Did you make 20 lbs of simple syrup? Meaning 20 lbs of sugar and the appropriate amount of water (yes I skimmed!)

No, but it's been on my TBR list forEVER. (I'm pretty sure I took it out from the library once and then returned it unread.)

I'm really enjoying it so far. I had read the NYMag article but not the rest of the stuff.

Do you read Ask Moxie? For a while she was leading discussions on it one chapter at a time.

Don't read Ask Moxie -- I am not doing a ton of parent blogs because it just stresses me out. I should go back and look though.

This week off has been supremely weird. We joined a localish YMCA. I have been swimming every day except today (inspired by sara and Kathy). My regular yoga teacher only taught one of the classes I take when I am off, so I've been thrown off with that too. I did take a class at the Y tonight (the woman who taught it is also a student of my regular yoga teacher). It wasn't the best yoga ever (no inversions, no arm balances, lots of standing poses with long holds, a few backbends...nothing stellar), but it was yoga I wasn't paying for per class and she teaches there 4 days a week so... I may keep going.

I also donated blood for the first time in 15 years yesterday.

Yay for swimming Kat!!! Isn't it great?

I donated blood for the first time in a few years on Wednesday.

I'm also thinking about signing up for yoga at my community center (where the pool is) this summer. I really want to get my flexibility back as much as possible, and I think that'll be the best way.

-t, it's for the bees, right?

Jamaican oranges have a consistent fairly thick skin, and we eat them by peeling them entirely and slicing them in half.

And by we, I mean other people peeled them and I ate them, although I could certainly peel them myself in a pinch. And then we moved to the UK, land of the no oranges.

These cara things don't behave like Jamaican oranges. Eating them is all wrong. Although they are tasty.

10 pounds of sugar and 10 pounds of water, 20 pounds total. For the bees - the package of bees come with no comb, so they have nothing to eat until they can gather nectar, and feeding them sugar lets them build up wax faster and reach a stable size quicker than if they just forage. I hope I don't have to do that too often. I mean, I hope they don't eat it too fast.

So many milestones, Kathy! Awesome.

So many milestones, Kathy! Awesome.

Agreed!

That's amazing, -t! Honey honey honey honey honey is what I hear when I read that. (Also, I found more yarn. Should I send it on? Hand dyed cotton in pink and lavender and a thin black (maybe a silk blend?) and a thin purple)

Perkins, that's awesome news!

Much ~ma for your family, Tommyrot.

My first roller derby bout is tomorrow night. It's in Appleton.

Someday it'll be honey honey honey honey, I hope!

Ooh, those yarns sound pretty. I think the box is on its way to msbelle now, you could send them there, if you want.

Eta: good luck, Cashmere!

My first roller derby bout is tomorrow night. It's in Appleton.

You will crush them! Use your elbows! Don't break your coccyx!

Emmett had a good hard cry until his pillow case was sopping.

Now he's up and fed and he's watching The Fast and the Furious (because he's on a Vin Diesel kick right now).

I'll explain the slashiness to him next year.

I recently read some random thing about clutching your thumb in your fist for suppressing a gag reflex. Makes no sense, but weirder things happen all the time.

Was this just a sex thing or in general? Because, seriously, I sometimes trigger a gag reflex just brushing my teeth. It's not only annoying, it can sometimes escalate to feelings of choking. So I'm willing to try anything.

I know, I know - insert joke here (just not...you know...there). But it's also a big reason I've avoided a dentist for far longer than I care to admit.