iBeth

Yummy Lemon Quinoa Salad

I loved this recipe.  I made it just the way it's pictured at the link, minus the snazzy bowl.  (I used my own snazzy bowl.)  Because my family is picky about food, I served the cilantro and onion on the side. 

Both husband and Emma tried the salad without these ingredients and refused to try it with them.  (Amelia was too sick for dinner.)  Husband shrugged and declined to eat more than a taste.  Emma nibbled a quinoa grain, licked a garbanzo bean, then with tearful voice told me she couldn't eat anymore.  Fine.  All I ask is that they try new foods without insulting them.

I then mixed in the cilantro and the onion and ate most of the salad last night, the remainder today. Mmmmm.  I think I'll make it again.  Maybe with enough practice, I'll get better at cooking the quinoa.  I have trouble finding the sweet spot between "bird seed" and "mush."

Collecting those can . . . thingies

Emma is collecting those formerly-known-as-pop-top thingies on cans. 

What are they called nowadays?  A knowledgeable mom (whose daughter, at a different school, is also collecting them) tells me they are "tabs."  Emma has various ways of referring to them: can tops, loops, or my favorite "don't forget the . . . this."

Anyway, I'm not sure what her teacher is collecting them for, or when the collection process will end.  Perhaps the need for these things is only a myth.  Whatever they're worth, we've amassed quite a few of them, thanks to mom's bad beverage habits and Emma's helpful refrigerator sign.

Selling Your Values Down the River

Or, as the NYT describes the soon-to-be-approved so-called antiterror legislation, "Rushing off a cliff."  I hate the fact that my country is doing something so shameful.  And it makes me wonder why I bother supporting any political party.  The Times says,

We don’t blame the Democrats for being frightened. The Republicans have made it clear that they’ll use any opportunity to brand anyone who votes against this bill as a terrorist enabler. But Americans of the future won’t remember the pragmatic arguments for caving in to the administration.

They’ll know that in 2006, Congress passed a tyrannical law that will be ranked with the low points in American democracy, our generation’s version of the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Well, I find it very easy to blame the Democrats for being frightened, just as I blame the Republicans for being bullies. Legislators aren't placed in office to do what is expedient.  They are there to do what is right.

Deadwood HOA

"An overheard conversation at the suburban neighborhood pool, if the suburban neighborhood pool were in Deadwood." hee hee. 

Would-Be Real Estate Tycoons

Your heart will bleed for this young married couple. They purchased their new home in 2002 for $169,000, and are dismayed to discover that it didn't more than double its value in four years, despite the addition of tile floors and a backyard koi pond.  Not only that, but the real estate market's failure to perform to expectations is costing them their future,  CNN reports:

"We're planning on starting a family someday," says the 30-year-old Young [no relation], who builds simulation software for a defense contractor. "We wanted a bigger home - with a pool."

After all, their current home is only a tiny four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath, 2,861 square feet.  No one could possibly squeeze more than two people into it.  Especially when there's no pool.

Magic 8 Ball only for boys?

From Cynopsis Kids! (emphasis mine):

All signs point to "yes" as Mattel unveils its new licensing partnership with BBC International to produce a line of Magic 8 Ball branded shoes for kids.  When the new line debuts this November 2006, the two first products will be Magic 8 Ball shoes for boys and Magic 8 Ball Date Ball shoes for girls, both will come with a matching Magic 8 Ball digital watch.  The shoes will be available in kid sizes 5-3, exclusively at Kohl's department stores.  This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Magic 8 Ball.

Because goodness knows that girls can't have a plain old Magic 8 Ball.  Girls must have a special Magic 8 Ball Date Ball that focuses on their relationship to boys.  I haven't seen any pics of this new product yet, but I'm sure it will be pink, and probably sparkly.

Bugs 3; Me 0

I arrived home to find my husband battling ants.  Again.  This time, they were swarming over a section of counter that we reserve for non-food items (dish drying rack, etc.)  In fact, they were crawling on freshly cleaned dishes.  eeuw.

As he finished wiping up ant carcasses, Amelia complained that she had sand in her shoes from preschool, so I took her to the front door so we could dump the sand outside.  Around the sides of the door, numerous love bugs were crawling in past the weatherstripping.   When we opened the door, we found mounds of love bugs (that link has great pics, incorrect text) literally heaped along the doorsill.  (And I do mean the denotative literally and not the connotative literally.)  There's not much to love about these bugs, but normally they have the decency to at least stay outdoors.  I've never seen them invade a house like that.  eeuw. 

Daddy, with bug spray still in hand from the ants, charged over to wipe away the love bugs and spray the sill.  Amelia was much too fascinated by the process to remove her shoes.  I decided to pull a couple of weeds while I was waiting for the bug wars to abate.  Unbeknownst to me, a thriving wasp colony had taken residence in the flowerbed. As soon as I pulled a weed, I receive a nasty sting on my forearm.

Insects may not survive a nuclear holocaust, but they are winning everywhere else.

Making faces

Even in a nonviolent home, siblings find ways to get to each other.  Emma keeps her younger sister in line by making an angry face.  Amelia predictably responds by crying, "Mooommmmmy!  Emma just made a scary face at me!" 

At breakfast this morning, the tables were turned.  Emma objected to Amelia's many strange faces, repeating "Eew! No! That's a bad face!" and "Mooommmmy! Amelia keeps making bad faces!"

All the while Amelia experimented with different facial arrangements, pulling at lips and eyelids, then asking, "Is this a good face?  How about this one--is this a good face?"

Chip off the old block

My husband and I chuckled a bit when we saw one of the neighbor kids pretending to drive his toy car while talking animatedly on a toy phone.  Wonder where he learned that behavior?

This morning, Amelia plopped herself down in front of "her" 1993-era [dead] laptop, began typing busily, then looked over at me and said, "I'm a little busy right now, Mommy.  Can you please go somewhere else for awhile?"

It's good to know kids pay attention to us.

I'd rather not know

From the "I'd Almost Rather Not Know" department:

Getting ready for school this morning, we heard a shriek from one of the girls.  A pause.  Another shriek.

Daddy: What's going on over there?

Emma:  Nothing! I'm just counting in Spanish.

????  Then a whispered, "Don't tell Daddy why you were screaming!"