One of these days I'm going to take the plunge and just become full on vegetarian. We don't eat red meat, pork or eggs as it is and I am seriously disgusted by milk so turning veggie isn't too much of a leap. It's just a matter of determination, I guess. I'm pretty sure this latest installment of "Veggie Gung-Ho" is because of this article...blech! You have got to read it...courtesy of Nerddotcom which was courtesy of Lekkner.

Very Interesting...
A super interesting article on the nature of obesity. Amazing.

Jim and I woke up to the beautiful sound of rain outside of our window on Saturday. We were somewhat confused when we looked out and there was no sign of a rain cloud anywhere. Confusion turned to dread when we put our ears up to our bedroom wall and noticed that below the sound of "rain" there was a faint but distinct buzzing sound. Eeeks! There were bees in our wall!!! Ugh.

The exterminator came out on Sat. and said that a few bees (by the sound in our wall, there HAS to be more than a few!) made their nest in our wall through a small crack in one of our bricks. Hearing all their little feet moving and the buzzing is one of the worst sounds I've ever heard. It's giving me the heebee geebees just writing about it. Jim kept on saying, "Why are you freaking out? It's not like they can get into our house." To which I replied, "You've never seen a Hitchcock movie then. Because THEY always find a way in!"

Interesting Bee Facts:

- Bees do not create honey; they are actually improving upon a plant product, nectar. The honey we eat is nectar that bees have repeatedly regurgitated and dehydrated.

- The average American consumes a little over one pound of honey a year. In the course of her lifetime, a worker bee will produce 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey.

- A productive hive can make and store up to two pounds of honey a day. Thirty-five pounds of honey provides enough energy for a small colony to survive the winter. (oh jeez!)

- During the mating flight several drones will deposit upwards of 90 million sperm in the queen's oviducts. The queen, however, will not use all the sperm. She stores about seven million sperm in a special pouch, the spermatheca. (hah!)

- In one day a queen can lay her weight in eggs. She will lay one egg per minute, day and night, for a total of 1,500 eggs over a 24-hour period and 200,000 eggs in a year. Should she stop her frantic egg-laying pace, her workers will move a recently laid egg into a queen cell to produce her replacement. (Oh crapola!)


- While workers select which fertilized eggs to brood in queen or worker cells, the queen decides the sex of her young. In a mechanism of sex determination known as haplodiploidy, fertilized eggs will become female offspring, while unfertilized eggs will become males

Well I finally broke down...and bought the much loved Stitch n' Bitch. I must admit that the over staturation of this book in the online communtiy kinda turned me off of it but dang, it IS a great book! I couldn't get past a slip-knot with some of the other instructional books but yesterday I completed 1/4 of a scarf! (not sure if I'll ever get any use out of it in El Paso!) I can't wait to make one of the cute kitty hats or the monkey backpack...so cute!!!

Ahh, I could see this becoming quite addictive!

AHHHHHHHH...LJC talked about the cutest shop ever!@#$%

Does anyone one know the dollar/yen conversion because I want one of everything!



Random Quiz Time! (courtesy of The Daily Bite)


Postatem obscuri lateris nescitis.
"You do not know the power of the Dark
Side." There are two possibilities: you
are a Star Wars geek, or you are unreasoningly
scary.


Which Weird Latin Phrase Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Exciting
Jim and I are planning a trip to NYC and being that I've never been there and that we're in major need of a vacation, I'm super excited.

On Sat. Jim and I will be attending a vintage toy convention, where Jim will get to meet some of the fellow geeks (and I mean that in the most loving of ways since I am most definitely included in this category) he has been talking online to for more than a year now. He'll also be giving a seminar on sculpting...maybe I can be his Vanna!

I just bought tickets to see Wicked on Broadway. Everything was practically sold out so we had to buy separately seated tickets. I loved the book so much and it just got nominated for 10 Tony Awards, the crappy tickets were worth it.

I would also love to get some indie shopping in, go to a zoo, an art museum, take a nighttime city tour and eat some really good food.

Anybody have suggestions?

On a side note...
I got my hair cut and colored on Sat. The short cut was no biggie but coloring it kinda freaked me out since it was such a bright red. I've been wanting to dye my hair red for years and kept on finding excuses why not to. It finally made sense when Jim eloquently stated "You need to do it before you don't want to do it anymore"...simple but true...so I finally just did it.

Ah woe is me...WOXY is no more! Anybody have any other suggestions?

So sad, so sad indeed.

Indie Shop Product Review:

I absolutely love my new bracelet from Crafty Chica's shop, Los Mestizos! It has a bunch of great images of Mexican women and quite frankly I think it kicks some major booty...just like Crafty Chica!

I also got my Pashupatina necklace. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't have much to wear it with since I don't have a whole lot of orange in my wardrobe but it goes surprisingly well with a bunch of colors. She is definitely one talented lady!

On a totally separate note:
Does anyone know of the song that they play in the background of the Bravo celebrity Poker commercial? I think it's the one that has that video where the sets are made entirely out of yarn? Ring any bells? Please?

Time for a little game (courtesy of StarStitcher):

1) First Grade Teacher: No idea, must not have made a huge impact

2) Last word you said: Dad

3) Last person you hugged: Jim

4) Last thing you laughed at: The Pancake scene from Cabin Fever

5) Last time you said 'I love you': This morning to Jim

6) Last time you cried: last night watching The House of Sand and Fog...agh, so tragic.

7) What's in your CD player: Crystal Gale (tee hee, I like to clean by it)

8) What color socks are you wearing: Socks? Who needs stinkin' socks!

9) What's under your bed: Jim's portfolio

10) What time did you wake up today: 8:30

11) Current taste: Frosted Shredded Wheats

12) Current hair: Trying to grow it out so it's long layers that fall about two inches below my ears and bangs that I sweep to either side of my face depending on my mood

13) Current clothes: Wonder Woman red t-shirt and blue wrap around skirt with blue gingham trim

14) Current annoyance: Slim In 6

15) Current longing: MP3 player

16) Current desktop picture: Lando Calrissian, "He's a card player, gambler, scoundrel...you'd like him."

17) Current worry: Gerbera re-design

18) Current hate: dust bunnies

19) Story behind your web username: I go by BumbleV on most message boards I talk on. V for Vanessa.

20) Current favorite article of clothing: pink flip flops with a cute pewter bunnie on top

21) Favorite physical feature of the opposite sex/same sex: eyes

22) Last CD that you bought: I didn't know they still sold CDs

23) Favorite place to be: In the park with my husband

24) Least favorite place: dentist

25) Time you wake up in the morning: around 7:30

26) If you could play an instrument, what would it be: I always wanted to play the Violin. I though it only makes sense since Violin starts with V and Vanessa starts with V. Wonder why I never thought a Viola would work.

27) Favorite color: blue

28) Do you believe in an afterlife: yes

39) How tall are you: 5' 6"

30) Current favorite word/saying:

31) Favorite book: The Crystal Cave or To Kill a Mockingbird

32) Favorite season: definitely Fall

33) One person from your past you wish you could go back and talk to: Anybody from Austin, it'd be interesting to see where their life lead them.

34) Favorite day: Friday, it's all about the anticipation.

35) Where do you want to go: Italy, Greece, Japan

36) What is your career going to be like: Exciting

37) How many kids do you want: Perhaps 2-3

38) What kind of car will you have: Some sort of old wagon

49) Type a line you remember from any book:

40) A random lyric: "You're gonna turn my brown eyes blue"

41) Identify some things surrounding your computer: Spock, McCoy, Kirk, Khan, Martian Manhunter, Neopet, fluorescent pink Silly Putty, Sammy the Salamander, Happy Gnome, Lotion

Whew...time to get to work!

Mmm, don't just love it when your favorite fruits are in season? I spent a lifetime in the grocery store yesterday and for probably the first time, really enjoyed myself. Jim was working on his resume at home so I happily volunteered to go shopping by myself (ask anyone who knows us, we spend an obscene amount of time together and absolutely love it!). It was nice not having to debate with Jim over every piece of junk food he wanted to put into the shopping cart and I was able to pick up some yummy items I've been wanting to try forever (Melissa's Edamame, Pirate's Booty, and Morningstar Spicy Black Bean Burgers)

Back to the fruit however, I bought a huge amount of strawberries yesterday and I really would hate for them to go to waste. I figured I would make Chocolate Covered Strawberries for all the mothers I know, we'll probably make smoothies one morning, and we've been using them to top the sugar free/fat free soy pudding I made yesterday. What are some of your favorite deserts that call for strawberries?

Crafty Night Update
Thanks to Craft Night, I now have another pair of flip flops to add to the mountain of flops I had previously. Can you think of anyway better to spend one night a month; having a few beers while listening to good music, talking to interesting women, and working on crafty projects? Maybe it's just me and my non-dramatic life. I bought some dark blue cloth flops and sewed some blue beads onto them. I was there from 7:30 to about 10:30 and only got 1/2 done. I probably talk too much sometimes. Here's a pic of my flops...sorry about the ugly feet...I really need a pedicure!

Crafty Stores
I'm so excited! I've been drooling over Pashupatina Necklaces since the first time I saw them and for some reason just kept putting off buying one. I'm sure you guys know the routine, you see something you like and then you go back and forth for half an hour why you do or do not deserve it. Well, today I deserve Pashupatina necklace number 140!

TV Tuesday - The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world?
In honor of Mother's Day this Sunday (what- you forgot? Shame on you! Get thee to a Hallmark Store!) This week's questions will be about that beloved group of ladies we all know and love- TV moms.

1. Who is/was your favorite TV mom?
Oooh, going into dorky mode here: Amanda, Spock's mother from Star Trek

2. Was she a realistic mother, or more of a TV fantasy type?
Ack, there's no way anyone would be so patient with those freakin' Vulcans!

3. Which TV mom did you find the most unrealistic? Or if you'd rather: creepy ? sappy ? mean ? you choose the adjective, and you name the mom.
Most annoying mom: definitely Carol Brady

~Bonus~ No disrespect to your dear old mum, but which TV mom did you think it might be neat to have as your own?
Samantha, from Bewitched. Maybe I could inherit that nose wiggle!