5 things Monday

1. It's not fair for it to be dark out at both 5am and 5pm.  Goodbye sun.  Hello heavy Vitamin D supplementation.

So... Spaghetti-Os are a good source of Vitamin D?

2. I highly recommend cooking with Cognac.  One sip for the cook...  one sip for the beef.  Two sips for the cook... one sip for the beef.

3. I made good progress on my November Resolutions last week, although I admit regretting #1 Friday morning.  Riding your bike when it's 20-something degrees is very cold on your face.  That nice, rosy glow?  It's windburn.  Inside-related resolutions were more successful.  I got in 2h45min of piano practice time, went to yoga twice (planning three times this week thanks to a Groupon, woot!), and finished row two of my afghan + two more stars.

4. Two more weeks until a short week/long weekend for Thanksgiving!  I shouldn't be so excited because I have a huge ton of work to do- we send out abstracts for a major conference at the beginning of December- but I'm really looking forward to some high quality butt-sitting, Netflix watching time.

5. Not that I have a huge readership or anything, but I did want to put the word out for a friend - Mike Mitchell (who is the husband of my college freshman year roommate)- who is a finalist in a design contest for backyard playhouses for kids.  From an e-mail he sent:  

With excitement and enthusiasm, I’m writing to share that I’m a finalist in a national design competition. The modern architecture magazine Dwell recently hosted a competition to design backyard playhouses for children. The contest was sponsored by James Hardie, a fiber cement board supplier – a green alternative to vinyl siding. Dwell and James Hardie challenged readers to design a mdoern backyard play house for kids in using the fiber cement board panels as the main exterior design material.

My design’s movable panels, bright colors, and rooftop garden impressed the judges and they selected it as one of the top 5 entries from hundreds of entries. I hope you like it as well.  As a finalist, in a way, I’ve already won – according to contest rules all 5 finalist's projects will be built this December and auctioned for charity.

Now, I need your support to be selected as the grand prize winner – this status will be chosen by popular public vote.  To vote for my design, please visit to http://www.facebook.com/JamesHardieBP?sk=app_128547910585048 and click on my project which is the third project  in the top row. I have included an image of my project in this e-mail.

I appreciate your help in this and am just excited to be a finalist. Please share the link with those who appreciate modern and children’s design.

All the designs look super fun, but do me a favor and go vote.  His TransFORM house is currently in third place.

What toy/item do kids have these days that you wish was around when you were young?  Why toy did you enjoy playing with that doesn't seem to exist anymore?

I don't know what toy I wish I could transport back to the late 1980s, but I'm sure kids these days are missing out by not having a PogoBall.