Happy Easter!

Saw this on tumblr and had to share because it made me laugh really hard.  : )

Work Quote of the Day

Submitted via the online comment system:

"Although my diet is strictly limited, I do love that I am allowed to eat at your restaurant and I love my bear claws!"

Me: ...

Me: "What *exactly* are you strictly limiting in your diet if you're still eating bear claws?! Because it's obviously not sugar, salt, wheat/gluten, fat, sugar, preservatives, major allergens.... Seriously, I'm curious. What ARE you limiting? Vegetables?!

(sigh)

Fedora!

My Prince has long had his eye on a proper fedora. He even knew where he wanted it to come from - The Custom Hatter, who does everything by hand on antique forms using vintage tools to create one-of-a-kind masterpieces fitted to the owner's head. But he didn't want to buy one for himself, because it seemed indulgent. So, for his birthday last year, I got him one. (Sort of. He had to do some of the ordering part himself because of sizing and preferences and such, but you get the idea.)

We had hoped it would arrive before his trip this past winter, but no such luck. The Hatter had a huge long list of orders and it wasn't done until January! That said, it finally arrived and it was worth every penny and every minute of waiting. It's modeled on the one Indiana Jones wore in Raiders of the Lost Arc. (Fun fact - Harrison Ford wore a different fedora in every Indy movie and they were all slightly different!)

Not only does my Prince look good in it, but Arthas rocks it pretty well, too.  : )

March (So Far) in Pictures

Syruping - Bad photo, I know. Also, we've doubled this set up, running two burners... except that after our first week of flow it hard froze and there has been endless snow. So all our buckets, pots, burners and other infrastructure remain on hold, waiting for above freezing temperatures to return and allow us to finish out this year's syruping season. 

 

Freaking snow!! We have had three nor'easters in just over as many weeks, and there's another on the books for next week. The snow just keeps coming and piling up and it's beyond ridiculous already. Frisbee is lost and gone until probably July at this rate, buried under all the mess somewhere. I'm officially tired of plowing/shoveling more than once per day and still having it look like I never did anything. Eternally grateful that my husband bought us both take-no-prisoners snow tires!!

While I've been pouring every ounce of energy I've got (after dealing with snow) into mastering my writing job and keeping up with the workload, my Prince has been cranking out absolutely amazing projects! Within days of getting home in January he was grinding away at the basement insulation project. I was (and remain) flabbergasted at how fast he got studs up, insulation and sheeting in, drywall installed, mudding done, and then the whole wall (the entire length of the house!) primed and painted. The photo above is the primed version. Because I'm in a hurry and not interested in scrouging up a photo of the finished product, imagine it a bright, spotless white! It makes the entire space look huge and gorgeous. I'm glad one of us is getting things done these days!!

Happy International Women's Day!

For all that I love geek holidays, I tend to stay away from a lot of other 'unofficial' holidays because they so often get hijacked by groups, causes and politically correct nonsense that they end up being entirely unappealing. But today is International Women's Day and I cannot help but take it as a reminder to say THANK YOU.

Thank you to all the women in my life who have been a blessing to me. Who modeled how to be the kind of women who, as the saying goes, make the devil wince and say "oh, crap, she's up!" when their feet hit the floor in the morning. Who worked - and still work - their tails off for the goals that are meaningful to them and then don't apologize when the world doesn't get it. Thank you to the friends who have taught me the beauty of female friendships, even in the midst of an age and culture in which women are so often brutally awful to one another.

There are a lot of days when being a woman is a tough, tall order. So many days where it is so easy to doubt and feel inadequate. But if you're a woman and reading this, you've blessed me and I am SO thankful for you. Every day. Even - maybe especially - when I don't have time or the extra brain power to remember to tell you how much.

((hugs))