Maggie sent me this little animated gif she made from a couple of photos at our party. It cracks me up consistently. Read the rest of this entry »

I never remember to take photos at our parties…I’m usually way too busy. So, after the jump, there are just a few. Click through to see bigger/descriptions. Read the rest of this entry »

I just discovered that method soap (my favorite!) is now selling refills! Awesome. Still waiting on refills for the shower cleaner, though.

I’ve always been of the understanding that one isn’t supposed to refrigerate leftovers until they’ve cooled off to room temperature. The geekboy has questioned this quirk of mine, but goes along with it anyway. So it was with interest that I read this on Home Ec 101, where they say that no, you do NOT wait for food to cool off before tucking it in the fridge. There are a couple differing opinions in the comments, though. So I thought I’d put it out to you guys - warm food in the fridge; yes or no?

Christmas is over. I’m exhausted. The geekboy is at work, and I’m sitting here at home, trying to recover. Read the rest of this entry »

Merry Christmas from the Freak and the Geek! Thanks for another great year. As our gift to you, we’ve made a donation in the name of freakgirl.com’s readers to the charity Dogs 4 Diabetics. Dogs for Diabetics helps provide medical alert dogs to people living with diabetes. These dogs can sense changes in blood glucose levels and save their owner’s lives.

We make this donation in honor of the Geekboy’s sister Debby, who passed away in 1994 at age 31 of complications from juvenile diabetes.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend, whatever you celebrate or enjoy, and I’ll see you all sometime next week.

Thank you, Lake!

p.s. man ALIVE, I need some makeup.

Ugh, ice and sleet and rain and snow are falling from the sky. I hope the geekboy comes home early and safely. Good thing we just bought a case of wine. I’m prepared to be snowed in!

I’ve started my holiday baking - I’ve found I can make cookies early and then store them in an airtight container in the garage. They become almost frozen in there and taste fine when I pull them out around Dec. 22nd. Anyway, last night I made these, and they came out nicely. I expected them to be softer; they’re not, but delicious nonetheless. Maybe I baked a tad too long? Regardless, these would go great with after-dinner coffee. Today, I might make these. Also, what kind of frosting would you want on top of a gingerbread cupcake? Lemon buttercream, plain buttercream with candy canes, or cream cheese frosting?

I didn’t think that there was anything that could improve on a KitchenAid (except maybe these), but I was wrong. Charlotte sent me a link to the SideSwipe Spatula Mixer Blade. It’s an attachment for your mixer that actually scrapes the sides of the bowl as it mixes. Brilliant. BRILLIANT! Seriously, I need one of these, like, yesterday.

I’ve nothing to post about this morning, so here’s a cartoon that never fails to crack me up. I was going to do a Roundup of Rage today, but to be honest, I don’t have the energy. Maybe tomorrow. Because, trust me, there is plenty of rage to go around. I have spent the entirety of this week waiting to hear about an interview…a consulting firm has submitted my resume for a freelance gig that I really, really want, but I haven’t heard back. Send positive thoughts, would ya? Read the rest of this entry »

Busy weekend! Saturday was the Santa Paws event to benefit the animal shelter; it wasn’t too busy but we enjoyed ourselves. Dogs wearing reindeer antlers = always funny. It was the first weekend (there are two more Saturdays), so we got all the kinks out and socialized with people we usually only see about once a year.

That evening we assembled our tree, and on Sunday we decorated. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I had the carpets professionally cleaned. You wouldn’t think that something so trivial would make me so happy. You’d be wrong.

I am crabby. I am trying to organize my clothes into a summer/winter scenario and it’s doing nothing except driving me nuts. Obviously I have too many clothes, yet somehow I never have anything flattering to wear. Since I stopped working in an office, my wardrobe has gone completely crazy. I wear a yoga pants/tee-shirt outfit every day. I still need some professional clothes for interviews and whatnot, but, sadly, those interviews are few and far between. I have a huge problem finding pants that fit correctly and I still hang on to a stupid fantasy that I will one morning wake up two sizes smaller, so I also have some pants in there that don’t even zip up all the way.

Anyway, I moved my summer stuff to the office closet and my winter stuff to the bedroom closet and blarg, my winter clothes are fug. Am I too short to wear long skirts (down to the ankle)? I’m about 5′4″. Sometimes they look okay and other times I look like the side of a barn. My jeans are all too long and even though they’re all the same size, some are loose and some are not. My shoes and boots are in a jumble on the floor of the closet, mixed in with summer flip-flops and sandals. PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP ME.

Dudes, genius.

The Dyson is destroying me. I am now compelled to vacuum once or twice a week, whereas before…well, nevermind before. I am fascinated with how quickly the bin fills with dust and cat hair. I cannot stop myself from yanking furniture away from the wall, getting down on my hands and knees to clean every corner and nook, or from vacuuming furniture and even our bed. I am working up a sweat while cleaning the house. When I have to stop and empty the bin into a bag, I need to go and vacuum the entire area again because I want to pick up any dust that might have fallen from the bin when I moved it.

Is there some kind of support group I can join? Because I don’t like being this person.

In other news, come on over! It’s clean here!

Please to enjoy this little video I took of the kittens yesterday. So fun. And check out their pink shaved bellies! They got spayed on Friday. Read the rest of this entry »

So yeah, last night I just HAD to vacuum with the new Dyson. I didn’t bother vacuuming with my old machine first and THEN use the Dyson; what kind of fool do you take me for? I’m not cleaning twice. Anyway, we went through about 2 1/2 canisters of dust and hair. Wow. It even cleaned well on the tile. My current vacuum tends to blow stuff all over the place, but the Dyson seemed to catch just about everything. The attachments are kind of a pain to lug around, but they’re worth it, especially the mini-turbine head, which picked up a terrifying amount of Meena hair in one of her hiding places.

The only drawback is that you can really see how stained our carpet is in the living room. Meh. What is that Zorb stuff that comes with the Dyson? Has anyone used it? How do you use it?

Also, no, I didn’t take pictures. You people don’t need to see our filth, you twisted deviants!

OMG THE DYSON JUST ARRIVED!

Thanks, everyone, because all your comments yesterday convinced the geekboy that we, in fact, do need a Dyson. He found a good price with free shipping and an Animal is now on its way. I can’t believe it! I feel like a chump for spending this much money, but we’ll chalk it up to an early Christmas gift to each other. Or something. Still…HOORAY! I’M AM SO SPOILED!

I have become obsessed with wanting a Dyson. Yes, a VACUUM CLEANER. Not a plasma tv, not a Wii, a fricking vacuum cleaner. I fantasize about how much cat litter I could pull out of the rug. What is wrong with me? Have I fallen victim to the endless blog hype from hipster housewives or is Dyson the real deal? And have I mentioned THEY MAKE IT IN PINK?

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m picking up my kittens in an hour! So excited! Also, I neglected to mention yesterday that a woodpecker is trying to get into our bedroom. I don’t understand what’s going on, but it’s been pecking at the A/C window unit, or hanging from the screen and pecking through it. It just did it about 30 minutes ago while I was getting dressed and Meena almost wet herself. I couldn’t get a good photo, but I know it will be back. What’s wrong with it? There’s plenty of food in the feeder. Is it after me? Should I be worried?

We finished the project in our sitting room! I’m not 100% happy with the color of the paint on the walls. I want it to be darker. However, we’re leaving it up because it makes the room look a lot cleaner. Further color decisions will be made later. The room, as a whole, looks brighter, I think. I’m mostly pleased with how everything came out. Before/After photo after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »