Cookies

Behold, chocolate chip Reese's cup cookies:

I saw these on reddit with Oreo's inside, so I thought I try to make some. Regular chocolate chip cookie dough wrapped around a Reese's cup. They are giant, so I suggest using Reese's minis. Also, chill both the dough and the candy. I used Smart Balance instead of butter, and any butter substitute makes the dough softer, so use real butter.

Dear Internets...

So I figured out why the lid to the detergent dispenser doesn't open during the wash cycle on my dishwasher. The bottom rack blocks it. So either it's a horrible design flaw or these are not not the original racks. So dishwasher users, if I just fill the cup and don't close the lid, should I still fill the prewash cup?

And while I'm asking the internet for advice, I have a feather pillow that has a really dusty smell. Airing out didn't work. Washing machine? I read how to do it online (oh the drying takes forever!), but I'm not sure it's worth it.

In other news, I unpacked some more boxes and did more chores this weekend. I also wrote a draft for a conference abstract. It's not quite right, so I need to redo it before I go to bed tonight.

I have mint Milano cookies.

So I've been playing Ravenwood Fair on Facebook. It's just a stupid FB game, but those are good for brain-dead times. (And I cannot, for the life of me bring myself to play Dragon Age right now. I want to, but something stops me every time. I'm guessing it's just too linked to my diss in my brain, and since I took a diss break to deal with moving and unpacking, I haven't "earned" the game. This is the problem with reward systems. This abstract is making me want to work though. It's part of the last chapter I have to draft.) Anyway, these little critter visitors come to the fair and spend money. Sometimes they go into the woods and get scared, and you have to comfort them. But I wish there was a button to click that told them to stay out of the damn woods if it scares them! Stupid little critters.

Speaking of games, did you see the preview of the World of Warcraft expansion? I'm not interested in playing it anymore because it's just boring after awhile, but man, this new expansion is goofy--Kung Fu Panda meets WoW. I really hope it's some Blizzard troll. It seems to be aimed at kids, so if it's real, my theory is they decided to target the audience that isn't already leaving the game. Husband sent me a link to Guild Wars 2 as an alternative. Now that looks like a fun game. But my heart beats for Skyrim (19 days away), which I cannot play because my computer won't support it. This computer I am typing on was purchased specifically to play Oblivion (Skyrim's predecessor), so I will be upgrading when the diss is done. Oh yes, I will. And I am telling you this, dear Internets, because none of my FB friends are gamers and I'm not prepared to whine about games on reddit (though that does seem to be the appropriate forum).

It's TV and laundry night.

Today I rearranged the living room furniture and organized 4 (out of 14) book shelves (not book cases). I feel more sane. I also put a bunch of clothes in drawers, and I'm about to fold all of the laundry I've done this week. I don't really like housework, but this putting-things-in-order kind of work makes me feel more in control and stable. It's also reducing the chaos. My desk area isn't much neater, but I'm feeling more like I can work on my diss and book review again. If this keeps up, I might even start posting about things that aren't me again!

Tonight I watched the first Case Histories on Masterpiece Mystery!. If you didn't watch it, you can watch it on the website. Jackson Brodie is played by Jason Isaacs and everyone has Scottish (and some English) accents. It's very nice. I kept trying to figure out where I knew Isaacs from the whole episode, and just now when I went to find the link for Mystery! I discovered that it's because he's Lucious Malfoy! I have to say, he's much sexier when he's not evil and weak. I also discovered a Nancy Drew series form the 90s on Netflix. Very odd watching the two mysteries on the same day. They are not alike, but the 90s fashions in ND are fun. So many of the boys are dressed like John Cusack.

Movie Mistake

So I just watched The Accidental Husband because I'll watch anything with Colin Firth in it. It is a shitty movie; don't watch it. I was expecting a cheesy romantic comedy. It is that; it's also stupid. Half way through, I started playing solitaire on the computer. It's boring as well as shitty. But then I started getting angry. There's one moment when I thought it wasn't going to end in the disastrously predictable way I was expecting, so I got hopeful and kept watching. But I was wrong. It ends exactly the way you'd expect. I'm about to give away plot here.

So Uma Thurman is a radio love doctor engaged to Colin Firth. A woman calls in worried that the man she's about to marry--who she has known for 5 months--is not right for her. Basically, he's immature, irresponsible, and has a temper so she's having second thoughts. Thurman says 5 months is too short and if he isn't a reliable adult, then maybe he's not right for marriage. Woman calls off wedding. The dumped man--Jeffrey Dean Morgan--gets angry, blames Thurman, and agrees to his friend's teenage son hacking into some records office and making Thurman married to Morgan, all to ruin her life like she ruined his. You see where this is going, right? What seems like psychopathic behavior to me gets turned into spontaneity and romance by the movie. Firth is a good guy, but Thurman loves Morgan--despite the fact that his behavior totally demonstrates that he is not a sane adult. When she finds out he's a giant creep who clearly has insanity issues, she goes back to Firth and it seems like they might still get married, but seeing as that's only three-fourths of the way through the movie, that ain't the "happy" ending. She marries the ass.

This is worse than the usual romantic comedy bullshit. You know, the ones where Hugh Grant falls in loves and becomes a better person in order to win over Sandra Bullock? This movie says that if you love the psychopath, you should marry him. He doesn't become a better a person, or show regret. His view is portrayed as the right one by the film and hers--that you should marry someone because you can have a future with them, not just because you think you love them--is wrong. His buddies think he's a good guy and he doesn't rape her when he has the chance, and I guess that's enough. I can't even form a sentence that explains how despicable I find this film to be. Someone should be punished for making a movie like this. But I would never actually follow through with that thought because I'm not a psychopath.

Minor Victories

So I'm starting to get used to the living alone thing. I'm not used to it yet, but the last two days have been easier, so I imagine I will get used to it at some point. I went grocery shopping alone today, which doesn't seem like a big deal, and it's not really, but I drove. Husband has done most of the driving when we have gone anywhere together for the past decade, and we spend lots of time together. And I've taken the bus to work for the past decade, so I'm not used to driving regularly anymore. I can drive, but I get a little nervous. So a successful grocery store run is a minor victory.

Father-in-law had more tests this past week, so this coming week they will talk to the doctor about a treatment plan. So that's good.

I am thrilled that The Big Bang Theory is now in syndication everywhere. I can watch multiple episodes every day and laugh at all of them. Speaking of which, a rerun of a Wil Wheaton episode is coming on TBS. I think I'll go laugh and do some laundry.

Still overwhelmed

I've unpacked more, but the place is still in chaos. Moving sucks. Really.

Thursday night I decided to run our new dishwasher for the first time. It leaks. Three times I cleaned up puddles in the floor and on the counter (water poured out of the thing next to the faucet that lets air in to help it drain; the floor puddles also seemed to be coming from the hose that runs from the air thingy to the dishwasher). I left it running because, well, I wanted clean dishes. But when I opened the dishwasher at the end of the cycle, the little door on the soap dispenser popped open, just like its supposed to when the cycle is running. Soap poured out, and my dishes were apparently steamed, not washed. So now I get to hand wash the dishes before the repair guy comes on Monday.

Moving Right Along

So everything has been moved from the old house to the new apartment. Husband has left for and arrived in Home State to take care of his dad and grandmother for a few months. I am sitting in a room full of open but full boxes, and I have internet. The new place is quiet and cool; I like it. But I'm not used to sleeping alone (married 14 years so far), so I woke up a lot last night. I wonder how long it will take to get used to that.

I now have a dishwasher and it has dirty dishes in it. I can't work on my diss in this chaos, so my plan is to focus on one room at a time and get it done. Today is the kitchen (last night I put dvds and games away and moved dirty dishes to the dishwasher). I'm a little lot overwhelmed ya'll.

Have a happy song.