Melyssa-with-a-Y

Passover is coming. I'm going to be making a brisket for Seder, so I thought I should practice making it once, just in case. I bought a small 1.5lb brisket and cut off the fat, and made it with garlic, broth, thyme and tarragon. It isn't falling apart like mom's did, but it's very tasty, and now I know what to do!

There was a severe storm warning in Austin this afternoon, which became a severe thunderstorm watch... so I stayed at work for a while longer to wait out the storm. But then I discovered that one of my neighbors had golf-ball sized hail in his backyard! Yet another one of the new things I'm learning as a homeowner -- hail is scary! What if it broke my windows? So I drove (slowly and carefully) home in the diminishing rainstorm, and was pleased to find that while there were little golf-ball hail lumps all around the house, the house was still intact. :) Here's a pic of the hail (oops, it's blurry) and a pic of the backyard. It's wild! Of course, less than an hour later, the sun came out, and there was a nice sunset. But the hail didn't melt right away.

Sitting at National airport, watching USC basketball and waiting for my flight back to Austin, a lady walked by my table and made what she called a "strange request" -- she asked if she could use my laptop really quickly to send a note to her boss. I figured, what the heck, she looks nice, and it's good karma. And I know the feeling - though it hasn't happened to me since I got my blackjack last year. She sat down and started typing, and we chatted a bit... it turns out she is going to Israel to visit her son. She didn't bring her blackberry because she doesn't have international service on it, and she really needed to send an email. I mentioned that I hadn't been to Israel since my bat mitzvah, and we had a laugh about "Jew-dar." :) She told me she'd be at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem tomorrow, and would say a prayer for me. So there you go, I'd say that's good karma!

Hmmm... maybe I'm off the hook for a little while? Thanks, Val! ;)

-- and no, I don't mean the NCAA men's basketball tourney... I mean "Fug Madness 2009!" I love reading the Go Fug Yourself blog . There are times when I don't recognize the featured personalities, but it's fun to see what odd things Hollywood people like to wear out of their houses, especially when nobody else in their right mind would wear that stuff! I mean, really ! Who is the stylist who told you that was a good idea? and why haven't you fired them? So, in order to pick the "fugliest" dresser of the year, we get Fug Madness, for which there are four brackets: Madonna, Charo, Cher and Bjork (they're real fashion trendsetters, don'tcha know...) and everyone votes for the fashion victim of their choice, until we're down to one. The nice thing is, you can instantly see the top vote-getters when you vote. And over 11,000 people have voted already! Last year's winner was Bai Ling . Suffice it to say, Bai wore some goofy, strange...

This is a letter from a right-wing organization that was in today's email from the Texas Freedom Network . Since when is PP a "pro-abortion behemoth"? I say, Run, don't walk, to your nearest store and BUY SOME WINE! From: Life Decisions International Date: March 17, 2009 Do You Enjoy a Glass of Wine FRONT ROYAL, Va., Mar. 17 /Christian Newswire/ -- Do you drink wine? Millions of people do, but most are unaware of the fact that many winemakers give financial support to Planned Parenthood, the world's leading pro-abortion behemoth. "I like a glass of wine every now and then," said LDI Chairman Thomas C. Strobhar. "I am appalled that so many winemakers fund the Culture of Death. I urge my fellow pro-life activists to let winemakers know that they have a 'choice'. They may continue to fund Planned Parenthood and lose a lot of business to competitors or they may stop funding Planned Parenthood and reap the benefits that come from happy consum...

there goes the truck, full of my stuff!

Yes! Iz purty. :)

Sunday afternoon, I took another load of boxes up to my new house (yay!) and discovered new little friends: pillbugs! also known as roly-polys! EVERYWHERE! Well, ok, not everywhere. Around the kitchen and the bathrooms -- apparently they like dampness. When I went back tonight, they were mostly dead in corners. Not to worry, though, I bought Ortho MAX, and will be spraying it around the outside of the house and in the kitchen and bathrooms, before move-in day. :) I also picked out a fancy new fridge (it was on sale) and a garage-door opener, both of which should be installed later in the week. And then on Saturday, I'm moving in! OMG! Photos from move-in will be posted... when I recover.