GoBecky.net Geek. Gimp. Goddess.

Well, that’ll teach her.

Sydney has gotten much better as she's gotten older about begging for & stealing food. But she still will try to sneak a bite off a discarded plate from time to time. Like just now.

My dad left to do some errands, and before he went I had him make me up a plate of leftovers. It wound up being more than could eat. I pushed the plate back frm the edge of the desk, told Sydney to "leave it," and turned my back so I could work at my computer desk.

All was well for about 25 minutes... and then i heard that distinctive scarfscarfscarf noise that means she's trying to pull a fast one. I literally had to nudge her with my chair to get all 4 paws on the ground again, she was so determined.

In the end, she didn't actually get one of the remaining shrimp, but she lapped up a lot of sauce. And what sauce was that? Bonefish Grill's Bang Bang Shrimp, which is quite flavorful, but about ten second after you swallow, there's a rush of heat that's been known to make my nose run.

So now Sydney's walking around doing the doggy version of muttering under her breath and drinking lots of water. I think she learned her lesson!

Wrapping up the semester

I just have to say... I am so freaking proud of myself at the moment.

This semester, more than any other in grad school or as an undergrad, I stayed organized and on top of my work from the beginning in order to avoid that last-minute, procrastination-induced manic 96-hour writing binge the last week of the semester.

So even though I had an unexpected "pain event" that pretty much took me out of the game the secnd half of November, leaving me a little more tight on time than I would've preferred, I was able to switch back into school mode and still get things done on time.

I wrapped up one of the semester's largest projects yesterday (360-degree feedback), and I'm completely on target to finish everything else (even my incompletes from last fall) in a timely manner and without too much stress.

I know this might not seem like a big deal to some of you. But in the past, I've allowed my self-doubt to manifest as crippling procrastination. I haven't done that this time around. I've maintained confidence in my voice, in what I have to contribute to my learning community. And now I'm seeing the payoff.

It feels really good. /smile

New Christmas Music

I wrote the other day about what a big tradition Christmas music is in my family, and how I introduced my mom to the Amazon MP3 Store on Black Friday (to the delight of my credit card company). As I'm working this morning, listening to the new Christmas music we bought, I thought I'd share with you these new additions to our holiday collection. As usual, it's a good mix of the sublimely cheesy and sublimely beautiful. Enjoy!

And if you're into Christmas music half as much as my family, you really should check out Amazon's Holiday Music Store... they've got some really great stuff, way cheaper than physical CD's, and usually cheaper than iTunes.

[snip Amazon MP3 Large]B001HDX0YC[/snip]
[snip Amazon MP3 Large]B001IUMJXW[/snip] [Read more →]

Asked and Answered: Black Friday

Helen Boyd of en|Gender asked: Did any of you go shopping yesterday?

We didn't go out shopping yesterday... crowds suck, and prices will just drop as the holiday gets closer anyway. My parents did take advantage of Black Friday to go buy a new dishwasher on sale -- I guess that counts.

I actually did do some shopping online yesterday, but again, it was mostly stuff I need/was planning on getting anyway that I just put off till yesterday for some discounts. (Specifically? Curtain rods, sheets, and some wall frames.) I suspect there's going to be a lot of that this shopping season -- still an uptick in spending, but more practical than frivolous.

The only conspicuous consumerism I took part in yesterday was some music shopping on the Amazon MP3 store. They're running a somewhat irresistible promotion -- 50 albums for $5 each -- so I picked up a couple albums I otherwise would've passed over (Coldplay, R.E.M., and the Avett Brothers). In the process, I inadvertently introduced my mom to the Amazon music store, where she promptly indulged her Christmas music addiction.

Family traditions: Christmas music

My mom loves Christmas music. I mean, she loves Christmas music. It's a tradition in our family that when the clock strikes midnight on Thanksgiving, the music starts.

So here I offer you a taste of my family's traditional Christmas soundtrack. Some of these albums are, objectively, really pretty bad, but were hardwired into my brain as a kid; others are selections that I've picked up on my own over the years and have become part of the tradition. (I'll let you guess which ones fall into which category. /smile)

[snip Amazon MP3 Large]B00138F3Y6[/snip]
[snip Amazon MP3 Large]B00122FVMC[/snip]
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