Reflections of a Slacker

Yup. almost a whole month since our last post. The only thing that can be done now is a quick catch-up post. Here goes...


Dudeguy turned six this month.

This was a banner year for Mason. First, Jewel put on a little party for him at The Manor. Then we had a movie night party at our house. Then he had a friend-from-school party. And finally, Grandma and The General came up and took all the kids to a hockey game one night and then took just Mason skating the next day. I love that he was able to spend time alone with the grandparents - even though now all I hear about is how awesome grandpa is. I'm pretty sure that his seventh birthday is going to be a let-down after this one. To reinforce the fact that our kids are growing up, Tyson has started shaving each morning (he says it makes his face "shiny").




Soy Milk Maker

Tanis' post reminded me that we never mentioned the arrival of our Soymilk Maker. We first saw one at an emergency preparedness fireside where it was described as a way of always being just 15 minutes away from fresh milk, regardless of what happens with grocery store supplies. We liked the idea because we were already buying soy and almond milk and this way we have control over what's inside it. The soy milk that we make tastes much better than the stuff we used to buy and it does not add a weird flavor to shakes or cereal. We bought a year supply of organic soy beans and it costs us less than 50 cents for 1.5 liters of milk.

It's pretty simple too. We pour water into the container, add 100 grams of soybeans, then put the top on and press start. The milk is finished in about 15 minutes and we strain out the okara (soy pulp) and run it though a metal coffee filter to remove all the tiny particles (the kids can be picky otherwise). Then we pour it into a pitcher with 1 tbsp of honey, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 tsp vanilla (a recipe we perfected). We have tried adding a couple tbsps of oatmeal, or half and half garbanzo beans to make creamier milk - but I find it a little too thick that way. For chocolate almond milk we use 70 grams of almonds and then add 1 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tbsp of honey or brown sugar, and 1/4 tsp of salt. The kids love this stuff and we figure the machine will pay for itself in half a year and then be saving us money after that.

Editor's Note: soy is low in fat and has been shown to reduce some cancers but it also contains natural plant estrogen so there are some risks with high-soy diets. For it to be a problem, a person would have to be consuming soy at every meal, every day; whereas we only use it to supplement the dairy that we buy. Plus, it stands to reason that my sons are probably testosterone-monsters already, so a little plant estrogen might help to quench the flames.


World of Warcraft

I am a fairly late adopter and I only signed up for this game so that I could keep in touch with my brother in law Kendall. Perhaps forseably, I have become addicted to it. Aside from the normal video game stuff like killing enemies, I can't get enough of such rousing online activities as mining and blacksmithing. Also, I have spent more time than I care to admit buying things in the auction house and then relisting them for other players to buy at higher prices. I used to do something quite similar with timepieces on ebay; however due to shipping costs and the fact that I was using real money, it didn't always turn out to be as much of an investment as I claimed it would be. The other day I bought up every "small lustrous pearl" on the market - then relisted them at 3x's the cost. Today, my price is the going rate and people are paying it. I totally manipulated the market and made a whole bunch of money (ok, fake money). After that I go to bed feeling like I had a productive day.

Of course, this a stark contrast to one of Heather's productive days.




- C