Yeah, tape it, poor boo. It won`t hurt it if it`s not broken, and will help if it is.
 
Yeah, Jesse, I may have gone a little overboard on the goodstuff submissions, since I hadn`t done any for a while.

I'm glad! I just don't know if I'll be able to approve any of them until Monday.

Aww, poor hurty toe! I hope she's better soon.

Love that sink! When you said "purple," I was thinking dark purple, like the shirt I'm currently wearing. Nice lavendar!

A few weeks ago, I picked up a magazine filled with smoothie and blender recipes. It has the Good Housekeeping Institute recs for blenders in the front:

Master Mixer: The Oster Beehive ($73) provides just the right blend of performance, ease, and style. Simple settings and exceptional results (smooth drinks and finely ground coffee beans) help it whip the competition. The only thing missing--a way to store the cord in the base. In 5 colors.

Easy Server: Designed with drinkmaking in mind, the Hamilton Beach Wave Station Express ($25) creates smooth beverages and has a handy spigot for less messy dispensing. (This can, however, make cleanup more of a chore.) There's storage in the base for the cord, to keep things tidy when the blender's not in use. In 2 colors.

Multi-tasker: The Hamilton Beach BlenderChef ($50) offers more bang for your buck. It creates superior drinks and comes with a food-processing attachment for chopping. However, the controls are less intuitive to use than some, and it can be tricky to clean around all the buttons. There's cord storage in the base. In black only.

Choice Chopper: With sleek digital control pads, the KitchenAid 5-Speed ($130) is as easy to clean as it is to use. A pulse option on each of its 5 settings lets you fine-tune your results. It's also one of the few models tested that excel at chopping. The cords can be stored in the base. In 11 colors.

Stick blender:

Supersize: With its long shaft, the De'Longhi DHB723 ($100) allows you to puree quantities of soup up to 8 inches deep (most immersion blenders max out at 6.5 inches), and its oversize pan-blender attachment mixes gravy in a roasting pan very efficiently. Other handy accessories include a whisk, a food processor bowl, and a blending jar.

Real Steal: For blending on a budget, consider the Hamilton Beach 59780R ($28). it purees soup in under 90 seconds, and its whisk attachment whips cream to double the volume. Don't plan to use this blender for making tru smoothies or for chopping though--it can't handle frozen fruit or ice, and it lacks a chopper bowl accessory.

Soup and Smoothie King: The Cuisinart SmartStick CSB-77 ($50) perfectly purees a thick soup in under 90 seconds. The unit also smooths frozen fruit, but it can't pulverize ice. Its whisk whips cream to double its volume in just 50 seconds; the chopper minces onions evenly. Its bowl, though labeled dishwasher-safe, is best washed by hand.

Also? My house is clean. As am I. I just took my 3rd shower of the day. Didn't plan it that way.

And I bought new sheets since I had a 20% off coupon. I did have a spare set (which I put on) but it needs restitching in a couple places at the seams. Courtesy of MK's old threadpulling habit. CATS! Why are you so destructive to my sheets?

Post marked, Kathy. Thanks for the recs

That purple sink is pretty rockin'.

Very nifty sink! I wish I had one like it. (Mine has a urine-yellow counter top, which was an unfortunate color choice for a bathroom. I'm sure some designer was shooting for lemon.)

I got to fly for less than half an hour before the pre-storm wind gusts chased us back down to the tarmac. But on the way to the airport, on a twisty country road, I stopped for a wild turkey that was crossing the road with its chicks, which was totally worth the trip. Wandering around in humid, 95F weather preflighting the plane totally wiped me, though. I may go to bed in the next half hour or so.

I need to buy a blender. Does anyone have a blender to evangelize?

I'm going to evangelize the VitaMix. Seriously. It's an intense hardcore blender but it purees EVERYTHING. Like you could put a cell phone in and grind to dust.

You can use it to pulverize whole grains into flour.

You can make soup in it because it goes fast enough to heat food.

The clean up is amazingly easy (water + 3 drops of soap = clean!).

And the motor on it is amazingly sturdy.

Plus they have a 7 year complete replacement policy.

We use ours intensively every single day for Grace and haven't had an issue (knock on wood).

They are extremely pricey, but I want to get one for my parents' place.

This blender easily makes the smoothest smoothies ever. It's what they have at the local juice store. highly highly highly recommend.

This photo is freaky: [link]

Other posts on this blog are NSFW.