Done: Switched the sidebar to the left side, fixed the color if text input in the comment box, fixed the footer width, added a header image.

To-Do: Maybe change up the header image (this one took me 2 seconds to make and I’m not in love with it… don’t hate it either, though), link the header image to take you back to the main page of PGB (have to dink with an image map to do so and I’m just not in the mood), maybe switch the sidebar widgets around a bit.

It’s getting there!

P.S. Just so you know, the picture of me in the sidebar is currently linked to the main page of PGB, so if you’re looking for a shortcut “home,” it’s there for now.

Many of you are familiar with the infamous Kit:

(Photo by the highly-talented Oleg Volk!)

Anyway, Kit is a fellow gunchick and blogger who has been dominating teh intarwebs since I was watching Saturday morning cartoons. She’s smart, she’s hot, she can definitely outshoot you, and she’s giving you the chance to see her in a bikini.

And win an iPod.

And it’s for a good cause.

Intrigued? Check out her entry over at her blog, KiloIndiaTango about her pledge drive for the 2008 Grizzly Dip, an annual fundraiser for the Special Olympics. If you don’t need any further convincing, you can head directly to her fundraising page and chip in.

Enjoy!

[7:15] *Puppy commences bouncing on my head*
[7:17] ME: Mike, the puppy needs to go out.
[7:18] *Mike takes puppy out*
[7:20] *Mike and puppy return to bed; Mike enters “USMC Sleep Mode” - in other words: “I’m not waking up unless I’m getting shot at, and even then it’s iffy”*
[7:30] PUPPY: GET UP GET UP GET UP GET UP GET UP!
*I shove a chew toy at the puppy*
PUPPY: CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP
[7:35] PUPPY: OOOOH, A CHIHUAHUA!!!
JOEY: Death to the infidel.
[7:40] PUPPY: UP UP UP UP UP PLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAASE!
[7:45] *I recognize USMC Sleep Mode in action and determine it must be my turn to get up early with the puppy; sweatpants, sweatshirt go on, take Joey and Puppy outside*
[7:50] PUPPY: LET’S PLAY!!!
[7:51] PUPPY: TENNIS BALL!!!
[7:52] PUPPY: SNOW BOOTS!!!
[7:53] PUPPY: THIS TREE HAS WATER UNDER IT, JUST FOR ME!!!
[7:54] PUPPY: I HAVE NO FOOD! WHERE IS MY FOOD? WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!?
[7:55] PUPPY: PINK BOOTS!!!
[7:56] PUPPY: TV REMOTE!!!
[7:57] PUPPY: FOOD! WHY IS THIS FOOD IN A DISH!? *stomp* YAAAY, FOOD ON THE FLOOR!
[7:58] PUPPY: BONE! YES! I LOVE BONES! THEY’RE BETTER WITH MEAT ON THEM, THOUGH! LIKE THIS! *chomp*
ME: *bleeds*
[7:59] PUPPY: THIS TREE STILL HAS WATER UNDER IT! THIS IS AWESOME!
[8:00] ME: Okay, outside time.
PUPPY: SNOWWWWWWWW!!! *romp*
[8:05] ME: Well, I’m outside in the snow at 8:05 am, I might as well shovel the walk. *commences shoveling*
PUPPY: OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT CLEARLY THAT ORANGE THING IS FOR KILLING PUPPIES LET ME BACK IN THE HOUSE OH NOOOOOOO!
[8:07] PUPPY: *whining*
ME: *gives up shoveling snow, returns to the house with the puppy*
[8:10] PUPPY: *whining*
ME: *gives puppy a chew toy*
[8:15] PUPPY: *whining*
ME: *shows puppy her food*
[8:20] PUPPY: *still whining*
ME: *lets puppy up on couch, gives her a chew toy again*
PUPPY: *chomp* *whine* *chomp* *whine*
[8:30] *From down the hallway, I hear scratching… Proceed to let Joey out of the bedroom*
JOEY: Did you kill the infidel yet?
PUPPY: CHIHUAHUA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JOEY: I want to move out.
[8:31] PUPPY: FRIENDS!?
JOEY: *snarl*
[8:32] PUPPY: FRIENDS YET!?
JOEY: *snarl*
[8:33] PUPPY: *whines*
[8:40] PUPPY: *starts trying to dig to China by way of the couch cushions*
[8:45] PUPPY: *flops on her side*
[8:46] PUPPY: *moves one foot forward and flops on her side*
[8:47] PUPPY: *readjusts her back legs*
[8:48] PUPPY: *whines; faces opposite direction and flops on her side*
[8:49] PUPPY: *asleep*

Oh. My. Lord. I really hope she stays asleep for a little while. I’m worn out and it’s barely 9 am.

Okay, I took a nap, so now I can think semi-straight and hopefully compose coherent sentences.

1) The yak was a smashing success. I wound up braising it for several hours, in the crock pot, in a full bottle of Merlot, with a sliced yellow onion, two large (chopped) carrots, several (chopped) celery stalks, five crushed garlic cloves, and a bit of tarragon. I’m glad I chose to use so much wine - the alcohol all cooked off, but left enough of a lingering sweetness to really highlight the delicate yak flavors. I made a simple gravy/sauce from the runoff - the wine made it a little tangy, which was a perfect accent to the meat. My candied sweet potatoes were good, but not as good as the candied yams from Thanksgiving. (The sweet potatoes were a result of a lack of options… Safeway didn’t have any yams yesterday.) My signature freaking awesome green beans were freaking awesome, and… I was too tired to make anything else. I even bailed on my glogg plans - I had Bailey’s instead.

2) Joey is, as I expected, being an absolute shit to Artemis. I think he’s gotten a little better over the course of the day, but he is not happy about her being here. He’s not moping, which I kind of expected him to do, but rather taking it out on her any chance he gets. I’m sure they’ll figure it out over the next couple of days. In the meantime, I get to play middleman.

3) Artemis is so smart. She’s already figuring out the housetraining thing (kind of), she fetches, she immediately took to her crate, she’s really good about listening when we tell her not to chew something (and chewing her approved toys instead)… I’m impressed. She’s definitely a winner.

4) I took my new exercise equipment for a spin (hardy har har!) earlier… for about 30 seconds. I think I pulled something. Strippercize is going to take some easing into, methinks.

Anyway, it’s been a spectacular Christmas. I hope you can all say the same! :)

My gift to Mike: A black labrador retriever puppy, now named Artemis.
Mike’s gift to me: A FREAKING STRIPPER POLE!

Regarding the stripper pole… I went on a kick a couple months ago, wanting one A LOT… Not that I really plan to prance around nekkid, but I’ve heard it’s a great workout. And really, how many honest-to-god fat strippers have you seen? Those girls have to have some major strength to do what they do.

For pictures of the above (sorry, no dancing shots) and more, check out my Flickr.

The yak is slow-cooking in the crock pot… The candied yams are ready for the oven… I’m totally tired because I got up at 5:00 to go get the puppy… Who, incidentally, learned how to fetch in about 2 seconds and loves her crate…

Anyway: MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all, I’ll have an after-action report on the food later. For now I think I’m going to go take a nap before dinner. :)

Okay… I was totally sick and tired of the old PGB layout, so I changed it to what you’re looking at now (or, those of you reading on LJ can view if it you visit the actual site).

It’s a little… blah. I’m thinking of bumping the whole thing down 150px or so and putting a simple banner logo across the top. Other than that, though - I think I like it. I’m a big fan of flexible width and utilizing lots of browser space.

I was hoping to find a layout with a little more prominent blogroll, and I’m not sure how I could best modify this one to rectify that situation. Obviously that’s not a mandatory feature, but I have a lot of folks I enjoy reading linking back to me and I’d really like to return the favor.

Thoughts? Thumbs up? Thumbs down?

Ron Paul: He’s going to do better than anyone expects. Look to Paul to climb into the double-digits in Iowa. Why? He’s different, he stands out. He’s against the war and he has the one in four Republicans who oppose the war all to himself. Libertarianism is hot, especially among free-market Republicans and 20-somethings. And he’s an appealing sort of father figure. He’s his own brand. All he needs to do is beat a couple of big names in Iowa, then New Hampshire is friendlier territory. After all, the state motto is “Live Free or Die.”

http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1405

I’m thinking my 22nd birthday (January 3rd, of course) is going to be spent glued to the TV, tracking the Iowa caucuses. Dork, dork, dork.

I need help with the yak. Turns out it’s a 5lb. bone-in yak roast. (The friend providing it couldn’t remember the exact cut, he said he thought it was a shoulder-something or round-something.)

I’m thinking crock pot… Oooh - or I have a cast iron Dutch oven, forgot about that…

Anyway, I’m undecided on the seasoning. With a regular beef roast, I’d generally do a basic onion blend. When I’m being particularly lazy, I use the Lipton Recipe Secrets stuff (complete with approximately 23510385% of your daily sodium!), but I figure I’ll go a little more from-scratch for Christmas.

Any suggestions? Should I go with a traditional roast seasoning blend (onion, garlic, salt, pepper, maybe some basil, couple bay leaves?) or something a little different? Should I prepare some kind of a sauce or just a regular gravy?

I almost forgot… We have failed at procuring a respectable tree-topper, so (inspired by my guru, evilegg of LiveJournal fame) I got an ugly snowman tree-topper at the Dollar Tree and… um… embellished him.

Frankly, I think this is the best use yet for the Kel-Tec:

I’m also planning on making some “ornaments” out of green army men and spent brass. Mike’s insisting he’s going to make a “real” tree-topper tomorrow, but we might have to do battle over it, because I’m pretty fond of my snowman.