Another month has gone by! Quite scary if you really think about how time gets away from you. And now for some more random things that have been going on or that I have been thinking about.
1) I don't wear makeup very much at all but I want an excuse to wear this stuff. I love looking at all the bright colors, and will have to decide what would look best on me, and maybe plan next Halloween around it. XD
2) My parents finally met Ty's mom a couple of weekends ago when she was in my hometown for a seminar she was teaching. Unfortunately, she got a less than friendly welcome from my dog. Cooper thinks he owns the place, and is very protective of it, so he jumped all over her and tried to bite her a few times. It didn't help that she's afraid of dogs to begin with...sigh. She was perfectly happy to spend time with us anywhere but the house, and we'll have to put him away if she comes back. Had I known she was going to try to come in the house when she did, I definitely would have put him on a leash. Dinner was really nice! We went to a Mongolian-style barbecue much like the Flat Top Grill here, but it was a lot more casual (and less expensive). I want to know where they get yakisoba noodles in this neck of the woods.
3) Tristan and Reese got different jobs. I miss them, but I know they're doing great in their new places. Guess I'll just have to eat at the Great Dane sometime soon. I figured out exactly how much time I have left there (8 weeks + a few hours), and that's only if they can find enough work for me to do. There's usually something, though. Yay. I got recruited for a state job at the university, and there's one that opened up where I used to work! Surprise! I am definitely applying. I have super awesome references for that one, too.
4) We had an unconventionally romantic Valentine's Day :) We went out on a date earlier in the week and I got surprised with anemone flowers (MY FAVORITE ♥) when I came home from work, and then went out for pizza, and it was the most delicious I've had in a LONG time. I also finally got to try Schlitz beer...it's pretty smooth but bites you at the end with the aftertaste, like PBR (the best shitty beer there is). On Valentine's Day we went rollerskating at this rink with really retro lamps on the ceiling that looked cool, but otherwise was kind of run down and shitty (but that's part of the charm and nostalgia) and the driveway was practically impossible to find. On the way in, I was laughing at these two ladies that were sloooooooowly making their way around the rink, hanging onto the side for dear life, but when I put on my roller skates and began stumbling around I felt bad about it. Then I cautiously entered the rink, got more and more comfortable with going normal speed while keeping balance, and in about five minutes I was laughing at them again. There was also a creepy guy with a Hawaiian shirt that was in the middle skating backwards and dancing to every song all by himself and looking at all the ladies who went by...we're pretty sure he's a 'regular.' XD We went to the mall and bought a Classic controller for the Wii, then went home and bought Super Mario RPG from the Wii Shop Channel. I made some pasta dough for homemade bowtie noodles, and played while it rested. Man, fresh pasta is such a lot of work, but still pretty tasty. If I had a pasta roller I would definitely make it again. I made this sauce to go with it, and it was soooooo good. ^^ Then we played some more video games, and called it a night.
5) I am WAY too excited for it to get warm again so I can start growing plants, especially herbs for cooking. I also want to see if the sundrops will recover from my planting them too deep last year. Apparently they spread really quickly.
6) We hosted a potluck last weekend for Ty's tae kwon do club, and had some friends over for dinner last night. We had enough food from the potluck for a whole week of lunches. But only for me, because Ty doesn't like beans or chili. XD I made chicken cordon bleu and these potatoes and an apple-toasted walnut-blue cheese spinach salad for the dinner party and I loved every bite of it, except for when I forgot to take the toothpicks out of the chicken and chomped down on one. Also, Whole Foods has the most delicious (and cute) cakes, and they brought a flourless chocolate one for dessert. mmm ♥ I have been trying a LOT of new recipes lately. Next on my list is pumpkin muffins and toasted coconut shortbread cookies, once the chocolate mint ones I made are gone. I'm surprised I'm not gaining any more weight with how much I've been dealing with food these days and not exercising. Since we moved to a new work building, my access card to the old one that had an exercise room in it got taken away. The day after we moved, someone was bugging my supervisor for the card because it's technically his, so I had to give it back. :(
The last couple of days I have been thinking about the coffee smoothie Molly and I concocted one rainy day with a banana in it, and finally made one for breakfast today, but it wasn't quite as good. I need to have her over again so we can make the good ones.
1.26.2009
things on my mind - that's what blogs are about, right?
Hello there. Just a few things I wanted to share with the world:
1) I finally bought a copy of Let's Make Japanese Food. I decided after two more successful and awesome tasting recipes that I tried from it that I will finally return the library's copy and get my own because I want to keep it that badly. And for nine dollars, it's well worth it, considering the suggested price is thirty dollars or so.
2) I bought a giant bag-o-fabric-and-ribbons from a lady on Craigslist yesterday, and after I agreed to buy it, I was worried because I hadn't asked about fabric colors or anything. Buying fabric without seeing it first is not really a good thing to do - after all, it is made to be seen. It might be really low quality and uncomfortable to wear, or a type or color that you would never consider using, and for what I was paying I was worried about getting my money's worth. Fortunately I just happened to hit the jackpot with suitable decent quality materials for what I wanted to make, plus a bunch of other stuff that I don't have a use for but certainly could figure one out. The wildest color was a pumpkiny neon yellow-orange, but at least it's a solid color (and thankfully so are most of the rest of the fabric pieces). For buying without seeing it first, I did well.
3) I am excited to go home and see my parents and brother and dog this weekend. It's always comforting to go home.
4) After finishing packing up all the files at Ethics for the move, I am pleased that I don't have to work on the day that it is actually being moved. The government agency I work for was created by merging two smaller agencies a year ago, probably due to budget cuts. Everyone in it was split among three separate buildings until today, when they will all be moved together into a much larger fourth building, physically completing the merge. There appears to be a lot of drama between the three offices that I did not know about that I'm glad I'm not there for. I was just happy to be packing for people that actually know that I work for them, know my name and appreciate what I'm doing. I was not at a place like that on the first day of packing, and it frustrated me quite a bit. If I move over half a ton of your paper files 10-15 pounds at a time with one 30-minute break in eight hours for no more pay than I get sitting in front of a computer all day, and you can't even come over and say "thank you for helping me out," you are an ass. It will be interesting to see how the cultures of the three offices will clash. I'm just glad my supervisor (the guy who planned and facilitated the whole move) has his office as far away from these ungrateful out-of-touch bosses as possible. They originally FORGOT to assign him a cube when everyone else was picking theirs out and they plopped him right across the hall from his boss, who appreciates very little of the hard work the guy does for him. How do you forget someone that's doing all your shit work for you?! Fortunately my supervisor complained and got himself out of that mess.
5) I am typing this mostly because I need to see it in writing:
I ESTIMATE THAT I HAVE ROUGHLY SIX WEEKS LEFT AT MY JOB.
1) I finally bought a copy of Let's Make Japanese Food. I decided after two more successful and awesome tasting recipes that I tried from it that I will finally return the library's copy and get my own because I want to keep it that badly. And for nine dollars, it's well worth it, considering the suggested price is thirty dollars or so.
2) I bought a giant bag-o-fabric-and-ribbons from a lady on Craigslist yesterday, and after I agreed to buy it, I was worried because I hadn't asked about fabric colors or anything. Buying fabric without seeing it first is not really a good thing to do - after all, it is made to be seen. It might be really low quality and uncomfortable to wear, or a type or color that you would never consider using, and for what I was paying I was worried about getting my money's worth. Fortunately I just happened to hit the jackpot with suitable decent quality materials for what I wanted to make, plus a bunch of other stuff that I don't have a use for but certainly could figure one out. The wildest color was a pumpkiny neon yellow-orange, but at least it's a solid color (and thankfully so are most of the rest of the fabric pieces). For buying without seeing it first, I did well.
3) I am excited to go home and see my parents and brother and dog this weekend. It's always comforting to go home.
4) After finishing packing up all the files at Ethics for the move, I am pleased that I don't have to work on the day that it is actually being moved. The government agency I work for was created by merging two smaller agencies a year ago, probably due to budget cuts. Everyone in it was split among three separate buildings until today, when they will all be moved together into a much larger fourth building, physically completing the merge. There appears to be a lot of drama between the three offices that I did not know about that I'm glad I'm not there for. I was just happy to be packing for people that actually know that I work for them, know my name and appreciate what I'm doing. I was not at a place like that on the first day of packing, and it frustrated me quite a bit. If I move over half a ton of your paper files 10-15 pounds at a time with one 30-minute break in eight hours for no more pay than I get sitting in front of a computer all day, and you can't even come over and say "thank you for helping me out," you are an ass. It will be interesting to see how the cultures of the three offices will clash. I'm just glad my supervisor (the guy who planned and facilitated the whole move) has his office as far away from these ungrateful out-of-touch bosses as possible. They originally FORGOT to assign him a cube when everyone else was picking theirs out and they plopped him right across the hall from his boss, who appreciates very little of the hard work the guy does for him. How do you forget someone that's doing all your shit work for you?! Fortunately my supervisor complained and got himself out of that mess.
5) I am typing this mostly because I need to see it in writing:
I ESTIMATE THAT I HAVE ROUGHLY SIX WEEKS LEFT AT MY JOB.
1.02.2009
デンガクだいすき
Usually when I try to make Asian food, and Japanese food in particular, I can never seem to make it correctly if I have not already eaten it before because I don't know what it is supposed to taste like, but I make it anyway, and feel that my version somehow does not quite taste how it should.
And now for something that completely broke that trend: dengaku. I had borrowed this cookbook from the library and was looking through it for things that sounded good (I will most likely end up buying a copy because just about everything in it sounds tasty and easy enough to attempt), and came across eggplant dengaku = grilled eggplant with a caramelized sweet miso sauce baked on. Traditionally tofu is used instead of eggplant (see the picture - the one on the right is your most basic kind), and it's grilled on skewers. I had only had the dengaku sauce before, made by my dear host mother at home, and we had it on boiled tofu and vegetables. Normally dengaku is something you'd find at a street food stall or alongside yakitori. I had eggplant in the fridge and a hankering for miso so I decided to give the recipe a whirl, and I have rarely been so satisfied with a first try at a Japanese recipe. I also had some tofu that was getting old so I squeezed the water out, browned it with the eggplant, and while both were really really good, I liked the tofu better. It's a hell of a lot of soy at once, but at least it's good for you (minus the shit tons of salt).
Bonus: Ty loves it. I always feel great when I try a new recipe he's skeptical about and he ends up liking it. I feel even better when I like it too.
I also cooked a lot of things for the "Classy New Year party" we had at our house on Wednesday night: Salt and Pepper Cheese Puffs (very easy, very tasty and pretty fatty), Double Chocolate Pecan Brownies (I love exploring Maki's blog entries and this recipe of hers is AMAZING), hummus with sun-dried tomatoes (which are tasty but have the texture of shoe leather...I eventually let the blender chop them up instead of trying to cut them with a knife), fresh fruit, and I was going to attempt calamari but ran out of time and I'd had enough of cooking by then. Instead I washed all the dishes, changed into my dress and had fun the rest of the night, and woke up to a clean kitchen. Perhaps my favorite part of the preparation was going to Dig & Save, the last-chance store for items that didn't sell in this particular organization's thrift stores, where you pay for everything by the pound, for some supplies. We couldn't have a CLASSY party if people drank wine out of pint glasses and plastic cups, after all. We found some mostly ridiculous wine glasses (25th Anniversary ones and the like), two heavy glass bar-style shooter glasses, two brown and green Chinese tea cups that remind me of the kind Dianne had when I lived with her, and two Asian-styled black plates that exactly match Ty's rice bowl, in immaculate condition. (We were lucky that day! Many things at the Dig & Save are chipped, cracked, scratched, broken, dirty and/or ugly.) We paid less than $3 for everything :) The party itself ended up rather low-key, but raging parties are not all that classy. It was nice to be able to sit and chat with everyone for a while - there were few enough people so that you could spend a decent amount of time with each person. Most of those that said they would definitely show up did not, but the people who showed up in their place were just as awesome. We also had a few more crashers than planned, but with a whole house to share, it was comfy :) The least classy we got was listening to a couple of Wesley Willis songs because someone there had no idea who he was and we needed to give him one...haha.
And now I'm going to enjoy two MORE days off (for the last two weeks I have been off Wednesday and Thursday from work due to the office being closed for holidays) after working today. Other than how much money I'm not making, I really could get used to this schedule...
And now for something that completely broke that trend: dengaku. I had borrowed this cookbook from the library and was looking through it for things that sounded good (I will most likely end up buying a copy because just about everything in it sounds tasty and easy enough to attempt), and came across eggplant dengaku = grilled eggplant with a caramelized sweet miso sauce baked on. Traditionally tofu is used instead of eggplant (see the picture - the one on the right is your most basic kind), and it's grilled on skewers. I had only had the dengaku sauce before, made by my dear host mother at home, and we had it on boiled tofu and vegetables. Normally dengaku is something you'd find at a street food stall or alongside yakitori. I had eggplant in the fridge and a hankering for miso so I decided to give the recipe a whirl, and I have rarely been so satisfied with a first try at a Japanese recipe. I also had some tofu that was getting old so I squeezed the water out, browned it with the eggplant, and while both were really really good, I liked the tofu better. It's a hell of a lot of soy at once, but at least it's good for you (minus the shit tons of salt).Bonus: Ty loves it. I always feel great when I try a new recipe he's skeptical about and he ends up liking it. I feel even better when I like it too.
I also cooked a lot of things for the "Classy New Year party" we had at our house on Wednesday night: Salt and Pepper Cheese Puffs (very easy, very tasty and pretty fatty), Double Chocolate Pecan Brownies (I love exploring Maki's blog entries and this recipe of hers is AMAZING), hummus with sun-dried tomatoes (which are tasty but have the texture of shoe leather...I eventually let the blender chop them up instead of trying to cut them with a knife), fresh fruit, and I was going to attempt calamari but ran out of time and I'd had enough of cooking by then. Instead I washed all the dishes, changed into my dress and had fun the rest of the night, and woke up to a clean kitchen. Perhaps my favorite part of the preparation was going to Dig & Save, the last-chance store for items that didn't sell in this particular organization's thrift stores, where you pay for everything by the pound, for some supplies. We couldn't have a CLASSY party if people drank wine out of pint glasses and plastic cups, after all. We found some mostly ridiculous wine glasses (25th Anniversary ones and the like), two heavy glass bar-style shooter glasses, two brown and green Chinese tea cups that remind me of the kind Dianne had when I lived with her, and two Asian-styled black plates that exactly match Ty's rice bowl, in immaculate condition. (We were lucky that day! Many things at the Dig & Save are chipped, cracked, scratched, broken, dirty and/or ugly.) We paid less than $3 for everything :) The party itself ended up rather low-key, but raging parties are not all that classy. It was nice to be able to sit and chat with everyone for a while - there were few enough people so that you could spend a decent amount of time with each person. Most of those that said they would definitely show up did not, but the people who showed up in their place were just as awesome. We also had a few more crashers than planned, but with a whole house to share, it was comfy :) The least classy we got was listening to a couple of Wesley Willis songs because someone there had no idea who he was and we needed to give him one...haha.
And now I'm going to enjoy two MORE days off (for the last two weeks I have been off Wednesday and Thursday from work due to the office being closed for holidays) after working today. Other than how much money I'm not making, I really could get used to this schedule...
12.28.2008
Christmas!
Christmas just kind of sneaked up on me this year, to be honest. I organized a family gift exchange again this year, and I didn't buy gifts until a week before. They didn't get to my brother on time. Well, one did, but his 9 pound cast iron skillet didn't - it's supposed to get there tomorrow. I'm still working on presents! My dad came to get me on very short notice due to weather conditions, and I went back to my parents' house. I cooked and baked for three straight days with my mom - I love cooking, but it was REALLY tiring. My dad was being kind of immature about things on Christmas Eve and so we ended up opening presents the morning of the 25th at his request, and after that he got better. I got an external hard drive from the gift exchange (yay I can back up my stuff!), a pink, brown and white plaid cashmere scarf (from when my brother and sister-in-law honeymooned in Italy), two pairs of much needed pajama pants from my other brother, money from my parents (it's going toward new clothes), and a DVD of Base Ball Bear's music videos from Ty (with an unreleased song on the credits!!), plus a few more surprise presents he's bringing home for me today. He also said he found me raspberry ginger ale, which I have fond memories of drinking when I was a little girl, and which I have not been able to find in any grocery store (but he did when he went home)!
Best part: Nobody made me go to church. I did hear about how my parents don't like that none of their kids buy into being religious despite their best efforts. My dad doesn't understand, though...he thinks "all those liberals" are out to "destroy Christmas" by calling it "the holidays" instead. I asked him if that was more Fox News brainwashing. I think my dad feels like he can unload all his political baggage on me because of who I work for. Just because I work for government doesn't mean I'm interested in hearing you talk about your political beliefs, especially when you don't let me explain why I believe what I do (which is very different from what you believe). I want to tell him that I don't subscribe to religion because it kills people - people do horrible things to each other in the name of beings that probably do not exist and that we have no way of proving the existence of. Everyone thinks their belief system is the best, and especially in the case of Christians, many try to push it onto everyone they know. Religion does not instill morality or control in society. People are dumb, but nonetheless smart enough to know that the wrath of an invisible man in the sky will not be wrought upon them the second they violate rules people have made up for themselves - and those who do believe it are scared. Take a family I know: the daughter is by far the most religious, and also the most disagreeable, maladjusted, and angry. My older brothers have proven to me that you do not need religion to be morally sound, have healthy and meaningful relationships, and enjoy life.
I read the majority of Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood over the break - a typically sort of depressing Japanese novel, but I couldn't put it down. Now I get to start on Mother Tongue! I've always liked Özdamar's writing since a professor translated part of one of her books from German and read it to us in his class. Her writing includes a lot of the mundane but cute and happy things - the happiness of living in the moment, even in foreign surroundings. I think another reason I like her writing is that she writes about the experience of being foreign and exploring and adapting to a place new to her (she's Turkish but permanently moved to Germany when she was young).
It definitely felt like Christmas outside, with a foot and a half of snow on the ground and arm aches from shoveling the driveway. Ours is long and narrow, so we really don't have anywhere to go with it except the sides, which I realized yesterday is not even a good idea because I came back from my parents' house and found some of the musical equipment sitting in 1/2" of water in a pretty unlikely place. Thankfully nothing was powered on and the important parts were not wet, so I just got them up off the floor, cleaned up the cold water and hung up the rug. That's the nice thing about electronics - if they aren't powered on when they get filled with water, most of the time they will be just fine if you let them COMPLETELY dry out before powering on again.
I have been fascinated with Perfume lately, and am really glad they'll be on Kouhaku Utagassen this year (along with Mr.Children and a surprisingly large number of artists I like)! I may actually download and watch it this time! I do wish they'd picked a different song to perform, though. I think that I will always like Electro World. What I like about them so much is that they went through a LOT of hard work to get famous (as opposed to being entirely manufactured), and happened to catch some really good luck just as they were seriously considering throwing in the towel. I also like that they're pop stars who do their own dances for everything, unlike so many others that should dance and don't. I can sort of understand if you don't dance for live performances because very few people can breathe hard and sing well at the same time, but come on! You don't even have to sing well (if at all) for a video and you can't be more entertaining than standing still and doing those horribly contrived hand movements? In short, I believe Perfume has a lot more genuine credibility and talent than most singing groups out there, and they're a lot more deserving of attention, which I am glad they got before they decided to give up. In any case, you have to be decently tough to dance like that in heels for an entire evening. I'm glad they got some fashion direction (90% of their earlier outfits and costumes were crazy in a bad way), and they have one hell of a guy writing their songs. Now if only they would get their hands into writing some of their music or lyrics...
I will leave you with some pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas at my parents' house.
Best part: Nobody made me go to church. I did hear about how my parents don't like that none of their kids buy into being religious despite their best efforts. My dad doesn't understand, though...he thinks "all those liberals" are out to "destroy Christmas" by calling it "the holidays" instead. I asked him if that was more Fox News brainwashing. I think my dad feels like he can unload all his political baggage on me because of who I work for. Just because I work for government doesn't mean I'm interested in hearing you talk about your political beliefs, especially when you don't let me explain why I believe what I do (which is very different from what you believe). I want to tell him that I don't subscribe to religion because it kills people - people do horrible things to each other in the name of beings that probably do not exist and that we have no way of proving the existence of. Everyone thinks their belief system is the best, and especially in the case of Christians, many try to push it onto everyone they know. Religion does not instill morality or control in society. People are dumb, but nonetheless smart enough to know that the wrath of an invisible man in the sky will not be wrought upon them the second they violate rules people have made up for themselves - and those who do believe it are scared. Take a family I know: the daughter is by far the most religious, and also the most disagreeable, maladjusted, and angry. My older brothers have proven to me that you do not need religion to be morally sound, have healthy and meaningful relationships, and enjoy life.
I read the majority of Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood over the break - a typically sort of depressing Japanese novel, but I couldn't put it down. Now I get to start on Mother Tongue! I've always liked Özdamar's writing since a professor translated part of one of her books from German and read it to us in his class. Her writing includes a lot of the mundane but cute and happy things - the happiness of living in the moment, even in foreign surroundings. I think another reason I like her writing is that she writes about the experience of being foreign and exploring and adapting to a place new to her (she's Turkish but permanently moved to Germany when she was young).
It definitely felt like Christmas outside, with a foot and a half of snow on the ground and arm aches from shoveling the driveway. Ours is long and narrow, so we really don't have anywhere to go with it except the sides, which I realized yesterday is not even a good idea because I came back from my parents' house and found some of the musical equipment sitting in 1/2" of water in a pretty unlikely place. Thankfully nothing was powered on and the important parts were not wet, so I just got them up off the floor, cleaned up the cold water and hung up the rug. That's the nice thing about electronics - if they aren't powered on when they get filled with water, most of the time they will be just fine if you let them COMPLETELY dry out before powering on again.
I have been fascinated with Perfume lately, and am really glad they'll be on Kouhaku Utagassen this year (along with Mr.Children and a surprisingly large number of artists I like)! I may actually download and watch it this time! I do wish they'd picked a different song to perform, though. I think that I will always like Electro World. What I like about them so much is that they went through a LOT of hard work to get famous (as opposed to being entirely manufactured), and happened to catch some really good luck just as they were seriously considering throwing in the towel. I also like that they're pop stars who do their own dances for everything, unlike so many others that should dance and don't. I can sort of understand if you don't dance for live performances because very few people can breathe hard and sing well at the same time, but come on! You don't even have to sing well (if at all) for a video and you can't be more entertaining than standing still and doing those horribly contrived hand movements? In short, I believe Perfume has a lot more genuine credibility and talent than most singing groups out there, and they're a lot more deserving of attention, which I am glad they got before they decided to give up. In any case, you have to be decently tough to dance like that in heels for an entire evening. I'm glad they got some fashion direction (90% of their earlier outfits and costumes were crazy in a bad way), and they have one hell of a guy writing their songs. Now if only they would get their hands into writing some of their music or lyrics...
I will leave you with some pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas at my parents' house.
12.21.2008
It was 10 below zero when I woke up this morning --- at 9 AM.
I had a dream that Perfume was having a concert, and somehow I'd been chosen to fill in for A~chan because she broke her leg. I was fine until I realized I only knew how to dance to the first part of one of their songs, and then I got all nervous...and woke up.
I had a dream that Perfume was having a concert, and somehow I'd been chosen to fill in for A~chan because she broke her leg. I was fine until I realized I only knew how to dance to the first part of one of their songs, and then I got all nervous...and woke up.
12.04.2008
あと少し
There's just a little bit left, for a lot of things. Only a few more days left to study for the JLPT. It's round 2 for me since I failed last year, and since I've been studying off and on for the last 3 months I feel like I'm better prepared. I'm planning to really hit the kanji and vocabulary hard, since that tends to stay with me really well in the short term. Ty's the only one of us with a car (and he's not even taking the test...) and he's taking me and Collin and Alaina, and we may even make a stop at Mitsuwa before the test! Yay :)
I feel like time's running out at my job too, since they've kept saying they're running out of work for us to do, and I bet once there's no more work to do we get the boot. Worst case scenario (not official, only in my head) is that they just won't have us come back after Christmas. In any case, I'm dead sure we won't be staying to the end of March as originally told to us. Guess it's time to hit the old job ads again...and prospects are looking pretty grim. But that can't stop me from trying!
I got my new rain boots after a little bit of a circus with the bank, and they're wonderful. They're smelly like rubber, but that should go away with use. I'm going to use them in the snow too, and have decided to make fleece socks to line them instead of paying $30 for a pair made especially for the boots. I come home every night with the best intentions, but don't really feel like making them again until I'm running to the bus at 8 AM and can't feel my toes.
This week I've had a couple of REALLY nice days. On Monday everything just seemed great - food tasted better than usual, I felt like socializing with my coworkers (and did), I exercised in the fitness room, and got a lot of shit done after going home from work. It was amazing. Yesterday was really nice too, even though I woke up feeling shitty. My favorite part was study group for the JLPT and Aki's little surprise birthday gathering. He had been wanting to try Greenbush Bakery donuts for a long time, and we got a dozen and brought him to our house to share them, along with Dave. Merlot and donuts - a classy snack. I don't like cake donuts but holy shit were the ones from Greenbush good! They make every kind of delicious there. We also had mugwort tea, funny videos and tarot card readings. I think the tea just made everything better.
Winter has officially come again and dumped a few inches of snow everywhere. I have things I like about winter and things I don't like. I've decided I really like outerwear (nice coats, hats, scarves and mittens) and winter is when you get to wear them all the time. I like how most people look in coats and hats and stuff. They look more warm and friendly somehow (in most cases). I like glowing lights and there are plenty of them outside and lots of dark to see them in. They're really pretty with snow too. I like the way snow looks on most things (but I don't like that it's wet and cold). I like big floaty flakes of snow and the really tiny kind that looks like glitter falling from the sky. Cold seems to bring people closer together, literally, mostly in the form of huddles, but being closer to people can be nice. I can really appreciate hot food and hot tea. I do not, however, enjoy that rooms are a lot colder, and even with the heat on I have to wear a lot of clothes, and when you just can't get warm enough, you burrow into your bed and can't do anything but try to warm up. I get scared sliding around on the road in a car when roads are not plowed.
I started this entry on Thursday, and it is now Saturday morning. Time to go and do things. Time for breakfast, possibly a haircut, and going to the new tea house on State Street for some last-minute kanji study before the JLPT. Then time for an amazing gourmet meal that I didn't cook :D
I feel like time's running out at my job too, since they've kept saying they're running out of work for us to do, and I bet once there's no more work to do we get the boot. Worst case scenario (not official, only in my head) is that they just won't have us come back after Christmas. In any case, I'm dead sure we won't be staying to the end of March as originally told to us. Guess it's time to hit the old job ads again...and prospects are looking pretty grim. But that can't stop me from trying!
I got my new rain boots after a little bit of a circus with the bank, and they're wonderful. They're smelly like rubber, but that should go away with use. I'm going to use them in the snow too, and have decided to make fleece socks to line them instead of paying $30 for a pair made especially for the boots. I come home every night with the best intentions, but don't really feel like making them again until I'm running to the bus at 8 AM and can't feel my toes.
This week I've had a couple of REALLY nice days. On Monday everything just seemed great - food tasted better than usual, I felt like socializing with my coworkers (and did), I exercised in the fitness room, and got a lot of shit done after going home from work. It was amazing. Yesterday was really nice too, even though I woke up feeling shitty. My favorite part was study group for the JLPT and Aki's little surprise birthday gathering. He had been wanting to try Greenbush Bakery donuts for a long time, and we got a dozen and brought him to our house to share them, along with Dave. Merlot and donuts - a classy snack. I don't like cake donuts but holy shit were the ones from Greenbush good! They make every kind of delicious there. We also had mugwort tea, funny videos and tarot card readings. I think the tea just made everything better.
Winter has officially come again and dumped a few inches of snow everywhere. I have things I like about winter and things I don't like. I've decided I really like outerwear (nice coats, hats, scarves and mittens) and winter is when you get to wear them all the time. I like how most people look in coats and hats and stuff. They look more warm and friendly somehow (in most cases). I like glowing lights and there are plenty of them outside and lots of dark to see them in. They're really pretty with snow too. I like the way snow looks on most things (but I don't like that it's wet and cold). I like big floaty flakes of snow and the really tiny kind that looks like glitter falling from the sky. Cold seems to bring people closer together, literally, mostly in the form of huddles, but being closer to people can be nice. I can really appreciate hot food and hot tea. I do not, however, enjoy that rooms are a lot colder, and even with the heat on I have to wear a lot of clothes, and when you just can't get warm enough, you burrow into your bed and can't do anything but try to warm up. I get scared sliding around on the road in a car when roads are not plowed.
I started this entry on Thursday, and it is now Saturday morning. Time to go and do things. Time for breakfast, possibly a haircut, and going to the new tea house on State Street for some last-minute kanji study before the JLPT. Then time for an amazing gourmet meal that I didn't cook :D
10.08.2008
you can have her, I don't want her, she's too fat for me (hey!)
Plenty of good things have been happening. Fall is a magical season. Forget about Christmas and all that.
First, I was able to get a new job and quit Cosi. I liked the majority of my coworkers and preparing food and having so much contact with the mostly nice public, but the company treats their employees like crap. No amount of free drink is going to make up for the number of times I have been kept late and not been given the few days off I requested, which I warned them about weeks in advance. I now work processing voter registration applications, and so far I have opened thousands of envelopes and looked up thousands of addresses so that we know which county/city clerk to send the applications to. Getting guaranteed full time hours, never having to stay late unless I want to (AND getting paid extra for overtime!), and generally doing less work for more money makes me happy. I don't feel as much rapport with the people there, but when you're sitting at a computer all day you don't have a whole lot of time to socialize, and you don't have to work together there as closely as you need to at a restaurant.
Second, I went last weeekend to Seattle for Zach and Jenny's wedding. I got up at 4:15 Thursday morning and was there by 11:30. Zach's house got a lot of the projects done that came up when I was there last year (rewiring all the electricity in the entire house, painting the bathroom and dining room, staining and installing the new front door), and it's looking a bit more homey. Oscar was happy to see everybody :) I also tried Gorditos for the first time, which is this Mexican restaurant that my mom cannot get enough of and tells everyone who will listen several times about how good it is. My burrito and the tacos were kind of bland, but the salsa was delicious. I helped make the programs for the wedding at his house too. We went shopping at Pike Place Market too. I sampled some treats and found this shop that sells bulk spices and loose tea, and they had the garam masala I so dearly wanted to try, and I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for it like I would back home. I kind of wanted to go to See's and buy some chocolate or at least get a sample, but I need that like I need a hole in my head.
I got my first ever pedicure last Friday. It kind of tickles, and wasn't as painful as I was expecting it to be. My feet are all pretty now, and they were really soft for the whole day after. Since nail polish is the last thing they put on and it's not usually dry by the time you leave, they give you paper sandals to wear so you don't mess it up. I thought that was funny. We then went out into the country for a bridal luncheon that Jenny's friend Alicia and her mother threw for her. They have a REALLY nice house and they're both really sweet. I loved everything there. Zach and Jenny picked a malt shop (Blue Moon Burgers) for their rehearsal dinner, and it was AWESOME. The food was delicious. It was a first for the restaurant, too - they closed 2 1/2 hours early just for us. I think they got a lot more business from us than they would have had otherwise...about 15 people showed up at the door while we were there.
The day of the wedding (Saturday) we spent all morning and most of the afternoon just getting ready. Kelly did everyone's hair, and I wore makeup for the first time in a couple of years. I still can't believe she was able to make my hair stay in spiral curls for more than half an hour! I felt very pretty. We went straight from the apartment to the Palace Ballroom and waited around for the bride and groom to get there to have pictures taken. As sisters of the groom, it was our duty to hand out programs to the guests. It was a fun job, especially with the event coordinator girl being cool and my brother and Jenny's brother there for ushers. I have a bit of a crush on one of Zach's friends because he's quite genial, good for intelligent conversation, and British, so he greets ladies with a kiss on the cheek. ^^ The ceremony itself was a lot more moving than I thought it might be...maybe because I know both people so well. The most emotional part for me is when the bride walks in and everyone stands up for her. My brother actually got kind of choked up during his vows. I don't think I've ever seen him cry. Come to think of it, I'd never seen him kiss Jenny at all until the ceremony. (Quite different from my boyfriend, who is very affectionate, even around my family.) Dinner was really awesome because the Palace Ballroom is chef Tom Douglas' event space, and he's a local celebrity of sorts that makes really good food. He did not make an appearance (I doubt he personally cooked the food or was even there) but it was really unique and delicious. It was also awesome because Zach sat me next to his British friend at the table and we talked through dinner. Jenny's mom baked a really awesome cake, too. :D My dad (the best man) gave a really cool speech at the wedding. The dancing was a hell of a lot of fun. I had NO idea Zach's friends were all such great dancers!! They were better than most of the girls and so much fun to watch. Jenny stabbed my foot with her shoe heel (she wore red shoes with her dress, which I think is a kickass idea) and my foot bled for a bit, but that didn't stop me XD I even taught the British guy and Jenny's father how to dance polka. Too bad British guy ended up talking to event planner girl all night and I didn't get to hang out with him after that. Hell, one of Zach's friends that was there by himself (but has a girlfriend) acted as a sort of "date" for Kelly's friend XD My date left me :( oh well. at least he said goodbye at 2 AM :)
All in all, this Seattle trip was a smashingly fun time. I felt very welcome, both with Zach and Jenny as well as all their friends that I'd only met a few times before. My dad even said that he was happy his son and daughter in law have such awesome friends. It's something that gets you feeling very thankful and lucky. I felt the same when Ty and I were able to enlist 15 friends to help us move into our house in June. You know you're surrounded by good people when you can get them to help you out with a shit job like that.
Other things
1) I found out how my herb pots keep ending up dumped over outside. I went out to my bike yesterday morning and found a squirrel tipping them off the back ledge. Sneaky little bugger.
2) Thickening curry with frozen yellow squash was definitely a good idea. It adds a lot of color without being spicy, lends a potato-y texture and flavor, makes it sweeter, and it's a lot healthier than coconut milk.
3) Garam masala was that last little missing piece to make curry that tastes complete.
4) It was raining hard yesterday on the way home, and I rode my bike. I got to the park and about 80 ducks were sitting all over the path and in the puddles in the grass. Hearing them all quacking and watching them lazily waddle out of the way made me smile. I like ducks.
Also, hooray for getting Hunter wellies for $35!! I wanted red ones, but couldn't justify paying $120 for them. Then tonight I go online and find a website with one certain color in my size on sale for a ridiculous $29.99. I really wanted red, but for the quality and the price, I decided I could settle for light blue. It certainly isn't the worst color I could have ended up with, and it's a bright color, something raingear should be to offset the dreary day, and light blue is neutral enough to work with too :)
I love fall.
First, I was able to get a new job and quit Cosi. I liked the majority of my coworkers and preparing food and having so much contact with the mostly nice public, but the company treats their employees like crap. No amount of free drink is going to make up for the number of times I have been kept late and not been given the few days off I requested, which I warned them about weeks in advance. I now work processing voter registration applications, and so far I have opened thousands of envelopes and looked up thousands of addresses so that we know which county/city clerk to send the applications to. Getting guaranteed full time hours, never having to stay late unless I want to (AND getting paid extra for overtime!), and generally doing less work for more money makes me happy. I don't feel as much rapport with the people there, but when you're sitting at a computer all day you don't have a whole lot of time to socialize, and you don't have to work together there as closely as you need to at a restaurant.
Second, I went last weeekend to Seattle for Zach and Jenny's wedding. I got up at 4:15 Thursday morning and was there by 11:30. Zach's house got a lot of the projects done that came up when I was there last year (rewiring all the electricity in the entire house, painting the bathroom and dining room, staining and installing the new front door), and it's looking a bit more homey. Oscar was happy to see everybody :) I also tried Gorditos for the first time, which is this Mexican restaurant that my mom cannot get enough of and tells everyone who will listen several times about how good it is. My burrito and the tacos were kind of bland, but the salsa was delicious. I helped make the programs for the wedding at his house too. We went shopping at Pike Place Market too. I sampled some treats and found this shop that sells bulk spices and loose tea, and they had the garam masala I so dearly wanted to try, and I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for it like I would back home. I kind of wanted to go to See's and buy some chocolate or at least get a sample, but I need that like I need a hole in my head.
I got my first ever pedicure last Friday. It kind of tickles, and wasn't as painful as I was expecting it to be. My feet are all pretty now, and they were really soft for the whole day after. Since nail polish is the last thing they put on and it's not usually dry by the time you leave, they give you paper sandals to wear so you don't mess it up. I thought that was funny. We then went out into the country for a bridal luncheon that Jenny's friend Alicia and her mother threw for her. They have a REALLY nice house and they're both really sweet. I loved everything there. Zach and Jenny picked a malt shop (Blue Moon Burgers) for their rehearsal dinner, and it was AWESOME. The food was delicious. It was a first for the restaurant, too - they closed 2 1/2 hours early just for us. I think they got a lot more business from us than they would have had otherwise...about 15 people showed up at the door while we were there.
The day of the wedding (Saturday) we spent all morning and most of the afternoon just getting ready. Kelly did everyone's hair, and I wore makeup for the first time in a couple of years. I still can't believe she was able to make my hair stay in spiral curls for more than half an hour! I felt very pretty. We went straight from the apartment to the Palace Ballroom and waited around for the bride and groom to get there to have pictures taken. As sisters of the groom, it was our duty to hand out programs to the guests. It was a fun job, especially with the event coordinator girl being cool and my brother and Jenny's brother there for ushers. I have a bit of a crush on one of Zach's friends because he's quite genial, good for intelligent conversation, and British, so he greets ladies with a kiss on the cheek. ^^ The ceremony itself was a lot more moving than I thought it might be...maybe because I know both people so well. The most emotional part for me is when the bride walks in and everyone stands up for her. My brother actually got kind of choked up during his vows. I don't think I've ever seen him cry. Come to think of it, I'd never seen him kiss Jenny at all until the ceremony. (Quite different from my boyfriend, who is very affectionate, even around my family.) Dinner was really awesome because the Palace Ballroom is chef Tom Douglas' event space, and he's a local celebrity of sorts that makes really good food. He did not make an appearance (I doubt he personally cooked the food or was even there) but it was really unique and delicious. It was also awesome because Zach sat me next to his British friend at the table and we talked through dinner. Jenny's mom baked a really awesome cake, too. :D My dad (the best man) gave a really cool speech at the wedding. The dancing was a hell of a lot of fun. I had NO idea Zach's friends were all such great dancers!! They were better than most of the girls and so much fun to watch. Jenny stabbed my foot with her shoe heel (she wore red shoes with her dress, which I think is a kickass idea) and my foot bled for a bit, but that didn't stop me XD I even taught the British guy and Jenny's father how to dance polka. Too bad British guy ended up talking to event planner girl all night and I didn't get to hang out with him after that. Hell, one of Zach's friends that was there by himself (but has a girlfriend) acted as a sort of "date" for Kelly's friend XD My date left me :( oh well. at least he said goodbye at 2 AM :)
All in all, this Seattle trip was a smashingly fun time. I felt very welcome, both with Zach and Jenny as well as all their friends that I'd only met a few times before. My dad even said that he was happy his son and daughter in law have such awesome friends. It's something that gets you feeling very thankful and lucky. I felt the same when Ty and I were able to enlist 15 friends to help us move into our house in June. You know you're surrounded by good people when you can get them to help you out with a shit job like that.
Other things
1) I found out how my herb pots keep ending up dumped over outside. I went out to my bike yesterday morning and found a squirrel tipping them off the back ledge. Sneaky little bugger.
2) Thickening curry with frozen yellow squash was definitely a good idea. It adds a lot of color without being spicy, lends a potato-y texture and flavor, makes it sweeter, and it's a lot healthier than coconut milk.
3) Garam masala was that last little missing piece to make curry that tastes complete.
4) It was raining hard yesterday on the way home, and I rode my bike. I got to the park and about 80 ducks were sitting all over the path and in the puddles in the grass. Hearing them all quacking and watching them lazily waddle out of the way made me smile. I like ducks.
Also, hooray for getting Hunter wellies for $35!! I wanted red ones, but couldn't justify paying $120 for them. Then tonight I go online and find a website with one certain color in my size on sale for a ridiculous $29.99. I really wanted red, but for the quality and the price, I decided I could settle for light blue. It certainly isn't the worst color I could have ended up with, and it's a bright color, something raingear should be to offset the dreary day, and light blue is neutral enough to work with too :)
I love fall.
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