I need to take a moment here to talk about gif's. That's right - gif's.
gif's were this entity that I barely registered before a few months ago. I'm not on tumblr or twitter (no plans to either... yet... whatever) so these moving picture thingy's were usually part of replies/comments to articles that I read online. I barely ever looked at them really. And then I began to realize that they were pretty funny... sometimes really funny. Closely follow that with Kid #1 joining to bottomless hole that is tumblr which as far as I can tell is just a whole lot of young people having gif conversations, only occasionally accentuated with written language. I am taking more notice of these gif's. I realize that they are quite funny and smart-ass-like... right up my alley.
Recently, I had a conversation with a colleague in which she lamented that she couldn't easily text gif's from her phone. This was an epiphany moment for me.
I have never considered myself much of a computer/technology person - spreadsheets are still a source of endless frustration for me (why can't it fit on the computer screen properly or why aren't computer screens longer? why do the templates never work... you get the idea) The popularity of the internet though changed my interest in technology slowly but surely. I've learned to embrace the changes that technology offers - as much as I can - and am committed to continuing to learn despite my refusal to tumblr or tweet (really - I'm not a celebrity or business or whatever) The realization that I could now text my own gif's to friends or colleagues opened a whole new world of possibilities for me.
What if I could text and entire conversation of back and forth gif's
What if I could have an in-person conversation enhanced by the use of appropriate gif's
What if I could represent each of my student's mark with a gif instead of a mark

So far I am adding gif's to my texts as much as possible and only one person has texted me back in gif... it's a start
It's so obvious to me now that emoji's were really just a step along the road to conversing in gif. Emoji's are so cute. I read this article recently and I have to admit that it's gif is pretty awesome AND that D and I have totally had that argument about how to pronounce gif. If you have lots of time on your hands then scroll through the reply threads and enjoy the ensuing gif-storm.



As you all know well, Kid #1 and #2 were well disposed to eating these bars. The bars have all of the requisite sweetness and chocolate and none of the disgusting fruit and/or non-chocolate that send out the 'don't eat me' vibe.



Peanut butter, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate bars
adapted slightly from Crazy for Crust

1 1/2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup peanut butter (smooth preferably but doesn't really matter)
3/4 cup (scant) brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 - 2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups dark and milk chocolate mix

Preheat oven to 350°F
Line a ..... baking pan and and set aside.
Cream together the butter and both sugars until smooth and creamy.
Add in the egg and milk, salt and baking soda and mix well.
Add the flour and mix until it forms dough
Press about 1/2 - 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of the pan
Sprinkle the chocolate on top of the pressed dough
Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the chocolate without getting it too close to the edges of the pan
Sprinkle the rest of the dough on top of the chocolate mixture (only press the dough in very lightly)
Bake for about 30 min (a little more depending on your oven)
Cool for 10 minutes before cutting.