Gadgets

I like that on work from home days I can use some of the gadgets we received as wedding presents lo these many 5 years ago -- things that normally would sit quietly in a cabinet collecting dust for the next 20 years or so. On weekends with the busy schedules (and strong desire to eat out!), I never think to use them, but when I'm sitting here working (blogging), I figure I might as well multitask. Usually, it's the crock pot. I'm still learning -- we've had moderate success with c-p recipes. Today, however, it's the bread machine. If all goes well, I should have steamy, delicious French bread ready by noon. Mmmm.

The "small" birthday party I was planning for AJ is growing. I guess I didn't really think to count all the parents of his little friends. Heh, whoops. :) Good thing my mom and mom-in-law will also be around to help. It's just cake and ice cream, right? This morning I asked AJ how old he was going to be on his birthday. I had to prompt him with "Two?" And he replied, "Ayyyyy, five." Which means, "And, five." :) Let's hope not! Two is approaching so fast already!!

Hey, how about an update a la Melessa:

Reading:
I finished Jodi Piccoult's Plain Truth during our vacation. I loved it. She is a great writer -- anyone agree? She may be turning into one of my favorites. I think I want to read a third of her books, which really says something. I'm not typically a multiple-books-by-one-author kind of girl. I guess I feel like it's a waste of time? But Piccoult really tells a good story. This one, of course, intrigued the heck out of me with the Amish characters. Since I was pretty young, I've been fascinated by them, the Shakers -- all those guys. Plus! It was a sort-of murder mystery, and for the first time in maybe my whole life, I had the culprit figured out WAY before it was revealed. I am so smrt. :)

I'm also trying to read Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind, which is something I never would have picked up had it not been recommended to me. It's pretty good, though -- all about how the [business] world is now driven more by the right side of the brain, the creative side, than the left. It's very true; design and aesthetic is more important than ever in this era of abundance, as he calls it. I'm learning a lot. Funny thing, though -- he recommends "Real Simple" magazine as a great example of a design mag we all should read. I picked one up yesterday and once again, I didn't think it was all that fantastic. Designed beautifully, yes. It's a pretty magazine. But the articles have never once blown me away. Nor the recipes. I keep trying to love it, but I just don't. Maybe I'm missing something?

Watching:
Once again, last night we watched Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America. That show is eff-ing hilarious. And I only say "eff-ing" because HE swears every other word with his very British accent and slang, and half the time we don't know which are the swear words! We love it. We laugh out loud. The show is really a documentary as he goes into flailing restaurants and tells the owners and chefs what they're doing wrong. There's almost always a big blow-out fight between Ramsay and the head chef, and it's just cool to watch the inner workings of a restaurant business. If you have BBC America, totally check it out.

Question for my friends with UK spouses! Do you love BBC America? Is it, for your spouse, a little taste of home? Or an annoying plot to Americanize everything we Americans can get our hands on? Just wondering.