yogurt making!

i made yogurt today for the first time. :) it was time consuming, but it looks like it turned out ok (i still need to refrigerate it, so i haven't tasted it).

basically, i needed to scald milk, cool it down, add in existing yogurt with live cultures, incubate it at a certain temperature for 4 or so hours. :)

two weeks, two babies

congratulations to felix and kristen on their new baby boy anders john! :)

congratulations to andrew and allison on their new baby boy nathan andrew. :)

my friends think i live in po-dunk town

i invited some of my close friends to come visit me here in champaign-urbana. they often joke that they'll see me in chicago. they know that i don't live up there, but i think deep down, they rather be up there. 2 of the friends have been here for the urbana conference, and they did not enjoy it one bit. i don't blame them b/c really, champaign-urbana, isn't showing their best side in the middle of winter with snow and wind chill to a few people from down south. :P it isn't really hospitable.

anyways, the joke has continued that we live in a po-dunk town where everyone farms*. while i know they are saying these things in jest, it's come to bother me. perhaps it's my snarky mood. i feel like i have to defend champaign-urbana. it isn't like this horrible backwards town with nothing to do but sit out in the cornfield all day.

i think, secretly, my friends are scared to visit**. they all come from and live in large cities, so i don't think they know what to expect from a smaller city. well, if they ever come, i hope they can see the charm of champaign-urbana. and i really hope they don't come and then complain about where i live. it will make me snarkier.

* of course, to add to their teasing, i've told them i grew a garden this year.
** a subset of my close friends have known each other since high school. they had no problem flying out to visit each other when some of them moved away. granted, they moved to cities like san fran and l.a. for visiting me here in champaign, it's been mostly talk. we'll see if they really do come. granted, one of them did come visit me a few years ago. it was sweet. i think she enjoyed it. :P

why blog?

the question has come a few times on why i blog. the main reason i blog is to keep my good friends updated on my life. i have 7 friends in particular that i have in mind. unfortunately, they aren't really into the whole web 2.0, well, maybe 2 of them. sometimes, i want to be snarky* when they ask the question, "what's been going on lately?". my snarky response would be, "you can read it on my blogs; you have been reading them, haven't you?".

i will give bonus points if you comment on this post and you are one of the 7. :)

* i'm in a snarky mood. beware. nat is aware. we're trying to work through it.

twisting words

i can be very good at twisting nat's words sometimes. i think he feels torn on whether i'm being witty or just intolerable. i think most of the time, he's leaning towards the intolerable side. here is a snippet of a conversation we had last night. :)

nat's almost asleep and we're both in bed.
nat: i love you this much.
nat does a gesture in which i don't see because my back is toward him.
me: you love me how much? from your head to the wall? that's a foot, that isn't very much.
nat: from my head to the ceiling is about 6-7 feet.
me: so you only love me 6-7 feet? i bet you love soccer 8 feet.
nat: i love soccer 10 mm.
me: so you do only love me 6-7 feet. well i love as much as the universe is big. and since it's always growing, that's a lot.
nat: that's sweet. i'm going to let your love wrap me up as i go to sleep.
me: and i'll wrap your love around me as i sleep. pause. all 6-7 feet of it.
nat laughs and then groans.
nat: you know you're very good with words. twisting the things i said into things i don't say.

really, i don't know why nat gets so exasperated. :P

my husband loves me

how do i know nat loves me?  he puts away things for me.  :)  i loathe putting things away.  i don't mind cleaning and tidying, just putting them away.  here is a short list of what i mean.

i don't mind washing dishes, putting them in the drying rack, loading the dishwasher, or starting the dishwasher.  putting away the dishes, that's another story.  in the morning, nat is so sweet to put away the dishes that have acquired in the dish rack from the previous day. :)  it's usually quite a large pile of dishes that is precariously stacked.  :P

i don't doing the laundry, folding it, and putting it in the basket.  i really hate putting it back in the drawers.  i don't know why.  i just do.  i can let a basket of folded laundry sit there for weeks.  i think my record is 2 weeks.  usually, it bothers nat so much that he'll put them away.  most of the time he'll put them away b/c he knows i hate it.  

i hate taking out the garbage and recycling from out house to the cans.  drives me nuts for some reason.  nat usually likes to wait until the garbage is completely full before he takes it out.  unfortunately, most of the time when that happens, he's at work or doing some other chore.  i usually take it out, but nat does a good job at doing it sometimes.  he does a great job at taking out the recycling.  :)

orange krush

the netherlands killed italy 3-0 in the 1st round of eurocup 2008. go orange*! :)

* i wasn't too crazy about their baby blue socks. the orange jersey with white shorts was cool, but the blue socks. weird.

things i'll miss about champaign (and urbana): part 4

the airport*

i'll miss the fact that the airport is only 10 minutes away (15 with "traffic") from our house. i'll also miss the fact that we can show up 45 minutes before our flight leaves without having troubles checking in or going through security.**

i'll also miss the personnel that work at the airport. they're always friendly and accommodating. when we land, they are very fast at getting our bags back to us. if our bag is missing, they are happy to file a claim and get you on your way.

* note, i'll miss the airport, but not necessarily having to fly into or out of cmi; i've had too many canceled flights and delays.
** i don't think champaign-urbana is really high on the terrorist list of cities to attack, but i could be wrong.