matchbookhymnal's Profile

I make old-fashioned oats in the microwave all the time. I type in three minutes and walk away. The hands-on time might amount to 30 seconds if I dump some raisins or frozen strawberries in the bowl first. We only buy quick oats because my husband prefers the texture (I don't know why-- he just prefers mushy). All the many forms of time-saving oatmeal I see have always mystified me (and The Kitchn has plenty, especially the "cook now and reheat later" ones).

I adore the crinkle-cups. They are so cute! And I must confess I find the ceramic ramen cup a lot of fun. I don't like to eat or drink out of styrofoam, but sometimes the shape of a thing can bring back a lot of nice memories.

Anyone have thoughts on what to use for a mold for larger planters? I'd love to make a hypertufa bowl about three feet in diameter, but I'm stumped as to how to shape it.

I get that everyone has things they want to share and things they don't want to share, but this is an awfully high standard. But then, I grew up with seven siblings, and despite being an introvert's introvert, sharing space is automatic to me.

FYI, there are several of these for sale on Bloomington, Indiana's Craigslist as we speak!

Cats can definitely be trained, and not just special breeds. I adopted one almost-feral cat right off the street, and he practically tells me what tricks he wants to learn. I don't even have to give him treats-- he will do tricks just for a chin scratch (and frankly, he's a little too treat-focused, so if I have treats, all he does is attempt to get them away from me. Although he will "sit" for treats). Currently, he knows "come" and "get down," fetches, puts his paws on my knees on command, and will fall over when I make my finger into a gun and say "bang." I'm pretty sure he could get used to a leash if I were more consistent.

People who do advanced training with dogs will recognize why cat training so often doesn't work. People free-feed their cats, which doesn't reinforce the bond (human = food provider) that makes a cat want to please you. Or people praise and reward cats randomly (here, cat just sitting there; have some treats) instead of rewarding specific behavior with praise and withholding it during bad behavior. Or they just never socialize with their cats (most cats are not really loners; even feral cats aggregate in colonies) and then wonder why they're so crazy.

Oh, and for drying-- I screwed an old shoe rack into the ceiling over the bathtub. I painted it white to blend in and most of the time, no one even knows it's there!

I work in a church, so of course it occurs to me that an old pulpit or lectern will serve the same purpose. And since churches fold, join, and split, all the time, all those lecterns have to be getting sold somewhere! A few might turn up at university surplus auctions, too.

This is even creepier than the Twilight pillows, AT.

This. Is. Incredible.