frugal cellular

howdy all! thought i'd pass along something....i wanted to switch cell providers, but didn't want to pay the $200 early termination fee. i found (in Real Simple) a few websites where you can swap out your plan for a mere $15 service fee...and it's completely legal and easy. try these:

www.resellular.com (this in the one i ended up unloading my plan with)
www.celltradeusa.com
www.cellswapper.com

i posted my plan and phone on all three of these last night, and today got somebody who wants it. done deal. not only can you easily (and practially pain free) get out of a bad contract, but you can also pick up somebody else's (with or without a phone, which they usually include for free!) for free. no cost. it's a steal. go ahead and stick it to the man.

what we play

it's the dark ages of winter...and what better to beat off the winter boredom than some new games? top five games we've discovered in the past few months:

1. Bohnanza
2. Carcassonne
3. Blokus
4. Ticket 2 Ride
5. Lost Cities (great for 2 players)

What you been doing this winter?

MY APOLOGIES

turns out there were 50 comments waiting for me to "moderate" that i didn't know about. so, to all of you that comment from the middle of december to the middle of january, i'm sorry. they were great. i read em.

turkey meatloaf DELIGHT

the only memory i have concerning meatloaf has me at age 7, sitting at my best friend suzy's dining table, taking a bite of meatloaf, & then throwing up on the table. not a good impression. but for some reason i tried amy's recipe for meatloaf & it was phenomenal, economical, & simple. give it a try.

Turkey Meatloaf

Ingredients

3 lbs lean ground turkey
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
3- 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 eggs

In a large mixing bowl, lightly mix turkey, bread crumbs, cheese, 1 can of tomato sauce, and egg. Shape into two loaves in shallow baking dishes. Pour a can of tomato sauce over each of the meatloaves. Sprinkle top with garlic salt. Bake one loaf uncovered at 350 for 1 1/4 hours. Baste several times while cooking.

*Freeze the other loaf (uncooked) for another meal later this month.

Each loaf makes six servings.

when i go

lately i've been thinking about my own mortality more than ever before. like death has become something more tangible & physical. i am holding a wet sponge & am saddling a potter's wheel, dropping water over a slab of unformed earthen red clay; kicking the wheel & shaping the way i would leave this world, if it happened quickly...or many years...or decades. but mostly i've been thinking about a more sudden exit...and what i would do differently if i had time to make changes. not a comprehensive list nor any order of importance...feel free to add.

1. i would quit my busyness...and would pour perfume & use my long hair for something other than adornment.
2. i would let true joy fill my days...instead of opting for sorrow in the shape of contemplation.
3. i would buy real TUMS (smoothie flavor), instead of the generic yuck. nothing worse than nasty medicine when you have to take it everyday.
4. i would eat macaroni & cheese at mark's one last time (of course a nice red wine & that whiskey bread pudding...oh and the hummus plate...and the mustard + tuna sandwich...and then my stomach would explode).
5. i would laugh all the time...like the guy on mary poppins ("i love to laugh...ha ha ha ha").
6. i would go to Hawaii.

And one more thing today...

My friend Wendy posted something on her blog yesterday that I love... the title of the post is "Lessons".
Just wanted to share with all of you.
http://wjknight.blogspot.com/2007/01/lessons.html

and P.S... Happy Birthday to VW

Today is Virginia Woolf's Birthday

Did you all know that Virginia Woolf and her brother Adrian once "gained access to a secret warship by dressing up and posing as the Emperor of Abyssinia and his retinue"? They made the newspaper. It was a big embarrassment to the British establishment. This from the intro to my copy of "Mrs. Dalloway," which I'm reading for class. I'm a fan.

Here's a good quote from VW:

"The only advice, indeed, that one person can give another about reading is to take no advice, to follow your own instincts, to use your own reason, to come to your own conclusions."

And the intro calls her home schooled. Which makes this quote even more interesting, I think, since it says that she had anger over being home schooled when it seemed that other people were having a more cohesive education. Anyway. I find all of that interesting. And it is good to have things to celebrate in January. So today it can be the birth of Virginia Woolf.

if you need something...

world market has a printable coupon on their website: 40% OFF any non-sale item, even furniture: one coupon per person per day. but you can print as many as you like until february 7th.

redeemed!

well, jolie holland gave a pretty great show last night. daphne laughed and said it was a pipe dream for me to think the trauma might be at bay this time. she did. but my hope was rewarded. jolie holland did a lot of new stuff. and. best of all, she did a cover of a tom waits song, "a little rain." if you click the title, you'll link to the youtube version of it. the best, saddest song ever. ah. amazing.

the venue sort of sucked. and i had the worst cabernet i have ever had. AND there was one of those audience participation men there, who thinks that every comment a performer makes is directed to him. adding clever tidbits like "but THAT'S another story" after she would allude to some unrevealed information about a song. so irritating. like the guy at the gillian welch show who felt the need to tell david rawlings that he was wearing "a beautiful hat," in a voice that sounded like the guy's voice in silence of the lambs. a fat voice. gross. what's wrong with these people? and why do there seem to be more of them all the time?

banjo!!

oh my friends. what joy is mine. after a long time of shopping around omaha to no avail, and looking online but feeling uneasy about buying an instrument i couldn't check out first, i bought a banjo on my trip to arkansas. i'm so excited. it's made from persimmon and bodark woods. hand made by an ozark guy named paul richey. according to the man at "blue moon music" in fayetteville, the guy makes them on his kitchen table. he makes a lot of them out of old frying pans or pressure cookers, however mine isn't one of those, but i think that's so cool. friendly and green and all. it's an old timey banjo, as opposed to a blue grass banjo. open back. no resonator. anyway. that's the story. i'm so happy. should be great fun. now i just need to learn to play it.

while we're talking about shows OR for those who don't mind possibly getting kicked in their audience teeth

Jolie Holland
Thursday 18th January
Knickerbocker's
901 "O" Street
Lincoln, NE 68508
Tickets: www.etix.com
Or calling (402) 476-6865
St. Vincent supporting

chicago

there's a patty griffin show at schuba's in chicago on january 28th. anybody...anybody? i know you're all so close to chicago!

is it too late...

to enter a recipe in the WhoCares Cookbook?
well - here it is, cookbook or no.
i just stumbled upon it as i looked in my cabinet on a quest for what could become soup. it has no name, but here are the ingredients and a picture. and it tastes great!!

Soup
16 oz. chicken/vegetable broth
1 can (14-16 oz) diced tomatoes with oregano and basil
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed
2 c. tortillini, mostly cooked
a dash and a half of garlic salt
several leaves off the basil plant on the window ledge

combine over low heat for a little while.
eat and enjoy how simple it was to make a great soup!

motivation

this blog, inside a black apple, has truly motivated me to use my craftiness again. last christmas i was given this junky old sewing machine by my well-intentioned father in law who bought it at a garage sale for $5. (for the last 7 years of my life, i sewed on a Tiny Tailor and various other borrowed machines.) i was excited, but i got home, and it didn't work. and i tried and tried. and tried to fix it. and there it sat. until last friday i was determined to fix it. and then, BOOM, it worked, like a miracle from heaven. and it works WELL too. thank you jerry, for one of the best gifts ever. all to say, i am ready to jump on the crafting bandwagon again.

also, while here, i thought i'd share a few photos with ya'll of, well, this and that.


finn adores baths and bath toys


he is also a big fan of the school bus


here is caron and annabelle looking exactly the same

gimmee a break, nel carter!

i got a wad of cash for christmas because i couldn't think of anything i wanted. so i decided to treat myself to 2 months of netflix to help pass these last 8 weeks of winter/big-belly.

i need some recommendations. any movies you'd like to suggest? right now my queue is full of documentary discs (NEW YORK: a 14 hour set) & i think a little variety is in order.

ALSO: thanks to amy for posting a link to this free offer, if it interests you. a free DVD of "an inconvenient truth". it'll be mailed to you.

a toast: avennie & c-nub

babysat by many, known by most, & responsible for the prankings that occurred at corrie's place a few months back--anna & carin came to stay with us this past week. we spent most of our mornings lingering over breakfast & 2 pots of coffee & intermittent chatter of some sort. anna went running a lot. i went to the doctor one day. carin slaughtered me in pass the pigs. they cooked great meals & once the kids were snoozing, the four of us spent the rest of the evenings playing carcasonne, this really great french tile-laying game, & eating chocolate chip cookies. above all, i think we captured a favorite of mine--quality time.

yesterday the vennies flexed their muscles & helped me rearranged our family room. here's a picture of my girls enjoying a show in the newly arranged family room on their little sofa.

ps: one of my favorite moments of the week...carin took one of those toy rifles & hid in our pantry. when jason got home from work, i asked him to put something in the pantry & when he opened the door, she shouted & fired. dose of his own medicine! (one time when the girls were babysitting for our kids, jason hid behind the couch with our unloaded pellet gun & jumped out to scare them)

freezing friday

good morning friends. I am thinking of those in our blog who have to scrape and start cars parked out-doors last night...early this VERY cold and dark morning. I am sending you wonderful warm coffee wishes and warm finger/nose dreams

Gala

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to invite you all to Voices for Children's 3rd Annual Gala Event. This event is Voices only fundraising event all year and helps us continue our work. The event includes dinner & drinks, silent & live auctions, and an awards ceremony. For those of us under 35 (which includes us all, thankfully), tickets are $55.00 ($15.00 of which is tax deductible). Please click on the invite pictures for more details. I'll also be sending invites in the mail but wanted to give you all a heads-up. Also, if any of you would like to donate to our silent auction, that would be great as well. Donated items are also tax deductible. Anyway, it should be a fun event and quite nice.

P.S. - Hope you all are ready to get bundled up for the weekend! Enjoy the snow!

manhattan

i started watching this PBS documentary series "New York" this morning before the girls woke up. i laughed out loud when i heard this: "and the island was named manahatouh, which was thought by some to mean "place with hills" and interpreted by others to mean "place of general inebriation". what a variation.

why you're not a member

while working on the new blog template...and trying to change over to the new blogger...you were all so kindly deleted as members of this blog. you'll be re-added...but you'll have to accept through email. so check your email.

sorry.

Whew ...

Just received my first copy of our annual Kids Count report from the printer this morning with Eden (my niece) pictured on the cover. Very exciting. We have our big release next week. My completion of this report subsequently brings me to a full year back in Omaha. Weird.

oh, baby.

we all know how fun baby showers can be...but this one was different. thanks for coming & being so engaging, fun, & excited. really, what a dream. i love you. see you on the flipside.

farewell

it's time to let them go. i bought this pair of socks the day i declared my major in college. almost 9 years later, it's time to let them go the way of the dumpster. farewell grey socks with white stripes. i wore you the day i passed the math placement exam. you kept my feet warm the night jason's jeep was stolen. you have traveled far & wide in my suitcase, laundry basket, & backpack.

thanks for the memories.

white elephant gift i sent

you can see randi's post about the white elephant gift i sent her a couple of weeks later (MLK day gift exchange?). the reason it took so long: i had to dig to find that t-shirt.

who is this divided man

john piper's series "who is this divided man", based on romans 7:14-25, is amazing. check it out. it's a series that began december 26th. one of the best explanations of the "what i want to do, i do not do" passage in romans.

I'm going, who's with me!!

The Be Good Tanyas
June 10th, 2007
Wakarusa Music Festival
Lawrence KS USA

Caron, I will walk to Chatham and carry you to the show on my back. The same goes for any of you. Wouldn't it be fun? (the show, not the carrying, although I'd do it.) Click the title for the tour schedule.

Dining with our neighbors.

Tonight we were invited to eat at our neighbor's-- Jim and Donna. The are in their late 60s. We really, really like then and have often talked about asking them to adopt us as our Omaha parents. They have great senses of humor and are really down to earth. Anyway, turned out it was actually a dinner party-- Leo and Rose (almost 80), Mary and Don (also almost 80), and another gal in grandparent stage. Then us-- the 30 year olds with the toddler and the baby. I felt so loved that they wanted us there-- I mean, they all have known each other for a long, long time-- all Catholics who have belonged to the same parish, kids grew up together, etc. I left feeling happy to be in our neighborhood. (P.S. We had roast, carrots, potatos, gravy and pie.)

another who cares breakfast

thank you thank you alicia for hosting a fabulous whocares breakfast in honor of our dr. kate the great. many thanks too, to nate for his cooking contributions! this was the one measly photo that i got of the morning, practically while walking out the door.

The bread that changed my life.

I've never been much of a bread baker-- too lengthy of a process, the results too unpredictable. UNTIL I discovered this recipe, originally posted in video form by Mark Bittman on the New York Times website. We make it at least every other day. The wonder of it is that it is no-knead (an ancient techinque, I guess), super long rise time (so you can rise overnight) and it is pretty forgiving. I personally start the dough before bed (it takes all of 2 minutes) and I begin baking it around 1 or 2 the next day. Anway, without further ado-- the bread recipe:

3 cups (430 grams, to be exact) of all-purpose flour
scant Tablespoon of coarse salt (like Kosher, don't use table)
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (also known as RapidRise OR Breadmachine yeast)
about 1 5/8 cups of water
extra flour for dusting

In large glass or plastic mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and yeast.
Pour in water and mix with wooden spoon. The dough will be wet and sticky.
This is normal even though it looks wrong. Cover bowl with plastic wrap
and let stand for 16-20 hours. (Can be at room temp., unless house is
really cold) The dough should be bubbly looking and should be stringy when
the bowl is tipped. Turn dough onto a WELL floured surface.
With a bench scraper pull out both sides of the dough and fold over each
other into thirds. (It will be VERY sticky) Give a quarter turn and do it
again-- flouring all the while. Oil the bowl a bit and toss it back in.
Cover it with plastic wrap and let stand for another 2-3 hour rise.

Place a medium cast iron pot with lid OR any casserole WITH LID into oven
WHILE you pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Let the casserole dish heat for at
least 30 minutes. Remove dish, sprinkle bottom with flour. Transfer dough
to hot pot, sprinkle with a bit more flour, cover with lid and return to
oven. Bake 30 minutes WITH lid, remove lid and bake 15 minutes more. Shake
it out onto cooling surface. Wait AT LEAST 45 minutes to slice.

I would like to present to you ...

Mr. Remington Lafayette, Beauregard's new sidekick.

SHOULD old acquaintance be forgot?

clearly not! in fact, last night daphne and i reflected on the year and you all--who cares--topped the list of memorable and favorite times. here are a few picture highlights from our evening, including our valley forge-like trek to houng choung for some food, our new year's fashion, and the moment itself. hope yours was nice too. happy new year, who cares!!