So Very Posh

Over the weekend, Mark made Lisa's Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread because we had three over-ripe bananas and I'd just seen the recipe.

He added a little to it though.  He took 1/4 cup of nuts and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar mixed together to sprinkle over the top.  Also, once it was out of the pans to cool he took cheesecloth soaked in Bourbon and wrapped it around the loaves.  VERY nice additional touches.  The bread came out very moist and flavorful!  There were a bit too many nuts for my taste, so we might use less next time if I can get Mark to agree to it.

ALSO, this post reminded me why there's no way I'll be able to switch to Vox.  I can't put simple HTML straight into the compose box.  This entry took me an extra three minutes to write out because I had to figure out how to do the little add-a-link thingy instead of being able to type straight HTML.   I complained about it initially and received the response that they were trying to get the dumbest users on the face of the planet comfortable with using this thing and the thought of being able to EITHER type straight HTML OR use their little formatting buttons would overwhelm the dumb-as-shit folk, so they weren't going to try to complicate matters.  Sigh.  Like the dumb-as-shit folk would even know the option was there to type out straight HTML.

I despised most food as a child. I went through a phase where I didn't like cheese, but I'm not sure where that came from. I can't even imagine not liking cheese.

I think due to the limited types of food I was exposed to as a child, I grew up to be a picky eater. I wouldn't eat any vegetables besides green beans, peas and corn. Now I totally love green peppers and onions. I never would have considered trying ethnic dishes or really anything you couldn't find on the kid's menu at a sit down restaurant. Now (mostly thanks to my husband) I will try almost anything and surprisingly I frequently like what I try!

Map of Bones

A mysterious mass murder in a cathedral in Cologne, Germany starts this book and sets a quick place.  At a midnight mass, all partakers of communion were fried from the inside.  Everyone else was shot.  A covert sect of the U.S. government called Sigma is called together with representatives of the Vatican to piece together a puzzle that will ultimately lead them to find the Magi described in the Bible - the "Three Wise Men".

This book is a story of their bones and an ancient secret of truth left behind in puzzles and clues so only the deserving will discover the answers.  This knowledge is powerful and with it terrifying weapons could be built to control the world or bring about Armageddon.  The party responsible for the mass murder in Cologne, The Dragon Court, has learned just enough to build a test weapon.  Both they and the Sigma/Vatican team are racing one another to solve the mystery first.

Historical record and scientific fact are merged together in a fictional thriller.  This combination happens to be my very favorite type of novel, so I enjoyed the read immensely.  Some parts dragged a little and some were repetitive, since The Dragon Court and the Sigma team were always neck and neck.  There were a few cool surprises and a few moles I never suspected.  I can't wait to read some of Rollins' other novels.

Mark and I had Teyla groomed over the weekend. I've been trying to brush her out frequently, but she just got so knotted. As I was afraid of, they told us they'd need to shave her and give her a "fresh start" because the knots were so bad.

Poor little thing came back to us looking like a rat. I TOLD them not to touch the hair on her head, but they cut that up (very poorly) anyway.

I feel really bad for thinking she's not as cute as she used to be, but she just isn't. I feel like she's a completely different dog. She's not my dog and I want MY dog back! I feel horrible about these thoughts, but they're in there.

I wonder how long it's going to be before she starts looking like my fluffy little puppy again.

So sad.

Because I'm bored I decided to do the Monday Mindjam

1. As a child, did you ever wish you had a different name, maybe a name you wish your parents had chosen? To what would change it if you could?
I remember a brief period of time in the 5th grade where I wished my name was Heather.  Oddly enough, it was not a common name in my school  I tried to get all my friends to call me Heather, but they all refused.  I guess I'm glad I had friends who refused to call me any old name because the following year I met a Heather who remained one of my best friends for a couple years and met a gazillion Heathers in my middle school.

2. What skill have you been wanting to learn but have just kept putting off?
Photography.  It's not so much that I'm putting it off, it's just ridiculously overwhelming and deals a lot with numbers, which I'm NO good at.

3. Are there there any regional foods you love but just can't get where you are living now? (burger chain, ice cream shop, etc. that was in your hometown but has no locations where you are today)
I like 7-Eleven for their slurpees.  There are 7-Elevens in Atlanta, but hell if I know where, I've never seen one here.  I'm not a huge fan of fast food, so I can't say I'd miss any of them if they were no longer available to me.  I know Mark truly misses Whataburger and Jack-in-the-Box as we must go there several times when we return to Texas.

4. What recreational activity would you take up if you had the time and/or money?
I'd likely delve deeper into photography, probably take some classes and buy some new lenses and filters (never mind the tripod I still haven't gotten).

5. What's the biggest lie you've ever told? Has anybody ever found out?
What a serious question.  I've told a lot of lies.  I lied to Mark about who I really was when we first started talking to one another.  I think the biggest lie though was keeping Mark from my parents during the beginning of our relationship.  He moved here in April 2000 after he'd already visited once (October 1999) and we'd been talking for many months.  I didn't tell my parents about him until November 2000 because Mark's father bought me a plane ticket and as I lived in my parent's house, they'd surely notice if I wasn't there for a week.  I don't know why I kept them from him.  I wasn't embarassed of him or anything like that.  I just didn't believe my mom would accept the relationship as "real" and I didn't want to have to deal with that.

6. What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon when you were growing up?
Garfield and Friends.

7. Let's say one of your relatives slipped you a $100 bill, to help you out for the month. Your significant other didn't see it, would you tell them or keep it to yourself?
I'd definitely tell him.  We get bonuses and gift cards at work all the time and I just can't ever keep them from him.

Mark and I intended to go see Failure to Launch this weekend, just as we'd intended to see it last weekend.  I'd really like to see this in the theatre, but it's such a hassle to go out to the theatres and deal with people.  Our TV and sound system are great, so despite our best intentions, we usually wait for things to come out on DVD anyway.  I'm excited about Failure to Launch though.  We're going to try to see it after work later this week.  We'll see what happens.

We did end up watching a lost of movies this weekend, or watching most of them anyway.  We caught both Dodgeball and Real Genius on HBO or Showtime and watched at least half of both.  I've seen them both before so I don't feel the need to finish them (even moves I haven't seen before I have a hard time watching all the way through.)   Jason Bateman just made Dodgeball.  He was hilarious!  And Val Kilmer should have stuck with comedy because although his IMDB profile is full of movies, I've never heard of any of them.  He seemed to peter out as a blockbuster star with his role in Batman.

We started watching Coffee and Cigarettes.  I just don't know what to say about it.  I feel bad for hating it, but it was just unbearable.  The cinematography is great, but all the words... they're boring as hell.  I could only take maybe 30 minutes before I wanted to poke my eyes out with a blunt nail file.  I don't think I can watch the rest of it. 

Jarhead

Finally, we ended the weekend by watching Jarhead.  I was expecting a good movie and somehow it was even better than expected.  That Jake Gyllenhaal is just perfect!  In everything I've ever seen him in, he's perfect.  I haven't seen Brokeback Mountain yet (waiting for DVD) but I do want to see it and I'm sure I'll like him in that as well.

I've been feeling a little movie-starved lately.  We haven't been watching many.  To be honest, we just don't have the attention span anymore.  We started Tootsie about two weeks ago because Mark had never seen it (and I am of the belief that it should be seen at least once).  It's still waiting for us to finish it.

Maybe I need to stick to movies running 90 minutes or less.

Mark and I watched the most recent episode of The Amazing Race last night.

I am LOVING this season.  It promises to be the best yet.  The hippies are our favorite by far.  I also like the two horny guys.  As it was revealed that they "hooked up" with the two booby women, I asked Mark, "So, do you think they've had sex yet?"

"Oh yes," he replied, "and they were all in the same room."

Later on when one of the horny guys was smacking the other's ass as he got into the tiny Beetle I commented that they frequently acted just a little bit gay.

"They're secure in their sexuality," Mark said.  "That's why they had sex with those girls in the same room."

So now I'm left wondering not only if they've had sex (which I think is a stupid move just because they're in a race competing against one another), but if they had an orgy.  I'm guessing none of this will be in DVD extras.

I am ADDICTED to Flickr.  I love it to pieces.  I hate how it's still in Beta after something like two years though - why?

Happy birthday to me.  It's been pretty horrible so far.  I don't know why I didn't take the day off work.  Never again.