Word of the Day

Mortar (n.), what tobacco companies add to cigarettes.

I've started to put away Christmas. Yesterday I managed to put away everything (almost) but the snowglobes. It's kind of like and Easter egg hunt. HTP quipped that I'd still be finding stuff that I'd forgotten at Easter. I'm trying to avoid this prospect. Already I've found a few more things that I'll have to add to boxes that I thought I was finished with. You'd think with a small house like this, I wouldn't have so much trouble. I guess Christmas just doesn't want to leave.

I was outside this morning because I had to add a bit more water to the fountain so I could turn it on. We still haven't had a chance to buy any goldfish for our fountain. And needless to say, HTP still hasn't rigged up an autofill for it. Anyway, while I was outside, I checked on my tomato plants that are growing in my container gardens. I have ripe tomatoes. Woohoo! Salad tonight. Rabbit food and leftover turkey from Christmas. It's OK still because I froze the leftovers while we were in Vegas. I can't think of one person who might be fond of Sam and Ella.

It sounds like we may be having turkey (freshly cooked) tomorrow night at our neighbors house. They invited us to a supper party. I think I'll bring them a small bottle of my wild raspberry liqeuer but first I'll have to go out and buy a bottle. Right now I have it stored in a quart canning jar and I don't think that looks giftable. HTP and I will have to clean and clear so we can have the next dinner party. I want to have an Italian meal and HTP and I want to try our hand at making homemade Italian sausage. Anyway, this will have to wait until after #1 son has gone back to the frozen northlands of Minnesota.

Making a Marine Update

We haven't heard anything new. I did get a call from BTP (our daughter's boy-type-person...boyfriend) last night. He's fine and looking after the kiddies (three cats that my daughter has adopted over the years). He also told me that he was going to try and stop by to see the my daughter's horse today.

I downloaded a Training Matrix for Parris Island off the net. If this schedule (matrix) is followed, Mink (our daughter) will be running, crunching and hanging today. She'll do a timed run (the goal by the time she graduates would be 21-31 minutes for a three mile run...but I think they'll start them out for a 1 1/2 mile run in less then 15 minutes). They'll count how many crunches she can do (eventually she'll have to do 50-100 but I don't know what they expect for this first go-round) and they'll time how long she can do a flexed-arm hang (15-70 seconds). After these tests, they'll decide to which plattoon she'll be assigned. When the recruiter tested her on these things before she left and wasn't subjected to sleep deprivation and endless inactivity, her scores were:

Flexed Armhang: 50 seconds
Crunches: 75 in two minutes
1.5 mile run: 12.5 minutes

Murphyism of the Day

Weinberg's Law

Progress is made on alternate Fridays.