a shift in my paradigm of breakfast food

Disclaimer: This post is about cereal. I have invented a new tag for it called 'basically nothing.'

I have long assumed two things about cereal:
1. They stopped putting toys in the box when I was 12. That, or I stopped eating the kind of cereal you would expect to come with a toy.
2. The healthier the name sounds = the better for you.

I am wrong on two accounts.

1. This is Speed Racer. It came in my Cheerios.

2. Since I became a vegetarian (or pescetarian if you want to get technical) two years ago this month I have become quite the label reader.

The other day I was out buying more Cheerios when I spotted a coupon for buying three boxes of General Mills cereal. I don't really eat THAT much cereal but I figured why not.

I picked up my Cheerios, a box of Lucky Charms and then decided to go with something healthy looking for good measure. So I bought Oatmeal Crisp.

It wasn't until I got home and lined the three boxes up on my counter that I read the labels. Much to my dismay, one serving of the healthy looking stuff has twice the calories and fat content of the Cheerios. But the kicker is the Lucky Charms have less sugars, fat and calories than both Cheerios and Oatmeal Crisp. I feel so cheated.

I should have bought three boxes of Lucky Charms.

A $15 'something new'

Today at Vanity -- my part-time job as a fashion consultant, if you will -- a girl came in and asked if we had any pure white dresses. We had two different summery cotton ones. Nothing fancy.

"Do you think this one would be prettier on me?" she asked.

I asked her what the occasion was.

"I'm getting married ... like right now," said the girl who looked no older than 19.

I told her the one she was holding was better. She purchased it immediately and rushed out.

The strangest part is the other girl working with me today said that was the third time it has happened in the past week. Apparently we've cornered the market on shotgun-wedding wear.

hat's off to Larry the paginator

Yesterday was our summer newsroom party. It was odd to be having a party just days after our parent company announced layoffs of 10 percent of the workforce.

In case you're wondering what the story is with my paper, here's what's out there:

• Layoffs include 14 people. None of them were from the newsroom.
• In January we will begin printing at the Idaho Press Tribune's site in Nampa, ID. The IPT is owned by Pioneer Newspapers. The Bellingham Herald is doing something similar with another Pioneer newspaper.
• When that change occurs about 20 jobs will be cut in the production department, but some will be hired at the Nampa press.
• We closed three more vacant positions in the newsroom.

Although the people losing jobs here don't work in the newsroom, I work with a couple of them on a daily basis. They will be sorely missed. Especially Larry, the paginator who never fails to answer the phone with a cheery "heeeey, buddy!" Even when we are passed deadline and sending him a billion pages to paginate at once. He and the others will work their last day Friday.

Congratulations Jake and Katie Dorsey

Your wedding was lovely. I'm sure you'll both be immensely happy together.

Here are a few more pics from the day:

Katie's sister-bridesmaids.
(And Jennifer Seaman-Miller snapping pictures in the foreground.)

Evergreen girls reunited.

They were putting on a little impromptu entertainment act here.

This is kind of how it went. These are not exact quotes, but I will not be filling out a correction form.

Katie: "How about those Lakers?"

Wedding attendees: Mixed cheers and boos.

Random person: "Are you going on a honeymoon?"

Jake: "For those of you who haven't heard our honeymoon plans: We're staying in a hotel in downtown Seattle for two days before we have to return to work. We don't plan on leaving our room the entire time."

I think his mother was going to have a heart attack.

there is an ice cream truck

driving circles in my neighborhood.

I am reminded of being 5 and living in Port Angeles.

green things

Remember those broccoli plants I mentioned in April? Well they grew. Yes, back porch garden has created something!Also, I bought a share from a community garden called Peaceful Belly with a couple friends and got my first batch of vegetables. There's 18 weeks of locally-grown greens coming my way, which should save me some trips to Albertsons and expand my recipe list.

In this week's batch it looks like I got: green onions, spinach, three kinds of lettuce, italian parsley and swiss chard.

Now I have to figure out what to make with swiss chard. The cookbooks my grandmother gave me for Christmas and Easter will come in handy.

$63.84

Is how much it cost to fill up my gas tank the other day. It's $3.99 a gallon here. Boo.

religion for sale and the new man in my life

Yes, there's a new man in my life.

His name is Mr. Coffee. We met in the kitchen appliance section at Target today. I think we'll have many happy mornings together. He's my first espresso machine.

In a very sad way my little four-cup coffee pot died over the last week and a half. The green switch flickered a few times and finally it brewed it's last pot late last week. This coffee maker went to college with me, interned at the Tri-City Herald with me and even moved to Idaho with me. I can't count how many kitchen counters in two dorms and several apartments it sat and perked away. Today I took it out to the dumpster. Sad day.

ALSO AT TARGET:
I browsed through the dished and picked up a pretty little bowl to see what it was made of. As I lifted it I say a piece of paper ... no business card underneath it in the next dish.

It had a bible verse on it. It appears someone has been hiding religious messages for unsuspecting shoppers. I imagine some evangelical Christian hoping someone will show up at their church saying: "I was looking at dishes at Target and there it was. It must have been a sign from God."