A short while back, I came across this link, by a guy on Slate.com, listing his most-used computer applications.  Here are some sites/applications that I like (that I could think of off the top of my head).  Anything out there I'm missing?  What are your favorites?

AP News (Top stories)
Reuters (Top stories, World news, politics)
New York Times (Top stories)
Yahoo News (Most Viewed)
San Jose Mercury News (local)
Digg.com (the first several pages)
Reddit.com (the first several pages)

Did I mention I'm in the middle of a career change?  I work on computers now.  I may teach again someday, when the kids are older, and I definitely hope to coach again someday.... when the kids are older.  :-)  For now, though, I am on a new path, and I really like it.  Also, we are moving again.  The house is cute and cool and three houses down from the school Tommy will go to next year.  So that rocks.  We did decide to keep renting a little longer.  We actually had an offer accepted on a house we were trying to buy *right after* we decided we didn't want to buy right now.  :(   Agonizing decision ensued, but we just can't shake the feeling that if we wait, we're going to be able to get more house for the same price later.

I'm on the treadmill fairly consistently M,T,W, and F but still having a tough time on the weekends.  Will keep trying.  Not lifting weights at all right now.  Hope to pick that up after the move.

Even though I'm not teaching any more, or perhaps *because* I'm not teaching any more, my interest and love of languages and linguistics has been quietly resurfacing.   That feels nice.  Yet another thing to do "when the kids get older"... travel and do language immersion. 

Ok, enough for today.  See you!

Mary

We've been looking at houses, and making offers on houses, but the economy is sure getting creepy.  We're thinking we may just sit tight and rent for another year or two.  We are going to move soon though either way.  If we do keep renting, we're planning to go rent in the neighborhood/area that we hope to buy in.  That way, Tommy can start school next year and (hopefully) not have to switch later.  And we can start to meet people, and get to know the area, and generally just kind of "settle in."   We're still going to live in Silicon Valley, we're just moving farther out.  We're looking for at areas with good schools (www.greatschools.com) and good walk scores (www.walkscore.com).  Near the lightrail, if possible.  :-)  (We've got quite a list going).  We've found a few spots that seem right, and now we're just trying to narrow in.  And this... is what we've been spending many many hours on lately.  :-)

I'm trying to be on the treadmill an hour a day, but it's a tall order.  I can usually find 45 minutes, but that last 15 minutes is proving to be a bit of a struggle.  For a long time I was thinking 45 minutes was fine, but now I'm really trying to focus my brain on that fact that it's 25% less than an hour.  25%.  That's a lot.  I think this is a case where that last 15 minutes is really the *key* (if there is one) to making faster progress.  I am making good progress though.  My knee feels better than it has in years.

Anyway, still working on it.

Ok, so.... Facebook.....  Wow.  It has really captured my attention the last week or two.  It seems to be what I was originally hoping LiveJournal would be; a place to keep in touch with lots of people that I don't live close to anymore.  What I didn't understand when I was trying to push LiveJournal on everyone, is that not everyone likes to write!  But facebook lets you do one sentence updates, or no updates, and is still very fun.  I can't believe all the blast-from-the-past names I've seen float by recently.  :-)  People from high school, college, some of my old students, family members, local friends, far away friends, all on one site.  I'm embarrassed by how much I like it.  I've been up too late several nights recently, catching up with people.  :-)  And it's about the level of catching up I can handle too.... daily life is just packed already, and I could never make time to see all these people in person right now (I'm having trouble even finding time to make a phone call at a decent hour), but reading a quick blurb about someone that I have fond memories of is satisfying in a strangely deep way.  Man, the web just keeps getting better and better!!!

I just removed some really prolific writers from my friends list on this blog because I'm trying to make it a friends list filled with friends and family that I mostly know in real life, and their posts were getting buried (with awesome writing) by people I don't know.  Every person I took off this list is still on my other LJ, so I'm still reading your stuff.  :-)  Peace!

Ok, soooo in a dinner rut again. Stuff that comes to mind to make:

• Spaghetti and Meatballs, and salad or veggie
• Chicken kabobs, rice, veggies (chipotle, or with peanut sauce, or with some other kind of sauce)
• Burritos or tacos or enchiladas (hamburger or ground turkey or chicken or beans and rice)
• Frozen Pizza, Homemade pizza, or boboli pizza (tomato sauce, pesto, or just cut up tomatoes/onions/garlic/olive oil)
• This awesome pasta dish from my sister-in-law:  Pasta with olive oil, ground italian sausage, red and green peppers, onions, red pepper, and halved cherry or grape tomatoes.  It's soooo good.
• Hamburgers and regular fries or sweet potato fries.
• Grilled or regular sandwiches
• Mac n cheese
• Stir fry and pot stickers
• Left-overs
• Take out / Drive-thru
• Eat out

That's all I can think of right now.  Going to try and add some new ideas.

Chicken, brown rice, snap peas. (Already in a rut again! Gotta break out!)

Went to the library this afternoon, and Tommy found a book called, "Underwear Do's and Don't's" He's so happy with this book. 4 year olds *really* like to talk about things like underwear. :-)

My mother-in-law made this awesome pasta dish. It was linguini with a mildly spicy sausage, cherry tomatoes, red, orange, and yellow peppers, mushrooms, and some other stuff. No particular sauce, it just all worked together. It was sooooo good.

I added Broccoli, asparagus, french bread, and some chicken for Tommy because he had the pasta for lunch.

The kids are sick again. Blah.

Dinner was grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches, french fries, roast broccoli and peppers. Broccoli was great, peppers were soggy.

I'm writing this from my new linux install! I'm goofing around with puppy linux. It's pretty cool.

Silestra started a community for posting dinners. I'm too excited about playing around with the computer right now to go post there, but I'll probably get ideas and post stuff there too. I'll find the link and pass it along later.

Goodnight!

Chicken satay (I took the trader joes chipotle kabobs, baked them, and then covered them in thai peanut sauce.)
Shrimp and veggies (frozen) sauted in Thai Red Curry sauce (jar, also from tj's)
Coconut rice (normal rice, substitute coconut milk for water)

It was awesome.

I kept some of the chicken plain for Tommy. He liked the red curry a lot though. He wouldn't try the rice (more for me!).

When I'm getting more rest, maybe I can attempt to cook fresh food, but right now I just can't get it together enough to do that much. I'm happy to be making stuff at all though! :-)

Santa Maria Tri-tip
Stove Top Stuffing
Snow peas
Zucchini

I only have two goals for this current "trying to cook" thing: 1) Get some sort of dinner on the table, and 2) Try to have have two vegetables. It's a start. :-)

surfing the net while on the treadmill (walking). kind of hard to type. we've been getting up early to work out for awhile now. it's working for us. also cancelled cable, and learning to cook and eat food at home, rather than take-out. we decided that drastic change is easier to maintain sometimes than small changes. :-)

gonna pick up the pace now.... have a good day!

-mary

I want to start writing down dinners so I can keep track of what we eat, and later use the lists to get ideas. I was going to use a wiki for it, but then remembered I've got this journal right here not even being used! :-)

Tonight we had leftovers:

Chicken kabobs (Frozen chipotle kabobs from Trader Joes)
Steak stirfry
Brown rice
Baby Broccoli
Asparagus
Raw carrots
Cherry Tomatoes


The end!

Click here to read about firing our incumbant politicians: http://kickthemallout.com/staticpages/index.php/Full_Project_Summary

Let's throw these bums out and start over.

Ron Paul is serving his *tenth* term as a Congressman for Lake Jackson, Texas. That's 20 years worth of consistency and trust. I never, ever thought I'd be interested in a Republican candidate, but there's a first time for everything. It's unlikely that he'd win, but I'm sure glad he's in the race. We need more public servants with integrity, who will just say what they think, and tell the truth. And who knows? Maybe there are lots of people besides me who are just sick about the state of our government, and are interested in a total overhaul? Dr. Paul is getting almost no media coverage in the U.S. despite raising more money than John McCain last quarter, and collecting a growing and passionate fanbase on the internet. Regardless of your political affiliation, Congressman Paul is worth a look.

My 20 year high school reunion is coming up next month. I can't believe it. 20 years. That's crazy! I've been feeling my age this year (or maybe feeling older than my age), and this does not help my mood! :-) Well, actually, that's not true... it is helping my mood. It's been fun to reconnect online and on the phone with my classmates as the reunion approaches. Hearing other people bemoan what's become of our bodies, and how hardly anyone is as far along as we thought we'd be at this stage is reassuring. Also, thinking about these people, and about that time, somehow is making me feel younger. How weird. I guess 38 isn't actually that old these days. I used to have a friend that insisted that 35 was middle age, (he always assumed a 70 year life span), but I'm going to shift that. I'm going to call 50 middle age. :-) I'm going to hope I get 100 years, and stop moping about a so-called stage called "middle age."

( Click here to read the rest )

I'm 9 months pregnant now, and waiting.... I'm due in 2 weeks, and I suspect Annie will take her time, but being this close feels like labor could start any minute. It's never far from my mind. I have contractions pretty much throughout the day, but they're still fairly mild, and irregular. My brain is a little fuzzy, and I'm tired all the time. Sort of cranky too, but trying not to be. Derek and I spent this weekend working on the house. I've been going through a whole bunch of moving boxes that we had stashed in our closets and our garage. We're trying to get lots done, assuming that we won't have time to work on anything but parenting for quite awhile.

I'm reading 3 fantastic books right now. The first is called, "How to Behave so your Preschooler Will, Too." The second is, "Last Child in the Woods," and the third is "Parenting Beyond Belief." They are all absolutely amazing. I wish I had the time and energy to write up real reviews. These books are worth it.

Everything else is cool. I better go get some sleep. Ciao.