Randome Updates
May. 6th, 2014 08:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebI'm a little jealous--I mean admiring--of my friend P_J_Cleary who updates here daily. So what's up with me?
I recently received my county's notice of appraised value. It's 10% higher than last year's. That's actually very good news because Zillow thinks my house is worth 44% more than last year. And that's even good news because last month's Zillow estimate was 48% more.
Actually, I'm just now noticing that the appraisal isn't for now but for January 1 (when Zillow's estimate was--oh--still 33% higher).
**
This year I've decided to do this thing I've heard about where you only itemize your deductions every other you, and you clump those deductions into every other year. For me this means that this year I will hold off on making my charitable contributions and paying my property taxes until after January 1 and I will take the standard deduction. That will be just a little lower than my usual deduction.
Next year I will make my charitable contributions and and pay my property taxes before the end of the year. That should lead to a much higher itemized deduction than usual.
**
UT System has challenged us to walk 10,000 steps per day or the equivalent for five days per week (by which they really mean 50K steps per week) for the six weeks starting on May 1. The UT System branch that does the best will get to possess the coveted traveling trophy for one year. Heh. So motivating. But we also get free pedometers. I'll say more when I have my 1-week update, but so far I'm meeting my goals.
Also, I found out one of my chickadees is also participating. Today I did that quick-draw thing that Indigo Rose and I like to do where we compare the numbers on our pedometers, but she wasn't wearing hers because it made a big lump in her outfit. (I'm too sexy for my pedometer.) So she's submitting an estimate today.
**
I tried the Trader Joe's canned chili. It's too sugary for Robin, plus it has beans. And it tastes too much like vegetables to me and is too spicy. Bell peppers and jalapenos. Bleh.
**
I'm on my third try for party-grade double chocolate banana bread. The first time I followed the recipe exactly. Which turns out to mean I changed almost every ingredient, but they were all small changes which I feel sure don't matter. It came out delicious but too crumbly to be party grade.
So then I tried just adding cocoa and reducing the flour in my own banana bread recipe. Not as yummy.
Then I tried reducing the baking soda in the original recipe because supposedly when you use regular cocoa instead of dutch processed cocoa, the bread rises too much and then falls. The bread was still delicious. And still crumbly.
Then searching for "crumbly" in the hundreds of comments for the recipe, I found someone who recommended subbing oil for half the butter. But when I told Robin, he recommended adding an extra egg instead. Eggs are called binders, after all--and that certainly sounds like a cure for the crumbles. So I have two more possible experiments lined up.
**
We started watching two new (to us) TV shows. One is "Community," about a bunch of people in a study group at a community college. After two episodes, we like most, but not all of the characters. We'll watch more. The other one, I forget what it's called, is about a gal who discovers a group of women who all look like her and are trying to find out why--but who are also getting killed off. Also, she's switched places with one of the dead ones. Stressful. But gripping.
**
Speaking of stress, my computer got replaced at work and has all updated software so I have to re-learn how to use things again. At least I got rid of the surfing wave backdrop which at first seemed pretty, but quickly began to feel like impending doom.
**
I have collected all of the mushrooms in Plants versus Zombies without having to buy any. I still need many of the land plants and two of the three water plants.
Song of the Day - "You Are My Sunshine" by "Jenny and Lottie." They can't help smiling too much during this rendition that shows you how creepy it is (just like the Civil War's version does), but they sound really good.
I recently received my county's notice of appraised value. It's 10% higher than last year's. That's actually very good news because Zillow thinks my house is worth 44% more than last year. And that's even good news because last month's Zillow estimate was 48% more.
Actually, I'm just now noticing that the appraisal isn't for now but for January 1 (when Zillow's estimate was--oh--still 33% higher).
**
This year I've decided to do this thing I've heard about where you only itemize your deductions every other you, and you clump those deductions into every other year. For me this means that this year I will hold off on making my charitable contributions and paying my property taxes until after January 1 and I will take the standard deduction. That will be just a little lower than my usual deduction.
Next year I will make my charitable contributions and and pay my property taxes before the end of the year. That should lead to a much higher itemized deduction than usual.
**
UT System has challenged us to walk 10,000 steps per day or the equivalent for five days per week (by which they really mean 50K steps per week) for the six weeks starting on May 1. The UT System branch that does the best will get to possess the coveted traveling trophy for one year. Heh. So motivating. But we also get free pedometers. I'll say more when I have my 1-week update, but so far I'm meeting my goals.
Also, I found out one of my chickadees is also participating. Today I did that quick-draw thing that Indigo Rose and I like to do where we compare the numbers on our pedometers, but she wasn't wearing hers because it made a big lump in her outfit. (I'm too sexy for my pedometer.) So she's submitting an estimate today.
**
I tried the Trader Joe's canned chili. It's too sugary for Robin, plus it has beans. And it tastes too much like vegetables to me and is too spicy. Bell peppers and jalapenos. Bleh.
**
I'm on my third try for party-grade double chocolate banana bread. The first time I followed the recipe exactly. Which turns out to mean I changed almost every ingredient, but they were all small changes which I feel sure don't matter. It came out delicious but too crumbly to be party grade.
So then I tried just adding cocoa and reducing the flour in my own banana bread recipe. Not as yummy.
Then I tried reducing the baking soda in the original recipe because supposedly when you use regular cocoa instead of dutch processed cocoa, the bread rises too much and then falls. The bread was still delicious. And still crumbly.
Then searching for "crumbly" in the hundreds of comments for the recipe, I found someone who recommended subbing oil for half the butter. But when I told Robin, he recommended adding an extra egg instead. Eggs are called binders, after all--and that certainly sounds like a cure for the crumbles. So I have two more possible experiments lined up.
**
We started watching two new (to us) TV shows. One is "Community," about a bunch of people in a study group at a community college. After two episodes, we like most, but not all of the characters. We'll watch more. The other one, I forget what it's called, is about a gal who discovers a group of women who all look like her and are trying to find out why--but who are also getting killed off. Also, she's switched places with one of the dead ones. Stressful. But gripping.
**
Speaking of stress, my computer got replaced at work and has all updated software so I have to re-learn how to use things again. At least I got rid of the surfing wave backdrop which at first seemed pretty, but quickly began to feel like impending doom.
**
I have collected all of the mushrooms in Plants versus Zombies without having to buy any. I still need many of the land plants and two of the three water plants.
Song of the Day - "You Are My Sunshine" by "Jenny and Lottie." They can't help smiling too much during this rendition that shows you how creepy it is (just like the Civil War's version does), but they sound really good.
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no subject
on 2014-05-07 05:55 am (UTC)With cakes, I add an instant pudding mix in a coordinated flavor to make the cake extra moist without falling apart. Perhaps that would work in a quick bread as well? I also never use oil--I always substitute applesauce. Healthier and yummy!
Quite the random bag of info today!
no subject
on 2014-05-08 12:00 am (UTC)Ha, I'm the opposite on property taxes. I want to pay them ASAP so I don't screw up and forget altogether. Must wait until January 1, keep waiting, keep waiting, okay--stop waiting and pay now!
I don't want to rely on mixes for my recipes if I don't have to--but pudding mix has thickeners--at least one of which (eggs) is also a binder.
no subject
on 2014-05-08 12:25 am (UTC)no subject
on 2014-05-08 02:41 am (UTC)no subject
on 2014-05-07 12:45 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2014-05-08 12:01 am (UTC)no subject
on 2014-05-08 05:08 am (UTC)If you use twitter, check out #cloneclub. Although that would give you spoilers!
no subject
on 2014-05-09 01:01 am (UTC)I'm only in season 1. Decorative basically useless men? I hadn't yet noticed--the brother seems pretty cool, to the best of his abilities. Interesting.