Who Knew?

I made peanut brittle yesterday during lunch. I am afforded such luxuries because I live 1 mile from work and I'm required to take an hour lunch. However, it wasn't completely cooled by the time I had to leave, so I brought it in today.

Imagine my surprise that quite a bit of it is still left. My office loves candy. We have no fewer than four candy dishes in our small office, and whenever the candy dishes are full, you'll see most of us scrounging around in the early afternoon for our fix. Maybe they're sweeted out...yesterday we got donuts and I also made the best sugar cookies ever in the history of mankind (in my humble opinion), and those went very quickly.

I wonder what they'll do if I make Divinity. I like my officemates...they're like experimental pets.

This is What I was Born to Do...

Travel. We are in Amsterdam now. Wiley is downstairs having his university paid-for breakfast. Me, being somewhat of a cheapskate and not wanting to spend 10.50 Euros on something I probably won't like (and will grab a pastry later on in the morning), am hogging up all the available internet time I can before Wiley takes his computer.

Amsterdam is lovely. Yesterday the weather was perfect, and I got a lot of great shots. We would have some to show you today, except we were out until 1:15 in the morning with friends who are living in Germany and London, so we went straight to bed. Today, the rain has come back again, which makes me less than happy, as I don't want to cart around the big camera in its bag because I'm worried it's not waterproof. So I'm still deciding what to do. Dinner last night was at an Indonesian restaurant, built around rice. So we had bits of beef, chicken, pork, and there was lamb (but of course I didn't touch it). We met a very nice guy named Max, who looks like he's 12 even though he's almost 30.

I blend in more here than in Sarajevo, and there are just tons of tourists around. Every so often I'll hear a bit of English without any sort of British or Dutch accent.

So today I'll be meandering around, looking for an ornament for us. I was already lucky and found my H&M socks. They come in handy when the wind blows because it's blustery.

That's all for now, folks!

Embrace, People, Embrace

With my handy-dandy Google Reader, I am able to keep up to date with lots of blogs. Even though I no longer live in Kansas City, I still have strong ties to the area. And even though I haven't met so many of the bloggers (I made it to one blogger gathering in August of '07 before moving to Sarajevo), I keep a certain kinship to them.

So imagine my surprise and annoyance when I read some people's posts about the election. People who I consider acquaintances, even though we've never met face to face, are being taken to task for their choice in President. I get mad when I read that Logtar's friends haven't stopped ridiculing him for picking the "Yes, We Can" man. (In case you've been living in a cave, that man is now President-Elect.) Heather ends her post with "Yeah, I voted for Obama. What of it?"

It really shouldn't be this way, people. It's ok to have a difference in opinion, but for Cher's sake, keep it civil. There shouldn't have to be any defending of one's choice. In life, when one person loses, you still congratulate the other team for winning. It's called good sportsmanship, and it also applies off the field. Former coworkers did this in the 2004 election. One gal was severely ticked off that W. was re-elected, but with a smile on her face, she went to the reigning Republican gal on the floor and said, "Congratulations." Even though they were on opposite sides of the fence, they were still civil and courteous and were still able to talk politics without getting nasty or thinking negatively about the other person.

Is the new guy going to screw up? Sure. I know people are just salivating at the mouths waiting for the first slip-up, but, um, this is your country too, and like it or not, this is your president. You don't get to complain just because you can say, "I didn't vote for that guy". Feel free to complain about the situation, whatever it will be, but remember that your friends are your friends and treat them as such.

Yeah, Yeah, Vote.

This post is not about voting. I told you to do it already. No, this post will be short and sweet.

I was looking over Wiley's Amazon wish list today, and there are 9 other Wileys out there. Wouldn't it be kinda fun to get something that's on someone else's wish list and send it to them? Yeah, I know - you don't know this person. Why spend money on someone you don't know? But especially for someone who wanted more information on something, like trains or what to eat when you are allergic to everything, a book in the mail from some anonymous person just might brighten someone's day.

In other news, I found out today that an article on our wedding that was featured on a blog was published in the Chicago Sun-Times. Neato, huh?

Mondays Stink.

There was a fire at a pet shop today in Bloomington. The official tally hasn't come in, but some animals didn't make it out of the fire alive. Some puppies were saved, but no word on the cats. And from down the hall, I hear, "Cats are a dime a dozen." "Cats are mean." Blood beginning to boil, I called down to them that they're not mean and to keep quiet.

I know some people are "dog people", and some people are "cat people", some favor reptiles and others fish, but lives were lost here. Not human lives, but lives of animals that through no fault of their own, were extinguished. Does it matter so much what a creature is? Can't we focus on the fact that those little individual furry lives are gone, be they reptile (so much for fur), feline, or rodent? Yes, there are many animals in the world. Lots of cats, lots of dogs, lots of birds, even chinchillas, and sure, other animals will fill those spaces should the pet shop remodel and reopen. But it's a little insensitive to say that it doesn't matter that a cat is dead and to save all the dogs because their lives mean more. That's bullshit.