I'm not going to lie guys, this year was a little less eventful than the last few. 

Two years ago I spent all evening creating a hackintosh on my little netbook. It was frustrating but awesome once everything worked good.

Last year I spent a massive amount of time traversing the new continent in World of Warcraft on my newly created worgen druid. 

This year I was going to spend the evening upgrading and re-jailbreaking my ipod. But...I did that yesterday. Instead I took a nap with the cat, ate tons of Chinese food, did some shopping with Chris for a craft tomorrow, and in general hung out.

We rang in the new year like we usually do - hanging out together with our orange cat who was strangely fixated on the TV and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Chris and I both got off work early today, so really we had no excuse to not cook dinner...but neither of us really wanted to.

So out we went to snag a ton of Chinese food for me and a delicious pizza sub for him.
We spent much of the evening hanging out and even watched Return To Oz since Chris had never seen it (it's still awesome I think).

All the while I had my ipod touch plugged into my computer, updating to iOS 5.0.1. I've been holding out updating from 4.2.1 because my ipod is jailbroken and I didn't want to loose that functionality. Admittedly, I missed the bit where there's an untethered jailbreak for 5.0.1 that came out a bit so I apparently could have done this sooner. But I digress...

A long story short, the upgrade to the latest iOS went smoother than expected (much MUCH smoother than updating the non-jailbroken ipad) and the jailbreak itself took only a few minutes. Much less painful than when   I did this the first time around.

I've already downloaded some tweaks to the UI like 5 icons instead of 4 on the dock. Huzzah!

When Peppy was younger, she ate anything. She'd munch on the special Wysong ferret food I bought Cloud (even though he wouldn't) plus all manner of ferret treats and different types of ferret food. Seriously, she'd even follow in the footsteps of Atrix and eat dog food when she could get at it. She'd eat anything.

Over the last few years the local Pet Supplies Plus has more or less always been out of my preferred ferret food, Totally Ferret. So I've been buying her Marshall Pets and she's been eating it just fine. So imagine my delight in seeing a package of Totally Ferret Monday at the pet store? I snatched it as quickly as a I could and scampered home to refill her food dishes (since she was all but out).

Fast forward to a few days later and I noticed that the food in her dish wasn't going down. Odd.

The I noticed her digging around in her cage trying to get bits of old ferret food that had fallen where she couldn't get at it. But she had a full bowl of food...

Fast forward to last night and she had confirmed my suspicion. I counted out pieces of food, put the dish back, and watched as she ate none of it. None. She was turning her nose up at the food she used to eat and love and refusing to eat.

So today on lunch Chris picked me out and we snagged some of her normal food. I'm going to slowly mix it in and try to get her used to the Totally Ferret package I bought.

While I've heard and read that ferrets (or pets in general) can be finicky about switching food brands, I've never actually had any problems with any pet. In fact, she was the one ferret (in the seven I've had through the years) that ate every single thing offered to her. Atrix came close, but even he turned his nose up at Wysong.

Weird.

But at least she's eating and I've learned that tastes change and to never assume it's ok to switch brands.

On another note - Leki is really interested in her tasty expensive ferret food.

I've always liked the tree the Grand Rapids Public Library downtown puts up. Seems appropriate.


What better way to start a cold, sleety morning than with doughnuts?

I didn't do a whole lot yesterday, other than play with the pets and played some video games so today I needed to do something more productive. I've spent quite a chunk of the day reading (mostly while Chris has been doing laundry-themed activities) and another bit prepping food for the dehydrator.

I had both grapes and apples in the fridge waiting to be dehydrated so I set to blanching the grapes and slicing up some apples. As you can see, my slicing skills leave something to be desired. I'm terrible at making even thin slices. Still, these should be tasty and wonderful in any future recipes (such as granola) I toss them in.

Now I'm sort of wishing I'd put some blueberries in with them. Maybe tomorrow when there is more room....

Part of today I had carved out for some time in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The I was going to do other things, like cleaning and cooking. Little did I know that the small slice of time I was going to spend on this game would morph into half the afternoon thanks to being trapped under an adorable purring cat.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

(in other news everyone in the apartment had a lovely day including the ferret who scampered about in her toys like it was Christmas morning)

We got to my parent's house and there were a fair amount of sweets. Every time I visit there's a plethora of tasty goodness out that I don't remember being there when I lived there. Maybe I'm just remembering things wrong.

My brother made the rumballs this year, which meant they were extra strong. I ate quite a few even though I've never liked rumballs.
We don't eat a traditional Christmas meal when we get together. I loathe ham. Never liked it as a child. I don't remember if Jeff liked it but I do know everyone in my family does like lasagna, so we always have that. I can't really remember a time when we didn't have lasagna (although I'm sure there was one or two).
We hung out for quite a bit after lunch (or I suppose you could call it dinner, since it was the main meal of the day). My parent's have drastically changed the house since I moved out, so it's always weird to see no sea of blue carpet and new furniture.
Some things haven't changed though. My little brother is still younger than me.
We did presents early this year. Rather than waiting till it was dark my mom asked and both Jeff and I agreed - anytime is the right time for presents.
I ended up with a pretty awesome array of toe socks and a badass kitty hat. It. Is. Awesome.
Even Chris looks awesome in it.

All in all a fantastic day. Plus, I made out like a bandit with a gigantic cache of cookies and Chris has all kinds of flavored popcorn.

It's the day before Christmas eve and there are presents I need to wrap for tomorrow. I popped in A Fish Called Wanda and set to wrapping. Leki was very helpful, as you can see.
It took me the length of the movie (mostly because there was an orange sausage of fur that insisted all surfaces were for napping) but I finally wrapped the gifts for my family tomorrow. At the right angle it's almost like the presents are under our miniature tree. Almost.

Normally an old co-worker and I meet up once a week downtown for lunch at The Pita House. We both work downtown, so it's incredibly convenient, not to mention tasty.

Last week, however, we weren't able to get together. That meant a double helping of pitas this week. Pitas on Monday and pitas on Thursday.

I love this restaurant. Tasty and everyone who works there is awesome.

I have none.


Chris had a work party this evening over at Bistro Belle Vita, which my work is conveniently nearby.

So we headed out for some tasty food and good company. I'd met a few of his co-workers before and got to meet several more before then evening was over.

They're a nice crowd and I had a good time. The white elephant gifts were especially amusing.



I've been sucked into Skyrim for so long I had no time to think about the new Zelda game. The only reason I was even vaguely aware it was out was because several people on twitter kept mentioning its awesomeness.

So far all I can say is that I really don't like this character.

We got up bright and early on our second day in metro Detroit and prepared for Christmas celebrations at Chris's mom's house. As you can see, it was very festively decorated.

Scot, Chris's brother, was also there. He's always fun to talk to so it was good to see him.

Chris's best friend Chris lives in China, so they get together once a year around the holiday to hang out and catch up. That day is today.

I luck out that my parents live nearby, so I can swing by their house, steal tasty treats and catch up on things. Plus I get to see Dayzee, who is just such a sweet dog that loves cheese (which she is begging for above).

I also got to hang out with the two Chris' for a bit, which was cool, though I neglected to snap a photo of the amusing Chris from China. So here's a photo of the Chris you usually see.


And slightly earlier than last year, too.


We headed out after work to the mall. We wandered around a bit and didn't buy anything, like usual.

Once we got home I booted up some Skyrim (which I fear I am getting toward the end of) but the adorable call of a hyper ferret could not be ignoreed.

Look at those adorable teeth!


Is it a mitten because of winter or is it a mitten being used as a close approximation to the shape of our state (probably the former)?

Either way, it was tasty!

In celebration of my 1000th post, I present you with a ginger cat.

You're welcome, internets. Enjoy.

It's all the rage while gaming. At least in our house, with our cat...
Chris made an arty photo too. So serious!

I left the apartment pretty early this morning - 8:30 to be exact. I had one mission - grocery shopping for baking supplies.
I got a little after 9am and started baking. First up was Chocolate Cheesecake Candy Cane Bars. I haven't tried it yet (it has to cool for 8ish hours in the fridge) but I'm sure it's tasty. It's cheesecake and chocolate!
Next up were Chocolate Oat Cakes. I even bought the wheat germ for this recipe instead of ignoring or attempting to substitute like I usually do. Just to ensure these came out right. I didn't realize, however, that we were out of mini-muffin liners so I just skipped those.

Chris says they taste like healthy brownies and he didn't spit them out so I'm thinking they pass the test.
The third new dessert recipe I had a little more difficulty with. These Welsh cookies read like they'd be easy to make, but I apparently can't fry anything (which is how you make these). I ended up with a batch charred to a crisp, a batch just slightly overdone, and a batch slightly underdone.

Chris says they taste like fruity pancake cookies. I actually like them quite a bit.

I also finally discovered where the currants are in the grocery store and that they're apparently not something pasta-ish (which is kind of what I always thought). They're like mini-raisins and tasty in their own right.
Last but not least were the thin mints. It's been year since I've made these and I remember them being a pain in the ass. So far they're proving to be just that (mostly because I don't enjoy slicing off of logs of dough, which is what you have to do).

I'm also having a little issue with them being either over or under baked. I think that's because as the dough got warmer I was slicing it more unevenly. I realize they taste fine (I've tried them!) and that they'll look better once coated in chocolate.
I'd still rather make them than buy them from the Girl Scouts. After all, I was a Camp Fire kid.
I also rolled out some meatballs around lunchtime to pop in the crockpot for some delicious meatball ravioli for dinner. I did not make the ravioli, however. I really do want to try making pasta but I haven't gotten up the nerve to try it. Ideally I'd like the attachments to my Kitchenaid stand mixer, but without even ever trying to make pasta I can't justify that kind of money. What if I hate it? I do hate rolling out dough, after all...

You know I can see you, right?

It was a long day today and I wanted was Chinese food at the end of it. So when we were out and about after work picking up pet supplies we swung by and I snagged some Chinese food (enough to feed a small army and I will have leftovers for days) and Chris got a tasty pizza sub.

Leftover Chinese food is going to make playing Skyrim all day tomorrow so much easier.


I made some granola for the first time awhile back. I wasn't too impressed with it and it just kind of sat around for awhile not being eaten.

A week or so ago on a whim I bought some Greek yogurt to try for the first time. I did not like it. Not one bit. But I did have a few others left in the fridge and I was determined to eat them.

Enter crappy granola. I decided to try adding it to the yogurt. What's the worst that can happen?

Somehow the strange union of Greek yogurt and not-so-tasty home made granola was, indeed, tasty.

But I had so much granola and so little yogurt! So I bought some more yogurt....

Well today I used up the last of the granola, but I still have yogurt that need to be devoured.

So I made some more granola tonight.

This could end up being a vicious cycle...


It hasn't really snowed yet in Grand Rapids so I'm assuming this random patch of snow is a result of the newly setup ice rink at Rosa Parks Circle. At least that's where I hope the snow came from. Otherwise someone's snow come maker has gone crazy...


Peppy is 7 years old. In all that time I can count on one hand the number of times she's curled up and slept with someone. Usually she'll take a mini-nap on Chris (aka wait him out then run like a crazy kit). When I caught her passing out behind the chair (as she often does) I tossed her in a sleeping sack and put her on my lap. She hung out for quite awhile with me while I played Skyrim.

Eventually she woke back up, ran around like crazy, and passed out behind the couch.


Once she got up I took that opportunity to make som hot chocolate from scratch. I found a really tasty and intense recipe. It's good, but you can't drink it like powdered hot chocolate.it is thick and very chocolaty.


Don't. Want. To. Sleep.


Because the whole apartment smells like garlic. That's what I get for thinking tomato-garlic zucchini chips are a good idea.


*sigh*



Peppy, our adorable white little ferret, is 7 years old. Leki, the lovable sausage-shaped cat, is 3 1/2 years old. It takes about this age difference for the ferret really to slow down and hang out a bit with the cat.


And by a bit, I mean more like takes a swing, realizes the sausage-shaped cat won't play, and then dashes off into the distance for more adventure.


Ok, not exactly in the sky. More like the skyWALK. But you know, close enough, right?