Pennsylvania Dutch

According to the Book Crossing Over: One Woman's Exodus from Amish Life by Ruth Irene Garrett with Rick Farrant, there is no word in Pennsylvania Dutch for love. I'm referencing page 28 of that book. Crossing over is Ruth Irene Garrett's true story about leaving the Old Order Amish Community in Kalona, Iowa. She says (and I'm paraphrasing) that when the "English" concept of love is referred to by the Amish that they use the German word for it, "liebe."

Twinkies, Paint, and Toothpaste

When I was at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky last week, the tour guide was talking about the various minerals on the walls of the cave. There is a mineral there that is in Twinkies, Paint, and Toothpaste, though I can't remember for the life of me which mineral it is. The tour guide said that they asked the Twinkie people why it's in there and that the Twinkie people said it's what gives the cream filling the fluffiness.

I'll never think about Twinkies the same way again, though I do love them :)

Audio Books

The Nashville Public Library has downloadable audio books! They use two different services, Overdrive and Netlibrary. So far I've only used Netlibrary. This service doesn't allow the listener to burn CDS but does allow for downloading to a computer, MP3, etc. At first I wondered how they could restrict the burning of CDs, but then I realized that the book is one giant file. It doesn't fit onto a CD. The reader has to agree to delete the file after the 3 week checkout period. Overdrive does allow CDs to be burned but the file stops working after the checkout period.

I'm already halfway through my second book. I recently bought a treadmill with built-in speakers, so I've been taking my computer downstairs and just running a chord between my laptop and the treadmill so that the book plays directly off the nice speakers. I like the added motivation to exercise.

I love libraries :)

Website Design

After several unsuccessful attempts to design jenbluekissed.com using a few different software products, free trial downloads, and basically ripping some of my hair from my head, I was about ready to throw in the towel a few weeks ago. Do I really need a website?

My frustration wasn't with html code or anything as advanced as that. No, I don't understand html code and probably never will. I couldn't get my pages to link up to each other using graphic based software.

Thank the stars I found www.wix.com. I'm almost finished with my website design. After a few hours I had accomplished more using Wix than I had in several months using Web Easy. My website should be up soon, I'm already thinking of ways I can make it even better. Now that I know I won't need a daily dose of banging my head against the wall to line up my pictures or insert text, I'm a whole lot happier. :)

The Squirrels Are Smart Critters

The squirrels have managed to knock down the bird feeder again. After they chewed through the rope holding the bird feeder in place, my husband replaced the rope with some metal twine. We thought we were all set, but the squirrels pulled the twine out of the clamp.

Keep in mind that I couldn't undo the clamp without asking my hubby to grab the pliers. The squirrels, on the other hand, managed to do so within one day.

The poor birds! They get to gorge on seed for a few days while it is spilled all over the deck, but then it takes a few days to get the feeder fixed and back into service.

Statue of Liberty

On the Today Show this morning, they released information that the crown of the statue will be reopened to the public starting in July in 2009. They're going to do a lottery type system to determine who can go up there because for space limitations not everyone who enters the statue proper can go to the crown.

I visited New York back in 1998 and was in the Statue of Liberty and also inside the crown. At the time I was quite impressed, but surprised at how long it took to get all the way up there and how narrow the stairway is. I don't think I've been on a scarier staircase since.

Something else the Today show mentioned and showed pictures of was that the torch was replaced in the 1980s when the country celebrated the Statue of Liberty's 100th birthday. I had no idea that it wasn't the original torch. I also didn't know that when France shipped the statue to the US, that they had manufactured the entire thing whole and shipped it. I assumed before seeing the segment on the Today Show that it had to be at least partway assembled or partway manufactured in the US.

COBRA Subsidy

There are a few rules to the COBRA subsidy for the 65% payment of which I was formerly unaware. All these things pass into law and look great on paper, but when the rules finally come trickling down, there's always a catch. A few random things are included here.

There are income limitations that can make people ineligible for the subsidy. These limitations are based on adjusted gross income and vary depending on if a person is filing as single or married. If a person mistakenly doesn't read the paperwork closely enough and signs that they're eligible when they're not, the IRS will recoup the subsidy at tax time.

The money isn't coming directly from the government. Initially, the employer has to pay the subsidy amount and then the IRS reimburses the employer. Eligibility for the subsidy was 3-1-09, but in the case of my husband and I, we still haven't been reimbursed for our subsidy amount (we paid the full COBRA cost and now have insurance through my employer). This administrative hitch is the reason why.

You have to be involuntarily terminated by the employer to qualify for the subsidy. If you left voluntarily, tough cookies. (You'll still probably qualify for COBRA, just at the regular rate).

You can't be eligible to be covered under any other employer based coverage to be eligible for the subsidy. So, if you're spouse is still employed, but his/her insurance is crappy and covers nothing unless you pay a gigantic deductible, touch cookies. You don't qualify for the subsidy (technically--I have no way of knowing how the COBRA administrator or government would ever check up on this, but it is part of the official rules).

Timba and Salsa

Timba and Salsa are not the same thing. I never knew that; I always thought they were basically identical styles of music.

Sinful Dessert: Peanut Butter Special K Bars

Ingrediants:

1 C white Karo syrup
1 C sugar
1 C peanut butter
6 C Special K cereal

Frosting:

1 C peanut butter
3 Hershey's candy bars

Bring syrup and sugar to a boil over the stove, but don't boil. Add peanut butter and stir until mixed well. Pour mixture over cereal and mix until coated. Spread Cereal and mixture into a well greased 9 X 11 inch cake pan. Allow to cool.

For frosting: melt chocolate and peanut butter in a small saucepan over stove. Spread like frosting over cooled bars.