7 Quick Takes – Vol. 7

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~*1*~

Did you know that to pre-treat drinking water you need .125 tsp. of bleach per 1 gallon of water?  You probably did.  I’m sure everyone knows this, because everyone is eminently aware of the requirements for emergency water storage.  I, however, just learned this fact (Hooray for food storage websites likeProvident Living) when asked by my sweetie, who is at the ranch, to google the info so he can put the right amount of bleach (about 1-2/3 cups) in with the 600 gallons of water with which he is refilling it.  Good to know.

~*2*~

The house is very quiet and still without Jacob bopping around.  I kind of miss the constant patter of both his unflagging conversational skills and his feet as they follow their seemingly programmed eliptical route around the room… left, right, left, right, bounce-bounce-bounce… left, right, left, right, bounce-bounce-bounce… It’s so good every once in a while for them to have a solid weekend of 24/7 father-son time.  I can only imagine how much fun it is for Jacob to have the undivided attention of a captive pair of ears. <smirk>

~*3*~

How odd is it that Best Buy sells rechargeable batteries for which they do NOT sell the chargers?  Yep, that’s right.  I can buy the EN-EL14 battery for my D3100 there, but not a charger.  Now I’m stuck till I can order one from Amazon.  Sigh.

~*4*~

There was much hilarity between my older two daughters and myself yesterday evening when, in an attempt to locate the ONE copy of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” that the clerk told us was in the store, we emptied the ENTIRE $4.99 bin of DVDs into tidy stacks upon the floor.  We failed to find it, and had to satisfy ourselves with a 4-pack of Sandra Bullock movies (and an additional 4-pack of Ocean’s 11 movies made it into our hands) – and were fairly psyched at getting 8 movies for $3.25 each.  So we get to the counter and the clerk dutifully asks, “Did you find everything you needed?” and I could only wail in a moment of naked honesty “Noooooo!  We looked through the entire bin for Mr. & Mrs. Smith and it WASN’T THERE!!!!”  And she looks at me and sorrowfully confesses that she just sold that last copy minutes before we reached the register.  Sigh.  We went home and drowned our sorrows in gales of laughter watching Miss Congeniality I and II.  It was a girly-fest the likes of which can only happen when there are no boys in the house.

~*5*~

This morning I left Laurent at home to take her online test for World Religions while I drove Megan across the north end of the valley to a costume fitting for her production, after which she will be off to a day-long rehearsal and cast party.  Then on the way home I swung by Geneva’s friend Hannah’s house to pick her up from a birthday overnighter.  She’s had two Fridays of birthday overnighters in a row, and both friends, in a humorous coincidence, were named Hannah.

~*6*~

In our long drive this morning we passed by the very elegant and ritzy Pointe Hilton, and I was reminded of the good old days when we used to, on occasion, go there for brunch with Father Dale and Miss B after church at St. Mark’s REC.  I found myself unable to give a clear description to my daughter (who barely remembers those days, when she was only a toddler) of the critical ingredient in my favorite Eggs Benedict breakfast, namely the hollandaise sauce.  One of these days I really need to make this.

~*7*~

I heard this song on the radio yesterday – first time I’ve turned on a CW station.  I liked it.  (The song, that is… still a little iffy on listening to CW radio for extended periods of time…) It brought to mind the image of my little bro, driving along country roads through the sun-dappled lush green farm country in MN, cap pushed back, smile on his face, enjoying the breeze in his beard.