Wherefore art thou, Wordsteal?

Wordsteal has been down since yesterday evening!! I am suffering from major withdrawls, over here!!! I got some grains of rice at FreeRice.com, but now I’m read to steal some words!!!

Vermont Mystic Pie

I got an AWESOME frozen pie for Thanksgiving at Whole Foods yesterday. Vermont Mystic Pie. We got the blueberry apple pie and it was amazingly delish. And it was only $9.99 — way cheaper than the pies in the bakery section, and in my opinion it was better because it tasted 100% fresh after cooking it in the oven. With a scoop of Haagen-Daaz vanilla on it, it was fantastic. I will be getting this pie for future events. My mouth is watering as I write this!!

Hyphenation

I haven’t legally changed my name yet, because the idea of going to the social security office puts my stomach in knots. Anyway, it’s a good thing I didn’t go yet, because I decided that I’m going to hyphenate my name after all. I won’t get into the details of WHY because it’s a long ranty-type reason, but it’s just an FYI. :-)

Thin Mints

Was anyone else a Girl Scout? I was one from 1st-4th grade. In 5th grade, the girls got catty, so I quit. Before that, I LOVED being a Girl Scout. I hated selling those cookies, though. Half our neighborhood was Girl Scouts, so they were really hard to sell. I’d want to win some prize, like a water bottle that made the water taste like plastic or a fanny pack.

I liked Samoas and Tag-Alongs, but my favorites were (of course) THIN MINTS.

Because I love Thin Mints, I also love Keebler’s Grasshopper Cookies. I am now quite excited because those cookies come in the 100 calorie packs! Little bits o’ heaven, I tell ya. Little bits o’ heaven.

They also have the Fudge Stripe cookies in 100 calorie packs. How I love Keeber Fudge Shoppe! I am awaiting the Chocolate Covered Grahams in 100 calorie packs. I can’t actually buy those Fudge Shoppe cookies because I will eat the entire box.

Wainwright Bank, Fare Thee Well

I used Wainwright Bank since I first moved to Massachusetts nearly 4 years ago. After having a bad experience with Wells Fargo, a large bank in California, I wanted a smaller bank. Matt was using Fleet, which got purchased by Bank of America shortly thereafter. He was disappointed, because he used Bank of America in California and really wanted a new bank.

I loved Wainwright Bank. The tellers there were always friendly and nice. I usually went to the Watertown Square branch, because we lived just a few blocks away from Watertown Square at the time. I also liked the different things they did for the community.

After we got married, we merged our finances. I would have liked to have stayed with Wainwright, but unfortunately, we wound up choosing B-of-A. I freelance, so I have to go to the bank regularly to make deposits, and there isn’t a branch in West Newton Square (or even a SUM ATM). I was so sad to close my Wainwright account. But I have to admit, it’s nice not having to worry about finding a bank I can use.

Concentrate, Concentrate! (The Chills)

Anyone remember this playground/summer camp game?

X marks the spot with a dot dot dot

With a line line line

And a question mark

A pinch

A squeeze

A tropical breeze

Now you’ve got the now you’ve got the now you’ve got the CHILLS!

Concentrate. Concentrate.

People dying. Children crying.

Concentrate. Concentrate.

Crack an egg on your head.

Let the yolk run down.

Let the yolk run down and all around.

Crack an egg on your head.

Let the yolk run down.

Let the yolk run down and all around.

Concentrate. Concentrate

People dying. Children crying.

Concentrate. Concentrate.

Stab a knife in your back.

Let the blood run down.

Let the blood run down and all around.

Stab a knife in your back.

Let the blood run down.

Let the blood run down and all around.

Concentrate. Concentrate.

People dying. Children crying.

Concentrate. Concentrate.

Squeeze an orange on your head.

Let the juice drip down.

Let the juice drip down and all around.

Squeeze an orange on your head.

Let the juice drip down.

Let the juice drip down and all around.

Chutes and Ladders

Sometimes I think of the types of things that I’d do if I were to somehow become rich and eccentric.

First thing I’d do would be to build a life-sized Chutes and Ladders game. You’d actually have to climb up the ladders and slide down the chutes. There would have to be some sort of mechanism to tell you how many spaces to move. Some sort of computerized thing, or maybe the spot you have to move to would light up.

Ah, pipe dreams.

Dreaming of Wordsteal

I’ve written about my affinity for word games before.

I’m not as word-gamey in the summer, but as soon as the weather cooled off, I was back on Wordsteal.com. I’m not great at it, though I used to be quite good back around 2000. I’m trying to brush up on my skills.

I was an addict back in the day. In fact, in October 2000, I was sick with a kidney infection and in the waiting room of the emergency room, and I noticed the sign that said: TRIAGE NURSE. My thought was, “Oh, triage, that’s a good word to steal the word ‘age’ with!”

I’m getting over a cold, and I spent yesterday afternoon drinking pot after pot of tea and playing Wordsteal. It was a heavenly afternoon

Last night, I was trying to sleep, and each time I closed my eyes, I saw the game and I started trying to move word tiles around in my mind. I dreamt of Wordsteal throughout the night. And about twenty minutes after I woke up, I was back on there, playing Wordsteal.

I think I may have a problem!

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name…

We have two mail carriers in our neighborhood. One delivers regular mails, like envelopes, bills, circulars. One delivers packages via USPS. We got lots of packages around the wedding, so I saw the second mail carrier regular. I think that package deliverer looks JUST like Cliff Clavin.

I kid you not.

I wonder if after he finishes his route he stops at Cheers to hang with Sam and “Nahm.”

Grilled Cheese

My sister and I were latch-key kids. From 3-6, our afternoons consisted of watching the TBS afternoon line-up, which included “Saved By The Bell”, my absolute favorite show in middle school.

In the summer, we attended theatre camp and tennis camp every year. We’d also usually take a week long camping trip to Maine, Upstate NY, etc. However, there were usually about 2 or 3 weeks where we didn’t have camp, vacation, or school. Those weeks always seemed like the longest weeks ever.

One thing that got us through the summers was this:

A grilled cheese maker!

We would have grilled cheese almost every day. We loved it because we didn’t have to fuss with pans, flipping the sandwiches over, or anything. We’d just slap the sandwich together, stick it in the machine, and viola — grilled cheese. It toasted the bread really nicely, and made little pockets so the cheese would get good and melty. No need for butter.

When putting our wedding registry together, I had to put the grilled cheese maker on it. Wedding presents are still coming in, and last week I got a package. I opened it, and to my delight: a grilled cheese maker!! It’s been a fantastic gift. Not only have I been making my traditional American-cheese-on-whole-grain-bread sandwich, but I am making all sorts of hot, pressed sandwiches with this thing.

Lately, my thing has been pesto-mozzarella-tomato sandwiches. It’s the perfect lunch. Or dinner. Or snack.

Mmm, grilled cheese on the grilled cheese maker…it takes me back to the summer of 1993!