the bouncey zone

Remember the black cherry mead that I brought to Namron Protectorate last fall? Well, a few days ago I bottled five gallons of the stuff! It’s already well aged, too, because it sat (off the lees) in a sealed glass carboy since November.

The sample that I drank tasted very good. It’s about 12-13% alcohol. This time I used only clear bottles to show off the color.

So what kind of homebrew should I do next? Maple mead perhaps?

Last night I drank some mead from my very first batch, bottled way back in 1999. Or was it 1998? Anyway, it’s not quite as foul as it used to be. Age can do wonders for straight mead.

Currently I’m reading the fourth Harry Potter book. It’s very good so far. At the moment they’re sorting the first year students.

I like how the Potter books aren’t just another whistfully romantic look at a golden era of magic and unicorns. Blah. Nope, this story is set in the present, with modern magic and plausible troubles. Times change, and even wizards have to adapt.

In the non-fiction department, The Corporate Records Handbook appeared on my doorstep today. Corporations have a lot of records to keep; failure to document everything properly invites trouble with the courts and the IRS. This one has many sample forms, with electronic copies on CD and instructions about when and how to use them.

And really, it’s a good idea to keep detailed records anyway, regardless of how the business is structured. It just takes a while to learn how to do it.

Two weeks ago Scott got sick. It was a friday night; he had been fine all day, but then suddenly he threw up everything he’d eaten all day. Even the little pieces of brussels sprouts that he had for breakfast reappeared on the carpet.

The next day, saturday, he was running at the other end. Sunday he was running at both ends and acting weak and sleepy, and he could only keep down his milk. He continued with those symptoms until the next thursday. At some point I took him to the doctor, who prescribed an anti-nausea medicine and Pedialyte. (We gave him the less expensive store-brand version though.) By friday he was back to normal.

My mom and grandmother called every day to check on Scott. Dad and my stepmom invited themselves over on wednesday to check on their poor sick grandson in person. Actually by then Scott was starting to show interest in solid food again, so we took him out for some french fries and broccoli.

Around that time, Scott figured out what he’s supposed to do with teething cookies. These are the kind they sell at natural food stores, made from oats, barley, and molasses. Of course this means he ended up with a brown paste all over his face and clothes, but at least it smelled good.

So we decided to try something less messy. Crackers! Now Scott is the master of cracker consumption. Yes, there is a fair bit of crumb spillage, but most of the cracker seems to go into his stomach.

A while ago we ventured out to mail the sales tax registration form (finally!) and have a late lunch. This involved going to Kinko’s first, because I want to keep copies of all government paperwork and our printer/copier thing seems to be out of black ink again. Dang inkjets, have to buy new ink every time I want to print something… Grrr.

For lunch we went to Panera. When we go somewhere for lunch, I almost always have to put my book aside long enough to feed Scott something. Usually a bottle of milk. This time, though, he was happy as long as I kept giving him chunks from my bread.

New way to cut calories: Feed them to the baby.

Also, Scott is trying really hard to walk. He’ll be running around without support any day now.

The One True Birthday was this week! Specifically, it was Wednesday, February 1.

Scott and I drove to OKC to have lunch with Dana. We went to Olive Garden, where they messed up Dana’s order in almost every possible way. At one point the manager came out and reported that her pizza had an unfortunate encounter with the floor, so they were making a new one. Also lunch was free.

We showed off the kid around Dana’s office, and then I took Scott to Penn Square Mall for a few hours. He napped quietly in the stroller while I played with the toys at the Apple store. At one kiosk a cute girl (I think maybe from Israel) tried to sell me some badly overpriced Dead Sea salts.

I ended up spending less than $5 at the mall. First I bought a diet cherry limeade at Sonic in the food court. Then, after feeding Scott some leftover broccoli in the parking garage, I went back inside to EB Games and bought 3 used music CDs for a dollar each:

– Super Natural by Everything
– Wild Wild West by The Escape Club
– Like A Secret Dream by Revolution Void

The first two caught my attention because they each had a major hit song. At that price, it’s like buying those two songs from iTunes online and getting a bunch of other songs for free! I’d never heard of Revolution Void before (and haven’t listened to it yet), but I thought it was worth the risk for only a dollar.

I like used CDs… New CDs are way too expensive.

After visiting the mall we went up the road to Borders. I looked at several business record-keeping books, while Scott tried to eat a book about opening your own bed & breakfast. Luckily I removed it from his grasp before he could cause any damage.

Then the three of us had supper at On The Border with Mom and James. HI MOM!!

Finally, we finished the day with a visit to the Norman library and Wal-Mart. I got a plastic storage bin that looks like it might work well for storing 10+ pounds of soap cut into bars.

It was a long day, but it was a lot of fun.