If Ash can cook, so can you!

Once, while in college, I had a can of black beans for breakfast. While it hasn't gotten that bad since I've been married, sometimes I find us low on groceries and some creative meals come out of the mix. Last week our dinner consisted of tuna with dill pickles on saltine crackers. I've had other such meals throughout my life. When I was a kid, my older sister made us spaghetti noodles with cool whip (and do I recall cinnamon?) sauce. As a teenager, my dad mixed left over pizza and pasta to create the famous "boiled pizza" dish. Anything my mom made using a cacophony of foodstuffs was usually called dinner "surprise."

Sometimes what I make for dinner could also be in the "surprise" category, but I have tried to make a concerted effort at being a better cook. I am amazed at how easy it really can be. I've gathered lots of recipes from family and friends and have tried new things. My greatest success has been apple pie, while my biggest failure, homemade macaroni and cheese (I burnt the milk - very gross). Here are my cinnamon rolls, a delight to make really.
I've been thinking of starting a recipe book blog, just for the fun of it. People could share their recipes and ideas for easy yet delicious meals. This makes sense to me since all of the recipes I use are from others. All could benefit from such a blog. Do you blog readers think it's a good idea?

Airplane Neatness

Flying in a commercial plane is a neat experience. Flying in a little plane that you can push onto the runway with the help of another is an awesome experience. Trying to fly that plane, well, that takes a lot of concentration and steadiness I've yet to develop. Here's some video of excellent piloting. What a ride!

Airline Miles...lost

My mom started a frequent flier account for me a while ago, I think about 8 years back, and I had earned lots of points. I never knew my account number. I think I wrote it down a couple of times on some paper, then put it on the shelf in my room. My shelf wasn't very organized and I lost the number over and over again. Still, my mom kept track of my account and it seemed to me that I had a nice amount stockpiled.

This past week I found out my account number using the quick and convenient concept called customer service. Sadly enough, half of my stocked up points were lost last year, and the rest of them were lost January of this year due to inactivity (defined as no activity with the account for over a year). Blast!

Call for a change of mascot

A while back, we went with some friends to a Nationals baseball game. It was a great time; we cheered as the the Nats ran into home, booed as the ump made a seemingly bad call, ate cotton candy, and watched the mascot (Screech the Eagle) dance. We also watched some other characters dance: the president heads. George, Thomas, Abe, and Teddy, they were all there dancing, signing autographs, and posing for pictures. I enjoyed the presidents more than Screech (although he had some good dance moves too). In fact, it seemed that everyone else in the stadium agreed, seeing as the presidents were getting quite a bit of attention. So, would a change of mascot be appropriate here? The Washington DC Heads of State.

VS.

A summer holiday

We spent the fourth of July holiday in Maryland's capital city, Annapolis. We visited the Naval Academy there, in addition to taking a look at the state capital building (we even chatted with the Town Crier), Annapolis harbor, and the Independence Day parade. It was quite a parade. It included everything from Jazzercise-ing women to the Van club of Maryland. The fireworks over the Chesapeake Bay were some of the best I've seen. We ate at a suggested restaurant on Main Street, Chick and Ruth's Delly. We got a classic meal: strawberry shake, fries, and a pickle sandwich...I mean, a cheesburger. It was a good time. If you're ever in the area, I suggest you visit Annapolis.

Genetics 101

It wasn't until yesterday that I knew that hebra [see left] existed. With a zebra mother and a horse father, this neat creature makes for a great way to introduce genetics (cue the Punnett square). What makes the stripes stop and the white hair start? Now a hebra looks quite different than a zorse (horse mother, zebra father) [see right], which tells us something about X and Y chromosome differences; but what, I have yet to figure. I can see the NATURE clip right now: Shasta the Liger chasing a herd of rare hebra, after failing with the zorses. But wait! What lurks in the waterhole? A cralligator.

Air Conditioning: Friend or Foe?

Yes indeed, AC is a definitely a friend and without it, sometimes it'd be really hot and really uncomfortable (I have experienced such things). However, sometimes AC can be turned down way too low. For instance, when you have to use a blanket on a summer night when it's 78 degrees outside. Or when you're in a car and you'd rather have the window down instead of the vent blasting away. Most especially when you're in the office and your toes are blue because you wore sandals. At work, when I go for a walk during lunch and step into the heat, my body has that defrost feeling. You know, when the molecules in your body start moving faster and the vasoconstriction stops. After my walk, that's when I'm grateful for the AC. But after about 15 minutes, the color starts leaving my toes again. AC's good, it's just that my internal thermostat is comfortable at higher temperatures than the average being.