tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35200252008-08-03T18:34:07.069-05:00Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comBlogger1061125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-62454866141038038502008-08-03T18:25:00.003-05:002008-08-03T18:34:07.085-05:00

Oh hello again. Remember how I said it might be awhile before I was back? Well, I'm unpredictable. Maybe that is why I was voted "most unique" from 8th to 12th grade. And speaking of those days, I was just reading my senior yearbook. There are many admonitions that I either vowed to or was made to swear I'd "never forget." I really don't remember any of that, even vaguely. Especially disturbing

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-58478705350761772172008-08-03T17:13:00.002-05:002008-08-03T17:19:24.782-05:00

Hello, how have you been? You look nice today. Have you done something new with your hair? I know it's been a very long time since we've chatted. The fact is, French-Roast is on a hiatus. You knew this of course, but now it's official. I am taking some time to sort out my priorities and figure out if they include graduate school or not. I could blame my absence from blogging on school and work

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-24690826018489678842008-07-19T19:07:00.003-05:002008-07-19T19:24:42.886-05:00

Okay, forget what I said about not having enough for a photo. During the canning process, I went out to the garden and picked this in about 15 minutes. (Large white onion shown for scale.) Wholly Tomato! This is not counting the dozen or so that I threw down as part of our caring and sharing with insects program here at the MRT-stead. This also does not include the leftovers from the cooking

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-43375639838978314042008-07-19T15:47:00.002-05:002008-07-19T15:58:35.888-05:00

Well it's tomato season here in ETX, or nearly the end of it actually, which means MRT and I had to make a decision about what to do with our smillion tomatoes. The last month or so we've eaten ratatouille, curries, spaghetti with homemade sauce, sandwiches piled high with our vine-ripened romas in a concerted effort to consume from our modest garden. But Lord have mercy, there are still

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-21594185506299493392008-07-09T19:49:00.002-05:002008-07-09T20:08:42.022-05:00

Doesn't anyone date anymore? I have seriously encountered like five peops under age 22 who keep going on and on about their fiance/fiancee. First of all, they're too young to get married and I hope their parents, or a drunken relative will tell them as much before it's too late. And secondly: when are they planning on getting married? "Oh, you know, eventually--we haven't set a date, but we were

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-9387184546695563832008-07-09T19:45:00.003-05:002008-07-09T19:49:03.118-05:00

Well this is just the saddest thing. My blog just turned 6 years old and I couldn't even be bothered to post. I am a deadbeat blogger these days and one day, this blog will come looking for me to pay child support or take it to the circus. And if there's a camera crew, things could get ugly and chairs might get thrown. "You used to take me everywhere! Why did you leave me behind?" Because I am a

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-44360256800955926192008-07-03T11:43:00.002-05:002008-07-03T11:49:32.177-05:00

Thanks to Jeff for sending me this link that completely prevented Jo and me from being productive at work this morning (not that we were not totally suggestible to this). So without further ado , San Francisco's most eligible bachelor: Dmitri! By the way, there's *nothing* wrong with him. BONUS! This is Jo's own description of her work self today and I second that. SNL-mike myers/nicole kidman

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-63989348977120383692008-06-26T10:04:00.001-05:002008-06-26T10:05:31.668-05:00

This is a great video and entertaining, too. It's a shout out to all my favorite SAH Moms out there.

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-664201205584067112008-06-19T19:57:00.006-05:002008-06-19T20:24:33.244-05:00

Tomorrow is the last day of field station and Matt will be coming home. Hallelujah! For those that didn't know, my husband has been away the last six weeks at intense forestry boot camp. When I do get to see him on weekends, which is typically for fewer than 48 hours at a time, he is a shell of the husby I am used to, sleeping about half the time, while spending the rest removing caked mud from

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-89108505686332924412008-06-13T10:38:00.005-05:002008-06-13T10:45:01.028-05:00

What do people have against reading? It's easy and fun and helps you to not only discover the magical world of Harry Potter but also to get out of my piece and stop asking every question five million times that I ALREADY ANSWERED 105 TIMES IN RESPONSES TO ALL OF YOUR EMAILS THAT YOU ARE TOO LAZY TO READ, BUT KEEP REPLYING TO ANYWAY. I feel a lot better. Did anybody read this far? Just checking.

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-69207561042152798722008-06-11T18:42:00.002-05:002008-06-11T18:44:09.361-05:00

If your last name (or your first name, especially!) is one letter away from or rhymes with words like moron and bitch, you should probably work extra hard to be nice to people. Otherwise, you KNOW what nickname they're giving you, and it's going to be necessarily cruel and unforgiving.

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-48732638354641272032008-06-09T23:46:00.003-05:002008-06-09T23:54:25.156-05:00

Because I was encouraged, nay assigned to do so for my class, I recently subscribed to the RSS feed for the blog Musematic. And I am so glad I did! It's an extremely thoughtful blog for (let me stick out my chest while I say this) cultural heritage information professionals like me--sometimes sad, sometimes HILARIOUS. So I started reading this entry about how PowerPoint is the Death Eater of the

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-45672724370835734782008-06-05T16:41:00.004-05:002008-06-05T17:11:27.381-05:00

Why is this woman sad? Is it: A) Because the state of Texas seized her children B) The food beyond the cult makes her gassy C) She is wearing a prairie dress. D) She is wearing a freaking prairie dress. E) She is wearing a freaking, turquoise, 1880s-era prairie dress. Guess which one I think it is? My rage towards the prairie dress compells me to write this post and ask why? why?! Turquoise

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-50483096993483930612008-06-04T10:01:00.003-05:002008-06-04T10:09:03.569-05:00

What's up with deli meats? Yesterday, while looking into the deli case, I noticed that the packages of meat look pretty much like the body shape of the animal they are from, as if someone had just cut the limbs and head off and made a neat solid-meat package without blood or bones. Then I started freaking out about the process by which this occurs and wondering if bones are either sucked out or

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-44007081541520048902008-06-02T22:44:00.003-05:002008-06-02T23:00:38.805-05:00

I'm really not sure how it is that I keep comparing my life to that of Matilda Wormwood. I certainly enjoyed that book many, many times over in my youth (and now, admittedly), but it seems a little odd that she and I lead parallel lives, even in my delusions. First, there was the Trunch. And there's nothing more to say about the Trunch than that I worked for her. As this is a family site (

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-78988926895407138702008-06-02T22:36:00.002-05:002008-06-02T22:41:23.466-05:00

Courtesy of Chrissy, MLS. Equipment needed: - an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper -a discerning eye Hipster love the asymmetrical haircut. Notice how similar asymmetrical looks to assy... Basically, for this bit of detective work, you should approach the suspected hipster at a distance, but head on. Place a piece of paper's edge to your nose (caution! paper cuts!). Close one eye and examine half of

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-85898256099173873772008-06-02T18:03:00.003-05:002008-06-02T18:25:31.713-05:00

At what point did life's most major bummers start getting defined as if they were part of a strategic planning session for the board of directors of IBM? You know what I'm talking about: challenges. Not weaknesses. Not crises. Not scarring personal tragedies. Only silver linings and challenges straight ahead, please. No, young person, your house didn't burn down, you are merely presented with a

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-26516961829599451342008-05-26T21:55:00.002-05:002008-05-26T22:04:28.182-05:00

Very rarely can a true hipster spell definitely correctly. Remember when I won the hipster spelling bee several years ago? That word came up and three people ahead of me misspelled it. Thank God I was there to stop the bloodletting. But back to you, hipster detective: once you have found the tell-tale trail of definately,definatly,definitly, or even defiantly--you are definitely on to something

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-45823202981603857162008-05-22T20:11:00.001-05:002008-05-22T20:19:16.114-05:00

Background: I am about to begin my first graduate school classes, which are all online. As such, I am required to complete an online orientation in order to be "allowed" to take my class next week. Part of this orientation includes a non-optional evaluation. Read below to find out why I should never be given a mandatory evaluation, even though I actually don't mind them at all. Perhaps therein

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-56276280169046088502008-05-16T23:45:00.003-05:002008-05-17T00:34:36.464-05:00

My first year in college was the first year that some univeristy (in Ohio perhaps?? Ahh yes, Beloit it is; thank you google, my liege) put out this memo or somesuch to the faculty to advise them of what they could expect from their incoming students. It was called the "mindset list" and probably served to make the faculty feel like buying sports cars and dyeing their hair more than it helped them

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-50972813064074757732008-05-12T00:34:00.004-05:002008-05-12T01:15:14.620-05:00

Note: I've begun this blog post more times than I care to count. Yet each time, my lengthy, LENGTHY entries get saved as drafts because they all end up meandering away from the point. I finally figured out the central theme here (I think; we'll see how this one goes) and will break it down further into sub-themes denoted by various yearbook entries for your series enjoyment. Being an obsessive

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-73316933105609825602008-05-10T11:22:00.005-05:002008-05-10T11:37:12.063-05:00

Hello pals, I have mentioned a lot on here that I have become a crafting fiend lately. So even though this is not my typical blog content, I thought I'd at least bring you up to speed with some of my projects so you can feel better about being neglected. Be kind in your comments; these photos represent a LOT of time on my part. Completed this morning: Crafty Apron Extraordinaire For my part

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-86216081880919647742008-05-07T22:14:00.004-05:002008-05-07T22:43:03.774-05:00

Sometimes I visit this blog and think "Oh, Mary hasn't posted lately." And then I remember, oh, that's me. I should get on that. The problem though is that I am suffering from what apparently has reached epidemic levels in America--and that is time poverty. That is, there's so much snarkiness and so little time to transcribe it. Tsk, tsk. Perhaps someone will invent a way for me to blog while I

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-54545928769396354282008-04-23T17:50:00.003-05:002008-04-23T17:55:06.162-05:00

Hello from the road! I have been traveling a lot for work and composed several blogs that I hope to actually finish (no promises on quality though when I write them in two different moods--yeesh) and post soon. In the meantime, I wanted to send greetings from Beaumont, which has completely wowed me. It is the museum capital of Texas. Did you know this? I was stunned in a good and happy way.

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3520025.post-722813503608470212008-04-17T17:12:00.004-05:002008-04-23T17:49:37.137-05:00

Joan Osbourne asked in her famous pop song "What if God was one of us?" Here's what happens when you imagine, if God were not only one of us, but was indeed a slug like one of us, just rockin' the g-chat during business hours: Word to the Lord. Special thanks to Chrissy,MLS for sharing this link in the first place.

Mary Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13200220869898762790noreply@blogger.com