christmas list

for people who can, um, influence he who buys the presents.


oh, and it's style #40275. thanks.

all the wit that's fit to print

here's a friend's website - check it out! http://www.cafepress.com/in_joke

happy turkey day!!!

take the turkey test!
http://home.aristotle.net/Thanksgiving/trivia.asp

us soccer: new retirement plan

the day before the mls cup game, the brass announced a new salary cap rule: the beckham rule. teams are now allowed one 'designated player' position, to be traded among teams, with no team ever having more than two. this way, teams will be able to pay those elite players more than the mls salary cap of $400,000.
so now u.s. teams can afford to court european players, like beckham and figo, who are nearing the end of their careers. giving these players another option besides retirement - come play in the u.s.! hey, they're too old to play for real teams, since those teams are always getting younger, faster and better. but not ours - we're willing to override current salary caps in order to sign star players who are past their prime to play anywhere else. now that sounds like a plan to get u.s. soccer taken seriously by the rest of the world.
the kicker is that many u.s. professional soccer players are not paid enough, and need to have a second job to live comfortably. that actually goes against the definition of being a professional.

dc united players:

bobby boswell, 2006 mls defender of the year.

troy perkins, 2006 mls goalie of the year.

both players were salaried $29,400 in 2006, 1/3 of the league average salary.

fear the turtle!

go terps!!!!!
they had a great game last night!
yeah, still not quite sure how i got to be a umd fan.

weird, but true

imagine the poor guy who discovered this fish.

bet you couldn't get him in the water again.

(Anoplogaster cornuta, c.n. fangtooth)

woohoo!!!

they were serving his favorite scones at tea.

the new obsession

cirque du soleil - corteo

this show is awesome. if you have a chance to go, GO. i love the acrobats, they were amazing. everything was amazing. i am stunned. i want to go join the circus.

dog days of, um, winter?

last friday, veteran's day, was the most beautiful day. so i took the girls to the park. we were the only ones there, and they spend more time sniffing stuff than they did running around. i guess without other dogs there, they weren't really interested in playing.

go vote

just so that it is clear, here is the text of the Marriage Amendment as proposed by the state of virginia:
http://www.sbe.state.va.us/cms/documents/2006_Constitutional_Amendments/2006ques_marriage_APPROVED.pdf

here is a quote from the explanation section.

Marriage in the Commonwealth creates specific legal rights, benefits, and
obligations for a man and a woman. There are other legal rights, benefits, and obligations
which will continue to be available to unmarried persons, including the naming of an
agent to make end-of-life decisions by an Advance Medical Directive (Code of Virginia §
54.1-2981), protections afforded under Domestic Violence laws (Code of Virginia § 18.2-
57.2), ownership of real property as joint tenants with or without a right of survivorship
(Code of Virginia § 55-20.1), or disposition of property by will (Code of Virginia § 64.1-
46).

there is a lot of misleading information on the web. know what (and who) you're voting for.

for info on the campaigners (straight from them) check out their websites.

http://www.webbforsenate.com/home.php

http://allen.senate.gov/public/

markoff's haunted forest and other halloween eerieness

last sunday we all packed up the car and headed out to maryland to go to the haunted forest. it was amazing. although i could have done without the two hour wait in the thirty degree forest. oh, and the hour long car ride, too.
halloween itself was... well... anticlimactic. i bought candy, carved our jack-o-lantern, and got a total of... 0 trick or treaters!!!!
if anyone likes blow-pops i've got a bunch at my house. :(

birthday at outback

it was los's dad's bday, and he's not telling how old he is.

oh baby!

baby shower memoirs

the guest of honor, leila
my favorite guest.

quote of the day

oh, you hate your job? there's a support group for that. it's called EVERYBODY and they meet at the bar.
-drew carey

college reunion and other good times

last saturday was my college reunion. i know, i'm old. so the entire experience was certainly surreal, because i'm sure i knew more people in college than it seemed. at least, i hope i did!

my only college pal that i talk to on a regular basis.












the girls from back in the day.














my girls, the best ones ever, that i met up with after.













this guy ripped his pants at my wedding.

finally, some recognition!

well, this could technically be interpreted in a not-so-great-way. you know what i mean.

my first dinner party

i must say, all went well. i served an all-vegetarian mexican dinner. on the menu:

appetizers - salsa verde, salsa caliente, guacamole and chile rellenos.

main course - avacado enchiladas, zucchini and portabella tacos and rice and beans

dessert - vanilla coffee and a sample tray of desserts from tiffany's bakery
all that was left after the party was over. we used my great-grandmother's china. but that was mostly because we only have placesettings for four from our wedding dishes.

salsa caliente. los tried it, then nobody ate it. he now thinks i was trying to kill him. hmmm... death by salsa? i'm changing the name.

death by salsa:

6 large tomatoes, seeded, cut into chunks

1/2 large onion,in large chunks

1 cup red pepper, seeded and diced

juice from one lime

1 cup cilantro leaves

2 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 fresh, seeded habanero chile

toss everything into the food processor. process until well combined (not necessarily smooth). enjoy!

amen, sister

it's cold

therefore, i'm posting a link to the livecam at the monterey bay aquarium so that everyone can visit the penguins. pic is also from the bay's website.
http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/efc_splash/splash_cam.asp