Random randomness, 7.7.11

A wild time: We're taking some vacation time soon and going to Ohio to see all of our family and a lot of our friends. It's always fun to see everyone, and this trip has a wedding, a baby shower and a Reds game among lots of letting the grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins play with the baby. But these trips are also exhausting - so much hanging out to cram in to a limited amount of time, and the packing/unpacking, the travel ... BUT! Here's the big thing about this trip: There's a mountain lion on the loose. And it's been sighted near my parents' house, which is situated in a fairly rural, wooded area. Tim has already ordered that the baby not be allowed to play outside as long as the mountain lion is on the lamb. (You know, because if there were no wild animals running around we'd let her play outside ALL. DAY. LONG. Right?)

Clearly, Mario is ready to hit the road.

Other cats that vex me: Mario and Sidney are seriously driving me bananas. Our sitter is mildly allergic to cats, so we have to keep them in our bedroom for the 30ish hours a week that she's there. But since we started that a few months ago, they've acted like we pen them up in solitary confinement for weeks on end. They have a large room, large closet, food, water and litter box. Yet they scratch at the bedroom door and yeowl when we put them in there (usually, of course, during Elle's afternoon nap - DON'T WAKE HER UP!) and then when we let them out at night, they yeowl and scratch at *her* door (again, DON'T WAKE HER UP!). I've actually proposed taking the cats to Ohio. Tim asked if I wanted them to play with my mom's cat. I said no, I wanted them to "play" with the mountain lion. (And I'm joking. They won't be coming to Ohio with us. And therefore I won't feed them to a playful mountain lion. Cat lovers can be at peace again.)

I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong number: Among the search terms that people have used recently to find the blog are "sea cow milk" and "old wives tale 'itchy armpits.'"

Longest meal-prep EVER: I made pizza for our dinner a few weeks ago. On the bag for the dough, it said "Remove from refrigerator. Rest one hour." I would never claim to be in the best shape of my life, but I certainly doubt I'd need 60 minutes of recovery time just because I took a bag of dough out of the fridge. The rest of the instructions were pretty basic, but I fear that the rest of the night could have gone on like this: "Spread sauce. Take a nap. Distribute desired toppings. Meditate for two hours. Sprinkle cheese on top. Go to bed. Have a cup of coffee before resuming. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Lie down for half an hour. Eat pizza. Take a siesta."

Ummmm: Most weeks, I pack a salad for lunch four days a week. Luckily, the bagged lettuce is on sale pretty much every week, and lately, I've been able to nom on my favorite, the Spring Mix from Fresh Express. But when I was making my lunch this week, I read the bag: A "Seasonal blend of mixed greens." I don't understand how I can get the same seasonal mixed greens year-round. But I'm not going to ask how that works, because I heart my salad.

"... and I said, 'Compared to what?'": Tim and I have been quoting this video for more than a year now:

We even got my sister in on the action. It is hilarious. Tim read about it in Entertainment Weekly (it's the brain child of former SNL cast member Jenny Slate), and we've pretty much memorized it. Hilarious.

Delish: My new favorite thing is two low-fat whole grain waffles with a bit of Nutella (OMGsogood) and raspberries. It tastes like a dessert, has a lot of fiber and protein and is pretty much amazeballs.

Bad math: Tim has three days off this week. I have one. NOT. FAIR.