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Current mood:sick

The best things about Friday.
The day before.
Thor woke up giggling and clapping.
Singing "It's a Beautiful Day" to my brother.
Learning that my best friend is a sicko.
Starbuck's - Friday like every day.
Bullying my coworkers into taking me out for lunch.
Listening to people sing over the phone. So corny and wonderful.
Bullshit-free workday.
The card and the cards.
The tapes.
The CD's.
The elle.
Bree, the force of nature.
The archaic torture high chair at Zesto's.
Everybody.
The next day.
But the day after that was a complete bitch.

one more i forgot

Current mood:tired

Oh yeah, resolution 11 is that I HAVE TO learn how to use the stupid bluetooth thing that came with my cell phone. I am just not getting anything done. I know they look horrible and stupid, but it just has to be done. Has to. No progress has been made on the other ten. Except of course #5 (lasagne). High five.
Freaking Deadly Lasagne
10 lasagne noodles
1 pound italian sausage (get turkey instead of pork! it's healthier!)
(pause for laughter)
pint of heavy cream
1/2 bag frozen spinach
3 T flour
milk
1 container ricotta cheese
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 egg
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 small container sun-dried tomatoes (in olive oil), minced (or a small jar of s.d. tomato pesto)
Boil the noodles for 10 minutes and then toss them in the sun-dried tomatoes. Spread the remaining tomatoes in the bottom of the pan. Brown the italian sausage in a skillet. Add the flour and cook until it no longer looks like flour. Add the cream and enough milk to almost completely cover the sausage. Get it going and then add the spinach. Cook until it becomes a very creamy gravy, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. In a separate bowl, combine ricotta, egg, and 1/2 the parmesan. Lay 5 noodles in the pan to cover the bottom. Then spread 1/2 the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Then spread 1/2 the gravy mixture over that. Then sprinkle 1/2 the mozzarella over that. Repeat the 4 layers. Top off with remaining parmesan. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Mmm! Damn!

Resolutions

Current mood:cranky

1. Combine my many, many IRA's.
2. Fix the tax situation.
3. Boost the boy out of the 25th% for motor skills. Hopefully upwards.
4. Get all of the animals to the vet at least once.
5. Eat more lasagne.
6. Get a better job.
7. Put vegetables in everything.
8. Get back on the rocks.
9. Stay moist.
10. No more IM. You don't have to know what it stands for.
Classic Lasagne
10 lasagne noodles
1 egg
1/2 jar pasta sauce (I like Glen Muir)
1 can diced tomatoes (or dice up 2 medium fresh ones)
1 medium container ricotta cheese (not the big-ass size)
1 pound ground beef
1 pound mozzarella cheese, grated
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic or to taste, chopped
1 cup parmesan cheese
Boil the noodles for 10 minutes, set aside. Brown the ground beef, adding the onion and garlic just before it's done while there is still meat juice in the pan. You heard me. Meat juice. Cook until the onion and garlic are soft. Add the pasta sauce and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Then taste it. If it tastes all jacked up then just toss it and order pizza. If you can save it with salt and oregano, go for it. In a bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, egg, and 3/4 cup parmesan. Do yourself a favor and use fresh parmesan, not the shit you keep in the cabinet for aeons. In a 9 x 13 pan, spread about 1/4 cup of the meat mixture to keep it all from sticking to the bottom of the pan. If you omit this step you will end up with a big pile of sticky crap that you hack away at for 20 minutes before going, "Oh fuck this shit," and then toss it and order pizza. Then lay down 5 of the lasagne noodles to cover the bottom. Then spread 1/2 of the meat mixture over the noodles. Then spread 1/2 of the ricotta mixture. Then sprinkle half of the mozzarella over that. Then the rest of the noodles. Then the rest of the meat mixture, then the rest of the ricotta, then the rest of the mozzarella. Top it off by sprinkling the remaining parmesan. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Bon appetit.
Happy New Year!

a fuckton of pictures

Current mood:irritated

I've been meaning to post all this for forever. Get ready to see the boy grow up before your eyes...
Summer
Baby's first skeeter bites. Knee and head.

I got him started on his manly hilarious t-shirt collection. I'm guessing now that he's gonna turn out straight because gay men tend to have ironic t-shirt collections more than funny.

(Yeah, that says got milk. They should make them for Hindu kids that say "goat milk". Now that's funny.)
I went out a couple of times. Here is me with my sister Liza, looking luscious. Actually we look like a Heart album cover. You know why.

I mentioned I bought a house. Here are the dogs looking nervous about the whole matter.

Bridget came over to check it out. Here she is with Thor.

I took Thor to the company picnic. Here he is with his face painted.

So, I'm gonna kind of skim over this part, but as he learned to hold his head up and sit up and those things, he became more interactive, and so I started buying him a bunch of amusing toys. First was this lie-on-your-back play gym thing, and as you can see it freaked him out a bit...

But he is still styling in his flutter-sleeve blouse.
Then came the johnny-jump-up...

... that he will actually jump in until he falls asleep!!!

God, what a cute baby.

And then came the exersaucer. Nice.

Autumn
But man, I love when the weather finally starts to cool off. I took a picture of this, and it doesn't even begin to capture how beautiful it was.

Know what it is? It's the chain-link fence where I park. Yep, that's right, future site of my head injury (email me for details).
Near the end of October, we took a trip to Liza's in North Carolina for a family weekend, and to meet Thor's great-grandmother. Here they are.

And here is Liza and Thor hiking.

The headgear came out for the season. Note the dumb adorable hat (with Danielle, who he adores).

At the beginning of November, I went to DC on business and took Thor with me. We went to Bethesda to have dinner with my old friend Anya and her beautiful family. Here's Anya and Thor.

Here is Thor, rolling around on the giant bed, peeing everywhere.

And here he is, proving we were in DC, since we didn't go to any tourist things.

Yes, he is on a luggage cart.

Then, in the airport, Thor sat in a high chair for the first time because Mommy needed a drink. Bad.

Later that month Dad had to have a procedure and Liza came down to visit. It was kind of unneccesary for her to come, so she took revenge by doing two things at once that annoy my dad tremendously (as pictured here)... wasting latex gloves and playing with his flashlight.

The next big event was Thor's other great-grandmother's birthday party at the beginning of December. Here's Grandma...

Here's us...

And here's Meat Chunk throwing down.

And finally, this past Saturday, we went with Dad to the Y to have breakfast with Santa. Here's thor with Grandpa.

And here's Thor with Santa. He fell asleep in line and there was no waking him. Really wish this picture turned out brighter.

And finally, let me leave you with the most depressing picture of the holiday season. The Christmas tree at the Atlanta City Detention Center. Just one more reason to keep your nose clean this December: a sub-par tree.

Love y'all!

Cute Halloween Pictures

Current mood:amused

An Open Letter From Thor to the Children of East Lake

Hey punks,
Yeah, my Mom dressed me as a chicken. WHAT. Least you can tell what I am. What the hell are you supposed to be? You got a black triangle painted on your head and a cape. What are you? Dracula? Batman? Shit.
And you, I think you're supposed to be Buzz Lightyear. Why do I think this? Because you have Buzz Lightyear on your shirt. But think about it, man. Does Buzz Lightyear wear a shirt with a picture of himself on it? Fuck no. Get off my lawn.
Hang on, here comes the cat.

And another thing... So what if my Mom picked out all the Special Darks? Today and every day, bitches!
Peace!
Thor
(Dictated personally but signed during naptime)

Thor's Zinger of the Day

Current mood:tired

Me: So, he has to go to this developmental progress clinic to make sure his motor skills are on track for a preemie.
Liza: No, the true test of his motor skills will be how well he does the champagne victory dance.

god i could really use a nutty buddy

hey kids! it's been a while, i know. i've been offline for forever because of stupid fucking comcast. yeah, they're now on my "fuck your uncle" list, too, along with the dish and the fucktard that wanted to put a big dish on a pole in the middle of my front yard. but, bitching about those guys is not why i'm here today... i just feel out-of-touch with my pals and need a minute to talk about random bullshit. that and i'm tryina get my mind off this little, uh, infection i got going...
here is one of my favorite moments from the past few weeks... i was sitting at home watching 'Intervention' with Dawg, you know, smoking and drinking, God, isn't it the best show ever? And during the commercial this happened:
Me: I don't know, I'm just not very good at that whole... uh... what's the opposite of self-indulgence?
Dawg: Self-restraint? Control?
Me: yeah, that's it.
Dawg: Yeah, me neither.
Nice.
Thir is getting big, he's a whopping 14# 12 oz. as of Wednesday, when I took him in to see the doctor for a little cold. Here's some pics... First is him trying to look aloof and cool...

And here's one where he looks like Marcia Cross... Be proud of your forehead, boy!

xoxoxoxoxo