Also worried about MBG. I hope he posts soon.
VBob, I bow before your vunderful cake skillz. You should sic the rabid beaver on Pilly McStealersons next time you see her. 
waves to all
Mornin’
:: doesn’t get the snake reference. steals cookie anyway::
:: runs away::
Steel Magnolias. The armadillo cake lady.
I want my cookie, now.
Awesome cake, bbbobbio!
Now I’m worried about MBG too. Hope everything’s ok.
I’m not a beer drinker either for whoever was worried they were alone in their beer-less-ness. I think some of my coworkers think either I have a drinking problem or I’m trying to get pregnant since I never drink at work events… but whatever. Not my problem what they think.
I tried a recipe for pasta with broccolini, radishes, and feta last night that was really good. I’m pretty sure it was from the NYTimes, but I can’t find it now so no linky… sorry. I also printed out this recipe for pasta with cherry tomatoes and arugula, which sounds really yummy too.
And over the weekend I tried roasting beets for the first time (usually I just boil them) and wow are they yummy! They go really nicely on salad with some feta or blue cheese.
mrgrfl caffeinenotreadyyetwhyohwhy?
'lo evrbdy, cptls n vwls mstrsly msng…
huge effort
Keep fingers & stuff crossed, k? Taking SpaceDawg in for x-rays vry soon, pleaseohplease they can fix her without bankrupting me plz…
Need cawfee, must wake Himself… :eek:
I’m here!
We’re just getting some much-needed rain. Damn internet went out here at work, but it’s back. I wish we could go home, but it looks like that’s not gonna happen.
Getting busy - yays, boos, hugs and kisses!
Ah, finally!
Man, I didn’t get time to post at all, been a busy bee. Anyway, drive by and I haven’t caught up with y’all yet, but there is something I’ve been wanting to share, open at your own risk, TMI, please do not read if you’ve got a sensitive stomach, you’ve been warned…
Yesterday we went out to lunch and there was a woman next table who must’a been on a diet. She asked for a chef’s salad, glared a “none!” at the poor waitress when asked which dressing - and then drowned the salad in ketchup :smack: And I mean drowned in size=12, blinking rainbow colors and with smiley decorations
A word to the wise which mumper’s don’t need: be nice to the help. Not being nice results in you having to wait thirty minutes for your copy order. Sometimes the only thing you can do is be passive-aggressive.
Nava, that’s not a salad dressing.
I so know that. But she definitely didn’t. It’s a good thing I do not have a sensitive stomach.
I guess this is a recipe. It’s fair game for McUne’s blog.
How to make a beaver cake
1 chcolate cake mix, with additional ingredients from back of box
2 pound cake mixes, with additional ingredients.
2 cans chocolate frosting
1 can butter cream frosting.
1 tube black decorator’s icing
1 tube white decorator’s frosting
1 Easter egg cake mold
1 set of cake decorator sugar eyeballs
1 set of cake decorator dogbones
Mix and bake chocolate per directions in a 13X9 pan. This will become the base of the cake.
The mold pan set specified use of a dense cake such as a pound cake, so that’s what we did. I originally wanted a chocolate cake to go with the base, and may try it with something else in the future. Anyways, the directions on the mold specified 5-1/2 cups of batter, and one mix yields 4, hence 2 mixes.
Make the pound cake batter as directed on the box, and follow the directions on the mold regarding filling and bake time. Let all cakes cool thoroughly before assembing and decorating.
Remove the sheet cake from the pan, and set it on the base you want. Next, get a big knife and cut off the pound cake that extends up and out of the molds, making each flush with the mold sides. Use frosting to glue the halves of the egg together, and use something like a bamboo skewer to pin everything together. Cut off the wider end of the egg so that it will stand on the sheet cake base, using more frosting as glue. Retain the cut off piece.
Once everything is stable, fashion a couple of lumps of the same size to use as arms, and glue/pin them on the body about halfway up. A third lump becomes the muzzle, and two more smaller lumps for the ears on the top. Once you are satisfied with placement, frost the beaver body with the chocolate frosting.
Use the black tube frosting to draw in details such as the ears and nose. Apply the eyes. Take two of the dogbones cut off the ends, and shave one end of each so they resemble buck teeth. Apply them under the muzzle, and draw the mouth around them with the black frosting.
Frost the base with the butter cream, then use the remaining chocolate to draw a beavertail behind. If you want the rabid touch, use the white tube to make foam around the mouth.
Good wishes for the doggie, Aleq.
I hope MBG is okay, too.
============
I think . . . I need a hug.
I need to tell this to someone, so I’m going to tell you guys here. I can’t talk to any of my IRL friends about this. I’m not really looking for advice, I just need to vent.
When I was in my teens, living in Korea, I went through a really dark phase. I used to cut myself, and fantasize about suicide. A part of me even took some kind of weird, dark pleasure in that angst. I was active in an online community during that time, and I did all sorts of messed up things, like pretend to be someone else and even stage my own death. I lived in my own fantasy world, half-believing the stories I made up about myself. This is not an excuse, but an explanation: I felt extremely alone and confused, having been dumped into an unfamiliar culture at an already difficult time in my life.
I think it was good for me, in a way, because after that whole phase I developed a sense of perspective and a sense of humor. Having faced my own darkness and emerged more or less intact, I discovered that there is always something to smile about, no matter how hopeless things seem; that no matter how bad things are for me, I am blessed in ways that so many people aren’t; that no matter how sharp and sincere my angst seems in the moment, tomorrow I’ll be able to look back and laugh at how unapologetically emo I was.
I don’t know what it is, but gradually - maybe ever since I got here - I’ve found myself fighting an active battle against my inner darkness again. I’m afraid the illusion of hope I’ve allowed myself to feel with The Guy will prove false; I’m afraid I’ll never get into any decent American PhD program and will therefore be stuck here for the forseeable future; I’m afraid the fact that I’m even half attracted to my co-worker proves I’m a fickle slut and will never be happy with anyone; I’m afraid I’m going to end up giving up all my dreams and end up in Korea, teaching English to brats, married to someone I can tolerate but don’t love. And that thought is something I can’t live with.
Of course, there is still the part of me that thinks I am being an idiot and just needs a good slap before I break out the eyeliner and start sulking in the corner.
I think I’ll be okay, but it’s disturbing to realize my darkness is still there, and will probably never really go away for good. Perhaps what scares me the most is the part of me that secretly, perversely enjoys wallowing in my own angst. Fortunately, I am no longer 16, and have the benefit of experience to keep myself from falling too deeply into it this time. I hope.
I wasn’t going to say anything, but tonight I found my fingers actually twitching towards a knife, so I thought I’d divert them into typing up an attention-whoring post instead. 
Sorry to dump all my angst on you guys. I just needed an outlet.
Back off of the knives, sweetie.
Listen to your Rigs here, kay? This is my take on things:
-
You have moved back into a culture that no matter how proud of your ethnicity you are is somewhat alien to you.
-
You are back living with your parents, which is enough to mess with anyone’s head (it happens to me when we visit for more than 3 days)
-
You are waaaaay overworked and stressed about it–it may pass the time and make you money, but it’s a lot.
-
You miss TG more than you admit here–you miss the companionship, the sex, the attention and even the drama (just a wee–I would too).
-
You don’t seem to have many friends yet there–probably due to your brutal work schedule.
IOW, you are bored, lonely and insecure about your future. This adds up to major funk aka the Blues. I’m not sure what the answer is, but getting out to have some lighthearted fun cannot be amiss. I don’t know what to tell you re the casual sex. Casual sex is an oxymoron for me. YMMV. And you know we won’t judge.
Wanna play Scrabble beta with me? It’s not hot sex or a fun night out, but it’s all I’ve got. Stay strong, Haze.
What Rigs said. The future doesn’t have to be bleak Hazelnut - stay strong.
Haze– as one with self-destructive tendencies, I hear you.
Listen to Rigs- she speaks truth.
Plus- being attracted to co-worker guy does not make you fickle or a slut. Relationships, especially long distance ones, are complicated, messy and hard. That you are struggling with it has no bearing on your moral character.
Change, even wanted change, is really hard. Change that was not really of your choice is even harder. Use us to vent, get unwanted advice and as a shoulder to cry on.
{{Haze}}
(((((Haze))))). We’re here for ya. What you’ve been through in the last few months is enough to put anyone into a major depression. I’d say to get a good, light-hearted book with a happy ending. Harlequin’s do have a purpose in the world, IMHO.
What’s up y’all?
Hey Puck, how’s it going? How’s labrat?
Everything is good right now. The Rat and I are getting along great. We bought hockey tickets together, so at least I know he’s not going anywhere till April. 
Work sucks donkey balls, but not much I can do about it right now. I have just resolved myself to be happy dammit! I’m even already buying Christmas presents. :eek:
Oh, great. An MMP that praises mumpers and I play hookey yesterday and most of today.
In my defense however, it was a civic holiday in Ontario yesterday so I was busy getting my slack on. And blogging. Always blogging. Which is what I’ve been doing today, actually. Oh, and cooking. Made some pretty damn good chicken and steak fajitas yesterday.
And what’s this about bucking Pie? You people just get all kinds of freaky when I’m gone.
Oh! And I Fought The Rogers and The Mork Won. I’m not gonna bother C&Ping the epic story here 'cos it’s far too long, so I’ll just point y’all here and hope the fact that it links to one of my blog posts will be gracefully overlooked for the sake of art. 
Vbob - Nice beaver! Did you just have it stuffed?
Nava - Ketchup? On salad? Abomination! Never mind that ketchup has more calories than the average light dressing. I’ll bet she went home and had a diet pepsi and three bags of 100-calorie-per Doritos.
I wanna go home now.