It looks tasty

Special says it "tastes like yak." I think it's delicious, even though to me it looks like boiled ground beef. Batman thinks it's wonderful, even though he says it looks like fake vomit. What is it?

Homemade tapioca pudding with chocolate chips melted in, or as it's now called in our house, "yak pudding."

We also have two solariums

After living in our house for a year and a half, we thought it was high time we put some furniture into the living room. After a lot of shopping and not finding what we liked, we decided to turn it into a music room--a place where Number One can practice her violin and where all of us can practice the piano. Much thanks to Target and Craigslist, the proud sponsors of this room.

Here's a shot of the room in use (she really is practicing, not just posing):















We also bought a new (to us) entertainment center, since ours was a good ten or twelve years old and quite wobbly. It holds all our stuff and then some:















It's two pieces; the shelf portion sits on top of the base, and it's the single heaviest thing I've ever helped lift. Batman and I gave the girls an impromptu physics lesson when we levered the shelves up using the big ottoman, and I bit my tongue to avoid giving them a vocabulary lesson as well!

The only thing I'm sad about is that we no longer need any furniture--we're officially fully furnished. So, if you need to go furniture shopping, invite me along and I'll live vicariously through you . . .

SEVEN!!!!

My sis-in-law Kim tagged me for this meme: 7 random things about myself. Here goes:

1. I am a huge Seinfeld fan. I know—you’re shocked.

2. I hate washing dishes by hand, and would rather load and unload the dishwasher twice in one day if it means I don’t have to hand-wash a single dish. Yes, I know that takes more time. I don’t care.

3. I recently started going to the gym on my lunch hour, and I always use the same elliptical machine so I can watch “Ellen” while I work out.

4. I love making to-do lists, and will write things down that I’ve already done just so I can cross them off. I also make grocery lists, Target lists, lists of things to pack on vacation, and when we lived in Florida I kept a list of things to take to the pool and the beach so I wouldn’t forget anything important, like towels.

5. I currently own 36 pairs of shoes. Still, I could really use a pair of black sandals. And a pair of brown sandals. Maybe some red flats.

6. The girls get impatient with me when I want to look at shoes.

7. I am thoroughly addicted to Special K "chocolatey drizzle" breakfast bars in . I eat at least two per day and would eat more, but that would just mean more time on the elliptical and “Ellen” only lasts an hour.

That was fun! Okay, I tag Karla, Daddy, Greg, DL and Erin. Go! And check back with me this weekend--we finally put real furniture in our living room and I have pictures.

For my Schmoopie

I'm not the most demonstrative person when it comes to Public Displays of Affection, but after reading this list I can't help declaring my love for Batman in what is possibly the most romantic line ever:

I love you like a fat kid loves cake.

And that's the truth.
Love,
me

(Close runner-up for most romantic line: "You wore me down.")

Serious Stuff

One of the bloggers I sometimes read is requesting prayers for her friends--Brian, Katie, and their little girl Emily. Emily, who is only sixteen months old, has just been diagnosed with a very aggressive, very rare tumor.

The blog is here, with updates here and there. Go read about Emily, and pray for her and for her family. They must be so frightened, but they believe in the power of prayer. Go pray that God will heal little Emily, and that He will use the internet's silly, silly blogs to show the world His might and goodness.