Kolaches

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I am compelled by reason, order, and respect for the mother tongue to clarify a common misconception regarding the use of the word kolache. According to Dictionary.com, a kolache is “a sweet bun filled with jam or pulped fruit”. They are either square or round in shape with a depression in the middle where the baker places a dollop of fruity stuff, cream cheese, chocolate, or some other yummy, sweet substance. Some donut shops around here sell them. For truly authentic (i.e. European) kolaches, try visiting West, Texas. Not the region where you’ll find Odessa and Lubbock, but the tiny town on I-35 between Hillboro and Waco. Good stuff.

A kolache is NOT a piece of sausage wrapped in bread, as some people and some donut stores call them. Wikipedia says such a dish is correctly called a klobasnek. I’ve also heard them called sausage rolls or pigs in a blanket. But they are NOT kolaches.

Thank you. You may now resume your regularly scheduled donut order.

Mr. Mom

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Yesterday Jenny took a well-deserved break from Brenden duty and went to Canton with my sister (taking a well-deserved break from her own mommyhood) and my mom. I stayed home (Canton makes me twitch) so Brenden and I could have Guy Day. It wasn’t the first time I’d kept him alone, but it was one of the longest days.

It’s always interesting to stay home and have full charge of a little person. He was fully dependent on me, and only me, for his food, sleep, diapers, and safety. If something weird happened, I had to fix it. I could call the expert, but she was 2 hours away. Brenden’s routine is pretty solid, and most of the time we can figure out what’s wrong when he’s upset, so I used those facts to my advantage. We actually had a very nice day: a couple of solid meals and bottles, a loooooong morning nap and a shorter afternoon nap, and lots of playing. Since it was Guy Day, we had to make a run to Lowe’s for a home improvement product (single-pole light switches this time to replace our dimmers – don’t worry, I’ll handle the wiring). To make Grampy proud, we also went to Sam’s (one of his favorite stores) and got some light bulbs. During his naps and solo play time, I also managed to unpack some boxes, lay some contact paper, and put away some laundry. I felt very domestic. I should have made a cake or something.

Finally Jenny came home. Even though I’m glad she gets to take breaks, it’s always reassuring when she gets back. She’s more experienced with babies than I am and knows Brenden’s signs and routine better. In IT terms, she is the Level 2 support, the one who gets the calls that the Level 1 people like me can’t handle.

I also got to experience firsthand something that Jenny has described several times: babies steal part of your brain when you’re around them long enough. I used to have (I think) a pretty good memory and was fairly responsible. I could show up on time for an appointment or party. If I made a mental note to do something, I did it. But after a day of watching B and then scrambling to gather all his stuff for church, I forgot a crucial ingredient for a Brenden meal: a bib. At least I remembered the diapers!

Slumdog Millionaire

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After having it on hand for probably 2 weeks or more (right around moving time), tonight Jenny and I finally watched this year’s Best Picture winner, Slumdog Millionaire. Before tonight I didn’t know much about it except that 1) It was a mostly Indian movie but directed by a Brit. 2) It won lots of awards including BP. 3) Everyone I knew who saw it had loved it. Sometimes I prefer to watch a movie without knowing what to expect.

We both LOVED it. The story and structure have many parallels to those of Forrest Gump. A young Indian man lives a wildly interesting life that fortuitously benefits him later when he becomes a contestant on India’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The film alternates between present time and flashbacks to the young man’s childhood so you can see where he, as an uneducated orphan, gets the answers to each of the quiz show questions. Having never seen a film set entirely in India, I also enjoyed learning a bit about Indian culture and seeing a cast of unknowns get to shine. The rich colors, music, and accents provided a refreshing changeup from the American movies I usually watch. Add it to your Netflix if you haven’t seen it.

Gun Poll and Kissing Poll

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The gun poll was the most popular yet, with 24 responses split almost evenly between those who own a weapon and those who do not. I don’t have a problem with people who own guns, but I’m not personally comfortable with them and don’t have any in my house. If an intruder ever shows up, I’ll have to rely on my mad ninja skills.

For my new poll, you’ll have to dig deep into memory lane. Enjoy (or cringe, as the case may be)!

U-Verse vs Time Warner Cable

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After taking a break from cable TV service for a few months to save up for the house, on Friday we had AT&T U-Verse installed at our new address. U-Verse is a fairly new service that can provide voice, TV, and Internet access over the same line. Technically, it runs over a fiber optic network to your neighborhood and then over the phone line the rest of the way. The technician installs a small box on the exterior of your house and runs an ethernet cable through the wall to an interior outlet, which he plugs into the U-Verse “hub” inside your house. The hub serves as a wireless router with decent speed and range. It also passes the TV signal along to a separate receiver.

The installation was pain-free, about 2 hours in length, with no digging in my yard like I think you’d get with Verizon FIOS. We’re getting TV and Internet but not voice. For the first couple of days I had a few problems with the Internet connection. Service was spotty, and I kept having to log into my own network every time I put my laptop to sleep. I also had a couple of minor issues with the TV service. But now, a few days later, both are working very well. It seems like all the widgets had to learn how to play nicely together. I just have one minor problem with my mail software, so I might call later this week.

For similar programming, U-Verse seems to be a bit more expensive, but you also get more. I went with U-Verse mainly for two reasons: 1) More HD channels than Time Warner. 2) The ability to program my DVR remotely via phone or computer. It also adds some other nice features such as PIP preview, instant channel changing (instead of the delay I got from TW), free access to thousands of AT&T hotspots around the country, and interactive weather. The main thing I dislike about the TV service is the digital music. It offers some nice channels but is missing a “spa music” channel I liked on TW, and I prefer TW’s on-screen trivia for the current song. But overall I like it. Actually, I’m just happy to have TV again. We’re happily recording episodes of The Simpsons and NCIS, watching the Stanley Cup playoffs and HGTV in beautiful high definition, and cranking up the subwoofer on everything from BB King to Taylor Swift. I’m seeing a Super Bowl party in our future…

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UPDATE 12/31/09: We canceled U-Verse TV after several months. Although we enjoyed the service, it was costing us about $80 a month, more than comparable service with Time Warner Cable. We bought an HD antenna instead. Sure, we miss the channels and music we lost, but we love getting to keep the money. We still use U-Verse internet, which I do NOT like. The provided (required!) router drops the connection probably once per hour, taking about 20 seconds to re-establish it. The speed is variable, sometimes close to the advertised speed, sometimes much slower. I’m supposedly running 3.0 mbps but Skype teleconference is really rough and jerky. I would switch to TW cable internet, but we don’t have any cable outlets or a cable modem and I don’t want to pay for them. Eventually, though, I’ll probably make the switch because this is ridiculous.

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Kitchen Update

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We are close to completion on our kitchen remodel. All that remain are a few more door and touch-up work. I’m so excited about the new look and very grateful to Jenny’s dad for all of his helps. I posted some new pics on the house page.

We have also completed the move as of Wednesday. We used All-Tex Movers and were very happy with them! They showed up on-time, wrapped our furniture really well, worked hard, all spoke English, and were very nice. After our last experience with professional movers, I was skeptical, but it worked out just fine.