Everything old is new again...

I love the smell and taste of fresh baked bread.  Last spring I got on a baking kick, and started making our bread from scratch - no bread machine, kneading, rising, kneading, and baking.   But then real life in the 21st century reared it's ugly head and I found I usually didn't have time for what is usually about a six hour process.  So - with an unexpected gift card from Walmart, we bought a bread machine.  It's still about a three hour process, but other than mixing the ingredients the first time and checking the dough to make sure it isn't too dry, it's mostly set and forget. 

This morning I decided I was missing fresh bread. Something about spring-like weather makes me want to cook. So I threw the ingredients in the bread machine.  The house will smell like fresh bread and fresh air today - and I'm not seeing a problem with this! 

BlackBerry vs. BlackBerry

I've had two BlackBerry Curves in a row.  I got the first one because up until then, Chris and I had had matching cell phones (first Razrs and then LG Envy 1's).  Then he decided he wanted more net access than what the Envy could give him and made the jump to BlackBerry.  I fell in love with his, so we got me one off eBay.  That one I loved, but the screen was glitchy.  So, when it came time for me to upgrade via our provider, I just went for another Curve.  Recently, Chris went to a BlackBerry Tour, and that was the impetus for me to start looking to see what was out there other than a Curve for me.  I waffled back and forth for a long time - I wanted more screen real estate for (what else?) reading ebooks, but I wasn't at all sure about a touchscreen interface.  We text a LOT, and I need to be able to type at least fairly quickly on any phone I have.  Then once I decided I could deal with a touchscreen (due in large part to me being so happy with Li'l Bit's touchscreen), it was down to which operating system. Stick with the known and loved BlackBerry O/S or jump to Windows Mobile on an HTC phone?  I really hate to admit it, but Amazon made the decision for me by releasing Kindle for BlackBerry before Kindle for WinMo.

So, today was it. We went and got me a BlackBerry Storm 2.  It has BlackBerry O/S 5.0 on it, which is the latest and greatest.  There are some changes to the known and much-loved (at least by me) media player interface.  BlackBerry had me at hello with that.  My first one replaced my mp3 player instantly.  The changes in 5.0 actually make some tasks easier, so I'm a happy camper.  I'm also finding that my fears about the touchscreen on such a small area were largely unfounded. Or maybe it's just because I have such small hands.  Whatever the reason - I can see me getting LOTS of enjoyment out of this gadget, and not only for it's main purpose of cell phone.

Oh, and something I find funny? It comes with a 16 gig (yes, GIG) SD card.  That's half the capacity of the solid state drive in Li'l Bit....

Quirky

We have a Siamese cat.  For those unfamiliar with the breed, they're supposed to be the one with the most personality.  I can attest to this.

Our Siamese is named Sinatra. He was named when I got him (for Old Blue Eyes, you know...).  He's probably about five years old. 

Last year, I got hooked on the TV show Glee.  This is pretty unusual, I don't watch a lot of TV.  But Glee well and truly had me - problem was, I work most evenings, so I had to usually wait and catch it on Hulu.com the day after it aired.  Sinatra figured out that I was going to sit still for an hour to watch it, and I wasn't going to be typing, either, so he became a Glee fan.  When he would hear the theme music, he'd come jump on my lap, make me hold him so he could see the screen too, and stay there til the show was over. 

Well, cats don't understand TV seasons, so he's been missing his Glee fix.  Tonight it became so obvious what he wanted (he jumped on my lap and took up his "Glee" pose), that I finally went to Hulu and played the last episode for him.  He purred and purred.   Good thing Glee starts again next month...

Misc. and Sundry

This post is probably going to be one huge mess.  I haven't posted in a week, because not much interesting is happening.  I finished the second Orchard book, Rotten to the Core, and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I so love both Sheila Connolly's series (the other one is the Glassblowing series under the name Sarah Atwell).   I just checked Fantastic Fiction to make sure I had the name of the second book correct, and I see there are two more Orchard Mysteries upcoming this year, one in October and one in December.  Sheila must be one VERY busy lady!

Chris and I made a rare trip to Sterling, for Bath and Body Works.  We both love their "Lay It On Thick" shea butter cream, and I'm addicted to Moonlight Path everything, as well as the aromatherapy Energize with Mandarin and Lime.  So we stocked up on all that, taking advantage of a few sales.  We also decided to wander around in Penney's, not intending to actually BUY anything, but ended up with a new outfit for me that Chris picked out.  He says I have his grandmother's taste in clothes, so I told him "Fine, YOU pick something you'd like to see me wear!"  He did.  Black knee length flirty skirt, white tuxedo shirt, and long black vest. By the time we took into consideration clearance sales, plus another 20% off for using the Penney's card, we got the outfit at something like 70% off.   Basically, it's a woman's version of a tux, but it looks fantastic on me.  I told him that from now on, he gets to pick all my dress clothes.

This week's big book release:  Alan Bradley's second Flavia Luce novel "The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag".  

New Book Release Tuesday!

Ever since I figured out that new book releases are usually on Tuesdays,  and plus I'm off work on Tuesdays, it's fast becoming my favorite day of the week.

Released today:
 Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant "Cook the Books"  fifth in the Gourmet Girl series.
Sheila Connolly "Red Delicious Death"   third in the Orchard series.
Jennie Bentley "Plaster and Poison"  third in the DIY series.
Victoria Laurie "Ghouls Gone Wild"  fourth in the Ghost Hunters series. 

Those four I bought... Also released today:
Dianna Orgain "Motherhood is Murder"
Jenn McKinlay "Sprinkle with Murder"

Released yesterday:
Joanne Fluke "Apple Turnover Murder".
Barbara Allan "Antiques Bizarre" .

I bought "Apple Turnover"  because I'm a big Joanne Fluke fan.  Even though I'm planning on going to her signing this coming week and will end up buying a hardcover then for her to autograph,  I bought the ebook for just plain reading convenience.  I am probably every author's dream reader when I do that...