I heard a term this week that describes J and I – DINKWADs. Dual Income No Kids With A Dog. Those of you who know us, know that we’ve struggled to have kids for more than 4 years now. Mother’s Day is a holliday filled with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I’m so very thankful for my Mom and I’m also very thankful for my Mother-in-Law. I’ve been blessed with godly women who are stellar examples of faithfulness and integrity and I’m grateful to spend a day honoring them. On the other hand, the day is a painful reminder that I’m not a mother, or rather that I’m the mother of children I’ll get to meet in heaven.

It’s been a long, hard road for us. Sometimes, like on Mother’s Day, all I want to do is disappear.  I want to climb into a hole and stay there until this trial passes. Ultimately though, I really don’t want to live like that. This trial should not incapacitate me.  Trials aren’t meant to ruin us, they are meant to purify us. They are meant to confirm and strengthen our faith, to loosen our grip on this world and turn our gaze toward Jesus.

I can honestly say that I’m thankful for this trial. It hurts, I want it to end, but I’m thankful. The Lord has been so kind and gracious to us. He has cared for us each step of the way. He is trustworthy, good and sovereign. On days like Mother’s Day I remind myself of those things and I carry on. There may be a few tears shed, there may be a bit of retreating, but there will also be hope. Hope in my Father’s perfect plan for our DINKWAD family of two.

One of the ways his spoiled-ness shows up is that he wants free access to the backyard. What I mean is that he is not happy with just being inside or just being outside, he wants the option.

For example, last night while I was cooking dinner…

Commence random side note:
(which by the by was delicious! I’m always so excited when dinner turns out good. HERE’S the recipe. Pdub is one of my cyberheroes… she’s a ce-web-rity *snicker*)

…and Fritz was outside. He decided he wanted to come in so, as is his custom, he scratched on the screen door and let out a pathetic whine.  I went over and opened up the door to let him in.  He followed me around for a bit, sniffer going crazy, then went back out since the only food dropping into scavange range was raw onion.

Now, our screen door is not on a spring, which means it swings freely in the wind until it gets close enough to latch. It was pretty windy last night so it didn’t take long until the door latched and Fritz couldn’t get his nose or paw in to open it back up. The scratching and whining began again.  We repeated this process (minus the raw onion part because it was now sautéing in the pan) several more times. Outside, whine, inside, outside, whine, inside, back outside, whine, back inside, Lisa sighs and finally closes the main door and tells Fritz to stop driving her crazy and go lay down or he’ll be put outside permanently.

If only there existed some type of dog sized door with a flap that could solve this spoiled pup problem…..

Really, dude? I’m hoping against hope that he has a reasonable excuse for this display. Maybe he was on some sort of pain medication for a root canal, or maybe he didn’t get any sleep the night before, or maybe he was actually sleep-talking, maybe he never took a science class as a kid… anything please!

I’m supposed to be working on our taxes right now. Instead I’m going to write a post about our latest leap into full fledged coffee nerd land.  I really hate taxes.

J and I have always been “coffee people.” And by that I mean that we enjoy a good cup of coffee regularly, we don’t drink instant coffee, we don’t store our coffee in the freezer, we are particular about the kind of beans we buy (whole beans, mind you), we don’t put an “x” in the word “espresso” and would probably drive an hour or more to try a new coffee shop.

Up until last week, my sister was the bigger coffee nerd in the family, regularly visiting and talking about coffeegeek.com. Sorry Beth, I think we just passed you up….not that we were trying to, it just happened. J had a meeting at LAMILL and was smitten by the Coffee Syphon, a vacuum coffee maker. Have you seen these things? Apparently, they have a long history and have recently gained some popularity again.

The first use of glass vacuum pots appears to have been in Germany in the 1830s. By the 1840s they started to gain popularity throughout Europe. Don’t be impressed… I only knew that because, like a nerd, I Google’d the history of the coffee syphon.  Yes, “Google’d.” I intend to make the verb use of the noun Google acceptable in writing. We’re all saying it anyway, right? Why not type it too?

If you’re also curious about the history of vacuum pot coffee makers (aka, also a coffee nerd) I’ll save you the Google’ing (mm hm). Just click HERE.

The syphon is pretty novel (even though it’s nearly 200 years old) and kinda looks like it belongs in a lab. I’m half expecting to come home and find J drinking coffee in a white lab coat one of these days…

Anyway, I decided it would be fun to document our first Coffee Syphon experience alla The Pioneer Woman, except my pictures aren’t as pretty and my captions aren’t as clever. Oh, Ree… you’re a wonderblogger.

There it is. Isn’t it cool? Also, notice the espresso machine in the background – that’s now the 2nd of five ways to make coffee at our house. Yes FIVE, although we don’t really use the standard drip maker anymore.  Obsessed? Maybe. Addicted? No (hands shaking and headache coming on).

Before, we start making the coffee, we must of course read the instructions. Ever heard of Engrish? These instructions are a fantastic example of Engrish. And I quote..

Wash grass bowls in water without using soap before and after coffee making. When the fatly matter adheres to the glass bowl(s), wash glassbowl(s) in water with neurtal soap. Damage unique taste of coffee with fatly matter adhered.

Do not heat not only the empty glass bowl but also the glass bowl whose external surgace gets wet. If not so, it may be broken.

Ok, let’s get brewing! Start by adding warm water (almost boiling if you want the process to go quicker) to the lower grass bowl and insert the upper grass bowl. Then grab your favorite coffee beans and grinder. Grind the coffee on the fine setting – coarser than espresso, finer than drip. We read that it’s important to grind the coffee just before you’re ready to brew in order to get the best taste experience. Sorry I didn’t take a picture of the grinding experience. You’ll have to imagine it.

Add the fresh ground coffee to the top grass bowl, light the burner and slide it underneath. Now wait and watch…

See the bubbles? It’s happening!

Pinky, are you pondering what I’m pondering?
I think so Brain, but pants with horizontal stripes make me look chubby.

The water goes up and up to mix with the grounds then you give it a little stir. How does it work? Well, J says it’s something about the gasses or the water expanding or condensing and forcing the water to go up the tube by the built up pressure. That sounds about right to me….

Now let it steep for about a minute, making sure the lower bowl keeps a little water in it, if not so it may be broken.

Doesn’t that look yummy? Now remove the burner and watch what happens.

J said something about the gasses cooling down and condensing or expanding and releasing the pressure on the water, now coffee, creating some kind of vacuum and drawing it back down through the tube. Again, sounds good to me.

And the coffee comes down, down, down. You know it’s ready to drink when you see the “turbulance” which basically looks like a low boil for a few seconds.

Remove the top grass bowl and place it in the handy dandy lid/stand. It’s ready!

Now pour and rejoice with singing. “Praise God from whom all blessings flow!”

Enjoy the lovely aroma. Take in the beautiful sight. Get your tastebuds ready for a delightful experience….

…and enjoy a perfect cup o’ joe in a sweet little teacup that makes you smile, like this one from Anthropologie. So cute, right?

UPDATE: the Urban Dictionary already includes the word “google” as a verb in all it’s forms (ie Googled, Googling). Now to get it into Webster…. bwahahahah

Oh Tommy. Is there any way to top the awkwardness of this OLAN MILLS album cover? Can the feathered hair get more glorious? Or the mustache more pervy? Yes. Yes they can.

`

(check out the exciting tamborine playing at about 2:38. She can hardly contain herself!)

“uninhibited drum rhythms!” Nothing ever inhibits 6-arm-Fran or her winning personality.

This is what happened to MR. TUMNUS after summer came back. Too much sun and junk food.

I’ve had that dream…creepy.

I was going to make a crack about his incomparable reflection, but then I went to HIS WEBSITE and I’m afraid he may put out a hit on me. Organize crime much?

When we moved into our house I started a habit of hanging our conference lanyards and badges on the door handle in J’s studio. Recently I realized there were way too many. So many that they starting popping off the handle.

So tonight I decided to do something about it.

I was shocked, no, scared at how many badges we’ve collected over the last six years. I mean, I don’t even remember going to all of these conferences!

Do you know how many badges that is? 45. FORTY-FIVE. Cuarenta y cinco. Really? I’ve been spending the last hour or so trying to figure out why I kept them. Ok, so I also watched 24, but I have been wondering. I think my frugal inner voice is on full display here. I would rather collect 45 lanyards and awkwardly hang them on a door handle than throw them away.

This has been a good exercise for me. I feel like I’ve learned something about myself and I can grow through this. Maybe I’ve turned over a new leaf. A less cluttered leaf. A lanyard free leaf.

Or maybe I just got tired of picking them up off the floor. It’s good to know, at least, that I’m not alone.

Anyone need some lanyards? I’ve got roughly 45 available for free!

Ah the beautiful city of San Fernando (cue peaceful orchestra), both historic and visionary. Two and a half square miles of suburban bliss.

J and I have lived in this colorful community for going on 6 years now. There are several nice things about living here… like the Decorative Arch, the neighborhood pets, the local students and of course, the music and the other music.  Recently though, we’ve noticed another fun part of living here – discovering what we like to call “San Fernando Treats”. Most often these treats are in the form of signs, ads and photos, but there are also some food treats – like the Asian (not so) Tasty and Gordo’s Taco Stand. I decided it was high time I start blogging about these local delights. They always bring a smile to my face…why not bring one to yours?!

Let’s start with the local swap meet. I often drive by the swap meet lot on my way to work, but I never paid attention to the sign until just the other day.

Now, I think I know what’s happening here. It’s much faster and cheaper to just have a banner printed that says “OPEN THURSDAYS” than to hire the sign maker to come out and repaint the old sign to say “EVERYDAY BUT MON & WED.”  But it still made me smile.

One of these days I’m going to make my way over there on a Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, with my Spanish/English dictionary in hand, and check out the local wares. That’ll be a fun blog post…

AWKWARD ALBUM ART

Yes, the world of Awkward Album Art is an inexhaustible fount of dumb chills. If you’ve followed YAB for a while, you know that I’ve already featured some 500 bad covers (here, here, and here). I thought for sure I had run out of material. But no! The awkwardness lives on and keeps recreating itself!

Let’s see…where to start.  How about the backdrop.  If you want a picture in a field with a barn, why not go out to a field with a barn and take a picture? Honestly, who were we kidding with scenic backdrops? Let me demonstrate

See? Scenic Backdrops=awkward.

Now back to the cover. None of those guys should be wearing stretchy, ribbed turtle necks with v-neck vests. Really. And the plaid pants? I can’t…. I just can’t.

I feel exactly like that little kid. That is one scary clowns. Clowns are freaky anyway, but that one? *shudder*

Oh Germart. How I’m hoping this is a joke.

“Jimmy wants your RESPECT. Jimmy needs your RESPECT. Jimmy demands your RESPECT.”

Some people just weren’t meant for album covers. Am I right? And also, what’s with the superfluous quotation marks?

Someone just told them that their math is off.

The look on the first guy’s face makes me think this was an impromptu photo session and that maybe he’s not even part of the group.

I realize that may be a bit hard to read. Let me type it out for you.

“Now Offering BURRITOS:
-Mild: Beef and Potato
-Mild: Beef and Bean
-Mild: Bean and Cheese

Ask your barista to heat one up for you!

With meat: $2.70
Without meat: $2.35″

This sign was at the coffee shop at our local Great Indoors. There are a few funny things about this coffee shop. First, the coffee shop used to be a Starbucks…it’s now a Dazbog. That’s a Russian coffee shop. I don’t know what Dazbog means. Any Russian friends out there that can help me out?

I’m a fan of Russian culture – language, music, matryoshka dolls. I know it’s possible to get decent coffee in Russia. I’ve had it. But if you were to ask me what countries are known for good espresso I would answer Italy, France, possibly Spain. I’d definitely think of Seattle even though its not a country. But Russia? Probably not.

But I’m getting derailed here. Where was I? Right, Dazbog.

Second, burritos in a coffee shop? Really? Furthermore, burritos in a Russian coffee shop? I’m just having some trouble with that.

Third, I’m not sure about you, but I have never had a meat and potato burrito. I’m starting to feel my gag reflex going thinking about it.

Fourth, if all of your options are mild, is it really necessary to put “mild:” before each one?

Fifth and finally, I think this phrase speaks for itself. “Ask your barista to heat one up for you!”

That says “Potty Patch.” Have you seen the infomercials for it?

No?

Now’s your chance.

I’ve spent many hours at the dog park over the years, but I have never seen dogs pee that many times in one minute 44 seconds. I don’t know if I’ll ever be the same.

I’d like to call your attention to about 0:30 where the voiceover dude says “the elevated turf drains into the base, keeping it odor-free!”

So let me get this straight. The turf stays odor-free because it drains into the base. Ok. What about the base? I’m guessing that after a full day of doggie drippings there would be an ominous cloud of offensive odor filling your entire house. BORK

Now, to be completely honest, I could see how this could actually be a useful tool during house training for a puppy. But a grown dog like this?

Really? Maybe I’m too used to my backyard and the mild California weather to truly appreciate the practicality of such a thing.

Nah. It’s just gross.