Tania, Bonbon Queen

[sigh]
Thank you Tania. You know you really didn't have to. I picked you up from the airport because friends do that for each other.

However, I acknowledge that friends also buy yummy yummy Bonbon Bars for each other too. :D

Thank you so much! You are awesome!

--------------------------

Looks like Janiece was blessed as well. Excellent. We can torture others with our descriptions of heaven together. ;)

My strategy is to start with the only non-chocolate item, the Passion Fruit Marshmallows (see ravings below) and work my way up to the item that appears to be transcendental, the Single Malt Scotch Bars. I'll put up a short description of each so you can "share" in the experience...

Passion Fruit Marshmallows - I've heard of handmade marshmallows, but I don't think I've ever tried them. If I have, they have faded in the memory compared to these tart clouds of sugar and gelatin. They are petite, so you can savor one, have the perfect balance of sweet fruit and delicate texture, and then come back three more times before you're done with the packet. Delicious!

The Chocolate Caramel Malt Bars - These are like a fancy Twix bar, only much much better. I'm indifferent to malt, so it was a nice surprise to find these so delicious. I've been good and am sharing them with select co-workers. :)

The Chocolate Caramel Nut Bar - Only one of these and I'm really glad I'm having this one at home on the weekend. I don't have to share with anyone! Yay! This one's been my favorite so far. I love dark chocolate with nuts. Guess I'm just "nutty" about them... ;)

The Chocolate Orange Bar - This has orange caramel and pecan nougat wrapped in dark chocolate with a crystalized orange peel on the top. Mmmmmm! I love nougat, and this was just so flavorful! Yum yum yum.

The Single Malt Scotch Bar - Divine. Ingredients for divinity: dark chocolate, scotch ganache, caramel (not too chewy), and a light sprinkling of sea salt. Absolutely divine.

In all cases, whenever I shared these with coworkers, they commented on the flavors. "The flavors go on forever!" I believe is a direct quote.
And considering the pleasantness of the flavors involved, this is a very good thing.

Family Fun

My family's been visiting this weekend, so I haven't been online as much as I usually am. My parents and my mother's sister drove in from eastern OK on Friday and we've been doing the usual rounds of visits.
It's been so nice to see them and hang out and eat yummy food and watch movies.
We went to see WALL-E, which is *such* a cute movie. The quality of the animation is amazing. It seemed much simpler than the usual Pixar movie (which is usually layered with adult in-jokes), so I'm guessing I missed some of the references. Thoroughly enjoyable, however.

I hope you all had pleasant weekends as well!

Long Live the Internet

A couple of pieces of Internetty Goodness:

Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog (in which Joss Whedon tries to change the media distribution system)
Stolen, once again, from Shawn. Obviously, I'm incorrigible.

and

Time for Some Campaignin' (the latest brilliant bipartisan parody song from the boys at Jib Jab)
This, I swear, I DID NOT steal from Shawn. I was pointed to it by a co-worker and only 2 hours after writing the post find out... oh wait, his post is dated after mine. Whew. I thought for a moment that Shawn and I had switched brains.

Happy Friday!

Contradictory Phrase

Well, I think that morals/values question yielded some interesting answers. Thank you all for your thoughtful replies! I knew I could count on you. :)

Today I used the phrase "the exception that proves the rule" and then realized I didn't know what it meant.

Learning for the day: Here's wikipedia's version of the answer.

Strange, huh? Makes me wonder how often it's actually used correctly...

Perfect ponderings when it's time to go to bed!

Think Tank: Do Values Change?

OK, all you smart (-assed) people out there...

I was talking to a good friend of mine about something interesting and I wanted to see what you guys think. My brother, who majored in philosophy (and something more practical), would probably have all kinds of technical terms for what we're discussing, but I imagine we'll be able to muddle through. ;)

Do you think values change? Are they something that you learn (or are born with) and you believe it all your life? Or, are they something that changes as you gain experience?

Discuss.


(I was tempted to give examples, but I think that might stifle your creativity.)

On the River

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Woo hoo!

Yesterday, I went rafting at Brown's Canyon (see above), a section of the Arkansas River, that started at Johnson Village (pan north), near Buena Vista. The outfit we rafted with is called Acquired Tastes, though our guide said that their rivals call them "Acquired Space" because of the easy going and no rush attitude promoted by the company. There was a photographer at one of the rapids and they offered photos of the different boats going through it at the end of the trip. Unfortunately, they wanted $30 for a photo, so you'll have to settle for seeing a fierce picture of me and my boat here. The guide, Josh, has a jaunty hat on, so you can't see that he has a lovely blonde mohawk. Very entertaining fellow.

I had a lovely time, especially since I didn't fall out of the boat (no one in our boat did) and the boat didn't flip over. The water was pretty darn cold. During the first half of the trip, where water was rough, but not rapid, I didn't have the jacket on and was a bit cold. After we stopped for lunch though, I was sure that if I stayed wet the rest of the time, I wouldn't be having as much fun, so I opted to wear what they call a "splash jacket" (essentially a waterproof jacket with velcro secured sleeves and neck). I'm so glad I did. I could stop shivering and enjoy the ride. So much fun!

I love Colorado!

Brothers are Awesome

I was feeling a bit discouraged about this Match.com thing and when I thought about who I'd like to talk about it to, I decided on my brother, Max. He and I have a similar attitude towards dating and what we want in a mate, so I knew he'd understand. Plus, he just got engaged, so he's really upbeat about stuff right now.
His pep talk was perfect. Of course, I already knew all the points, but I just needed someone else to tell me.

Thank you, Max! You made my day!

Clarification: I think I misled you folks by the above. I'm not discouraged because of not finding decent men on Match.com. I've met several very nice, intelligent, and thoughtful men. However, I'm finding that just because a guy meets all those criteria doesn't mean that I'm interested in him romantically. I have to turn down perfectly fine human beings for no reason at all except that I'm just not feeling an answering draw. It makes me feel like a total heel.

Tentacular

I promise not to steal all my posts from Shawn, but I couldn't resist this link to a building sized art installation involving tentacles. Very cool.

(I rationalize with the thought that I have readers who do not read Shawn's blog)