Me messing with Cooper, and Coop smelling Tim's shoes (bleh!)
Tired puppies are good puppies!
Coop all stretched out and chewing on his lizard!
The Non-Competitive Gaming World
4 weeks ago
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Cooper Pictures
I haven't posted some of the funny pictures of Cooper in a while, so here is a bit of what our crazy furry child has been up to!
Me messing with Cooper, and Coop smelling Tim's shoes (bleh!)
Tired puppies are good puppies! 
Me messing with Cooper, and Coop smelling Tim's shoes (bleh!)
Tired puppies are good puppies!
Making Pizza!
Since I moved away from home, one of the most traumatic things was realizing no one was cooking for me anymore! Don't get me wrong, I miss my parents very much, but if you grew up with their home cooking, you'd miss that A LOT too! Ever since I moved out of the dorms I've been doing my best to reproduce my parents cooking. For the most part it wasn't too hard, considering that I LOVE to cook and I had great role models willing to share their secret recipes. But of all the things I could make to remind me of home, one thing I couldn't make was my dad's pizza. His pizza was required (yes, it was assumed it would be made) whenever my high school friends came over and was a stable of my childhood (correction: life). I never ate a frozen pizza or ordered a pizza a day in my life until I left home (and frozen pizza just sucks).
So what's been holding me back? Well, pizza dough is much easier to make with a bread machine (expensive), and pizza requires other accessories like a pizza stone and a pizza peel. Well recently Tim and I had a little thing called a wedding, and all the things that we needed to make our own pizza were suddently available! So tonight we made our first pizza from scratch (with special thanks to the bread machine)!
Me with the before pizza, in case something happened to it while it cooked we would at least would have one picture of our attempt!
Tim with the finished product!
We decided that for a first try it was pretty good, but not quite at the grand master level. It was yummy though!
I also realize that since I have dedicated an entire blog to one of my dad's specialties, a future blog will need to be dedicated to my one of my mom's specialties! More to come!
So what's been holding me back? Well, pizza dough is much easier to make with a bread machine (expensive), and pizza requires other accessories like a pizza stone and a pizza peel. Well recently Tim and I had a little thing called a wedding, and all the things that we needed to make our own pizza were suddently available! So tonight we made our first pizza from scratch (with special thanks to the bread machine)!
Me with the before pizza, in case something happened to it while it cooked we would at least would have one picture of our attempt!
Tim with the finished product!
We decided that for a first try it was pretty good, but not quite at the grand master level. It was yummy though!
I also realize that since I have dedicated an entire blog to one of my dad's specialties, a future blog will need to be dedicated to my one of my mom's specialties! More to come!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Halloween!
Halloween started for us when Tim's parents sent us Halloween candy! They also sent Cooper a Halloween bone, and he was SOOO HAPPY! He chewed that bone until it disappeared!
For those who don't know, Halloween is kind of a big deal here in Madison. There is a street downtown called State Street, with bars and restaurants and shops, and only buses, taxis, police and cyclists are allowed onto the road. It's a neat place, about a mile long, and it leads right up to the Capitol. It's a popular place not just for students but for residents of the city as well. And on Halloween it is where 40,000 people gather in costume! When I was in college, Halloween was a bit out of control, with store windows being broken, riots breaking out, etc. No one was ever hurt, but they decided to make "Freakfest" a closed event and started charging entrance to the street after 7pm. To make it more interesting, they started having bands play and putting food vendors on the streets.
It sounds cool, but unfortunately I'm a bit halloweened out having been here for so many years, and dealing with drunks on State Street has lost its appeal (yes, I'm old and married and old). Instead this year I went to a few parties with the graduate students in my program. Tim unfortunately was given the schedule from hell, and had to work Friday 4-10, Saturday 8-2, 3-6, and cover a sporting event that night, and Sunday 9-7. Needless to say he was not able to come out on Halloween. I went to 2 parties that weekend, and here are a few pictures from them (oh year, I dressed up as a genie, gypsy, something):
For those who don't know, Halloween is kind of a big deal here in Madison. There is a street downtown called State Street, with bars and restaurants and shops, and only buses, taxis, police and cyclists are allowed onto the road. It's a neat place, about a mile long, and it leads right up to the Capitol. It's a popular place not just for students but for residents of the city as well. And on Halloween it is where 40,000 people gather in costume! When I was in college, Halloween was a bit out of control, with store windows being broken, riots breaking out, etc. No one was ever hurt, but they decided to make "Freakfest" a closed event and started charging entrance to the street after 7pm. To make it more interesting, they started having bands play and putting food vendors on the streets.
It sounds cool, but unfortunately I'm a bit halloweened out having been here for so many years, and dealing with drunks on State Street has lost its appeal (yes, I'm old and married and old). Instead this year I went to a few parties with the graduate students in my program. Tim unfortunately was given the schedule from hell, and had to work Friday 4-10, Saturday 8-2, 3-6, and cover a sporting event that night, and Sunday 9-7. Needless to say he was not able to come out on Halloween. I went to 2 parties that weekend, and here are a few pictures from them (oh year, I dressed up as a genie, gypsy, something):
The first year CMP students (missing Utibe!), and myself and Danielle
Lyndsae and Toni, devil and rockstar
Danielle and Lyndase and Bob Marley, and Toni and the boy
It was a fun weekend, although I did call it quits early so I could come home and be old with Tim and watch TV (slacker didn't want to come out). That's ok, I forgive him, I would not have wanted to either! It was a fun weekend though!
It was a fun weekend, although I did call it quits early so I could come home and be old with Tim and watch TV (slacker didn't want to come out). That's ok, I forgive him, I would not have wanted to either! It was a fun weekend though!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Birthdays and Visitors
The month of October was a big birthday month for us. Although these are all quite belated, I would like to wish a happy birthday to Tim's dad John (October 5), my dad and Tim's mom Jennifer (October 7), and a happy anniversary to my parents (October 9). I would also like to wish a happy birthday to all of the September and October birthdays of our friends (there are far too many to name, and I don't want to deal with the awkward situation of leaving one out)!
In addition to all these birthdays, Tim and I have had visitors the past 3 weekends in a row! Three weeks ago, Tim's parents came down to visit us. It's always good to see them, especially since they spoil us by taking us out to eat and grocery shopping. We had a wonderful weekend with them. The following weekend our college friends Ben and Alex came down to attend the Iowa Wisconsin football game with Ben's dad (who flew in all the way from Oregon to see the game). They had a great time showing his dad and his buddy around Madison, and we got to see Ben and Alex! Last weekend we had a big group down to Madison just for hell of it. There was lots of drinking, lots of football watching, and lots of $1 bets placed on completely absurd things. Oh yeah, and if I was as good at real bowling as I am at Wii bowling, I'd be a rockstar (alas, that is not how the world works; maybe they can make a Wii Scientist to boost my ego too).
And coming up this weekend is Halloween, which is a city wide drunken celebration! I'm sure some entertaining pictures are to come!
In addition to all these birthdays, Tim and I have had visitors the past 3 weekends in a row! Three weeks ago, Tim's parents came down to visit us. It's always good to see them, especially since they spoil us by taking us out to eat and grocery shopping. We had a wonderful weekend with them. The following weekend our college friends Ben and Alex came down to attend the Iowa Wisconsin football game with Ben's dad (who flew in all the way from Oregon to see the game). They had a great time showing his dad and his buddy around Madison, and we got to see Ben and Alex! Last weekend we had a big group down to Madison just for hell of it. There was lots of drinking, lots of football watching, and lots of $1 bets placed on completely absurd things. Oh yeah, and if I was as good at real bowling as I am at Wii bowling, I'd be a rockstar (alas, that is not how the world works; maybe they can make a Wii Scientist to boost my ego too).
And coming up this weekend is Halloween, which is a city wide drunken celebration! I'm sure some entertaining pictures are to come!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Congratulations Dan and Sarah!
Tim's brother Dan recently proposed to his girlfriend Sarah! We are so excited for them! They are getting married next September, and have already started to make plans. Yay, and congratulations!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Wofford Football Game
Who has ever heard of Wofford College? We sure hadn't! But Dan's boss actually claimed to have gone to this school, and low and behold our football team was playing his team! So Dan's boss was coming down to Madison to see a football game, and Dan decided to come to the football game, and he brought with him Sarah, Katie, Beth, Brad, Ben, and Alex! Tim and I had not yet been to a football game since the season started, but Tim had the entire weekend off and we planned on spending that drinking with good company and watching our Badgers! Luckily we won, but not by much. It was a great weekend, and it was great to see so many of our college friends. Here are a few pictures from the weekend:
The girls posing with a cutout of Bucky Badger.
We played a lot of baseball and beanbags.
Katie kept score because she broke her wrist and throwing was tough with a cast on (but still managed to help us win in beanbags!).
One of my friends from gradschool game with us too. She asked me to share half a brat with her, and I took my half... in one bite (my hands were full maybe?). Didn't quite think that one through!
Part of our group at the game!
The girls posing with a cutout of Bucky Badger.
We played a lot of baseball and beanbags.
Katie kept score because she broke her wrist and throwing was tough with a cast on (but still managed to help us win in beanbags!).
One of my friends from gradschool game with us too. She asked me to share half a brat with her, and I took my half... in one bite (my hands were full maybe?). Didn't quite think that one through!
Sarah with her stellar beer... mmmm Miller Lite!
Without a mouth full of brat, but confused?
Part of our group at the game!
Tim and myself!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Hilarious Letter!
This letter has been circulating through emails, read on radio shows, and passed around among friends, but for those who have not yet seen it, please enjoy yourself!
This is an actual letter from an Austin woman sent to American company Proctor and Gamble regarding their feminine products. It's PC Magazine's 2007 editors' choice for best webmail-award-winning letter.
Dear Mr.. Thatcher,
I have been a loyal user of your 'Always' maxi pads for over 20 years and I appreciate many of their features. Why, without the LeakGuard Core or Dri-Weave absorbency, I'd probably never go horseback riding or salsa dancing, and I'd certainly steer clear of running up and down the beach in tight, white shorts. But my favorite feature has to be your revolutionary Flexi-Wings. Kudos on being the only company smart enough to realize how crucial it is that maxi pads be aerodynamic. I can't tell you how safe and secure I feel each month knowing there's a little F-16 in my pants.
Have you ever had a menstrual period, Mr. Thatcher? I'm guessing you haven't. Well, my time of the month is starting right now. As I type, I can already feel hormonal forces violently surging through my body. Just a few minutes from now, my body will adjust and I'll be transformed into what my husband likes to call 'an inbred hillbilly with knife skills.' Isn't the human body amazing?
As Brand Manager in the Feminine-Hygiene Division, you've no doubt seen quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customer's monthly visits from 'Aunt Flo'. Therefore, you must know about the bloating, puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying jags, and out-of-control behavior. You surely realize it's a tough time for most women. The point is, sir, you of all people must realize that America is just crawling with homicidal maniacs in Capri pants... Which brings me to the reason for my letter. Last month, while in the throes of cramping so painful I wanted to reach inside my body and yank out my uterus, I opened an Always maxi-pad, and there, printed on the adhesive backing, were these words: 'Have a Happy Period.' Are you kidding me? What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness - actual smiling, laughing happiness - is possible during a menstrual period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit pleasurable? Well, did it, James? FYI, unless you're some kind of sick freak, there will never be anything 'happy' about a day in which you have to jack yourself up on Motrin and Kahlua and lock yourself in your house just so you don't march down to the local Walgreen's armed with a hunting rifle and a sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory.
For the love of God, pull your head out, man! If you have to slap a moronic message on a maxi pad, wouldn't it make more sense to say something that's actually pertinent, like 'Put down the Hammer' or 'Vehicular Manslaughter is Wrong'.
Sir, please inform your Accounting Department that, effective immediately, there will be an $8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your Flex-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescending crap.
And that's a promise I will keep.
Always......
Best,
Wendi Aarons
Austin , TX
This is an actual letter from an Austin woman sent to American company Proctor and Gamble regarding their feminine products. It's PC Magazine's 2007 editors' choice for best webmail-award-winning letter.
Dear Mr.. Thatcher,
I have been a loyal user of your 'Always' maxi pads for over 20 years and I appreciate many of their features. Why, without the LeakGuard Core or Dri-Weave absorbency, I'd probably never go horseback riding or salsa dancing, and I'd certainly steer clear of running up and down the beach in tight, white shorts. But my favorite feature has to be your revolutionary Flexi-Wings. Kudos on being the only company smart enough to realize how crucial it is that maxi pads be aerodynamic. I can't tell you how safe and secure I feel each month knowing there's a little F-16 in my pants.
Have you ever had a menstrual period, Mr. Thatcher? I'm guessing you haven't. Well, my time of the month is starting right now. As I type, I can already feel hormonal forces violently surging through my body. Just a few minutes from now, my body will adjust and I'll be transformed into what my husband likes to call 'an inbred hillbilly with knife skills.' Isn't the human body amazing?
As Brand Manager in the Feminine-Hygiene Division, you've no doubt seen quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customer's monthly visits from 'Aunt Flo'. Therefore, you must know about the bloating, puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying jags, and out-of-control behavior. You surely realize it's a tough time for most women. The point is, sir, you of all people must realize that America is just crawling with homicidal maniacs in Capri pants... Which brings me to the reason for my letter. Last month, while in the throes of cramping so painful I wanted to reach inside my body and yank out my uterus, I opened an Always maxi-pad, and there, printed on the adhesive backing, were these words: 'Have a Happy Period.' Are you kidding me? What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness - actual smiling, laughing happiness - is possible during a menstrual period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit pleasurable? Well, did it, James? FYI, unless you're some kind of sick freak, there will never be anything 'happy' about a day in which you have to jack yourself up on Motrin and Kahlua and lock yourself in your house just so you don't march down to the local Walgreen's armed with a hunting rifle and a sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory.
For the love of God, pull your head out, man! If you have to slap a moronic message on a maxi pad, wouldn't it make more sense to say something that's actually pertinent, like 'Put down the Hammer' or 'Vehicular Manslaughter is Wrong'.
Sir, please inform your Accounting Department that, effective immediately, there will be an $8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your Flex-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescending crap.
And that's a promise I will keep.
Always......
Best,
Wendi Aarons
Austin , TX
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