Saturday Sweatiness

Our apartment now has two window air conditioners. There's a small one in the bedroom courtesy of my parents (it's one that I used while in college) and a larger one in the dining room provided by the apartment owner.

Previously, the bedroom was hot and miserable; now it's the cool refuge in the whole apartment. The larger one in the dining room isn't working so well now...which makes for a very hot apartment. The kitchen is never pleasant, but at least the dining room and living room used to be tolerable. Someone is supposed to take a look at it tomorrow...I hope this person doesn't think I'm stupid. The unit puts out cool air, but it isn't cold enough anymore to cool off those two rooms.

Anyway, the point of this is that yesterday, after morning yoga, I decided to continue being sweaty and gross and did things like hang up pictures in the hot rooms, take out the trash, and make baked rosemary-garlic chicken.

Even though I had to suffer with the oven on 375, the chicken was fabulous. I think it was extra tasty because the rosemary came from our plant. Here's a pic:



The salad you see was also tasty. It's couscous with spinach, basil, green onions, and pistachios. The basil also came from our own plants.

I can't wait for our tomato plants to spring forth with fruit. I'm looking forward to lots of tomato and basil dishes.

Okay, so my schedule for today looks like:

• Yoga or other exercise.


• Buy kitchen cart from Weekends Only Furniture. I haven't written about our woes concerning kitchen carts because it's boring. I'm glad to have found some locally that won't be damaged during shipping and can be easily returned if they contain incorrect parts. A kitchen cart is necessary because we still have a few boxes of kitchen items and no where to put them.


• Go to a coffee shop and read and/or do internet things.


• Go to Six Flags. Today is Family Appreciation Day (family, as in Six Flags workers' families). Since it seems no one else will use these tickets, I'm going to go in the late afternoon. Porkchop and I will be able to ride a few things after she finishes drawing at 7:00. In the hours between 4:00 and 7:00, I will hang out at the caricature booth. I'm looking forward to watching Porkchop do some caricatures, but I don't look forward to having be around other people at Six Flags.

All for now! Have a great Sunday!

Oh, Nino

Circus Flora was tops again this year (ha! tops! big top...tops...no?) with great new acts and reliable local acts.

Sometimes I think the whole ribbon-aerial thing is a bit tired (you know, Cirque du Soleil has done it to death), but there was a duo this year that really amazed everyone. I'll have to look at my program again for their names (they're these people). You could definitely sense the bond between them, and everything was amazing and beautiful.

The Flying Wallendas weren't as spectacular this year because they only did a 3-person pyramid instead of a 7-person one. Yes, we quickly become spoiled. A 3-person pyramid with 2 people on bicycles on a tightrope without a safety net is still freaking amazing.

Li'l Donald is still with the St. Louis Arches and once again brought us to tears with his cuteness. So small! He could easily fit in one of our pockets...

Also, Nino had a little Nino this year who was also SO CUTE and pocket-sized.

If you live in St. Louis and don't go to see Circus Flora, you are SO missing out!!!

I love reading the performer bios and imagining what it would be like to be born into a circus family, as many of them are. Growing up on the trapeze or with an elephant? Crazy!

Speaking of things in St. Louis, if you've never been to Serendipity, you're also missing out. Porkchop and I finally went last week, and the ice cream is fabulous. I had gooey butter cake and cappuccino chip. It was a good combination, but next time I hope to have cinnamon and gold coast chocolate.

Can you tell that I'm either:
1. Not so busy with conference things.
2. Ignoring other work and taking long internet breaks.

OR
3. All of the above.

More with the Gap Card

So, I've noticed that I still get quite a few regular hits related to my post about how much the Gap card sucks. Most of these hits result from searches on "how to cancel Gap card."

Here's how to cancel your Gap card folks:

1. Locate your Gap card.


2. Call the toll-free customer service number listed on the back.


3. Listen to the automated menu and select the option entitled, "Cancel your card."


4. Cut up your card and trash it.

Yes, it's surprisingly easy. No customer service reps, no hassle. While Monogram Bank of Georgia often makes it terrifically difficult for you to pay your bill, it's quite easy to cancel the darn thing.

CAN-CEL! CAN-CEL! CAN-CEL!

Yay for the Circus!

Today will be nothing but rainbows because we're going to Circus Flora tonight!

Yay! So many Yays!

You might recall that last year's show brought us to tears over and over. I'm looking forward to more tears, an elephant detective, and a circus snack.

More with the Work
There is a chance that I might be forced to go to the conference next week.

Okay, it would be a bit exciting, but lots of hard work. Hard work when jet lagged and stuck in a hotel equals no fun to me.

There are also other reasons for my non-excited state, but that would be saying too much.

Can I just please stay here in St. Louis and have a few days to do OTHER work? Yes, I do actually have other work to do! Thanks!

UPDATE!
I am NOT going! Yes!

In/Difference

In Asia, cell phones are referred to as "handphones," and this is noted in address books as HP. This is a tidbit that I've learned during conference planning. I find it fascinating.

Our trip to Arkansas was terrific, and we won $20 from a scratch-off ticket. The prize money was reinvested in powerball tickets.

My work week has SUCKED. On Tuesday, I had 3 conference calls: 7:00, 11:00, and 1:00. All lasted over an hour.

This afternoon, I took a quick jaunt to the immigration office downtown on behalf of a co-worker. It's a looooong story. Anyway, TIP: schedule appointments with the immigration officers in the afternoon. It's much less crowded then. Heck, I was the only one there. Also, immigration office building...the best people-watching.

Anyway, I am tired and no longer care if I make mistakes in things like contact lists and bios.

*SIGH*

Mildly Disappointing Curry

Last night, I was excited to make this recipe because it has all the makings of a good curry, for example, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, onions, curry powder, and coconut milk.

But, the name of the recipe is spot-on. It was mild. Too mild. My taste buds were bored beyond belief. The dish isn't gross, it's just ho-hum. It's a curry that you could eat while battling a stomach ailment with no problem whatsoever.

I thought the lunch leftovers might be better, but they weren't.

Anyway, I did learn something while making this dish. I learned that, if you are grinding up ginger, onions, garlic, and lemongrass to a paste, you should not put your nose directly over the concoction for a good whiff. I did this and was temporarily blinded from all of those concentrated fumes! Wow, that hurt! I guess I should have remembered my high school chemistry teacher demonstrating how to correctly waft fumes.

Tonight and Beyond
Yay for Thursdays! After Porkchop picks me up from work, we're going to find something good to eat and then find some presents for my family. We're making a trip to Arkansas tomorrow. I usually make a trip in early June to help celebrate my brother's birthday, my mom's birthday, and Father's Day.

Last night, I requested that my dad make his banana pudding. I'm no longer declaring that my dad makes the best freakin' banana pudding ever because I don't want to offend Porkchop and her family's banana pudding, which she claims is the best ever.

Ah, banana pudding...a hotly contested subject it seems.

Anyway, my dad somehow developed his own recipe, the base of which is the filling for a vanilla creme pie from one of my mom's mom's cookbook. I really like that my dad developed his own recipe.

However, I made my mom promise that my dad would make it with real sugar; he's been using splenda a lot lately, and I think that is disgusting. And unhealthier than real sugar. I also made my mom promise to monitor my dad and make sure that he doesn't put in any add-ins like protein powder.

Last year, while making chocolate gravy, I hear that he destroyed the batch by adding protein powder. If you're eating chocolate gravy, do you really care about the health aspects? Sometimes my dad just simply puzzles me.

But, his banana pudding...totally awesome.

Now I also want chocolate gravy, hold the protein powder.

Pink Plechiness

I was just checking the weather website (because I like to bemoan the heat even when I'm inside) and noticed a big side ad for Ford's "Warriors in Pink" line of products. As you've probably already guessed, this is a line of items meant to support the Susan G. Komen fund.

So, you can buy a 2008 Mustang Warriors in Pink package, which is a Mustang convertible decked out in pink trimming and ribbons and stuff. And, if you buy this package, Ford will donate $250 to the Komen people.

I'm not going to go into the politics behind the Komen fund (read IBTP or Feministing or back articles in Bitch), I merely want to express my amazement of this measly contribution. Wow! A whole $250!!

Hey, don't you think that if Ford really cares about breast cancer research, they could maybe just donate $250...I don't know, thousand or million dollars? Instead they're doing small beans fund raising $250 at a time (and the package is supposedly a limited edition).

Oh, but I guess you could buy some of their crappy-looking Warrior Gear, the net proceeds of which are donated to Komen. You know, Warrior Gear, t-shirts and hats with Ford's stupid "warrior" logo on it...items most likely made by women in the Northern Mariana Islands (or elsewhere in Southeast Asia) who paid $1000 or more for a chance to make over-priced clothing for which they earn maybe half a penny a piece and will never have a chance in hell to pay off their mounting debt that they incurred securing a job and transport to a squalid island that they'll never leave now and never get to see their family again.

So, you have two options to help breast cancer research via Ford: buy an expensive car, the making of which and operation of which pollutes the environment (and, I don't know, perhaps increases the risk of breast cancer...especially if the cars are built in those wonderful EZPs just across the border in Mexico where environmental regulation is nil), or buy crap merch made by women who never get a bathroom break.

Thanks, Ford! You're the best!

P.S.
Don't you find US commonwealths like the Northern Mariana Islands fascinating? Since they're a commonwealth, clothing can be labeled "Made in the USA," yet US labor laws aren't required.

We are so tricky here in the US! What will we think of next?!

Sometimes I'm Amazed

So, I've had a few insurance-related pieces of mail sitting on the dining room table for a couple of days. I thought they were probably just EOBs, so I didn't rush to open them right away. While cleaning off the table tonight, I opened them and was surprised to find that I had received a bill from a medical center for a visit in April (Disney sinus infection) and a statement from my insurance company confirming that I owed this extra amount.

After puzzling over this for a few minutes, I steeled myself for a battle. I called my insurance company and tersely answered the stupid automated operator (how I hate those things! I would much rather press buttons than talk to a robot!).

To my surprise, all was resolved in a matter of a few minutes!! Yay for the Rapid Resolution Department! Love you!

The Rest of my Day
Today started bright and early with another 7 am conference call, which I actually contributed to this time (beyond "Hi"). Things were hectic right off the bat when I got to the office around 10:00.

It didn't help that the admin assistant was on vacation, so I had to do things like make 50 copies of something and prepare a FedEx package. ALSO, people who I NEVER see stopped by needing things. AND I spent 45 minutes on the phone buying plane tickets for someone. AND AND AND, after talking to someone at another foundation who was breathing down my neck the whole day for a document, a project manager (who I usually see every 2 weeks) called and started asking me questions about our university's vision plan, WHICH I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BECAUSE I DON'T REQUIRE VISION ASSISTANCE!!! Also, I WAS BUSY and the information is on the HR website. Then a student stopped by complaining about needing permission for some web folders because she needed to post something before she left today. To which I wanted to say, WHY DIDN'T YOU ASK ME ABOUT THIS MAYBE 5 DAYS AGO, but because I'm polite and courteous, I said, sure, even though I'm super-busy trying to finish something for a very important funder, I will try to help you with your folder permissions. Students! Seriously! Sometimes, no clue what-so-freaking-ever.

That is all. I need dinner now.

A Few Things

I didn't make it to Local Harvest yesterday because washing 3 sets of mini-blinds required more time than expected (two hours instead of 45 minutes).

They were very dirty. Very, very dirty. Also, I forgot to take into account the time required to set up the washing area, the time to pry out reluctant blinds from their mountings, the time to scrub every individual slat, and the time to lay them out to dry.

The rest of Sunday was spent grocery shopping, trying to return keys to Home Depot (fruitlessly, because they were out of key type 66), and cooking.

I'm sore from the blind scrubbing and from yoga. Every time I tell someone that I do yoga and they say something like, "oh, that must be so relaxing," I want to spit in their eyes.

Yes, yoga can be relaxing as you go through the different poses, but it is also hard. HARD. My ass is sore from various lunge series, and my abs burn a bit.

Seriously, what do people think? That yoga means rolling around in a field of daisies while listening to some pan flute music?

Anyway, I'm in one of my rare bad moods today.

Also, my right hand has been tingling since this morning. I'm worried that it's indicative of some neck nerve issues.

*grumble*

I hope your Monday is better than mine.

Life on Montana Street

So, you know what freaks me out?

Hearing gunshots while I sit on the couch, updating my blog.

Yeah...

I've since turned off the front room lights and retreated to the bedroom. You know, I don't want anyone to get the idea to send a bullet through my window or something like that.

Don't worry, this is nothing new, really. We would hear random (as in, not on a holiday or after a Cardinals victory) shots on Arsenal Street, and one night, a police helicopter kept circling our area, shining its spotlight.

Anyway...there are lots of sirens in the distant, which is weird because the shots seemed much closer, but maybe they aren't related.

Well, enough about that...

My day started with a 50-minute massage at Healing Arts Center student clinic (only $30) and is coming to a close with me eating cantaloupe and triple-cream cheese on crackers (and listening to gunshots). Not a bad way to bookend the day (except for the gunshots).

The rest of the day was generally frustrating with me running errands and trying to find things like curtains, shelving for the kitchen, and a kitchen cart. I found everything EXCEPT the kitchen shelving and kitchen cart. Why must these kitchen carts be so freaking expensive! I've finally found one that I actually like online from Home Depot, but it's $190!! Grrr!!!

Porkchop could theoretically build one, but she has no time, what with working 7 days a week and all.

After spending my day driving around and looking at horrible "wood" things, I spent a good part of the evening unpacking. Again. It's hard because I have to be so creative with storing things in the kitchen, which means it takes FOREVER.

Last night, while unpacking my teas, I considered replacing this box, which now holds miscellaneous teas, with something else:



But then I became a bit nostalgic and realized this box has been with me in 8 different apartments. I bought this box of rooibos tea in 1998 in Cambridge, where I spent a week at King's College. Why replace it now? Why not just wait until it falls apart completely?

Scenes from the New Apartment

One of the few pictures we have of the new apartment sans furniture and boxes is this one of the windows in the living room:



Keetah loves the windows in this apartment because the sills are wide enough for her to lie on them. There was only one window in the old apartment with a sill wide enough for Keetah to lounge upon, so I think she actually enjoys this apartment more. See, here she is in the bedroom:



Since the place is still a mess, I will try to distract you with photos of plants...

Our crazy upside-down tomato plants, for example:



Also, our nice-smelling rosemary plant:



Tomorrow, I hope to check out the new local organic store on Morgan Ford....Local Harvest. Since it's only open until 2:00 on Sundays, I'll have to hurry!

Scenes from the Old Apartment

Before moving from Arsenal Street, Porkchop and I tried to take some family portraits with Keetah. Unfortunately, she would have none of our silliness. See...



The other photos are similar. I did manage to finally get this shot, in which Keetah is contemplating the world's problems (or at least wondering why we're not petting and brushing her):



Here are some things I miss from the old apartment...

The awesome fireplaces (we had another one like this, but with green tile) and window casings:



The speaking tube. The other end was by the front door; it was a very effective (and fun) intercom system:



The location! I am still so sad when the bus passes Arsenal, and I'm still on it. Also, having the park as a neighbor can't be beat.



Good-bye super-pretty (yet expensive to heat) apartment!

One Thing Had

Sort of.

On the way home, Porkchop and I stopped at Ba Le so that I could get a red bean slushie.

It wasn't quite as super-fantastic as the ones from the food cart on the UW library mall in Madison, but it's quite close. I will definitely be returning for more. Yum!

We're about to leave to meet a co-worker at Pho Grand. She's treating me to dinner for all of the assistance I've offered for the upcoming conference. I wonder what the most expensive item is...

Things that I Want Right Now

• A croissant filled with goat cheese and green olives.
• A red bean cake.

I'm hungry.

More Blibbity-Blah

Last night, I was on a conference call from approximately 8:00-9:30. My contribution to the conversation was, "Hi."

What a complete and utter waste. Fortunately, since I wasn't an integral part of the conversation, I was able to multi-task and look at things on the Internet. It was still b-o-r-i-n-g, especially since Porkhop abandoned me and went out to play cards.

Today is more boringness. I have approximately 60 bios to edit and format for the conference. I started out with a fresh mind this morning and whipped through the first quarter (editing only, I'll have to go back through and insert photos later). Now I'm slogging through it and hating everyone.

Anyway...

I need to make a BIG note to myself to NEVER stop at Kayak's at the corner of Skinker and Forest Park again. Kayak's is right by my metro stop, and the thought of a cup of chai at 8:15 in the morning always sounds like the perfect way to start the day. I've only followed through on this thought a few times, but I've had it. The baristas are the slowest people EVER and the chai is weak with gross gritty solids left at the bottom.

This morning, I thought I was the only person waiting for a drink, and I had been waiting for said drink for at least 3 minutes when a barista stepped back from the machine with a drink. When I stepped forward to accept it, he said, "uh, this is a decaf latté."

I said, "OHHH," with a falling smile and maybe looked at my watch with an agitated expression.

So, then, a DIFFERENT barista stepped up and made my drink and took FOREVER. And, it was more than a quarter foam! WTF?? Who trained these people? Guess what, I don't shell out $3.50 for FOAM and CRAP.

NEVER AGAIN!

On a happier note, I have a new favorite drink for the summer...grape and lime Italian soda. This is also delicious made as a French soda, which has the added value of intimidating other people because it becomes a murky gray.

Project: Grow Hair

St. Louis is overwhelmingly and stiflingly humid in the summer, and this is an understatement at best.

Local readers need no other description, but how do I describe the humidity to those unfamiliar with this area?

Breathing is difficult, any movement leaves one drenched in sweat, and my face breaks out in tiny little pimples because my pores are so suffocated.

So, of course, the summer is the perfect time for me to grow my hair out a bit. Yes, I'm sure I won't be at all annoyed with the frizziness that is guaranteed to ensue.

For the past 8 years or so, I've had short hair...sometimes a shaved head and sometimes hair approaching the 3-inch mark (long in my book, short in others'). So, I'm curious to see what my somewhat wavy and curly hair looks like now. Armed with the knowledge I've developed over the past half-dozen years concerning all sorts of hair products (paste, wax, pomade, clay, fiber, gel, foam, mixing products, I've done it all), I'm confident I can embrace hair that is longer than 3 inches and even enjoy its quirky little curls.

But, the real reason I want to grow my hair out a bit is so that I can cut it all off.

Just as it's difficult to convey how freaking humid it is here during the summer, it is impossible for me to explain the joy I experience from getting my hair whacked off.

I LOVE haircuts, especially haircuts that give a very noticeable result.

I will suffer through months of trims and perhaps summer frizz-head so that I can experience a REALLY GOOD haircut.

Unrelated
We're back online at home. Look for Keetah portraits and old apartment pictures soon!

Why is Housing so Hard?

Okay, so we're settling into the new apartment and unpacking and ready to totally clean out the old apartment. Things are going well...no more bats or house centipedes. Also, the landlord is going to fix our continually running toilet next week.

Porkchop had also lined up rooming in Albuquerque beginning in August. The house was in the Nob Hill district (supposedly full of coffeehouses and natural food stores and the like) and had a bedroom furnished with a bed, a table, and lots of built-in storage. Things were looking up.

Unfortunately, the woman reneged on their email agreement and gave the room away yesterday! Porkchop called to discuss details today and was given a flimsy excuse of, "well, you said you weren't sure if you were coming." In reality, Porkchop had written that she wasn't sure when she would be LEAVING New Mexico (probably May, but there's always a chance she could stay for a second year).

I guess...what do you expect from someone who has pictures on her Myspace that totally show off her nipplage. Also, she seems a bit "quirky." I enjoy quirky people, but not when the quirkiness is forced and is actually a front for "flaky" and "stupid."

Anyway, it's back to craiglist. It's hard enough to find a decent place when you live in the town where you're looking...it's a million times more difficult to find a place in a town 1042 miles away.

If you know anyone in Albuquerque who needs a roommate, let us know.

Also, if you ever meet anyone named Ashleigh from Albuquerque, please kick her in the head.

Okay, maybe no kicking, but give her the stink eye.

These ARE Really Good Spring Rolls

So, the neon sign in the Vietnamese restaurant window WASN'T lying!

Banh Mi So #1 - Saigon Gourmet has really good spring rolls. Also, very tasty main dishes. According to the website, the name of the restaurant translates to Number One Sandwich; it originally opened as a sandwich shop. And, geez, I will definitely be going back for a vegetarian sandwich, especially since it's only $2.25! Last night, I ordered vegetarian spring rolls, Palestrina's Delight (a tofu dish), and a new dish that was pork and mung bean cakes served with big noodles and a spicy sauce. Porkchop and I both totally enjoyed the tofu dish. I like the pork and mung bean cakes, but I would have preferred the pork to be tofu. Next time I go, I'm going to try the tilapia spring rolls - some other diners were raving about these.

We were able to do some unpacking last night. Porkchop actually did a lot in terms of putting up the loft bed and moving her art boxes into storage underneath the bed and so forth.

I unpacked some kitchen boxes.

The kitchen boxes overwhelm me, especially since we have limited kitchen storage space.

Keetah's litter box has been moved to the sunporch. She seems okay with this.

After seven months, I was finally able to check out this book. The bad thing about relying on the university library is that professors often put the books that I want on 2-hour reservation.

I think we might do a little bit of grocery shopping after work. Without a list. That's scary.

A Bird in the Basement, a Bug in the Bathtub, a Bat in the Bedroom

Hi!

Oh my gosh, this move is exhausting! My calves hate me right now and are refusing to travel up or down any more stairs. Fortunately, my office-mate allowed us to ride the elevator up to the 2nd floor for bagels (our office is a "garden-level" joint...so 2 flights definitely warranted assistance).

One of the things I dislike most about moving is that my eating routine is thrown off completely. Breakfast this morning was a yogurt drink, 1 little chocolate donut (thanks to Porkchop), and a bagel. Compare this to my usual banana and unsweetened soymilk. We've also eaten out more over the most few days than we usually do in a month. Crazy!

Anyway, so here are the reasons for the title...

A Bird in the Basement
On Saturday, after moving about a third of our things into the new apartment, Porkchop and I checked out the basement. We were going to investigate the storage area when a bird flew out of one of the rooms! Porkchop yelled and then ran off. Well, I should write "ran" off because we were already tired so she really just shuffled off. It was a shuffling run and highly amusing.

A Bug in the Bathtub
Dude, I had hoped this move was going to be "bye-bye house centipedes," but there was one in the bathtub last night.

*groan*

I'm beginning to think it's a St. Louis area thing. Even my office-mate, who lives in Bridgeton, has them. AND she lives a newish subdivision with no suspicious basement.

Maybe St. Louis sits atop a giant house centipede colony! ARGH!

My other thought is that we brought a couple of bugs with us. And this disgusts me more than anything.

P.S. There was also a bug in our bed, but just a tiny one.

A Bat in the Bedroom
So, imagine that it's 3:30 am and you wake up for some reason, decide to go to the bathroom, and then come back into the bedroom and you see a bat flying around. Yeah! That actually happened!

For the first time ever, I was the one to wake up Porkchop saying that I saw something flying around (Porkchop has regular night terrors involving spiders, bugs, and other things). I was all, "what do we do? what do we do? what's our plan of action?" while Porkchop hid under the covers.

Anyway, Porkchop came up with the brilliant plan of opening the screenless sunporch windows and corraling the bat through the living room, dining room, and kitchen and then out the windows. It worked!

YAY!

Conveniently enough, Porkchop's plan appointed me as the key bat wrangler. So, not only did I have to walk around unarmed to open the kitchen door and stuff, I also had to run around the living and dining rooms with the swiffer, encouraging the bat through the dining room door and yelling things like, "here it comes! no! okay! here it comes! no! oh! here it is! SHUT THE DOOR!" Porkchop then shut the dining room door, got the bat into the kitchen, and then closed herself in the bedroom. There, she was able to monitor the sunporch windows AND stay away from the bat. Do you see a theme here?

Keetah was pretty chill during all of the this, but Porkchop walked around with a sheet over her head. I'm worried that we're going to find batshit all over the place or something.

All of this only took a half hour, but no one slept much afterwards.

We think the bat came in the open bedroom window. We found that this particular window does not have a storm window at the top. Since there's only a screen on the bottom half, there's plenty of room for a bat. Is this plausible? I don't know, but it's the only thing we can come up with.

I'm kind of excited to finally have a bat story to share. It seems like everyone we know has a similar story. However, no more bats, please.

What Else?
We're super-tired. I'm glad to be at work and away from boxes. Porkchop dropped me off at work this morning, even though she is also exhausted.

We only have a few things left at the old apartment (prints, framed things, sculptures, some kitchen things) in addition to a huge pile of things to take to the Goodwill.

I miss the old apartment and its lack of bats. Also, its central air...I totally miss that already. Our open bedroom window led to the bat (possibly) and my right nostril starting to close up again (even though I'm still on allegra and nose spray).

Anyway, I plan to clean up the icky kitchen cabinet and unpack a few boxes tonight. Since I'm car-less this evening, I might pick up something in our new neighborhood...maybe something from the kebab take-out place or from the Vietnamese restaurant that advertises "Best Spring Rolls in St. Louis" in neon lighting. If it's in neon, it must be true.

P.S. Porkchop is letting me use the title of this post for free.

Packing and More Packing with Cleaning Thrown in for Fun

Gah!

If I have to pack one more item, my head will freaking explode.

There are more things to pack.

We get the U-Haul tomorrow morning, then pick up the washer and dryer that my office-mate is giving me (yay!, but she lives a half-hour away), and then start taking things to the new apartment. I readied the new place today with swiffering, mopping, dusting, and laying down grip liner (still need 2-3 more rolls).

While cleaning the one sizable cabinet in the kitchen, I discovered that a smoker lived in the apartment at some point and obviously smoked a lot in the kitchen. While the rest of the kitchen was painted, the inside of the built-in cabinet was not. If I remember, I'll take a picture of the striations caused by spraying cleaner on the inside wall and letting it run down. While I was able to get rid of a bunch of the nicotine gunk, I'll have to go back in with a magic eraser.

I don't question the magic eraser because I love it SO MUCH.

Anyway, if I (still) smoked, seeing and smelling the difference between non-smoker walls and smoker walls would definitely make me quit.

More disjointed thoughts...

I hope to post pictures of the new place tomorrow and hopefully our old place (once free of boxes) at some point. For historical purposes.

Our internet access at home will experience a lapse between this Tuesday and the following Monday. Sometimes I forget that you have to make things like appointments with the cable company. Murrr.

KT and BD were in town late Friday night and Saturday morning. We had drinks at Van Goghz Friday night and then had brunch at La Dolce Via in the morning (minus Porkchop who had to work). As I've written before, La Dolce Via is super-fantastic, EXCEPT they need to add a few more vegetarian meal items.

Before KT and BD arrived, Porkchop and I dined at the Pitted Olive. The Olive's garlic frites are out of this world. Seriously, why are you still reading this? Go get some garlic frites!

The toilet in the new place runs unnecessarily. I hate to start complaining about things already, but I guess I must.

The new place has only 4 sets of blinds that need washing. When we moved to Arsenal Street, I had to wash ALL of the blinds. That's 12 sets of blinds, most of which are 5 feet tall. And, no, not washing dirty blinds is NOT an option. Just like not cleaning ceiling fans is not an option (2 in the new place versus 5 in the old place). The new place also has less woodwork that, while pretty, requires regular dusting.

I'm tired, but I have to pack more kitchen stuff. Blech.

Uncomfortably Numb

My take on Pink Floyd's lyrics:

There is much pain, your gums are receding
A distant dentist drill on the horizon
You are coming through with A3 color fillings
Your lips move but you sound funny

Hi! I just had three cavities filled! Three quadrants of my mouth were affected, so the dentist decided we should do the smallest one without any sort of numbing. As painful as that sounds, it was actually the easiest one. For the other two cavities, the dentist had to go up under my gums, which means I will be quite sore once the numbness wears off. Right now, I just have bloody gums...still no feeling.

At work today, I kept having this internal debate: should I exercise tonight, or should I pack? Ha! The answer is neither! I forgot that this cavity-filling business might make me want to just drink an iced chai and eat soup from St. Louis Bread while sitting on the couch.

A Cavity Memory
When I go to the dentist, I like to remember this story...

During the summer when Porkchop and I were living with BD and KT in Columbia, my left foot became quite sore after Porkchop and I had taken a walk on a trail. We're talking SORE, as opposed to sore.

After tiring of my complaining and hobbling about, Porkchop looked at my foot. Nothing. She concluded that perhaps I had bruised it during our walk (because, you know, Porkchop is also a trained podiatrist). Alas, it became SORER and SORER and people starting making fun of me and accused me of whining.

A few days after our walk, I had to get a cavity filled (yes, you see, it relates). Porkchop kindly chauffered me for my dental visit and helped me inside the house afterwards. It was then, as I was climbing up the stairs with a foot that felt like it was about to fall off and a numb face that I couldn't take it anymore and maybe started crying.

Porkchop and KT then maybe laughed at me because I could only manage half a frown while crying.

So, Porkchop re-examined my foot with the help of BD and they found, between my littlest toes, a tick the size of a pea!

Yes, a tick had been feeding on my foot for at least three days!! Who was laughing then! No one!

BD pulled out her wallet-sized tick identification card to make sure it wasn't possibly a Lyme disease-carrying tick. Then Porkchop and BD got to work and extracted the tick. I think KT stayed in another room during this procedure.

Now, when Porkchop sometimes makes fun of my complaints (like my Dance Dance Revolution knee injury which has seriously affected my quality of life), I try to remind her of this tick story. It's like the boy who cried wolf but only reverse.

Anyway
Who's going to win American Idol tonight??

Don't say that you don't care!

Porkchop and I have our money on Jordin while Keetah is sticking with her beat-boxing bro Blake. Keetah is a mean beat-boxer.

If I'm Dreaming, I must be Worried

Hi!

I just got off from my lovely morning conference call. I only say about 2 minutes worth of dialogue, yet I stay on the phone and listen for 50. *grumble*

Last night, I had a new apartment bad dream....

The apartment had horrible carpeting throughout (instead of just the small bedroom).
The kitchen flooring was peeling, revealing 3 layers of previous flooring.
The previous tenants had left all sorts of junk for us to clean up (in reality, there are no previous tenants).
One of my college roommates and her boyfriend were hanging out in the apartment (in this case, this was bad).
The apartment was in a super-scary part of town with burnt out buildings and creepos lurking on corners.

*sigh*

Curry Paste Face Off

Today was Staff Day at my university. In addition to attending a school breakfast and a university lunch, I left at 2:30 (I skipped out on bingo, volleyball, and other activities). This gave me plenty of time to go to Jay International Food to buy green curry paste and basil.

It also gave me time to think about curry paste and take pictures...



I'm amazed at the difference between Americanized Thai curry paste and the real deal. In my head, the green curry paste says to the red curry paste, "RRRAAAWWWRRRHHHH! Be prepared to be beaten! You stupid Thai Kitchen, much-too-expensive curry paste! I have 10 more ounces and am at least $3.00 cheaper!! RRRAAAWWWRRRHHHH!"

This is what I picked up the curry paste for:



Green chicken curry with green beans and basil. Super-yum! On the left is our latest experiment with Thai iced tea. We're close, but we still haven't nailed it.

For dessert, we had a piece of this:



It's the chocolate-orange-hazelnut poundcake from the Moosewood baking cookbook. Also very, very yum. Don't worry, we haven't eaten this much of it - I took half of it to work.

Last night I made spicy tofu burritos. No picture, but also tasty.

[Hey, why is Blogger Preview broken for Safari now?? Grrr! I wish I could write a QA note for it....but that was a different software company and a different time.]

Besides packing and more packing, Porkchop and I are going to see Knocking Thursday night at the history museum. [Thanks to cj for the alert!]

More random thoughts....

Our tomato and basil plants arrived from Burpee. This makes me happy and worried. I hope I don't destroy these little tomato plants. I'm not so worried about the basil because we were successful last summer.

I have another 7 am conference call in the morning. Terrific. On a related note, I placed calls to the Netherlands and Benin on Friday for the upcoming conference. I feel so international.

Porkchop cleaned the kitchen tonight. YAY!

The Moving Blues

Wow, I CANNOT wait to get all of our books packed! Urgh, books are the worst to pack and there are so many!

I find books to be the worst because I can't stop opening up random ones and skimming through them for the best parts. Also, I just packed my old journals, which took FOREVER because I had to read certain passages and relive the high and lowlights of a half dozen years. I think it would be worth it to hire someone to pack my books and journals - it would certainly take less time.

On Tuesday night, Porkchop and I packed a few boxes of books, some framed items and other breakable things, and the contents of our little blue cabinet. The blue cabinet is the repository of photos (from childhood on up to maybe 2003 when we stopped taking picture photos), correspondence, stationery, some knitting things, and an assortment of random little things. We got trapped in relationship reconstruction and read nearly every card, note, and handmade book that Porkchop has given me. Luckily, my things to Porkchop are kept somewhere else (supposedly anyway, I've never seen this place). It took well over an hour to do this.

We are much too easily distracted to get this packing job done quickly.

Finally...

Do you ever feel bad about feeling good that someone dies?

I don't feel bad at all while breathing a sigh of finally over Jerry Falwell's death.

About the death of the guy who founded Moral Majority because of Roe v. Wade...all I can say is good riddance.

Of course, there are thousands of other ickies to take his place.

Setting my Alarm Clock

Guess what I get to do tomorrow morning at 7 am...

Join a conference call regarding the international symposium that I've been trying to avoid!

For the next 6 Tuesdays, I will either be on a call at 7 am or 8 pm. In my book, this sucks big time. Luckily, the 8 pm ones will start after our next American Idol is announced (if my calculations are correct, anyway).

Work was totally weird today. I accomplished practically zero things. The weirdness starting by me receiving two emails completely in Chinese, with the exception of my name (a project manager provided translation). After our director hijacked the staff meeting, completely pushing aside the prepared agenda, things just went downhill.

I was in meetings for 3 hours. For the other 4.5 (yes, I usually have a 7.5 hour workday), I can't tell you what I did. Well, okay, I reserved a U-Haul, but that didn't take so long.

Knitting
I knit two rows on my sock heel during lunch. Watch out! This sock is moving FAST.

After the season finale of Lost (I seriously don't watch THAT much TV, okay? I follow 3 shows, and that's only because we got sucked into American Idol this season. My other show is The Office.), I might start going to Knit Night at Knitorious. It seems like everyone loves it. I feel like I'm missing out on knitting coolness.

Dinner
I'm currently marinating chicken for this mango-chicken recipe. When Porkchop gets home, she'll fire up the grill. Yum!

I'm hoping that a shaved ice will be had after dinner. However, I don't know if the stands stay open so late. We shall see.

A Surprise Hit

Currently, I'm watching our friends the raccoons climb up to our deck and check out the bird feeder status. Sometimes it's creepy to catch them scurrying around our place.

For dinner, I made this stew. It uses butternut squash. tofu, coconut milk, and toasted almonds (plus a few other things). I was pretty sure that I would like it, but I nearly fell off the couch when Porkchop exclaimed how great it tastes.



I made a few modifications to the recipe. Instead of using one or two slices of ginger, I minced a good inch of ginger because it's one of my favorite things. Second, I don't have any turmeric or ground coriander seed, so I used curry powder. Third, I used the whole block of tofu. Like a friend of mine once said, keeping leftover tofu is like taking care of a damn goldfish. I love tofu, but I don't have much patience for changing its water every day. I once kept half a block of tofu in my fridge for at least two months. Porkchop finally flushed it down the toilet...I don't know if that's the proper disposal method, but I was just glad that I didn't have to touch it.

Back to the stew, I went back and forth on whether I should make rice. Since we're having rice tomorrow night, I decided against it. Next time, though, I will definitely have rice ready.

Last Night
When Porkchop got home last night and saw my empty beer bottle, she decided she wanted a drink too. Since our coffee and oatmeal stouts sounded too heavy, we went to Absolutli Goosed for a drink. I feel like I wasted my drink because I ordered a melon martini that I ended up not liking. I'll stay away from the melon next time and stick to the chocolate and/or coffee drinks.

Tomorrow
I have a staff meeting that will take up most of my morning. (groan)

Have a great Monday, my friends!

Going Through Things

It's another terrific-weather day. I love low humidity!

After Porkchop left for Six Flags, I did yoga, had lunch, and took Porkchop's car in for an oil change. Hey, Mother's Day is the best day ever to get an oil change! There was no wait, so I was in an out in 10 minutes.

Speaking of Mother's Day, I was just contemplating my bookcase, trying to decide if there are any books that I want to purge before moving. Scanning the shelves, I came across a book in which my mom had a poem published about 4 years ago. It was one of those books for which you answered an ad in a magazine and perhaps paid to have your poem published. Something like that.

But, my mom's poem is really good - I think that's why it's the first poem in the book. Dude, people should have paid her to publish it, not the other way around. Anyway, I'm violating copyright laws and reproducing the poem here.

**********
Sunday Clothes Christians
Rushing to church.
Rushing past the hunger.
Rushing past the hurt.

Sunday Clothes Christians
In a hurry. Can't be late!
Got to hear about so and so's cruise
And make that golf date.

Hurrying down the freeway
In the SUV. White of course!
Hurrying past the dreary slums
The bag ladies and the worn out bums.

Can't stop! Can't help!
Cause Sunday Clothes Christians
Can't be late!
**********

My mom doesn't write poetry on a regular basis or do any sort of writing outside of business-related things and personal correspondence. Even if she did, it's a terrific poem. It's pretty cool that she was inspired to pen a poem about people in her neighborhood and that she published it.

Other Things
While Keetah did this:



I've been pulling clothes out of my closet and dresser that I want to part with. These are among the items:



Yeah, I think it's finally time to say goodbye to my Vans. I remember purchasing them when I was 15....we've been through a lot together. But, I haven't worn them for at least 2 years. They're pretty beat and holes are starting to wear in the soles.

Well....onto other closets and more purging.

More Things

Since Porkchop won't get home until around 11:00 tonight, I'm updating my blog again. I'm currently enjoying a coffee stout (still working on my pack from December), listening to This American Life, and eating one of these:



These mocha macaroons (I would call them meringues, but I guess they are technically macaroons) are one of the best things ever. You can find them at the TG farmers' market, and I highly recommend them. I first had them at the Harvest Festival last October, and I'm glad to have a regular supply of them now. I've already had 3 today.

So, I took care of this during the afternoon:



The Glass Doctor came and replaced the window, and the church pastor called and said that they would refund me next week. I'm glad this was just a small disturbance in my day.

After doing the week's grocery shopping (P.S. Trader Joe's is actually tolerable on Saturday late afternoons), I came home and made roasted asparagus (bought at the farmers' market) with penne and a goat cheese sauce. Yum!

Here are some other recently made things:

The mango salsa for the braised porkchops last week...so pretty!



Roasted chicken and potatoes...so good!



And banana bread that I made last night. I used this recipe because it was one of the few that I found that didn't use oil and that used more whole wheat flour than white flour. Instead of walnuts, I used dates because that's what I had. Very good!



May in Review
May has been a rough month, so I thought I would do a mid-month review, in case you haven't been listening to my complaining:

• I've been sick for all of May.


• On the day that I looked at the apartment for which I signed a lease, the following things happened: 1) Our Airport Express got zapped in a storm. 2) Our modem got zapped in the same storm. 3) I fell exiting my car from the passenger side, sliding on the muddy mulch in the storm. I received a nasty bruise on my leg and my left thumbnail bed was torn up. I still have a lumpy, painful bruise, but my nail bed is healing well.


• Porkchop is now at Six Flags on the weekends, which makes me sad.


• I have done little knitting.


• I get easily irritated at work because of the poor planning that has been done so far on an upcoming international conference.


• I have a new pair of Keens (not a complaint). I was going to buy these last weekend at REI, but my inability to breath kept me from doing so. Porkchop ended up surprising me with them Monday evening. Here I am wondering if they are actually ugly, or if they are okay. After Porkchop put them on to demonstrate what they look like to the non-wearer, I felt much better. I like them and they're super comfortable.
  
  
• I've finally scheduled movers for the end of May; now I have to line up a truck.


• My car window was broken and fixed today.

I'm wondering what the rest of the month will bring.

A Beautiful Morning...

This is a terrific morning; the weather is perfect windows-open, snuggle in bed time.

Also, with the first outdoor TG market of the season, what could be better?

These were my thoughts this morning. La, la, la, yay, yay, yay, nice weather and things to do. The plan was for Porkchop to drop me off at the market, me to shop around, walk home, take Porkchop's car in for an oil change, exercise, pack, and so forth.

Unfortunately, when we walked out the front door, our thoughts were, "ooooohhh, shhhhiiiiit." Because...my front passenger car window was broken! Awesome!

At first I thought someone had broken in to steal one of these things: my Camera Obscura CD, my umbrella that doesn't really work, or my bag of car trash (water bottles, Kleenexes, etc.).

It turns that the gentleman mowing the next-door church's grass hit a rock and the mower threw the rock and it broke my window. What bad luck!

I hate that this happened, but I am also amazed at the chain of coincidences that leads up to such events.

If only my car had been parked in another spot, if only the guy had noticed the rock, if only we had left earlier.

Anyway, it sucks.

I'm about to call the pastor's personal cell phone to talk about getting reimbursed for my window. The quote is $230, and I have a $500 deductible, so.... As much as I hate to take money from this little church, I don't have a lot of spare change at this moment to pay for a window that I didn't break.

Update
I took my dad's advice (something I rarely do) and went ahead and scheduled the glass people to come out. They'll be here sometime today.

I love services where it's just "sometime today."

The Littlest Birds (Sing the Prettiest Songs)*

During lunch today, I watched a robin feeding her little ones. The nest is on a windowsill in my school's courtyard - seems like an odd spot since there's no foliage to protect the nest, but I guess it works.

I just saw my blog on a list of regularly updated blogs....so I decided I should perhaps post an update!

Yesterday I went through the 1200+ emails in my work inbox and whittled it down to 68. It's now up to 90. Blech. I get sick of email at work, which explains why I'm an irregular emailer outside of work. I don't like to spend non-work time on something that reminds me of work.

Anyway....

The other night, Porkchop and I tossed around the idea of driving to Columbia after work today for Shakespeare's. My favorite pizza: half tomato/half pineapple with pepper jack cheese on a wheat crust. We'll probably end up not doing that, since neither of us mentioned it this morning and Porkchop hasn't responded to my text message about it. Maybe we'll stay in the neighborhood and try Black Thorn's pizza.

We've had an awesome week of dinners at home: corn chowder, braised porkchops with mango salsa, baked tofu, and roasted chicken and potatoes. Yum! But, I'm tired of cooking now and need a little break.

This Weekend
Tomorrow is the first outdoor Tower Grove Farmers' Market, and I'm quite looking forward to it. I'm excited for asparagus, strawberries, and baked goods.

Also, this weekend, I need to do more move preparation. I still don't have movers lined up. Murrr. After the rain yesterday evening, I stepped out on our deck and realized how sad I'll be to leave our apartment. I wouldn't mind moving for a house; I'm tired of apartment-living.

Update: I now have movers scheduled. Now to rent a truck.

I'm embarrassed to give a knitting update....I've only started the heel of my second sock. Someday....

Other News
We are back on-line at home! Yay!!!

Porkchop spent the evening uploading photos for our vacation blog, so I didn't have a chance to luxuriate in our wireless. Okay, I could have used the computer in the office, but that's also the cat litter room. It can be awkward to be at the computer while Keetah is taking care of her business. [P.S. Keetah is still alive. Porkchop found ribbon-filled poop while scooping the other night, so maybe Keetah's troubles have passed (intentional double-entendre).]

Have a great weekend!

*Is there anything sweeter than The Be Good Tanyas' song?

52 Minutes Later

I was finally able to convince the Motorola customer service rep that our modem's ethernet port is bad. We should be back on-line at home in 3-5 business days. Finally.

Food
I really want pad thai with tofu from Bangkok Gardens in Columbia. I don't consider BG seriously "authentic" Thai food, but I love their pad thai. Way back when, I lived just a few blocks down Ninth Street from the original location. Porkchop and I ate there A LOT.

For a while, one of the BG co-owners lived across the hallway from me. He was a bit creepy for reasons that I won't say. I also won't say what this guy obviously spent most of his money on because these things might be considered slanderous or something like that. Also, maybe you know this guy and you think I'm being mean.

Anyway, I haven't been to BG since they moved. I can't imagine it's quite the same. I mean, I guess you no longer get to have a beer and hang out in Ninth Street Deli while you wait for a table.

Work
I'm going crazy over another conference! This one is out of the country and involves three other organizations. Needless to say, it is difficult to just send out an email requesting hotel check-in/out dates from people. This morning I was told to send the email, and then two hours later I was told to wait until tomorrow. Grrrrr.

Still Off-Line

So, we still can't connect to the Internet at home! GRRRRR! GRRRR! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Apple gave us a newly refurbished Airport Express and I bought a new ethernet cord, but now it seems the modem's ethernet port is bad. Unfortunately, the Motorola people would not believe me last night when I called their customer service line - they tried to say that it was possible that both my laptop port AND the Airport Express port are bad. Ha! We have now tested our iMac port with the modem (no luck), and I connected my laptop to my school's network without any problem. So, take that Motorola customer service reps! You will be hearing from me tonight!

I am so so so tired of these Internet problems.

I am also tired of not feeling well. I feel okay today, but it's a fake, medicine-y okay. On Saturday, my right nostril closed up COMPLETELY. It was horrible! I now have a steroid nose spray and the generic Allegra. For the first time in a few days, I am breathing freely. But, I know it will start to wear off this evening.

Enough about my health problems, let's move to our cat's problems. On top of Internet and sinus/allergy yuckiness, Keetah woke us up at 4:00 am with puking noises. Actually, I had to go to the bathroom, and then I heard her making weird noises. After staying up with her for about 45 minutes and witnessing her go through vomit motions twice, Porkchop only found a few small puddles of liquid in the other bedroom. Since Keetah was prancing around and demanding to be petted, we figured she was okay.

This morning, as I was rushing out the living room to catch my bus, I stepped in a puddle of cat vomit. Ewwww! Luckily, I had shoes on. I think Porkchop once stepped in a puddle while barefoot. Anyway, then I noticed the vomit on the couch and the stuff out in the hallway. Poor Keetah.

I am afraid that maybe she ate some ribbon attached to a balloon that Porkchop received during her kidney donation. It is a long story and it's my fault. Anyway, we hope that Keetah is okay and that the ribbon hasn't wrapped itself around her colon. If she is still acting off-character, we'll take her to the vet.

So, between all of these things, I haven't felt like thinking about moving. Must consider scheduling moving help and packing boxes and changing addresses and switching utilities over. Groan.

No knitting progress has been made, and I haven't made my poundcake yet. Murrr.

Here's to a better week!

Still Here

Hi! Here is what I've been up to in bullet-point form:

• I found an apartment and signed a lease...all in the space of less than 4 days! Beginning in June, Porkchop and I will be keeping it real on Montana. The plusses: rent is $250 cheaper a month for nearly the same amount of space, it's closer to the South Grand Ted Drewes, it has radiator heat (love radiators! no more dry air!), and the owner's sister lives below us which means I won't have a nearly $400 gas bill in the winter. The minuses: it's not as knock-out pretty and grand as our current place, it's further from the fun places on South Grand, the kitchen has zero counter space, and it doesn't have central air. I think these things balance each other out. Also, I don't think the new place is infested with house centipedes, so that's a major plus.


• I'm sick. Again. I was nearing recovery and then major post-nasal drip started yesterday. Yuck. I'm tired of feeling shitty.


• I have 3 cavities. Murrrr. But, my gums are quite healthy.


• Porkchop has started back at Six Flags. This means lonely times for me.


• Our Airport Express got zapped during the big storm Tuesday evening. We also think our ethernet cord is shot. So....we currently don't have Internet access at home. I know! How do we survive?


• We shed a tear Wednesday night when Phil had to leave AI. Yeah, he annoyed the heck of me, so I don't know why I was sad to see him go. But, Chris R., finally!


• I'm making okay progress with my second Jaywalker. I'll turn the heel soon, and then the foot should go quickly.

I guess that's it.

I'm hoping to make a chocolate-orange-hazelnut poundcake this weekend! Yum! Hopefully my yuckiness will pass, and I won't spend the weekend sleeping.

What a Stupidhead

I am referring to myself!

While I was on vacation, I sold two books on Amazon Marketplace - Northrop's Veiled Empire: Gender and Power in Stalinist Central Asia and Mahmood's Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Since I didn't take my books with me to Disney World, I had to email the purchasers and explain that while I couldn't send the books in the 2-business-days guarantee, I would send the items via priority mail instead of media mail. I heard back from one person, but I decided to send the other person his book anyway.

This morning after exercising, I was rearranging my bookcase to fill in the hole left by these transactions. With a sinking feeling, I realized that Politics of Piety is still here!

Gah!

In my haste and sinus medicine-induced haze, I sent the second person - the non-responder - Badran's Feminists, Islam, and Nation: Gender and the Making of Modern Egypt.

So, I just sent another email to this guy explaining that I'm a dumbass and I'll send the right book tomorrow and would he please please please respond to my email.

I don't know which is worse....realizing your mistake and feeling shitty and embarrassed, or going along happily in ignorance until you're called out on it.

A Case of the Grumbles

Porkchop and I have returned from the World of Disney to our mundane lives in the City of St. Louis.

Someday, I'm sure the good times we had and the good food consumed will outweigh the giant sinus infection that I'm currently experiencing, but at the moment, I can only think of how Disney World made me sick. The enormous difference in temperature between outside and inside plus all the recirculated air plus riding Test Track on a chilly night finally got to me (and to Porkchop, who seems to have some sort of cold). With all the meds I sampled from our hotel's gift shop, the multiple trips to Walgreen's here, and my trip to the urgent care center yesterday, I've spent quite a bit of money on this stupid sinus infection.

I'm cranky. And tired.

I wish my sulfa drug would kick in soon and kick this infection in the ass. I've decided to drop the stupid decongestant/antihistamine drug(s) and concentrate on cleansing my sinuses with my SinuCleanse stuff. You would be amazed at what you can flush out of your sinuses! I think that if I'd had my neti pot and saline solution at Disney World, I would not be suffering so much right now.

When I was stocking up on more dry saline packets today, the cashier at Walgreen's asked me if the stuff really worked. When I confirmed the fact that it does, I had to demonstrate how it works. This consisted of me describing the neti pot as like a little watering can and tilting my head to the side and illustrating the flow of the water with my finger. I'm sure the cashier thought I was a bit weird, but she did ask. Maybe I should have directed her to the demo video on the website.

So what makes me most upset about my current state of health is that I had all sorts of grand plans for my final two days of vacation, and now I'm stuck sleeping late and dragging myself around. Murrrr.

This morning I mainly sat around, conserving my strength to go buy tickets for tonight's showing of aka Nikki S. Lee. The art museum's website states the film will be introduced by Lee...I'm not sure if this means Nikki S. Lee in-person or a filmed intro. I hope it means in-person.

What About Knitting?
I came thisclose to finishing my first sock before leaving for vacation. Since I didn't want to attempt learning kitchener stitch at 11:00 the night before I had to get up at 4:30 in the morning, I decided to put the grafting on hold and take my gear with me in the hopes of starting the second sock while traveling.

I caught these two items this morning in their natural state.

First, the nearly finished sock lazing on the sewing table:



Second, the recently started sock with an inch of ribbing:



I would start knitting right now, but I need to maybe nap and save energy for the film tonight!

I hope to feel tons better tomorrow.

Vacation Blog

Our vacation blog is starting to get into full swing.

Visit it here to see Porkchop's t-shirt handiwork and nifty little vacation book.

I won't be posting here much until we return next week. If I finish my sock tonight, I will definitely post a photo.

Cheers!

Caught

This is our birdseed-stealing raccoon.


It's a friendly little critter. When Porkchop took the photo, she had to hurry back inside before we acquired a new house pet.

It's a bit hard to remain angry at such a cute animal. Yes, I think raccoons are cute! The band around the eyes, the ringed rail, the little pointy noses....what's not to love? [Besides ransacked trash bags and birdseed feeders.]

Not So Cute
I think it's my duty to start CAPU - Campaign Against Public Urination.

I'm really freaking tired of seeing guys just whip it out to pee. Maybe, MAYBE, I can understand pulling off in the industrial junkland near the Grand Metro stop to pee, but not really. Especially when it's two guys and two girls in a car and the guys are standing in plain sight by a building peeing. I think it's a macho-macho thing. "Hey, pull over here - I gotta piss." "Yeah [snort] me too."

So, I REALLY don't understand the guy who pulled over to take a whiz across the street from our apartment. We live on ARSENAL right across from Tower Grove park. It's a HEAVILY TRAFFICKED street. And, there are PORTA-POTTIES by the softball/kickball fields. Would it kill you to drive 30 more seconds and use one?

Also, this guy was with another guy. Again, I wonder what happens in these conversations. "Yeah, just pull over here....across the street from these two girls getting out of their car and across from the church. This looks like a good spot to take a piss in the gutter."

Okay, so from now on, I have had it.

I'm going to start carrying my Wash U safety whistle and start calling attention to these pissballs.

For the love of God, at least carry a cup or bottle in your vehicle that you can use in emergency situations. DO NOT PEE in the street across from our apartment! That is gross!

Smorgasboard

This weekend was an eclectic mix of activities.

Friday afternoon, I received a call from my friend KT from Chicago. She was being picked up at the airport and taken to Columbia for a dissertation defense party and for data collection. I was able to meet her at the tail end of her quick dinner at Lemongrass (not quite on the way to Columbia from the airport, but not too far out of the way). After gulping down a Thai iced tea and doing a quick catch-up, I had to run to my haircut appointment.

Saturday morning, I finished tidying up our apartment for our friend Jill and her friend Carrie, both of whom drove in from Madison to run in the relay portion of the Spirit of St. Louis marathon. Jill, Porkchop, and I had a late lunch/early dinner at the new Ethiopian joint on Grand, Meskerem. The injera was perfectly spongy, the vegetarian platter varied and plentiful, and the hosts friendly and attentive. I recommend it and look forward to going back.

Jill, Carrie (not me), and Porkchop went to the Cards game Saturday night while I stayed nice and toasty by baking brownies, doing laundry, and knitting.

This is where I ended Saturday night:


We got up early Sunday morning to drop Jill and Carrie off at the Grand station. Their relay leg was the last leg (they were on different teams) and began near Forest Park/DeBaliviere and ended downtown. Porkchop and I went home for a while and then took the train downtown to watch them cross the finish line. Yay!

The marathoners were inspiring and made Porkchop tear up. I cringed in all sorts of places when we figured out the guys with the bloodstreaked shirts were bleeding from their nipples. Ow! Ow! Ow!

After the marathon-watching, Porkchop and I proceeded to the Cards game. We were in Big Mac Land, so we had our picture taken, were on the jumbo-tron, and received tote bags. It was weird.

Here we are:


Thankfully Porkchop dressed in four layers, so I was able to trade my sweater for a long-sleeved t-shirt. Porkchop also let me wear her hat so that my scalp wouldn't burn. Since the Cards won that game, I think I'm locked into wearing that hat for the rest of the season.

Here's my sock at the game:



I am so nearly done! I have to finish before our vacation.

Anyway, that's that! I still have yoga to do and phone calls to make tonight. And a sock to finish.

But, P.S., I am so tired of people getting randomly shot, especially at schools. What the hell is wrong people? Also, when are we going to ban guns?

Small Things

I've been feeling a bit down today (the day started poorly with the bus PASSING my stop and me arriving 20 minutes later than usual), and I just had an apartment manager try to lecture me about pet dander and how pets have never lived in their buildings.

Really? You claim to have a Victorian apartment, and you can confidently state that no pet has ever lived in the building since it was built? Interesting.

Anyway....

So I went to the Sauce website, as I do when I need a brief distraction. I excitedly noticed the new food quiz (really, I am easily amused). I took it and scored 8 out of 10! This is a new high score for me! Yay!

I feel a bit better.

Multi-Task in Unusual Ways

I hope I don't end up in this apartment.

Instead of Porkchop brushing her teeth while showering, she could cook us some breakfast.

The Best Tofu Stew

Last night, Porkchop and I went to dinner at one of my co-worker's. Since the boyfriend of another co-worker is Jewish vegetarian, I volunteered to bring a grainless, meatless dish. This task apparently daunted the hostess and other invitees, which kind of annoyed me. One of my co-workers said to me, "A meatless dish without grains? Good luck."

What do people think? That if you're vegetarian, you MUST compensate by gorging on grains?

The uproar made no sense to me.

I made one of my favorite dishes, which I really should make more because I love it so much. Here it is....

Coconut-Curry Tofu Stew
2 bunches scallions
1 14-oz. can light coconut milk
3-4 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. minced fresh ginger (or more, if you love ginger like I do)
1-2 tsp. chile paste with garlic
1 lb. firm or extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
4 ripe plum tomatoes, cut into 6 wedges each
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 lb. mushrooms (such as shiitake), stemmed and thickly sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
4 cups coarsely chopped spinach (bagged spinach makes this easy)

1. Cut scallion whites and about 2 inches of the greens into 2-inch diagonal pieces. Finely chop remaining greens and reserve separately.
2. In a Dutch oven, combine coconut milk, 3 Tbsp. soy sauce, brown sugar, curry powder, ginger, and 1 tsp. chile paste. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Add tofu, tomatoes, bell pepper, mushrooms, basil, and scallion pieces. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
4. Add spinach, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 more minutes or until vegetables are tender.
5. Adjust seasonings with soy sauce, chile paste, and salt. Garnish with reserved chopped scallion greens and serve immediately.

BONUS: This stew is excellent served over rice, especially brown rice.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the stew. The boyfriend had the audacity to ask me if I had used flour to thicken the base. For the love of God! I KNOW it's Passover, and I went out of my way to avoid flour! I was probably a bit terse when I replied, "It's coconut milk. It's naturally thick, and it was boiled." Duh. This guy annoys me anyway, so to imply that I had used flour, WHEN I HAD NOT, really really got to me.

Also Yesterday
I looked at an apartment at Jamieson and Chippewa. It made me want to cry because it was so not great.

Tomorrow I'll set up a viewing for a 2 bedroom on Shenandoah. It's a little bit more than what I want to pay, but it might be worth it.

Today
We slept late, and now we're cleaning. Fun!

Overcoming Adversity

After watching The Office tonight, Porkchop and I started to make macaroons. We made the filling Tuesday night and were ready to finish using this recipe.

During the mixing, a combination of these things happened: Porkchop was working quickly, and I wasn't paying 100% attention because I was headachy and also rinsing out a measuring cup.

During this brief moment, Porkchop poured the egg whites directly into the almond-sugar-cocoa mixture. Gasp! As you know, egg white just won't get nice and stiff once mixed with other things. It messes up their molecular structure...or something like that.

Poor Porkchop....


But as you can see, instead of yielding to an inevitable shame spiral, we dug out our mini muffin pan and made....

MONSTER MACAROONS!


Don't mess with these babies!

I am proud of Porkchop for not getting frustrated and throwing the macaroon batter across the room. Also, when I accidentally knocked powdered sugar onto her face, shirt, and hoodie, she didn't huff. Instead, she actually joined me in laughter at the absurdity of having powdered sugar all over the place. Yay!

Earlier this week we had cooking success with these curried cider-braised pork chops. Yum!



Yarn Adversity
I'm still working on my first sock; I've finally got some heel action started.


I enjoy knitting these Jaywalkers, so I don't mind that it's taking so long. Also, I don't have money to buy tons of yarn, so this is perfect.

Actually, I usually get in just a few pattern repeats over my lunch break, so it's surprising that I'm this far along. Maybe I'll finish this weekend! That's a big maybe.

Work Adversity
The only adversity on this front is that I'm still SO BUSY! I had my 6-month review this week (really 7-month, but whatever), and it went tremendously well.

I didn't expect, and I didn't receive, a raise, but they did want to give me one. I also found out that the university has put a 3% cap on all raises, which sucks, especially since my center doesn't receive a cent from the university and should be able to spend their funds as they like. Grrrr! Fortunately, my center does do end-of-year bonuses.

Bus Adversity
On Monday morning, an old man told me that he likes the way I dress and that it turns him on.

Then I punched him and threw up on him.

Actually, I didn't. But I wanted to. Sometimes, however, you have to pick your battles carefully. And I just didn't want to start my Monday morning by getting into a fight with an old guy on a crowded bus (and when I write crowded, I mean jam-freaking-packed).

I hate the bus.

Apartment Adversity
I have to get serious about finding a new, cheaper apartment.

This makes me sad.

Also tired.

This Weekend
Hopefully no adversity.

Saturday is the Tower Grove farmers market. We also get our AMR device installed, so Laclede can finally start sending us regular readings. Our landlord can be a lackadaisical blowhard. He's had how many years to get that installed?

We did get a new air conditioning unit installed (not that we need it now), and he checked out our dryer. Even though he deemed it safe to use, I'm a bit leery and check it every few minutes.

Okay, I think that's it...

Have a great Friday!

A New Blog

Porkchop and I are starting to write about our upcoming vacation here.

I have LOTS of things to write about on THIS blog. Maybe tonight.

Have a great Thursday!