Portland Surprise

So we're in Boise right now, eating way too much food and enjoying spring break (quilting! thrifting! skiing!). I know there are a few who are staying close to home this week, and so I wanted to provide a little activity for our fellow Portlanders who could not make their dream spring break trip (which is Idaho of course...). Last week during a run along the beautiful Willamette, we stopped to enjoy a world famous site that had previously gone unnoticed--

There in the median on Naito Parkway and Taylor, sits the World's Smallest Park, Mill Ends Park. It was created to be a colony for leprechauns and a location for snail races. When you visit this humble park and crouch beneath the shade of the delicate tree, know that you are the only person in the world, at that moment, enjoying this miniature gift from nature.

I have 12 mini bowls, but no mini spoons

As I am constantly dreaming about miniature knifes that will put peanut butter on tiny pieces of bread that sit on tiny plates, or (even better!) eating tiny pancakes with a tiny knife and fork, it should come as no surprise that the World's Smallest Postal Service made my eyes widen when I found it this morning.

It immediately reminded me of these elaborate notes my friend and I would pass to each other in junior high. I would spend hours the night before making a tiny card out of wallpaper with an envelope made of a magazine page, and include random trinkets like dog erasers and other weird things I found in my room. The practice ended when she got caught with the package she made that included a few tic tacs and random vitamins, and the vice principal thought she was dealing drugs. I guess she thought it was ridiculous that 14 and 15-year-olds would still be childish enough to create origami boxes filled with magic tricks and last Halloween's Sweetarts.

Although the VP could have been right after all. I was a naive eighth grader, she was a "cool" ninth grader. And while I went over to her house sometimes after school and we would talk about how much we both loved Sublime, she favored chemical experimentation on the weekends while I did my pre-calc homework and practiced the violin.

Penny Pusher

Jon had a quorum Pinewood Derby on Friday night at 6:00. At 5:35, we pulled the block of wood out of its official box and created this masterpiece. Way too heavy for regulation (of course...don't you realize there are very strict rules?) but it did beat one car, once.

We forgot it on the gym stage and I have no idea what happened to it. I hope a child somewhere is enjoying its innocent smile. Or pulled off all the coins and bought a Milky Way.

Here's a tip.

Start running when you think it's not really raining that much. When you start your journey, make sure it starts raining much, much more. Wear a jacket that you think is waterproof, but really isn't (Layered over a jacket with amazing sponge-like qualities). Run for 8 miles. Make sure the last two are in an out-and-out downpour. Make it home, and peel off every rain soaked layer.

Look at that pile and think about how much water weight you just lost, instantly, just by following my few simple steps.

Marchtasche

Let's just say Jon's a little more aerodynamic as of late...but not completely.

Frozen tofu.

This is one half of our first batch of vegan ice cream. Where it belongs. My stomach was not happy it visited. I ate one mini bowl and I was actually considering throwing up, which hasn't happened since the great junkitis episode of Christmas 2005. Turns out, silken tofu is great with lots of dark chocolate but not so good with only vanilla flavoring and soy milk (I even added cinnamon!). It tasted like frozen, sweet tofu. The worst part is that the other half was given to our friends, although lots of frozen huckleberries might have made it more palatable (and I think practicing vegans have numb taste buds to soy products). Jon wouldn't touch the stuff, which was a red flag in itself. I have to say I was impressed with the texture.

I don't know why I'm into making vegan ice cream all of a sudden, but I'm ready for round two, sans tofu. (arrowroot, anyone?) I think my competitive nature wants to conquer this non-dairy beast, then pound a pint of whole milk and crush it on my forehead in victory.

You get what you pay for

Our top of the line, Memorex ("true flat screen"--not to be confused with a flat screen) only shows overexposed blurry images for the first 30 minutes when you turn it on (getting worse). Since we bought the cheapest TV Target carried with gift cards, we paid $20 for a 3 year warranty. I just got off the phone with a lady who will give me a gift card for the purchase price ($90) since it costs too much to fix. According to Target, this is what $90 will get us--

Plus $20 out of pocket.