaay down on the list. . . like last.
Yet, the postponed Christmas dinner was on. And the gym was open. Because, of course, all the other streets in town had been cleared.
My plan fior the day was simple: get to the gym and work out hard, then go to Mom and Dad’s house and eat an embarrassingly large helping of prime rib and yorkshire pudding (soaked in gravy).
And there was no way a two-foot deep blanket of snow covering the driveway and street was going to stop me.
I informed the hubby of my plans. He suggested that we wait a little while to see if the street crews showed up. I told him, gently, that that was not an option. I explained that the snowbound phase was over, whether Mother Nature liked it or not. And that I wasn’t going to be bound by the street crew schedule, either.
He sighed.
I stomped back into the closet and put on my shovelling clothes. Actually, I had to decide on some shovelling clothes, since I’ve haven’t shovelled snow since I’ve been married. Over a layer of workout spandex, I tossed on sweats and sweatshirt. Then I broke out my old Dexter hiking boots that I’ve had since high school. They’re in great shape! Probably because I never go hiking, and I rarely shovel snow. I then donned my winter coat and my cute red, black and white stripped hat with the little puff ball on top. Anyway. When I emerged from my bedroom, hilarity ensued:
“You look ridiculous, Mom,” said Snacky.
Anthony was too busy laughing to comment.
“Whatever,” I told them, “we’ll see who laughs last.” I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be me, though.
“I’ll be out soon, Honey,” said the hubby, as I stomped out the door.
I surveyed the driveway and the street in front of our house. There was no way around the fact that the entire driveway needed to be cleared. Not too mention enough of the street so that our car could get some traction and crawl on out of the neighborhood. A lesser woman would have been intimidated by the job at hand.
Thankfully, I was not alone in my labors. Our dog Princess loyally volunteered to come out with me. Not that she was much help. But she’s pretty darn cute, so she gets extra credit just for hanging out with me.
I had half of the driveway done when the hubby came out. He prides himself on being an expert at shovelling snow, and got right down to business. Not too long after that, Snacky came out. He gave me a little break. And I do mean little. He moved about 10 shovels full of snow and then claimed HE needed a break. Then out came Anthony. He really got after that snow. I told Snacky he should be embarrassed that his little brother was working harder than he was.
Snacky was not at all embarrassed. Snacky prides himself on not unnecessarily breaking a sweat. He takes energy conservation to new levels.
Anyway…
We got the driveway and the street in front of our house cleared. After an two hours.
Mere mortals would consider that their workout for the day. But the stairmaster was calling.
We all got our workout stuff on and got ready to go to the gym. Workout for me, hoops for hubby and the boys. We saddled up and hopped in the car, opened the garage door and peeled out of the driveway, hoping for enough momentum to launch us into the tire track trail (generously left by the people in big trucks that you can actually drive in this weather) leading out of our neighborhood.
Not so easy, of course. Another half-hour of the hubby launching the car back and forth, alternating with bouts of the hubby shovelling more snow out of strategic spots (which I helpfully pointed out for him), ensued before we finally managed to manuever the car into position and crawl down the block and out of the neighborhood. As we squirted out of our block and onto the (of course) cleared cross street, we were all ridiculously happy about our new-found freedom from the confines of our block!
The rest is history. I got a great (second) workout in. We made it to my parents’ for a great dinner (thanks Mom and Dad!). And when we got home, the hubby and I broke out the heating pad and massage pillow to soothe our aching bodies!
Bookmark to
Midnight Munchies
Dec 26th
What does a just-turned teenager eat late at night, after a long day working out on the XBox 360 and the Wii?
Well, tonight it was the following:
1) A BLH (Bacon, Lettuce and Ham) Sandwich, followed by 2) a slice of mama’s pumpkin pie, and topped off with 3) a bowl of chocolate caramel popcorn, washed down by 4) a glass of cranberry juice.
He must be growing, right?
Bookmark to
Mama’s White Christmas
Dec 25th
What better day to renew my blogging life than a snowed in Christmas Day?
The roads are deep in snow, and the only people I see out there are in really big trucks (and one Subaru). So we’ve postponed Christmas dinner at my parents’ house until tomorrow night. With only light continued snow flurries expected we can presume that, by then, the city will have cleared roads sufficiently for us to creep around a little. Hope so. I can only stay housebound for so long before the family starts paying for it.
Plus, I will absolutely need to get to the gym by tomorrow to resume my workout routine. I’ve had two days off for the holiday, and have exercised absolutely NO RESTRAINT around any food.
So what are we doing today? Everyone has his or her own little project going on.
Quent is furiously studying post-holiday sales online. In true college-student fashion, she requested cold, hard cash for Christmas. Now she’s figuring out how to get the most fashion bang for her new bucks. She and her friends will be heading for the mall as soon as the roads are drivable.
Anthony is working out his new Wii.
Snacks is working out his new ITouch.
The hubby is holding down his favorite living room chair, eating and watching some fairly boring NBA games.
Me? Other than renewing my blogging career, I’m spending time in the kitchen. Cause I do love to cook. I’ve baked the pies for tomorrow’s family holiday dinner at mom and dad’s. So I got a head start on that part of the game, anyway. Plus I’m baking an extra pumpkin pie for tonight (can’t make my babies wait until tomorrow for pumpkin pie, can I?) FYI, because I know you are absolutely dying to know, I use the recipe on the back of the Libby’s Pumpkin can for my pumpkin pies, because I haven’t found anything better yet and it’s SO easy. Today, I used the leftover (homemade, of course) dough — from the best pie crust recipe ever — to make little miniature cinnamon sugar roll-ups for one of the boys’ many afternoon snacks.
Cinnamon Sugar Roll-Ups
1) Roll leftover pie dough flat.
2) Sprinkle dough with sugar and cinnamon, to your taste.
3) Cut dough into strips and roll into spirals.
4) Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until flaky.
Given the fact that I’m newly responsible for my family’s Christmas dinner tonight, I’ve been working on that, too. I found a package of beef stew meat in the freezer, and I did the quick defrost. Then I built a nice tomato sauce around the meat and I’ve left it to simmer until the meat is nice and tender. To be served with spaghetti, of course. And a green salad, with a simple homemade vinaigrette.
Today’s Meat Sauce
Spray the bottom of a cookpot with Pam, or coat lightly with olive oil. Saute 1 pound beef stew meat, 1 finely chopped onion and 6 finely chopped garlic cloves until the meat is browned and the veggies are tender. Just stir from time to time and pay attention — it doesn’t take that long.
Once the meat is browned and the veggies are tender add dried oregano (to your taste, but I used about two teaspoonsful); a generous pinch of red pepper flakes; and salt and pepper (again, to your taste, and I tend to be pretty liberal with the salt and pepper).
Next add one 14.5 ounce can of tomato sauce and 2 14.5 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes.
Let the mixture simmer on low heat until the cows come home — or until the stew meat is really nice and tender. About 2-3 hours, depending on the size of your meat chunks. Just keep testing the meat for tenderness after it’s been cooking for a while. Remember to keep the heat low so the sauce doesn’t scald.
Homemade Vinaigrette
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
pinch sugar
Plus add chopped scallions or garlic, if you like — I added the scallions today.
Throw all ingredients in a small jar and shake well. Use any amount desired on your salad.
So as I’ve spent my afternoon updating my blogs and baking and cooking, the day has faded and evening is here. But the natives are restless (especially me), and I still haven’t seen the street crews out front. A light snow continues to fall, but it’s nothing like last night’s deluge of white stuff. So we’ll hunker down tonight, and hope we can get out and slog around tomorrow.
Bookmark to
Mama’s Back With a Vengeance
Sep 18th
And where’s she been?
Doin’ life.
But ignoring her loyal readers — for shame — sorry Mom and Dad!
No more.
To blog is to be.
Bookmark to
ZiPhone Bricks the IPod Touch. . .
Apr 18th
photo credit: 
photo credit: Gonzalo Baeza HernándezCesar Mascarenhas
AND WE CAN’T RESTORE IT.
The following is a cautionary tale about the perils of opening a Pandora’s box of technology without knowing what’s locked inside.
My son brought his IPod Touch home after hanging out at a friend’s house, and it was behaving very badly. The screen was scrolling code, specifically “BSD root: mdo, major 2, minor1.” Looked pretty bad to me. (Yeah, I know, some of you have already diagnosed the problem –but I just wasn’t THERE yet, and had to figure it out the loooooong way.)
I asked my son what he’d been doing right before it happened. His buddy was trying to download screensavers for him. OK. Whatever. Stuff appears on my kids’ IPods — music, tv shows, monster dunks on You Tube — and I assume they know what they’re doing. After all, they’re young. They’re supposed to know how to do this stuff.
Anyway. . . My first assumption was that the little darlings had managed to download a virus.
So I tried to hook the IPod up to ITunes, and ITunes pretended the Touch didn’t exist. The BSD error just stayed on the screen. Well. That little experiment was the limit of my know-how. “It’s beyond me,” I confessed. No one was surprised.
I told my older son to figure it out. He looked at me like I was crazy. “Well, what? Can’t you at least try?” I said.
“Mom. I’d only do what you just did. That things fu.. . I mean, jacked up.” He looked meaningfully at me. “Duuude.”
Well, he’s the closest thing in the family to a computer geek, so I figured we were going to have to outsource work on this BSD error.
Considering the fact that the Touch was only four months old, I was calm. I remembered that my mom had bought a three-year service plan for $75.00 from Target when she bought the IPod Touch for her beloved grandson’s birthday.
So my first move was to call the number Target provided with the service plan. I spoke with a Target service representative named Kimberly. Very friendly. I told her about the BSD error on the IPod Touch screen, and then she told me that she was going to connect me to Apple support, since the Touch is still under its year-long Apple warranty.
I was connected to an Apple support guy. I told him that Target had transferred me. “Yeah,” he said. “They don’t want to have to deal with it if they don’t have to.” I figured. “But here at Apple we’re always happy to help.”
“Good, ’cause I need it.”
I told him about the BSD error we were seeing on the IPod Touch screen.
“Uh Oh. Sounds like it could have been hacked by third party system.”
I told him about the attempt to download screensavers.
“Wow, yeah.” he said. “And, unfortunately, if a device has been hacked, it voids the Apple IPod warranty.” Of course. Apple doesn’t want to have to replace gadgets that are being used for nefarious non-Apple purposes.
My service rep had hope that we could restore the device over the phone, though. He had me unplug the ITouch from the USB cable, and power it off by holding the power button and the home button at the same time. Then I held the home button down while re-attaching the Touch to the USB cable. This little bit of magic pulled up a screen showing an arrow pointing towards the ITunes symbol. My service rep got pretty excited. He then walked me through restoring the ITouch on ITunes (this means that ITunes wipes out everything on the Touch and then installs the most recent software on the device). I have to admit I was getting pretty excited, as well. It looked like I’d be able to restore the IPod!
What a hero I’d be if my son came home from school, and I could tell him his Mama had saved his IPod Touch.
We got to the end of the restore session.
And got this message: “This IPod cannot be restored.”
F*******k!
“Hmmmm. That’s not good.” The Apple service rep was bummed.
All he could do at that point was set me up to ship the IPod to an Apple service center, so the technicians could look at it. If they decide it’s been hacked, we’re screwed. The best we can do at that point is purchase a new IPod Touch for $149.00 (plus shipping) under the Auto-Warranty Blah Blah. So he’s arranged for a shipping box to be delivered to me — I can ship the Touch off and await news of its fate. At least they’re paying the shipping.
I decided to call Target back. After all, we DO have the extended service plan with them. That should count for something, right? If Apple can’t help me (i. e. replace the FUBAR IPod), maybe Target can?
Somehow, I got Kimberly back on the phone. I reminded her about the BSD error and what was going on with our device, and explained that Apple’s IPod warranty is void if they determine our Touch was hacked. She put me on hold while she consulted her extended service plan bible for reference to hacking.
When she got back on the line, she told me that Target’s extended service plan covers only what Apple’s warranty covers.
What?
“OK, so you really can’t help me any more than Apple can in year one of your extended service plan, then. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Well, the service plan only covers what the Apple warranty covers.”
“Then wouldn’t it make sense that my three years with YOU should start after Apple’s one year warranty expires?”
“No, you have to purchase it within 90 days of the product purchase.”
“And it doesn’t do anything for me that Apple won’t do in the first year?”
“Our service plan covers everything in Apple’s warranty, and nothing else.”
“Does that seem like kind of a rip-off to you?”
She didn’t answer.
I got off the phone. I had been mainlining coffee as I learned, the long and slow and painful way, that my son’s IPod Touch was potentially jacked up beyond repair.
I went to work out.
When I returned, I was refreshed and energized. I had decided, somewhere between level 9 and 10 on the stairmaster, that I was going to tackle this problem myself. Online! I’d get help from geek blogs, You Tube geeks, any geeks.
I went to Google. In the course of my searches, I was able to INFER that ZiPhone was the source of our IPod Touch troubles. What is ZiPhone supposed to do? Designed for the IPhone, ZiPhone is supposed to liberate it from the restrictive clutches of Apple technology, that’s what! This process is known as the jailbreak. The ZiPhone Jailbreak. It allows the IPhone to advantage of third party fun stuff outside of the Apple goodies. I found out also that the that ZiPhone can also liberate/jailbreak the IPod Touch. Unfortunately, ZiPhone appeared to have liberated OUR device from usability. My suspicion was confirmed when my son got home and I asked him what he and his buddy were using when his IPod went crazy.
“He was showing me how to use ZiPhone to get screensavers. He used it for his IPhone.” Yeah.
So much for the ZiPhone jailbreak.
Undeterred, I visited several You Tube and blog tutorials that described how to restore our IPod Touch. All involved the holding down of power and home keys to power off the device and then power it back on. Only now, the same “BSD” screen comes on no matter how many times I power on and off. About a hundred times. . . and counting.
Aaaaaargh.
So it’s 8:00PM, and I’m done with Operation IPod Rescue for now.
Time to clear my head with a glass of wine. And I’ll raise my glass in cheers.
Cheers to Apple for the technology that spurns all others (and the warranty to back it up!); cheers to Target for a surreally stupid service plan (and for ripping off my mom); and cheers to ZiPhone for their guerilla liberation tactics (understood well by geeks, but not so well by your average Mama).
Update:
The Ipod Touch sat idle for several weeks before I could bring myself back to it.
One night, the sons and I decided to try to get it working. I looked up fixes on youtube, and WOW! found a fix that worked!
The Ipod Touch was restored and I got to take all the credit for it — what a feather that was in my technological cap.
Bookmark to
10 Ways to Get Your Slang On
Apr 12th
Before my kids became teenagers, I was still using the same worn-out old slang phrases I’d been carting around for years. I’d tell my kids to “chill out” and “stop trippin” when they were “acting up.” If I liked something, it was “cool.” Otherwise, it could be a “bummer.”
I don’t think I’ll ever stop using such tried and true words and phrases. But I’m hip enough to know I’ve gotta keep up with the times. So I’ve updated my slang, thanks to a whole new set of fun slang words and phrases that I’ve learned from my kids.
I’m sure you have an interest in being as hip as I am, so I’ll share with you a beginners list of de rigeur slang. Use these phrases wisely, and you might be elevated to the status of “the cool parent.” Don’t have kids whose friends you want to impress? Use these words and phrases to increase your mystique and make other adults envious of how “tight” (cool) you are.
My Bad: Def. I made a mistake, I recognize that mistake, and I’m sorry.
Who said “sorry” is the hardest word? Who cares? You don’t have to use it anymore. Replace wimpy, whiny “I’m sorry” with “my bad,” and you’ll get automatic r-e-s-p-e-c-t, even in the face of massive screw-ups. Hint for enhanced cred: When you tell someone “my bad,” make sure you indicate yourself by patting your chest with your open hand. That way, they know you know it’s truly YOUR bad and you have the cojones to admit it.
Real Talk: Def. Telling the blunt and honest truth.
This term is often used to differentiate someone who is not only telling the truth, but also stands in stark contrast to those around him or her who are not as straightforward.
Recently, my daughter told me that she wants Obama for President because he’s “on that real talk,” and doesn’t “bulls**t” around like Clinton and McCain.
Jacked Up: Def. Thoroughly messed up.
I love this term. So handy, so useful, so many applications. Hell, for teenagers, anything can be jacked up. . . a too-short haircut, a friend’s unfortunate choice of outfit, the house after that party you held while the parents were gone.
Now think about the possibilities for yourself. Perhaps you owe some taxes this year, even though you’re living paycheck to paycheck? That’s jacked up! Your cell phone fell in the toilet because you’re so busy you can’t even stop to pee? Now your phone’s jacked up. Your kid wrecked the car? Yep. It’s jacked up, too.
Come at Me Sideways: Def. Approaching a person in a disrespectful manner.
One day, my daughter came home from school with a scowl on her face.
“What’s wrong with you?” I innocently asked.
“Dude. I’m just sick of people comin’ at me sideways all the time.”
“Hmmm,” I thought. “Who came at you sideways and how did they do it?”
“This man Tyrell came up to me and told me he heard I was talking to Matt over at JC’s party last weekend. I said ‘don’t come at me sideways with that mess.’ If he’s gonna believe what he hears, he’s got it bent, twisted AND sideways.”
“Okay. Sounds like you took care of him, then.”
“Still, I hate when people come at me sideways with a bunch of mess.”
I think you can see the possibilities for this rich (and somewhat comical) phrase!
Puttin Me on Blast: Def. To call someone out in public.
Have you ever sat in a meeting and had someone point a finger at you because you didn’t do some silly little to-do that was assigned in some endless meeting that generated so many to-dos that you couldn’t keep track and then when the minutes came out, you didn’t actually read them? There you sit, scribbling a meal plan and the groceries you’re going to pick up on the way home, when you’re forced to attention because it’s been made known that you didn’t finish the pie chart or whatever. Now you can take control of the situation by asking the little brown-nosing snitch who ratted you out, “Why you puttin me on blast up here in front of everyone?” This will redirect the attention from you and your (rare) dereliction of duty and onto the person who everyone now will see as a petty little climber who’s willing to step on the backs of his/her colleagues to move up the ladder.
Posted Up: Def. Situated in a certain position
This is NOT like posting up, or being posted up, by an opponent in a basketball game. Take that image out of your head. Picture instead someone taking up a certain space in a certain position. A person can be posted up pretty much anywhere. On the couch, at the dinner table, at your computer.
You can especially be posted up by the front door waiting when your kid breaks curfew.
a Minute: Def. A long time.
The phrase “a minute” is a clever turnabout of meaning, because what the utterer REALLY means is “a long time.” If you haven’t seen someone since last summer, you could say “I haven’t seen you in a minute.” Hint: it sounds better if you say “I AIN’T seen you in a minute.”
I recently had to call my husband’s attention to the fact that he hadn’t done his share of the laundry in “a minute.” He replied that he’d get right on it. . . in “a minute.”
You see just how very useful this phrase can be.
Blowin Up My Phone: Def. Calling a person a lot on their phone.
A few days ago, I was looking for our house phone, which had disappeared from it’s base. I found it upstairs, attached to my older son’s ear.
“Why are you using the house phone? You have a cell phone.”
He covered the mouthpiece. “Naw, though, mom.” He pointed at the house phone. “This girl was blowin up my cell phone. But I need it to text. So we’re talking on this phone.”
I’m sure you’ve had people blowin up your phone before, right? Unfortunately, for adults, the ones blowing up our phones are the people you don’t really want to hear from THAT much: your boss, telemarketers, bill collectors, your kids when they need money.
Beast: Def. A person who excels at something, particularly in sports.
Not only can one BE “a beast,” one can also engage in the act of beasting, as in “He was beastin’ on the court.” This handy word can also be used as an adjective: “That was a beast move.”
In think there are endless possibilities beyond the sports world, as well, because you can really be a beast at anything, can’t you?
“Mom’s a beast on the computer. She’s writing all the time.”
“Dad busted a beast move on them ribs.”
“Obama’s beastin on the campaign trail.”
Hater: Def. A jealous person who gossips and/or down-talks about others.
My daughter is a true aficionado when it comes to the various uses of the word “hater.” According to her, haters are everywhere. Haters who hate. Haters who be hatin. Haters do things like “put your business on blast because they’re jealous” and “come at you sideways with stuff thats none of their business.”
Do you have haters in your life? Turn the tables, put THEM on blast, and ask ‘em “Why you drinkin all that haterade, man?”
Special props (thanks) to my daughter, Quent, for her help with all of the above.
That’s it for now. I hope you’ll be able to find ways to use these words and phrases in your daily conversation. And stay tuned for future updates on more handy slang!
Until then,
Deuces (Goodbye)
Bookmark to
I Got RickRolled Trying to Watch a Video of Whitney Houston Smoking Crack!
Mar 27th
I know I’m late to the table on this one, but I’m getting a huge kick out of it. I got RickRolled last night.
What is RickRolling, some of you might ask? RickRolling is an example of what makes the internet truly great. It where viral marketing meets the prank phone call, and it’s been building up steam over the past year. In short, it’s an online prank that’s resurrected the uber-80’s pop hit “Never Gonna Give You Up,” by Rick Astley.
I’d totally forgotten about it.
I’m almost embarrassed to say how I got RickRolled. I was internetting around and landed on perezhilton.com, where I came across a headline that promised to show video footage of Whitney Houston smoking crack. Well. I remembered how Whitney once stated rather too emphatically in an interview with Diane Sawyer that crack was “too cheap,” and that she “makes too much money to ever smoke crack.” Not that I cared too much about a rich Diva’s drug of choice, but I thought at the time, “Whitney, thou doth protest too much.”
So I thought I’d just take a little peek at the offered video link. Hey, it was late, and I had had a glass of wine. A little junk food for the brain can be fun, right? So I hit the link. No Whitney scoop. Just a blast from my 80’s past.
Now I can’t get that song out of my head.
Bookmark to
Link Share for My Peeps
Mar 22nd
Posted by carolyn in Mama's Politics
No comments
It’s Friday Night! I’m feeding my basketball jones by gorging on the NCAA men’s tournament games, but there are enough ads on that I have plenty of time to get this post together and share some of my favorite reading over the past couple of days.
Grab a glass of your favorite wine and start linking — these are all great reading!
My Dad sent me this one. Very interesting (and biting) commentary by Greg Palast, linking (no pun intended)this week’s bailout of predator banks with the recent outing of Eliot Spitzer as consumer of high-end (or, at least, high-priced, prostitutes). Thanks for the link, you crazy old liberal!
I ran across this one on Wonkette last night. Turns out, Jeremiah Wright, recently reviled former Obama pastor, was a guest in the Clinton White House. Yes, that’s Bill Clinton, husband of Hillary. Stay tuned for Hillary’s Speech on Race. . .
And today the cunning Obama has mind-melded members of the Fox News Team. Talk about the candidate of hope and change! Who would have thought that Obama would be able to sow the seeds of rebellion within Fox News, that bastion of knee-jerk conservatism. Check out The Huffington Post and (the always hilarious) Wonkette for their take on Fox anchors Chris Wallace and Brian Kilmeade speaking out against their own network’s/colleagues’ vendetta against Obama.
Also today, featured on Anderson Cooper’s 360 blog: CNN contributor Roland Martin is actually taking the time to listen to Jeremiah Wright’s speeches, and is helpfully providing some context for and commentary on the speeches that contain the clips that have been played repeatedly in an attempt to portray Wright and, by extension, Obama, as un-American and untrustworthy. Today, he discussed the Reverend Wright’s 9/11 sermon and the “God Damn America” sermon.
And on Politico: here’s a reality check for everyone who still thinks (hopes) the Democratic nomination is still in play. Despite all evidence and expert opinion to the contrary, the Clinton campaign continues to behave as if their girl can WIN the nomination. Not quite — it will take an act of superdelegate subversion of the citizens’ will in order for her to be the Democratic nominee.
Happy Friday!