pure nerds

i'm 60% nerd, 26% geek and 47% dork, which they categorize as "pure nerd." but i think it's really not much of anything, or non-commital, which i feel is more accurate of myself. but i'll take pure nerd because it makes me sound smart. chris is also a pure nerd, weighing in at 82%. that means he's really smart.

chris's parents

thanks everyone for your emails regarding chris's
family and the recent disaster in mississippi and new
orleans. as of right now chris's family has sustained
minimal damage. his parents had some trees and limbs
fall which hit the fence surrounding the dog yard and
their house; some shingles also blew off the roof and
some lights on their back porch were broken. they have
had no power for the past few days and it's hot, so
you know how that goes. some friends from the coast
have been staying at their place until they can go
home (if they have a home to return to). so whetever
damage the reids face is nothing in comparison to what
their friends will see when they go home.

the grandmothers are ok as well and i think they got
power back yesterday. the family closer to the coast
are also fine. we're still trying to get in touch w/
friends in mississippi and new orleans, but we expect
it'll be a long while before we hear from them.

thanks again for your thoughts and prayers. this is
all so crazy. chris's parents said that the shelters
in vicksburg are all full and that some of the casinos
have started letting people sleep in their hallways
and lobbies. i know that there are a lot of stories in
the media of looting in N.O. and stuff, but i really
feel that, just like during 9/11, there are more
untold stories of heroism and kind-heartedness during
this rough time.

clownie

IMG_0926,
originally uploaded by Waldie's World.

boy, it feels like it's getting longer and longer between blogs these days. sorry, blog readers! what with life going every which-way at once and chris using the computer a lot for schoolwork...well, you know the story.

but! thanks to my generous sister, hopefully this problem will be slightly resolved. she's given us her "old" laptop! i use quotes because certainly it's a bit out of date, but as far as us charity-cases go, it's golden.

i spent the weekend in philadelphia and delaware to pay my respects to my stepmom's father, alex pashalis, a generous and kind man who passed away suddenly last week. despite the morbidity which drew me up there, i enjoyed playing with my nieces, one of whom is pictured here in what was a hilarious bonding session between me, my older niece and clownie (as i am now calling her).

this week was jam-packed with stuff, but by some sort of grace, the 2-part class i was taking tuesday and thursday nights was cancelled. this has allowed me to write what you see here and do the dishes which were slowly seeping out into the surrounding rooms (and developing mold).

done, done and not quite done

i submitted my peace corps application today. i would say it's officially done but they immediately emailed me more forms to fill out. i've heard that this is pretty much the process right up until we leave the country, so i'll try not to get my hopes up when i submit these next round of forms.

i had a good chuckle at work today, thanks to fuzzy. the picture of the hedgehog was cute, but the picture of the baby otter just totally cracked me up. so thanks for that. and anytime i need a laugh in the future i'm going to try and resort to the mantra "Baby hedgehogs are the new baby otters (which, you'll remember, are the new kittens)."

paula and i are taking a walk tonight and then we will read together.
theresa and zoltan visit tomorrow night and we will go to hear bluegrass.
chris and i will go to charleston on friday night and i will get ready for my early, early flight to philly on saturday morning. there's always stuff to do isn't there? these stuffs are good though.

innocence

innocence,
originally uploaded by Waldie's World.

is this picture not just the most precious thing in the world? there's just something so sweet about it, i had to share.

so you might be wondering what's been going on, since i've not blogged in a while? well, a whole lot and not so much all at the same time. mostly chris and i have started working on our peace corps applications. with any luck we'll have them submitted tonight! they've taken a lot of time and have been sapping all of my desires to be on the computer more than is absolutely necessary.

peace corps is just the beginning of the apps. we'll apply for a couple at least one, probably 2, more. in light of all this i'm staying at my job until we leave (hopefully in 9-12 months). staying at my job sucks because there's so much junk going on but i won't bore you with the details.

4 more tomatoes on the way in my little potted plant. they're beautiful. and so was the weather last night and this morning!

and i'm still rereading harry potter 5. have been reading it since like a month ago. the pressure's on though b/c i have someone waiting for it. maybe i'll finish that by the weekend. that is, if i'm not working on more applications.

good eats!

dag, we just had one of the best dinners we've eaten in a really long time! and i'm not trying to boost myself up as any great cook. my friend, michelle, had emailed a recipe for thai noodles a long time ago and i never got around to cooking it. i've been bored with food lately so i was looking through my recipes for ideas and ran across the recipe and decided to try it. boy howdy, it was goood (so good it needed an extra o). so i've pasted the recipe below for anyone who might be intersted in trying it. it's very easy to make.

Thai-Style Noodles W/ Peanut Basil Sauce

Servings: 4

1 c. fresh snow pea pods
1 9 oz pkg. Refrigerated fettuccine
3/4 c. coconut milk
1/2 c. crunchy peanut butter
1/2 c. vegetable broth
3 TBL soy sauce
2 TBL lime juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp dried crushed red pepper
1 c. bean sprouts, divided
1 c. firmly packed Thai basil leaves, shredded (i used just regular ol' basil)
1/4 c. dry roasted peanuts, chopped
red pepper flakes, peanuts, lime wedges

Trim snow peas and cut in half diagonally.

Bring water to a boil in a large heavy saucepan; add snow peas, and cook 45 seconds. Drain. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Whisk together coconut milk and next 8 ingredients in a large saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking occasionally, about 5 minutes or until mixture is thoroughly heated.

Add snow peas, hot cooked pasta, 3/4 c. bean sprouts, and 3/4 c. basil. Toss and place on a serving platter.

Sprinkle w/ remaining 1/4 c. bean sprouts, remaining 1/4 c. basil and 1/4 c. peanuts. Service w/ assorted condiments.

food and friends

generally a good weekend so far and one more day to go. spent friday night making some kick ass pesto with homegrown organic basil. and made a first attempt at edamame, which turned out really yummy. (imagine boiled peanuts only w/ soybeans instead.) saturday morning i had a nice chunk of time reading (harry potter. i'm reading backwards in the series from 6-1 again) and sipping coffee in bed. then, a few hours at the pool, which was hot but really relaxing. last night i babysat w/ some good friends, more like hanging out w/ the girls than babysitting. today is church and then going to a friend's house to see pictures of her 2 years teaching in tanzania, which should fit right in w/ chris and my recently resurfaced frenzied conversations about going abroad. it's been a good balance of relaxing time and friend time. good stuff.

apologies

for those of you that are daily blog-checkers like myself, i'm sorry i've dissappointed you for the past week with no posts. i feel guilty. but i haven't really had anything that's inspired me to post over the past week (the tomato was that exciting i guess (it was delicious by the way)). i was just checking other people's blogs and going "dag, why don't they post!?" then i couldn't remember the last time i'd posted; so i looked at my blog and realized it's been a week! lame.

hot tomato

I HAVE A TOMATO! on my tomato bush that is. i've never successfully harvested an actual tomato of my own. i've tried, but nothing has ever flowered and turned into an actual edible fruit. i'm so proud! there are 3 tomatoes at this point, 1 is ripe, 1 will be ripe in a few days and the last is just a toddler-sized tomato. i'd have taken a picture but our camera is on loan for the weekend. so you'll have to use your imagination to conjure up its sumptuousity.

grandad and his melons

grandad and his melons,
originally uploaded by Waldie's World.

sorry i haven't posted in a while. i looked at my blog today to see if there was any recent activity (why?) and realized that i had left the last blog with such negativity. sorry to leave that up for so long.

so what's been going on? well, chris is back. woohooo! yippeee! yip yippeeeeee!

we went to my maternal grandfather's family reunion this weekend in western pennsylvania. hadn't been to one since before i met chris. it was a great time. i even won at bingo for the first time in my life. five whole bucks, which i subsequently blew at texas holdum (is that how you spell that?). but i held my own fairly well considering it was my first go at the game. i even had fun (despite my family bickering about the rules and how cut throat everyone else was being). all in all it was a good weekend.

now we're back to the hum-drum of everyday life. and that sounds really good to me for a change.