<p>Well, if any angels wandered in here, well Happy New Year to them too!</p>
<p>Eek! Freshman son has finalized plans to have GF visit for a few days before they both go back to college. This is a new thing for me–older son has had girlfriends, but never brought one home to meet the parents!</p>
<p>Wouldn’t say I’m nervous, and I’m sure she’s a nice girl and all, but still. </p>
<p>I remember when I was in college–I brought two different guys home before I met the one I was to eventually marry. And they were all nice but…it was rather stressful on my mother, I’m afraid.</p>
<p>Pour me a drink before I go and start cooking/cleaning up the house.</p>
<p>Which reminds me, I was planning to make a “boozy apple cake” which contains rum. One for me, one for the cake, one for me… :D</p>
<p>mommusic - I think you may need this recipe. I probably got it here in the Alley in the first place, but a recipe emergency is a recipe emergency, right? ;)</p>
<p>You can just change the name to Girlfriend Visiting Cookies
Christmas Cookie recipe
Christmas Cookie Ingredients: </p>
<p>1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup of brown sugar
lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequilla </p>
<p>Sample the Cuervo to check quality.
Take a large bowl, check the Cuervo
again, to be sure it is of the highest
quality, pour one level cup and drink. </p>
<p>Turn on the electric mixer…Beat one
cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. </p>
<p>Add one teaspoon of sugar…Beat again.
At this point it’s best to make sure the
Cuervo is still OK, try another cup …
just in case. </p>
<p>Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2
leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in
the cup of dried fruit, Pick the
******** fruit off floor… Mix on the
turner. If the fried druit gets stuck
in the beaterers just pry it loose with
a drewscriver. Sample the Cuervo to
check for tonsisticity. </p>
<p>Next, sift two cups of salt, or
something. Who giveshz a sheet. Check
the Jose Cuervo. Now shift the lemon
juice and strain your nuts. Add one
table. Add a spoon of sugar, or
somefink. Whatever you can find. Greash
the oven. </p>
<p>Turn the cake tin 360 degrees
and try not to fall over. Don’t forget
to beat off the turner. Finally, throw
the bowl through the window, finish the
Cose Juervo and make sure to put the stove in the dishwasher. </p>
<p>CHERRY MISTMAS</p>
<p>jmmom! I was just pouting, thinking, now where did SHE go?</p>
<p>That’s exactly the recipe I needed! How did you know? ;)</p>
<p>Reminds me of a parody of Julia Childs I saw a long time ago. I think she was making beef burgundy or some such…it ended with “now frow away the beef and drink the nize gravy!” Hic.</p>
<p>Pass the cookies and the gravy please!</p>
<p>Save the liver!</p>
<p>SBMom! As above!</p>
<p>Seriously, has anyone tried slugg’s Second Life? I found the home page absolutely bewildering…</p>
<p>I have, as you may know, not only tried slugg’s Second Life, I’ve participated in it with her at some recent events. We’ve been chatting in SL about setting up a SA party in-world (that means “in Second Life using avatars”): who would join us there if we do so?</p>
<p>If someone will talk me through ALL the technical stuff… I am really really bad at new technology.</p>
<p>Well, I would, but I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about. :(. (Another one who is really really bad at new technology. . .) But hey, maybe I’ll be up for figuring it out when I get done eating all these delishus cookies and GRRRRRRAAAVY . . .</p>
<p>It requires some bodacious download of sorts, no? And my poor 3.5 year old Dell is already on its knees for lack of disk space. But boy how fun to hang out with the SA group. We can take turns being the marmot…</p>
<p>jmmom recently re-entered cyberspace. 
:D</p>
<p>Well, I never really left it but it involved sitting out on the curb across from my neighbor’s to catch his wireless signal. Not conducive to languishing in Sinner’s Alley, no matter how free-flowing and blood-warming the drinks are.</p>
<p>Now… we are wireless in Baja, baby! Satellite TV’d, too. Amazing what goes on in the Almost Third World. Next week I start my Spanish Immersion classes in the hopes of advancing the caliber of my now pidgin Espanol. </p>
<p>Of course, if I eat enough of my own cookies and mommusic’s gravy, I won’t care what languagsh i’m shpeaking or lishening too. Verdad?</p>
<p>Me Too! Me Too! I would come to the SA invasion of Second Life…but alas I’m also not the brightest when it comes to learning new technology…I remember bouncing my daughter on my knee and helping her to “kill gruzzles” or something when she was two years old and reassuring her when her little character would fall down a chasm…now she laughs at me because I take “Forever” to notice the flashing conversation button at the bottom of the screen when she wants to talk to me 
…but hey, I think there is life in the old girl yet… ;)</p>
<p>Maybe I could get my S to let me install on his machine and then if you had a scheduled get-together “inworld” I could commandeer his Mac…</p>
<p>I want to see the BHappy Funny Fairy avatar:).</p>
<p>Technology that I can do:</p>
<p>-fax
-email
-microsoft word
-google
-CC
-orbitz/etc travel
-EBay (though paypal duties are subsequently dished off to other family members)
-loading music to my itunes/ ipod <strong>AND I just learned how to email a song to my D</strong> I know I know, you are impressed 
-AIM – but I can’t yet add new aim buddies
-rudimentary cell phone <strong>incl TEXTING</strong> (so proud)
-rudimentary tv… DVD mode not at all certain
-can transfer digital photos from Camera to laptop-- BARELY
-can edit a powerpoint, but cannot get one going from scratch</p>
<p>Technology that scares the crap out of me:</p>
<p>-TIVO
-in fact, all modes of TV that are not currently operating; anything beyond channel & volume adjustments = problem (Luckily I hate TV)
-Downloading new software or new programs or any sort of new anything whatever (like when they want you to add some new adobe deal, so you can view something? I just figure I will not be viewing that thing. Or you can go faster if you install greasemonkey or…? Forget it. Tant pis.)
-scary cellphones with too many features and choices
-scary blackberry-type implements to organize your life
-address/label programs where you have to format stuff to fit the label you are using = nervous breakdown
-not too fond of those GPS systems in cars
-spreadsheets: evil
-machines that go “ping”</p>
<p>SBmom- I’m frozen in about the same time frame you are (but I can do PayPal and spreadsheets too! 
). It sort of reminds me of people who get STUCK in a fashion period. Like, they were once fashionable, but then they never progressed…(Not that that would be me of course.)</p>
<p>Heaven forbid. I am sooo fashionable.</p>
<p>Fashionable, you say? Wait’ll you see how people dress their avatars in Second Life!</p>
<p>Technology I Can Do:</p>
<p>Word.
Powerpoint.
Basic Adobe InDesign (page layout).
Google.
<a href=“http://www.tripadvisor.com%5B/url%5D”>www.tripadvisor.com</a>, <a href=“http://www.united.com%5B/url%5D”>www.united.com</a>, <a href=“http://www.chowhound.com%5B/url%5D”>www.chowhound.com</a>, <a href=“http://www.bluefly.com%5B/url%5D”>www.bluefly.com</a>, <a href=“http://www.amazon.com%5B/url%5D”>www.amazon.com</a>, <a href=“http://www.potterbarn.com%5B/url%5D”>www.potterbarn.com</a>
Downloading of all sorts. Why not! If I get a virus one of my software friends will help me! They may look at me funny but they still help me!</p>
<p>Also toasters.</p>
<p>Technology I Cannot Do:</p>
<p>Faxing - The pages always stick.
Screwdrivers - The head always slips out of the screw.
Anything described as a “simple scripting tool”.
Anything that pings or bongs or beeps repetitively out of my control. For example, did you ever take your kids to one of those play places where you win tickets from hitting plastic hippos on the head? And something is always bonging loudly? Had to run from the Discovery Zone sobbing as a mom of young kids. Kids got used to it:).</p>