Banana Cream Pie Smoothie

I had to post this so I wouldn't forget it:

• 3 small bananas (or 2 large)  Make sure they're really ripe, with some brown speckles on them (or at LEAST no sign of green anywhere).  Ripe bananas make all the difference! 
• 2 ripe pears (Bosc are my favorite, they're still in season kinda/sorta, and they thicken this like pudding).
• 3 Cuties (those easy-peel manadarin/clementine oranges).  You could probably substitute one regualr orange if you don't have these.
• 1 one-hand handful of almonds
• 2 Tablespoon scoops of unsweetened shredded coconut
• 40 drops Stevita liquid stevia (or about 30-35 drops KAL or Sweet Leaf liquid)
• ~1 C. rice milk (optional)
• 6-8 ice cubes (made with filtered water)
  

I put all of the above (minus peels! lol) in the Vita-Mix, and then add water until the water line is about 3/4 of the way to the top.  Walk it up to high and blend until creamy and smooth (less than a minute, but it seems like a long time when it's going that fast!).

My older daughter, the pickiest smoothie drinker ever, says this is better than her favorite pink smoothies, which is seriously high praise!

These could also be made in a regular blender--it would just take a little more careful blending order and longer blending time.

Have a great Friday!!!

It is happening here.

Jenni asked what the big deal was that I spoke of in an earlier post.  Long story short, there was a law passed, called the CPSIA (Children's Product Safety Improvement Act), monstrously voluminous and wide-sweeping.  It was passed quickly (too quickly for most congressfolk or senators to actually read it), and affects everyone and everything, basically. 

Read this, for example.  

And please tell me if you see a substantive difference between burning books and quietly forcing them to be hauled to a dumpter.  I can't see one, and it's chilling.

(Please do go on and read the comments.  There's more info down there . . . )

Please Bear With Me

I started fiddling with the template, and it's downright ugly right now.  Hope to have it fixed soon.  Please don't be frightened! ;o)

To stave off boredom for you, I did put something new in the sidebar . . .

Hallelujah

It's not over yet, but we've been granted a reprieve.

And after reading part of the information after the voting section, I'm about to get rid of nearly ALL plastic toys.  (Legos must stay--there would be mutiny here if I tried to get rid of them.)

So, it's looking like I'll be sewing, knitting, and crocheting a LOT of toys in the near future. lol

Then again, Almanzo Wilder didn't have any toys at age 9.  He was too busy learning how to live a real life.  Hmmmm.

Simplicity's Power

Artistry's test lies not in the materials, but in the artist.

My Handspun

Many thanks to sgeddes, whose reporting example is so easy to follow. I just wish my last name was as easy to turn into a great brand name. ;o)

From The Passionate Mind

This was my first attempt at Navajo plying, and there are a few flaws. Overall, though, it's decently balanced and doesn't have too many open loops where the three strands of the chain weren't the same length. ;o)

From The Passionate Mind

I was too excited to wait to take pictures during the day, so you've got to suffer through with ambient living room light for this post. Never fear, though . . . a light box is in the works.

From The Passionate Mind

EastSide* Handspun

Fiber Content: 100% Merino
Fiber Source: Sheepish Creations
Colorway: Unknown.
Yardage: ??? yards
Weight: 28 grams/1 oz
WPI: ???
Notes: 3-ply, Navajo plied, spun from the fold.

(*It's a play on one of my names.)

Wednesday Short List

One load of laundry.
Have kids put away their own.
Put crib & changing table on Craigslist.

Enough.

I believe I'm beginning to really understand that I have "enough".

I excitedly ordered The Power of Less, excited to see what secrets Leo had for the rest of us . . . what incredible breakthrough he found that allowed him to apply the principles of minimalism and common-sense which so transformed his life. What epiphany so empowered him. I was rather surprised to find my excitement was unnecessary.

There is no secret.

Leo took much of the same information I already know, and transformed his life. Doh. I already know everything in that book.

That means it's time to knuckle down and just do it. Here goes.

P.S.) The Short Lists are working great--when I remember to do them, and write them down. I think I need to start blogging them daily.

The Way to Live this Week

Some thoughts to ponder, from an old email foward:

92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is
fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his
hair fashionably coifed and shaved perfectly applied,
even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing
home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away,
making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting
patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled
sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I
provided a visual description of his tiny room,
including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his
window.

"I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an
eight-year-old having just been presented with a new
puppy.

"Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait."

"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he
replied.

"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.
Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how
the furniture is arranged .. it's how I arrange my
mind. I already decided to love it "It's a decision I
make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I
can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I
have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or
get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll
focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've
stored away. Just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what
you've put in.

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of
happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you
for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still
depositing."

Remember the five simple
rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.

2. Free your mind from worries.

3. Live simply.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less.


Today's short list:

Do laundry with the kids.
Mark spots on wall to hang family pictures.
Make good food.

Total Rant: On good error-handling in shipped code.

Could someone, somewhere, PUHLEASE make it easy on me when I hit a bug, for heaven's sake?

Is it my responsibility, as a user, to Google the error code, sleuth through overburdened help & FAQ forums, post a question, wait for an answer, and otherwise spend minutes or hours of my precious and scarce time on a problem that's not mine to fix?

Ravelry has it right. When there's a problem, a friendly little page appears containing Bob, the official Rav mascot, that says (paraphrased, as I can't find an error right now to quote it):

Doh! We've been notified, and we'll fix this as fast as we can. Thanks!

Casey (the well-loved code monkey behind the wonder that is Ravelry) is automatically emailed each and every time there's a problem. Knowing something of Casey's coding practices and design ethics, I rest assured that those automatic emails contain all of the info necessary for him to fix the problem.

I'm so terribly tired of bug handling being left to the end user. It's time for the code guys (I'm talking to you, Blogger) to take responsibility and automate the process so the rest of us aren't left without what we need from the service/product, and a burden to go figure it out ourselves.