I won!

I won! I can't believe I won a giveaway in the Carnival! I never win anything.

I carefully chose which giveaways to enter. I wanted to make sure it was something I really wanted. When I saw this shoulder bag, I decided immediately to enter my name in the pot. I've always had a weakness for purses (and shoes). And I won!

Did I mention that already?

And what's totally cool is that they have an Etsy shop, Marie-Madeline Studio. We all remember how much I like Etsy, correct?

Singing the praises of my solar panels

The sun came out in the late afternoon yesterday, so it was a comfortable 66 degrees in my house when I got home after class. The outside temperature dropped to 33 overnight, but I refused to turn my heat on. 59 degrees sure feels chilly getting out of the shower. Today the sky is clear and bright, so the solar should run as long as the clouds hold off. I hope to return home to a toasty abode that will get me through the freezing temperatures that are forecast for tonight.

Like a brick

On Friday morning I ate the last of my cereal, so I decided it would be the perfect time to make banana bread with the browning bananas. I could eat it for breakfast Saturday morning with my tea.

So after work yesterday I changed into comfy clothes and threw on Grammy's apron. Earlier in the day I had pulled up BerryBird's Basic Banana Bread recipe and copied it down on a piece paper I pulled from the recycling bin under my desk. No sense in wasting a new piece by printing it out, right?

I mixed everything up, poured it into a big bread pan, and licked the bowl. I even felt a little bit proud of myself, since I almost never cook or bake. Soon the house began to smell heavenly. About 10 minutes before it was supposed to be done, I peaked in at it (why on earth doesn't my oven have a window in the door?).

The color looked good, so I pulled it out. The knife came out clean, so I turned off the oven and dumped the loaf onto the cooling rack. But clearly something had gone wrong. The loaf had not risen at all. I examined the recipe. I had most definitely followed it properly. What had happened? When it cooled enough to eat, I sampled. It tasted fine but felt like a bowling ball in my stomach.

It made a fine breakfast this morning, reheated with butter in the microwave. As soon as I turned on my laptop I headed back over to BerryBird's site. Ah-hah!

Baking soda. The missing ingredient. Perhaps I should have printed the recipe after all.

Itchy & Scratchy

The last two nights I've dreamed about getting another dog. Both of them were similar in appearance and size to the one I have now, although the one last night was female and still growing so she would've ended up bigger than Mr. Dog. My preference would be for one smaller, but I don't exercise a lot of control over my dreams.

FF and I both agreed that it was not a good idea to have him bring Dust Mop Dog to my house during the day now that he's back at work. Our reasons differed, but the end result was what I desired. Now I can do as I please after work, including taking my dog for a walk around the neighborhood. I anticipate getting more exercise this summer (and having to clean less dog piss from my carpet courtesy of his dog). Given the soaring price of gas though, I doubt Mr. Dog and I will be walking anywhere exotic.

On a somewhat related note, the poison ivy that I acquired after last Saturday's walk in the woods has not abated. Weirdly enough, I have it on the insides of both knees and the inside of my left arm. That doesn't seem logical.

Happy Earth Day

I celebrated Earth Day by not mowing my lawn. OK, sure, there was an element of laziness involved, but more importantly, I didn't pointlessly use up limited resources while spewing exhaust into the air. It's a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but imagine the difference it would make if everyone mowed their lawns less often.

Someone at work hung a poster with a bunch of ideas for doing your part for the environment. One of the ideas was to say no to ATM receipts. Maybe I should've thought of this on my own, but sometimes I need a little push. It worries me just a little. What if I need a receipt to prove a transaction occurred. Granted, I've never had to resort to that in the past, but it seems risky. What do you all think? I rarely use the ATM, but every little bit helps, right?

I also went for a walk, although not in the woods as I would've liked to. But I didn't use any gasoline by walking in my own neighborhood.

Sunday Night Whine

I spent all of this lovely day inside, working on my laptop. My back hurts from hunching over it, and I didn't even get anything completely done. I worked on this, and I worked on that. I didn't work on that other thing though.

Tomorrow morning in class I am supposed to share 12-15 minutes of video of me teaching. Unfortunately when I tried the VCR, it was dead. So I haven't even watched my video. I know, I shouldn't have waited until the last minute, but I really don't like the idea of just putting the thing in and pressing play tomorrow. Crap. I'm not sure I can get out of it though, considering class only meets two more times after tomorrow and my professor is gone for one of them.

I am so ready for this semester to be over. I can't believe it's almost May. This weather is adding to my overall confusion and not helping me stay on task. Is it bad that I am just aiming to achieve the minimum grade-wise? I'm not sure I've ever been what you'd call a high-achiever. Well, except maybe in French. I always wanted to kick ass in French...

In my yard

Tulip & Bloodroot, taken this morning