Recipes

The other day I was thinking about how good it is, the taste of melted ice cream in soda, and it hit me: you don't need to make an ice cream soda to do it. Here is a low-fat, low-calorie alternative to soda that is aspartame and saccharin free:

Serves 2:
to each glass:

• Add 2 Tbsp. half-&-half
• Add 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Add ice
• add 1/2 a can of unflavored seltzer.

It helps if you pour the seltzer down the size of the glass, like a beer, because it will foam.

For those of you who wince at the very words "half-&-half," I provide my Nutrition Facts, with comparison to a 12oz Coke:

	Cream Frizz	Coke
Calories	40	140
Fat	3g 9%	0g
Sat. Fat	2g 10%	0g
Trans Fat	0g	0g
Cholestrol	15mg 4%	0mg
Sodium	25mg 1%	45mg 2%
Carbs	1g 1%	39g 13%
Sugar	1g	39g
Protein	1g	0g
Calcium	4%	0%

Apart from the fat, I win. I wouldn't drink ten of these a day, but on the whole I call them healthy enough.

Isabelle's Snowman Extravaganza

Even Carrie doesn't believe me now about the number of snowmen I counted in the back yard, so here is my photo documentation.



#2 is a baby snowman held in the Mommy snowman's arms. #5 is sledding, so deliberately on the ground.


#5 was originally holding a shovel. He dropped it overnight before I got this closeup shot.


I don't remember why #3 was built on the ground. This is a close-up of my original aerial photo, as #1 was gone by the time I took a closer shot.




Count them up and tell me if I'm lying:

• 5 in the family set
• 5 in the garden gang
• 4 individuals
• 3 in the "hidden set" by the pine tree.

The final number is... 17.

For the record, when Isabelle came in from this work, she was so tired and cold she was crying. Hot chocolate and cuddles cured that, though, and now she's happily telling everyone how she got a little hypothermia.

ebook and paper book compared

I really like my Nook. But it is astonishing what a bad deal it is:

Ebook	Paper Books
c. $12.00	c. $15.00
Not returnable. The moment you click "Confirm purchase" your stuck with it.	Returnable
Can't resell	Can resell, for $2-8. Final price $7-13
Can't buy used	Can buy used, for $2-8, and then resell again, perhaps breaking even.
Can loan out once, if friend has same device	Can loan or give away freely
Depends on technology. Can be lost by tech failures or changing formats	Lasts centuries with reasonable care.

The principle advantage, as I can see it, is that an ebook doesn't take up space on your bookshelf, and you don't have to wait for it to come in the mail. It's fun to be cutting edge, but, really...

Of course, almost ALL of the disadvantages of ebooks are CREATED by the publisher.

Oh, yeah, that reminds me of the BIGGEST advantage of ebooks: you don't have to rely on major publishers to create them!

Cosmos Continued

So I asked Isabelle how far she had gotten into "A Brief History of Time," and she gave me that stern look little kids sometimes have for adults who obviously don't know what they are talking about and said, "Dad. I'm not going to read the whole thing."

Isabelle and the Cosmos

Isabelle asked if we had any books on the beginning of the universe (apart from my Story of Everything, which she has read many times). I said all we had was Stephen Hawking's "Brief History of Time," which was "very complicated, and even Daddy doesn't quite get it."

Tonight I noticed she had the book out. "I haven't met any words I don't know yet," she said.

"How far did you get?"

"They were just talking about how some people think the earth is round and flies through space, and some think it's flat with a lot of tortoises."

Hmm. Yes, I think I remember the tortoise.

She continues: "Then it just asks a lot of questions."

"Like what?"

"Like how did the universe begin, and was it going to end."

Okay, not a detailed critique, but I'm damned if she doesn't have the concept down. If she can tell me about the "arrows of time" next week I'm going to lose my teeth.

Art, Emergencies, and Money

So Isabelle once again has the sign on the door:

Artist at work
do not disturb
(inless an amgincy)

You can see her spelling is improving, though still has a way to go. I knocked on the door.

"Daddy? Is this an emergency?"

"Yes," I said. "Your friend is going to be here in ten minutes and you need to get dressed." Okay, so I stretched the definition of "emergency," but she was okay with it. Then she showed me her fine drawings, and informed me:

"If you buy three at full price, you get a coupon for a free drawing."

Somehow I think I'm raising a little Yankee trader.

I'll try to post some of the creations, once I get the scanner and computer talking to each other.

Best Audiobooks

IHMO, these are really great audiobooks. A combination of a great story with great storytelling.

In no particular order:

• The Time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger) Uses 2 narrators: Henry and Claire. I could hear what they look like!
• Bloody Jack series (L. A. Meyer) Rollicking fun. The narrator's voice changes as Jackie becomes more sophisticated.
• Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword (Tee Morris) A dwarven warrior becomes a PI in Al Capone's Chicago. Hilarious, available free at podiobooks.com. (Full Cast)
  
• Ship Breakers (Paulo Bacigalupi) A post-apocalypse, global-warming style. Gritty, very real (although a little fantastic).
  
• Paper Towns (John Green). A young-adult coming-of-age story.
  
• Changeling (Kristin Cashore) Great characters and strong plotting make this otherwise standard fantasy story a great listen. (Full Cast)
  

My Little Mozart

So we've been worried that Isabelle's class isn't quite where she is in the reading department. Carrie called the teacher, who said they'd just given a reading assessment to the kids, and Isabelle was at the top of the entire first grade. How far at the top? Well, they give this same test at the END of first grade, and most kids score between 12 and 18. Isabelle, at the BEGINNING of first grade, scored 20.

Her math is at least in the neighborhood of the other kids.

The school is going to make a special reading group with Isabelle and the only other first grader who has a hope of keeping up with her, to make sure she gets challenged. Good solution.

Now I'd better post this, because if Isabelle looks over my shoulder, she will of course read this, and it's a little early for her to see herself standing out quite that far.

The Toothfairy, Magic, and Sleight of Hand

With great fanfare, Isabelle lost another tooth: the first upper incisor. (Lopsided grin!) She put the tooth under her pillow, I got ready for my job interview the next morning, made sure things were ready for her first day at camp.

I'm up at the crack of dawn the next morning, getting on my tie, and Isabelle says, "Daddy, don't make so much noise! The toothfairy hasn't come yet, and if she hears you she won't come."

<OH MY GOD I FORGOT >

"Really?" I say. "Let me see." She shows me the tooth under her pillow. "Well, go back to sleep, she must be running late."

Then I grab the money, come back, "Let me give you a kiss," and with a little stealth and sleight-of-hand, the tooth fairy has come.

Later that day, Isabelle tells me, "You know there has to be magic in the world, Daddy. Because the tooth fairy got under my pillow and I didn't even feel it!"

Isabelle's First Movie

How's this for a rainy day activity? I swear I had nothing to do with the creative aspects of the film, just the technical rendering.

Green Lawn Mower

So, my bro-in-law Nathan's lawn mower died, which is a problem, because I always borrowed it. Thinking that he was likely to muddle along or borrow his neighbors, I bought a new one. A cordless electric. I am in love. Comparing it to the previous gas mower (not a very old one):

• Power: toss-up. I ran it through 10" wet grass and it did a great job. If it had a few more moments of "woah, too much" than the gas, it made up for it by never stalling.
• Noise: no contest. It sounds like a fan. I can hear Isabelle talking to me in a normal voice, whereas with the gas, if Carrie screamed at the top of her lungs, I got a vague impression that maybe there had been a sound.
• Smell: no contest. All I smell is cut grass.
• Weight: at 77#, it's a little heavier. But it's well balanced and easily maneuvered, and, if I need to actually pick the darn thing up, I pop out the battery, and then it's lighter than the gas.
• Endurance: here the gas probably wins with a big yard. Mine's a 0.1 acre, and it had no trouble. Other have mowed much more, but if you have acres, you might need to mow half now and half tomorrow.
  
• Bonus: no gas can. Never leaks gas. Never have to run for gas. No oil. No spark plug to repair.

Bicycle Adventures

I took Isabelle out for her first ride on her bicycle. Her brilliant father bought her a five-speed, which he can't put training wheels on. But we gave it a try! I warned her, "Nobody learns to ride a bike with falling off and getting hurt once."

Off we went. After half an hour she had more directional control, and a little bit of balance. Woopee. Then just as we decided we were done for the day, the inevitable spill happened.

Isabelle barely scratched her knee. Her father, however, in his effort to keep her upright, tripped over her bike and caught all his weight with his outstretched thumb. I don't think I broke it, but I haven't been in this much pain since I don't know when--probably the time I drove a splinter the size of half a toothpick up under my thumb nail.

Isabelle composed a poem for me:

Bikes crashing,
Babies flying,
Daddies crying.