one, two, three. go

Thanksgiving and Google

2011-11-24T17:55:00.000-08:00

Google is a harsh mistress.

Long ago I started using the Google network and set up an account tied to my primary e-mail address. At some point in the last couple years I made a Gmail account, which is powered by Google and was thus made on the same account as everything else I'd ever done with Google. I made this account specifically for one purpose and this purpose no longer exists, but the name I used on the account does. Its not a name I care to have attached to me any longer, yet its a name that Google insists I use if I reactivate Gmail on that account.

Oh Google, why must you be so enchanting most of the time and yet, every so often, be so cruel?

I had a solution to this problem, however. For months now I have bemoaned my plight and been told by friends that I should simply set up a new account. I insisted that this would be highly problematic as I now have a Google+ account, Google Documents, and Maps set up through my old Google account. Despite this concern, I gave it a shot. It was so incredibly simple to send my contacts from Yahoo! to Gmail, and Google told me that I could toggle between two accounts. This, however, wasn't really as easy as it seemed like it would be, or at least the easiness was over-shadowed by the annoying-ness of switching accounts back and forth. I, therefore, moved my Google Documents over (as simple as sharing them with my new account and then making the new account the only individual that could edit them). I set up a new Google+ account and most of my Friends have already added me back, I'm not worried about the few that haven't. The maps I've set up aren't anything I've looked at in a long time so I'm sure they aren't that important.

"Great!" I thought, "I'm well on my way to getting my new Google account set up and I should be set to delete my old one by the end of the holiday weekend. I think I'll go blog about this ..."

"Oh shit."

My blog is also tied to said old Google account.

I then considered the cons of creating a new blog on my new account.

It would require a new web address and therefore a new name - If anyone had bookmarked my blog, they would have to change the bookmark. I can't imagine too many people having trouble with this and I could make a name that is similar
I would lose all of my old blog entries - On some level this bothers me, but on another I find it perfectly fine. Other than the few most recent blogs I've written, I'm not especially attached to the old entries. In fact, I look back at them and feel that they could have been done better, or that they are outdated.
I don't know if I could make it look this same - This is by far the con that seems to upset me the most. I recall when I started this blog that it took me a great deal of fiddling to get the look to my satisfaction. I was surprised that the image I uploaded as my new picture at the top of my blog got placed so well.

Obviously, these concerns are not really concerns; they are trifles. So I did start a new blog. It does look a little different, but I think I am satisfied with the overall look of it.

You can now find my new blog here.

In addition, today is Thanksgiving, though I'm not celebrating it today. I'd like to wish everyone a happy holiday and promise that I will be posting about our Thanksgiving on Saturday after we've had our Friday Feast. This post will be on my new blog.

Waste Not, Want Not

2011-11-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

I've spent the last couple hours cooking and pureeing some winter squash for a soup I am making for dinner. The soup recipe calls for frozen pureed squash, which would make the recipe unbelievably easy from my perspective. We, however, have entered the winter squash season for our CSA box. I couldn't be more pleased about this even if it does make soup recipes take 4 times as long to prepare.

The winter squash I am working with this afternoon was one that I wasn't really familiar with before it showed up in our box the Thursday before last. Luckily, I have a culinary bible known as Vegetable Love by Barbara Kafka. The last 140 pages before the index of this cookbook has something called the "Cook's Guide" in which Kafka describes the way to identify, pick, store, prep, and cook almost any vegetable you could think of. Her section on winter squash includes the description of what each type of squash looks like and this was my resource for discovering that the squash I just dealt with was Delicata Squash.

And I quote complete with citation:

"DELICATA (Cucurbita pepo) This small (1 to 1 1/2 pound) cucumber-shaped squash has pale yellow skin creased with green stripes. The flesh is pale yellow with a light taste reminiscent of sweet corn and a texture between that of winter and summer squash. Delicata will store for only 2 to 3 weeks. During storage, the green stripes may turn orange; this color change will not affect the taste. Delicata slices easily and is best steamed, sauteed, or baked. Its small size and shape make it ideal for stuffing." (Kafka, 2005, p. 651)

Two pages later, Kafka describes how to cut said squash and also divulges that the skin is edible. Turn one more page and you'll find directions for steaming said squash. This is what I did.

This book is indispensable to the recipient of a CSA box.

In addition to this information, there is a note somewhere in the winter squash section that says that most winter squash seeds are edible and should be roasted. I have an affinity for roasted seeds and decided to try to live more by the title of my blog by spending 45 minutes picking seeds out of gourd snot.

Unfortunately, Kafka doesn't mention Delicata seeds anywhere in her recipes for roasting seeds. This concerned me, and I went on a web search to see if anyone else had ever tried such a feat. Luckily, the mighty Google led me to a blog called "Lighthearted Locavore" and the author included this entry on delicata seed roasting, complete with pictures (which I lack due to the lack of a worthy camera for such a job). I plan to add some chili powder to mine in addition to salt.

I hope everyone can enjoy some winter squash this season!

Addition:
After making the recipe that I linked above, I would say that the sausage seriously overwhelms the dish. Save yourself the money and the calories and use less or something less fattening. We plan to try it with ground turkey that we have mixed dry or fresh sage into next time. Also, there aren't enough beans in our opinion. As an ex vegetarian, I don't often do meals that are heavy on the meat and was raised on my father's super frugal heavy bean, light meat chili (much to the chagrin of my meat eating friends). More beans and less meat would also bring out the flavor of the squash a bit more, which I am sad to say was not even remotely prevalent enough for my liking.

Just my two cents; take it or leave it.

Kelly Mermaid Boob Nose

2011-11-12T10:39:00.001-08:00

As soon as I say "Ignore the title of my blog," the portion of people that missed it to begin with will have now noticed it. If I don't make this comment, however, the others would wait the entire blog for some explanation, even if obscure, that would never come. The title is meant to appease a friend that wanted to be able to do a web search for this exact phrase and get a hit. It is unnecessary to explain why she wishes for this.

Now, on to business as usual.

Budgets are apparently something adults have. Fake adults, such as myself, make said budget and then promptly ignore it feeling that they have done enough of an adult act in making it at all. Real adults make said budget and stick to it, at least mostly. It appears that I may be transitioning from a faker to the real deal. Its too soon to say for sure.

When I first moved to this state, I was actually pretty good about budgets. I knew how much I wanted to spend on groceries, and I took a calculator with me to the grocery store to ensure that I stuck close to the designated spending amount. Slowly but surely, however, the company I kept wore down my will to be responsible. I had two jobs, lived in a town with cheap rent, and there was plenty of money to spend haphazardly. The trend continued with shared rent and grad school loans.

And then, I graduated. It's impressive how much of a difference graduate student loans make to your "income" every three months.

After a summer of teaching where my income was (and is always) front loaded ending with a month and a half in which I made nothing, it was the middle of October and I had some serious catching up to do. Desperate times call for desperate measures... It was time to pull out (bumbum BUUMM!) Excel.

I put on my big girl pants and set up a strict budget. I reminded myself of the tricks many professional adults use for sticking to their budget such as having cash for purchases rather than credit or debit, making a list before you shop, and actually figuring out what the hell a normal price for common items is (something someone as old as I am should really know already). I scoured the weekly ads for local grocery stores, stopped shopping at Whole Foods entirely, and even looked for coupons online when I needed to buy some sort of specialty gluten free item for a recipe. It's amazing how easy it is to find said coupons if you have a very specific brand in mind.

I even spoke up at the checkout yesterday when the checker tried to charge me $0.69 for lemons when the price was posted as 2 for $1.00. Granted, most people I know see this as normal, but I have a terrible fear of confrontation and apologized repeatedly for the time spent saving me a piddly 38 cents. 38 cents makes a difference, damnit!

Not to mention, someone needed to tell them that they had them entered into their system incorrectly.

Of course, later in the day Rite Aid thwarted me because I misread their ads... I spent 2 more dollars than I intended to because the sale on soda was not a direct sale, but a $2.00 coupon that the buyer gets after they've made their purchase. "It's like paying 3/$1.99!" Stupid simile.

On the plus side, the changes resulted in a trip to Costco that did not deviate from the list(aside from the item that we forgot to put on the list in the first place). On top of this, we had other sale prices to compare to, and though we bought more at Costco, the items were all things that bulk is actually helpful for (chicken broth, chicken, and potatoes). The coupon for Swanson chicken broth makes each can $0.42 which is seven cents cheaper than the lowest sale price we found.

I'm pretty sure I sound crazy right now...

Well, there you have it. I can now direct my obsessive behavior towards something productive: being a real live adult. All we can do is hope that I continue to manage said adulthood.

FNDs, Crafts, and Christmas

2011-11-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

It's almost Sunday, and I suppose that means that its almost my writing day. After a week of teaching math, a day of creativity is almost always welcome.

On Tuesday, one of my students asked me what my hobbies were when I wasn't doing math. Lots of math people have math hobbies, and while cooking, sewing, and painting do require I type of spacial or quantitative reasoning that most don't imagine, they aren't really considered math hobbies.

Early this fall, a friend and I decided to begin a new tradition: Friday Night Dinners. Each Friday, a different person hosts dinner at their house. The person hosting is in charge of cooking, and everyone collaborates on entertainment (usually games). Three weeks ago, entertainment included the option of making sock dolls, and the option of crafting for entertainment continued into the following week. It has resulted in two somewhat sleepless Friday nights for me as my creativity starved brain goes into productivity mode. Of course, it doesn't help that I've been sleeping in until 11am on most Friday mornings.

Three weeks ago I painted. Two weeks ago I worked on a strange monster sock doll. This Friday there were no crafts, and I fell asleep rather early. Yesterday, however, I once again worked with watercolors in the afternoon. Watercolors come in several wonderful forms that make painting with them much easier than other mediums as far as I'm concerned. I thought I was doomed to be a terrible painter forever until I discovered watercolor pencils and liquid watercolor paint sets.

All of this creating has me thinking about Christmas and Christmas presents. For the last several years I've tried to make Christmas presents for several reasons. The primary purpose originally was to give something that was more meaningful. At the time I was working in a framing store and got a significant discount on custom framing. I made 10 copies of an ink drawing I had done and gave those as Christmas presents. The following year when I was no longer working at the framing store, the purpose was driven by finances. While framing the pictures wasn't especially inexpensive, the following year I made a dry soup mix that I put in glass jars. This was terribly cheap, almost embarrassingly so. Despite this, I had another realization later about such Christmas gifts: they often use less resources. The soup was in glass jars which are usually reusable, but also more readily recyclable than plastic (not that they always are). And who is really going to send your art to the landfill, especially when you've gone through the effort to frame it. Even if they don't like the art, they're likely to keep the frame... or at least donate it?

This year, I have a whole host of ideas. Some ideas involve jars, some painting, some sewing; some use recycled materials almost exclusively. Usually, however, I don't tend to have very good follow through. I'm hoping that the continuation of crafting evenings will keep me motivated and moving forward.

One Year... and then some.

2011-10-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

What does one say after a sixteen month hiatus from blogging?

"I'M BACK!!" is one obvious option.

Lots has changed in the months that I haven't been writing and I'll spare you the details. One of the only things you need to know about, and one of the things I'm certain you'll hear a great deal about, is that we now get a CSA box weekly.

For those that are not aware of what CSA stands for: Community Supported Agriculture. What it means to get a CSA box is a little different. Essentially, every week we go and pick up a box that is filled with produce, a half dozen eggs, and some kind of cheese. The picture that is now at the top of my blog is of our very first box. Now this sounds cool except for a small catch; you don't get to choose what produce you get. You can opt out of one item and the group is happy to accommodate alergies (our box typically comes with bread, but as we are both gluten intolerant we have obviously opted not to have such a thing arrive at our home). The lack of choice is the draw back for most people, and after a couple months of box pick-ups, I can see their point.

We've identified three families of plants that we have difficulties with. The first is beets. The sheer quantity of beets I've eaten in the last two months is more than I had ever eaten in my life beforehand. We've found a few creative recipes for them, my favorite being a chocolate beet cake that calls for a large quantity of pureed beet. Desserts seem to be the best dishes to make from beets and this week I plan to make a a beet take on sweet potato casserole.

The second is greens: Kale, Mustard Greens, Chard, Spinach, Lettuce, etc. Everything but the lettuce has an easy option for preparation: oil, onion, garlic, wilted greens, done. I even found a recipe that would combine this preparation with pears (of which we currently have an abundance). We've attempted Kale chips with little success, in fact most of our attempts to dry produce in the oven have been predominantly unsuccessful. Our only real victory in that area was making raisins last week for a beet chutney recipe that didn't work out as well as we'd hoped it would.

Third, and lastly, mushrooms...

These were the first members of the box to be identified as a difficulty. We get some variety every week, some more easily consumed than others. Chantrelle mushrooms are by far the least offensive mushroom to be consumed, and we have readily found a delicious (but heinously unhealthy) recipe for Golden Chantrelle Puffs which are little mushroom biscuit type things. The recipe calls for a stick of butter. As for the Portabellas and Criminis? The best success we've had is to simply saute them in some sort of animal fat. Bacon is best.

This week, our box was filled with all three of these items. On top of these, we also received another bunch of spicy peppers which I perpetually lack a use for, but have every intention of finding one. We also got a very large celery root with which we plan to make a type of hashbrown cake with carrots and potatoes. This will be eaten with a large quantity of greens (and maybe mushrooms).

When I look at that last paragraph, I think it sounds like I'm complaining. I'm not, not really. The challenge is a little enthralling! Every week its a mad dash to create a creative and cost effective menu that uses the mystery items in the box, and every week there are triumphs and disasters. Every week I learn something new about food and cooking. Its tiring and trying at times. After the beet fest we had last weekend, seeing another bunch of beets come our way forced me to take a deep calming breath. All in all, though, I think its a lot of fun and even when I put a stick of butter in my chantrelle puffs or crispy beet casserole, I still feel like I'm eating more plant matter than I would without the box.

Maybe that only counts for something in my mind, but that's enough for me.

To Run

2010-06-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

It appears that it has only been a little over a month since my last blog posting. I don't feel nearly as badly as I did a few days ago when it suddenly occurred to me that I had a blog at all.

I'm not much of one for goal setting. Don't get me wrong, I continue to try to set goals, it just seems that I do so in vain. The goal setting has significantly diminished in the last few years as I began to come to terms with my personality and life choices. You've probably noticed this, as I've given up speaking about weight loss and getting myself into shape for some ellusive health benefits. You should know that this doesn't mean that I stopped having this goal, I simply changed my approach.

I had to come to terms with some other elements of healthy living before I could really tackle weight loss. I have come to terms with one: exercise. This life adjustment could not have come at a better time. When I began teaching, my stress-stomach and anxiety nightmares from my undergraduate years came rushing back with a vengeance (less so on the stomach front which I attribute to a low gluten diet); and to think that I wasted so much of my time worrying about a little thing like school back then! It was truly silly of me. I will grant you, this level of stress over a job is also truly silly. Exercise saved my sanity when I thought I might lose my mind completely.

I'm sure I must have mentioned bootcamp back when I began, but my posts have been so few and far between lately that I'm certain its time for a refresher. I work out at 5:40 am 4 days a week on the edge of the Willamette River. I am still not the most diligent attendee, but I feel like I have finally worked the program into my schedule so that I am there most days. Its difficult when your friends and significant other have a completely different sleep schedule than your own. I would rather put myself to bed at 9pm every evening, but find it difficult to wind down before 10 simply because everyone else is still awake. Don't misconstrue the explanation for blame; I have no one to blame but myself when I can't roll out of bed at 4:45am on Monday because I've neglected my sleep schedule for two days. Slowly, I am getting used to saying no, getting used to saying "i'm tired" and doing something about it, and getting used to spending more of my evenings quietly and somewhat alone. I'm an introverted person, ultimately its an additional assist to my sanity to live this way. Being alone more has meant a stronger feeling of stability and calm.

There has been one draw back, though. Around the time of my last post, my knees began to hurt. It wasn't just a "oh, I'm a little sore from working out" kind of hurt, but a deep pain that made me stiff if I sat too long and caused me to wince when I walked up and down the stairs. It hurt to walk, it hurt to run, it hurt to sit, it hurt to stand. I am a problem solver by nature, and this was a prime time for my brain to start working it out. I started icing every couple days when the pain was fairly minimal. It helped a tiny bit, but not significantly.

The off week of bootcamp rolled around and I took the whole week off from exercise. Whether it was the lack of movement or the fact that I started carrying a shoulder bag that week (or both), I'm not sure, but the pain became worse. I gave up heels completely (I was only wearing very low heels with broad bases) and bought a new mattress. The pain reduced. Bootcamp started up again and that seemed to help a bit more. I acquired new running shoes and felt a bit more relief. About the same time that bootcamp started back up and I got the new shoes, the school term ended and I didn't need to carry around over 30 pounds of extra weight on my back...

Oh.

Its impressive that I didn't even consider this as a possible cause of my pain.

Its also impressive what a single pound of weight does to the amount of pressure your joints experience. Its a 1 to 4 ratio. For every single pound added to your load (weight gained or weight carried), your joints (knees, hips, and lower vertebrae especially) experience 4 extra pounds of pressure during movement. That's intense! No wonder my knees hurt. Every time i walked a half mile from the bus to school or vice versa, my joints were experienced around 120 extra pounds of load bearing pressure with every step than they would have if I had no bag. This has changed my perspective completely on weight loss goals.

I started out a couple years ago with the general idea of being "healthier" if I reduced the amount of weight I carried. To me this meant less of a chance of cancer or diabetes down the road (both prevalent in my family). But what twenty-something in their sane mind can actually achieve a goal based on consequences "down the road"? Needless to say, I've hovered between 10 and 20 pounds above my goal for two years now).

The knee pain, though... that got to me. Its not that I didn't know that joint pain was a future ailment on "things you can avoid" list of weight loss; my mother is a very tall woman and she would admit to maybe not carrying an ideal amount of weight on her already large frame. She's in pain most days. So, yes, I knew that it could be a consequence. My mother is, however, twice my age and 6 inches taller than I. Why would I think that I had any risk of joint pain? Because I didn't consider my love of running or my addiction to academics when I thought about joint pain, I only considered my upper end of a healthy BMI weight.

I'm working myself up to achieving two goals: losing between 8 and 12 pounds and buying a rolling backpack. The middle schooler inside me that still desperately wants to be the cool kid thinks that the first goal sounds like the easier of the two. Summer term has allowed me to carry less weight and has bought me some time to work up to a bag that will brand me as an old lady. I'm considering something more along the lines of a rolling briefcase... I won't feel nearly as out of place at work with a rolling briefcase.

You might ask why I bother with the 8 to 12 pounds, if I am replacing my backpack. It comes back to that first love that I didn't consider when it came to joint pain: running. I've dreamed of running a marathon since I was 15. I'm currently working my way up to a 5K. Then I'll move on to a 10K, then a half marathon, then a marathon... maybe I'll even do a triathlon if I can ever get into swimming. I'll pay for the running later in life no matter what, but I'll pay less if I weigh less. Simple as that.

Weight loss goals are not something I achieve easily as you might have figured. But if I want to run, I need to do this. And I want to run.

Hot Chocolate Disaster

2010-05-22T09:13:00.001-07:00

I lost my will to work this morning when I lost my large hot chocolate to the floor of my car.

I just feel whiny and there's no way around that. Here I am, at work on a Saturday morning. Its not that it isn't my fault that I'm here. I certainly didn't do any work the last two days, but damn if I'm not tired regardless. And then to lose the best part of my day? And not have any cash to buy a second?

At least the hot chocolate came off of my leather shoes, but I've already made an appointment to have it detailed to avoid a spoiled dairy smell in my car.

Now that I have successfully avoided working for an hour and yet somehow have only written the equivalent of an entire paragraph, I should probably get my bitter self to work...

... or at least find something else that doesn't feel quite as much like procrastination.

A Lovely Day to Ride

2010-05-08T09:42:00.001-07:00

Walking out the front door of the complex the crisp air hinted of summer. Blue skies bordered the tree line and the tops of the buildings. Sunshine competed with the shadows for every inch of space on the ground. It felt like a wonderful day to ride my bike to work. Alex had helped me put my new drink rack on my bike as well as check the air pressure in my tires. I donned my helmet and sunglasses and rolled up my jeans to mid-calf to keep them from getting in my chain ring. My backpack was filled with the necessities of lesson planning and exam writing along with an orange and some cereal. I was ready.

Down the concrete path to the street, I wheeled my bike beside me. The nice thing about my bike is that it never feels like he resents me for the months of neglect. I am fairly positive that he understands that he would much rather be indoors for those months than not.

I start out riding north. After five blocks the first small hill arises and I look down at my shift levers. I'm almost in my lowest gear already; this is not a good sign. I am now painfully aware of the strain of the backpack straps on my shoulders and I consider turning around right then and there. I am, however, my father's daughter. "Quitting" was never advocated in my household. I'm no quitter.

Ten blocks later, as I stopped at a light, I sincerely regretted this trait because I sure as hell wasn't riding back over those hills just to get my car.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally hit the street where I turned west for about 15 blocks. This portion is predominantly down hill, and if my back hadn't been aching from the overstuffed bag being held by it, I would have been relieved. I suppose the short breaks of sitting up were of some minor benefit.

Turning north again, this stretch is a slight, yet steady, incline for the next few miles and my legs already felt like jello. I left my gears in their position (second to lowest), however, so that I had something to fall back on when I hit harder portions. At the first red light, I didn't shift down. That was a mistake. At the second, I shifted, but neglected to take a moment to get a drink of water. At the third, I was already so tired that shifting and taking a drink hardly felt like they made any difference. When I got to the green light at Alberta, I audibly muttered "Oh thank God." Not only was this a green light, but Alberta marks the final (downhill) stretch to PCC.

I have a feeling that when I leave today, I will be leaving behind a significant portion of my belongings to claim with my car later.

We do know now, though, that my new jeans are going to be good for biking in. I do believe I am going to have to go buy a couple more pairs.

Ode to Melissa Etheridge

2010-04-29T09:11:00.001-07:00

My office hours don't start until 10 am. Combine this fact with a closed office door and a newly installed reflective coating on the windows and you've got the basics of a recipe for blog time. It is a blog time complete with Melissa Etheridge, though I obviously can't have her belting it out as loudly as I would like. There must be at least a few fellow faculty members that don't appreciate her hard core, rockin' awesomeness as much as I do. Not all of us can have as good of taste in music as I do.

"I WANT A COME OVER!!! TO HELL WITH THE CONSEQUENCE!!"

Ah, yes, this will be a good morning.

If you know me, you know that I have "happy songs". These songs are not always the same. As a sophomore in high school, I got moving in the morning by blaring Queen and bouncing down the hallway singing Bicycle and Fat Bottomed Girls at the top of my lungs. Meredith Brooks' Bitch was another number that helped me cope with tough times. There have been many a P!nk song to make it onto the "happy song" list.

As you might have noticed, there is a trend of strong female vocalists on this list. Freddie Mercury... well its not really that much of a stretch, now is it? Besides, I'm of the opinion that classic rock doesn't get more classic than Freddie Mercury. Disagree if you will, but you would almost need to have lived under a rock for the last few decades to not know Bohemian Rhapsody, regardless of your typical musical genre preference.

Its a time for "happy music". Its a time for forgiving myself for struggling, picking myself back up, blasting Melissa Etheridge, and continuing to fight the good fight. But man, has it been a week.

Yesterday I was walking to the Community College campus once again pondering explaining recent events of my life to my students. I always come to the same conclusion, however: its none of their business, and I don't need to make excuses for not having their quizzes graded the very next day or not having a lecture turn out very well. These things would happen regardless. While I was pondering this, however, I found that I described myself as "a wreck" and I found myself realizing that in one way or another I am always "a wreck". The longer I considered this, the more I realized that we're all a bunch of "wrecks". How can we not be?

We have so little control over everything in our lives because we are surrounding by free thinking individuals, and a world of uncertainty. Of course I'm "a wreck". Like everyone else, I wake up every morning unsure of what the day will bring me and always faced with the possibility that it will go to pot in a matter of moments. What separates me is what I do with this fact. Do I curl up in a ball and refuse to face it? Do I become angry and over-bearing as a way of shutting out so much of the world that I am almost guaranteed more control? Do I fall into a constant state of complaint to compensate for adversity with attention?

Or do I just accept that today I will do the best I can to take it all in stride and make the most of every opportunity. Even those moments that feel disastrous are filled with opportunities.

This isn't to say that I'm not still struggling. Its simply to say that there's a reason to get up every morning, and a reason to cut myself some slack when its tough to.

"COME TO MY WINDOW!! COME INSIDE, WAIT BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON!!"

Going Coastal

2010-03-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke early before the sunrise!

Then hit snooze ten times.

Then woke up again while the sun was rising, hit snooze another five times, and finally rolled out of bed at 8am.

Whatever.

We dressed, packed our cooler, and headed for the coast. Cannon Beach was our first stop on the list. It was still chilly, but we walked the beach out to Haystack Rock. I resisted taking off my shoes until we came to a stream outlet and I was forced to either get my socks wet or brave the cold sand. It was indeed cold.

Out by Haystack Rock is a tide pool that we wandered so that we could "ooo" and "aaah" at the few orange and purple star fish that had crammed themselves halfway under the large boulders. We took a path off the beach at the end of town closest to us and made our way back to our car, stopping for ice cream as we meandered through the little town.

We headed to Manzanita, south of Cannon Beach and had a good walk along the sand dunes there. Its nothing like Florence, but the dunes were still pretty. We walked through their tiny town as well and took a moment to stare at real estate fliers that we have no business staring at. Alex got an Americano at one of the coffee shops and we used the public restrooms (far inferior to those at Cannon Beach) before making the drive home, which I slept through.

It was a nice day for the beach. I never expect to be terribly warm when I head to the coast, so the fact that I never lost my jacket wasn't disappointing. Really, its my own fault for wearing capris and mesh shoes.

Time to check on the sweet potatoes I'm baking for dinner. I'll update when I do something else of interest, or next Sunday; whichever comes first.

Spring Dream

2010-03-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

I cannot tell you how excited I am today; life is simply brimming with possibilities!

This past week I completed my Winter term. Today I complete my last day as an Office Manager. From now on, I have weekends to schedule how I see fit. I am beginning my journey as a mathematics teacher. Spring has begun. This week, I cannot say that I have nothing to write about.

Spring is a tumultuous time, however, and with these changes occurring in my life, it shouldn't be dull to say the least. Winter is a time for forgetting what warmth is; forgetting what it feels like to be barefoot. In the winter you have to force yourself to imagine that a world where you might feel tepid breezes on your skin is simply a world that you once dreamed of, but that never really existed. Denial is the only way to endure a cold season.

But Spring, oh Spring! Denial is useless in the Spring. Nature teases you with glorious sunshine, warmth on your face, the wonder of wearing sandals, and then the harsh disappointment of the return of the oppressive cloud cover. The coming days will see bitter icy rain coupled with intensely serene, blue skies; pairings of drear with joy. Tumultuous is the only word I can think of to describe Spring. One can't help but feel minutely bi-polar in the Spring, especially one as warmth dependent as this native Southern Californian. Spring is sadistic.

At some point before my move to Oregon, I had this image of cooking bread with Alex several times a week. Of being kitchen companions that made wonderful whole foods together daily. Then I arrived and realized that we had a tiny kitchen and schedules that almost never overlapped. Then we moved again, and while the kitchen was an improvement, our schedules still had little in common. I have night classes, he has day classes, we both work on Saturdays and Sunday suddenly became the day to "take care of business". My dreams of a garden that we could tend together, evenings cooking and then cleaning the kitchen together, and weekends planning meals at the Farmer's market and being our creative selves to organize and maintain our living space... in the spring, they seem possible again even if they are completely impractical.

A girl can dream, can't she?

I long for a bright, open, and airy kitchen in which to spend my new found freedom. A space that lets the outside in to be enjoyed, but allows me to experiment with gluten free flours. I desperately want to bake. I have these visions of garlic potato bread, peanut butter cookies, cornmeal pizza crust, and sweet potato pancakes. Just like every other Spring Break, however, the days are quickly disappearing before my eyes with only one batch of sub-par peanut butter cookies having been baked, most of which were subsequently thrown out.

This isn't to say that I haven't been productive, though.

Alex and I have been doing some spring cleaning. We went shopping last Thursday and bought ourselves new threads for the coming career shifts in our lives. Wouldn't you know it, but they wouldn't fit in our drawers or closet. Today we took two paper grocery bags and a laundry hamper full of clothes to a place called Buffalo Exchange (a rather trendy place that selectively buys your old clothing if it fits the proper criteria of color, season, style, and size they are looking for). We only made twenty bucks on the endeavor, but that bought us a lunch out. The rest of the giant heap was donated.

As long as we've cleaned out the closet and drawers, we might as well clean the whole bedroom, and if we're cleaning the bedroom we might as well catch up on our shredding and filing, meaning we might as well clean the office... you get the picture. We also had to find our tax information since Mom sent me an e-mail this morning about it. Its never a good sign when I get a "reminder" e-mail from Mom. We're still trying to track down one of Alex's pieces of documentation, but the goods should be in the mail by tomorrow morning combined with gifts for my parents and sister... and a chandelier. Don't ask.

The evening is almost upon us now. If I manage to cook or bake anything worth while this week, I will certainly post recipes.

Happy Pi Day!!

2010-03-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

What would the world be like without Grandmas?

The world would be devoid of "good morning" e-mails wishing me a Happy Pi Day.

It has come to my attention that the celebration of Pi Day began in 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium. On this glorious day, the staff of this establishment marched around one of its circular spaces and then consumed fruit pies. A little bird named Wikipedia told me this today. And Wikipedia was sent to me by Grandma.

My Grandmother is one of those hip and with-it ones that stays connected via e-mail, orders her knitting supplies online, and knows what a Google search is and how to conduct one. She's pretty darn tech-savvy if you ask me, and while I have my daily routines of checking the web comics I follow and reading all the facebook updates that have come in overnight, she likes to see if Google has done anything neat with their logo today.

Because of Google, my grandma learned about Pi Day today. And who did she think to contact first with this information? Her granddaughter with the degree in math. That has to be one of the best ways to start a Pi Day. Ever. Not only did she make sure I saw the Google logo, but that I also click on it to get the articles that go along with it. This was how I learned about the origins of Pi day. And, in fact, at 1:59 (notice the time this was posted) it will be the Pi minute of the Pi day.

This is terribly exciting! I even plan on going on an excursion to find gluten free pie with which to celebrate! And wear my Pi shirt while doing it. If only I could hang my irrational number clock today (a gift from the same wonderful grandma) to increase the festive feeling.

Thanks Grandma! And Happy Pi Day to all!

After posting this I realized there was no time stamp. I waited 5 whole minutes for nothing. Well, nothing but the satisfaction of knowing that I uploaded this blog at the Pi minute of Pi day.

Sunrise Gentle Yoga

2010-02-20T19:53:00.000-08:00

5:30 am on Hawthorne Blvd is lonely. The cold seeps in like liquid, drenching my coat, my shoes, my socks, my very core. This isn't like the workout sessions on the water front where camaraderie (and a fast paced workout) warm your soul; this is the line 14 waiting game. A few lone motorists pass, their headlights somehow gloomy despite the pre-dawn dark that renders them necessary. I watch my breath rise from my face, staring with a fascination that is mostly unwarranted.

The bright yellow lights of public transportation fall slowly over the crest of the major boulevard and promise warmth as they roll to a stop at the corner of 19th; my stop. The ride into downtown is more crowded than expected, and moving to be the first out the door for a sprint to the nearest Max stop is a challenge. The stress builds as I get closer to the Rec Center, concerned about my ability to pick up a fitness course pass before they have disappeared. The line visible from the street is distressing, and my jog continues up the steps in time to watch the grate raised to admit the early risers into the center; not nearly enough to take up all the passes. In fact, none but myself even stop at the equipment window to pick up a pass.

My goal that cold Wednesday morning was a Yoga class. A class that I was able to attend, and that, to my surprise, was not full. Not even close to full.

The window of the fitness classroom faces the river. It faces Mt. Hood in the background. Watching the sun rise over the East of the city of Portland made the experience all the more centering as I worked on my yoga feet, downward dog, and plank pose.

I do believe I will be doing Yoga this coming Wednesday, as well.

Happy Sunday-ing.

Rec Center Week

2010-02-14T10:43:00.000-08:00

When I began attending PSU, they had already begun construction on what would be our new campus rec center. This center was completed at the close of the fall term, and is now open for use to the student body for free. It took me until last week to finally get myself into said rec center but now I am hooked.

I first went in on Tuesday, intending on going to a fitness class. Luckily, I was there early and was able to sign the necessary waivers to be able to take these classes before they started handing out passes for the class. Unluckily, I came back to pick up a pass moments after the last one had been handed out. But, having already changed into my workout garb and feeling brave enough to explore the building, I went up to the cardio floor and tried the eliptical machines, treadmill, and stationary bikes. I hate stationary bikes.

Stationary bikes don't allow you to ride aggressively like road bikes do, because they have you sitting more upright. I can't stand this. I have only ever ridden a road bike in my post adolescence and I simply have no patience to learn to be comfortable on anything else. Needless to say I haven't been back on one since Tuesday. In fact, I haven't been back on the eliptical machine either. I've simply kept to the treadmill telling myself every day that next time I would go down to the weights floor and do some weight lifting afterwards. That hasn't happened, yet, of course.

What I find most amusing about this, perhaps, is that it has resulted in taking fewer showers at home. Because the locker room has nice clean individual showers and I have travel sized toiletries, I've simply been showering on campus every day this week. Its an interesting experience, especially since I haven't gotten into this process well enough to always remember everything I need for the day. Thankfully, I have yet to forget clean underwear. No one likes to go commando when its 40 degrees outside.

I wish that I could go today, as I had to miss a workout yesterday, as well. Today, however, I am not feeling my best. Last night, likely due to stress, exhaustion, and mild food poisoning, I began to feel terribly ill. Though I feel better having slept for 11 hours, I still am not quite at my best. Especially since those 11 hours took away from being able to complete a research paper that is due tomorrow. Said research paper is a subject I would discuss further if I thought I could do so without using extremely profane language. I'm certain that its impossible at this moment in time.

Now I should try to find something that sounds appetizing... another feat that seems rather impossible at the moment.

Snippet. Snippet Good.

2010-02-07T10:47:00.001-08:00

I will let you know now, that I have very little to say today. I shouldn't even be spending time on this, but if I'm checking facebook a couple times an hour, it seems pretty hypocritical not to write something.

I finally deposited my most recent paychecks and my Christmas money this past week. About a sixth of it all was spent on a collection of Mutts comic books. Another sixth was dropped on a grocery splurge. I'm certain a good bit more of it will be put towards buying new jeans, as it has come to my attention this past week that mine are frighteningly close to becoming inappropriate garments for public use. At 25, I've finally discovered that I do care whether I look presentable. Holes in my jeans that were acceptable at 22, are now a feature I would rather die than sport in the company of friends and strangers alike. My father would be so proud. There were a few occasions on which he had to literally cut my old articles of clothing into pieces to keep me from wearing them. Surprisingly, I don't remember having this battle with my mother. Either she didn't care or they had realized early on that I would be the rebellious child and each had randomly drawn the battles they would be responsible for fighting from a hat. Dad got clothing, piercings, hair dying, and tattoos; Mom got boys, friends, academics, and curse words.

Actually, I just don't think my mom cared as much about the things my dad did, because I got my fair share of battles over school and social life issues from him as well.

Hmm....

And now that I've given you that little entertaining snippet, I do believe it is time to go back to writing a research paper.

Toodles!

Diggin' Deep

2010-01-31T10:37:00.000-08:00

Just so that everyone is aware, I believe I neglected to send out a message regarding my last blog update. I sat down on December 30th and wrote a little ditty that you'll find below. After re-reading it today, its not quite as whiny as I had originally suspected, so we'll let it stay. By we I mean my blog quality control team, of course. They work hard for little thanks.

Yeah. You could say I'm in a weird mood this morning.

Its a new year with new excuses to be made for not blogging. I ended 2009 with some strange notion that these updates had to be masterful works of literary genius. You've got to admit, not writing well is a damn fine excuse for not blogging; more people in this world should perhaps consider it, in fact. Given that my audience is small and composed solely of friends and family, however, it stands to reason that a lack of "literary genius" now and then can be forgiven.

I've got to step it up in 2010. When a year is that hard to write, you know you have to rise to the occasion. And don't look at me like you haven't fallen prey to starting to write a 0 thinking that its "o-ten" and then have to try and squeeze a 1 in before it. The only difference between you and me is that you probably don't consider burning the paper you're writing on because the numbers aren't spaced out just so.

My point? I need bigger, better excuses this year.

... I don't have them.

What it comes down to is that I have been busier in the last three weeks than I have been in years (about two years to be exact). I'm more exhausted because I'm simply doing more, or at least that's the theory. Of course, I can throw in my usual jab at the Pacific Northwest and say that this season you people like to call winter is completely worthless in my quest to get up before 10am and feel even a remote desire to be productive. Whoever thought up this 9 hours of sunlight crap deserves a punch in the face. The overcast skies designer, too, for that matter.

That's my grand excuse of the new year: I'm busy.

The primary problem with this is that I talk so much about what exactly it is that I'm busy doing these days that it feels like I'm drumming it into the ground. I do Math Ed. Research. Its all I seem to do. I can talk at length about how problematic it is to conduct a worthwhile interview, transcribe said interview, and then say something meaningful about it. And that's not even getting into student understanding of measures of central tendency and variation and what the research literature has to say about it and blah, blah, blah, blah blah. Its never a good sign when you start to hate listening to yourself talk about something that's consuming your life.

I suppose there are other topics to write about. This is, after all, my first blog on my new laptop and I did just apply to teach at Portland Community College in the Spring quarter (not that I've heard back). ... Wait? Really? That's it? Those are the only other two updates I have? No, no, no. There must be something else.

Let's see.

Oh! My boss is out of town for a month!

And, um...

Oh yes! Alex is in school too! ... News to everyone, I'm sure.

I... have started taking my showers at night.

My atm card is demagnetized. It was due to expire this year and I want a new picture on it anyways, but its a hassle.

I'm also really into curry right now, though, at the moment I am craving a quesadilla. Or bento. Or... actually, I'm just hungry.

Aaaand, I should stop while I'm ahead. Or, you know... whatever.

Happy Belated New Year!

O-blog-atory Remarks

2009-12-30T22:09:00.000-08:00

I would start this blog off with some mention of how long its been since I last posted anything, or how I'm sure I'll change my ways, but I really can't find any remark befitting of my feelings about it. Sure, there's some tinge of guilt in there somewhere, but its predominantly unfounded given that I've heard no complaints for my online absence. Okay, blog absence; anyone on facebook could tell you that I've been plenty active in the online world.

The problem with blogging has been a lack of inspiration. I enter the address, I sign in, and then what? I sit and type a few lines, scrap them, type a few more, and eventually give up for lack of something genuinely interesting to say. I'd like to have one of those blogs that provide insightful information. It would be wonderful to consistently produce well written and entertaining sagas for the few family members and friends that read this. I suppose it comes down to the enjoyment of dreaming that I am a talented, revered, and, most importantly, well-known writer.

That's really been a problem with "choosing a profession"; it makes me think that I have to leave everything else; like writing. The other talents I would like to perfect include drawing, crafting, sewing, painting, cooking, and singing. I know that I don't really have to leave them behind, but its hard to balance it all out. Balance has never been one of my strengths.

I can fall over when I'm standing still. Its impressive. Really.

My holiday at home always causes a bit more introspection than is probably wise; to much down-time, perhaps. Introspection, in my case, breeds doubt. I wonder if I'm doing the right thing. That sounds vague, because it applies to just about every "thing". I wonder if I've chosen the right career path, the right place to accomplish that, the right place to live, the right things to eat, the right computer to buy... Oh yeah, didn't I tell you? My computer died on me yesterday.

When I say died, I don't mean a total lack of functionality. Its still on, its still running, but the screen is very dark and the battery will no longer charge. I'm of the opinion that these are related problems. Perhaps the worst part about it is that I just bought a new battery and charger three months ago. I take that back, its frustrating, but naming the worst part about this is actually rather difficult. Might be the fact that I am bemoaning the loss of a 6-year-old laptop, instead. Might be that it couldn't have figured out it was on its last legs two weeks ago when I could still get a new computer up and running by the time the winter quarter began. It might just be the fact that I am so infuriated by something so stupid!

The holidays, generally speaking, were pleasant. I would like to say that I have felt pleasant during their duration, but that would be a lie.

Either way, the weather has been fantastic.

Post-Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

2009-11-26T19:56:00.000-08:00

Alex's parents rose far earlier than I. I know this because I was vaguely aware of their movements in the kitchen, awaking off and on, and finally rolling over to tell Alex that it was time to get up. However, it was apparently only 7:30 at the time. Okay, fine, I suppose we didn't have to be up at 7:30.

When 9 am finally rolled around, we dragged ourselves out of bed and sat around the living room looking dazed. Lucky for us, 9 am still fell in the hours of the calm before the storm. By 11 am, though, the crowd was rolling in. Said crowd totaled 20.

We had spent an entire evening trouble-shooting this year's holiday back in October. The verdict had been to rent tables, chairs, and place-settings from the events department at the local college (Alex's father has connections). These were set up in the family room of the house in a large square, wine bottles generously dispersed around the perimeter.

It was, as always, a lovely meal. Every family has signature dishes that they make every year. These dishes do evolve over time, but they are fairly constant for a few years in a row. This is certainly the case with Alex's family. On the menu are always creamed pearl onions, mashed sweet potatoes with ginger and pomegranate, and cranberry ice. It was wonderful!

Dessert was also to die for: small pieces of three kinds of pie and homemade whipped cream. Apple-Quince, Pumpkin, and Pecan Pies lined my plate and I thoroughly enjoyed all of it. In fact, I will probably have to go back for more after I finish composing this.

We ate around 1:30 and the party began to break around 4:30. It begins to get dark here around that time, and those that didn't want to drive home in the dark wanted to get on the road by then. It wasn't until about an hour ago, however, that everyone that wasn't planning on staying the night headed out. Its been a great day, despite how intense the sheer number of guests was. I look forward to Thanksgiving so very much every year; its family, and I can't get enough of spending time with family. Of course, good food can only make the experience better.

Tomorrow is the big wine tasting day. This area of Oregon is akin to Napa Valley in terms of number of vineyards and wineries and Black Friday is a big day for them. Most put out a wonderful display of food and their best wines.

Tomorrow is a big day, its time to sign off for the evening and enjoy some television and pie.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Banana Bonanza

2009-11-09T16:56:00.000-08:00

Alex was on a banana binge for a of couple weeks. Like all trends of really liking a certain food, it seemed to end just after he bought far too many bananas for a normal human to consume. And thus, the bananas sat and sat, going from green to yellow to brown far too quickly. It must be added, despite how this might embarrass Alex, there were 7 brown bananas left over.

There is only one thing to do when one has an obscene number of over-ripe bananas: bake.

Now, for anyone that hasn't caught on to this fact via facebook and other blog entries, I discovered that I have a gluten intolerance over the summer. I also discovered that banana seems to make up for any odd flavored gluten free flour that often substitutes wheat flour. I was rather excited, therefore, to have an opportunity to try a couple recipes of gluten free banana bread. They are as follows:

From The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book (which, to me, is the equivalent of Joy of Cooking for bread)

Banana Rice Bread
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour (I suggest Bob's Red Mill as a general rule)
2 tablespoons potato flour (again, go to Bob)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons tapioca (quick-cooking) (You should be able to find this in the baking isle, it looks like crystals, not little white balls. The ball shaped form is not quick cooking)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional) (I used Pecans)
2 tablespoons butter or oil (I used butter)
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup buttermilk (I almost forgot this and had to pull the bread out of the oven after it had been in for a couple of minutes to mix in this ingredient)
2 medium-sized bananas, mashed (since I had so many bananas, I put them all in the food processor and used about a cup and a half of the mix)
2 eggs slightly beaten

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F) and grease a small-sized loaf pan. (The pan I used is a 4.5 x 8.5 pyrex loaf pan, and I wouldn't really call that small. I also didn't grease it and it turned out fine)
Sift the dry ingredients together, except the tapioca and the nuts. Now stir in tapioca and nuts.
Blend the remaining ingredients together and then add the dry ingredients to them . Mix well and pour into the loaf pan. Bake about 50 minutes, or until the bread tests done with a toothpick or small sharp knife. Allow it to stay in the pan for 10 minutes before removing, and then let it cool completely before slicing.

When buying the ingredients for this recipe, I noticed that good ol' Bob had his own recipe on the back of his Gluten Free Flour mix (not the same as the rice or potato flour). His goes something like this:

1/3 cup Canola Oil
2/3 cup Brown Sugar, packed
2 large Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 3/4 cups Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose GF Baking Flour (GF meaning Gluten Free)
2 tsp. Baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp Xanthan Gum (I left this out and put in a 1/2 tsp of baking soda. I think Xanthan Gum tastes funny and I had no desire to buy a huge package of it)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe Bananas
1/2 cup finely chopped Pecans or Walnuts (As you know, I went for pecans)
1/2 cup raisins (I left this out and added another half cup of pecans)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 9X5 inch non-stick loaf pan. For smaller loaves, use 5x3 inch loaf pans (I opted for smaller, but the pans I got were smaller than this and so I managed to get 5 muffin tops out of the recipe also. All pans were non-stick but I did not grease them). Cream together oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer (couldn't find the electric mixer, so I did it by hand). Add flour, Xanthan Gum (baking soda), salt, baking powder and cinnamon to egg mixture, alternating with bananas. Beat until smooth. Stir in nuts and raisins (more nuts in my case). Batter will be somewhat soft (Batter was too soft, I added another half cup of flour. This might have been prevented by not heavily processing the bananas). Transfer to pans. Bake 9x5 inch loaf for 1 hour, 5x3 inch loaves for 45 minutes (this was too long for these, and the muffin tops took about 20 minutes... I didn't actually measure the time for them).

In terms of a review, Alex and I both really like the book recipe, though Bob's reminds me of the zucchini bread my great grandmother made. Bob's was a sweeter loaf of bread and more desserty (even though Laurel says that her loaf is dessert like, I disagree). The buttermilk in Laurel's and the lack of extra sugar make it very bready, not cakey. Its wonderful warm and with butter, but its really rich enough on its own, also. I'm not saying Bob's wasn't good, I just have more to say about Laurel's take on things.

I now have quite a bit of gluten free flour and buttermilk to get through and should do more baking in the near future. Granted, I am also going to be out of town from Wednesday until Sunday for a conference. We shall see!

Happy Baking All!

Just a Little Mid-Week Update!

2009-10-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

You know its the end of Midterms week, when the mathematics computer lab has less than 10 people in it. There were less than 5 when I first came in, but slowly those studious individuals that don't believe a midterm entitles them to a night in front of the television surrounded by junk food have made their way here.

You may ask: "Why then, Kelly, are you not in front of the television surrounded by junk food?" You would be correct in assuming that I do not fall into the studious crowd that is more terrified of a low grade than death itself. I, however, did not have any midterms. So, I get to enjoy the wonderful peace of the mathematics computer lab, complete with two guys snickering over some sort of humor blog (which I find, surprisingly, amusing).

I look forward to coming to school tomorrow, for my ritual attempt at being productive on Friday, and having an even further deserted campus to myself. I do have quite a bit of work to get through, as I have some plans this weekend with friends. Oh yes, you caught that right, friends. I have them now.

Along with my attempt at productivity on Fridays, I've also attempted to spend more time on campus in general, whether it be productive or otherwise. I did this with the explicit purpose of being a known presence in the department. At APU, everyone knew everyone, you didn't have much choice within the department to be unknown. Here, we have quite a few more students to contend with, and all with varying schedules. So, I decided that camping out in the mathematics department atrium was the answer. The atrium is a nice, high ceiling room with tables that almost always have students gathered around them in tight circles discussing the mysteries of their respective courses. It was here that I came, usually by 10am every morning and sat with whatever I happened to bring to work on. In this way, students in my classes (most of them doctoral students teaching in the department) would pass by on their way here and there and typically stop and say hi once or twice during the day.

This was my ingenious plan, and it seems to have worked. I was included in a "math ed" e-mail invitation to a local happy hour on Wednesdays, of which only a few other master's students were included. And this week (after two lovely happy hour events) I was invited to a film festival of sorts that a group of students will be going to.

I consider this to mean that I have friends.

Having friends, however, does not mean I do not have to go to class. Granted, said friends are in said class.

Off to Analysis!

Stroganoff Anyone?

2009-10-18T23:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I made mushroom stroganoff.

It all started in the grocery store earlier this evening. Alex and I were walking through the "hippie" section of Fred Meyer, when we passed the oh so familiar gluten free quinoa pasta. We had yet to give this pasta a try as we passed, and decided it was high time we remedied that situation.

But what would we make this this pasta? Alex claimed that we had a jar of pasta sauce waiting to be consumed in our cupboards, but having just cleaned out said cupboards last weekend I was fairly certain that he was mistaken. I thought tuna noodle casserole sounded delicious, but it would take an awfully long time to put together once we got home. Stroganoff appealed to our time constraints and our palettes. We did, however, get extra pasta for tuna noodle casserole later on this week.

Alex and I don't necessarily follow recipes, per say. Usually we find something as a guide if we are unsure of temperatures of preparation techniques, but if we know the ingredients we're dealing with, we wing it. We were going to find a packet to prepare our meal from, but when we could not find such a thing in the endless aisles of Fred Meyer, it was time to bring in some tech support for our dinner.

My mother has "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" as her ring back tone. I find this terribly catchy, but resisted the urge to sing in the soup aisle; I want to go back to that Fred Meyer, after all. With the enlisted help of my father, my mom poured through her many cookbooks to find all the recipes for stroganoff and tuna casserole that they had. In the "Campbell's" book, the easy stroganoff recipe called for ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, and salt and pepper to taste. Certainly Alex and I could come up with something better than that (my mom gave of some good ideas too).

1 hole onion chopped
A large pile of sliced button mushrooms
1 can of corn, drained and slightly rinsed
1 can cream of mushroom and garlic soup
at least a cup of sour cream
8oz. Quinoa pasta
Butter for sauteing
Salt to taste
Nature's Seasons to taste

Saute onions until soft, add salt and mushrooms and turn down heat and let soften. Meanwhile cook pasta. Add corn and Nature's Seasons, allow to simmer until pasta is cooked. Drain pasta, put it pack in its pot and pour mushroom mixture on top, add soup and sour cream, mix until soup and sour cream are well blended with the rest of the ingredients and serve.

The quinoa pasta was a serious cut above rice pasta in quality and taste.

Alex added a bit more sour cream to his, but licked his bowl clean (which he never does). He has had a terrible weekend with his external hard drive crashing yesterday, so I'm glad we managed something tasty for him. We cut up a pineapple that i had bought to eat for breakfasts with cottage cheese, and had a few pieces of that as our dessert.

Despite Alex's rough weekend, it was a nice evening. Granted, so was last night, as we were at his parents' house celebrating the birthdays. Alex and his sister were both born in October; their birthdays fall within a few days of one another. I can imagine as children they probably didn't appreciate the concept of a joint birthday, but they certainly do now. We had wonderful fish tacos and I drooled a little over their traditional german chocolate cake. Alex's mother had baked some apples for me to have with the ice cream, and I almost forgot the cake on the table they were so good. I, however, do not have such a strong will that I didn't have a small sliver of cake, too.

The weekend is over, and I am typing from bed, just about ready to get some sleep before the school week starts up again. Oh! I forgot that I also painted a door frame in our apartment today, but that story will have to wait for another time. Hopefully it will be a story that includes pictures, but I wouldn't hold your breath. It appears that promise is one I have a hard time keeping.

I must be tired, I've abandoned my cohesive storyline. Time for me to give the fingers a rest!

The Day My Earth Stood Still

2009-10-05T11:39:00.000-07:00

I've prepared a bit of creative writing to start with.

...

As she came to the last word, on the last page, she stared hard at it. If she could only stare hard enough, perhaps she could absorb the immense feelings of the characters in through her eyes, pushing them through her circulatory system to her heart to keep them there and cherish forever. Its the familiar longing that she can hardly stand at the end of a novel; the longing to enter that world of ink on paper as she conjured it in her mind's eye. Her heart aches. With great joy comes that prospect of great pain, but its that joy that keeps her coming back to fiction relentlessly, like a narcotic.

She held the book tightly to her chest, another attempt to make a lasting connection. The book is closed, now; on the floor. The floor looks cold and distant, out of arm's reach from where she lay on her stomach in the bed staring at it. Sleeping with a book, however, is silly. It doesn't really have feelings, though its difficult to believe after riding the internal roller coaster of those fictitious strangers. Still, its true; they are not real.

...

Fiction novels are beautifully depressing, at least when they're well written. I'm not sure this ever struck me as much as it does now that I've left my family and understand what that longing is when I finish a book. Its how it feels to say goodbye to someone you are close to, maybe even someone you love, not exactly knowing if you'll remember what it feels like to be a part of their lives like you once were.

This past week made me miss everything.

Monday I started my fall semester with my hopes high. As I sat in the atrium of the mathematics department, reading an article halfheartedly, a friend approached that would be taking my toughest course with me: Analysis. She starts talking in her excited, scattered way that I'm sure she's learned from her high school students, and her words disturb me. Something about reading the first chapter and attempting to do the homework in some programming language escapes her lips. My mind races: What was that word? Links? Linx? And what's La Tech? Did I miss an email somehow that told me all this?

No, I had not missed an e-mail, though I began to wish there had been one as we head to class together. This desire doesn't decrease through our first hour of Analysis. The document programming language is LaTeX, though there is an interface called LyX that is more user friendly. We are supposed to submit our first homework on Wednesday in said format, though he will let us use some other typed means to turn in our homework for the first week if need be. Despite feeling a little caught off guard, I has yet to lose my confidence in completing all assignments.

Tuesday I have class in the evening: Research in Learning Mathematics. We had received readings for the first class, weeks in advance, but of course I waited until the last minute to read them. All day of document reading and summary writing and I made it to class a few minutes late (but only because I was waiting at the wrong classroom). The syllabus sounds difficult but doable and I head home to read for Analysis which is due the next day.

I awoke as early as I could muster on Wednesday and headed to school. From the time I arrived until 45 minutes before class I sat at the same table in the atrium. I might have used the bathroom once, but I didn't eat or drink anything. I still didn't get my homework done, or at least I didn't get it typed up to turn in. I was devastated. Class comes and goes and we are sitting in the atrium again reading the next chapter together, slowly working through all the theorems, propositions, and examples to ensure that we can justify their legitimacy to ourselves. It is then that I decide to drop my Tuesday Research class. My fast talking friend and I make a pact to stick it out together and spend every spare second studying.

Thursday is my day to learn this programming language, and though I have struggled through tears since Wednesday afternoon, I try to keep moving forward. I open a LaTeX manual in the computer lab and start to work through it. Lunch rolls around and I decide I will call Alex to come have lunch with me, ensuring that I eat. After lunch, the bomb drops. The fast talking high school teacher has dropped the class. I think I'm losing my mind.

I manage to make it away from my department before bursting into tears. I call my mother, though in hind sight I don't know what I expected her to do. I'm bawling, trying to stay out of the way of the people coming in and out the doors from the second floor catwalk between my building and the adjacent one. A girl I don't recognize stops short when she sees me, but kindly puts her hand on my shoulder as she passes. I wanted to hug her, but tried my best to smile instead.

My mom and I probably talked for a half an hour. She's a saint. No one else I know would stop their world for me like that, regardless of how pointless the phone call was. When reality finally knocks we decide that I need to talk to someone in my department who can actually advise me on the importance of this class to my future. I walk back up to the computer lab, stopping that bathroom to wash my face, and send an e-mail to my friend Ann. By the time my e-mail is complete I have recovered enough to talk to someone face to face, and I head to a past instructor's office. Jeanette has a smile to greet me:

"Oh hi, Kelly, how are you?"
I feel the emotion well back up but muster a fairly calm "Oh, I've been better."
"Well, how can I help you?" asks Jeanette.
"I was hoping you could give me some guidance."
"Oh sure, guidance is something I always have," her kindness is my sign that the world isn't ending anymore.

Jeanette agrees with my mother; I should drop the class. She has a suggestion for what I should do with my time now that I have reduced my schedule to three credits. In fact, I should probably go see her and take care of the final steps to getting my Stats Mentoring on my schedule.

All this to say that last week felt like a month. Thursday felt like one whole week in itself. I'm still not sure if I'm alive or dead, sometimes, but its better than losing my mind entirely.

And now, seeing is how I have not used my time very wisely today, I should get going and finalize my new schedule.

I will make every effort to update you again in a week! 'Til then!

California Dreamin'

2009-09-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

I've been home for a couple of days and engaging in some serious sloth, so I figured I could better use my time online writing a log of our vacation.

We left at 4:15am on the 15th of August; I can't say either of us slept enough to warrant such a drive. I had so much adrenaline pumping through my veins though, that I did the bulk of the driving and slept very little when I wasn't behind the wheel. This, however, made me a less than amiable driving buddy, I'll admit, but we did manage to make it to Long Beach by 8:15pm mostly unscathed.

There was a bridal shower the next day that my mother and I made it to, while Alex went to the beach to boogie board and then play in my grandmother's refinished pool. Monday is a blur, I don't think I did anything too important then. Tuesday is too; so is Wednesday. Thursday we went to Disneyland, which is also a blur, but more memorable.

Up bright and early and packing for the happiest place on earth; we got there a half hour after opening and got a great parking spot right by the tram. Online purchased tickets in hand, we made our way through the security check points and to the front gate in no time and then it was off to Autopia, whose line was sure to get crazy within the hour. It was in the half hour wait here that we put together our game plan. I went over the map land by land and Alex and I made sure to cross off anything that wasn't of interest. We now had a master list of everything we wanted to do that day and I made sure to put a smiley face next to every attraction we made it to. This came to 26 rides if you count the fact that we rode Tower of Terror twice. My parents and sister met us for dinner (they have annual passports) but left after Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters at which point Alex and I hit the remaining five or six rides left on our list in Fantasy Land and then headed home ourselves. Sixteen hours and 26 rides: a good day in the Magic Kingdom.

With Disneyland crossed off of our to-do list and over a week until the wedding, we looked for other things that we could do with my family. This included Griffith Park Observatory and The Getty Villa. At the observatory we saw a show in the Planetarium which was neat, and walked around the additions that they've made to the complex admiring the structural integrity of it all (the additions were made underground in order to allow for the complex to remain original in design from all external appearances).

The Getty Villa is a separate Getty museum site located in Malibu where J. Paul Getty himself once resided. Its not the modern building that the Getty Center in LA is, but its a lovely place regardless and they had an interesting, though small, exhibit that I had never heard of. The Chimaera of Arezzo is a beast with three heads: a lion's, a goat's and a snake's. I had never seen this creature before and I found it fascinating, even if confusing (I still don't get how the goat did anything from the middle of the lion's back, but to each his own). The Golden Graves of Ancient Vani was also worth seeing.

On the way home from the Getty Villa, we also stopped by the Wayfarer's Chapel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Alex had never heard of it, and my mother had raved about it to Jenn, so we made a pit stop and climbed up into the planters by way of a trashcan to get a better look inside since it was closed. A little delinquent, but this is a Mercer pit stop we're talking about.

This was Monday of the second week. Fast forward to Wednesday evening on which I got a call from Debra needing my assistance on last minute preparations. Alex and I hurriedly gathered the things I would need, and I woke bright and early at 5am to drive down to Escondido to help. Thursday to Friday afternoon felt like one day with everything we did before the rehearsal.

From the rehearsal on, life was exciting! I was inundated with friends that I hadn't seen in two years, it was like a reunion of the apartment of doom (what Debra, Scott, and I deemed our abode my last year of college). Debra and Derek had rented a photo booth so that guests could take pictures and scrap book them in lieu of a guest book. The photo booth was, unsurprisingly, a hit, but let me tell you, as the night wore on and the bulk of the guests left over were the old college crew those photos got... interesting. Unbeknownst to anyone other than the bride, groom and myself, Debra and Derek would be getting a CD of all the images taken in the booth that evening. I think Debra told me because she knew it wouldn't stop me from being outrageous and that I would also encourage others to go over the top. It was her hope that we would, in fact.

The night ended with us camped out at a hotel, having been driven home by the hotel shuttle whose driver Ryan kept addressing as "good sir" and who also took us to In-N-Out before returning us to our sleeping quarters. I can't say that Ryan's sentiments were out of character for the rest of the shuttle. The man showed up with cold bottles of water and a well air-conditioned vehicle; I believe I said something to the effect of wanting to have his child. After a long wedding day in 110 degree weather with no manner of suitable air-conditioning, you would have too. Then again, you might have merely been in the "good sir" crowd.

Sunday we took whatever leftover possessions of the bride there were in the hotel and returned them with a couple rented tuxes to the home of the parents of the groom. There was no real plan for when Debra and Derek would come home and open their gifts, so I headed to have lunch with my parents at the Stone Brewery and then back to Long Beach to pack. One last game of Farkle (a dice game Jenn taught us) with Rox and Joe and then goodbyes all around as my parents went to bed and Alex and I did some last minute laundry folding.

At 4am, my father was up and getting ready to depart for work and Alex and I were loading the car. My mother woke at 4:40 or so and saw us off at around 5. The drive back was a bit more pleasant than the drive down. Alex insisted on changing drivers every few hours rather than every 5 or 6. We stopped in Redding at the last In-N-Out and went to visit the Sundial Bridge (a modern structure that Alex had read about in the AAA travel book, though I believe he might have heard of it elsewhere also). It was nice to have a break to stretch our legs before the leg of the trip taking us to Eugene for dinner (Sweet Basil Thai).

The two stops, despite resulting in an extra 2 hours to get home, made the trip just a bit more bearable. At 11pm we rolled in, and my check engine light turned on; perfect timing (sarcasm intended here). We have since read the code, and its the catalytic converter system, but we need to hook up the software to the car and check the readings that the oxygen sensors are putting out to make sure its not a cheap part that we need to replace. We'll keep our fingers crossed for cheap.

All in all, a good trip. Its good to be home, though bittersweet, obviously. I keep telling myself that one of these days I'll find a way to feel like it wasn't rushed, but I have a sinking feeling that it will always feel that way. At least it seems to be getting easier, if only because I'm more prepared for it.

A four day weekend awaits me, perhaps some lunch first :)

A Tropical Heat-Wave (Minus the Tropical)

2009-07-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

It's hotter than blazes.

This is exactly how my mother would put it, and somehow not having her here to tell me so makes it almost seem like its unreal. Granted, this is one of those things that I wouldn't necessarily mind being unreal. Try as I might, however, I cannot turn this heat wave into a figment of my imagination.

I suppose if I had decided to continue riding my bike this week, I might be having some figments by now, but luckily, after commuting my twelve miles on Monday and practically being forced into an icy shower when I got home (apparently looking like someone had thrown me into a vat of grape juice), I decided that perhaps biking in this weather was not the most reasonable thing to do.

Now, I must say, I've acclimated to a slightly colder climate pretty well. While this reminds me significantly of my days of moving into dorm rooms and college apartments during the hottest weeks of the year, my body seems to have started to go a little senile as far as those memories are concerned. But somewhere, deep down, this reminds me of home. And I've got say, there are many things about my childhood that were definitely favors from my parents, despite what I thought of them at the time.

For instance: My father despises air-conditioning.

I sounds cruel, but its just the way it was.

"Mom, why don't we have air-conditioning?" I remember asking this years ago, but not until the end of middle school when it finally dawned on me that air-conditioning was allowed in homes and not just in schools and malls.

"Because your father doesn't want it."

Clearly, this had been a battle that my mother didn't see fit to fight. That, or she had lost. Either way, I knew who to ask next. I can't actually remember what reasons my father had for his dislike of air-conditioning, but I am pretty sure that it went something like this:

Air-conditioning is not a necessity, and is in fact a waste of money. Before we moved, your grandmother had a pool and so did the parks, and now we have a pool too. If you're hot, put some sunscreen on and jump in.

Jumping in the pool fully clothed was a favorite past-time of mine and my sister's, especially after particularly brutal volleyball practices on the beach. Now, mind you, spandex shorts and a sports bra is the closest you can come to a bathing suit, but I was also known to come home from school in jeans and a tee-shirt and dive in head first. Sometimes, Roxanna and I would feign pushing each other in. I can't say I ever put up much resistance.

So here I am, sitting in a dark apartment. Closing the blinds and running every fan in the place has kept the temperature very reasonable, even comfortable (I consider low 80s comfortable). And slowly my tolerances are being rebuilt; its a shame is won't last.

Its also a little sick that something in my brain actually thought up that last sentence. But I suppose this is why I insist that I love Tucson, Arizona (and home).

Keep Cool.

One Month Later

2009-07-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

Grandma has not been doing her job! I haven't been harassed once since my last post. I suppose I have to be a big girl and keep track of my blog myself, though :)

Let's see, where have I been since the last post?

I've completed two summer courses, both technology sequences for the mathematics classroom. The first focused on calculator use, and the second focused on programming. Each ran for two weeks.

On the weekend sandwiched between the two weeks of the calculator course, Alex and I went to Idaho for his cousin's wedding. I have to say that my activity presentation suffered for it, but it was nice to meet and spend time with the extended family; met a few new faces.
On the following weekend, Alex and I headed out to Astoria to celebrate the fourth of July with his parents and old family friends. I admit, that without any projects looming over me, I had a bit more fun. Alex and I spent the first hours we were there in Fort Stevens State Park, which was used as a coastal defensive base from the time of the Civil War through the end of World War II. They have some really nice bike trails there that connect all the battlements. Granted, before we could use them, we found that we had a screw in the front driver's side tire of the car, and we headed back in to town, where there was luckily a Costco, where they patched my tire for free (seeing as how I still have Costco tires). After riding through the park for a few hours and trapsing all over the battlements, we headed into town to find dinner and ate at the Fort George Brewery. It was pretty delicious and they're beers and ciders were pretty tasty too. After filling our bellies we were off to the family friends' house where we washed off our sunscreen and promptly fell asleep at 8:30 not to wake for about 12 hours.

The next morning we went to a restaurant right next door to the brewery and sat for a bit reading and eating with a view of the Columbia from our seats at the window. We then set out for Cannon Beach and got sunburned at a park concert. Then it was off to Long Beach, WA for the fireworks to be watched from the balcony and then back to bed. We went home the next morning after a full weekend at the coast.

The next weekend, my sister and brother-in-law flew into town, and we were able to have dinner together with my brother-in-laws parents. They were off for Washington the following morning, but it was nice to see them for a little while all the same. They got back the following Monday and I was able to spend some good time with my sister despite having a summer class to attend in the mornings. We spent most of that Thursday afternoon together and then went to the airport to pick up my mother, scouting out Ross and Home Goods while over there to get some ideas for her new house.

After claiming my mother from amongst the anxious arrivals, we were off to Biwa for dinner, where Alex joined us later. I think we were there for over 2 hours, but its quite a fun atmosphere.

Friday was shopping and the newest Harry Potter movie (I have since finished the last book). Saturday was the zoo, and a lovely dinner at Alex's sister's house which they and his mother were all gracious enough to pull together at the last minute for us all. Sunday was breakfast then a search for a motorcycle gear store that was closed, followed by new shoes at REI and then picking up Alex and going to the Pittock mansion before dinner. It was quite the fun filled weekend!

And that's the recap of the excitement! But now I should try and do something with my day as I have spent most of it in bed.

Here's hoping its not another month before I update again!

Geekery

2009-06-22T17:42:00.000-07:00

Reader be warned: serious geekiness to follow.

I started summer classes this morning and, mind you, I'm exhausted, but it was fulfilling in a way. I started off the day with my Topics in Technology for Mathematics Teachers in which we are focusing specifically on calculators for two weeks. General calculator use in the classroom would have been nice, but we're focusing specifically on one calculator.

Anyone that has taken math classes or taught than recently knows that most schools have standardized the use of Texas Instrument scientific calculators, and so you'd expect that our class would be focusing on them. We are, instead, working with a very cool Casio. Its a Casio ClassPad 330, essentially a calculator that took a note from Palm and made a touch screen tool with a very nice interface.

instead of having many hidden functions, I think the menu system works more like computers, so that students that are coming back to school aren't necessarily learning two completely different technological interfaces. Granted, I also don't see Casio becoming the big name in education anytime soon, but its a really nice tool for teaching if nothing else.

I'm already looking for one to purchase. Perhaps Fry's carries them.

On a far more comprehensible note, I started observing a friend's class today. She had asked me to visit her course and I offered to take a more active role. So I am taking notes on her interactions with her students and the extent to which she allows students to lead the conversation (a really really hard thing for any teacher to do). Also, on Wednesday, she will be presenting an activity that she hopes to use for her research in the fall, and I am specifically looking for the ways in which she leads the activity.

I've made the decision to be a full time student in the fall. I don't know what this means for work, but I am in the process of finishing an application for a part time instructors position at a local community college. I don't have a back-up plan right now other than falling back to very very part time at the music school.

On Thursday I will be heading to Idaho with Alex and his father to meet up with the rest of his immediate and extended family for a wedding. Luckily I have managed to get the software for the Casio to install on my computer. For those that don't know (though you likely don't care), I am running Linux on my laptop now, as it is completely useless running windows or macintosh operating systems. If I can make this machine last another year or so, I'll be happy. To make a long story short, installing a program written for a windows operating system in a linux operating system took researching the translator for a .exe file, installing that, and then installing the program for the calculator.

Its really a very trivial thing for more technologically savvy people, but it made me feel good that I accomplished it in under a half an hour.

Alright, enough for now, I should get to some homework as long as I'm sitting here.

"You guys are about as funny as a rubber crutch in a polio ward"

2009-06-14T21:15:00.001-07:00

Alex and I have been planning a big bike ride since we saw the finish line of finals drawing near. A friend had ridden out to a destination known as Sauvie Island recently and we decided we needed to do this as well. The date was set for today, and we anxiously watched the weather reports starting on Thursday to be sure that our master plan would not be thwarted. Though dark clouds loomed all morning and a gentle mist could be felt on occassion, we managed to experience our ride unscathed.

Or, at least that's to say that the weather was not the culprit of said scathing. Alex recently (and by recently I mean last week) built up a geared road bike. For those that don't know, he's been riding a fixed gear bicycle which has one gear and no ability to coast. When the wheels turn, so do the pedals, and vise versa. Needless to say this is a big change for him, and I suppose we might have chosen a better introductory ride, but neither of us had any intentions of admitting defeat. But we paid for it with an hour.

15 minutes of this hour were spent tightening Alex's front break, which is chronically loose, and therefore of no use to him. He bought some lock-tight and if this doesn't cure the break, he will be returning it to the used parts shop for store credit and purchasing something else. The other 45 minutes were spent patching a flat with the last patch we had. This was noticed in the exact middle of the 12 mile loop around Sauvie Island, with our only access to public transportation 6 miles in either direction and across the bridge. We held our breath for the patch and luckily it held.

My legs however, didn't fair as well. After three hours on the road, we were back across the bridge and headed home, and of course, the bridge was followed by a series of small inclines. I must have hit my second wind at this point, because Alex swears that this was the fastest I had moved the entire ride, and yet it was uphill. Of course, what goes up, must come down, literally and figuratively. By the time we reached the train yards of North West, I wanted to die. My arms ached, my knee was throbbing, my back was sore, my helmet had been too tight and my forehead hurt, and quite frankly, I was tired. Alex somehow coerced me into finishing the ride, not that I had much choice, and we picked up speed again close to the Steel Bridge. I stopped just before the last climb to the apartment up from the river and then Alex attempted to see if he could beat me in his lowest gear. Oh, and did I mention that his bike has 30 gears. 30! What does a stud like Alex need 30 for if he's riding with a dumpy 12 speed? My lowest gear was doing just fine until the final incline, and then, of course, Alex's cliff climber kicked my ass.

We had left at 9am, and got home five hours later at 2pm. We had an event to be at by 4 that was 45 minutes away, and so we quickly got ready and picked up pizza toppings at the store before heading out. A friend of mine was having a graduation/birthday party and we were lucky enough to be included in the festivities.

The plan was pizza making for all with an outdoor fire brick pizza oven, of course! Alex became enamored with the art of getting the pizzas onto the paddle and into the oven and then turning them to that all the edges cooked. He spent almost the entire four hours we were there at this task, and was pulled away only by the giant trampoline. I somehow thought that I would hate this trampoline much less than all of my other experienced on trampolines, but I was mistaken and finally got Alex to let me crawl off of the edge after sitting in the middle with my hands over my face only able to say that I hated it. I don't know when I became such a wuss about trampolines, but these things happen.

All in all it was a good day, but I'm exhausted now. Might be time to read some more of the first Harry Potter book... and try to block out the idiots in the street that don't seem to understand "open container" laws and were recently told by a can collector:
"You guys are about as funny as a rubber crutch in a polio ward"
I think I'll use that one.

Have a happy week!

Rental Cars and Tattoos

2009-06-08T00:19:00.000-07:00

Finally a quiet morning to finish this thing.

Don't ask me what age I was when I decided that I desperately wanted a tattoo. I don't remember, but my parents probably do. Rather, my father probably does, I doubt it was memorable for my mother. The desire for a tattoo followed rather unsurprisingly from a long string of requests for extra piercings starting in about 8th grade. Of course, all of them were turned down including the tattoo. There was a difference though when I asked to put permanent doodles on my body, it wasn't the outright no I was used to.

My father did turn down my request, of course, but as the requests persisted, his refusal slowly changed to a provisional refusal; age provisional. He told me that I could get a tattoo when I turned 25 and explained that by then my feelings might change. Despite the fact that I could have disregarded this rule years ago, I decided to test my father's theory. I was probably trying to prove him wrong, really, and with Sunday being my 25th birthday, I must admit, I still think tattoos are cool... but I can't say I still want one myself. You win again masked man, I mean, dad.

From a fashion perspective, having a tattoo is like being forced to where the same jewelry each and every day. And you might wonder, well why not just get it somewhere that no one can see it. First of all, most of those places are subject to skin stretching which is a very real likelihood for me, and second of all, why should a I get a cool tattoo that no one can see?

I'm still toying with the idea. My other concern has been that over the years the design I've dreamed of has significantly changed. In the last year alone I've gone from one design of tree to another. I suppose the fact that I stayed in the same genre is a little less disconcerting.

Even though I didn't get any ink for my birthday, I have to say that I had quite the fabulous time. I had been pondering what to do for my birthday for weeks, when one day I was sitting on Sam's floor and suddenly it hit us: roller skating. And no, I don't mean inline skates, those things are way too easy to use. I mean real roller skates that make you a good 4 inches taller and make falling a serious fear in your heart.

Though our party package nachos were late, and they tried to give us cotton candy instead of ice cream, we had an all around great time. Sam and her boyfriend had gotten me balloons, lots of them. I guess Sam had been aiming for a dozen when her boyfriend pointed out that the way to go was a package of 40 and a helium tank. I put them in the trunk of my car after the party.... needless to say they're still there.

Most of us did really well skating, regardless of when we had last put on a pair of mega skates. Unfortunately, my good luck with skating ran out right at the end of the night. As I was rolling off the rink, I straightened my legs too much and lost my balance. My skates rolled out from under me and I fell hard, nearly knocking the wind out of me. I suppose if nothing else, it was good for a laugh.

We went over to Ground Control for a little bit, which is a bar with a retro arcade complete with an entire floor of pinball machines. After bubble bobble, jounst, pinball, and some driving games, everyone was done for the evening and Alex and I headed home to meet up with Sam and the boyfriend. We went to a bar nearby that we could walk to, my shin throbbing from when I fell (I apparently kicked my right shin with my left skate). After a round of drinks there, we decided that home was where it was at, and though the boys went down to the crepe cart for a midnight snack, Sam and I sat around and moaned about how tired we were until they got back and finished eating.

We all went out for brunch, which quickly turned into lunch, the next day. Sunday breakfast, brunch, lunch, etc always packs every restaurant in town (or at least all the ones worth going to). So we waited for an hour at Bar Carlo, but lukcily they had an original nintendo set up in the bar part of the restaurant and so we were satisfied to play super mario 2 and zelda while we waited.

It was off to work then, but not for too long. When I was coming back home I got a call from my friend Ashlee and she wanted a break from homework to get a margarita, so I swung by the apartment to pick up Alex and off we went again. Our friends Nessa and Oliver joined us and after everyone had eaten enough, Alex and I went to see Land of the Lost with Nessa and Oliver (Ashlee had to finish up her homework). The movie was okay, but it was great to see friends.

All in all, great birthday! Thanks to everyone for the gifts, well wishes, cards, and everything. 25 seems more monumental than just being able to rent a car. In fact, as I was driving out to get a margarita on Sunday, it suddenly hit me that I was 15 ten years ago. I guess 15 seems so much more memorable than 14, because I know I wasn't think freaked out last year when I came to that realization. Ten years! Its been ten years since I turned 15. You have to admit, that's creepy.

If 25 feels this old, I think I'll just stay this age forever.

:)

Life Without Homework

2009-05-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

Alex and I woke early this morning to get a good jump on our pressing homework. It is getting close to the end of the term for us both and we're struggling to get our final assignments done (Alex more than me), and its times like these that you wonder what life will be like without homework.

I guarantee you that each and every student dreams of the day when homework will go away. They conjure up a magical world of rest and relaxation at 5pm everyday and playful weekends with no responsibilities. Perhaps some people find this dream more so than others, but I'm almost certain that the dream, in one way or another, is a lie.

Homework is just another word for chores, projects, and responsibility (and sometimes work). I suppose some people magically stop using dishes when they start work in the real world, but I guarantee you that none of them stop using their shower or toilet or tracking dirt in on their floor. We don't stop sweating when we sleep or needing to do our laundry. We just don't stop making messes.

The only remedy I can imagine would be living in a hotel with a complimentary laundry service. I suppose this would be equivalent to a maid, but my idea sounds more exciting (and horrible).

Suffice it say that I'd take the homework. I'm pretty sure Alex would too. I'm not sure this is a good sign for our joint cleanliness.

Well, I have gotten one assignment done today, and I should probably try to keep myself moving forward at this point. When Sam gets up we're going to work on the couch again (projects...).

Have a lovely Sunday!

Just My Size

2009-05-22T14:06:00.001-07:00

I can't say that much has changed from last week's update, aside from the weather. Though I do have a small bit of exciting news.

You all may or may not know that my good friend Debra is getting married in August, and I am her maid of honor. That is exciting news, of course, but its not the exciting news. The exciting news has to do with what I will be wearing. Deb could have picked one dress for all of us, but instead she just chose a color and set us out to search for a dress that we liked in her hue. And wouldn't you know it, but she chose green, and granted its a bright green, but it would make quite the lovely cocktail dress that I could see myself wearing for decades to come.

But where would I find such a frock?! Where else but my new favorite site, etsy.com. But before you go exploring the creative reservoir that is etsy, let me tell you why it is that I like etsy so much.

As my grandmother and sister know based on the purses they have given me, I like things that are made by artists or craftsmen that are paid a fair wage. Etsy is a site for craftsmen of all creeds to post their handmade goods for sale. Call it an online craftsfair if you will.

In addition to the aspect of a fair wage, buying from small artist retailers usually means that you are getting something terribly unique. I have always had a unique sense of style, even if "unique" is not necessarily what you would have called it when I was a child. I love that I have a parachute purse that is only owned by a handful of other people in the world, and a seatbelt purse that is unique not only in style but in that no two that were made are alike. The dress that I am purchasing will be the same.

Lastly, while etsy is a global forum for sellers, each seller lists their location and it is wonderfully easy to find someone in your area to handcraft whatever wonderful thing you might desire.

Liza Rietz is a designer and seamstress and posted a lovely "ruffle dress" on etsy that I felt would be perfect for Deb's wedding. Low and behold, she is also located in Portland. The wonderful thing about etsy is that many of their sellers make custom wares and a simple message to them is all it takes to start a conversation. Liza and I are meeting next Friday so that I can be measured and choose a fabric in the green that Deb so desires.

Perhaps the biggest plus is how long it has been since something has been made for me. I still remember my grandmother measuring me to make me the dresses I had picked out from the patterns in the fabric store. I loved seeing the dress in pieces while she made it and how exciting it was to receive the soft and bright, frilly dresses made just my size. Even if you grow out of the styles that are prevalent in the fabric store, you never grow out of feeling special to have something made just for you. To this day I would prefer a gift that was made as opposed to anything bought, but I cut most people some slack since not everyone feels confident in making things.

If you would like to see the dress follow this link: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25243968

Yes, its pricey. This is why I usually buy used clothing instead.

Happy Etsy-ing!

Sleep, Eat, Research

2009-05-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

I can't say I've done a whole lot to warrant feeling this exhausted.

I've slept a lot this week. I came to the conclusion that I was tired and that perhaps I merely needed more sleep. After a week of sleeping in, I can't say I feel any better than I did getting up at 6:30am. I might even feel worse.

On the other hand, another experiment seems to be going better for me. Last week I decided that eating past about 4pm makes my stomach upset, and so I've significantly decreased my eating in the evenings and it seems to be working. I know it sounds weird, but I think I really need this much time before bed for everything to settle (and it makes me drink more water, which could be the real reason I feel better).

In the realm of food, I've been finding it increasingly difficult to stick to weight watchers for more than a few weeks at a time. I'm not exactly sure what is holding me back, but I need to figure that out before I can move forward with weight loss. I can't say I see this as a problem. For me, this is about a healthy lifestyle and my goal is really to figure out a way to maintain living healthy. Right now, I think there might be some other things holding me back from this that I need to iron out.

As far as these experiments go, I've concluded that getting up early and not eating late are probably best for me.

I suppose the only other thing to catch you up on is perhaps school/professional goals. Really, there has been a lull in the activity for me, however, I do have a bit more direction. On a drive back from viewing a transition to proof course at one of the local community colleges, I was asking the woman I've mentioned in my previous blogs about her dissertation which she will be working on in the following months. Her goal is to evaluate adult students' existing real world mathematical knowledge and to devise an assessment for this knowledge and perhaps a method of integrating this way of thinking into curriculum for adults.

I suppose to understand the importance of this to me, you might need to know why I am even pursuing my master's degree.

While I was working in Eugene at the community college there, I worked one on one with a number of adult mathematics students, and what I often observed was a language barrier between how these students would and could speak about their common or existing knowledge and how they could (if they could) speak about they classroom knowledge. And I say if they could, because often, they couldn't. In fact, when these students struggled with a problem, more often than not they couldn't even articulate what it was they didn't understand because they simply didn't have the language to do it.

So, as you might see, my goals lie in a desire to decrease this gap for adult students, whether it be through a transition course to re-learn the language of school mathematics, or a curriculum that simply uses real world language. And thus, the dissertation of this instructor that I have come into contact with, is very important to me and my future work.

Now, if I haven't bored the hell out of you, that's good. If I have, well, better luck next week, eh?

For now, I should be moving on to getting some much needed reading done.

Join the Make a Bed Foundation Today

2009-05-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Long ago and far away, I made a post about the desire for a new and improved bed. It was, to say the least, a sort of "in a perfect world" blog. I am, however and once again, determined to make some improvements on my sleeping arrangements.

Namely:
- I don't want to have my bed on or within a foot of the floor. This may just be my mind jumping to illogical conclusions, but I feel that this encourages my dust allergies to flare up and my night's rest to be less fulfilling.
- Really, I guess that the allergies and lack of a productive night's rest are the two main areas of improvements that I wish to address.

I've given up on a new mattress for now, as I believe that what the mattress sits on is more important. I've given up on anything too fancy, because it just makes no sense. IKEA works just fine for me. So, I'm likely going with a solid pine bed frame with solid pine drawers (all except for the bottoms of the drawers, and I'm okay with that). I don't bother with anything from IKEA that isn't solid anymore; particleboard IKEA furniture breaks within a year (usually less). I'm actually a bigger fan of this other bed without drawers and its less expensive which is a plus, but drawers are in very short supply and I'm tired of clothing being stacked in every inconvenient place possible.

In addition, I'm looking at a slatted bed base to help with the comfort of the bed. I wouldn't mind a wall mounted head board, but I can live without it.

I was mostly inspired by the fact that I seem to have contracted some form of an infection from my coworker, and when you sleep in a bad bed after already feeling achy, you wake up rather angrily inspired to have a comfortable night's rest. I've also been toying with the idea that I don't get a good enough night's sleep every night and that days in which I am prone to be irritable become exponentially worse as a result. It's just a hypothesis, I don't have any desire to undergo sleep studies to find out if that's why I feel like crap when I wake up or not.

Speaking of sleep, however, I think I am going to try and get some more.

Lemon Meringue Pie

2009-04-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

I will never associate this dessert with anything or anyone other than my grandmother. It seems to me that every year, without fail, we have had this dessert on her birthday, and today is her birthday!

On the one hand, I must admit, I've never liked lemon meringue pie. I always secretly hoped that next year grandma would decide she liked strawberry or coconut cream better, or perhaps that I would suddenly find a taste for the shockingly tart lemon filling and not get in trouble for only eating the meringue on my pie.

Neither of these things ever happened, but this year I find myself missing the odd dessert that my family loves, and I miss having everyone together to eat it most of all.

Happy Birthday Grandma! I love you and miss you!

(ps, you can have my slice) : )

blarg, blarg, bleh, blarg, blechk! BLECHK!

2009-04-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

I can't say that its been the best week, overall. I know that my last blog was filled with excitement and I have been trying to focus on it through the last couple days that have felt like a week in and of themselves.

Health complications seem to be a popular theme among friend and family right now (and apparently nationally). I can't say I feel like going into any details, which I suppose makes mentioning it in my blog a little pointless, but I think for anyone who's been there they understand that vague mention is easier than details.

Outside of this, I've just had one of those weeks. Alex keeps trying to cheer me up with the mention of the children's book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day". Its about right for how a feel, but at the same time comparing my frustrations to getting gum stuck in one's hair doesn't always make me want to laugh at the situation. He's trying, though.

So this is my blog for the week. I should probably stop putzing around online and get back to my very stimulating assignments.

Imagine I wrote something brilliant and enlightening and we'll see if I can't come through next week.

The Little Engine (aka Kelly) That Could

2009-04-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

The excitement is wearing off a bit, but that will probably make this blog more coherent than I have managed to be in conversation thus far this evening.

Tonight, something terribly exciting happened, though I may find it more exciting than anyone else. It doesn't really mean as much at surface value when you don't have the context of my negative thoughts and prayers as of late, specifically in the realm of academics and professional goals.

To give you some insight, one of my courses is proving extremely challenging for me, more so than any course I have ever stuck it out through (there was one class I withdrew from as an undergraduate which was worse). On Tuesdays I tend to leave class feeling empty inside, lost academically and professionally, and ultimately just a little depressed. Last Tuesday I decided to walk home from class to try to stave off these feelings, but they just wouldn't let me alone. I went from wondering how I would perform up to my standards to wondering what the point was in pursuing a graduate degree at all and how I could possibly think that I was capable of this career path.

Don't worry, I know that these are extreme and unfounded, and had moved past these thoughts soon after my walk. I quickly delved back into my work, because really, what else was I going to do? Drop out? That's not acceptable. Not without proof that I really can't do this, and when I am not overwhelmed, I really do believe I can.

On top of this, there is the woman I mentioned in my blog a couple days ago who has suddenly taken being a part of my life into her own hands. I, personally, hold claim to divine intervention, but it doesn't really matter why or how she decided to reach out to me. The fact of the matter is, that she has. And this evening I received yet another e-mail from her, this time with a link and attachment to information about a Faculty Internship at the community college she instructs at.

The application isn't due until July, and there are absolutely no guarantees (in fact they only take on about 6 people), which is why at face value this is merely useful information, but when you consider my feeling last week, it seems like some sort of omen. If you'd like to check it out, you will see that I included a link to information about it in my e-mail update. I don't think it is wise to post that information here. Essentially, I would be lined up to teach as an adjunct professor by next spring and would likely be hired as such for the following fall.

Okay, maybe I can get something productive done now! Maybe.

Cut and Paste To the Chase

2009-04-21T23:07:00.000-07:00

Its time for a general update blog! Every once in a while the out-of-context anecdote just won't cut it and a cut-to-the-chase style blog is necessary. Let the running with scissors begin:

Weather:
Its important to start a CTTC blog with environment. This, I believe, gives one a better mental picture of what everything else looks like. Instead of imaginging me trudging through the wet elements, you should know that I have been enjoying warm breezes and a much missed mr. sunshine! We still go through rainy days here and there, but overall we're moving towards the summer months, and it really fills me with a new drive to be a human being again.

Exercise/Health:
Another biggie on the context list. With the drive to be human came the reinstated drive to get back on the path of getting this little bit of extra weight off. And, don't forget why! I hate the stigma of people thinking that I'm doing it to be with the hip crowd who's always worried about 5 pounds here and there and go on grapefruit exclusive diets that would probably destroy my insides if I tried them.
I'm essentially back where I was when I last wrote about this: hovering between 152 and 153. This time, though, I feel significantly better about it since I am exercising regularly. The last few weeks I have been walking almost every morning and certainly get some movement in somewhere in the day. Its easy to do in nice weather. This week I started a program that will hopefully make me capable of jogging again. Its a jog/walk routine that is set up to train for a 5k race. I'm not terribly interested in such things, but I am interested in being able to jog again as I have missed it since I stopped in high school. Alex is doing it with me too and its actually been a lot of fun having his silly motivation along for the ride.

Alex:
Speaking of which! He's still doing the graduate school gig, but he's getting close to the finish line. The unfortunate part is that the job market is, as we are all aware, shit. It seems to be hitting his field especially hard, but I think that speaks for itself. He might extend school for a bit because of it, but he recently was hired by a firm for the purpose of photography and we are holding out hope that this could be a foot in the door gig for him. This job is actually very exciting! He is technically a private contractor rather than working for the company, but he did some excellent networking to be given it and I'm really proud of him for putting himself out there like this.

School:
You've heard about Alex, now you can hear about mine. There were not many course choices this term in the Math Ed department. Many of the strict mathematics courses were in their second and third terms rather than their first, and education courses were virtually non-existent. It left me with two doctorate level courses looking at very similar areas of mathematics education.
This difficult part of this is that I just started graduate school, and I have no practical experience in the mathematics classroom to boot. My 9 month stint in a 6th grade math classroom as an aid isn't affording me much help, and my tutoring is not as of much use as I would have hoped it would be either. Take a lack of experience and add to it a lack of residual knowledge from my undergraduate program and you're produced an equation for a mess, at least in terms of my emotional stability.
Its getting better, and today I finally realized that it was imperative that I purchase an Abstract Algebra text book (mine mysteriously disappeared... and I'm not happy about it). Luckily the bookstore carried the exact text that I used as an undergraduate, so I am very excited that I've at least seen it written this way before.

Work:
.....
Its work. It pays the bills. I'm simply waiting until I have completed enough graduate credits to be eligible to teach at PCC. We'll see what happens when the time comes.
The neat thing that has happened though that is slightly school and slightly work related, is that another student in one of my courses, obviously a doctorate student, has invited me to view her classes. She seemed to reach out to me the first day of class, and on this past Monday collected my e-mail (she had given me hers but I was both busy and chicken) and started directly inviting me to learn from her and be involved in the things that she was doing professionally. She invited me to view her classes, and offered to ask her colleagues if I could view theirs, she informed me of a conference happening next friday which I think I might attend and which is put on by a professional society that it could be important for me to be a part of, and she offered to carpool with me to an experimental course being taught at another community college that she has been attending and that I would love to be able to go to, but it unfortunately conflicts with work...
I will likely be attending her Tuesday classes for the remainder of this term and might be attending her summer courses as well. I am considering the conference (there is one next week and one in Vegas in November that she will be presenting in) and am just a little in shock of her sudden presence in my life. It will sound cliche, but it feels like a blessing as I have been hoping for a mentor to appear in my life (other than family) for almost 3 years now. I won't hold my breath that she would be this person, but it feels like what I always hoped a mentor would be for me. Here's to crossing our fingers.

I think that about sums everything up for right now. If you think of anything I should have included, maybe I'll blog about it next week :)

The Tax Fairy

2009-04-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Most children don't have any inkling as to the implications of April 15th. For years they go unaffected by the frayed hairs of their parents as they might scramble in the last minutes to get their paperwork completed and off to the post office. And when they do come to understand the meaning of this day, its certainly without any joy or celebration.

I was not, and am not, most children. April 15th always held meaning in my childhood, or at least did as far back as I can remember. On April 15th, the drag of the months after new years finally ended, and it truly felt like spring and summer all at once! Even when I myself had to start filing my taxes, I never sent anything in after the end of March. I think its different for a child who's mother is an accountant. The year and the seasons aren't the same as they are for other children, and as an adult you certainly never add to the burden of the final stretch with your own return. April 15th is a holiday for the child of a CPA. For me it made everything a little brighter, warmer, and more joyful.

Don't get me wrong, my father did a wonderful job of taking the reins of me and my sister during tax season. He was, in fact "the king" for those few months, and on some level he enjoyed it. But I think he also, and more so, felt the way I did, and the end of tax season was like a breath of fresh air to us all.

That's been the difficulty of living in Oregon, tax season doesn't have a light at the end of the tunnel like it used to, because on April 15th the only thing that changes is that I can have a longer phone conversation than 2 minutes. I don't, as it seemed not too long ago, get my mother back. Despite the fact that I still look forward to this day with the same sincerity as when I was a child, its beginning to feel a tad bittersweet.

Maybe someday I'll grow out of the subconscious joy I get out of tax day, that has now become a slight disappointment. And then, maybe I'll just start flying home on April 15th to really live the last day like it is meant to be lived by children of accountants.

Easter or Sunday, Bloody Sunday

2009-04-12T22:44:00.000-07:00

No, no. I, nor anyone I am currently acquainted with, was injured today. I'm referring to the death of Christ in my title, just so we're clear.

Easter. The holiday commemorating when Jesus was nailed to a cross, buried and then rose again to delivery easter candy to all the little children.... wait. Despite my confusion over the collaboration of spring celebrations and Christian holidays (with a dash of capitalism) the holiday was a lovely one, at least from my perspective.

Alex and I left for his parents' house last night so as to make it a bit more of a visit and not have Sunday seem quite so rushed and stressful for an early holiday meal. Speaking of which, it was non-traditional as far as my family experience, but delicious as always! Oysters (steamed and barbequed), poached salmon, steamed artichokes, salad, bread and lots of horseradish, cocktail sauce and butter! This lovely spread as well as our wonderful sushi dinner the night before was really quite a treat as far as I'm concerned, and when I get to eat great food and do my laundry at the same time, I must admit it makes me pretty darn happy.

BUUUUUT, it was too short, and sadly I couldn't enjoy it as much as I tried to let myself. Truth be told, I've been having trouble using my time wisely during the week to get my assignments done (surprise, surprise) and they get saved for the weekend, which usually means that I bullshit the assignment on Sunday night and just move on. Not that I can't do this successfully, my mother doesn't say I got a B.S. in b.s. for nothing, but it leaves me without having learned the material and I'm at a point that I actually give a damn. Go figure. At least the stakes this coming week aren't Easter, but they are quality time with Alex, and that's worth quite a bit to me too. So we'll try again and hope for the best (or at least better...).

In other news, it is now just an hour away from the 13th, which means that tax season will be over in three days and 1 hour. I look forward to the end of tax season quite a bit, though probably not as much as my mother and sister, or at least for different reasons. Or maybe not, I think they miss themselves too.

Well, Happy Easter to all! And to all a great... bunny... egg... cross... type thing!

Sunday, Sunny Sunday.

2009-04-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

That's right, it was sunny yesterday. And not just sunny, but warm! It is now official that spring has sprung!

And as long as spring was sprunging, Alex and I figured we might as well too. We crawled out of bed at 8:30 or so, though our goal the night before had been an earlier start. Despite the fact that the word goal makes it sound like we had some idea of what we would be doing yesterday, don't let it fool you: We didn't. By 10:00 we were showered and breakfasted with at least a first destination in mind. We would walk across the river to the max station and ride to Washington Park where an arboretum lives.

Off we went, as the last chills of the night wore off to a temperature maybe a bit too high for an outting. Or at least too high for an Oregon outting. We took the steps down from the bridge to the water front park on the west side of the river and weaved our way through downtown to one of the furthest Max stops before the West Hills, then rode the short tunneled distance to Washington Park.

The stop for this park is actually in the tunnel through the hills. Its freezing in there and the elevator ride up is impressively comfortable for covering such a large altitude change in a matter of seconds. While we had planned to go to the arboretum, the moment I stepped off the transit line into the tunnel featuring fossils and a core sample with accompanying timeline, I was hankering for a museum or other at least remotely educational setting. The problem was that I also wanted to be outside. Solution? The Oregon Zoo.

Washington Park is huge, featuring the arboretum, rose gardens, japanese gardens, world forestry center, children's museum, historic mansions, and last, but not least, the zoo. I can't think of a better solution to my craving for museum like education with informational plaques on each exhibit and plenty of outdoor viewing available. It was perfect, even if Alex wasn't terribly thrilled about the idea initially. The best part was that as we were leaving the crowds had finally started to throng to our location; we had the best timing ever (it helps that I also don't do crowds for more than a few hours before getting very tired).

Even though Alex and I had only left home at 10:00, by 1:30 we had finished our round at the zoo and were taking the elevator back down to the transit line. We took it all the way back into town until we got reasonably close to Alex's school. We had planned to fill up our water bottle there and perhaps take a break in the air conditioning, but my hankerings took over our outting once again when I saw the Saturday Market in progress and decided that a fresh squeezed Lemonade was in order. And yes, it is called the Saturday Market even though it was running on a Sunday.

Alas, no lemonade was to be found, which I attest to be a travisty among outdoor markets such as this. However, we did find boba, and I suppose it was a good enough replacement for lemonade. Bobas in hand we traversed the market and came out at the water front park again. The end we were at is covered in cherry blossom trees and was absolutely picturesque while in bloom! Alex, of course, got some pictures due to its picturesqueness.

By this time we were ready to head to the other side of the river again and start making our way towards home. So, over the steel bridge we went, deciding on the way to walk around the Rose Garden and Memorial Colloseum where we could find a place to sit and have a snack. Don't be fooled by the term "Rose Garden" as it is not a garden, but a sports arena. Its actually very confusing for visitors and new arrivals to the city as no one ever uses any sort of phrase to make a distintion between the garden and the not garden. In fact, the real garden was a few miles back the way we had come.

Nothing of much interest was going on at the arenas and as we were on this side of town we decided to stop by the Japanese grocer to pick up some staples that we were out of. By this point we were both exhausted, Alex's heel had cracked since he wasn't used to wearing his sandals yet, and my feet were killing me too. We did make one last pit stop on the way back at a vegan grocer to see if they had cans of green chilis. They could have, but they didn't. We got a salty snack of tofu jerky, which tasted mildly like dog treats, and a can of olives and finally set our sites on home sweet home.

For dinner we congratulated ourselves with some huge quesadillas, which I later regretted, and looked up how far we had walked on our journey. In the approximately 7 hours we were gone we had walked between 8 and 9 miles, and not much of that time was really spent resting, other than lunch, our snack, and our short trimet rides. I calculated the activity points today and they came to 15.

It was quite the day, and I am still feeling it. Granted, I am also hankering for another adventure....

No Whiners

2009-04-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

Mom, Dad, and Rox, I hope you get a kick out of that title. Though I suppose that you'll get the least kick out of it, Rox. Considering it involves getting kicked, I suppose that's probably okay with you. Why do I feel like this is going the way of the "dawn's ass crack" entry? Deja vu, anyone?

Moving on.

Where was I going with this anyways? Oh yes! Whining!

First off, I apologize for filling you with false hopes of pictures of the apartment renovations. I realize that for some of you (ahem-rox-cough-cough) this was devastating. I can't say I blame you; the fact that I couldn't take pictures of a completed apartment is a little devastating for me too. But life is messy, and so is my apartment.

That should have concluded better, huh?

Second off, I haven't said much about weight and fitness lately. That's because I haven't thought much about weight or fitness lately. After the week of projects, however, I got on the scale to a reading of 157. Not terrible, mind you, but high enough to make me concerned about the prospects of waking up to 170 again someday. And that just can't happen.

I refuse to pay for weight watchers, as I can still access all of the articles and recipes online that I was getting to before, and I am savvy enough with my open office spread sheet to create my own points tracker. In fact, I took some quizzes on weight watchers and apparently I am very portion savvy also. I feel good knowing that, since I think that is a key part of the weight watchers program: really knowing what a meal should look like.

The problem I found before, was that I really need to be working out. I don't, and whether the block is mental or physical, I could not break 150 with eating right alone. I found a workout plan in my new guilty pleasure: Family Circle Magazine. You can blame work for that one as we did have a subscription that has run out and now I find myself lusting after it in the grocery store line. At least its cheaper than Dwell. The program is a walk run plan to train you for a 5k race in 12 weeks. I think I'll extend it to 24 weeks since I am not training for a 5k race and I want to go easy enough on myself that I stick with it. We'll see.

I did buy a watch with a stopwatch function on it and a weight watchers calculator to help with my new go at this. The best news is that Sam seems interested in doing weight watchers too. Don't ask me if she actually decided if weight watchers is a good plan or if my will was stronger than hers, because we both know that doing a plan together helps you succeed. All I know is that I hope she gives in. It would be fun to have a buddy in this.

Speaking of Sam, though, I should go an check on her since she believes she may have bronchitis and with the way this is progressing I am afraid that she is going to get pneumonia.

No whining 'til I get back. Well... and don't whine when I get back either.

Spring Break

2009-03-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

Day One:

Like father, like daughter; the only difference is that I'm not going anywhere on my vacation, unless you consider my redecorated apartment to be a wholly separate entity than my current apartment. I don't.

So the Spring Break bonanza begins, and I shall give you a day by day break down, because, hey, I have time. This should make up for all of those missed weekends, and maybe then some.

Today was a later start than I had anticipated. Alex and I had gone to a friend's house for games and merry-making last night and got to bed later than I would have liked given how packed this week will be. We got ourselves out of the door, finally, at 12:30 or so to head to a magical place called Hippo Hardware. The Hippo houses three floors of salvaged hardware from renovated or demolished homes. Doors, knobs, toilets, wrought iron decorative porch pillars much like was present at my home as a child, are all stacked in a semi-orderly manner just waiting to be discovered (or important enough to drop several hundred dollars on in the case of the porch pillars, which they weren't). Despite all of the possible distractions, we had come into Hippo with a purpose; a chandelier purpose.

We headed to the lighting department which boasts the use of every hook in the ceiling while also having several rows of shelves lined from top to bottom with antique treasures. We were in need of advice, however, and maybe a few supplies. We came away with several feet of black and white coated wiring, a grounding wire, two wire nuts, a string of pull cord chain, 12 sockets, and a piece of wiring to run from base to ceiling. Two more stops unrelated to the light fixture and we were home making lunch.

Then to true value for bulbs: six 7-watt bulbs and six 4-watt bulbs all the size of the large christmas lights that used to be the norm on homes for the holidays. We also picked up some polish, because no one wants a dull ass chandelier hanging from their coved ceiling.

The polishing process is finally finished and we have started the wiring process even though Sam hasn't gotten home with the soldering iron yet. Granted, it doesn't make much difference since we can't get the wires through the arms, despite the trick that the hardware shop gave us: wrap the exposed ends of wire around the pull cord to feed through the arms. Not working. The whole reason I am writing this now as opposed to later was to give myself a break before I threw the chandelier through the window. I might be up to heading back and trying a new approach now that I've had some dinner and a chance to settle down. I might also call my dad.

I'll let you know how the rest of the evening goes tomorrow!

Day Two:

Well, Monday night before bed I had added onto my original first day, only to be a complete bone head and close my internet browser without saving it as a draft to be posted at the end of the week. So I'm going to have to recompose this as best I can.

It was a late start again today, but not because we had slept in so thoroughly. I have to come into work for a few hours in the morning to check phone messages and receive mail (and some irate phone calls from parents, let me just roll my eyes and jump for joy in appreciation). All in all, it was a decent morning to be in and I got some things accomplished that needed to be done.

Back at home, Sam had stayed home from work and so we set ourselves to getting the painting started in the living room. The only problem with this was that we had somehow assumed that we didn't need primer, even though the original paint on the walls was made of God knows what and we had no idea how well our purpl-y gray paint would cover it, let alone stick to it. So, after washing the wall and leaving it to dry we headed out for primer and diet cola. Just trust me on the necessity of both.

When we returned, it wasn't long before Alex was home and the priming began with three rollers, two ladders, and a wide angled brush for the edges. While the primer dried, Alex went out for an "after-work beer" with a friend, and Sam and I took a break (and by break, I mean nap, at least in my case).

Next was the purple. One coat was certainly not enough, and Sam seemed to be concerned about this, but after a second coat and night of drying, I must say it looks fabulous, even with the blue tape edging it off. But that's Day Three's story.

We sent Alex out for frozen crinkle cut french fries while we applied the second coat of paint and he returned with french fries and a six pack of coronas (because I love coronas) and a lime of course. The oven was set to warm up while we finished the second coat with his help and the coronas were popped open. It was a great way to end the evening, standing around the oven eating french fries and enjoying our second beer. It was roommate bonding time, much like this week will seem to be by the end of it.

On the plus side, I have come to find joy in painting, whereas I always used to hate it was a firey passion of a thousand burning suns. Okay, maybe I'm exagerrating a bit, but I really didn't care for it. The purple is also a really pretty color. We've talked about extending the paint job to another wall since we have so much paint left, but I'm not sure if I love painting that much now.

We'll see how we all feel after I get the design up on the wall. I'll take a picture when I'm done so as not to ruin the surprise for you.

Day Three:

Off to work once more and some number crunching to see if I wanted to come in anymore this week. I'm not sure I do. And the numbers said I don't have to. I like it when the numbers are in my favor.

I can't say the middle of the day was all that too terribly productive. Alex had a job interview in downtown and we both left for home about the same time, he on his bike and me in my car. We made ourselves some quick lunch and he realized that he had left his laptop at the firm he had interviewed with. So we ate up and then went out to pick up a craigslist purchase of his (job related), a powell's purchase of mine, and his laptop.

Afterwards, though we hadn't accomplished anything, we were both pretty wiped out, so a nap was had. Then some actual progress was made on the apartment at around 6:30 or 7. I started working on the design we are putting up on our living room wall. As soon as I am finished with it (which will hopefully be tomorrow due to timing) I will have a picture posted in here. Just don't scroll ahead and ruin the surprise :)

At a little after 10 I finally put my paint brushes down and the three of us once again joined together for the chandelier. We're actually going to have to put in on hold until after this week, unfortunately, because there are just too many other projects left to figure out.

Tomorrow is Wednesday and I am a little concerned about how much is left to accomplish on our list. So I am waking early to get the living room painting completed and then when Alex gets home we are going to start in on taking down the kitchen cabinet doors to strip then repaint them. We also need to clean and reseal the linoleum, but that's not a job for tomorrow. Luckily I will have a lot of spare time in the summer, so what doesn't get done this week will certainly be accomplished then.

Alright, that's enough for tonight, I have a long day tomorrow

Day Four:

Up early with everyone and ready to tackle the wall design. I worked on it from 10-2:30 straight and finished it about that time. I also then peeled the tape off the walls that was marking our edges and found that it had not worked as well as we might have hoped.

Part of me feels a little depressed about the fact that not even one project has been completed yet, but there are still a few days left (I am writing this day 5). After I finished the wall, Alex got home from work and we started in on the kitchen cabinets, though we only tested out one of them to see how difficult the process would be. we shall see still. Alex was convinced that it would look beter with the whole cabinet painted rather than just the inside panel. Sam and I prevailed in our opinion of the matter, but it did mean a little wasted time in proving Alex "wrong" or at least that his opinion wasn't a very good one.

While we were waiting for one coat to dry we went for ice cream. It was a good adventure, but another that set us back time wise.

There just didn't seem to be enough time in the day to get much done.

Day Five:

A bit of a lost day again since there aren't many tasks that I can do alone. Right now it is 2:30 and I just heard from Alex who went out snowboarding today. He is heading home now. Sam is at work. I slept until noon. Alex has Sam's car and Sam has mine so I couldn't run errands either. Right now, though I think I will finally get to picking up so that maybe we can get to these projects a little more quickly. Maybe.

The apartment can now be considered picked up, or at least it was until I decided to spend my time reorganizing the bookshelf in the living room. Now the vast majority of the books that were on it and the dvds are piled up across the floor where I had spread the drop clothes. I had prepped the living room to work on the kitchen cabinets, but alas. No one really felt up to the task, and I can't say I blame them when Sam worked and Alex snowboarded all day. Not to mention the fact that we splurged and gorged ourselves on pizza too.

So not a whole lot this day. I made them both commit to the cabinets for tomorrow evening, then Saturday (day seven) will be the couch. We'll probably also touch up the edges of the living room wall tomorrow.

Well, that's enough for one day :)

Day Six:

Except, then Sam bought a car.

I'm sorry, let me start from the beginning.

Alex had to go into work this morning and had heard from his mother shortly before hand that she and some family friends would be dropping by for a visit. I didn't actually realize that I missed her until he mentioned the possibility of seeing her and so, at 9:40 I jumped in the shower and did a quick turn around get ready in 10 minutes and offered to drive Alex to work and pick him up at 3:00.

So it was across the bridge and through the woods to Alex's work we go, then a coffee and doughnuts from the bookstore and some craigslist searches for mirrors for our foyer. We had a nice chat with Alex's mother when they arrived and Alex did a tour for everyone, which is always nice.

I then went to the hardware store and bough the necessary pieces to complete some wall art projects that, low and behold, were also looming over me. Back home with my booty and by 2:30 when Sam arrived back home I had hung the large project up. I should really take pictures of all of this...

When Sam arrived I then heard about her car purchasing endeavor. She got a more than great deal on a 2004 Prius with a 3 year warranty. I then had to leave shortly thereafter to pick up Alex.

Because of the excitement of the car, we didn't actually get to work until after 6, when we had planned to at 3:30 when I came home with Alex. So, a minute amount of progress was made on the cabinets, tomorrow morning Sam is driving down to Eugene to get her car, and we'll see where the day goes from there.

Day Seven:

Sam didn't get home until 4. Alex and I had an appointment for massages at 12:30 and then went to get sushi afterwards. It was a really nice afternoon, really.

We got back to cabinetting in the evening and got a little bit further. Alex went out to a party at 9 (I was invited as well but stuck around to paint). We did make some progress, but I feel that little else of consequence happened that day. I've come to terms with this whole project fiasco by now, so my steam in writing about it has significantly diminished.

Day Eight:

Last day of Spring Break. This would be Sunday the 29th. We all had some errands to run to get through the day and the weeks to come so we started out with a 4 hours adventure to Safeway, Anzen, Hippo Hardware, Ikea, and Costco. Sam carted us around in the new car, I really do like Prius-es.

Ikea was probably one of the better destinations as we got some more pieces to help certain areas seem more finished off.

We got back to the cabinets when we got home and by the end of the evening we had put six doors back up to see how we liked them. They really do look pretty great.

Maybe someday this will be finished. Sam came down with a cold on Monday and everything has been at a stand still since then end of my week off. I'm far more concerned with adjusting back to real life than I am with the kitchen cabinets at the moment, but give it a couple more days and I won't be able to take the mess anymore. The couch never really got started, and the livingroom wall got a little bit of touch up but isn't quite finished either.

I keep telling myself its okay, but like I said, one of these days I'll snap a little and get back to work on it all.

The P List

2009-03-19T23:45:00.001-07:00

This blog is brought to you by the letter P.

I know it has been awhile and that my last blog ended on a more morose note, but that will be changing at least for today. I have stories for you.

To start, I should tell you that I spent 4.5-5 hours in the Wellness Center at PSU on Monday. At the end of last week, I woke up to an odd sort of blistery rash under my bottom lip that had improved slightly by Monday, but not enough to be satisfied that it wasn't anything serious (aka, herpes simplex virus type 1). The problem with this, was that I had a counseling appointment at 11am, and got to the center at 10.

An hour is not enough time to get through the waitlist and be seen by a nurse.

So I did homework until my appointment and then promptly added myself to the list around noon. At two I was called in. Seriously. I've never had it take so long to be seen in there, ever. I found out from the nurse that there were only two of them available for drop ins because of the epidemics that have been going around up here. That made it all come together. Lucky for me I had plenty of probability to study for my final at 3:30, which, by the way, went well.

The nurse looked at my face and essentially told me she had no idea what it was. Well, that's at least sort of reassuring: it might not be herpes, but it might be something worse. I didn't know what could be worse. Granted, that all depends on how you feel about certain words, like, you know, fungus.

That's right, I saw a doctor the next day and her diagnosis was fungus. Kind of gross, but treatable, I guess. Bittersweet is the word I'm looking for in order to properly portray my response.

Of course, this entry, being brought to you by the letter P, I couldn't possibly intend it to be all about fungus. That doesn't have a P in it at all! No, P is for project. Or, better yet, project list.

The project list has grown wide and it has grown deep in our apartment. I don't know how a project list grows three dimensionally, but believe me, it does. What started out as a discovery of the fabric we wished to re-cover our couch in has turned into an over haul of... well... a good portion of the apartment. Among other things we are re-upholstering the couch, cleaning, rewiring and hanging a chandelier, turning a dvd rack into a more artistic wall piece, painting portions of the living room and kitchen... and the list goes on.

P is for project, and projects are how I'm spending my spring break. Not that this bothers me, I found great joy in taking apart the chandelier and discovering that it was wired exactly how I thought it would be and I will take great joy in cutting, stripping, and soldering wires together to make it work again!

Tomorrow is the clothing day (which is the primary plague on the bedroom). We will be going through our clothed to properly dispose of anything we are not using and give it to the proper authorities. Then the dirty clothes, bedding, towels, and shower curtain will all be taking a trip to the laundromat and folded or made ready for ironing. Ironing and mending is what we will do when we get home. Clothes days are important.

So that's my story. I'll let you know how the projects turn out and maybe have some before and after pictures for you if you're lucky :)

much love.

A Little Late: Are You Surprised?

2009-02-24T10:46:00.000-08:00

I'm just impressed that I am getting to this at all, but seeing as how I decided not to go into work until this afternoon and was unable to fall back asleep after deciding to do so... well, here I am.

Lately, I've been a little sick. Mind you, I've been working very hard to keep from getting very sick, but with people coming down with nasty colds all around me, its rather difficult. Hence why I am still in bed right now. Between working at a place with lots of munchkins and going to school with teachers, I'm surounded. Everything that's out there right now, I'm exposed to. I'm regretting not getting a flu shot.

School is going well, but being on a quarter system is a little strange. I'm already registering for new classes, though I'm having trouble doing so since I would like to maintain 6 credits for my health insurance, but also keep the classes on the same days (either monday & wednesday, or just tuesday) to maximize my hours at work. Its not so much the money from work, its the fact that if I'm not there consistently enough things seem to become a mess very quickly; literally and figuratively. Just writing about this is stressing me out.

I suppose that's the big problem with blogging right now. Things are a little out of control for me, and trying to put a rosy pair of shades on isn't really working. It is starting to get better, though being sick did set me back a few pegs. The very good news is that I will be going to california in a week and a half. Its only for 2 days which is the down-side, but seeing my family will help a lot right now.

Seeing as how this has taken a morose turn, I suppose I will end it, lest the whining should become unbearable.

"No Whiners" as the bike jersies say.

The Big V: Part III aka The Spirit of St. Valentine

2009-02-15T10:46:00.000-08:00

A summary of the Valentine event is necessary.

As you know, Alex and I made reservations for Biwa and had looked into an OMSI planetarium show. At noon yesterday, I called Alex on my lunch break and we discussed how the planetarium show was something we could live without.

At 4:45 I was saying my good byes to my boss, hopping in the car, and calling my mother to see how her Valentines day had gone. At 4:50, I was receiving a call from Alex and switched over to talk to him. At 5:15 I was picking Alex up at an emergency center and driving him, instead, to Immediate Care at 99th and Glisan, or somewhere in the near vicinity.

Alex had gotten himself hit at a bike event called the "Chariot Battles". I'll give you a moment to stare at that phrase in shock and disbelief.

"Chariot. Battles." On bikes.

*sigh*

Ironically, the Chariot Battles subtitle was Ben Hurt III: A Valentine's Day Masacre on Wheels. Somehow, Alex didn't get the omen.

By the time he got his finger flap glued down and became the newest member of "Nine Finger" (a club for those that have injured their left index finger (or their thumb in my mom's case)) we were starving. Our favorite inexpensive sushi restaurant was surprisingly low on occupancy and we stuffed ourselves with raw fish and rice. We went to Trader Joes and bought some ice cream since it was right near the sushi restaurant, then headed home to unload my ikea findings so that we could go back to the first hospital Alex went to and retrieve his bike.

By the time we got home it was 9. We had been planning to go out and see a friend of mine that was in town, but I had realized at 8:20 that neither of us was feeling up to it... Sorry Joel.

So, at 9pm we turned on the elctric blanket, popped some popcorn, put some anime in the disc drive, and watched 5 episodes between icecream and popcorn.

All in all, not a bad February the 14th. Biwa will be there next weekend, and so will the planetarium. Joel and I will celebrate the week long party that will be Deb's wedding together in August. All is well.

So, in the Spirit of St. Valentine, Alex now has a glued finger that I am nagging him to baby and I am eating a pink heart cookie that my mother sent me. Did I mention that she is wonderful?

Next year, we'll see if we can out do ourselves. Maybe not.

Enjoy the rest of you love-ly weekends!

The big V: Part II

2009-02-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, I railed on St. Valentine's Day. Yes, I even reposted the most hilarious railings of St. Valentine's Day I have yet to encounter on facebook (and HERE (yes, this is a link)). And yes, I am a hypocrite.

I dislike the holiday thoroughly, almost to the extent that I would forgo the things I enjoy for such a day. However, due to the overwhelming popularity of this holiday, many of my favorite things are in abundance at this time of year. First and foremost, I made the mistake of putting my name on the e-mailing list for my favorite restaurant, Biwa, which I have mentioned before. If I had not done so, I would not have known that they were offering a special expanded menu on the afore mentioned "holiday". Imagine me weighing my options like Justice weighs whatever it us she weighs with her weighing thing. Except I'm not blindfolded, so I can clearly see Biwa winning out over the principle of not doing anything on St. Valentine's Day.

I cannot be blamed for a tasty restaurant buying into the sham that is the big V. I merely do what my stomach tells me. It says it doesn't care what the date according to the Gregorian Calendar is.

The other half of the demise of my principles was the OMSI. The OMSI is a museum. I also get their newletters by e-mail. I just noticed this connection. Thwarted by technology again.

What was I saying?....

Oh! OMSI, that sly devil of a science and innovation museum! Sly devil indeed.

OMSI is having an event in their planetarium. The event's title is "Romancing the Stars" and includes the telling of constellatory tales of love. Granted, those tales are all from people's past who had less critical sensibilities than we do in our current age, and I happen to like their lack of restraint in story telling. I find the whole idea to be incredibly interesting, and as I have been longing to do an event at the OMSI lately and their e-mail happened to arrive today.... well... you see my predicament here.

So, stone me for hypocrisy. So, Alex and I will be enjoying some tasty Japanese food and then a fun event at a museum. St. Valentine would be abhorred. I am too.

But, a girl's gotta eat... and learn.

Happy BIG V (aka, eat and learn day)!

The big V

2009-02-08T09:21:00.000-08:00

Oh Valentines Day, how I loathe thee. Let me count the ways!

In a response to a friend this morning, I discovered the topic of the blog that would end my three week hiatus: The BIG V. There are a few words that come to mind when I think of this holiday in all its magnificent pointlessness. However, they aren't really family friendly words, so I'll just keep them to myself and let your imagination do the work.

You might wonder why I hate this holiday so much, and it comes down to the fact that people hold so much stock in it as a symbol of something it could never possibly emulate: Love. Quite frankly, I find the idea that we have set aside a day to remember to be loving to our significant others to be repulsive. I am excluding anniversaries, though I see the same problem with them... it does seem to make more sense the busier I get that people need to make a point to go on at least one date per year; the diamonds, chocolates, and frilly ribboned things... just get them for me because you feel the need to on a whim, not because societal standards enforce giving.

I began to despise this holiday in high school for very different reasons. Not that I don't still feel this way, but seeing as how my friends are adults now and not as angsty as they once were, its not as big of an issue. I am talking about the alternate name of the holiday: Singles Awareness Day. And when I hear this phrase I simply want to cry out from the mountain tops "Give me a *&$#ing break!!" When someone utters this phrase in my presence I want to grab their shoulders and shake them until some sense falls into their heads. Because what they are saying is that they have set aside a day every year in which they have made a contract with society to be mopey and whiny and miserable. Seems a little pointless to me...

Needless to say, I will not be celebrating Valentines Day this year.

Aside from the big V looming before me, the rest of life has been decent enough. School is going well. I had a midterm in my probability class and I believe I did well. I expect to get at least a B, which is a good score in my mind these days.

Work is hectic and not exactly pleasant. It has been extremely stressful for me lately with re-enrollment and Claudia going on vacation. Between school, work, and my relationship I have been feeling very maxed out. I'm taking some steps to alleviate it it a bit and get a breath of some healthy air, but it will be slow going. Luckily, slow and steady wins the race, they say :)

Well, Sunday is coming to a close, and I should start moving myself to the bedroom to do some bed time reading. I purchased the graphic novel watchmen recently. I highly recommend it. I have mixed feelings about the movie.

See you here next week!

What are mathematicians good for?

2009-01-18T13:26:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah! My blog!

School started week before last. My health insurance started week before last also. Both are good things. I've been into the health center for fear of a sinus infection and then to the dental clinic to set up an appointment because I did not have a sinus infection and my jaw hurts pretty badly. My jaw appears to be hurting because my teeth hurt, and not vice versa. We'll see what the damage is when the 29th rolls around.

As for school, its good times. I'm taking Topics in Probability and Topics in the History of Mathematics. Both classes were those which I didn't particularly have a fondness for as an undergraduate student, but they are turning out alright. Probability is actually engaging, for the first time in my short life of studying math. I have always found probability to be pointless, but the class is challenging enough to at least keep me distracted from my sheer distaste for the subject.

As for the History class: 1) I have never liked history, period. My one brief perchance upon a desire to learn anything historically related was directly related to the attractiveness of my professor. Hot Teacher = A desire to learn history in order to impress him with my intellect. 2) There are mathematics teachers and there are mathematicians, and rarely are the two interrelated. This particular class is taught by a mathematician. Not only a mathematician, but one that likes to ramble about his intellectual thoughts, which he seems incapable of relaying to us in any manner that we can actually follow. He spent 45 minutes last Monday lecturing incoherently to convey a single sentence which I'm surprised he managed to spit out at all: "Mathematics is us thinking about the universe, and we haven't got it quite right yet." It was at this point that I realized his objective in the lecture was to express to us the difficulty in defining mathematics as a field of study. Up until this point, rambling about a finite number of axioms and the difficulty of such axioms as the axiom of choice seemed to be his primary objective.

Some of my classmates in both courses have taken to going to happy hour between Probability and History on Wednesdays. I can't say I don't understand their frustration and desire to take it to higher authority, but I also don't see the point. Here's what will happen in pressing the teacher for a more straight forward class: things will get more confusing and more homework will be assigned as a result. Instructors like this particular professor are not communicators, and attempting to express your displeasure with the class is not going to suddenly change his ability to coherently communicate lessons and ideas. What we consider a cry for clear communication he will take a cry for a more vigorous class. Its just the way it works. "You say you want me to more thoroughly define the homework?" A more thorough definition is always longer and involves more steps. Case in point: more homework.

Now, don't get me wrong, I have enough time to do a little extra work, its not the work load I mind. I just know how this is going to go. And it isn't going to end the way they hope it will by being squeaky wheels. Personally, I find him to be mildly amusing. His lectures are like puzzles and you just have to sit back and wait for the point to appear for a split second. I suppose its like those magic eye pictures that used to be so popular where you stared at them until your eyes crossed and then suddenly a 3-D bubble would pop out and you spent the next half hour destroying your vision to figure out what the hell the bubble was supposed to be. Lectures by mathematicians are like that. They're kind of fun if you're patient.

That is school in a nut shell.

School and the Health Center are about all I've really accomplished in the last couple weeks. I am working also, but, its work as usual. There aren't any raving mathematicians at work to make me laugh and slowly drive to a nut house. Just music students. Maybe a few crazy parents. They're not as enjoyable as mathematicians.

Catch ya next week.

Story Time

2008-12-30T16:19:00.001-08:00

Alex has told me this story a couple of times now, and it seems to me that it has been for the same reason in both instances. Take from it what you will.

Alex boats with his father, and on one excursion his father relayed to him some technical advice. When boating, you want to be going faster or slower than the water's current in order to be in control of your boat. There are times when you settle back and let your boat turn and twist in the lazy waters, taking in the serene life around you, talking with friends. But when you hit white water, you must be a force in the tumultuous currents, letting the water spin you out of control will likely get you killed.

There's a time and place for being outside of the current; for knowing its not something you are just going to ride out.

I hope you find this helpful, too.

Snow Days and Pancakes

2008-12-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

Its Saturday, not Sunday. I'm aware of this. The snow has not thrown off my calendar that far. Though, the only reason I know this, perhaps, is because I was supposed to go to work today. In fact, I even got up at 6am to get ready and have time to catch the bus to the Max Station downtown and to then catch a bus from the Max Station in Beaverton to work.

It was snowing when I woke up, but I would not be deterred. I bundled up, checked the bus schedule online, and headed the two blocks north from my apartment to the bus stop. One man stood at the bus stop and we waited silently together. No bus. My one solace was how beautiful the snow was under the street lamps (yes it was still dark out). It looked like large flakes of glitter falling from the sky, and the sidewalks had hardly been walked on by anyone but myself. It was rather pristine and lovely, though cold.

I finally came home at 7:30 and woke up Alex to drive me to the Max Station in the snow. I checked the weather which said that snow was supposed to pick up after 10am. I called the music school again and listened to the voicemail message stating that classes would be held. It was probably the 5th time I had called that morning. Alex rolled out of bed, got dressed and headed out into the cold morning with me once again.

It didn't dawn on me until then, to call Claudia's cell. I didn't want to disturb her home on a Saturday morning, though I'm sure her husband still gets up early on that day, so I had waited. As Alex started the engine (which does indeed start now!) and pulled out our virgin set of chains, Claudia and I discussed how the school would not, in fact, be open today and how it wasn't worth the risk of being stuck in Beaverton again to ride the Max out. I'm really glad the bus never showed up.

Alright! Bright eyed and bushy tailed for nothing. Alex decided he wanted to go for a walk in the morning snow, so long as he was awake already. So we did.

The one pitfall of said walk was that we passed a place serving breakfast (something our town is known for) that smelled of warm pancakes. I was all for heading in for a bite, but Alex was both not hungry and also wary of spending anymore money than we had due to the snow. It was probably for the best. It just meant that I got to be creative in the kitchen when we got home.

I found a recipe for pancakes online, and it sounded like it would work alright, but I was feeling more adventurous than that. We tend to end up with little bits of odd and end ingredients because we buy in bulk, so I climbed on the counter and pulled everything down from our baking shelf. White flour, wheat flour, cake flour, oatmeal, walnuts, white sugar, sugar in the raw, powdered sugar... All down and strewn about the counter. I love having counter space again!

So, the recipe I based my work on, was as follows:

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 1/2 cups milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

mix together, blah blah blah, etc.

I only used this as a guideline for eggs, baking powder and butter. You'll have to forgive me because I didn't actually measure anything. I'm pretty decent at getting doughs and batters right for consistency so when I'm experimenting, I tend to just have fun and forget the measuring utensils.

This is what I used, and my rough measurements. I used bold face type for the pertinent information:

Short pour of oatmeal from the bulk container into the Cuisinart: roughly 1/2 to 3/4 cup

The remainder of our baggy of walnuts: roughly 1/2 to 3/4 cup

The remainder of our baggy of wheat flour: roughly 1/2 cup

The remainder of our baggy of what I believe was cake flour (hard to tell, it wasn't marked): probably more like 3/4 cup to 1 cup

Blend that in the Cuisinart for a bit to break down the oatmeal and the walnut bits. Pour the mix in a large mixing bowl and add:

Some random amount of baking powder: about what's listed above, maybe a Tablespoon

Some random amount of salt: probably 2 teaspoons, maybe a Tablespoon

2 eggs (hey, an exact measure!)

Stir to mix.

Then add non-fat milk and non-fat creamer alternately into the bowl to get a very bread dough like consistency. I have no idea how much; maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of each or so.

After the doughy consistency was reached, I added the butter: about 1/2 stick melted.

Stir to blend and then add more milk (or milk and creamer if you like) to reach a pancake batter consistency, should be about the same as cake batter.

Use a ladle to add the batter to a preheated cast iron skillet. I had set this on low and sprayed it with butter flavored cooking spray (yeah, blasphemy, I know (and I don't care)) for a few minutes before adding the batter to let it gain some thermal energy. I also put a ceramic plate in the oven on warm to keep the pancakes warm as they finished since I can only make one at a time in our 8 in skillet. Someday I will get a big kid skillet.

They came out a little dense, but very good. Nutty and flavorful with just a bit of syrup on top: divine! It was actually almost like a nutty muffin. You could probably make muffins out of this same recipe. I'll try that next time!

The snow continues to fall and I am full of nutty pancakes. We are supposed to get 3-5 inches today and I have a feeling that the weather report might actually be correct this time. However, they also might have underestimated.

'Til the next weather report!

Mid-week Arctic Storm Update

2008-12-18T22:10:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to keep you up to speed with the great white north I seem to live in.

Today was the first day I went to work all week. Part due to a lack of car and part due to a fear of being stranded in Beaverton should the light rail's lines freeze over again. The music school has been closed. Beaverton Public School District has issued an announcement every evening repeating yet another day of no school for the kids. I bet they love it. I bet their parents are up in arms.

Today was the first day Alex went to work all week as well. UO and PSU have been closed on and off all week, sometimes opening late, sometimes not at all. I have a feeling very few public schools will be open if it snows again tomorrow, seeing as how its the last day before Christmas break anyways.

I spent about 40 minutes getting to work. Worked for two and half hours on re-enrollment applications, then headed home. Another 40 minute commute. I would consider the commute excessive if I wasn't so damn bored. Once the snow stopped this morning at 11am, I got out of bed and said "sure, why not, I'm not doing anything better with my day". So Alex and I boarded the 15 Bus and headed into town.

Downtown doesn't even look snowed on. Granted, the sun actually came out today while I was down there. It was a nice day for a public transit commute, all-in-all.

So 2 and half hours of my usual 30 at least this week. Better than nothing. And Saturday is looking decent, so I might get 8 hours there too. A third of my hours is better than I had hoped for after Sunday's fiasco.

Speaking of Sunday, aka my car, it is up and running again after a rather expensive repair. Luckily the new starter has a good warranty on it, so it might be worth the extra cash I spent. The shop was quick, friendly, and willing to go through a price breakdown for us. I want to believe they did the best they could for my car, but that goes without saying. No one wants to pay an arm and a leg for repairs and believe it was a bad choice.

We bought chains the following morning and Alex got me a cupcake for breakfast. Yes, I said a cupcake. Cupcakes are a necessary factor in recovering from car trauma. And a delicious factor as well. We also got coffee. We also stopped at an asian market and got the makings of onigiri.

Onigiri: oh-nee-gear-ee

Onigiri is composed of umeboshi (oo-may-boe-shee) a sweet sour partially dried plum, wrapped in a sushi rice ball and folded into nori (nor-ee) which is dried seaweed. Its the most delicious thing ever! Ask my mother if you do not believe me. She had them at a restaurant called Biwa while she was here (bee-waa).

So, now that there has been much in the way of food therapy lately, I believe I am mostly recovered. Poor, but money doesn't make you happy. Onigiri and cupcakes do. And I have those.

Remind me to share my umeboshi song with you the next time I see you.

Much love!

Sitting on a Winter Wonder Freeway

2008-12-15T09:27:00.000-08:00

How dismayed were you to miss having a blog related e-mail show up in your inbox yesterday?
I too was dismayed that I missed blogging yesterday. It was not intended.

The weekend went something like this:

Thursday I worked all day and awaited the arrival of my mother, sister, and brother-in-law. We went out to dinner and discussed the imminent snow storm approaching our neck of the woods. The news was calling it an "arctic storm" which sounded a little extreme to me. Apparently the last big storm of 92 was called the "wild winter storm". They've at least gotten more creative.

It rained Thursday night and a good part of Friday, it was cold, but it was the usual winter fare here. We spent a good part of Friday seeing the sights of Oregon. We first went to PSU, both to pick up Rox and also for Alex and I to run a few errands. After acquiring information about financial aid appointments and returning library books, we headed up to the Japanese Gardens. In a cold rain in the winter, the gardens are empty. It was perfectly serene and lovely and easy to navigate and appreciate without any other visitors.

Alex's school was next to meet up with Joe at the Duck Shop there and see where the magic happens. There was less magic and more mess in Alex's studio than there might have been during term. Joe and Rox parted ways with us then, and my mother and Alex and I headed to the Museum of Contemporary Craft. Its more of a gallery than a museum, but it was remarkable. The current exhibit is called Manufractured, and its essentially ordinary household objects shown in a unexpected way. Our favorite example was the bowl made out of partially melted plastic army figurines.

A Pendleton store happened to be right near the museum, so we stopped by there as our last venture of the day.

Saturday was a trip to Eugene in the early afternoon. It was nice enough weather, though chilly, but that's to be expected.

My Uncle's retirement party was exciting, especially in surprising him. We had pizza and soda and cake, played some interesting quarter games, and chatted. After the party, Alex and I headed out to see friends, hit another (younger) party, and sleep in a garage, none of which was exactly planned out, but that's the way its always rolled when we see friends.

Sunday! Blog day! That was the real excitement. Alex and I awoke early. I expected icy roads and a slow trip back to Springfield to pick up my family, but it was actually rather warm for that early hour. The roads were wet, not slick, there was no ice, and little snow to be seen. We left Eugene to sunny skies. I slept in the back seat and awoke, not to blue skies and puffy white clouds, but dreary snow. Portland had been hit.

We were a ways outside of the city still and in one of the passes between the valley and the city, when we decided chains were required. In fact, we may even have been ordered to chain up by the Amber Alert signs normally designated for catching child kidnappers. They must not work on snow days either.

The chains took a little maneuvering but we got them on and piled back in the car to finish our trip. But wait? Why won't the car start?

Try again.

Nothing.

Again. Well, it clicks, the battery is coming on at least a bit, but nothing.

Call AAA.

Call a friend. He brings a truck battery and we hook it up. Still nothing. The engine won't turn over.

Call AAA back (we hadn't cancelled our initial call, but no one had shown up yet). They say someone's on his way. Its been two hours.

We wait in the friend's VW on the heated seats. No tow truck.

Call AAA again. Oh, you say the driver couldn't find us and picked up someone else, huh? Oh, well that's nice. Thank you. Yes, we'd like another driver to come.

Back in the VW. We flag every truck that comes by, finally it was a AAA truck. But not ours.

NO, NO you are NOT leaving us. We don't care what the dispatch center says.

We went to my boss's house behind the tow truck (also my brother-in-laws mother). She had chili and brownies waiting. I spent the night there and called some Honda specialist centers this morning. I found a very highly rated garage online that was within a cold walk from my apartment and called AAA again for a tow. Judging by the wait the previous day, I assumed that when they said 3:25 ETA they meant it. We got a call from the dispatch center at 12:25 after our food had been left at our table at IHOP. The truck was outside the house by my car waiting. Yes, they would wait for us to get there. Our breakfast was quickly shuffled into boxes, the check paid in cash, and we were back at the house in 15 minutes.

And thus the saga ends. The car is at the shop. I will report on this shop's awesomeness after my car returns. For now, I am cold and tired. A hot shower and a nap await.

Lets hope for a better entry next week.

Round Two

2008-12-06T18:51:00.000-08:00

I've been writing a lot lately, and not just here. I've been thinking a lot lately, which I would gather is the cause of my writing.

See, I've been in a bit of a slump, though I would rather not let most people know about it. This is why you've heard very little on the subject. But those little gripes here and there about my apartment, those were the clues that life was wearing me a little thin; and not literally thin either. I promised that this would not turn into a "woe is my life" saga that my family would have to drudge through weekly to find the scraps of information on my life buried beneath the drama. I'm not a big fan of writing about my drama anyways.

I love writing. I love writing well. I love poetry, story-telling, and writing about my personal epiphanies (which I swear are very deep and philosophical). Drama, though I despise writing about it, tends to lead to that last bit of writing I enjoy: life lessons. When I learn something new about myself (or rediscover it, as the case more often is), I enjoy writing it down, as though I am a great, unknown philosopher, whose work will one day be uncovered, leading of course to my postmortem fame.

If you're gonna dream, dream big.

As the dust of the drama begins to settle, I see myself a little clearer. The problem with this being that I'm not quite sure I like what I see. This happens with us all, I think: we get caught up in life and get going so fast we forget to stop and ask ourselves if we really like what we're doing and what we see in the mirror everyday. I, for one, get caught up in other people and this tends to make my inner blindness far more effective. Leave it to me to perfect self-deprecation.

You are probably beginning to wonder if I have some wonderful conclusion I am getting at, or if this is all you're going to get out of the "real" blog of the week. I have a good enough conclusion. It actually entails my last entry in part.

I need to focus on me. It sounds selfish, I've always felt that it does, but its become apparent that there is no other way to really love yourself unless you work a little on making yourself lovable. I have so much potential to be a better person than this, but I spend so much of my time wrapped up in frivolities and superficial factors that I don't capitalize on it at all. I've lost my drive for art, for learning, for bettering myself, and this needs to change. So I joined a gym. I joined a Curves because I knew I could handle it, and that's what counts. Being healthy is important to me, it has been since high school, and what better place to start than enriching myself physically.

I'll focus on this step for a month. I'm beginning to learn that life changes take small steps and consistency to make them a substantial part of your living. Its a tough lesson to learn. Lucky for me, I like learning.

Bring it on, Life!

Its All In the Family

2008-12-01T23:00:00.000-08:00

This week, my brain was far too productive. I apologize, because this means you will get a few entries in one slightly unsightly package; just slightly.

To start, you may have glanced at your calendar at some point this week and, much like me, exclaimed "Oh shit, Christmas is in like 20 days! Shit and double shit!"

Your exclamation might not have been quite as profane as mine.

I have, despite the doubts that profanity may have stirred, come up this year's fool-proof Christmas presents. Maybe not fool-proof, but at least thoughtful. I get points for thoughtful right? Thank goodness Santa only asks that I be nice, not wealthy.

Regardless of my own frugal Christmas plans, I realize that some of you may wish to take a different route. For this reason (mostly because I've been asked, not because I'm a money monger) I have compiled a list of useful gift cards of places that I know are in both Oregon and California (except one... sorry). If you weren't planning on getting me a gift, I totally understand. If you've already bought one, I'm sure I'll love it! If you still want to and have no clue what would be useful, its your lucky day!

Groceries:

Trader Joes (this is my primary shopping locale currently)

Costco (also a biggie on the list of places I acquire the necessary calories to live on (and some of the unnecessary ones too))

Safeway (Emergency shopping, because its across the street from work)

Treats/Eating out:

Starbucks, duh.

Quiznos (also across the street from work and makes for easy lunches or dinners when I got up too late to make one)

Chevy's (the first choice to eat out for my coworkers and I)

Books: (because we all know what my vices are)

Powell's (only located in Oregon, but click this for a link to gift cards)

Barnes & Noble (close to work... though apparently a Powell's is too. Why do people tell me these things?!)

Non-Gift Card Items

WARM SOCKS! (self explanatory)

Okay. Christmas. Check.

Now, I'll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell anyone.

Promise?

I joined Curves this week.

Now, wait just a minute before you assault me with all of your claims of my great shape. You may like to believe that this sassy little red head you love and adore is too beautiful to worry about such trivial things as her thighs, but that's where you're wrong. Its not my thighs I'm worried about.

You know those annoying questionnaires the doctor's give you when you become a new patient (and anywhere that does medical exams, mind you) and that long list of medical problems you have to wade through and try to remember if Grandpa has the cataracts or Auntie May had the hemorrhoids? See, my thighs, they'll always be there when I look in the mirror, and no amount of working out is going to change the way my body is structured. I came to terms with that a long time ago. But Auntie May's hemorrhoids?! Those worry me. No, not literally hemorrhoids, but my family's medical history.

It would worry you too if you saw it.

I decided months ago that living a healthy lifestyle was important, I just didn't realize how hard it was to be consistent about it. I've always worked out in bursts and starts, taking off seasons off, and only working out outside of practice because I felt like it. And then, of course, once I stopped practicing all together, working out was just simply out of the question. I tried a few times to take running up again, but I was too busy flirting and getting A's then. So sue me.

Now that I'm not "chasing tail" as they say, anymore, my life has become a little sedentary. Working at a desk: the pitfall of an adult job! Ah teaching, how I wish for you to come sooner. But, while I wait for the day I can spend all day on my feet (....woot?) I should probably get used to doing it on my own. And Curves is very low on the pressure and high on the cheerleading. I like feeling good for doing very little. Baby steps, baby steps.

Curves is covered then. That concludes my whirlwind assault on your senses (including your good sense).

Considering the way my week is turning out, I'll probably post again on Sunday. I'm sure you're thrilled.

Tootles!

Holiday Recap (and recipe)

2008-11-29T21:04:00.000-08:00

Ah, the discovery of winter.

I'm fairly certain that I am not the only one that feels blindsided by the sudden and drastic temperature drop. Summer melded into a mild fall. The trees shed their leaves gracefully, filling yards and streets. Causing less graceful gripes from Alex.

"Its such a danger to bicyclists."

He's right, too. He's actually come up with a concept for creating jobs as well as getting the leaves cleaned up. Give the homeless shelters the resources and right to give a certain amount of money to every person that brings in a bag of leaves. He thinks it would create a desire to work for a living as well as help aid in keeping our streets safe. I'm sure I'm leaving out details here and there, but its the general gist.

Regardless of his brilliance, from our drive home from Trader Joes and his gripes to now, it feels as though we've lost over 10 degrees of warmth. Matters also aren't made much better by being indoors for me. Home is cold, work is cold, my one solace in the last week and a half has been staying with Alex's parents over the holiday. I was actually a little too warm, but I welcomed getting sweaty while I sat and watched TV and drank hot tea. Granted, its never bothered me, though I would rather be doing something that warranted drenching my clothes in salty, bacteria ridden water. Like running.

It was nice to feel my toes again, though.

It was nice to simply be with family for the holidays. I missed my own, but Alex's family is a very good substitute. Its a big meal with friends and family and joy and laughter. We had turkey and tofurkey, creamed onions, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes with ginger, stuffing, and lots of bread and home-made jams. I was going to contribute creamed corn this year again, but opted for an hors d'oeuvre instead.

Citrus Marinated Olives (I only made half of this recipe)

Total Time: 15 minutes plus chilling 24 hours

Makes 5 3/4 cups

2 lemons

1 orange

6 cloves garlic (I used 5 for a half recipe)

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. dried thyme (I substituted rosemary because we apparently didn't have thyme)

2 lbs. assorted brine-cured olives, drained

You can find the olives in jars, but Alex and I went to our local froo-froo groceries and got them in bulk at the olive bar. I'd be willing to bet someone near you is as froo-froo as Zupan's.

Directions:

1. From each lemon, cut three 3/4 inch wide strips peel; place in 1-quart saucepan. Grate any remaining peel from lemons and place in large bowl. From orange, cut three 3/4 inch wide strips peel and add to saucepan. Grate any remaining peel from orange, and add to lemon peel in bowl.

2. Peel garlic and cut each clove in half. Crush with side of a chef's knife. Add garlic, oil, and thyme (or rosemary) to saucepan, and heat on low until hot but not smoking, about 1 minute. Remove saucepan from heat; let stand 10 minutes.

3. Place olives in bowl with grated peels. Pour oil mixture over olive mixture, and toss to coat well. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate olives at least 24 hours to allow flavors to develop, stirring occasionally. (or place olives in large self sealing plastic bag, turning to coat olives well. Seal bag, pressing out excess air. Place bag on plate and refrigerate olives, turning bag occasionally.) (I used a tupperware to store)

4. Serve how you desire or put in jars to give as gifts. Store in refrigerate for up to 1 month.

Each 1/4 cup About 70 calories, 0g protein, 2g carbohydrate, 8g fat, 1g fiber, 0 mg cholesterol, 645 mg sodium

After such a great deal of good food, its high time I got a bit more of the right kind of sweating in. But I'll save that for next time. I am getting ready to head out and see a friend from Eugene.

All my love!

Short and Sweet: Well, Not So Short Anymore

2008-11-22T23:19:00.001-08:00

This is what I originally wrote on Saturday night:

I know I am supposed to write tonight or tomorrow, but I've got to admit, I'm not really feeling it. My to do list grows longer and longer with less and less time before I start school again. The things on my mind seem to double every few days or so, and managing a blog seems to be one of the first things to go out the window when I can't fit everything into my mental calendar.

If only I could fake a sense of humor about life when I don't feel much of one. :)

Last Sunday, Alex and I did manage to get our bedroom put together finally (for the most part, I still have some clothing to put away). My mom sent me a flower arrangement that matched the decor (purple and green). I know it sounds over done, and it might be in way, but I think it still works and looks simple enough. It could be simplified further if we wished. I will have to take pictures when we finish, as I have promised for the entire apartment. It honestly just hasn't happened yet. I'll have to put in some work here soon, though, since I want it looking its best when my mom and sister come up.

I do believe that's all the peppiness I have in me for one entry. Next week I will have a Thanksgiving entry that should be more lively!

Cheers! and Happy Holidays!

My new additions for Sunday Morning:

Alex and I have the bedroom looking far more perfect, and I have some other things I realized I could write about. Well, just one topic, but the topic is plural, so that makes it things... I think.

Books.

Books, books, books. I love books. I love many kinds of books. And I find myself spending a considerable amount of money on them lately. I am not sure what day it was last week, it must have been Tuesday, but I went to take my usual midday break from work, and while I was headed towards Target, I saw a Barnes and Noble on the way. I may have skidded the tires in a sudden change of direction. Sure, I could have turned around and come back, but books. I was too excited about the books!

I walked through all my favorite parts, though I could not find the graphic novels (probably for the best). I spotted the sign for the magazines and trotted my buns in that direction. I've had an irrational love affair with magazines lately. I've found them intriguing, delightful, and usually feel like their a guilty pleasure since I've been focusing on those domestic ones. "Real Simple", "Family Circle", "Dwell" (some would say its more artsy than domestic, but its about living spaces... you don't get more domestic than that, no matter how artsy you claim to be), and sometimes I'll even read "Ladies Home Journal". Maybe I could blame these magazines for the culprit of my apartment displeasure. Who knows?

The problem with heading toward the magazines, however, was that there was a small shelf set up, like a infinite mote between myself and those shiny racks of glossed, cardstock covered indulgences. On this small shelf was what Barnes and Noble called "Barnes and Noble Series Classics". Ooooooh. Claaaaaassiiiiiiiics.

If there's one other kind of reading material besides graphic novels and magazines that I have an unhealthy obsession with, its classics. Barnes and Noble is a sly mistress, for not only were these classics, but because they were "store brand" as it were, they were cheap. Very cheap. Too cheap.

I bought four.

"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum

"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" by James Joyce

"The Jungle Books" by Rudyard Kipling

and

"Lord Jim" by Joseph Conrad (whose writing I fell in love with in "Heart of Darkness")

My book escapade continued on Friday. You would think that taking in your car to have the oil changed (because I really don't want to do it in the middle of the street in the rain) is innocent enough. But no. Drew the conniving clerk from Firestone, managed to see in my face my addictions (or the book sticking out of my purse), and said slyly, as if just in passing "Powell's books is just two short blocks up, if you'd like to go read there. Not that our waiting room isn't nice, but Powell's has more character." Oh does it now, Drew! You fiend!

So, my car being man handled by strangers, I took my leave of Drew and Firestone and trotted my ever trotting buns up to Powell's. The dangerous thing about Powell's is that they have an impeccable selection of graphic novels. Not always well organized, but that's part of the fun of a new/used bookstore; searching in the musty isles for some lost treasure that no one else has perchanced upon. The only problem with my theory of musty isles, is that the graphic novel section in Powell's is in the same room as their crowded coffee shop. And Everyone knows where it is.

That's okay. It didn't stop me from buying three graphic novels, a scone, and a matte latte (a tea based latte). And maybe a few stocking stuffers.

The three graphic novels, you ask?

"Flight: Volume Four" by multiple artists/authors

"Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return" by Marjane Satrapi (I read the first one after a friend/student of mine gave me her copy from her literature class)

and

"Sandman Volume One: Preludes and Nocturnes" by Neil Gaiman

The last is a series that I have heard about for years now. It's original copyright is from 1988, with a few additional copyrights for different covers, introductions, etc. Most people rave about

this series and this artist/author. Its about time I got into a new artist, I think, as Michel Gagne has slowed down his productions lately (though he always has a piece for the "Flight" volumes).

If anyone wants to buy me further volumes of "Sandman" feel free. Here's a link, though you could always ask your friendly enabler at Borders or B&N to help you find this series (actually, Amazing Comics by Target would be far more helpful in this area and for more enabling, too, though I think I'm the only one that needs enabling in this area)

But enough about books. Here are some pictures of our bedroom:

Happy Holiday again! I'll see you soon!

Apartment of Almost Doom (title dedicated to Deb and Scott, and all the happy memories of friends and fun)

2008-11-15T00:16:00.001-08:00

First and foremost, I added a new little gadget on the right side of this page over there. Just below my blog postings per month you'll find four links to sites that make my heart smile. I go here when I am bored or just wishing to get away for a few minutes and regroup. All of them seem to provide a glimpse into some aspect of my geekiness and/or crudeness. I hope someone else gets some glimmer of happiness in their hearts from reading them.

Web comics aside, life has been pretty crazy lately. The details aren't necessary, but the result has been many a day with said webcomics, and also turning the bathroom into my project. Its a decent enough bathroom, but I am attempting to make a more homely room of this one than our last. In Eugene, our bathroom was part photo-lab, part bio-lab; the bio-lab portion obviously meaning the interesting growth patterns we were so very lucky to observe. Now, we have a new bathroom and are more capable of starting from scratch here. I've done a thorough job with cleaning lately, though it needs a touch up again, and I've accessorized very nicely, I believe. Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, and a little creativity have coalesced into something pretty neat, I think. I currently need to stitch-witch a piece of fabric into a little curtain for hiding the TP and CL, get a new piece of hardware for the medicine cabinet so it will stay closed, add a few more girl accessories and then just upkeep. Sounds simple enough, I think.

Also on the projects list is a TV stand made from the remaining pieces of our IKEA bookshelf that we turned into a desk, which will match nicely in the room it belongs in. This would be our IKEA-tastic office in which almost every piece of furniture is from IKEA, the only exception being a table that should go back into our bedroom and be replaced by my upgraded IKEA dining table. This dining table has high hopes of becoming a work table, the only necessary addition being some sort of storage bin underneath for my sewing machine, portfolio, light box, maybe a laptop, and whatever else doesn't have a home here. Oh, speaking of the dining/work table, I forgot that my dining chairs, which are not IKEA are currently in this room... but I would like to upgrade those to *THESE* (p.s. that was a link for the chairs I want). Alex, unfortunately hates these. But, he got to choose the other chairs in the room. It only seems fair. I also like the idea of a rug for "Alex's chairs" to go on in a sort of bright teal, as well as a simple white sheer curtain for the window.

Actually, if we could get this room done, I would be one happy girl (this, sadly, includes cleaning out the closet as well). Well, maybe I take that back; if we could get the apartment looking as fabulous as I know we can, then I would be a happy girl.

To make a telling confession, the unfinished apartment is a big problem with me. It doesn't seem to be any one person's fault, its just not finished. We've all got our own schedules, and anytime anything gets accomplished it has to be a very self-motivated accomplishment. I've never been a good self-motivator, and while Alex is academically... he isn't domestically. Sam? I have no idea; she seems good at self- starting when inspired. I suppose that's how we all are, a little spark of inspiration and *boom* progress.

But, I think that's it for my apartment and life update, as, going any further into this would go the way of bitchy rants. And a promise is a promise: no bitchy rants allowed. :)

I love and miss you all, and I am looking forward very much to Thanksgiving with Alex's family, and a visit from my Mother and sister (and brother-in-law) in December. Of course, I am really ecstatic about going back to California for Christmas!

Its been a pleasure updating you, I will see you all again next week.... or else.

I Hope No Astrologists Read This

2008-11-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

My Gawd! Its been a long week. I'm certain that it was not a full moon at any point in the last 6 or 7 days, but it seems that something astrologically askew must have happened. Jupiter passing in the sun of Venus? Mars in retrograde in the third moon of Pluto, which is a asteroid, not a planet, much to your disappointment I am sure. Uranus and Saturn looking at you sideways through the hole in the Hubble Telescope? Its got to be something like that I'm sure.

Many of mine and Alex's friends and aquaintances have also witnessed such phenomenon of bad weeks. Bad weeks had by all! Perhaps nothing astrological is amiss, and Saturn isn't given you funny looks, but we all just drank too much. It was quite the party for us all between Halloween and the Elections. Portland doesn't need much of an excuse to drink ("Oh, Saturn's checking you out, I'll drink to that!").

Regardless of the cause, I'm certain that half the city is sitting at home thinking that they'd rather sleep from now through tomorrow than go out and possibly make things worse for themselves. This would actually mean that the bars would be half as full as they are normally.... Hmm.... Things to ponder.

Despite the not so hot week (literally and slangularly (i.e. deriving from slang)) I did get a chance to eat out at a fabulous Ethiopian restaurant yesterday with Alex and our friend David. David is a cool guy, and even though I am often left on the side lines listening to ramblings on everything from spinning records to fixie riding to photogrpahy, he still manages to be good company. We all shared a vegan sampler platter, which you have to eat with your hands, of course (just like in the recent rehash of Sabrina, although I believe Harrison Ford was winning the babe over Moroccan food... lucky bitch).

If I thought anyone I knew could put up with the resulting digestive discourse I would insist that we go when you (whoever you are) are up here next.

Lets see, bad week mentioned: Check.

Ethiopian Food: Check.

Oh! Oh, you're gonna love this. I promise. Wait for it.... Wait for it... You are NOT waiting, I can tell. Fine, just skip right ahead, don't mind my pause for effect. *Artistic Guffah*

I worked outside today. Instead of sitting inside next to my space heater answering phones I sat in a cold metal chair watching the drizzle to downpour from under the overhang of the school. I did not do this because I thought it would be fun. The plumbing in our building has decided it hates its life and would like an assisted suicide. This involves tearing back the carpet, breaking up the concrete floor, digging up the pipes and replacing them. And they thought they would be done with this job by this morning. Silly plumbers.

My choice today was endure warm, dank air indoors or bone chillingly cold air outdoors. I personally chose the cold above the wet dirt and chemical floor cleaner smell. Luckily I only worked half day, and hopefully this will be done by Tuesday... and it will be warmer on Monday.

On top of a half day's work I cleaned the bathroom from floor to ceiling, and I wish that was just a euphemism. In fact, I never completely finished getting things in order in there. Ugh! Is housework ever done?!

That was a rhetorical question.

Special Election Post

2008-11-05T09:01:00.000-08:00

It came to my attention during my visit home this past weekend, that not many of my family and friend's have shared my political views. I will merely state the facts of my city's reaction to Obama's win.

This city blew up last night. On a drive to my roommate's birthday party, I was listening to his speech on the phone with a good friend of mine, but in passing a large intersection I heard honking and commotion. On the corner of this intersection was a woman fervently waving an American flag at the passing cars. Everyone knew, most seemed excited. This was not where it stopped.

My drive home took me down a very prominent street in our corner of the big city, and in the heart of this "downtown" stood a crowd on either side of the street cheering, waiting. When the light would change these throngs of excited folks would dance across the street to the music of car horns and screams of joy and laughter. For the remainder of the evening at home, car horns could be heard across the city raising their voices in excited approval.

Portland, and I am sure Eugene, are now facing the news of other political outcomes, as I am sure everyone is. While most of our elections turned out in the same favor as Obama's, our US Senate race is very close. It's still a party over here, but a slightly subdued one.

I would feel very similarly in California to wake up to a likely Yes on 8. But that's another story for another time and place.

Kelliver's Travels

2008-11-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

I'm a travelin' fool! Currently, I find myself sitting on my parent's couch, watching television and engrossed in the internet: just like old times.

I suppose you'd like to know the highlights of my adventure. Well, if you must know, you must.

Highlights to date:

Well, I'm here! .... Yeah, that sums it up.

But seriously, lets have ourselves a good old breakdown, and yes, I do realize this is a little redundant from my last entry, but... eh. Deal.

So, dark and early Thursday morning, I arose to set out for the airport. Poor Alex, he'd have quite the long day ahead of him. I suppose both of us would, but I would have a family reunion to keep my tired mind occupied. First stop, Wild Oats with my mom (the only one around for my arrival). We bought some acidophilus and my mother picked up a supply of her favorite hand soap. Details, details. While waiting for my sister to arrive and head to lunch at our favorite Lebanese restaurant, I went to my grandmother's house. We had a good conversation and I got to loan her my book from last entry's review.

Lunch, shopping, new clothes, huzzah! Then I was able to give my father his birthday card and we headed out to see the musical Wicked. Now, I'm disappointed to say that I was, well, disappointed; at least at first. I made a grave mistake, grave indeed. While the novel was a very creative and modern story, it had a few moments that seemed as though the author was trying too hard. Also, it was NOT written to be a musical. Modern often equal dark, severe, stark, shocking. Its something we've come to expect from anything resembling modernism. If you have ever read Ayn Rand's Fountainhead, you might imagine the story being a Hugh Ferriss illustration in paperback form. Wicked is modern. It also kind of reminded me of that movie about those two reporters that uncovered the Watergate scandal. Therefore, Wicked = Watergate Scandal + Hugh Ferriss/Roark. Musical potential? Only if its akin to Cannibal the Musical. My point? Reading the novel first is a "grave mistake".

The disappointment subsided when I reminded myself that this was meant to be an upbeat tale that any age group could enjoy, and one that most parents' would not keep their child from. The equivalent of any Disney Movie with respect to the original tale. Pocahontas, anyone?

But all kidding aside, the performance was masterfully done, the music very well composed and catchy, and the stage art truly breathtaking. It helps that the uber art deco nature of the Pantageous Theatre was the perfect match to the set design and you could imagine that they had almost designed it specifically for this performing arts center and no other.

I slept well that night in my old bed, though not in my old room and woke up early to take a two hour tour with a fearless crew of halloween/birthday partiers. My old roommate and one of my best friends celebrates her birthday on the same day we celebrate the holiday of Saint High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup. Though an over-21 halloween party revolves more around candy in a cocktail glass, it is candy none-the-less and probably has a similar affect on adults that a magnificent sugar high has on a 5 year-old. Cheers to inhaling five pounds of fun sized sugar bomb bars in shiny wrappers while watching the Scooby Doo Fright Fest Special, or whatever the hell they call it today.

The party was a blast. We hit up Dave and Busters and I convinced a good many of our crew that a drink called the "Naughty Redhead" was worth several rounds. Yes, I did first try it because of the word Redhead. I'm a sucker for anything referring to my unique feature. If you're wondering what exactly constitutes a "Naughty Redhead", allow me to illuminate you: jagermeister, peach schnopps, and cranberry juice. Equivalently, the word delicious works too.

Slightly inebriated video games tend to be the most fun, and simultaneously the most frustrating. Granted, and I'm not sure how, the redheads didn't last for long. I won 2,230 tickets exactly, and only used 210 of them on glitter lipgloss. Why not?

Today was more productive, but not as much fun, as I once again set out to complete my residency affidavit. My mother has informed me that I have to mention how amazing she is. This is an accurate statement, I must admit. She has always managed to ground me while in the midst of an endeavor such as this _____-ing application. I went through by item and made copies and organized my materials, then set out to file my FAFSA. Productivity indeed!! She's good at it, far better than I, in fact.

If you're hankering for another equation, lets just say that My Mom = Amazing.

Home made soup for dinner, god I miss that. Nature's seasoning. A walk to the local froo-froo grocery store. Relaxing in my spot on the couch in the living room. Like I never left. I miss home so much... I still have to remind Alex how much he had better appreciate my presence in Oregon. He does. It doesn't make this easier.

Perhaps one day I will move back. Perhaps not. In the meantime, I'll continue to preach the good name of Oregon in the hopes that everyone will just follow me up there instead.

I can dream.

Reviews

2008-10-23T22:36:00.001-07:00

A book review!

I began a book on friday last week, I believe it was, and last night I finished it. "The Strange Case of Hellish Nell: The Story of Helen Duncan and the Witch Trial of World War II." I found it very fascinating. It was a well written historical fiction, which seems far more historical than fictitious. The author moved over seas with her husband, without work, and recently having sent her youngest child off to college, she had lots of time to start a hobby. Scrap-booking is probably obscenely expensive in Britain, and something about their voices would lead me to believe they were masters at it. I can't say for sure what gives me that impression, but for some reason tea and crumpets screams doilies and sparkly letter cut-outs. Then again, I also have a sneaking suspicion that they don't have nearly as cool of subject matter to work with. How many pages could one possibly create on tea and crumpets?

But, back to the story at hand. Nina Shandler, the author I mentioned above, stumbled across this interesting tale and became increasingly obsessed with it. This eventually resulted in plentiful enough sources to create a fairly detailed account, her own imagined details placed where there were none to be found. Actually, there are a few more intriguing details to the story, but I found that to be a crucial part of finding the story so entertaining, and I wouldn't want to give away any spoilers. Just in case.

All-in-all, well written, hard to put down and a conclusion that left you satisfied yet hoping that there was more. All the best qualities in my mind.

Earlier this week I had considered giving a day by day picture of my week, but I thought this would prove to be an enjoyable topic. This is why it came first. However, I should at least give you the highlights:

Sunday: IKEA! We bought orange chairs for Alex's birthday. He doesn't sit anywhere else anymore.

Monday: Dessert! We went to a restaurant called Pix that serves very little real food and focuses mainly on, you guessed it, desserts. We consumed far too much sugar and enjoyed the simple yet rich atmosphere. Why does my entire blog sound like a review so far?

Tuesday: I worked most of the day. I read during a good portion of work that evening as there wasn't much to do but greet students and their families and answer the phone if it rang. Easy yet still tiring.

Wednesday: I slept until noon. Alex's father had come by that morning and admired our chairs, though he was not thrilled with the orange cushions. I worked just a bit at the end of the day. It was actually quite warm and beautiful out, so I walked the mail to the mail box right away. On my way to the corner to cross at the signal, I heard a "damn girl!" from a nearby car. I just keep walking when this happens, but part of me secretly thought "I haven't gotten a cat call in awhile...". I don't think I secretly came to a conclusion of whether this was a good or bad thing, but it stands as a memorable part of my day.

Thursday: Worked more of the day than Tuesday. We're getting ready for our Open House on Sunday. I must admit, I am worried about turn out. We've invited a lot of people, I hope a lot stop by, and I hope more raffle tickets get purchased...

Friday: Day Off!! Granted I spent far too long stressing out over getting my residency application complete. Apparently, I am was never listed as being on the lease at my apartment in Eugene. So that leaves me with the option of getting a letter from my property manager. Clearly, there is no reason to trust her responsibility as the paperwork I faxed to her for my lease never made it to the main office...

Saturday: Work again. I'm tired. Tomorrow is the big day... I'm stressed out. After work, Alex and I went over to his sister's house to give her a break from baby and get a chance to get some errands done. The baby slept for most of the time we were there.

Today: I just got up an hour ago and ate cereal. I'll need to leave in an hour or so to go to work.

Have a good Sunday!

Feel the Power of my Paw! (or lack there of)

2008-10-18T21:35:00.000-07:00

Two Saturday evenings in a row; perhaps I should consider making this my regular blogging time. On second thought, there are some nights that I do feel inclined to go out and party, they are just rare occasions. Now that I am in a living situation where I see more than just Alex on a regular basis, its a rare day when I feel inclined to go out and try to chat up those of his friends I find little in common with. There are a few that I really dig, but as of late I've just not been inclined to hang out with anyone.

Last night we did get to have a family birthday dinner for Alex and his sister. They're daylight debut's were mere days apart so its easy enough to get everyone together on one night close to both of those dates to get dinner. As children, I'm sure this wasn't so cool, not only because they had to share attention, but also because they probably had nothing in common in taste for party favors and cake styles, leaving their parents no option but to have two parties. Or none. I've actually never asked Alex how that all went down as a child. I would be surprised, however, if both of them weren't treated like the king and queen of Toevsville during that week; separately, but equally.

Now, you must be dying to know, what did I get Alex?! Er... Um... its a... surprise?

Okay FINE! I didn't get him anything yet, alright! I have loads of ideas, just not the time (or access to keys to our apartment) necessary to acquire such things. We are going to IKEA tomorrow to procure a matching bookshelf to go in our second living room (and the one we've kind of claimed for ourselves), so I might pick up something there that I know he desires desperately and in a color I approve of. Well, of course he approves of it too! How could you ever imagine me being the kind of person that gets my significant other a bowling ball with my name etched in it. Or more appropriately in my family, a bowling pin lamp with my name etched in it.

Maybe I'll get two, in place of a couch in this room. I should probably get the vacuum fixed in order to clean them too. I know, I know, brand new vacuum, right? Its not the vacuum itself that I can't get to work, its the "Power Paw" that has mysteriously lost its Power, now its just a Paw...

More accurately, its lost its ability to make the roller turn. Dad, I hope you're paying close attention to this description. "Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!". And yes, in case you're wondering, I did have to google that name for the proper spelling.

Okay, so, I took apart the Power Paw, cleaned out the fur, and put it back together. No avail, the roller still wouldn't turn. I took it apart again and surveyed the method by which it made the roller turn. It appears that the suction from the vacuum hose is supposed to turn a sort of turbine wheel in the base of the Power Paw. The turbine has a little grooved knob coming out the side that the belt (also grooved) sits against, the other end of which wraps around the roller. Hence, the suction causes the turbine to spin and thus the roller spins. Its kind of nifty, really, except that the little knob is not turning so well. I thought perhaps the bit of fur wrapped around it was impeding motion, but if its the case, the hair is trapped on the inside of the turbine's casing, and is unreachable. Do they sell those parts separately? And is it even worth it if I broke it within two goes of kitty coat removal?

Use the force Obi Wan. It is strong with you. The evil Darth Kitty, blah, blah, blah, insert more references to Star Wars here.

Fix my vacuum damnit!

P.S. Did I mention I @#$&*%-ing hate cats. Specifically ugly, retarded, white, persian cats.

Hi Mr. Oak Tree.

2008-10-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

Its 10:40pm on a Saturday evening and I have chosen to spend my time curled up in bed searching in vain for reviews on Scandia Down. I know my mother knows what this thing is, but if you don't, let me illuminate it for you. Scandia Down sells high quality bedding, specializing in goose down, of course. Its expensive stuff, a comforter costs into the quadruple digits if you wish to go that high. I, however, am allergic to down, but would love to find a good alternative to it. I have only heard good things about this company, but Alex insists that I do my research if I am going to lay down the dough for the faux down (say that five times fast). I don't blame him, its a good strategy. I managed to find reviews on another store selling the standard Primaloft filled hypoallergenic comforters, but not hide nor hair of anything on Scandia Down. In fact, I don't even know what they are filled with, all their website says is that they are synthetic. Its a vague statement in this day and age..
So, here I lay, at least managing to stay warm in our dropping temperatures under and old comforter that is too small and a handmade throw (thanks grandma, you make winter livable) slowly losing my hope that Scandia Down is within the radar of normal folks that write reviews online. Maybe its just too hoity-toity....

Despite my mild depression over a lack of comfort(er), you can bet your sweet buttooty that I found some glimmers of excitement. Nothing I can really afford, mind you. But I like these bed-time gems none-the-less:

First, there's of course Scandia Down.

Then comes my favorite find for a duvet cover, its from Pottery Barn, and I know I've probably railed against companies like them before in each and every one of your presenceseses (that word doesn't pluralize easily). A girl can dream though, especially under something as pretty as THIS. It comes in yellow and blue too, but who really gives a rat's rump.

There's also the idea of decorative pillows. I'm not usually one to go too far off the deep-end, but I once came across these in mine and Alex's favorite magazine (DWELL) and was reminded of them this evening. After a bit of searching I found them. Looolo. Kind of fun in that they are handmade, and sweatshop free and all that jazz. I do like jazz, afterall.

But, if we're talking about handmade, and limited edition fabric-y things, my sister should know that I am rather fabulous at finding some incredible, sustainable home and personal furnishings. She was kind enough to supply me with my new-recycled parachute purse and bedsheet wallet last year (granted, a second recycled purse was added later thanks to early christmas presents in May... or was is birthday? who cares, my seatbelt purse rocks!)

So, here's the most Kelly-rific part of all. You'll love these, and you won't be at all surprised that I am infatuated with them in an extreme way. TREE PILLOWS!!!!!

Holy Crap! Okay, I need to say that one more time for effect:

HOLY.

CRAP.

If I could write a song about pillows, I would. Well, really nothing is stopping me from writing a song about pillows, but its kind of weird in all reality. Its all fine and dandy to say in a blog, but as awesome as those pillows are I wouldn't write a song about them unless I was hired to do a jingle for them by some ad agency. Anecdote aside, I love these pillows. I love the little ones, I love the big ones, I would cover an entire couch with a grove of trees if I could! Perhaps not as this exact juncture in my life, as our couch sucks and we live with two cats who might destroy my awesome pillows. Then of course I would have to seek retribution and either marr or murder them, subsequently causing us to be kicked out by Sam....
I will not become homeless over pillows. I refuse.

Though... they're damn cute... damn cute!

Don't be surprised if I call in a few weeks from the underside of the nearest, warmest overpass, faux down comforter in tow.

A Land of Treasures (In Bulk!!)

2008-10-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

Here we are again, back for more fun.

A few realizations this week:

1. I will never own a cat, let alone a white one.

2. I really don't like the smell of cooking meat, and thus am not a fan of atkins (vegetarian, makes sense)

3. Read all documents you have been sent from your college before getting stressed out. (Mom, I can explain later)

Do you remember when I wrote that long intro about not making this into a bitch-fest? Lets just say I'm finding it difficult not to elaborate on the afore mentioned lessons of the week. Instead, however, I believe I will write about Costco.

I'm not sure if my parents did me a disservice by ingraining the Costco mentality into my little red head as a child. I loved that place! I still love that place! However, it seems that my extreme love of Costco may not be the most healthy, and by healthy I mean rational. An easy example to explain my point happened just today as Alex and I stood in the toiletries aisle discussing toothbrushes:

Me: "Oh hey, toothbrushes, I need a new one!"

Alex: "Yes, one. One toothbrush. Why do we need TEN?!"

My immediate thought: "But someday I'll need another one." I was there, the toothbrushes were there. It seemed like destiny! A serendipitous moment with oral care, how could I refuse?! My biggest fear, however, is that Alex may be right. Maybe we really don't need 10 toothbrushes, no matter how good the deal. And besides, I'm going home in less than a month, I can just get one then, my parents do believe in the momentous event of encountering toothbrushes in tens.

Toothbrushes... *sigh*

We did, however, add a mega bag of organic carrots to our cart, a large block of cheese, and enough yogurt to last until the expiration date, and no sooner. Ah, Costco plunder. Is it any wonder that I felt like I was uncovering a world of treasures?

Perhaps next time, toothbrushes. But for now I must be content with an over stuffed refrigerator.

... and apparently a room full of boxes to unpack, which I should probably get to, now that I have ensured grandma another weeks worth of life in the north. Its never a wise decision to deny grandma her stories.

adios!

ps, its raining again.

Drink for Pleasure, Drink for Leisure.

2008-09-28T08:27:00.001-07:00

Friday night was the big event: the debates. And while we all have our differing opinions about who to vote for and who did a better job, we can all agree that making a drinking game out of it sounds like a good method for improving its quality. Now, granted, my friends are far too politically minded and therefore had a hard time concentrating on when to drink. Doesn't mean nobody got trashed, they just didn't do it to the beat of Obama saying "change" and McCain saying "my friends". I personally stayed pretty far out of the drinking business, but Alex and our roommate definitely got their drink on, as the saying goes.

So did a friend of ours, and upon pumping Alex and I for an answer as to whether or not we were staying in this apartment, it was decided unanimously, that we would definitely be doing so. Sam will be adding us to the lease on Monday. So, I now finally have a new address that I must send to everyone.

That feels like the big news, but that's probably because my other grand headline wasn't much of a surprise to me (at least not in the last week). Others of you may also decide that this isn't surprising, but I was accepted into a graduate program here in town. I will be starting my Masters of Science in Teaching Mathematics on January 5th, and while I am excited for this prospect, I am also a wee bit anxious. Shocked much?

But there you have it, doing something with my degree, or at least moving forward. I suppose I'm one of the lucky ones that graduated and decided that this was where I really did belong. One step closer to the dream, though it feels like a million miles away still, considering normal life hasn't changed much. In fact, normal life is just about to get started again, since Alex goes back to school tomorrow. He's excited about his studio and about the new building that they will be taking classes in. Hell, I'm excited about the new building since I should be spending at least a little bit of time there and its a huge improvement from the mangled monstrosity that was the UO Art and Architecture Department. Don't tell Alex I said that.

Speaking of normal life, groceries are fairly necessary for it. I bid you adieu.

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye. I'd like to stay and taste my first champagne. What?

Okay, I'm going now, its getting too Rogers and Hammerstein around here.

2 Days Early, Weeks Off Track.

2008-09-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well, haven't we been absent with our blog lately?

Why yes, yes I have.

We've moved. Successfully enough, all of our, dare I say... shit, hath been movethed. It is now taking up a good portion of one of our living rooms. The apartment is growing on me, and while it is meant to be temporary as far as Alex and I are concerned, we have an open-ended invitation to stay, and I do believe I would be akin to that idea. We have moved in with an old friend of Alex's: Samantha. She's pretty cool. The few draw backs to staying are sharing one bathroom and having to live with two cats. I'm not a huge fan of cats. The biggest plus would be cheap rent, and as my father would say "cheep cheep!" (yes, like a bird)

Perhaps some pictures are in order. First off, I need to figure out how to draw up a layout for you to see here. It will take me a little while, but luckily, I've started writing this blog update a day early. See mom, I learned how not to procrastinate occasionally :)

Hmm... Alex doesn't really have a program that I can use to sketch this out. Why don't Mac's have paint?! Ugh!

Okay, maybe some picture pictures. Wait, where is my camera's charging cable? Excuse me? Has anyone seen the charger for my camera?

What the hell, dude? Seriously? No pictures? No nothing? Crap.

Fine, we don't need no stinking pictures! I suppose its not much to look at just yet anyways. The best part so far is the system we have for our bikes. OH! I can show you, just a moment... Now, this is going to take a little bit of imagination, but its the best I've got:

This post is shimmied between our floor and ceiling. Two of these brackets are on the post each with a wide hook on it as well. And on his hook he has a book, and in his book is how to cook! No, no, just kidding, we have a bike on each hook. I had you going there for a moment, didn't I?
So I hope that makes sense. Besides the bike rack we also procured a rack for the kitchen to hang pots and pans from. The kitchen is coming together nicely other than the slight disaster we had last night...

It all began yesterday across the street from our apartment. A weekly farmer's market is held there and Alex thought it would be nice to purchase some fresh vegetables for dinner; a lovely idea, really. He decided on some squash, swiss chard, and garlic. Little did he know that in his bundle he carried back across the street was an arsenal of disappointment and disgust lying in wait. He placed the items on the counter and got to work, chopping up an onion and some squash and sauteing them, then rinsing the chard and chopping it up to wilt in the pan. Now, you'll have to forgive Alex, because he's a wee bit unobservant. He managed to miss the hundreds of little black bugs all over the counter tops that escaped while the chard sat awaiting its turn in the pot. In fact, they probably escaped before being chopped, while being chopped, and after they got put into the pot. Yes, I'm about 99% certain that not all that pepper was actually pepper in our meal last night, but that part surprisingly bothers me less than discovering the counters covered in the "not pepper" after we finished eating. We spent an hour and a half killing them and wiping down the counter tops. I can't say I was amused.

Regardless of our minor infestation, its been a pretty relaxed atmosphere around here. We have quite a lot of work to do still, but I think we are all a bit hesitant to do so just in case it doesn't work out. Having life be up in the air like this isn't my favorite thing, but then, sometimes life's just like that. I can at least have a little bit of joy in the fact that I have essentially been accepted into graduate school and will be a pseudo-aunt within hours. Who needs solid plans? Things could be worse. I could be having a c-section tonight.

My fingers are tired. I do believe my work here is done.

ps. Alex's sister is the one having the baby, in case you missed the bit about her being pregnant in a previous blog :)

the lazy blogger's blog

2008-09-07T15:14:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from an e-mail I just sent to my most recent boss (slight edits):

I figured I would also take the opportunity to tell you about our moving adventures. I believe I told you that we would be living with friends starting on the 15th (which got changed to the 12th, thank goodness) but I don't think you were around when Alex and I decided to move out last week and pack our stuff in his parents' garage and ourselves in his sister's basement. Crazy.

We decided this over last weekend and started packing on Monday. Tuesday rolled around and we though it wouldn't take much time to get everything together, but when 2 am rolled around we decided to just keep going through the night and get out of there. So we rolled out of Eugene at about 4:40 am, got to McMinnville at 7am, and slept from 8 am until about 4 in the afternoon. I did, however get a phone call at 9:20 for math help from my friend Jenn... she was impressed that I could still be coherent (it helps that she is very mathematically inclined on her own).

We unpacked the truck at about 5 and went to dinner with his mom, which was sushi! Which was amazing! After dinner we made the drive to Portland and put our few possessions and ourselves in the sister's basement. Who by the way is nine months pregnant and extremely generous for allowing us to stay there.

So we're moving in on the 12th, the only difference being that the couple is no longer a couple (they are married, but taking a bit of a break and seeming really mature about it which is kind of nice to see in people our age). I suppose it will be an even bigger help than we expected so that Sam can get on her feet and settled more easily.

I do believe that is about it for me. My sister was in town and I saw her quite a bit which was a really nice transition to Portland. Plus we have a LOT of friends up here :) and they have all expressed how happy they are that we are close.

Addition:
All-in-All its been really nice to just finally be up here, even if we aren't quite settled. That limbo sort of feeling when you don't belong one place or another is never an easy one to deal with. But now I must check on my finances and see how deep the rabbit hole really goes when you move.

later!

In the Great White North

2008-08-24T05:23:00.000-07:00

Attached to the North-Eastern-ish end of the Great Lake Huron is a huge bay, Georgian Bay to be exact. The wedding was yesterday and was absolutely beautiful. There will be pictures as soon as Alex and I get home and move (which by the way, is a little bit of a disaster, but that's a story for another time).
Now, however, it is time to walk down to the dining hall and have breakfast. Next week I might go more in depth about the trip.

Vacation Notice (plus food)

2008-08-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

I ALMOST FORGOT TO BLOG TODAY!!!!

Thanks goodness I am currently three hours ahead you schmucks (and by schmucks I mean loved ones).
Alex and I made it through our flight to Pittsburgh PA with little scathing but little sleep. Our flights were on time but our fellow passengers were not so nice about leaving their reading lights on. My father had warned me prior to the flight that I should find myself one of those sleeping masks, but they've always seemed so dramatic, however useful they might mean. So, not too much sleep, but much fun to be found upon our arrival.

We stumbled on a fellow wedding goer in the airport before renting our car. She had had some troubles getting there at the time she had planned to, and luckily got into PA just a half hour before us. We took this sorry traveler with us and drove the hour out of town to get to the bride and groom's house (almost finished being built but not quite). The half completed state of the home along with the general layout and sheer number of windows reminds me a great deal of Lake Tahoe. To top it off we are staying in the groom's parent's guest house (their property is across the country road from the bride and groom) which is eerily similar to the little house. This feels more like a vacation than I could have ever expected it to. Exciting!

We made dinner last night for ten. A success! Alex and I have this wonderful hominy dish that he invented some time ago. In fact, here, let me give it to you:

K & A's Magical Hominy
Chop into desired shape and combine with desired amount of oil:
1 sweet onion (we prefer wallawalla's)
Saute over medium heat until just starting to brown and then add:
1-3 cloves of garlic depending on garlicky preference
After another 2 minutes sprinkle:
2-3 Tbsp Chili Powder
1-2 Tbsp Cumin (we usually grind whole seeds with a mortar and pestle but that's a little involved)
Mix to combine and push to one side of the pan
On the empty side of the pan break:
2-3 eggs
You can mix this first, but Alex and I usually leave them hole and let the whites cook a little before breaking them apart and mixing them into the onion mixture
Now comes the easy part!
Add:
1 can Diced Tomatoes
1 can Hominy
1/2 Tbsp canned diced jalapenos
1 small can olives
salt and pepper to taste
Let this simmer and condense a little, and in the meanwhile grate about:
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese
and:
place about 12-16 tortillas on a baking sheet and sprinkle with water and cover with foil
bake at 200 while you finish your meal (you can also microwave to soften tortillas but we don't own one of those)
When mix has reduced a bit sprinkle the cheese on top and and turn off the heat.
To assemble, layer two to three tortillas and place a small scoop of hominy onto them as well as a small dollop of nonfat plain yogurt (trust me on this, its way better than sour cream this way). Eat like a taco! Yum!
This should make about 8 tacos... about
You can also cook in a non-stick pan with cooking spray, omit the cheese, and eat with one tortilla for a really low calorie low fat meal.

Today, I do not know what awaits us, but the plan for tomorrow is to drive the hour south to Fallingwater. We were hoping we could swing stopping at another of FLW's landmarks on the way to Canada, but I think the time conflict will stress out the bride a bit too much and having been related to a bride, I don't think I want to risk unleashing the wrath of hell. So Fallingwater and then a exploration of the big city - aka Pittsburgh. Oh, and we'll also have to go shopping at some point, but who wants to think about chores.

Now I am feeling a little anti-social for having typed for so long, so enjoy the good food and hopefully I will get a chance to get to you next Sunday, though I'm wary of promising that I will have Internet access at a remote fishing club in Canada.

Don't hold your breath, you might die.

Snap-Shot

2008-08-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

Alex and I are a week away from lift off to vacation and about all my mind can focus on is going over and over the time frame we have left and how we should best use each day to get ready. We have to pack, so I am obsessing over the order in which we should pack things (and by pack, I mean our entire apartment since we are moving less than a week after we get back). Then of course there is packing for the actual trip and how we will manage food once we get there (since we really aren't going to be eating out at all while we are there). And of course, this leaves finances which I need to fully take account of and get a really good picture of where I am at currently and where I will be at when we leave in a week, etc. Like I said, obsessive.

My life currently is simultaneously stressful and mundane, and I feel as though my writing has become redundant, because nothing ever changes. So, as you can imagine, I am having trouble writing something interesting about it. So long as we're being mundane, I could just stick with the usual: the weather.

It has been good, it rained the night before last so yesterday was cooler than usual, but all and all we've seen sunshine and warmth. Blue skies and little white puffy clouds with a slight breeze is what I can deduce from my view out the window. Summer is all too short here, and though the rain and its smell were a nice reprieve, it brings with it the dread of 6+ months of dreariness.

There is only so much you can write about the weather though. Mainly that.

Current events is another option: Bernie Mac died at 50, according to the featured articles on Yahoo!, and America came home with the gold in fencing. I don't know anything about Bernie Mac's work, and I once tried fencing at German Camp but I learned more from "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" than I did there. "Thrust, Perry, Thrust, Perry, GOOD!"

I guess John Edwards had an affair... but I'm not going there.

That's all Yahoo! has given me lately.

Current events here center around how the cops are bad and the hippies hate industry.

We could try work! Yes work: ..... I framed. People picked up the frames. Some of them didn't like it, so I framed them again and they picked it up again.

Um.... I tutored too. In math. It was math-tastic.

Alex's work?: All I know is he watches youtube all day and sometimes has a styrofoam punching contest with his coworkers. I'm still not sure how he gets paid for this. Lucky bastard.

School?? Maybe?: I sent in my application and have to get my transcripts in before I head out for vacation (oh, and thank you cards to my two letter writers). Alex isn't in school right now, but he's been assigned to a studio in portland, so he's all set to go to class there. Hopefully we find a place to live too.

Well, I'm out of ideas. This should give you a pretty good picture of life here, though, I think. I can always elaborate if need be. Just let me know. And I will. Just for you.

Shopping adventures await, I must take my leave of you. Farewell!

Ode to my Stomach

2008-08-03T11:51:00.001-07:00

Oh, what to write about today? Digestion? That sounds fitting.

I was known in college for my "amazing" stomach. I have stress related illnesses that aren't pretty, or fun, or in any way something I should EVER share in detail - with ANYONE. So you're safe from a blog about bowel movements, but you aren't safe from the lessons I've learned from them.

Alex says that my stomach talks, and he means that in a sort of Rice Krispy Cereal sort of way. Not that I snap, crackle, and pop, per-say, but that the gurgling that does go on doesn't ever form words: though it might be kind of crazy if it actually were something living in there (besides bacteria) then I would have a real excuse for this. But as it stands, there is no alien growing in my stomach, so this is all me, and it is something I am responsible for. My stomach may not talk to me directly with words and coherent sentences, but it does send me signals, and they are usually meant to say "what the hell was that all about?!" Over the years I've learned what really pisses my digestive tract off, and this last week with my parents in town, I think I did every last one of those things.

1. I over-ate: this is by far the worst thing I can do. I should be thrilled that in a society where eating gargantuan proportions is the norm that I have a built in system for telling me how completely idiotic that is, but in reality, it just sucks. So, of course, I over-ate on Thursday and Friday. Not so bad since my parents had been in town since Tuesday, but just as painful.

2. I ate things I hadn't eaten in awhile (and in large proportion): I'm a creature of habit through and through, I don't like change mentally or emotionally and I apparently don't like it physically either. Chocolates, meat, fried foods, too much dairy, too many sweets, artificial sweeteners, and not enough fruits and veggies... is that enough change for you?

3. See the mention of fried foods above

4. Apparently artificial sweeteners (the chocolates were sugar free) give me a headache.

5. I can't think of anything else but if my digestive tract could talk, I'm sure it could.

So you see, I over-did it in general this week. It was wonderful to take a week off from eating healthy and losing weight, but it made me realize just how much my body likes the new way I am eating and how much it dislikes the old way. So its back to whole grains and limited oils and sweets (with real sugar if I have them, although I've never had a problem with splenda so I could go that route too) and tons of veggies and fruit throughout the day. It will take me a weeks to adjust back, but it shouldn't be as painful as the last two days.

Alex made sure to make me promise last night that I would start back up on weight watchers again today and take it more seriously. He's done a really good job with making recipes and altering the way he cooks for me, and he didn't get much benefit from my week of reckless eating, so I can see he how he would see this whole thing as rather simple minded. I'm also planning on getting back on the acidophillis and fiber band wagon to get ready for vacation.

Despite the whole food fiasco, it was absolutely wonderful to see my folks, and I am looking forward to making it back down south in October and December this year. I'll be poorer after the move, but I'll have a better schedule for seeing my family, and that (as corny as it sounds) makes me richer.

Well, I've finished my puffed millet cereal and dried currants and I should probably drag Alex out of bed seeing as how its afternoon now. Have a wonderful week and I'll see you back here next time: same blog time, same blog station.

a little more life than usual

2008-07-27T08:50:00.001-07:00

While the rest of my week was the same old stressful, mundane adventure, yesterday got to be something different. Alex and I had decided early on that we would go to the coast this weekend at some point and Saturday seemed like the perfect day.

Now that I am used to waking up all to early, the butt crack of dawn didn't seem quite so huge. So we woke up early and packed up some snacks, a towel, and, of course, cameras and headed out to Florence. We were aiming for a quiet beach at the bottom of what is called Hobbit Trail. An online description of the trail and beach below went as far as to say that you could almost imagine a little hobbit scurrying along beside you as you made your way to the beach. I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't mind meeting Elijah Wood along a secluded trail that leads down to a fairly empty beach. Alex was the closest hobbit I could find, however.

After the Hobbits, we worked our way south through Florence and stopped to eat at a very nice Cafe. We shared a tempeh reuben and potato zucchini cheese pancakes of which I only ate about a third. Not the best move, but they were delicious! After grazing we went further south and explored the dunes. Now, I'm a pretty serious jerk because after those pictures from Hobbit town you're expecting dune photos as well. Unfortunately I don't have any, and you can blame my poor choice of eats. I believe I did not comsume enough calories or water or both yesterday and I set out on the dunes with a splitting headache. About the best I did after a few minutes of exploring was lay out a towel and fall asleep for about an hour while Alex explored. I did wake up once about a half hour in and sit up to look for Alex, only to find him down at the shore walking away from the water with soaked shorts. Does this sound like anyone else you know?

Cue flashback: "Kelly, don't get wet!" "I won't"... I don't think I was once telling the truth.

All in all, despite the headache, it was a great day. I needed a get away pretty seriously and this was the perfect outing. I must be off now, but enjoy the photos and I will be back again next week, like clockwork :)

over and out.

life in the far left lane

2008-07-20T08:05:00.001-07:00

I did not think it would be this difficult to refrain from writing for an entire week.

Q: Why then , you might ask, do I not just write more often.

A: I use writing as a method of digesting all of my mile an hour thoughts, and most journals, no matter where or when I happen to create them, tend to become all too over-dramatized bitch-fests. Therefore, I made the decision to write once a week, which pretty much contains the whining to other outlets. Your welcome!

Back to Life.

Life in Eugene is very different from Southern California, as you might have guessed already. No one is in a hurry, hardly anyone cares what they look like, or if they do they have such an eclectic style that most people I know would assume that they don't. In a nutshell, I would define the general attitude of Eugene as simply being unpressured. These, and other factors make Eugene likes its own planet and this has been a wonderful change for the woman that seemed to do nothing but stress out over trivial things in life.

This isn't to say that I never stress out, however. This past week, for instance, was one of the more stressful ones that I have experienced here. Case in point that you should be grateful that I don't write on a regular basis, or the menagerie of moans, groans, whines, and whimpers, would have been museum worthy by now (if you're talking about a museum devoted to things that annoy people, that is). This stress built up to the point that by Thursday, my only (sort of) day off this week, I was a wreck. So, I put everything aside that morning, and walked down to the river path, and walked around the river path for about 2 hours. Between the cool breezes off the water, the sound of birds and critters in the trees, the happy families sharing the path, and the general peacefulness of it all, I finally got my bearings.

Now, if this scene wasn't enough to calm my nerves, towards the middle of my walk, tied to the fence of a community garden, was a hand made sign on cardboard, that simply said "let it go". Apparently a walk was the right thing to do that morning.

Eugene is its own planet for other reasons as well, primarily its liberalism. I live in the Eugene bubble, and after the college bubble of conservativism, its interesting to see how two bubbles can exist for the same reasons, and yet have completely opposite personalities. Now, I don't really want to talk politics here, but its almost necessary in order to convey this idea, so here it goes: I went to a get together at a friend's house in order to learn more about and discuss the Obama campaign. Obama contributes an interesting dynamic to the Eugene community, in that, we're all so excited about it that we begin to believe that our demographic of voters represents all voters in America. And being the separatist planet that we are, this clearly just isn't the case. During this little get together that I was at, the young man directing it said that Oregon could still swing and be a red state (meaning voting republican). Half of the attendees were aghast that right wing voters lived in their state. The Eugene bubble strikes again.

I suppose the benefit of the liberalism here, is the food. Everybody together now: Excuse me? Food? Yes, food. See, community farms, small privately owned grocery stores that carry organic products, the simple abundance of fresh from the earth produce, its not unique to a liberal society, but the high quantity can be attributed to it. I can buy fresh baked bread from a dozen local businesses, and even a ready made pizza dough. Eugene is a wonderful city for food, for whatever reason you want to attribute to it. Last night, in fact, I invited one of the students that I tutor (the one that I enjoy the most) to come over and have dinner with me before we got to working on Pre-Calculus. We made a pizza from a pre-made dough from a local bakery with red and green bell peppers, red onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and topped with mozzarella soy cheese (I like soy cheese). Nothing like a fresh baked pizza and a huge bowl of fresh fruit to get you ready to do some math... or nap.

And speaking of fresh fruit, I have just finished off the last of what we had last night, and now I must get back to laundry.

Farewell from planet Eugene! and remember to "Let it go" :)

a euphemism of a euphemism of a slang, and then some

2008-07-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

I was considering my blog as I attempted to work out this morning (we'll get back to this point shortly), and I came across a euphemism: the butt crack of dawn; and as I was mentally composing in my head I found myself at a road block. How does one make this euphemism more extreme? If you want to further exaggerate the early hour of the morning, does said crack get bigger, or smaller? And, of course, why? I came up with a few answers.

I began with an analysis of the phrase: why a butt crack? I am guessing that this is based on the slang verb, to moon (revealing one's bottom to another as a rude gesture). It is very early in the morning if the moon is still out, hence, moon becomes butt, which evolves into butt crack, just to be a bit more crass. Thus, I have decided, the bigger the crack, the earlier it must be. Logical, no?

Now, back to working out.

Once upon a time, I ran before school almost every morning. This lasted from eighth grade through my sophomore year of high school. In my junior year, I decided to take a zero period class, which began at the butt crack of dawn, and would require me to get up at the biggest of butt cracks of dawn in order to run. That was just too much ass for my liking. So the running stopped for years. I attempted to start it back up a few times over the years, but apparently you fall out of shape really quickly with these things. "Where am I going with this?" you ask. Today I attempted running again, and this time, perhaps, it will become a more permanent fixture in daily life just like it used to be.

Unfortunately, the outcome was pretty grim, I only ran for about 15 minutes. Its a bit more satisfying to ride instead, as I go very fast and feel like I've actually accomplished something when I've finished. But running is one of the best things you can do to get in shape, and that's my goal, so running it is; even at the expense of a few butt mornings.

By the way, if you have not heard yet, I am working at losing weight currently. I'm almost back down to what has been my "normal" weight of 150 (meaning I don't have to try very hard to maintain it) for, oh, 6 1/2 years. The goal, however, is to get as close to 130 as possible. You'll hear about this progress now and then, so get used to it.

I had better get a shower and get ready for work. What ever happened to observing a day of rest? Perhaps I shall write about this next week, but for now, I must be off.

Peace out.

(PS: I changed the "comments" link to "epiphanies" because I know how inspiring my writing can be and I wanted to make sure the link accurately represented this fact. You can leave an epiphany without being a member of the site, you just have to change your identity to "Open ID")

green, of course, is me.

2008-07-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

And here it goes again, a chronicle of mundane proportions.

No one should be surprised that I chose the green template for my blog. In fact, I have a feeling that the fact didn't even cross your mind because it was so obvious that, of course, Kelly'd choose green. Now that I've mentioned it, though, you are looking around, possibly thinking: "what a pretty, perky, bright shade of green." It was my only choice in the green department, so I can't take too much credit for it.

Now that you've had a moment to look around and get familiar with the green walls here in my blog-land, sit back and enjoy the stories. I'll try to make it a point to tell a few every week so that everyone can stay in the loop as to the life and times of me.