O.K Mary Ann,I have a confession. I am blogstalking your blog.There, I said it.I can't help it,I really can't.Your blog is so clever and witty and "partying like it's 1929"just put me over the edge. I had to say something. YOU ARE A HOOT!Before you go for your gun, we are related. Doesn't that make it a little better? I'm Phil and Nelda's grandaughter,Heather(via Hallie).When I'm getting an update on Rick and Sarah's blog, the temptaion for a good laugh(laugh "with" not "at")is just to great. As I said before, YOU ARE A HOOT!
Oh noooooo. That's dreadful. At least we're having a warm fall so far--right?
We replaced our furnace and water heater last year, but our car waited until this year to have to be in the shop 4 times within two months. I like it much better with my home disasters spread out nicely like that.
Heather, we certainly know you and we never mind blogstalkers. In fact, we occasionally look at our stat counter and find that nearly everyone who reads this is stalking it! You'll notice though, that the professor is the really funny one. That is because is mother is powerless to do anything about it when he says inappropriate things.
Julie: our problem is that we're running out of money long before we're running out of big ticket items. Last night though, we had pizza made on the stone you gave us for our wedding and were consoled.
Everyone: the update is as follows: the truck got a new battery and now starts like a dream. I took the camera back to the shop where it may also need a new battery, but is having it's USB port replaced because it was completely *cracked* (can you say "impactive event"?). Rob was able to coax the dishwasher back to life temporarily and I contacted Bosch for service because there had been a recall on it; I'm hoping for some synergy in our entropy. And the van is getting a rebuilt transmission which will hopefully last us until we outgrow this vehicularly unsexy stage of life. As for the heater? I dunno. Put on a sweater. It's going to be a long time before we can fix that.
I finally got up the nerve to try my own Mohr im Hemd. This was the dish that we always ordered if we found it on the menu. It translates as "The Moor and His Shirt" which is so politically incorrect that it isn't easy to find, even though it is a traditional Viennese dish. It is a steamed pudding, like the Christmas dessert I grew up on and it is very moist and very chocolate, though not as sweet as an American dessert. It was successful enough that Rob had me make it twice more in the same weekend. Happily, after learning how to make it, I feel less guilty about eating the stuff. How often does that happen? Here is the recipe I used, as opposed to the top secret family recipe that I don't even have, or the recipe from my Austrian cookbook that asks for 'gratified butter': MA's Mohr im Hemd 3 bread rolls, crusts removed and cubed 1 c milk 3/4 c unsalted butter 1/4 c sugar 8 oz best and darkest chocolate you can find 8 eggs 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c walnuts, ...
Have we mentioned that Rob is now the Cubmaster? It was something of a shock, but it has been great for getting the boys excited about scouting (and let's face facts: Rob and I are lukewarm at best on a paramilitary, homophobic, psuedo-Hitler Youth organization, so our boys were destined to embrace it wholeheartedly from the start). One of the first arguments that Rob ever won with his parents was over scouting. They had moved into a neighborhood with no other kids his age, and so his eagle project would have been almost entirely solo (with some help from his younger brother). He proposed that instead of getting his eagle, he work towards becoming a Sterling Scholar in foreign languages at OHS. His parents finally agreed, and he did make Sterling Scholar at OHS, and went on to become the statewide foreign language Sterling Scholar. So my husband is one merit badge and an eagle project shy of his eagle, which just so happens (Freudianly?) to be exactly the same as my brother, Mr. T...
A Halloween Guest Blog from the Professor Because we are evil to the core, your humble Professor and Mary Ann stay up nights thinking of all the different ways we can ruin our kids socially. We eat vegetarian fare from the Moosewood Cookbook, we listen to Brahms and Faure and Stawberry Switchblade (only MA on that last one), and we do not do TV. Our final fiendish plot (inspired by Michael Chabon and Dr.Who) is to put our kids in our own nosatalgia warp. Instead of exposing them to Avatar (loathesome) and Justin Bieber (what the @#$% ?), we hook them up with Bill and Ted (Prof), The Scarlet Pimpernel (MA) and, as can be seen in these Halloween shots, we have introduced them to Star Trek. Awkward Family Photos, here we come! It all started with Sebi. He is half Vulcan, it seems, and on any given day he already looks uncannily like the young Spock in the most recent Star Trek movie. All he needed for the full transition: some ears, of course, and the appropriate haircut by our favorit...
Comments
I'm happy to report that this year has been better. Hang in there. Eventually, you will run out of big-ticket items to break.
I was going to complain about being sick, but I think you win.
We replaced our furnace and water heater last year, but our car waited until this year to have to be in the shop 4 times within two months. I like it much better with my home disasters spread out nicely like that.
Julie: our problem is that we're running out of money long before we're running out of big ticket items. Last night though, we had pizza made on the stone you gave us for our wedding and were consoled.
Everyone: the update is as follows: the truck got a new battery and now starts like a dream. I took the camera back to the shop where it may also need a new battery, but is having it's USB port replaced because it was completely *cracked* (can you say "impactive event"?). Rob was able to coax the dishwasher back to life temporarily and I contacted Bosch for service because there had been a recall on it; I'm hoping for some synergy in our entropy. And the van is getting a rebuilt transmission which will hopefully last us until we outgrow this vehicularly unsexy stage of life. As for the heater? I dunno. Put on a sweater. It's going to be a long time before we can fix that.
Some warm ideas: Drink hot chocolate and herb teas and take a hot water bottle to bed with you.
My refrigerator keeps making funny noises, so I am expecting its death in the next little while. :(