Reading: Same books, nothing new to say there. I am also "reading" a few websites: The Renegade Gardner has good info about gardens in northern climes and he has some fun ideas about gardening in general. Take some time to browse. He has opinions to spare.
Bailey's Nursery has a very comprehensive plant list that you can search by common name, Latin name, hardiness, soil type and lighting needs. They also have pictures for a lot of the plants.

Almost everyday I check out the conversations going on at the St. Paul Pioneer Press Bulletin Board. My comments have been published a couple of times, under the name "Don't Call Me Sallie! in Maple Grove".

WebMD is a good general site that I use for work a lot (especially to figure out why people are taking certain medications. It doesn't make you spell the names right, which is great for those weird drug names that are nearly always misspelled) but also if I just want more info on medical issues.

Dean Haagenson's website is fun if you like looking for houses. He is our realtor and my husband's cousin. It is fun to search and look at the houses. Once there was a townhouse for sale that was painted all pink inside. The dining area was hot pink (think Pepto-Bismol) and the living room was pink with black accents (think Barbie dreamhouse). The pink inside matched the crabapple tree in bloom outside. Lovely.

My friend Steph has a blog too. She is a librarian and reads a lot of interesting books. I notice that she recently read Lemony Snicket's book, around the same time I read it. Great minds read alike.

If you want to virtually try clothes on, check out My Virtual Model.com. You can create a 3-D model of yourself and then shop at stores such as Land's End and LLBean. Beware, though. When you create your model, she (or, of course, he) shows up in her (or, of course, his) skivvies. If you are trying this at work, it is difficult to get her covered up quickly enough. It is even more embarrassing because she will look very much like you.

Have you always wanted your very own Blog? Go to Blogger.com and start one today! And then let me know and I will read it.

I really need more work to do...

Reading: I am about a quarter of the way through Undaunted Courage and am enjoying it, learning more about Merriwether Lewis and Thomas Jefferson. Funny story--when I was younger, I always thought Thomas Jefferson was black. I was surprised when I discovered he was not. For years I have been trying to figure out what made me think he was. I now think it is because of George Jefferson, of "The Jeffersons".

Eating: Last night's dinner is today's recipe: Thai Chicken and Noodles. I don't know how authentic this recipe is (can't imagine they use spaghetti in Thailand) but it is good and easy. It comes from a cookbook that is apparently created by Kraft. The book was a shower gift. 1 C. Oriental salad dressing (I made mine from Betty Crocker's recipe, which I will post below--would be even easier if you buy some premade but I have not found any), 1lb chicken sliced into thin strips, 2 T. peanut butter, 2 T honey, 1/2 t. crushed red (cayenne) pepper, 8 oz spaghetti cooked, 1/2 C. shredded carrots. Marinate the chicken for 1 hour (or however long you have--I did for about 15 minutes) in 1/3 C. of the dressing. Stir together the remaining dressing, peanut butter, honey and red pepper. Cook the chicken until no longer pink. Stir together the chicken, spaghetti, carrots and peanut butter mixture and serve immediately. You can top with chopped green onions or chopped peanuts. It is a little spicy and you can adjust the amount of red pepper to taste.

Betty's Oriental Dressing--1/3 C. rice wine vinegar (whatever! I use whatever vinegar I have--red wine or plain old white vinegar), 1/4 C. oil, 1 T. sesame seeds, 3 T. soy sauce, 1/4 t. ground ginger. Place all ingrediants in a small jar and shake well.

I think Betty Crocker is the greatest ever.