Noam Chomsky and Nacho Cheese

Something I recently had to say to Z that I imagine most parents have not had to say to their offspring:

"Honey, please don't step on Professor Chomsky's foot again!" For the record, NC was cool about it (and was lucky the damage wasn't worse as Z was running full tilt).

House renovation news: they are doing the blueboarding today, so we're picking out paint colors. The architect and designer from the furniture store helped me make selections. Dining room will be a pale sage green, living room and hallway a taupe-ish color called Malton, our bedroom Colorado Gray, Z's room will continue to be light blue (Forget Me Not), and R picked his room color solely based on the name: Nacho Cheese. Yes, it looks like liquid, pump-dispensed fluid fromage. With white trim it might actually be okay. This however has led to a daily gag: "This is my cheese!" "It's not your (nacho) cheese!" "It's my cheese!" "It's nacho cheese!" Ah, hilarity.

Also thinking that the title of this post should be part of an REM song...

These colors don't (usually) run

Z and I made the Barefoot Contessa's Flag Cake for the 4th. She helped mix the batter and lined up the raspberries for the stripes. I did the other parts. We didn't have the right size pan, so I reduced every measurement by 2/3. Also, I didn't think the kids needed additional frosting so I left off the white stripes and 3D stars. We should've taken the photo right after we decorated it, before the 45 minute car trip to Sudbury during which the berries sweated. Oh well, it still tasted good. Not a perfectionist, moi.

House is going well - we should have the rough inspections done next week. The plumbing is done, and Chris the electrician has discovered that the original wiring a: was apparently performed in a seat-of-the-pants, haphazard way, and b: had crumbling insulation and needed to be almost completely replaced. Chris apologized for having to bust holes in random spots in the kitchen and living room, but needed to in order to figure out where the wires actually go. He has long since stopped recoiling in horror at finding ungrounded outlets and junction boxes hidden under plaster. Frank says we will now have an electrical system that is "far less likely to kill [us]."

We picked the exterior house colors (Van Deusen Blue and White Opulence), and are moving on to the interior. I'm trying out the Jordan's Design Service to help with the dining, living and bedrooms. My Better Half is planning his bachelor pa-I mean, media room in the basement, complete with risers so people sitting in back can see over the heads of the people in front. I anticipate that ours will be the house where the neighborhood kids come to hang out and play video games. Said our architect, "It'll be like a Sunny Delight commercial!"

Knitting...I vaguely remember knitting. Did I mention I finished my Clapotis and the fair isle pillow? And the two Harry Potter hats? I'm on the hook for two additional HP hats (I donated them as auction prizes) and am about halfway done with a Diotima shell. I upsized the pattern a bit because as written the thing would only be about 18 inches long. I subscribe to KnittingDaily and am toying with the idea of making a yellow Tomato. I bought some Shine Worsted in Sunflower from Knitpicks, so perhaps it'll start to come to life while I'm at a conference next week (or at least maybe Diotima will get finished - I'm a slow knitter).