Nerd Status Panic Attack

In the world of baseball, going 2/3 in a game is a great batting average.

In the world of being almost a nerd, going 2/3 means I haven't gone over the edge. Yet.

But oh man, did I get a scare.

Scrolling through my FB newsfeed ... saw a post by Mr. Sulu George Takei that a friend shared ... and almost had a heart attack.

OH CRAP. I KNOW WHAT ALL OF THOSE ARE.

Or at least I thought I did.

The ways of the force? Easy, that is. Star Wars.

The One Ring? You mean the One Ring to Rule Them all? LOTR. Duh.

Muggles? Wow. Talk about a reference out of left field. They brought in Puddleglum from The Silver Chair? Random, but okay.

Except NOT okay because I know EXACTLY who they're talking about and so according to the totally legit authority of the some(e)cards meme, that makes me a full-fledged nerd!!!

Aaaauuuugggghhhhh!

Oh wait.

That said "muggles". Not "marshwiggles".

[Insert my quick Google search here.]

Oooooh. Those are from Harry Potter.

Never read the books. Only seen clips of the movies when other people have had them on in the room.

Never mind. I'm not a complete nerd.

[Yet.]

In a Galaxy that Looks a Lot Like Home ...

... and in a not-so-distant future ... 

Mr. Dude and I have been taking a lot of walks lately.

They're a good way to escape the soon-to-feel-really-cramped-when-Little-Guy-starts-crawling apartment at the end of a long day and enjoy whatever sunshine we have left here in Seattle before the gloom and doom of winter sets in.

[This is where Mr. Dude chimes in, "But Stephanie, you have to admit that we've had a good summer! You had 80 degrees and sunshine most days!" And my reply will always be, "Yes, but I will still miss my Rainbow flip flops."]

It's also great for keeping Little Guy placated in the late afternoon doldrums somewhere between I'm-too-tired-to-be-cheerful and it's-too-close-to-bedtime-for-another-nap.

So, we suit up with jackets and the Ergo (aka, "Little Guy's Kryptonite") and head out for a nice stroll.

Because we live close to one of the universities in town, we often see college kids. They look at us walking along with our munchkin and smile. And we look at them walking along with their load of books bag that probably just has a tablet and smart phone in it and smile. (And then I remember how long ago our own college years were. And I start wondering when the gray hairs are coming.)

Late last week, we saw another family walking with their two children and I'm sure the mom gave us that knowing smile which said, "Oh, that's so cute that you just have one who's not mobile yet. Just wait till you have two and one of them talks and runs everywhere!"

[Side note: Mr. Dude's mom keeps reminding me that he was running - not walking - at ten months old. Ten months old!!!! I'm quite content for Little Guy to just sit up on his own and only roll one direction at six months, thank you very much. Once he's mobile, it's game over at our house.]

The family's older son looked around 3, almost 4 years old and the little one was only a couple of months old. Mom was pushing the stroller and dad was attempting to hold the little boy's free hand as he bounced around like a jack rabbit.

The little boy's other hand clutched a light saber, drawn and ready to use on any Sith Lord who dared attack.

And I suddenly had a glimpse of my future. 

A few years from now, when Little Guy is running and jumping and talking about a hundred miles a minute, we'll be on another family walk. I'll have the next Little One in the Ergo and Mr. Dude will be attempting to contain Little Guy's free hand while the other one grasps a light saber.

Um, does that mean my kid is going to end up like this?

I wonder if I could get him a play version of Peter's Sword from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to use instead ...

Snacks: Dragons = Good and Vampires = Bad

We joke (in all seriousness) that in our house, we'll never watch or read Twilight because we eat FAR too much garlic for any vampires to come anywhere near. (We're not quite as crazy as my college roommate who bought 46 heads of garlic when the recipe called for 46 cloves of garlic, though. But that's another story. It also helps that we have standards when it comes to what can actually be called literature. Again, that's another story.)

We also are well-known fire breathers. (Does that make us part dragon? If so, I'd rather be Eustace than Smaug. Smaug dies.) As in, we have to remember not to put so many spices in when we cook for other people. We don't put jalapeños n our tacos - we use habaneros. Oh, and I may have found grinders of dried ghost chili peppers during the 5 minutes Trader Joe's carried them ... and bought 2. It's okay - ghost chili peppers only have 850k-1.5mil Scoville units (compared to a jalapeño's 3.5-8k) and they're only one of the hottest (non-genetically modified) peppers on the planet.

Side note: When I was trying to go into labor, people kept suggesting spicy food. Problem: I had been eating ghost chili flakes on lots of things during the whole pregnancy. I don't think they were going to be triggering contractions at the end if they hadn't done so in the first or second trimesters, and it doesn't get much hotter than ghost chili peppers ... 

But I digress. As always.

Our favorite snack of late has been stove-top popcorn.

Do you know how cheap popcorn kernels are - even the organic ones - and how easy it is to make that stuff?

First, gather your ingredients:

Next, put some of that coconut oil (or any other oil with a reasonably high smoke point) in the pot with a few kernels, set the heat to medium-high or high and put the lid on top.

Wait for the oil to melt and the kernels to start popping, then put in enough kernels to fill the bottom of the pan. I give it a good shake every few seconds so the kernels don't burn. 

When the kernels slow down their popping, or stop popping altogether, I take it off the stove, pour into a waiting bowl, and start dumping on the goodness. No measuring, just dumping. In the kitchen world, they call it "season to taste". In Mr. Dude's world, it's "Stephanie, I want the food to kick my butt. Please add more cayenne." 

Pro-Dragon/Anti-Vampire Mix: Coconut Oil, Granulated Garlic, Ground Cayenne Pepper, Salt

Steph's Favorite: Coconut Oil, Ground Ginger, Salt

"Traditional": Melted Butter (but cook in olive oil), Salt

Toss it all together, and hope that you don't eat it all in one sitting. But if you do, know that there weren't any crazy chemicals and it was dirt cheap. 

Oops. Empty bowl. Sorry, forgot to take a picture before we ate it. All. In under half an hour.

Bonus points if you aren't playing Defense Grid while eating it.