12 divided by 3 equals 3 because I said so! Today while deciding which length of shelving we should buy at Home Depot I came up with the conclusion that we should buy a 12 foot piece and then we'd be able to cut it into 3 foot lengths and get 3 pieces. Peter's idea was to buy two 6 foot pieces and cut them in half so we could make 4-3 foot long shelves. However, the 12 foot long piece was cheaper so I convinced him to get the longer piece and had somehow come to the conclusion that we would only have three shelves instead of four. Now the funny thing was I knew that 12 divided by 3 equaled 4, but for some reason I was thinking of four foot long pieces and I only wanted three foot long pieces. So if I took 12 divided by 3 I would get 3 with some left over. Peter bought my idea and went with it. We laid the shelving stuff on the floor, measured out three feet and cut it. Then we measured another three feet and realized that our third piece would be really long. At which point Peter starts laughing and tells me that 9 divided by 3 equaled 3. Sad part was I couldn't figure out why he was coming up with 9 when we had 12 feet. Shortly thereafter I clued in. So just to let you all know 12 divided by 3 equals 3 with a remainder of 3 so you really get four shelves. :)
Now trust me as a teacher, I do know how to do math...I was really good at it when I was in school. Plus Peter the engineer took awhile to figure it out too. :)
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Why doesn't life have a rewind button?
A couple funny mishaps have occurred within the last couple of days. Peter would like to emphasize that he is not the only culprit here. For example, while making my family's famous peppermint fudge I had the teaspoon upside down as I tried to pour out 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract. I couldn't figure out why the spoon wasn't filling up...duh! I'll post the recipe later...its late and Santa won't come if I'm still awake :)
Then today Peter and I were sorting out gifts which ones we wanted to open at my parents' house and which at his parents' house. He wrapped each individual gift for me so it looks like I have like 7 or so gifts from him. I on the other hand stuffed as much as I could into one box, so he has 3 gifts. Now of those 7 gifts, he has left clues as to what they are. By clues I mean, he left the receipt to one gift on the table. Another I told him I found a nice sweater that I liked at the store. He ran out and got that for me. And the third...my recent watch broke and its been driving me nuts not to have a watch on. I was about to go get myself one when he clearly let me know that wasn't a good idea. So yes I knew I was getting a watch...then today it was so funny. So back to the sorting the gifts out, he says, "This one at your parents, this one at my parents, the Pooh watch can go here." Poor Peter, this isn't the first time he let slide the secret he had been keeping from me. So I'm getting a Pooh watch to replace my last pooh watch that broke. How thoughtful :)
Then today Peter and I were sorting out gifts which ones we wanted to open at my parents' house and which at his parents' house. He wrapped each individual gift for me so it looks like I have like 7 or so gifts from him. I on the other hand stuffed as much as I could into one box, so he has 3 gifts. Now of those 7 gifts, he has left clues as to what they are. By clues I mean, he left the receipt to one gift on the table. Another I told him I found a nice sweater that I liked at the store. He ran out and got that for me. And the third...my recent watch broke and its been driving me nuts not to have a watch on. I was about to go get myself one when he clearly let me know that wasn't a good idea. So yes I knew I was getting a watch...then today it was so funny. So back to the sorting the gifts out, he says, "This one at your parents, this one at my parents, the Pooh watch can go here." Poor Peter, this isn't the first time he let slide the secret he had been keeping from me. So I'm getting a Pooh watch to replace my last pooh watch that broke. How thoughtful :)
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Toilet Repair 101
A few months ago our downstairs toilet started leaking. We bought a new flapper and fixed the problem. A couple weeks ago our master bedroom toilet started leaking. The noise kept Peter up most of the night. His quick fix was to turn the water off until he could get a new flapper. Last weekend we bought a new flapper and he fixed the toilet. Shortly thereafter he told me the flapper wasn't the problem and the toilet still was leaking so he turned the water off. About five minutes after that I hear running water upstairs. Yes the spare/guest room toilet was leaking now. Now what are the chances of having three toilets fall apart in the same time frame? Upon further investigation the spare room toilet had a kinked chain or something so that was an easy fix. However the master bathroom toilet is still a nuisance. A second trip to Home Depot and we came home with a flush valve shank washer. Peter insisted that this must be the problem. I suggested we buy one of the complete toilet innards in a box type of thing and then if one thing didn't work we could replace it until we found the problem and stop making trips to Home Depot. Yes I'd rather have too much than too little, after all we do have three toilets, the parts will come in handy some day. Well Peter was convinced that the washer was what we needed so we bought that and headed home.
This morning he decided to fix the toilet. He reads the directions on the back of the box:
1-Turn off water supply to toilet and drain tank. Check!
Remove tank from bowl. "Uh how do I do that?" Me-"Well there's screws at the bottom, probably unscrew those and it'll come off."...remove tank from bowl. Check!
2-Remove flush valve, clean tank bottom where shank washer seats. "What's a flush valve?" Me-"I don't know." He consulted the Internet and it said the flush valve is the same as the flapper (The people at Home Depot later said this was not true.).
So he cleaned everything he could. Check!
3-Replace worn shank washer with new, place tapered edge down. "I can't figure out how to get the washer off."...he disappears for awhile and then I hear water running. Mind you the part is still sitting next to me as I'm typing down the instructions. He comes downstairs and tells me he put the toilet back together and turned the water on. No more leaks...well for the first few minutes at least. He's heading back to Home Depot...not sure what he'll come home with, but if it was me I'd buy the complete set...but given I'm not heading to Home Depot for the third time, I'll fill you all in as to what he comes home with.
"There's this tube that goes through the middle of the tank, there's a big old gasket that sits on the tube and does miraculous things to keep water out." -Peter, toilet repair guru.
"We'll call ours Moses when we get it to work, a Moses gasket."
Story from Home Depot: Peter's goal as he goes to Home Depot is to look perplexed and let them spill their guts. The only problem is if you run into more than one employee you'll get different advice which compounds the problem. Guy #1 said the only problems you could possibly have is the flapper or the floating filler mechanism. Guy #2 said, "You have an angled flapper old toilets have those, you need this special flapper to fit your toilet." Mind you there were like 10 different flappers there. Now Peter's thinking, gee the last flapper I used worked and all the toilets in my house are the same.
Well he returned from Home Depot and got another flapper and washer but this time he got one that had some kind of sealant in a tube. He also got the complete toilet repair kit to use just in case his idea doesn't work. He put the toilet together and announced that it wasn't leaking. Then we headed out the door to a Christmas party. When we returned this evening, much to our dismay the dang toilet was leaking again! ARG!!!! The water is off again and perhaps we'll try again tomorrow morning. After all we have a complete repair kit now :) We're bound to find the problem.
This morning he decided to fix the toilet. He reads the directions on the back of the box:
1-Turn off water supply to toilet and drain tank. Check!
Remove tank from bowl. "Uh how do I do that?" Me-"Well there's screws at the bottom, probably unscrew those and it'll come off."...remove tank from bowl. Check!
2-Remove flush valve, clean tank bottom where shank washer seats. "What's a flush valve?" Me-"I don't know." He consulted the Internet and it said the flush valve is the same as the flapper (The people at Home Depot later said this was not true.).
So he cleaned everything he could. Check!
3-Replace worn shank washer with new, place tapered edge down. "I can't figure out how to get the washer off."...he disappears for awhile and then I hear water running. Mind you the part is still sitting next to me as I'm typing down the instructions. He comes downstairs and tells me he put the toilet back together and turned the water on. No more leaks...well for the first few minutes at least. He's heading back to Home Depot...not sure what he'll come home with, but if it was me I'd buy the complete set...but given I'm not heading to Home Depot for the third time, I'll fill you all in as to what he comes home with.
"There's this tube that goes through the middle of the tank, there's a big old gasket that sits on the tube and does miraculous things to keep water out." -Peter, toilet repair guru.
"We'll call ours Moses when we get it to work, a Moses gasket."
Story from Home Depot: Peter's goal as he goes to Home Depot is to look perplexed and let them spill their guts. The only problem is if you run into more than one employee you'll get different advice which compounds the problem. Guy #1 said the only problems you could possibly have is the flapper or the floating filler mechanism. Guy #2 said, "You have an angled flapper old toilets have those, you need this special flapper to fit your toilet." Mind you there were like 10 different flappers there. Now Peter's thinking, gee the last flapper I used worked and all the toilets in my house are the same.
Well he returned from Home Depot and got another flapper and washer but this time he got one that had some kind of sealant in a tube. He also got the complete toilet repair kit to use just in case his idea doesn't work. He put the toilet together and announced that it wasn't leaking. Then we headed out the door to a Christmas party. When we returned this evening, much to our dismay the dang toilet was leaking again! ARG!!!! The water is off again and perhaps we'll try again tomorrow morning. After all we have a complete repair kit now :) We're bound to find the problem.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
December Nights
Tonight we went to December Nights at Balboa Park. (Formerly known as Christmas at the Prado.) This happens the first Friday and Saturday in December every year. This used to be more of a community holiday celebration. They used to have carolers, singing groups, bell ringers and other performing groups as well as multicultural performances and goodies. Now it has turned into a secondary county fair with a few Christmas carols on the speakers. Two years ago (our official first date) we tried to go there, but the traffic was so bad that we gave up and went to Horton Plaza and went ice skating on their outdoor rink instead. As you can see this adventure was a success in many ways :) **For single guys, take note; ice skating on an outdoor rink is romantic and encourages the girl to hold your hand...or else fall on her butt.
Well today we made it there and boy was it crowded! We had to park really far away and take the trolley to the park. The line for the trolley was about 45 minutes long. When we finally got on, the driver said yesterday there was an estimated 147,000 people. I'm thinking there were probably that many if not more tonight. We walked all over everywhere and at one point looked out from a top view and saw a massive crowd. We stopped and got pansit, lumpia, rice, and a chicken thingy from the house of the Philippines. Peter got Perogies (potato and cheese dumplings) from the house of Poland. To top it all off we shared a strawberry funnel cake from one of the booths. It was great. We also went inside the model train museum. This was probably the best part. Trains, trains, trains and more trains. It's a loooooong track. They had a children's section with Lego trains. Peter thought the Lego cows grazing were pretty funny. It is 28,000 sq feet-the largest operating model train museum-basically the equivalent a supermarket. It was pretty cool!
Well today we made it there and boy was it crowded! We had to park really far away and take the trolley to the park. The line for the trolley was about 45 minutes long. When we finally got on, the driver said yesterday there was an estimated 147,000 people. I'm thinking there were probably that many if not more tonight. We walked all over everywhere and at one point looked out from a top view and saw a massive crowd. We stopped and got pansit, lumpia, rice, and a chicken thingy from the house of the Philippines. Peter got Perogies (potato and cheese dumplings) from the house of Poland. To top it all off we shared a strawberry funnel cake from one of the booths. It was great. We also went inside the model train museum. This was probably the best part. Trains, trains, trains and more trains. It's a loooooong track. They had a children's section with Lego trains. Peter thought the Lego cows grazing were pretty funny. It is 28,000 sq feet-the largest operating model train museum-basically the equivalent a supermarket. It was pretty cool!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Apple Recipes
Baked Apple Pancake
1/2 (1/4 cup) stick unsalted butter
1 1/4 pounds firm, tart apples (about 3 medium) such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch-thick slices
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
1/2 cup whole or low fat milk
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Confectioner's sugar
1. Preheat oven to 425F. Melt butter over medium-high heat in an ovenproof 10 inch skillet. Add apples, granulated sugar, and cinnamon and cook, stirring occasionally until the apples begin to brown and most of the juices have evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove skillet from heat.
2. Combine eggs, milk, flour, and salt in a food processor and process until smooth. (This can also be down with an electric mixer or by hand with a whisk.)
3. Spread the browned apples evenly across the bottom of the pan. Pour the batter over the apples. Place the skillet in the oven and bake until the pancake is golden and puffed, 18-20 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and let the pancake rest for five minutes. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, cut into wedges and serve immediately.
Serves 4-6
***Note we cook it in a regular skillet and then put in either a glass/metal pan or corningware to cook in the oven. We like it so much we make a double batch if we're making for more than just the two of us. We got this recipe from the Internet and love it!
Apple Cranberry Crisp
2 cups cranberries
3 cups sliced peeled apples
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
5 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Combine cranberries, apples, granulated sugar, lemon juice and salt; turn into a shallow, buttered 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Combine brown sugar, oats and flour. Cut in butter. Spoon over cranberry-apple mixture. Bake at 325 for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until topping is crispy and fruit is tender.
***Also got this recipe from the Internet and we love it too!
1/2 (1/4 cup) stick unsalted butter
1 1/4 pounds firm, tart apples (about 3 medium) such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch-thick slices
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
1/2 cup whole or low fat milk
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Confectioner's sugar
1. Preheat oven to 425F. Melt butter over medium-high heat in an ovenproof 10 inch skillet. Add apples, granulated sugar, and cinnamon and cook, stirring occasionally until the apples begin to brown and most of the juices have evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove skillet from heat.
2. Combine eggs, milk, flour, and salt in a food processor and process until smooth. (This can also be down with an electric mixer or by hand with a whisk.)
3. Spread the browned apples evenly across the bottom of the pan. Pour the batter over the apples. Place the skillet in the oven and bake until the pancake is golden and puffed, 18-20 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and let the pancake rest for five minutes. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, cut into wedges and serve immediately.
Serves 4-6
***Note we cook it in a regular skillet and then put in either a glass/metal pan or corningware to cook in the oven. We like it so much we make a double batch if we're making for more than just the two of us. We got this recipe from the Internet and love it!
Apple Cranberry Crisp
2 cups cranberries
3 cups sliced peeled apples
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
5 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Combine cranberries, apples, granulated sugar, lemon juice and salt; turn into a shallow, buttered 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Combine brown sugar, oats and flour. Cut in butter. Spoon over cranberry-apple mixture. Bake at 325 for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until topping is crispy and fruit is tender.
***Also got this recipe from the Internet and we love it too!
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