Has it been this long?

And that about says it all, haha! Been quietly toiling away here on my stories, but now I (once again) have even more time to dive in fully. It feels like I'm coming out of retirement or something. I SO love preschool, lol, and the six free hours a week it gives me.

Check out this website for one of my all-time favorite actors:

Jay R. Ferguson

Okay, so maybe I'm biased because I created the website.

BUT!

If you like great acting and have been missing out on this guy, head on over to the site and take a look. Aside from the many films he's been in, Jay has had leading roles in:

- Surface (the 2005 TV series about giant sea creatures)
- Judging Amy
- Sleeper Cell, season 2
- Glory Days

Right now he's playing Cooper Buffkin in the CW channel's fantastic new series, Easy Money. It airs on Sundays at 9. Go set up the VCR/DVR/TiVo! (If you've missed it so far, you can watch the first episodes in full on Hulu)

Oh, and of course, there's the whole reason I discovered this guy: Back in 1990, he played Ponyboy in Fox's TV series, The Outsiders, which was based on the book by S.E. Hinton.

Jay R. Ferguson as Rich Connelly in Surface:


Jay R. Ferguson as Ponyboy in The Outsiders:

Those Dramatic Ads

You know those ads that really go over the top with the drama to get you to buy something? The ones that make you wonder if there's anybody in real life who's as pathetic in the people in these ads? You know the ads I'm talking about, right? Right?

But if not, just take a look at this SNL video:



NOW you know what I'm talking about!

Hope everyone else got as good a laugh as I did out of that. Happy Wednesday!

Wonders of the World - Apples!

Today's post is in response to Rebecca Ramsey's Wonders of the World blog party.

Since I live in the great state of New York, I thought I'd go with something local - apples!

We've got lots of apples around here. In fact, before I moved to New York, I had no idea that so many different kinds of apples existed. There are 2500 varieties in the United States alone.

Let's check out some cool pictures from New York's Apple Country website to get everybody into an apple-y mood:




Did you know that most apples are still harvested by hand? We've got several orchards around here where we can go pick our own apples, and the grocery stores are already stocking up on the early varieties. While my oldest son is partial to Empire apples, I prefer Honeycrisp. Doesn't just the name make you hungry? Mmmm, honey . . .

Speaking of honey, did you know that if an apple flower is not properly pollinated, it will have a lopsided shape? That's why apple orchards often keep bee hives in or near their orchards.

Here's one of the little guys at work (picture from vutrax):

That's not an apple tree, but you get the idea.

I personally like all of the stuff you can get that's got apples on it. My favorites are the pie plates with lids that make them look like an apple pie:

Mine never look that good. That's okay. Everybody always eats them, no matter what they look like.

I like to make applesauce, too. Here's some from yumsugar.com:

And now that we're all in an apple-eating mood, how about a recipe to end the post? Here's one for something different - apple brownies - that I've had lying around for a while. I mean, who can resist healthy brownies? (okay, so there's a cup of butter; but they've got fruit in them!) Have a great day, everyone!

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 chopped apples, any kind
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup melted butter
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Combine all dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Add eggs, butter, and vanilla. Mix well, then add apples, nuts, and raisins. Pour into greased 13x9 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

Got a new rat

She's dark gray, and she's maybe five or six weeks old. I had her in a separate cage for a few days in case she was going to start sneezing or showing other signs of illness, then introduced her to the girls on the dining room table.

The girls are Vixen and Reese - beige hooded dumbo rats who are sisters. For those who aren't up to speed on rat breeds (which was me eight months ago, heheh), dumbo rats have slightly larger ears that are set more toward the side of their head:



That's Vixen when she was a baby. What a cutie!

So the introduction went very well. I let the baby go in the adults' cage to see how things would go, and they all got along just fine. The older ones groomed the baby and dragged her into their box a few times, and she went along with it like they were her mom(s).

In fact, she became more confident and animated once she was in with them than I had seen her in the three days she was in her own cage. It just goes to show how incredibly social rats are. They love people, too, so if you're looking for a pet that enjoys being handled and is great with kids (with supervision, even my two-year-old holds them), think about getting a rat. I've never met one I didn't like.

The Kites Worked

So the kites not only worked, but they worked better than some I've paid for. The boys were actually getting them up in the air from the ground just by holding the string and running fast. Very cool! Very tiring, too, which is also very cool when you've got a bunch of second-grade boys to wear out :D.

I received all of my plants, too, so the garden is growing, the honeyberry bushes are planted, and the raspberries are sending out tons of shoots. I love summer!

Hey, if you're here because you like to read and/or write, check out my newest link - Like Omg Teens Read. It's an excellent forum with a fast-growing member list. I've got a pad of paper here to jot down all of the great book suggestions.

Now, all I need to do is get to the library . . .

Have a beautiful, shining, fun summer day!

I Made a Kite

Did you know you can make a kite out of just a paper grocery bag, some tape, and some twine?

I made one today because I'm going to have my cub scout den make them tonight, so I wanted to make sure I could, you know . . . make it myself. So I don't look like an idiot.

The thing flies, too, I've discovered. Yesterday would have been a great day to fly it because we had Wizard-of-Oz type winds going on that knocked out the power for over two hours, but even with just a slight breeze I got it up in the air. I'll post a picture as soon as I take one and get it on the computer.

So put away your money and dig out the scissors, folks! There's a potential kite hiding away right there in your pantry.