Year-End Review/New Year Preview

I'm not a resolutions type person, but on the first day of 2008, I took stock and thought about what I wanted out of the year.

Here is that list with comments in bold:

• Buy a house. I'm sick of apartments. Fortunately, my cigarette- and pot-smoking, loud-talking, door-banging downstairs landlady and her loud-and-constantly yawning and spitting boyfriend have kicked my need-to-buy-a-house ass into gear. CHECK! DONE!
• Cook at least one meal a week that uses only locally produced food items. This will be easier when I can grow my own little garden, which means I need a house. CHECK. With Fair Shares, we have many all - or nearly all - local meals.
• Recommit to recycling at home. Since St. Louis doesn't have curbside recycling pick up for everyone, I've become lazy about recycling. This is my dirty little secret. Fortunately, when it's just me living here, I don't have much recycling waste. But, anyway, we bought a recycling receptacle yesterday, and I looked up the guidelines for the drop-off recycling locations. My biggest waste is vegetable and fruit matter. When I buy a house, I'll be able to start composting. RECYCLING - CHECK! COMPOSTING - NEARLY CHECK. I hate to admit it, but I fell off the worm bin composting. BUT, we will set up an outside compost thingie in the next couple of months.
• Replace current cleaning products with ecologically sound ones once current products are gone. GOOD PROGRESS. Our laundry detergent is always biodegradable now. In terms of cleaning supplies, we've switched to "greener" ones, but I really want to buy some of the locally made, non-toxic cleaning supplies available at Local Harvest. Sometimes I use borax and a lemon to clean, but not nearly enough. Porkchop didn't like the biodegradable dishwasher detergent, so now we're using one that doesn't contain phosphates (good, but I think it's still bad).
• Knit garments beyond hats and scarves and hand mitts. On my way with the Tilted Duster. CHECK! Tilted Duster done, and I'm nearly finished with my February Lady Sweater.

These are my ideas for 2009:

• Plant my own vegetable garden! I shared a garden last year, and while it was fun, I wasn't able to tend it very well and my tomatoes didn't do so hot. But we did have lots of chard. Too much chard. Porkchop and I made a list of plants (no chard) and supplies for our backyard garden, and I'm quite excited.
• Can my own food! A friend of ours in Massachusetts (yes, you E Buz) has inspired me with her canning. For Christmas, I received the Ball Book of Home Preserving, and I can't wait to start.
• Figure out my career. Really, I need to formulate some sort of plan for growth.
• House maintenance: paint inside, paint the foundation, finish the drylocking in the basement, put up that additional downspout, fix up the backyard....this list could get quite long.
• Learn how to knit Fair Isle-style. It is so time to do this.
• Do more baking! I've fallen behind this past year sadly.
• Secret project with Porkchop. Maybe more details later.

My motto for the coming year is "2009: Making it Mine." You can use this, too, if you like.

Happy New Year's Eve!

My Favorite Thing Today

I am back at work and bored out of my mind.

Oh, there's a lot to be done with building out our new website, but I don't feel in the mood to write queries.

So I'm distracting myself with the green raisins in Trader Joe's Trekking the Himalayas nut mix.

I don't know how on earth these green raisins are so freaking good, but they are one of the best things ever.

All for now...

It's a Time to be Thankful, But...

I don't want to complain about Christmas presents, but someone has to stop my sister.

For the past five years or so, our routine has been that my sister buys used clothing for us from a consignment or Goodwill shop (or simply plucks them from her closet), gives them to us as presents, and then we return them to our local Goodwill.

I'm tired of it for real.

This year featured a leather shirt with ruffles. Not only is it absolutely diametric from my personal clothing style, but it's a size or two too small.


I also received this snakeskin-print Guess shirt:


Unfortunately, I'm not into snakeskin-printed clothing.

There was more clothing, including this Western-inspired shirt given to both Porkchop and me. Size it's a Size One, neither of us can squeeze into it. Otherwise, I'd be sure to rock it around town.


Moving on...every couple of years, my parents like to give hats to me and Porkchop. Unlike other years, the ones we received this year are not twins. They are, however, in a similar style. Because we like to coordinate all the time, obviously.


Ah well, we did receive some lovely gifts. Maybe I'll write about those tomorrow.

Hope you are enjoying the holidays!

FU UO

Isn't it weird that a store selling Jesus action figures and loads of stuff about doing drugs and drinking and having sex draws the line at selling pro same-sex marriage t-shirts?

While the right-wing owner of Urban Outfitters has no qualms about selling all sorts of useless and tasteless crap, apparently making a profit while supporting the queers is just too much.

I've purchased a few things from Urban Outfitters in the past...but no more!

Oh, and keep in mind that the same guy owns Anthropologie...so don't shop there either.

With Legs Afire

Oh my gosh, I broke out some step aerobics this weekend after not touching my step for about six months.

And my calves HURT...hurt as in I wake up in pain. When I was in down dog last night, my heels weren't even close to the floor, and pedaling them out was an ordeal.

It wouldn't be so bad, but I don't really have time to hobble around. Things are BUSY!

Besides injuring myself, this weekend was full of cleaning, cooking, knitting, and socializing. Sunday night, Porkchop and I made a super tasty dinner for Suzi and her boyfriend. We cooked up porkchops with black walnuts and apples, buttermilk mashed potatoes, and caramelized butternut squash. Yum!

After dinner, we convened a meeting of the Unofficial Gatlinburg Activities Committee. We and a few others leave on a little trip Thursday night! We're going to hang out in a cabin outside of Gatlinburg for a few days. And when I say "cabin," I mean a 3-story affair with fireplaces, a hot tub, and a pool table. We might take a trip to an aquarium, go snow tubing, and perhaps hiking, but hopefully there will be lots of lounging about in the cabin knitting and playing Scrabble.

I just have to decide what to take for knitting. I don't want to haul along my February Lady (which is just missing one sleeve) because it's too big, and what if the airport security people are asses and take away my knitting? I recently started a Spring Beret (Ravelry link), but I imagine I'll finish it before the trip. Hmmm...what to take, what to take.

Have a great Tuesday!

What was He THINKING?

I had my hair cut last night after a month of forgetting to make an appointment (and when I did make one, I felt like crap on the day of the appointment and canceled).

Things looked okay at the salon, but when I looked in the mirror a few hours after arriving home, I exclaimed to Porkchop that it looks like my hair was cut with a bike chain.

It looks like my hair got caught in something, resulting in one of those bad emergency haircuts with a pair of dull scissors.

Blech.

So, anyway, back to finding a different stylist. This was only my second session with this guy, so I don't feel bad at all about ditching him.

My Thanksgiving Break

The long weekend ended with this:

Snow! Today! (Yes, that's our house. And yes, we have two front doors. And yep, the neighbor's house is just like ours.)

The long weekend began Wednesday night when we drove down to Jonesboro and stayed with my dad. The next day, we three drove down to Little Rock to my brother's apartment. There, we met up with my mom and sister, who had driven down the day before. Since my brother was on call (tech support) on Thanksgiving, we stayed around his apartment and had a Honeybaked Ham Thanksgiving. Not bad, but not the best thing ever.

After lunch, we explored the area around his apartment a bit. He lives near downtown Little Rock and is quite close to the Arkansas River. A short walk beyond his apartment complex led us down to the river bank.

I walked along the river with a bamboo stick for a while. Because that's how I like to have fun. You can see downtown Little Rock in this photo:

Porkchop and me by the river:


Later in the afternoon, we went down to a lock and dam and walked across the river via a pedestrian bridge. Here's Porkchop at the midway point:


Thursday night, Porkchop and I shared a hotel room with my sister, who drove us a bit crazy. (And kept me awake until 2 am with her restless activity and midnight texting. Seriously.)

So, Friday morning we were tired heads, but we persevered and made chocolate gravy. After a breakfast of sugar and bread, we went to the Clinton library and an art museum. The library is very well done, and I wish I could have stayed there the whole day. Visiting the library of course reminded me of how well things were going at the end of the Clinton administration (job creation! a balanced budget!) and how the current administration made things into a dung heap. [Then, when I became depressed, I remembered how excited I've been feeling about the upcoming administration change. I can't wait to feel like an American again! I've been so disillusioned and disheartened for the past 8 years, I can't remember what it's like to say with pride that I'm from the US. Anyway...end tangent.]

Porkchop and I were both impressed with Little Rock - with the downtown, anyway. There are lots of little restaurants and shops, and it seems so friendly and accessible. And there's a trolley! And bike trails and at least two pedestrian bridges.

Friday night, we dined at Cajun's Wharf. Unfortunately, I wasn't hungry enough for a big dinner, but the gumbo was good. Next time, the grouper is mine!

My dad, Porkchop, and I returned to Jonesboro Friday night. Porkchop and I had to hit the road early to meet Porkchop's parents in St. Louis Saturday afternoon. Why did we have to meet them? Because of this little guy:

Oliver!

Oliver spent the night with us Saturday night, and Porkchop was beside herself with excitement.

Sunday evening came too early for Porkchop, as that's when we returned Oliver to his people.

Also on Sunday evening, we had an awesome dinner cooked by Porkchop's brother and sister-in-law. We had the juiciest, pomegranate-glazed turkey; sweet potato casserole; Swiss chard with pecans; a stuffing of pancetta, cherries, and goat cheese; mashed potatoes; and fruit tarts for dessert. We also played a lot of SingStar (well, I only participated in 3 songs...I listened to many more!).

And that brings us back to today! I had a dental appointment in the morning (yay! no cavities!), and I went to a chocolate tasting in the evening. My CSA sponsored a tasting with the owner of Kakao. The owner explained various processes to us, and we tasted a few truffles (a vanilla-dark chocolate one, a chai flavored one, and one made with Maker's Mark bourbon), caramels, dragees, and toffee. I also purchased some spicy hot chocolate, which I can't wait to taste.

Have a good week!

A Sad Trend

Independent restaurants in St. Louis are slowly starting to shutter due to the "economic downturn."

The latest one is the Pitted Olive on Hampton.

The Pitted Olive was damn good, and I'm sad to see it close. Obviously, we didn't eat there enough (apparently, thinking about their food doesn't cut it...I was just recently thinking about their yummy pommes frites).

So much sadness for these independent restaurant owners...

Too Much Ravelry?

I think I'm looking at too many patterns on Ravelry.

You're probably wondering if there can be such a thing.

But last night I dreamt I ruined a bag of yarn belonging to Ysolda Teague, whose patterns I often mark as a favorite.

Weird.

Chocolate Gravy for the Curious

Here's a recipe for the Best Thing Ever:

Chocolate Gravy
2 c milk
3/4 c sugar
2 T cocoa
2 heaping T flour
1/2 t salt
2 T butter
1 t vanilla

Heat milk in a saucepan. While heating, mix together sugar, cocoa, flour and salt; stir in enough milk to make a smooth paste. Next, pour this mixture into the warm milk and stir over moderate heat until thickened. Add butter and vanilla. Serve over biscuits.

It's like brownie batter for breakfast - how can you not love it!

There's an interesting little bit about the possible origins of chocolate gravy at the bottom of this webpage. What I know about chocolate gravy is the following:

• It's yummy.
• My grandmother made it every Christmas and sometimes during the summer when we visited her in Sasakwa, Oklahoma. In later years, my uncle Johnny made the gravy.
  
• There's a diner in Big Flat, Arkansas, that serves chocolate gravy once a year. This "once a year" always falls during the Freeman Family reunion, so everyone goes there for breakfast on that morning. [Note that I've never been to said reunion, but my parents have.] [Other note: Beth Ditto talks about eating chocolate gravy in this interview.]
  

Things Cut Close

It's Sunday night, and I don't want the weekend to end. This is the first Sunday we've had at home together in a long time. Instead of packing the day full, we left plenty of time to hang out in our pajamas and fix a brunch of waffles and sausages. Then we went for a walk in Carondelet Park, did a little shopping, and made dinner (this chicken over rice instead of noodles).

I spoke to my mom earlier today, and she told me that all of my brother's work buddies were laid off last week. His company laid off 500 people nationwide, including 60 people at their headquarters where my brother works. All 60 people were in the IT department (my brother's department). My brother is super worried that he will be in the next inevitable round of lay offs.

I know of a few other people who are being directly affected by this recession. It's really quite scary.

Most of the projects at my center are funded through the next two years, but I'm still worried. It doesn't help when the Chancellor sends out an email announcing that the university's endowment has shrunk by 25% and that we probably won't receive raises this year and so forth.

But, meanwhile....

I've been knitting!

The February Lady Sweater is coming along well:


I also made the Star-crossed Slouchy beret for a coworker's birthday:


I made the beret last weekend. I casted on Friday night and finished it Saturday after our trip to the Laura Ingalls Wilder house in Mansfield. While it was a fun little trip, it was freaking cold. On the way down to Mansfield, we went through a bit of snow! After visiting the museum and the houses (Rocky Ridge and Rock House), we spent the night at Porkchop's parents' house.

This week, we'll see my parents and siblings. For Thanksgiving, we're going to my brother's apartment in Little Rock. No, my brother isn't cooking - I think everything will come from Honeybaked Ham or a similar place. However, we will make chocolate gravy for breakfast on Friday! While making waffles this morning, Porkchop actually said something like, "chocolate gravy is what I really want." Music to my ears! Chocolate gravy is one of the Best Things Ever!

So, that's it! Have a great week! I hope you're not laid off!

Grumbles

You know what causes me great chagrin?

People who create "tables" in Word by using only tabs. And maybe some line art.

People, use the real Table function!! And maybe real Borders!!

Microsoft has made this easy, so please stop inventing your own crazy-ass "tables"!!!!

I am Just a Speck of Dust

This is the song currently stuck in my head. I am very much in love with it, and happy that Pandora plays it nearly every time I tune in.



My center is hosting a conference this week, so I've been dealing with some people who apparently don't share the belief that they are just specks of dust inside a giant's eye. I find these people quite difficult.

To stay sane, I've been working on my February Lady Sweater. Here it is Friday night off the needles for trying on.


And here it is today after a few lace repeats:


I'm trusting the designer and other knitters' posts on Ravelry about the sizing. Because the size I'm making sounds insanely small.

Today has been nice, even though Porkchop isn't here. I've been sitting around in my slippers and knitting and listening to music. The only thing that would improve this scene would be a hot chocolate.

Last night, I was craving a spicy hot chocolate from Bailey's Chocolate Bar. Such a bad craving! This hot chocolate is seriously one of the best things St. Louis has in its favor. However, we went over to Suzi's last night after dinner, which meant Bailey's was a bit out of the way. Instead, I stopped for a salted caramel hot chocolate from Starbucks. I'm usually not a big fan of Starbucks, but I have heard good things about this particular hot chocolate. And they are true! It is quite good!

So, the point is, I would take either a spicy hot chocolate or a salted caramel hot chocolate at this moment.

To switch topics, in yoga news, I am still working on my tripod headstand. This is from earlier this week:


I can now hold my bent knees straight up above my hips. I hear the rest - unbending my knees - is just "icing on the cake." However, this icing distracts me and I fall out. So close! Someday!

I think headstands are particularly difficult for me because I have to learn a couple of things: 1) to trust myself and 2) to concentrate when I'm worried about falling.

So...have a good week! I will be super busy with the aforementioned conference, which makes me quite sad. Have fun without me.

Another BOOOO Update

The County voters defeated Proposition M.

Had the County voters passed the proposition, a half-cent sales tax would have gone into effect in the County, and it would have triggered a quarter-cent sales tax in the City (which was passed in freaking 1997, but was conditional on a County sales tax). All in all, the cost to County residents would be around $50 a year.

All of this would have allowed Metro to operate on its current schedule, merrily ferrying thousands of people to and from work on an effective schedule.

Now, bus routes will be cut, Call-A-Ride services slashed (can't drive yourself?, can't walk to a bus stop?, too bad for you now!), and waits for trains lengthened.

Because of this, I have two choice words for certain County voters.

The first one starts with F, and the second one starts with Y. Fill in the blanks.

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome!

But BOOOOO that Missourians made English the official language at public meetings. WTF??!! Stupid Amendment 1...how do these things even make it to the ballot?

Election Day Fever

Last night was filled with restless voting dreams and Keetah woke us up at 5:20 with puking noises, so we went out to vote in the morning instead of after work. We got to the polling place at 6:20 and had what we thought was a short line:

But it still took a little over an hour (well, 45 minutes for Porkchop because of the stupid line system and preference given to people with last names J-R and S-Z...us A-I people nearly lost our collective shit at one point).

I was still very nervous before voting:


My anxiety was not released until I had my ballot in hand and had filled in the Obama/Biden circle.

Whew!!

After voting, I took Porkchop to work and then picked up a co-worker to work at a poll in North County (Pine Lawn). Our supervisor had recruited us to help, and although that sounds unethical, we were willing volunteers.

Said co-worker and I helped with curbside voting. If someone had a physical condition that prevented them from standing in line (3+ hours at one point), we would represent them by taking their ID inside and signing their name in the roll book. Then we would take a ballot to them outside and then turn it in for them.

I had to leave to pick up Porkchop at 3:00, and now we're home. While I felt like I should return to the polls, I also feel like I need a nap. So that's what we're doing now.

We have a long night ahead of us.

A Weekend of Good Things

Porkchop and I biked over to Tower Grove Park this morning and rode around the entire park, enjoying the trees in their autumn glory. As you can see, I'm in short sleeves. This weekend was unseasonably warm and led to a nice bike ride (yay!), but also to bad sinus headaches (murrrr!).

In addition to bike riding, we partook of the following this weekend:

• The wedding of one of Porkchop's cousins.
• A Hallowe'en party.
• Dinner at Suzi's.
• The time change.

For the Hallowe'en party, I was a severed head, and Porkchop was my UPS delivery person:


Ale and Mark hosted the party. They always have awesome costumes (see here for photos of past costumes), and this year they were ghosts...very dapper ghosts. Here's Ale and me:


Have a great Monday! Remember to vote on Tuesday!

Oh, Right, I have a Blog

Sometimes I put off updating my blog like I put off cleaning my desk at work. The result of both is a big mess.

So, mish-mash post covering the past couple of weeks! Yay!

I will start with just a couple of hours ago, when I spent ten minutes working on tripod headstand and very nearly achieved it! I was able to stay up with my legs out at an angle for a few seconds (without a wall, mind you). My excitement was so much, I totally fell over during half bound lotus standing forward bend, which made me laugh because my fall was so complete and comical.

Headstand is something I've been working up to for a while. I've been quite discouraged because bound headstand (which seems to be the most popular) is quite uncomfortable for me. I think my neck is proportionally too long, which makes my neck do all the work instead of my shoulders.

So, tripod headstand is the answer. But maybe I'll also work on Forearm Headstand...because it looks neat.

Jumping back to last weekend, my parents visited and we had a grand time. We went to the Fall Harvest Festival at the Tower Grove farmers market (the last outdoor market of the season - boo!), to the Hill for treats, and to Grant's Farm. While there, Porkchop and I did what everyone must do at least once...feed the baby goats!

I also took my parents to two restaurants I hadn't yet visited: Fritanga and Franco (because the Freemans only eat at places that start with Fr). I enjoyed both, but I'll probably go back to Fritanga first because it has sweet plantains (and it's cheaper and a bit more interesting)!

Now...weekend before that! This is such old news now, but Porkchop and I went to the Obama rally with my friend Jean. Old news, yes, but I want to post my photos and tell our story.

At first, we thought this would be as close to the Arch as we would get:


See the Arch? It's to the right of the bridge and to the left of that big pole thing.

Even though we were SO FAR AWAY, everyone's spirits were high and sometimes we would chant O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA. Then we became a bit concerned when we saw police officers with assault rifles who herded us out of the street and up on to a sidewalk. Then we became excited because we realized it must be the motorcade route. It was!! Obama and his pack came through, and Obama was smiling and waving through the SUV window. It was pretty neat. He was a mere five feet from us.

The line continued to move so slowly, but we made headway. Here we are back at the Metrolink station...finally.


And then we FINALLY made it near the Arch, just as Obama started speaking! I can pick out Obama in the crowd, can you?


We were far away, but we could hear everything clearly and even see Obama (sort of).

Speaking of Obama, OHMYGOSH, Election Day is nearly here!! I am so nervous, my stomach hurts. I have the pre-election jitters...I'm always terrified that something will go terribly wrong in the election booth and I'll accidentally vote for the wrong person. Seriously, my hands are already sweating and I want to throw up.

Okay, back to two weekends ago.

The day after the rally, Jean and I went to the Victorian Day of Mourning at the Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion, which is only about 6 or 7 blocks from our house. This means the Lemp Mansion (spooky...3 suicides and 2 deaths occurred in the house...I do not want to ever spend the night in the B&B that it now is) and the old Lemp Brewery are also near us. You can see the brewery from our house:


(This shot is from Cherokee, not our house (that would be crazy). Also maybe crazy is that I wonder if there is an entrance to the old caves under our basement. Seriously! There is an area under our basement floor that must be hollow because it sounds so different from the rest of the floor. Porkchop and I have both noted this. I wish there was a real entrance to the caves somewhere - I want to see them so badly! I mean, the Lemps built an auditorium, a ballroom, and a bathhouse in the caverns under their house. And there were roller rinks and beer gardens in other caves! That is some serious cavernage. This is an interesting story about the caves, although it's rather anecdotal and perhaps not true in some points.)

Okay, so enough rambling, have a great Friday!

Well, That Hurt

I just cut my finger while scoring Xes in chestnuts. Supposedly, there is a special tool that will do this for you.

I recommend purchasing that tool.

Owwww....

I Have Two Options

I recently finished a Foliage hat, and since I didn't try it on while knitting it, it turned out a little big.

I think I have two options with this hat.

One is to wear it like this:


The other is to block it, stretch it out a bit more, and wear it in the slouchy beret style:


Right? If it were looser and slouchier on top, it would be très fashionable.

Speaking of knitting, last night I purchased yarn for the February Lady Cardigan. I can't wait to cast on, but I'll most likely have to wait until Sunday evening. My friend Jean is coming over from Columbia to visit and catch the Obama rally, and some might think it a bit rude to say, I can't talk! Must knit!!

Also last night, I ate at a Chinese place I usually like, but this time I felt poisoned! Not food poisoning; my body just felt sluggish and gross all today. Instead of eating my leftovers, I tried to flush my system with pomegranate juice, salad, and an orange. Ugh, I haven't felt so gross in years. I started feeling better a mere two hours ago.

I look forward to again eating good things like these roasted beets that I made last week:


The solid colored ones were from my shared garden, and the Chioggia ones were from Fair Shares. YUM! This was my first time to try Chioggia beets, and they are DELICIOUS. Sweeter and more peppery than the other beets. Amazing.

The morning after roasting beets, Porkchop cooked bacon and scrambled eggs (both from Fair Shares), and I added in chevre (from FS) and leftover beets to my eggs. We also had slices of rye bread and apple butter (again, both from FS). I was in breakfast heaven.

Another food highlight was going to Niche with Porkchop on our anniversary last week. Actually, I was turned off by a couple of things. First, their 3-course fixed price deal is now limited to certain (er, the cheapest) selections. Second, our server raved and raved about a dessert - the Poached Pear Financier, but I was not impressed and therefore disappointed. While the licorice ice cream was awesome, the poached pear and the cake in which it was embedded were rather tasteless.

The good parts about Niche were the pepperdelle with braised lamb (so good!) and the Pacific cod. I debated about ordering the cod because...it's cod. How could it possibly be made amazing? Fortunately, it was amazing and served with a few different sauces: pureed squash, creamed spinach, and a red wine reduction. Porkchop ordered the roasted chicken, which was served with a super yummy polenta (among other things). All in all, it was a good night.

Other highlights of last week was Porkchop's brother moving out (yay!), and me going to see Katie and Beth while they were visiting in Columbia. It was Beth's birthday, and it was a very good day of eating at Uprise, having an ice cream cake, and just hanging out.

Currently, I am missing Porkchop while she's working at Six Flags. Stupid Fright Fest. I can't wait for the second weekend of November when Six Flags is over.