Not much going on at the Zebra residence.  We continue to lead lives of quiet desperation occasionally enlivened by minor illnesses. TDG hit the Wake County library book sale this weekend and came away with a couple of things, I made brownies and tried to figure out what we should take to MA later in the week for Turkey Day.

I also visited the mall, which has recently made the upsetting move of tearing down the play area near the food court.  I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, especially to those of you who don't have kids, but I'm bummed.  However, at least the place was hopping.  I can't tell if people were buying what they usually do but at least they're all not staying home.

I generally love Christmas/holiday decorations and so on,but I have to say I'm not loving the current widespread trend of playing alternative  versions of Christmas carols.  I understand that listening to the standards can get boring, but I'm not all that crazy about jazz and bebop to begin with, and listing to crappy 'fun' versions of the standard songs just doesn't do a thing for me.  If nothing else, they're harder to ignore.

Current Mood: calm

So I've been thinking about putting together a dark/scary/funny Christmas mix.  Since we're not actually Christians, our celebration of the holiday is always a little odd/ironic anyway, and SS and I have found a few songs so far that amuse us.

So far:

Jingle Bells performed by the Crash Test Dummies
Deck the Halls performed by Twisted Sister
Chiron Beta Prime by Jonathan Coulton
Oh Come All Ye Faithful performed by Twisted Sister
It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Fish-Men by the HPLHS Society
Christmas At Ground Zero by "Weird Al" Yankovic

Anybody have anything to add?

If you're on my friends list, I want to know 36 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine... you're on my list, so I want to know you better!

Comment here and repost a blank one on your own journal.  (If, of course, you're in the mood.  I like memes but I dislike the demanding tone some of them take.  All meme participation is totally voluntary here at Casa Bethzebra.)

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
05) Favorite vegetable?
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
09) Worst Habit?
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
11) What is your favorite sport?
12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
22) What color eyes do you have?
23) Ever been arrested?
24) Bottle or can soda?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
27) What's your favorite place to hang out at?
28) Do you believe in ghosts?
29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
30) Do you swear a lot?
31) Biggest pet peeve?
32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
34) Favourite and least favourite food?
35) Do you believe in God?
36) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

Thank you so much to everyone who helped!

This showed up in the comment thread this morning:

Amex Members Project Update

Thank you so much for posting this. The NF Drug Discovery Initiative finished #21 out of 1190 entries! While this does not guarantee our advancement to the next round of the top 25, since the Amex Advisory panel will have a voice in the selection, it is a great start. Thanks to your work and that of many others I am hopeful that we make the next round.

Voting will begin for that round on September 9. I will be in touch to again seek your support in posting and distributing this information.
Best regards,
John Risner, President
Children's Tumor Foundation
Ending Neurofibromatosis Through Research
95 Pine St. 16th Floor
NY NY 10005
212 344-6633 x249
www.ctf.org

It's late and I don't know how many of you will log in before midnight but ...

American Express is running a competition for funding for non-profit projects.  One of the competing projects is for funding to study neurofibromatosis type 1, a genetic condition as common as cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy but far, far less well known.  It can result in tumors growing on nerves anywhere in the body, including the optic nerves, the spine, or in the brain.  If you go to the Children's Tumor Foundation, www.ctf.org, and look under What's New over on the right, there's a link to a funding project for NF 1.  If you would, click on that link and go vote for this project (or another project if you see another one you think is more worthy).  I'd take it as a real favor.  Voting ends at midnight.

I was searching for something in the refrigerator, caught sight of a container full of salad I knew was past its prime, and thought, "I need to remember to delete that."

Delete.  Drag to the trash.  Makes perfect sense, assuming I live in the Matrix.

Current Mood: amused

Somebody told me yesterday that I have sounded too sad here of late.  I will admit that recent events have aggravated my natural tendency to doooom and glooooom, but hey, I'm still able to savor my healthy breakfast of peanuts and Slim Jims washed down with Diet Coke!  (The low-carb options in the snack tray at work are a little, um, sparse.)

Next week I'm going on a trip with SS to a beach in Florida, and I'm really looking forward to that.  We'll be hanging out with some friends I don't see that often, although I work with one of them (he works from home), and it'll be great to spend some one on one time with SS recapturiing our pre-MM buddy movie dynamic.  I don't say it enough here, but I am just delighted with my elder child and how well he's doing.  TDG gets to stay home and mind MM for the weekend, but I hope to return the favor later in the year as he wants to go to a convention. 

Before that, some friends from out of town are visiting.   I won't get to see them as much as I'd like because of the beach trip, but still, even a few evenings with people I love whom I don't get to see very often are something to look forward to.  We're also going out tonight to a semi-regular Friday Night Dinner and we're going to go to see my in-laws this weekend.  So much socializing!

And friends brought me birthday cake and presents last night!  It was so nice.

Oh, I should probably throw a MM leg update in here.  She's out of the split and back to crawling, although not yet willing to stand on it.  She has been kind of grouchy the last day or so but I think that's more teeth than leg, as a new tooth nubbin is definitely peeking out of her gums.  Thank you all for your messages of sympathy for her. 

So there's some of my happy things going on just to balance the crisis reports.  I hope everyone reading this has their own silver linings today!

Current Mood: chipper

jayfurr sent me a nudge (as well as a birthday present, thank you!)  so I'll go ahead and describe our latest medical drama.  For those who cannot handle suspense, we were not eaten by the sharks at this time.

Current Mood: relieved

After the kind of couple of days that make you look at the glass that is your life and deliberately force yourself to focus on the half that's full, I heard these words on NPR while going to pick SS up from after-school care.

We've got to hold on to what we've got,
It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not,
We've got each other, and that's a lot
For love - we'll give it a shot

OK, maybe I'm taking a totally different set of meanings from these words when I first heard Bon Jovi on the radio in the eighties, but that's good art for you, it grows along with you.

Current Mood: melancholy

From avidbeader

The Big Read thinks the average adult has only read six of the top 100 books they've printed below.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them.

treddytrafalgar

A little over a week ago, two things happened.  I had occasion to call UNC Hospital's Patient Advocacy line because I was having trouble getting an appointment at a specific UNC clinic, and I left a pair of prescription glasses at the Cracker Barrel in Clemmons, NC.

The Patient Advocacy thing has been a total waste.  I'm considerably more annoyed at them now than I was at the original UNC department I was having trouble with, who were at least very apologetic about the fact that they had to cancel a long-standing appointment and schedule it another month out.  They, in fact, were the ones who suggested I call Patient Advocacy.  PA, on the other hand, has NEVER called me back (although every time I call them, they promise to do so) and has acted like I'm kind of a nut that it bothers me.  After a week of repeatedly calling them, they've been no help at all and won't even describe how their process works so that I can understand if they're likely to BE of any help or if they're just yanking my chain.  It's really annoying.

The Cracker Barrel in Clemmons, on the other hand, searched for my glasses when I called them, offered to mail them back to me free of charge, and when the address I gave them got garbled in transmission, called me twice on my cell phone to ask me for the correct address.  They've assured me that mailing my my glasses is a high priority, apologized that it's taken them this long (even though I'm the one who didn't call back to correct the address until today) and said they should be out to me by the end of the day.

Sadly, in terms of customer service, Cracker Barrel is kicking UNC Hospital's ass.  I only wish CB could get me an earlier appointment but that's probably outside their mission parameters.

Current Mood: confused

... trying to slog out of the Slough of Despond and not succeeding particularly well.  Somebody tell me something cheerful, willya?

Current Mood: despondent

I have cooked no dinners.  I have cleaned no houses.  We are, however, still around.

For the last month, we've either been traveling on the weekends or have spent them with one or both of the adults sick unto incapacitation, so very little progress has been made on any front.  We have managed to do just enough of everything essential to keep the lights on (and probably more importantly, the air conditioning) and everyone fed, but I've barely shopped or cooked, let alone anything international.  I'm spending way too much of my time and energy fretting about something I can't affect in any way, which is just hugely counterproductive but is something I tend to do, so that's also working against me in the achievement department.  Someday soon I'll get back to doing more than staying one bare half-step ahead of the chaos and have something interesting to report, but now is not that day.

But hi to everyone anyway!

Current Mood: tired

jayfurr has nudged me, so I suppose I should update.  :-)

It has been a hectic few weeks in our household; I had two do-or-die projects due on Monday mornings, TDG contracted Coxsackie virus, and MM had a few days of fever so between the two of us we were stretched to our limit taking care of the kids and occasionally ourselves.  However, projects are launched, TDG is mostly recovered (some of the spots on his hands are still healing) and we are all ready for the next crisis.  Small children plus two full-time jobs means that life is primarily composed of crises surrounded by occasional lulls, but we do try to enjoy the lulls when they occur!

We spent last weekend in Lenoir with TDG's family.  We mostly spent time with his father and sister this trip; I have to say it's fun to hang around with them right now, because they are the only people in the world as willing to talk about my children as I am.  :-)  (And yes, that includes my mother; although grandmas are stereotypically grandchild-obsessed, my mom does not conform to the stereotype.)  SS at five is now a more stereotypical small boy than he used to be, and demonstrated an uncanny ability to cover himself in dirt nearly instantaneously.  It was a fun weekend, and I'm not just saying that because I wasn't glued to a laptop the whole time.

We got home to find that our ReplayTV was dead again, but TDG has valiantly managed to resurrect it for yet another run.  We've lost all of our shows, but due to the writer's strike we didn't have as much on it as we ordinarily might.  Our house is fairly squalid but I'm pretending not to notice.

Let's see, since the last update my international dinners included Thursday Night Pea Soup and Pancakes from Sweden and an asparagus soup from Georgia.  Other than that, what with the sickness and the work and everything, we did a lot of easy suppers like scrambled eggs, roast chicken from the store, and Hamburger Helper, intermixed with other easy things.  I did make chicken and artichokes in there somewhere, and the shrimp and grits, but I've mostly been punting.  Tonight I intend to make fish chowder but let's see how it goes.
   

Current Mood: cheerful

MM slept for seven hours straight last night without waking up.  This sounds good for maternal sleep, right?   Unfortunately, the seven hours were from 9 to 4.  I went to bed after 11.  Even more unfortunately, it turns out that when babies who are not accustomed to it sleep for seven hours without waking up, when they *do* wake up, they feel - refreshed.  Revitalized.  Even peppy.  The fact that it's 4:30 in the morning is no impediment to happy baby playtime.

I finally got her back to sleep at about 6:30.  Alas, SS woke up at 7:15.  I wish my non-sleeping children would co-ordinate their schedules.  TDG has a cold but I hope he has a little energy today, because something tells me I'm going to need a nap.  However, I'm taking revenge on an uncaring universe by making myself curried tofu scramble for breakfast.  It feels so self-indulgent to cook something only I like to eat.

Oh, yeah, dinners.  Last night was pancakes and bacon.  Earlier in the week we had stuffed round steak, which comes from my Nova Scotia cookbook so I'm callin' it Canadian.  We re-did Egyptian, but it turns out that when SS was asking over and over for more lentil soup, he actually meant the chayote soup.  That's all right, because he ate the lentil soup reasonably happily and we can have chayote soup this week. 

The second international recipe for the week was Algerian, Chicken Tagine With Apricots and couscous.  It was pretty good, but then both TDG and SS like sweet chicken.

I have a feeling this week is going to be kind of weak for international recipes; SS has requested our Egyptian meal again, and I'm in the mood for shrimp and grits, and that may be as many ambitious meals as I feel like making.  I found a recipe from Nova Scotia I like but in a way that feels like cheating.

Dinner last night was too-long-leftover pizza and a pasta primavera analog that I made up on the fly using leftover ham from someone else's Easter dinner on Sunday. 

Monday's dinner was one of our two internationally inspired dinners this week: Cuba.  I made ropa vieja, yellow rice from a mix, and a chayote/potato/cream soup that probably wasn't strictly Cuban but since chayote is a vegetable used in Cuban cooking I figured it was close enough.  SS, in his bid to keep me guessing food-wise, loved the soup, despite the fact that he dislikes squash, potatoes, and cream.  Five year olds can be inscrutable sometimes. 

MM is now having dinners herself, but so far her experiences have been limited to baby oatmeal, apple, banana, pear, peach, and sweet potato.  She was enthusiastic about all of the above except the sweet potato, which she disliked so much that she almost wouldn't eat banana the next time it was offered out of fear it MIGHT be sweet potato.  It's weird, because given her enthusiasm for trying to consume paper napkins, her palate can't be all *that* discriminating.  What kind of child won't drink formula or eat sweet potato but will try to eat napkins?  Oh, yeah, the kind I have.

Last week our only attempt at an international dinner was the corned beef and cabbage we had for St. Patrick's Day.  I realize that that's more of a USA dinner but at least we had dinner on a theme.  We also had meatloaf, corned beef hash with the leftovers above, and some baked chicken legs I think.  And the first round of the pizza, and some fish sticks in there somewhere.

I really wish I had a movie of SS's recent dancing fits because they're hysterical - the kind of dance moves a five-year-old boy heavily influenced by Avatar: The Last Airbender can make up on his own are very interesting.  (Awesome show, by the way.)

The last few weeks creative home dinners have been spotty because of several bouts of vomiting illness, first TDG's and then SS's.  Nevertheless, we visited Poland (bigos and frozen meat pirogies, the bigos was unpopular but everyone loved the pirogies) pastei from Suriname which TDG and I liked but SS rejected, and some recipes from Myanmar/Burma, Burmese fried shrimp, butter rice and beans, and mixed vegetable salad.  Somewhere in there we did some planked salmon on the grill, a couple of modes of chicken breast, and a few rounds of our desperation options like grilled cheese and scrambled eggs.  The other country for this week is Afghanistan, plus I've got to figure out something to do with the boatload of pork tenderloins I bought when they were two-for-one.

Pick 20 of your favorite movies and post a quote from each. As people guess the movies in the comments without googling, etc, cross off each correctly identified quote and give the lj name of the correct commenter.