my laptop battery has been dead for months, resulting in me having to carry the cable everywhere and plugging it in every time.  that hasn't bothered me much.. but soon my mouse and keyboard started acting up.  the mouse was jumpy and the keyboard lagged terribly.  it was so bad that i essentially converted my laptop into a desktop with a usb mouse and keyboard.  i could not figure out what was wrong (after a system restore, reinstalling drivers, etc.)

i was searching around on some forums today and found out that removing the dead battery could solve this problem.  i took it out and it worked!  it feels sooo good to have a laptop that is on its way to becoming portable again.  i can actually type without getting frustrated!  that may be why this post is so detailed.

in other news, i'll be swapping out my busted phone for prezza's... we both have a centro, and i'm glad i won't have to give it up.  it's helped with my getting lost and overcommiting myself.  google maps has seriously paid for itself.

ok, enough techy geekery for one day.  go listen to lost highway records.

i'm too inconsistent to maintain a blog.

but here is a good thing: during the month of may, storyville coffee company in seattle is giving away all their profits to international justice mission.  go buy some coffee!  www.storyville.com

here is another good thing: the bible.  go read it!  (also, listen to arcade fire's neon bible)

pull a shot of espresso.  add some cocoa powder and sugar or chocolate syrup.

pour it over mint chocolate chip ice cream.

then pose like this guy:



seriously, it's the greatest.  and perfect for celebrating a canceled class on a gorgeous day.

i have a lot to juggle these days:
school (papers!)
leading metro youth praise band, and getting ready for youth councils
being a small group leader at the corps
preparing and leading worship on sunday mornings
practicing instruments (i feel terrible when i show up for lessons and haven't practiced one bit)
working out flight arrangements for the end of the staff band scandinavia tour
preparing for mini-teaching practicum
communicating with and preparing a multi-national team for working together this summer

it's the last one that i do every monday or tuesday morning.  and believe me, it takes the whole morning to do!  between answering their questions and sending out assignment reminders in two languages, it's a lot of work.  but it's work that i thoroghly enjoy doing and am sooo looking forward to the days when this has paid off.

in between responsibilities, or to avoid them, i cook and bake.  lately i've been craving nutmeg, so even my cream of wheat this morning was decorated with cinnamon, nutmeg, pecans and maple syrup.  at least my procrastination is fruitful and productive.

it tastes so incredibly fresh!  seriously, you haven't lived 'till you've tasted it.

it's easy to make.  grab some cream and shake it in a jar (or do like me n preez did and run it in the food processor for a minute or two).

in between turning from cream to butter, it's whipped cream.  add some sugar or chocolate syrup and you could have some amazing whipped cream!

maybe i'm so enthralled by this because i'm accustomed to so much fake food.  fake butter, fake whipped cream... then the real stuff just tastes so good because i'm not used to it.

real butter from fresh cream is the way it's supposed to be.