It’s Snowing Out There!

It’s getting really snowy where I live! 13 inches and it’s still coming down hard! This snow is not sledding snow, but we tried sledding at a big hill across the street for a while. Here is a recipe for hot chocolate me and my friends made, it makes hot chocolate for 3 people:

Ingredients:

3 packets of swiss miss hot chocolate powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking chocolate powder

6 cups boiling water

6 marshmallows

Butterscotch or chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

Mix the water and the swiss miss powder.

Add the rest of the ingredients, stirring until all powder is mixed in well.

Let it cool, and pour into 3 mugs. Add 2 marshmallows to each mug, topping with butterscotch or chocolate chips.

 

Christmas Season

The Christmas season is here, so I decided to do some decorating in my room. I first put up a mini Christmas tree my mom was going to throw away a couple years ago, so now it’s mine. I put a Christmas spinner in my light box, which spins in the box and projects images on the outside of the box. I put fake snow in my room, christmas stuffed animals, and stuffed penguins around the room. I also put a light up Santa, and Christmas window clings in the room. Here are some pictures:

Yesterday, I went to sit on Santa’s lap at the mall with my sister and my friend. First, you write a letter to Santa and get an elf hat, then press the button on the naughty or nice meter, then put the letter in a mailbox, which sprays snow at you. The snow is really soap. Then you get to sit on Santa’s lap. Throughout the whole thing hidden cameras are taking pictures of you so you can buy them for large amounts of money later. I asked Santa for peace and happiness, and a 15.4 inch Macbook Pro. Then he gave me a rubber bracelet that says “Santa Believes in Me” on it, and you get a candy cane. He told me not to wait up for him on Christmas Eve.

We also got a lot of deals at Build-a-Bear!

 

Repairing the Dishwasher: Part III – The End

The dishwasher is fixed! It’s true!

I wish I had video of my reaction once I had it all hooked up and pressed “Normal Cycle.” I literally hopped up and down in circles, hooting and hollering. It was like I had never pushed a button and had something turn on before. It was like I had invented electricity. My older daughter is unsure of my stability on this issue.

Below are a couple of photos of the final stage of work.

A repair action shot:

Paul models his flashlight pose for the camera:

Kelly fiddles with wires some more:

And here is a thrilling snapshot of the dishwasher running the normal cycle, as it was designed to do:

It’s like magic.

I have an epilogue activity planned for this dishwasher saga. I need time to work with it this weekend. I think it will be gross, and I can’t wait to share it.

 

Repairing the Dishwasher – Part II

Yay!

The dishwasher part arrived! I’ve never ordered a part before and attempted to repair a major appliance. So here is the control panel console (NIB):

Except there’s one problem. It’s black, and I ordered white.

What to do, what to do? It’s possible they only make a black replacement part. I could not find a color choice online so I had to place the order over the phone with the Sears guy.

Mary says it looks fine. I’m torn between wanting it the right way and wanting my dishwasher fixed NOW. I could hook it up really quickly just to see if it works!

Paul will be home soon to weigh in on this issue. I wonder what he’ll say. Hmmm.

 

Leonid Meteor Shower

Last night, well, early this morning at 12:00 I woke my mom up like she asked so we could go see the Leonid Meteor Shower. So we went outside in the 47 degree weather in the middle of the night. There were stars everywhere, but we live in an area between two big cities, so to others it might look pretty lame.

We stood out there for a while not knowing where to look, when finally mom went inside to look up where they might be coming from. But nothing on the Internet helped, so we went back outside. We stood there with our necks bent back, which was very painful. Then we went back inside to look up where they were coming from again.

And we went back outside.

We saw nothing after a half an hour, and this was at about 1:10. We went to bed, not seeing anything. Actually, my mom saw a meteor, but we don’t think that was part of the Leonid.

But at least I got to see a bunch of stars!

 

Investigation: GPS and the Family Cat

We’re on our third day of rainy, chilly weather in this area. It’s the kind of weather that can wreck people’s moods and make them feel blah.

What can a person do about cold, rainy weather on a Friday afternoon? For a possible answer, let’s check in with the family cat.

To aid in investigating this matter, I have again used my husband’s fancy Garmin Forerunner 305 running watch. It’s not just for running anymore.

Here is what today’s intense study has revealed.

Step 1: The cat pinpoints a good location.

Step 2: The cat moves at a speed of approximately 0.00 ft/s producing an empty Speed vs. Time graph.

Here is photographic data of the cat (Samantha) during the period of observation:

I pretty much just put the Garmin next to her and came back an hour later. Amazingly, she was still there.

As we move deeper into this rainy Friday afternoon, I am going to get geared up to light a fire in the fire place, make a yellow cake with chocolate frosting, and prepare fajitas for dinner.

Have a great weekend!

 

Robert Goddard Space Flight Center

Last week I went to Robert Goddard Space Flight Center. It was really cool! There was lots of information about space missions, and outer space. I recommend anyone who likes space to go and see all of the cool information, and the awesome science on a sphere, which is looking at pictures and video on a sphere screen.