Bahh!

That's what I'm saying right now, as I just sent 42 invitations to people to join goodreads. True, some of those 42 I wanted to invite, but the other few dozen or so are people in my inbox that I hardly know or who I only emailed back when I was in graduate school. I can just see them now, "ashley... who? wants to be my friend on goodreads?"

This is not the only time I've clicked on a button too quickly, by mistake, never to be able to undo the action again. I wish the internet had an undo selection sometimes. I am fond of it in Word, iMovie, PowerPoint; why not the internet?

Well, here's to the 42 people I've invited. Who knows, I may get a few new buddies in the mix.

Driving at the speed limit

I remember riding in the car with my mom as a teenager. We'd be going 60 mph. "Mom, go a little faster," I'd kindly request. Her response, "We are not in a hurry to get anywhere. Enjoy the ride."

Now that I am a mother, I find myself driving slower and slower. Not so slow that I'm under the speed limit (goodness, no), but just at the speed limit, in the right lane. In truth, I never thought I'd be here. I fancy myself an aware, focused, fast driver; picking the fastest lanes, making the smoothest of lane changes, and "ace-ing" traffic (or in other words, making up 2 minutes of time by getting in front of the slow Toyota Tercel and going through the yellow light).

But on those days when I'm "not in a hurry to get anywhere" and Oliver's fast asleep, I take it easy. And I enjoy the ride. I drive through neighborhoods and look at houses, or I check out the new park I've heard about. Occasionally, I catch myself thinking, "Get in front of that Acura TSL Ashley, he's crawling," or "speed up now if you want to get on the on-ramp before the slowbee," but then I remember I'm not in a rush and I let the foot off the gas pedal and cruise.

Jess says I've gotten a little lax in my driving, and I'd say it's the truth. Cruising is the opposite of how I've driven all my licensed life, but I now see the value of it. This isn't to say that I don't enjoy rushing downtown, weaving in and out of lanes, beating a Mustang off the line (hey, it's happened...maybe the Mustang wasn't really trying, but it's happened), and making it to a firm party just in time. But now I get where my mom was coming from and I can almost hear my kids in the future saying to me, "Mom, can we go a little faster please!"

Emma on PBS

For those of you who are big fans of some good Jane Austen, Masterpiece's Emma is showing on PBS. You can watch the episodes online. I've enjoyed the first 2 episodes and am looking forward to the last, and possibly the best, episode. Enjoy.

I like your hair Ms.

In September 09, this photo of a lady was featured on The Sartorialist. When I saw it, I must admit I found it uncanny that her hair was so similar to mine. I mean, from what I hear, the people captured in those photos are the creme al la creme of the fashion world. So, what this image is telling me is that I need to work on my clothes...and my smirk.

Restaurant Week

We've been wanting to participate in Restaurant Week since we've lived here, but have never had the chance, until this past week. A friend had some reservations that she couldn't make, so we lucked out and took them. It was awesome because you could tell having a baby in The Oceanaire was a rarety for the place. Still, they treated him right and gave him some mashed potatoes gratis! Unfortunately, they weren't his fav.

I ordered a seafood version of the turducken. It was turbot with crab and shrimp inside. Yes, daring, but it did not disappoint. Jess had the sword fish which turned out to be very good (and better than the seafood turducken). For dessert we enjoyed lava cake and some bread pudding.

Then we rinsed it down with some H2O.

We had a great time and would suggest Restaurant Week to anyone who likes to imagine him/herself a food critic on the weekends.

Isn't it interesting...

...when you find that your spouse's tie is still on the kitchen counter from Sunday evening. You think to yourself, "Gee, that's still there. He needs to put it away." Then you notice that your muddy shoes from Sunday afternoon are still by the door and need to be put away too. So you grab the tie and the shoes and put them both away. And think to yourself, "Glad I didn't say anything about the tie."

I can't tell you how many times this happens to me.

A miracle of time saving proportions

The other day as we completed our transaction to buy some men's dress shirts, my ears perked up as the sales person said, "We recommend that you DO NOT IRON these shirts, as it will damage how they've been treated." Truly a miracle. Many thanks to whomever came up with this "treatment."

On another note, buying these shirts entitled us to a catalog. When I opened it up, I couldn't help but laugh at this:

All pant panels are a different plaid. Needless to say, they are on sale. Would you purchase these winners?

Broomstick

I must admit, I've been looking forward to this moment since before I married Jess.


In our family we call this the broomstick, that is, balancing the babe in your hand while he/she stands rigid. Very cool.

Cereal box recipes

Have you ever noticed that the recipes on cereal boxes are pretty much the same, regardless of the cereal? I have found that the ingredients are basically a mixture of the following:
Butter
Peanut Butter
Chocolate chips
Nuts or Raisins
Some form of sugar
Possibly a spice

It’s the name of the recipe that changes. Here are some examples:
Crunchy Peanut Chocolate drops
Toffee Crunch Bites
Cinnamon Mix
Peanut Butter Crunch Bars
Crispy Chocolate Bars
Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars
Cinnamon S'mores

Rice crispy treats are a classic, but who wants a dessert bar made of frosted mini wheats? That's forcing it a bit, wouldn't you say?

Feel the zen, it's 2010

So, can you believe we're into the next decade? Not me. It seems like just a short time ago, everyone was fixated on Y2K. Remember that?

Here's my edition of the best of 2009:

• Visiting family in the west (splendid)
• Conquering fears one thing at a time
• Celebrating a wedding (via word of mouth and photos)
• Welcoming our new little one (and having everything go so smoothly - thanks all)
• Watching our little one smile, roll over, smile, crawl, smile, eat carrots, smile (and taking many-a-photo to record it)
• Observing my husband succeed at his endeavors
• Making our apartment a home (cheers to furniture!)
• Skiing together (and thinking there's no one else I'd rather be doing it with)
• Realizing again and again that life is special and that we should never take it for granted (do you feel like you've just read a Hallmark card? Good)

So here's to two thousand ten/twenty ten/ten. However you say it, may it be a good one.