Spring?

So I'm driving to work today and get snowed on. Isn't it March 27th? Someone forgot to tell Mother Nature! And the news is calling for snow on the valley floor tomorrow. WTF?

I have some cool spring pictures I took about a week ago that I keep meaning to put up here. I just need to have the computer, the camera, and me all in the same place at the same time.

It's been a really bad week. I won't go into it right now, but just know I'm not ignoring my blog for the fun of it. More later....

Thanks A Lot, Deb!

So my cousin Deb sends me this math problem:

This is not a trick question - just a straightforward math problem. This is a real math problem so don't say that a bus has no legs (and there is no driver).

There are 7 girls in a bus

Each girl has 7 backpacks

In each backpack, there are 7 big cats

For every big cat there are 7 little cats

Question: How many legs are there in the bus?

That's a damn lot of cats, that's all I have to say.

So, who can get the right answer...without Googling it? C'mon! Stretch that brain you haven't used for a math problem in 20 years! You can do it! I'll admit that I'm really out of practice 'cause it took me an embarrassing number of tries to get it right. I always did suck at math.

Okay, Serious Easter Now

This is pretty cool.

Easter Story Cookies
to be made the evening before Easter

300 degrees

1 cup whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch of salt
1 cup sugar

wax paper
zipper baggies
wooden spoon
tape
Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. (This is important--- don't wait until you're half done with the recipe.) Place pecans in zipper baggie and let participants beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3

Let each person smell the vinegar. Put vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19: 28-30. Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each person's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:37.

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add the sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loved us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16. Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.

Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1 - 3. Fold in the broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rock tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each person a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65 and 66.

GO TO BED. Explain to that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16: 20 and 22. On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9.

Easter

I can't wait for Easter. I appreciate what Easter stands for and all, don't get me wrong, but I irreverently can't wait for Easter because I CAN DRINK POP AGAIN! It has been...

It is 42 days from the start date to the end date, end date included

Or 1 month, 13 days including the end date

Alternative time units
42 days can be converted to one of these units:
3,628,800 seconds
60,480 minutes
1008 hours
6 weeks

I really, really miss it. I have almost broken down about a billion times wanting that diet Coke. Greg says I should just drink the stupid thing because I am too crabby without it.

Ha ha.

Okay, so to get you all ready for Easter, here are some funnies that I was sent by my good friend Willow (yes, letterboxing friend) who has the best jokes ever!

The Iditarod Has Run

It's all over now. 2008 Iditarod had ben run. My gal Aily came in in 21st place. She did the race in 10 Days 7 Hours 10 Minutes 21 Seconds. Lance Mackey was the winner and his time was 9 Days 11 Hours 46 Minutes 48 Seconds. These people are amazing. Congratulations on finishing, Aily!

Happy Pi Day!

Today at 1:59, something special happened. Anyone know what it was? Anyone? Anyone? It became Pi Day! Get it? March 14th at 1:59 p.m.? 3/14/08 @ 1:59 p.m.? Still don't get it? Do I have to draw you a picture? How about this way: 3.14 @ 1:59 p.m. Okay, write it all together, like this: 3.14159.

Oohhh! The light bulb goes on! Now, do any of you remember what Pi actually is? Yeah, I had to look it up, too.

Okay, here's a really bad Pi joke.
Q: Wadaya get when you take the circumference of your jack-o-lantern and divide it by its diameter?
A: Pumpkin Pi
Groan.

Now, how many of you have used Pi for ANYTHING since you left school? I have, but that was in a couple of letterboxing clues, so I don't think that really counts.

So here's the next major holiday to look forward to…Square Root Day! Mark it on your calendar folks…3/3/09! There won't be another one until 4/4/16, so get the celebrating in while you can!

Square root day is a humorous holiday promoted by Ron Gordon, a U.S. high school teacher in Redwood City, California. It is celebrated on dates where the day and the month are both the square root of the last two digits in the current year. For example, the last Square Root Day was February 2, 2004 (2/2/04), and future Square Root Days will be March 3, 2009 (3/3/09) and April 4, 2016 (4/4/16). One suggested way of celebrating the holiday is by eating square radishes, or other root vegetables cut into shapes with square cross sections.

Sondheim

My friend Leah & I went to see Steven Sondheim & Frank Rich last night. It was part of the Portland Arts & Lectures series. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was really interesting. Frank Rich basically interviewed Steven Sondheim about his career as a lyricist and songwriter. Steven told stories and anecdotes about his musicals, song writing, Katherine Hepburn, his relationship with Oscar Hammerstein, other writers, directors, how musical theater has changed over the years and a variety of famous people. It was like when I was a kid and got to sit in the living room and listen to the adults talk…very casual atmosphere despite a very full theater of people avidly absorbing every word. Frank mostly guided Steven along with some questions and let him ramble on with his answers. I don’t know much about Frank Rich aside from the fact that he is a writer and theater critic for the New York Times, and apparently a friend of Steven’s, but he did a nice job moderating the interview.

They took a few questions from the audience. The one I really wanted to hear an answer to was what writers of current musical theater he admires. He said he preferred not to answer the question on the grounds that to mention one author and not to mention another might imply that he didn’t like the one he didn’t mention. A very PC answer, but I still wish he would have said. I’d like to know his thoughts on the new musicals, not only on the music and lyrics, but on the subject matters that are being chosen to make musicals out of and the way they are put together.

At the very end one of the fan questions was about his birthday coming up and could we sing to him. So we did. The whole theater audience sang Happy Birthday to him. Now I can say I personally sang Happy Birthday to Steven Sondheim.

Here’s a short review.

Personal Scattergories

My friend Rita emailed me this. I thought I'd post mine here.

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...
They have to be real places, names, things...nothing made up!

Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial.

What is your name ...........Kris

4 Letter Word ...............Know

Vehicle .....................Kia

City ........................Kirkland

Drink........................Kool-Aid

Occupation ..................King

Something you wear ..........Kerchief

Celebrity ...................Keira Knightly

Food.........................Krispy Kreme

Something found in a bathroom..........Kleenex

Reason for Being Late........Knife in the tire

Cartoon Character............Kal-el

Something You Shout..........Knock, Knock!

Animal.......................Kangaroo

Body part....................Knee

Word to describe you..........Kupcake (my husband's long-time nickname for me) or I suppose we could use Kinky, 'cause I can't think of another one!

Color..........................Kiwi

Here's Greg's (dictated by him)

What is your name ...........Greg

4 Letter Word ...............Goat

Vehicle .....................GTO

City ........................Gresham

Drink........................Ginger Ale

Occupation ..................Greenkeeper

Something you wear ..........Galoshes

Celebrity ...................Gallager

Food.........................Green Beans

Something found in a bathroom..........Grundy undies

Reason for Being Late........Gastroenteritis

Cartoon Character............Gazoo

Something You Shout..........Goal!

Animal.......................Giraffe

Body part....................Groin

Word to describe you.........Grumpy

Color........................Green

And just for fun, we did Zinger

What is your name ...........Zinger

4 Letter Word ...............Zulu

Vehicle .....................Zephyr

City ........................Zurich

Drink........................Zombie

Occupation ..................Zookeepr

Something you wear ..........Zapatos

Celebrity ...................Zack Braff

Food.........................Zagnut

Something found in a bathroom..........Zinc

Reason for Being Late........Zipper accident

Cartoon Character............Ziggy

Something You Shout..........Zero!

Animal.......................Zebra

Body part....................Zagomatic arch

Word to describe you.........Zany!

Color........................Zucchini

So, let's hear from all of you. What is your personal Scattergory? C'mon people. I'm giving you blog topics right and left and no one is taking me up on them!

Percy

So we named the new fishy. He is Percy, aka Sir Percival Blakeny, Baronet, aka the Scarlet Pimpernel. That way he can be all girly, but quite manly at the same time.

Update

So Aily is in 26th place at the moment. She is out of Nutalo and on the way to Kaltag. I bet that really gives you an idea where exactly in Alaska they are, doesn't it? Well, try this. Looks like she's just over 300 miles from Nome and the end of the race.

The Full Monty

I just got home from seeing "The Full Monty" with my theater buddy, Julie. Wow. What a terrific musical! As soon as I'm done with my post here, I'm off to buy the music off of Amazon.

It was funny, it was raw, it was poignant...it was great. And yes, they did take it all off. All of it. We didn't get to see anything though. :-) I'm rather relieved. The one time that I did see an actor go the full monty (in M. Butterfly) it was really weird.

Anyway, I found the last scene from the Tony Awards and enclose it here for you.



If anyone wants to go, I'd love to see it again!

Go Aliy!

Okay, I picked my musher. I'm supporting Aliy Zirkle. I have a really scientific way of choosing which musher I decide to watch over the course of the race. Ready? This is a big secret I'm sharing with you! Okay, I pull up the list of mushers, close my eyes, and point to one. Wherever my finger lands, I choose that musher.

Sometimes I'll pick one I've heard of. I liked this gal's website. She has pod casts too.

So, go Aliy!!

2008 Iditarod - Day 4

Dang it! I missed the start of the Iditarod. It started on Saturday.

So here we are on Day 4 of the race. This year they are running from Anchorage to Nome. I haven't decided who I'm rooting for yet. I'll let you know when I decide. I'm sure you are all holding your breath.

Hybrids?

I can't remember where I ran across this information, but as soon as I saw it I knew I had a blog topic. Oh, wait. I saw it on Drudge

Anyway, you all know what dog breed I know and love. Whippets are for me! But did you know there is a Hybrid dog breed club? A hybrid dog breed is the cross of two pure-bred breeds. You've probably seen some of them, like the Goldendoodle (cross between a Golden Retriever and a Poodle) or the Yorkie-poo (Yorkshire Terrier and a Poodle) or Cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel and Poodle). Some of their names are really funny.

Strangely enough this page does not list Lurchers, which are a combination of a sighthound with another breed. Generally, the aim of the cross is to produce a sighthound with more intelligence, a canny animal suitable for the original purpose of the lurcher, poaching. Developed in the Middle Ages in Great Britain and Ireland, the lurcher was created because only nobility were allowed to have purebred sighthounds like Irish Wolfhounds, Scottish Deerhounds, Greyhounds, Borzoi and Whippets, whereas crosses, or curs, had no such perceived value. Similarly, nobility owned most land and commoners were not allowed to hunt game on crown land or other noble estates.

There you are, your dog breed lesson for the day. Don't you feel like you've learned something important?

On the serious side, Designer Dogs are becoming very popular. I see them all the time at the dog park. Remember my soap box topic of a few posts ago. Don't buy a dog from a pet store. Don't buy a dog from a backyard breeder or anyone that chooses to breed their dog so their children can experience the miracle of birth, and don't buy a pure-bred dog from anyone but a reputable breeder. Do your homework and visit your local shelter. There are many good dogs, purebred, mutt or hybrid there that need a good home.

Off soap box.

Sign

This sign has been in the lobby of City Hall for the past week or so. I thought I'd take a picture to share with you all.



For some reason, everyone is all excited that the population is about to reach 100,000. I think the sign is kind of cool, although the Jazz Festival is nothing like it used to be, but whatever.

New Fishy

My long time Betta, Lunch, died a couple of weeks ago. He'd been very ill for a couple of weeks and finally croaked. I wrapped him gently in a towel and with little ceremony, deposited him in the trash can. He was a great fish...beautiful, full of personality, and a real favorite of everyone in the office.

Apparently 3 weeks is an appropriate time to mourn for a lost Betta because I went and bought a new one at lunch. He's not named yet.

He's pretty, isn't he?





These aren't the greatest pictures, but he is a light pink with purple edging. So, what do you all think we should call him?

Tagged

Okay, I wasn't really tagged. I saw this on a complete stranger's blog and thought it was a clever idea, so I snagged the picture and am sending it off to my friends. So here we go....



So. Seven random & weird facts about me.

1. I'm a slob. I'm sure this isn't a surprise to anyone who knows me, but I am completely incapable of staying tidy for more than about 5 minutes. I didn't use to be this way. I used to be all nice and tidy and organized. I'd show you a picture of various rooms in my house just to prove my point, but it would be too embarassing. So just take my word for it. I'm a slob.

2. I love musicals. Okay, this isn't probably much of a surprise to anyone either. I watched Singing in the Rain today for the ten billionth time today. I think I probably have more CDs of musicals than all my other CDs put together. I am unable to play any instruments myself and don't have a great singing voice, but I sure do admire those who do.

3. When I was a kid I really wanted to be a veterinarian. That was all I wanted to be for years and years. Since I love animals it seemed like a perfect fit. Then when I was a teenager I spent a day with a cousin who is a vet. I watched a couple of surgeries and spent a lot of time in his office breathing deeply and trying not to barf. That managed to dampen my dreams of becoming a vet.

4. When I was little I had very blonde hair. My mom used to put it up in two long ponytails. I remember her combing it out and how much it hurt. I'm sure I was a terrible brat about it. Do you remember the smell of "No More Tears?" Any little girl who had long hair will remember that stuff.

5. My biggest regret in life so far is that I didn't go to college. That was so stupid of me. I had this idea that I shouldn't spend the money on school if I didn't really know what I wanted to do. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Now I'm 38 and have a job and a mortgage and I'll never make it back to school.

6. I didn't get my driver license until I was 18. I flunked my test twice before I finally got it right with a 96. The sad thing was I was a good driver. Much better than my friends!

7. I was named for both my grandmothers. I'm not sure when my parents got Kristine, but Elizabeth is my maternal grandmother's first name and my paternal grandmother's middle name. If I had been a boy my name would have been Kenneth David. Yeesh. I would have been doomed to nerdhood. Sorry, Mom, I'm sure you thought it was a great name...thank goodness you didn't use it on me!

There ya go. 7 more or less interesting and somewhat weird things about me. Are you thrilled? I thought you'd be!

So, I am tagging the following people:
Deb
Michele
Ritha
Diane
Charlene
Leah (even though she refuses to have her own blog)
Christine

Can't wait to see your facts, ladies!