atinygoat

I appreciate this!

I’ve consulted the interwebs as well, but am always looking for recommendations. 2 weeks ago

My doctor’s office gave me this book after my initial visit. A nice gesture, I suppose, but I’m not sure how worthwhile a read it is.

I skimmed parts and flipped through other sections. It’s not well written, and offered up very little new (to me) information. I’m not a fan.

If I hadn’t received this book for free, I wouldn’t have bothered with it at all.

Can any of you recommend any particularly good or helpful books on pregnancy and childbirth? 2 weeks ago

I love Erik Larson’s work, and this book was no exception.

I enjoyed how thoroughly this (and all of his work) book was researched, and as I have traveled to Berlin, I also liked being able to picture much of what he described.

Reading about the lives of Ambassador Dodd and his family in pre-WWII Germany added another layer to the knowledge I already possess about this region and time period, and I am better for having read this. 2 weeks ago

It’s about even with the bottom of my rib cage, and I really do think it’s time to say goodbye.

My brother is getting married in two months, and I’ll be back in Chicago for his wedding. I’m thinking that the day after his wedding, I’ll go see Erin and ask her to transform my long wavy locks into something more like this. And then donate the chopped hair, of course.

I’ve learned to like having long hair, but it’d be fun to try something new. That and it’s hair, so I’m pretty confident it would grow back eventually. 3 weeks ago

The Husband and I are headed to first Mexico City, and then on to Buenos Aires in about three weeks.

And thanks to the fact that he has a few meetings while there, and he has accumulated mad airline miles, we only have to shell out about $200 for the taxes on my ticket; his ticket and all lodging are taken care of.

I’m not sure if I’m more excited to be traveling south of the equator or to be taking a week’s vacation for very little money. Being married to a man who travels for work 30-40% of the time has some nice perks. 4 weeks ago

Does life get any better?

I hope your test went well and that you are enjoying your linguistics course. And have fun with your flying monkey! 1 month ago

I teach university-level ESL.

Many people from my program also teach some level of ESL or EFL, and another handful teach a language other than English. 1 month ago

When we moved into our apartment here in TN, we decided to spring for a new vacuum cleaner.

When living in The Cave, we swept and used a handheld vacuum as needed, but our current place is about 2.5 times the size of The Cave, and half of the space is carpeted.

After doing some research, we opted for The Shark Navigator Lift-Away, and even after having had it for months and after using it weekly, my husband and I still talk about what a great purchase this was.

I’m pleased with the product and our choice in purchasing it, but what I find to be extremely satisfying (and somewhat disgusting) is how much crap gets vacuumed up every week. I love being able to see all the nasty dusty bits and to empty it out after one apartment-wide use. 1 month ago

Both books were included in the copy that I picked up a few weeks ago, and so I quickly plowed through this, the second book. It was new to me, and I’m glad I read it. Spiegelman did a nice job with his father’s story.

I have a Saudi student who is very interested in the human side of WWII, and specifically with the Holocaust. We’ve got our spring break this week, and so I’ve lent him the book in hopes that he will spend time reading in English and that he will enjoy reading it as much as I did.. even if I spent part of our bus ride sobbing because certain parts are just too much. 2 months ago

I love graphic novels, and I am compelled to read memoirs of Holocaust survivors.

I had read this before, a few years ago, and when I finished, I donated the book to the library of the university I was teaching at during that time because they had so few English-language books.

A few weekends ago, I was on a field trip with some of our ESL students in St. Louis, and I popped into a book store. I saw a copy of Maus + Maus 2 and had to buy it.

Despite the fact that I have been working entirely too much, I found time to read this. I think that 4 hour bus ride home had something to do with it..

This is a great read, and I particularly love the formatting. 2 months ago

And it turned out fine. It has happened to lots of us, and while I can’t speak to your scholarship, admission boards likely encounter this a lot.

If someone felt you worthy enough to award you a full scholarship, I’m sure you’re worthy enough to keep despite having a less-than-stellar academic track record.

And if you get denied, appeal it and provide anything and everything you can think of as proof of why you are deserving of the scholarship.

Good luck and keep us posted! 2 months ago

I had been dreading this day for months. She stopped developing last summer, and I miscarried in August. And not a day has passed that I haven’t thought about her or her due date.

I’m feeling a lot more numb and empty than I thought I’d be, but I suppose that is for the best.

I had known how incredibly, painfully common miscarriages are, but I always thought they are something that happens to other people. And I wildly underestimated how painful, physically and emotionally, they are, and just how much they can shake up your little life.

Looks like it’ll be a while longer yet until I can mark this goal off. 3 months ago

I recently discovered Brooke Candy, and can’t get enough of her. I found Grimes through Brooke Candy, and really enjoyed this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FH-q0I1fJY 4 months ago

Polish is such a hard language to learn!

I lived in Poland for a year and worked with a tutor every week and was still only able to make a small dent in the language.

Good luck to you with this, or should I say, powodzenia! 4 months ago

What language(s) will you study? Do you already have some foreign language under your belt?

Good luck to you! 4 months ago

I came across this recipe on pinterest yesterday and had everything on hand, so I decided to try it out for dinner tonight.

I served it with a few slices of raw onion on onion rolls, which I ordinarily love, and paired it with green beans.

I think the flavor was good and the texture was decent, but next time, I’d use a sturdier bread for contrast. I also may try this with faux chicken strips to see which I like better.

http://tofu-n-sproutz.blogspot.com/2012/08/pulled-mushroom-sandwiches.html 4 months ago

On New Year’s Eve, I made my final payment for the last of my ecsi.net-managed loans.

This means I’ve got an additional $136.00 a month to throw at my remaining loans.

I like clearing out one whole company, but I still feel like I’m getting nowhere with this. Easily 1/3 to 1/2 of my monthly salary goes to student loan payments, and I’m barely making a dent.

I love my career and my current job, and I definitely required the degrees I have to get here, but having so much debt makes my head swim. 4 months ago

Part of me wishes I would have waited to start this series until all of the books had been written and published.

I enjoyed this segment of the series, and now I’ll just have to wait to finish it out. 4 months ago

I made one of these last summer before we left Poland. By the time we got settled into our temporary housing in Canada, one of my cats had destroyed it.

I think the problem was the shoddy hand stitching.

As soon as I get my sewing machine fixed, I’ll be trying this again. 4 months ago

My husband has mentioned that he wishes he could have fried chicken.

Living in the South, this should be an easy thing to accomplish, right? Well.. he only eats meat that was produced with as little suffering as possible, and so, heading over to the nearest KFC or diner isn’t going to cut it.

We buy our eggs from a local farmer because we appreciate the life they give their chickens, and it’s nice to know the people who make our food. They treat their chickens well, and we support them for doing so. And we get tastier, more vibrant-looking eggs out of this arrangement than we would if we bought the cage-free, vegetarian eggs at the grocery store.

We went out to the farm today to pick up some eggs, and ended up leaving with a pound of chicken that they had raised and slaughtered, and I’m going to fry it up for my husband for dinner.

I plan to soak half of the chicken pieces in salted, vinegared soy milk overnight, and the other half is going to be treated to a dijon + egg mixture bath, and then both varieties will be dipped in a flour, panko, baking powder, salt, pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder mixture.

I think I’m going to try to pan fry half of each (mustard /”buttermilk”) variety in peanut oil for 10-12ish minutes per side, while putting the remaining halves of each variety in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes.

I’m probably still too repulsed by the idea of eating meat to try any of it myself, but I’m hoping that by trying a few different approaches, I’ll find something that my husband likes.

Do any of you fried chicken eaters have any advice for me? 4 months ago

The more I cook, the more I learn, and the more confident I become.

I don’t know if we’re ever really done, we just keep getting better and better!

Good luck on your cooking endeavors! 4 months ago

And I’m not really a fan.

As a vegetable added to a dish, it seems okay at best.

As a pasta substitute, it failed miserably.

Oh well, at least now I know I’m not missing out on anything. 4 months ago

I too am out..

And I haven’t yet made my squash. Tomorrow’s the night! 5 months ago

Years ago, I bought a super cute faux leather jacket from Target. I wore it almost daily, and eventually, it fell apart.

My husband found one on ebay last year and bought it for me, but after wearing it a few times, it too fell apart. I think it had something to do with the age of the material.

It’s extremely flattering and was comfortable to boot. I miss it and cannot wait until I can locate suitable material and a tailor who can make me a new one based on the tattered model I have hanging in my closet. 5 months ago

I’ve read tons of views on it already, but I’m curious as to what you all think about it.

Do any of you have one? Is it worth the cost? Anything you’d want potential buyers to know about?

Thanks! 5 months ago