Mell of a hess

My printer at work has been working slower than sludge. I mentioned it in our last meeting and the IT department said they would check it out. Honestly, I thought it was the printer and knew several other printers had been replaced and just hoped I was on the list to get a new one. Yeah, right. 

So, they hire a new student (a 17-year-old brand spankin' new high school graduate). He gets assigned to take care of my printer problems. He goes through everything he knows. Tries all sorts of things. Finally figures out it's my Windows XP that has issues. He offers to upgrade me to Windows 7 (which is supposed to happen eventually anyway). This will supposedly fix the problem. If not, he doesn't know what the deal is with my printer. 

Comforting, right? 

Today, we finally got down to the installation business. It doesn't work and doesn't work and doesn't work. Then, he realizes it's because he "forgot" to make sure certain things transferred. Finally, we get Windows 7 installed. Wahoo! NOT SO FAST. My ENTIRE drive with ALL my data is missing. Yeah. Missing. It's about 3:30 p.m., kid's all hot and bothered because he missed a school assignment deadline trying to take care of my machine, and now he has to come back tonight after his classes to figure out where my data went and get it re-installed. This would not scare me so much except that ALL of my files (letters, newsletters, my ENTIRE job) are on the drive that went "missing." 

Why can't we just switch to Macs?! I know they aren't without their problems, but this whole Windows monopoly is a complete and utter joke. My next laptop/computer (I swear) will be a Mac if I have any say about it whatsoever. What a mell of a hess!!! And you know what I mean by that ....

MLB - Washington Nationals

My second major league baseball game was on May 28, 2011. Shauna and I went Matt-and-Little-Man free to see the Washington Nationals vs. the San Diego Padres. The weather was much better and because the stadium is newer than Baltimore we got more of a breeze. We were still hot and sweaty, but we didn't lose our body weight in sweat. Bonus! 

I guess I'm a terrible fan because I don't remember the outcome of either game we attended. My goal was to soak in every bit of the all-American experience, and that's what we did! Shauna had a hot dog at the game; I had a cheeseburger. Yummy! 

The best part was when it started to rain and all the people with the expensive seats started running for cover. Shauna and I just sat in our seats under the overhang and continued watching the game. It wasn't raining enough that they called a delay, so the game continued while everyone was hovering somewhere else. Note to self: if you ever buy season tickets to a baseball game (or any other sport) buy them under the "covered" section if you can. Saves you from having to remember an umbrella and miss parts of the game if/when it rains. 

The coolest part of the entire game was before we even got there. We got off the metro, rode up a couple of escalators, and walked out right in front of the stadium. So cool! I wasn't expecting that at all and it kind of took me by surprise. Plus, we asked for "cheap seats" out of direct sunlight. We were looking at about $20/seat. Then, out of nowhere, the cashier says, "Or I can get you a deal where you get a seat and a hot dog and drink for $14." What?! You can't tell us that up front? Jeesh. So, that's what we did. Cheap seats with food and drink included. It was great! And it was just as much fun, if not more so, than the Baltimore game. 

Here are a few pictures I caught at the Washington Nationals game:

Did you spot the Washington Monument in the background? Amazing! That monument was everywhere! You could see it from so many places. And the real thing, up close, was majestic. (Pics of that coming soon.) Hooray for baseball! 

MLB - Baltimore Orioles

Ahem. I grew up in a baseball town and never played a day of baseball. The only games I watched were a few friends while growing up and then some games in high school (our team was pretty dang good). That's it. 

Until May 26th, 2011, that was my experience with baseball. Then, Shauna and Matt and their Little Man introduced me to the "real" thing. My first major league baseball experience was at Camden Yards with the Baltimore Orioles. In spite of our near death experience because of the heat, it was actually really fun! 

I'm not gonna lie, the field seemed so tiny. We were in the cheap seats, but I don't think that had much to do with it. On TV the field looks so big to me. In person, not so much. And I was surprised at how slow the game moved. Not that it was boring ... there was just a lot of time to talk and laugh and eat between things. It's that kind of stuff that really makes it a family game anyway, right? 

These are a few of the sights from my first major league baseball game. 

But the cutest pics were of this Little Man with his dad:

 

THAT is what makes baseball the all-American sport. I do believe this was Little Man's first major league baseball game as well, so we now have a common bond. Other than my dangly earrings, I mean. Don't you just want to pinch his cute little cheeks?!

It was MIGHTY hot that day in Baltimore. Little Man almost melted. By the time we got tickets and finally found our seats, this is what he looked like:

It's a miracle none of us died of heat stroke. I think we later learned it was 89 degrees with about 90% humidity. Yeah. HOT. So worth it though! The whole experience was all the better because of the great company.

Bake-A-Thon 2011

I'm not a journal keeper. When I don't write dates down there is no way to retrieve them. That said, I have no idea when our Bake-A-Thon 2011 occurred, but I think it was some time in March or April. Yeah, well over two months ago and I'm just getting around to posting pictures of the fun time we had. Forgive me? 

I spent a Saturday morning with my nephews, Ryan and Andrew, baking cookies. Andrew had baked with me before, but Ryan hadn't and he wanted to learn to bake cookies. So that's what we did. Andrew has Celiac disease, so we made him dozens of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. Ryan wanted chocolate chip cookies, too. What kid doesn't want chocolate chip cookies? I decided to make oatmeal cinnamon chip cookies because they would hold up well with whole wheat pastry flour and brown sugar rather than the enriched flour and white sugar. Yes, I felt less guilty eating more than one. 

It was kind of early when the boys got there. I'm not sure Ryan was awake yet. 

Andrew, on the other hand, takes after his dad and is raring to go in the morning. 

Andrew is wearing my Thanksgiving apron that my mom gave me last year. I'm all about coming away with clean clothes once the baking is done. Ryan didn't want to wear an apron. I didn't make him - because I'm cool like that. (Notice the wheat grinder in the background ... that same day I later made homemade whole wheat bread with the wheat I ground in that handy little thing. If I remember right, I killed the yeast, so it didn't turn out nice and light and fluffy, but it did taste good.) 

We didn't get a "before" shot of Andrew's cookies, mainly because he was so excited to get them on the pan and then eat two dozen of them. But they looked just like regular chocolate chip cookies when they came out of the oven. 

And for a kid who rarely gets to eat such a simple treat, I'm glad we got them in and out of the oven as fast as we did. He really loved them and wanted to share with anyone who walked through the door. Mom had one and said they tasted as close to a chocolate chip cookie as she's ever tasted. I was just glad he had a "normal" treat to eat! 

Ryan's cookies got "before" and "after" shots. (We had to do something while we waited for Andrew's cookies to bake. You can't "contaminate" the gluten-free stuff by using the same cookie sheets or spatulas.) Those that ate Ryan's cookies really liked them. 

I went for the whole wheat brown sugar oatmeal cinnamon chip cookies. They were also a big hit. If you've never tried cinnamon chips in your oatmeal cookies you are missing out on a really tasty treat. I don't think I can make oatmeal cookies with regular chocolate chips ever again. The cinnamon chips just add something extra tasty. 

I swear I got an "after" shot of these cookies, but can't find it. Maybe it got eaten along with the cookies. They didn't stick around long! 

The boys really loved helping. I think they both may have sneaked batter, but who's watching and who cares? As long as they had fun that's all that matters. 

There was also evidence of a lot of eating going on throughout this process as you can see by the chocolate covered lips. 

Somewhere in all of that, the boys had time for a game of chess and demanded (okay, they asked nicely) a picture of the chess board. 

What the boys want, the boys get. They each went home with a huge bag of cookies for them to share with their families. I think they had a good time. Just yesterday Ryan asked me when we were cooking next. This might have to be a regularly scheduled thing we do together. I think it's more than great that boys want to be in the kitchen cooking and baking and learning something new. They're going to need to know this stuff when they serve a mission and get married. I'm looking forward to our next cooking session!