Five for Friday

1. Sweet potatoes, potato format

Since my dad is, well, my dad, I have a strong predisposition (nature or nurture? you decide) toward avoiding any vegetable that isn’t completely slathered in butter or some appropriately fatty sauce. My general distrust of foods that didn’t once roam around on at least two (and no more than four) feet has taken years to overcome. Until recently, one vegetable that had not joined the ranks of acceptable sustenance was the sweet potato. You see, one of the other rules about vegetables in my world was that you don’t cover them with marshmallows—and that was, of course, the solitary use of a sweet potato—and therefore sweet potatoes were evil. Imagine the revelation, therefore, when I discovered the sweet potato in potato format! As in, just like a baked potato only, well, sweet! A-maz-ing. Seriously, one of the few vegetables in the world that requires almost no butter or sugar or salt or anything else to make it taste good (okay, I put a tiny bit of butter and brown sugar on it, but hardly any). Did I mention amazing? Really, it is, go try it. (And if you’re impatient like me, you can just microwave it instead of putting it in the oven.)

2. Everybody loves a pangolin!

Sister Dear #3 and her three kids are visiting again, and good times are generally being had by all. On Tuesday we went to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History,* and it was so great. Can you say butterflies? Butterflies! Butterflies! Butterflies! There’s a butterfly enclosure there, and not one of those lame ones where you might spot a monarch or two. We’re talking hundreds, flittering around, landing in your hair, amazing. Plus, on Tuesdays, the butterfly enclosure is free. So really, nifty. Among other fun stuff we saw: the Hope diamond (ooh! aah!), a brown recluse, and (drum roll, please) a stuffed pangolin! And, as is patently obvious, everybody loves a pangolin.

3. La-Di-Da

La-di-da-di-da, unsuspicious-looking whistling, and all that. You don’t notice me, not doing what I should be doing right now. Which is finishing up my entry(ies?) for the Mormon Lit Blitz (http://mormonartist.net/2011/11/mormon-lit-blitz-contest-1-kindle-for-1k-words/). You should do one too!** After all, you’ve still got two whole days! And now I shall continue procrastinating, la-di-da.

4. Happy Friday the 13th!

It’s a throwback (is that the right word here?) to my high school days that I absolutely love a good Friday the 13th. I don’t actually do anything to celebrate it. I mean, in theory I should be reading a good horror novel, scaring someone to death (preferably not literally), or at least eating some brains or finding a black cat somewhere. But actually all I do is say, “Happy Friday the 13th!”

5. Just a couple funny blogs

Two funny parenting blog posts I ran across this week. Had to share:

http://www.modernmormonmen.com/2011/05/guest-post-newborns-perspective.html

http://www.havingthreekids.com/havingthreekids.html

*Please note: At this very moment, I am tamping down the editor/fact checker within, who is really bothered by the idea that I might have the name of the museum wrong. In fact, I can control it no longer… Okay, now I fixed it and the name is right. Curses! I couldn’t resist.

**Not that I really want more competition.

On the metro.

Coriel with Sister Dear #1, holding huge grasshoppers. Lubber grasshoppers.

I think the butterfly was attracted to the incredibly realistic butterflies
on my mei-tai (that's the carrier/wrap thingie that Addra
is conspicuously not riding around in at this point).

It would make a good barrette, no?

There were also common mormons and scarlet mormons. There's a
really good joke in here somewhere about caterpillars and being perfected
as butterflies and stuff, but I just can't come up with it.

The Hope diamond (ooh! aah!).

A tired Coriel resting on her sweet cousin.

Hanging out with the cousins.

Lounging with the cousin. (For some reason, I am always writing
"cousing" instead of "cousin." Ergh.)