My Afflation

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Jack is such a flirt , a photo by Nannerlady on Flickr. Not that I can blame him. More later after I'm back in the right time zone.

Flesh and Bone by Jefferson Bass My rating: 5 of 5 stars After finishing Ghost Story (review forth-coming, maybe) I was in need of a Dresden break before I jumped into Cold Days . None of the fantasy or sci-fi on my list really grabbed my attention, so back to murder mysteries I went. I am liking the writing style(s) of Jefferson Bass much better than Kathy Reichs (but I still binge on Bones marathons). Spoiler I can't believe they killed off a main character so soon!! I had to make sure I wasn't reading A Game of Thrones . I was happy to see that Bass and Miranda had made up and that Miranda wasn't all psycho-girlfriend about Bass' blooming love life. The twist ... I saw coming and yet I didn't. Let's just say that the circumstantial evidence was quite convincing, except that you know that he didn't do it, so as a reader you already have doubt and start looking for alternative explanations. Like most of my favorite books of all genres, this

Tomorrow I will be walking in my first 5K with +United Way of Greater Los Angeles . I'm walking because being homeless sucks, whether you are living on the streets, crashing with friends, or living in your car, a motel, or hostel because you have no where else to go. I know, you're probably thinking "No shit, Captain Obvious." Being homeless with kids is even worse . It's a reality I have lived through and a fear I constantly have with being a contractor. There is nothing scarier than living paycheck-to-paycheck and having your contract and your lease end at the same time. Or having an uncaring landlord who doesn't care that your next gig will start in three weeks and you'll be able to get caught up then when rent is due last week. I'm walking to help end that fear and uncertainty for at least one family. By the way, you can still donate. Just click right here .   Double Your Money! Fundraise or donate $100 or more and it will be matched, d

Some of my friends may remember this night. circa 1998 Pin It

What? Paleo and pasta in the same sentence? What trickery is this???  It's fall and I  instinctively  just want to carb up. Luckily for me, PaleoOMG seems to be the same way. And Civilized Caveman (and now these two are collaborating on a cookbook!!! Sign me up, I will stand in line for this.) OK , not really.  Sunday : Turkey and Spinach Stuffed Sweet Potatoes  - very quick, easy and tasty Monday : Grilled chicken with mixed veggies from Fresh & Easy (garlic ranch butter ... nom!) Tuesday : Cajun Salmon with Asparagus with Citrus Dressing Recipe Wednesday : Chicken Bacon Alfredo and broccoli Thursday : Tilapia with Green Beans Friday : Paleo Spaghetti  but using spaghetti squash instead of zucchini Saturday : leftovers or crock-pot beef stew if I can find the lid to my crock-pot (sloppy packing this past summer). I'm walking the United Way Homewalk 5K  that morning and will want something tasty to warm me up. Menu Plan Monday hosted by: Pin It

Apparently I always look tense these days, even when I am enjoying myself. Pin It

Call me vain, but I hate the gray. I am by no means ready to "grow old gracefully". I'm not even middle-aged yet! When I got my locs installed they told me I should either color right before installation or I would have to wait a year. A year! I thought I could stick it out, I didn't want any chemicals on my hair before installation (at this point henna hadn't even crossed my radar). Back in July I had colored dark brown and within a month my roots were bad. Tri-colored hair and I had colored right after I took my braids out! I've been artfully doing a side-part to hide the worst of it. But at my two-month tightening my loctitian made a random comment about the colors in my hair. The colors in my hair aren't nearly as pretty as the background. Last week I contacted my loctitian and didn't exactly beg, but was possibly persuasive enough that she gave me the go-ahead to use henna a week before my re-ti ( CAUTION!!!! This is not recommended

I am so ready to relax Pin It

Thank you so much for sticking around. The last two months of real life have been somewhat of a emotional  roller-coaster  and I am just now getting my creative mojo back. My motivation for writing is struggling to keep up, but I figure if I keep creating drafts and taking pictures, it will all come together soon. So guess what that means for you all? It means your RSS feeds are going to go bonkers. I have been menu-planning, taking photos, pouring out my heart and soul, and well, I'll be polishing and publishing as much as possible over the next few weeks. That is, if I don't get cold feet about baring my soul. There are so many more of you now and jot the 8-10 friends and family that I started this blog for ... wow, over a decade ago.  And again, thank you for not abandoning me and coming back each week. I know you just come for the food, but I hope you'll stick around for the conversation. Hint: leave a comment

Boston Museum of Science Pin It

Autumn in Vermont Pinnacle Peak, Stowe, VT Read the short recap of the hike to get this shot here . More Photo Friday posts here Pin It

This week's Challenge: ' Heavenly' . Pin It

Ok, jumping on the bandwagon ... I can't believe it's been 5 years since I first took my daughter hiking. No wonder she's always nagging me to take her back out. Pin It

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I originally saw this on BuzzFeed  and followed the link to Isis the Scientist  and am adding my amplification. DNLee is amazingly articulate and SciAm should have backed her up or let her post stand rather than pull it. Here’s DNLee’s voice… ———————————————————————————– wachemshe hao hao kwangu mtapoa I got this wrap cloth from Tanzania. It’s a khanga. It was the first khanga I purchased while I was in Africa for my nearly 3 month stay for field research last year. Everyone giggled when they saw me wear it and then gave a nod to suggest, “Well, okay”. I later learned that it translates to  “Give trouble to others, but not me”.  I laughed, thinking how appropriate it was. I was never a trouble-starter as a kid and I’m no fan of drama, but I always took this 21st century ghetto proverb most seriously: Don’t start none. Won’t be none. For those not familiar with inner city anthropology – it is simply a variation of the Golden Rule. Be nice and respectful to me and I will do the same.

No really. It truly only takes about 30 minutes to throw these together with a potato masher and hand-mixing. That might be why I used to make them every Sunday when my son was much younger. I would make a double batch and we would have breakfast and snack for the week. Very handy for an overworked student/single-mom. Some things never change. Banana Bread Muffins Recipe by Annette Holland Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes Total time: 30 minutes Yield: 16 muffins or 1 loaf Ingredients 4-6 medium-large overripe bananas 3 eggs 1 cup oil 1 tablespoon vanilla 2 cups  unbleached wheat  flour 3/4 cup honey 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt Cooking Directions Heat oven to 350F. Grease muffin pan with olive oil or butter. Mix the bananas and the liquid ingredients together until the consistency of batter.

It's a windy day here in SoCal, with a touch of (un)seasonal crispness. Whenever the weather gets like this I want to get into my kitchen and bake away. My daughter has been asking for banana bread. There are five just waiting to be baked in the freezer. I think I will try traditional and the Paleo Chocolate Banana Bread as soon as I figure out where to buy coconut flour. Pin It Related articles 30 Minute Banana Bread Muffins

I'm up before the sun to post this. Literally. Sunrise isn't until 6:33 AM. But by then I should be dressed and making breakfast for my daughter, who wants to leave for school at 6:50. Whoever thought up the schedule for middle-schoolers obviously didn't take into account that they (and their parents) need more than five hours of sleep. Lately it's been working out that the weeks that I don't have access to a car are the weeks I have to be frugal. No access to a car means I have to carry the groceries home. I call it strength-training. This week's menu is based on the meats I still have in the freezer. It helps that I already have the most expensive items on hand. I was able to buy everything on the menu, plus lunch items for myself and my daughter for $85. My grocery bill hasn't been that low in a while! Sunday : Pecan-Crusted Chicken with Spinach Cranberry Salad Picky-eater approved Monday : Apple Chicken Sausage, kale (spinach) and (cauliflow

Opening day of Joy's 4th season of soccer was this past Saturday Pin It

Thank goodness for bright lipstick Pin It

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It's another one of those days when I swear I just gave birth , but here she is, 11 years later and entering 6th grade. Wasn't she just in kindergarten ? And why is 6th the beginning of middle school now? It should be the last year of elementary. Mom, you got me to school on time. I got this. You can go to work now. End of day results :  She claims she has three of the best teachers in the school (she likes her teachers and classmates, this is a bonus).  She got violin instead of Cadet Corps (thank goodness!) Math is soooooo basic , but I still had to double-check that she didn't miss any prime numbers and tomorrow's homework is composite numbers.  She made friends (she's an introvert at first, so this is important). I am grateful that there wasn't any sort of meltdown over not being able to go to school with her BFF's from elementary. And now that we have the rest of the school supply/clothing shopping out of the way I am going to pass