Monday, October 31, 2011

Calvin and Hobbes Meet Harry Potter

Calvin and Hobbes gets Potterized


This was another outcome of the House Cup competition.  My buddy, Joe, did the art.  I had fun with the quote boxes.  Poor Ron learning how to ride a broom...

The original three strips had Calvin learning to ride a bike.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

House Cup Has Ended

Here is some fun I've been having lately: Harry Potter Themed Altered or Original Art [the altered art was arranged by me - the original art was done by my friend Joe].

Monday, October 24, 2011

Harry Potter Crossword Puzzle

So the JC House Cup has ended.  This means that I spent a few weeks immersed in Harry Potter based tasks.  I thought I'd share one with you.  If you are an Harry Potter fan, now is the time to test your HP knowledge.  See if you can complete my crossword.

Across
1. least popular Headmaster of Hogwarts
3. to turn a wand into a light
5. to summon
8. founder of S.P.E.W.
10. the spell Lockhart used to become famous
11. Luna's roaring hat
15. turns an object into a Portkey
18. The Boy Who Lived
25. useful in healing minor injuries
27. Headmaster when Chamber of Secrets first opened
28. SNEAK
29. Disarming Charm
35. ghost of Gryffindor tower
39. talking to snakes
41. Severing Charm
44. lost an ear
45. before he sparkled
46. the club made up of Slughorn's favorite students
47. Royal
48. sock lover
50. from Rodent to Rapier
Down
2. an Unforgivable Curse granting control
4. spell created by Snape and used by Harry on Draco
6. lost his son in the Triwizard Tournament
7. gave Professor Slughorn Francis
9. to open that which is locked
12. Avada Kedavra does this
13. mother of seven
14. incarnation of caster's innermost positive feelings
16. Padfoot was which Sirius Black
17. retired in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs
19. Hagrid's dragon
20. listened only to Albus Dumbledore and the Bloody Baron
21. River
22. Hagrid's half-Giant love interest
23. wizard born muggle
24. a spell used to duplicate
26. disguised himself as an armchair
30. hated his R sweater
31. for hours of stair sliding fun
32. non-magical human
33. blasting curse
34. an easy way to move a Christmas tree
36. Harry's first crush
37. worst memory is calling the girl he loved a Mudblood
38. Muggle-born witch or wizard
39. result of Wizard inbreeding
40. Hagrid's first name
42. punched by Granger
43. Romulus
49. inflicts unbearable pain on the recipient



















































Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Bevan's Portal Birthday Cookies

My husband finally caught up to me in age (he's 22 days younger than me) on Sept. 28th.  To celebrate his birthday I made him cookies (because he doesn't like cake).  While discussing what to make, he had suggested Portal cookies.  So that I what I made him.





Stick figure Chell.



Makes her first portal.



Add it looks delicious.



Time to make the second one.


Remember: Portals only stick to surfaces coated in moon dust.



Time to test the portals.


Well, the gun seems intact.




That must mean she'll be safe.



It works!


More portals.




They were delicious!  The blue cookies are chocolate chip cookies and the orange ones are butterscotch chip cookies.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Baby Blanket For My Niece

Project Name: Kalia's Star Blanket
Status: Complete
Pattern Source: Crochet Super Star
Project Type: Crochet, Blanket
I finally finished the baby blanket for my adorable niece, Kalia.
Here is the finished star.
  
This is my adorable Kaylee inspecting my work.

 Here are some close up shots of the blanket.  I had so much fun making it.  I can't wait to give it to her.


I'm very happy with how my first star shaped blanket turned out.


Monday, September 26, 2011

Doughnut & Butter Pudding

Another recipe to continue my tradition of trying new things in the kitchen.

The following recipe is slightly altered from the one found here.  A new friend of mine, Sam, suggested that I use it for the doughnuts I had left over after game night.

Prep Time: 15 minutes 

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • Butter or margarine
  • 8-10 doughnuts
  • 4 cups milk
  • 4 eggs
Preparation: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add cinnamon to sugar in cup and mix well. Set aside.

Slice each doughnut in half and scrape off frosting (glaze is fine to leave) or remove filling.  Generously spread one side of each piece of doughnut with butter or margarine. Arrange doughnut slices in pan, slightly overlapping, with butter-side up. As you add the doughnuts, sprinkle with sugar,  and cinnamon.

Put milk in small bowl, add eggs, and using whisk or fork, mix to blend well. Pour milk mixture over doughnuts in baking pan. Set aside for about 15 minutes for doughnuts to absorb liquid.

Bake in oven for about 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown.

Serve the pudding while still warm in individual dessert bowls. It is eaten plain or with cream poured over it.

Yield: 8 to 12 servings

I must say that it is delicious!  Thanks Sam!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Life Snap Shot in Character Sheet Form

*cue reality I've been trying to avoid*

I decided to take a look at one aspect of my life I've been ignoring lately.  My weight.  I pretty much took the - no strenuous exercise for a month (post getting my appendix out) and extended it to apply for 9 almost 10 months.  So hear I am.  25 lbs heavier than I started the year out at and 5 lbs less than the weight I topped the scale at back in 2008.  I could try and claim that surgery is what threw me off, and sure, it did.  But then I chose not to get back on.  I had a few streaks of good behavior health-wise intermixed with a whole lot of lazy in the exercise category and too much over-indulgence in the food category.  I've undone two years of weight loss in ten months.  That's not acceptable.  2008 was the first year I ended lighter than I started.  2009 was the second.  2010 was the third.  2011 is supposed to be the fourth.  I don't want my steak to end.  This means I have to kick my butt in gear.  No more couch sitting for me.

My darling Kaylee has been helping me in this endeavor.  My dear cat thinks that she is a dog.  She likes to go for walks (in harness and leech).  In fact, she likes it so much, that if you forget to take her, she will sit by the door and meow until you remember.  [She also plays fetch...]  So we've gone for daily walks the last few days and she is getting braver in her exploration.  The dogs out walking don't seem to phase her, even when they bark up a storm - just the cars (which I'd rather that fear not be overcome - things that can squish you are good to fear).

I also got a morning workout in. 6 miles on the bike in 30 minutes and then 2 sets of 15 reps on each part of the weight gym thing (I really should find out what that thing is called) - with the exception of the hanging crunchy spot - I only did 5 reps of that - really need to work on that one.

Then I went back to the gym after work.  It was the season premiere of Biggest Loser.  Thus, my butt was moving in the gym for the two hour duration of the show.  The only way I can catch the show as it airs is by being in the gym.  It serves as great motivation for me and ensures that I keep moving for 2 hours straight.  It will be my one regular long workout each week (the others being more like 30-60 minutes at a time).  So I spent the two hours between the elliptical and bike and clocked another 20.6 miles.

For a total of 2 hrs 45 minutes in the gym & 26.6 miles. :)

I'm still trying to find a way to track my progress that makes it entertaining for me.  And I think that I have found one.  I am part of a gaming group that meets every Friday to do Table Top Role Playing Games.  I love it and have so much fun building my characters and leveling them up.  So it got me thinking.  What if I took one of the character sheets and made a character of myself?  I can level up as I earn experience in various things.  Sounds like fun, right?  I thought so.  So here is my character sheet [I used an Amber character sheet as my base].  So a -25 stat means it is the best of the best.  Think Olympic athletes or geniuses inventing amazing things.  Will say -30 is your couch potato.  So I'll put my endurance at a -29: I've got a bit more endurance than your average couch potato - I've got 2 half-marathons walking under my belt, but I'm not yet up to minor athlete endurance - I still get winded if you make me run for more than a block - *note the walking bit.  For Psyc I'd put myself around a -25.  Strength... hmmm... I can lift some weights, but I'm probably still a bit under average.  So I'll say -28 for that one.  My mathematical brain wants to put me at a -27 for warfare.  I'll start out with no stuff.  As for my pooled points, I'll figure out where to put those later.

Point pool: 70

Name:  Natalie      Gender: Female      Age: 27   Height: 5'9"     Weight: 271 lbs.
Hair: Brown          Eyes:  Greenish-Brown          Skin:  Pale       Body type:  Couch Potato hiding curves

Endurance: -29
Psyc: -25
Strength: -28
Warfare (Strategy & Tactics): -27
Stuff: 0

Self description:
Hmmm... unique and highly contagious laugh, optimistic, quirky, geek, loves life, crafty, creative, friendly, outgoing, sometimes klutzy (probably more often than I think), wife, sister, aunt, loud, and odd.

Your shadow:
Earth [Note:  I am not making a fat joke.  Shadows in this RPG don't refer to the ones you cast.  They refer to the place you live. :p]

Npc:
Bevan - my darling husband
Kaylee - my dear cat

Artifact:
My monkey sticker-ed laptop that connects me to the world wide web.

Friends:
You.

Enemies:
Well hidden?



~*~*~*~
So that's my starting sheet.  I'll have to think up a point system for leveling up.  I think I'll have some fun with this.  240s here I come!  This might be fun to write up like an adventure too... creative writing plot bunny - captured. :)

*skips off to bed, exhausted*