New level of cute.

Today, my boy reached a new level of cuteness. He sang "twinkle, twinkle" with the lyric "Mommy." Cutest. Thing. Ever.

Also, I labored long and hard and was able to create what my husband calls the best soup he ever ate: Tuscan-Style Potato Soup. I highly recommend it, if you have the time!

Haiku News

Obama declares

H1N1 'mergency;

let's all wash our hands.

Priest killer confessed:

apparently janitor

argued with him, snapped.

And on the 101st day...

...she realized that she spaced out on the vocabulary final question. Again. Seriously, where is my brain? Have you seen it? I'll make it up today, my apologies once again.

Even though I knew my husband would be working late tonight (in fact, he's still not home), I was determined to try out that broiler drawer I had no idea I had until a few months ago. I prepared a flank steak with a mustard-molasses sauce that was really excellent. I probably ate a little too much of it, but it was really good. I'm glad that's the sort of thing that reheats very well, so hopefully my husband will also enjoy it soon. I had a baked sweet potato with it. Yum.

Vocabulary Geek-out #3

What are the following and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals.

Yeah. Going to look those up now.

Trigraph: A group of three letters representing a single speech sound, such as eau in the word beau.

Subvocal: characterized by movement of the lips or other speech organs without making audible sounds. The b sound is a subvocal.

Diphthong: an indivisible, gliding speech sound identified by its beginning and ending sounds, such as the 0i-sound in toy or boil.

cognate letters: those that are produced by the same organs of speech in a similar position. I'm guessing this would mean like m and n.

Linguals: letters articulated with the tip of the tongue, as in d, n, s, or r. 

Haiku News

"Horrific" slaying

of pastor; now reward for

some information.

Eighteen years of hell:

kidnapped girl spent life in shed,

had captor's children.

For a little while

twenty-six Pakistani

girls could learn in peace.

A Pissy Missive

To my husband's employer:

You suck.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that you employ my husband. I don't even mind that he works a lot sometimes. It's just that the last two weeks he has worked so much that either he has flat out had no time to help with the everyday chores he usually will, or I feel guilty asking him to spend what little downtime he has helping me with menial tasks. 

I didn't sign up for this. I realize that attorneys will occasionally work crap hours, but this is getting ridiculous. I don't know how single moms and military wives deal with this all the time. I was not cut out to multitask this much. For instance, from 4:00 this afternoon, I walked to the grocery store, purchased dinner supplies, walked home (in the rain), and immediately started on preparing dinner, which took me until it was time to put our small son to bed. It would normally have been my husband's night to handle bedtime, but thanks to you, I did that too. That also meant that my dinner was delayed until after 8:00 to do so. After eating dinner I had a mountain of dirty dishes to clean so that they wouldn't collapse on me tomorrow. Again, that's something I like to ask my husband to help with usually, especially on nights when I knock myself out cooking something from scratch (in this case, North African meatballs with couscous and glazed carrots), but was forced to do myself in his lack of free time. As I type this he is eating a marshmallow treat and will go to bed immediately afterward. I (you guessed it) will not, as I need to finish my blog, which I would have done earlier had I not had to play scullery maid. UGH!!!!!!!!!! YOU SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love and kisses,

Minerva

Haiku News

Man who crashed his plane

trying to fake his own death

gets four years; that twit.

High voter turnout

may weaken the Taliban

in Afghanistan.

North Korea thinks

since they gave us journalists,

they're owed direct talks?

Sticky Marshmallow and Sesame Street

I was watching videos on YouTube with my little boy this afternoon and found a few of my favorite and one of my least favorite things in the recent history of Sesame Street. 

His personal favorite (and I find it endearing too) is Feist's Sesame Street version of her song "1 2 3 4". Even though it's pretty clear she is lip-syncing to a pre-recorded vocal, it is really cute. Enjoy!

I also really like this Ray Charles and other celebrities version of the Alphabet Song. I'm sorry to admit I don't recognize every single person. If someone could tell me who the guy in dreadlocks is, and the guy with the dark blond hair that sings wxy at the end, I'd be really happy to know.

Today I had the misfortune to stumble upon this video of Natalie Portman and Elmo doing a pretend game, which is fun enough, until the end when probably my least favorite Sesame Street character ever comes in. I think you'll see why. If I ever see this one again, it'll be too soon.

In other news, my friend made Crunch Berry Treats last weekend, and I couldn't resist trying out her recipe today. They came out so pretty I had to post a picture here. It might look a little funny because right now the crunch berries are in marine animal forms. 

Haiku News

Nearly all U.S.

bills are tainted with cocaine--

money's addictive!

Indicted suspect

already in jail for fraud

now hit with new charge.

Despite Vick's folly,

dogfighters alive and well,

even fight in trucks.

Ranty Mc Rant...

Whoo, boy. The boy was MUCH happier today so I was able to focus more on what atrocities I've been ignoring in favor of vacation. But before that, I will share some truly terrific recipes I got from the Food Network. I don't know if anyone followed this year's "The Next Food Network Star," but the winner, Melissa d'Arabian, is a wonderful mother of four little girls under 5 who has a wealth of information about cooking. Also, her recipes are delicious! I prepared her Rustic Lemon and Onion Four-Step Chicken on a bed of wilted spinach with individual potato gratins (prepared in muffin tins!). Highly recommended. Even I could get it done in about an hour. Yum!

Ok, on to ranting. I allow the boy to watch Sesame Street. He gets a kick out of the Muppet characters in particular. However, the program following it, "Word World," has one feature that really bugs me. The show features all manner of creatures made up of the letters that spell their names (Bear, Duck, Cat, Ant, Pig, etc.), but ALL of them talk except for Dog, who only barks. Apparently everyone understands him anyway, but it really bothers me that somehow EVERY other animal can speak English except the dog. Oh, and Duck is a redneck. 

And what is up with the doors on public restrooms? It seems like at least 80% of them have the door mounted where the handle is on the inside. Anyone who knows that way too many people (even the women!) don't wash their hands after using the bathroom realizes that even if you wash your hands, if you have to touch a door handle that unwashed hands have touched, you re-contaminate them. OR you use ANOTHER paper towel to keep your hand from being re-contaminated. Really, how hard is it to mount the door with the handle on the outside so you can push to get OUT??? GRR!!!

Haiku News

Peanut-free night lets

allergic kids watch baseball

game without fear. Yay!

Typhoon in Taiwan

strands two hundred villagers,

turns roads into swamps.

Woman throws a mug

at Mona Lisa, but art

protected by glass.

Totally Tuesday!

So. I actually haven't thought about the Poetry Challenge yet this week! My dryer vent was being cleaned this morning so I can now achieve clean laundry without risking a catastrophic fire. Consequently, I forgot it was Tuesday. Never fear, I will get the challenge up today, it just may take me longer than usual since I forgot to think about it earlier today. 

I was rather proud of the boy's ability to adjust to the loud noises going on outside. I turned up his white noise machine as I got him ready for his nap, but the dryer vent guy was drilling on the brick wall outside the house and making quite a racket. I just rocked the boy a little longer in the glider before laying him down for his nap, and he managed quite well, sleeping nearly three hours. 

Tonight I tried yet another new recipe--Chicken Puttanesca with Angel Hair Pasta. I recommend it; not only was it quick and easy, it was delicious. I was even able to make it in about a half hour (they claimed the recipe was for a 20-minute preparation). What's even better, it got the hearty approval of my darling husband. So I'll be making that one again. 

So, I'd better get to the Haiku, since I need to figure out the challenge after that...

Haiku News

Are there any words

for how stupid these guys are--

suing over Tweet?!?!

What is sadder here:

hungry people steal their kill,

or lions die out?

"An eye for an eye

makes the whole world blind." It seems

this guy disagreed.

My aching back!

I think I was on my feet too long today. Between the Wii Fit (which announced I was 20 years old today, huzzah!), cleaning up for the Merry Maids to be able to dust and vacuum, walking to and from the grocery store, and then preparing dinner for way too long, I think my back went on strike. It feels better now that I've been off my feet for the better part of an hour, though. I have learned my lesson: the next time I prepare Stone Fruit Salad, I will cut up all of the stone fruit beforehand. Today I got it at the store in the afternoon, and although I immediately started cutting it up, I still didn't finish in time to get that salad done before I had to feed the boy and put him to bed. Sigh...at least it (and the Summer Squash Soup I made with it) was delicious. :)

Haiku News

County attorney

shows pics of girl's sex assault

to warn teens' parents?!?

Potter fans care, form

Harry Potter Alliance

for social causes.

Ms. Sotomayor

likely to become the first

Latina justice.

How's this for death grip:

toddler floats seven miles down

river on toy truck.

2 for 2!

Yes, sports fans, I have cooked dinner from scratch for two nights in a row. Last night we had cheddar burgers with red onion jam, and tonight I made zesty citrus chicken with sauteed asparagus. Both were a success, both to me and to the darling husband. I am pleased. Now, if I can just get myself organized enough to actually cook more than twice a week...

I have also gotten tantalizingly close to achieving my "ideal" BMI of 22...I am only about 3 pounds away at the moment. I fully intend to keep running and eating healthfully, so we will see if I can get there and maintain it just in time to start working on baby #2. Ah well, I have learned that if I am more careful with food and a little more physically active during my next pregnancy, maybe I will not put on quite as much weight, and if I start exercising again when I am cleared by the doctor instead of waiting 6 months, I should be able to get the remaining weight off faster. 

I am pleased to report that Paige has submitted her entry for this week's Sonnet Challenge. I have heard from several of you that the meter is giving you fits. I know it can be frustrating to try to shoehorn your thoughts into the right rhythm. All I can say is that I am reasonably certain there is no rule of what meter you MUST use to write a sonnet; both Cicely's and Paige's are excellent without fitting iambic pentameter. I would just say it'd be easiest to try and find some meter that works for you and try to stick to it through the whole poem, it just helps it flow better. Keep working on it, I know you'll get it!

Haiku News

China quake destroys

ten thousand homes, three hundred

people injured. Yikes.

Reduced calorie

diets slow aging process,

but take care and thought.

13-year-old boy

trades in iPod for Walkman,

walks in father's shoes.