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I'm moving

I'm heading over to Wordpress.com, I might be back but I doubt it. There are more themes and wigets availble. I've used Wordpress.com in my classroom for awhile now and have become very comfortable with it so I figured that it made sense for me to migrate my personal blog over there too. So come check it out and leave me a comment about which site you prefer and why, maybe I'll come back if enough people complain. Of course, for that to happen people have to actually be reading this. . .
So you can find me here from now on:  http://talesofan8thgradenothing.wordpress.com/ 
Hope to see you there.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

For those of you who actually need measurements and such (I use the Zen method of cooking - eye balling it and adding/subtracting whatever I have on hand/looks good)
You will need:
5x9 loaf pan (heh heh, he said loaf)
0.5 cup packed brown sugar
0.5 cup ketchup
1.5 lbs lean (or fatty I suppose) ground beef
0.75 cup milk
2 brown eggs (they could be white but brown = local)
1.5 tsp NaCl (salt)
0.25 tsp black pepper (use white pepper if your affluent enough to afford it)
1 small (if you like a lot of onion use a medium one, or a large one even) onion (yellow is my preference)- chopped (you can mutilate it in any way you want)
0.75 cup finely crushed saltine crackers (ritz crackers could be good too but I've never used them)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 (you should do this while you assemble the ingredients
2. Press brown sugar into the bottom of the pan.
3. Spread the Ketchup over the sugar.
4. Mix remaining ingredients and place over ketchup/brown sugar
5. Bake for 60min (about)

ENJOY!!

I am not a bah-humbug

Really, I mean it. I love this time of year. I enjoy giving loved ones gifts. I like seeing houses all done up and seeing the tree decorated through the window. I even like the music.

BUT. . .

I've discovered that there is a caveat to all this. There has to be snow on the ground. I cannot get into the holiday mood until this has happened. It has to at least be cold. It was almost 70 last week! Defiantly not December weather.

I've been thinking about the holiday greetings that I'll soon be receiving. Some throw out "Merry Christmas' like they were delivering candy from a parade float, others go for the more neutral "Happy Holidays" I rarely initiate this holiday communication ritual, I feel weird telling somebody to have a "Happy Holiday" - what if they don't want to? What if a family member is very ill? What if they are atheists and don't celebrate?


This brings me to my next point. I recently saw on Facebook a post saying that people should just say  "Merry Christmas". The reasoning behind this view was very close-minded and arrogant, and goes something like this - It's Christmas and is about Jesus and it's Christmas so just say merry Christmas already and stop being a douche about it. - Really? You'll exclude all the non-Christians? Jerks. This is another instance of Christians (and I know I'm generalizing, I know many very nice Christians who don't suffer from explosive diarrhea when it comes to their faith and someone not believing what they do) adopting a stance of superiority and ignorance of the basic tenements of their own religion.
-That was a bit bah-humbug wasn't it? Oh well-

So, I will respond in kind to your "Happy Holidays" but will say "Happy Solstice" when wished a "Merry Christmas".

Merry Winter everyone!