I hadn't realized I haven't updated this blog in so long...going insane between the end of the semester, a totally overwhelming Christmas "vacation", and collapsing on my couch in an attempt to stave off death upon my return to Texas.
I've spent the past couple days on the couch - I can feel my Eustachian tubes - and have been going stretches of eating nothing for 12 hours or 16 hours at a time and then eating a lot in one burst. I don't know how good or bad it is for me, but I need to get myself into a good routine. I'm my heaviest that I've been in years and it needs to stop. The idea of developing diabetes like certain elder members of my family and having to stick myself daily with needles is a MASSIVE hell no.
I also got my energy bill in the mail today. I was confidently expecting it to be low (I empty and unplug my fridge, and all my appliances, TV, everything, when I leave) and somehow it was nearly $100!!! I thought keeping my thermostat set at 63F would keep the air going (every time I turn the AC/Heat off the apartment complex people come in and turn it back on...grrr) but not cost me. SERIOUSLY pissed off. You have to be kidding me - I wasn't here for three weeks, everything was unplugged and my bill is the highest it's ever been??? I guess that's life.
Anyway, despite my tubes and ears and most of me hurting and being cold, last night was a pretty cool night - got to talk to a friend for a really good conversation - and it reminded me that no matter how annoying and painful and blah life can be, there's always good, if you only look for it in the right place.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Friday, November 14, 2014
My Friday Night
I spent a rather disappointing day today, and decided to start anew by taking a nap. I woke up at 7 pm and felt a bit better, although getting out of my very warm, cozy bed into a 63F apartment (I'm cheap/broke) was very difficult.
I spent half an hour deciding on what to watch - settled on one of the Vicar of Dibley Christmas specials - and then got to work on dinner. Made Portuguese spicy shrimp (my grandmother's recipe) and white jasmine rice and a green salad. Nobly resisted going to the store to buy feta cheese (a staple of my "luxury" purchases), and after my dinner was made and consumed I was putting the leftovers (very happy with the fact I have rice and shrimp in one tupperware and another tupperware with plain rice I get to make egg fried rice with - screw my diet, it's bloody cold outside) I found that I still HAD some in the fridge! I'm very cross about this. Tonight was all about the perfect dinner and I had the feta I wanted and didn't know it was in there! Oh well. I'll have it for lunch tomorrow with my leftovers.
So, anyway, my Friday night is me chilling on the couch (literally chilling...brrr) watching As Time Goes By on Amazon Prime, drinking aspartame-laced Cuba Libres, and writing a novel. And I'm strangely okay with that.
(Not that I wouldn't like a tall, dark, handsome boyfriend snuggling up on the couch with me, him reading and drinking with me writing and drinking. But I haven't got one, nor am I likely to find one, so making the best of things it is.)
I spent half an hour deciding on what to watch - settled on one of the Vicar of Dibley Christmas specials - and then got to work on dinner. Made Portuguese spicy shrimp (my grandmother's recipe) and white jasmine rice and a green salad. Nobly resisted going to the store to buy feta cheese (a staple of my "luxury" purchases), and after my dinner was made and consumed I was putting the leftovers (very happy with the fact I have rice and shrimp in one tupperware and another tupperware with plain rice I get to make egg fried rice with - screw my diet, it's bloody cold outside) I found that I still HAD some in the fridge! I'm very cross about this. Tonight was all about the perfect dinner and I had the feta I wanted and didn't know it was in there! Oh well. I'll have it for lunch tomorrow with my leftovers.
So, anyway, my Friday night is me chilling on the couch (literally chilling...brrr) watching As Time Goes By on Amazon Prime, drinking aspartame-laced Cuba Libres, and writing a novel. And I'm strangely okay with that.
(Not that I wouldn't like a tall, dark, handsome boyfriend snuggling up on the couch with me, him reading and drinking with me writing and drinking. But I haven't got one, nor am I likely to find one, so making the best of things it is.)
Monday, November 10, 2014
Quickie thought of the day
Why am I always so tired?
And, more importantly, why do my friends post articles on Facebook about how lung cancer affects 1 in 13 women and kills more women than breast, colon, and brain cancer combined every year? And worst of all, how the symptoms are "a cough that doesn't go away," "fatigue," and "aches and pains"??????
I mean, I KNOW every internet diagnosis is death. But still. My chest has been bugging me, and that article was not something I wanted to see!!
And, more importantly, why do my friends post articles on Facebook about how lung cancer affects 1 in 13 women and kills more women than breast, colon, and brain cancer combined every year? And worst of all, how the symptoms are "a cough that doesn't go away," "fatigue," and "aches and pains"??????
I mean, I KNOW every internet diagnosis is death. But still. My chest has been bugging me, and that article was not something I wanted to see!!
Sunday, November 9, 2014
An artist's quandary
I have no idea whether it's finished or not. I love it, and yet I look at it and wonder...oh well. It's mine, and I can take all the time I need to finish it.
I was at Michael's weeks and weeks ago, buying some paint, canvases, and craft variety items for the Halloween costume I was making, and some girl behind me in line was talking about how she had been offered gallery space in a real museum, and people bought her art off Etsy and tried to buy it when they saw it in her apartment, and how she had dozens and dozens of finished canvases, but she 'didn't want to give them up' and 'let them go' and I just stood there in line and gripped my items and managed not to smack her silly for being so foolish and frankly, downright evil, as to brag about her success and about her inability to capitalize on her talent because she was too emotionally attached to her pieces to share them with the world.
I'm sure it's hard to part with your pieces. But to refuse to give/loan them to a real museum that wants your artwork!! Forget not selling on Etsy (although she claimed to be broke, and still buying loads of art supplies to create more art), a real museum!
Oy.
Just oy.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Sheer Exhaustion
What a week! I don't know which way is up right now.
Had an exam this morning, and was horribly frustrated that the professor accidentally put 7 more questions than he meant to, so told us to not answer the last 7 (I'd already done the whole test and was in the process of filling in my scantron), and those last 7 questions I knew all the answers to, but three or four in the middle I wasn't at all sure about, so I've probably lost some points! So frustrating.
Then I worked for a couple hours, and by noon I was so cold and miserable and hungry I nearly cried, despite my jersey and the throw I keep at my desk, but then I remembered my old office-mate left a space heater in there, so I turned it on, put it under my desk, and in about 10 minutes I was actually warm (my office is notorious for being the coldest room in the building), felt significantly less hungry, and didn't want to cry anymore! I must remember this for the future because I know it's just going to get colder in that damn icebox of an office. Even my current office-mate, a northerner who is gloating over the fact it's supposed to get down to 39F this weekend as an overnight low, thinks our office is way too cold and keeps a sweater in there.
I was relieved when it was lunchtime, but a blonde girl has suddenly developed the habit of being in the grad student lounge when I come up for lunch, which drives me INSANE. I've decided I must have both introvert and extrovert qualities, because spending 10 hours or so on campus (which I do a lot of days) is really hard on me and I need a half hour entirely to myself to recharge and get through the end of my day in one piece. Then when she left, and I was just rising to lie down on the couch for the five minutes I had left, another girl came in and asked, "Oh, are you studying?" - despite the macaroni and cheese cup in my hand - and I politely said no, she came in and dropped her belongings on the couch and I gave up my dreams of five minutes of calm and repose, and left.
Needless to say, I was in a seriously unpleasant mood by the time I got to Conservation class. Class was okay. Spot-cleaning rusty nails with 10% solutions of various acids is neither soothing nor fun, and I was very relieved I only had to do 45 minutes of work after class to complete my hours for the week.
Unfortunately, I have to go in tomorrow (I purposely work 10-12 hour days so that I DON'T have to go in Fridays!) but it shouldn't take long. I'll take my car and run errands on the way home. Need to get laundry quarters, supplies for a photography portfolio, my tires checked, things like that. Then I need to work on my thesis and I SHOULD go to the opera night, but I'm not sure. I usually enjoy myself when I'm there, but I'm so horridly tired right now, and have so much work to do this weekend, I don't know if I would.
I loathe being grown-up. I never know what's the good thing for me, or the right thing for me to do! That and I just put a percentage of my paycheck into my savings, and paid off my credit card and have so little money left for the month I'm practically frightened about it. I still need stuff for Thanksgiving - cutlery, food, some little bowls and things. Hopefully I'll be able to swing it, but I'm going to pray my hardest that I don't have to dip into my retirement savings. It's all because I bought $200+ of furniture last month, and a bunch of very necessary cooking stuff that turned out to be more expensive than I thought. Still, once I have everything then I won't have to spend money on it again, will I?
Had an exam this morning, and was horribly frustrated that the professor accidentally put 7 more questions than he meant to, so told us to not answer the last 7 (I'd already done the whole test and was in the process of filling in my scantron), and those last 7 questions I knew all the answers to, but three or four in the middle I wasn't at all sure about, so I've probably lost some points! So frustrating.
Then I worked for a couple hours, and by noon I was so cold and miserable and hungry I nearly cried, despite my jersey and the throw I keep at my desk, but then I remembered my old office-mate left a space heater in there, so I turned it on, put it under my desk, and in about 10 minutes I was actually warm (my office is notorious for being the coldest room in the building), felt significantly less hungry, and didn't want to cry anymore! I must remember this for the future because I know it's just going to get colder in that damn icebox of an office. Even my current office-mate, a northerner who is gloating over the fact it's supposed to get down to 39F this weekend as an overnight low, thinks our office is way too cold and keeps a sweater in there.
I was relieved when it was lunchtime, but a blonde girl has suddenly developed the habit of being in the grad student lounge when I come up for lunch, which drives me INSANE. I've decided I must have both introvert and extrovert qualities, because spending 10 hours or so on campus (which I do a lot of days) is really hard on me and I need a half hour entirely to myself to recharge and get through the end of my day in one piece. Then when she left, and I was just rising to lie down on the couch for the five minutes I had left, another girl came in and asked, "Oh, are you studying?" - despite the macaroni and cheese cup in my hand - and I politely said no, she came in and dropped her belongings on the couch and I gave up my dreams of five minutes of calm and repose, and left.
Needless to say, I was in a seriously unpleasant mood by the time I got to Conservation class. Class was okay. Spot-cleaning rusty nails with 10% solutions of various acids is neither soothing nor fun, and I was very relieved I only had to do 45 minutes of work after class to complete my hours for the week.
Unfortunately, I have to go in tomorrow (I purposely work 10-12 hour days so that I DON'T have to go in Fridays!) but it shouldn't take long. I'll take my car and run errands on the way home. Need to get laundry quarters, supplies for a photography portfolio, my tires checked, things like that. Then I need to work on my thesis and I SHOULD go to the opera night, but I'm not sure. I usually enjoy myself when I'm there, but I'm so horridly tired right now, and have so much work to do this weekend, I don't know if I would.
I loathe being grown-up. I never know what's the good thing for me, or the right thing for me to do! That and I just put a percentage of my paycheck into my savings, and paid off my credit card and have so little money left for the month I'm practically frightened about it. I still need stuff for Thanksgiving - cutlery, food, some little bowls and things. Hopefully I'll be able to swing it, but I'm going to pray my hardest that I don't have to dip into my retirement savings. It's all because I bought $200+ of furniture last month, and a bunch of very necessary cooking stuff that turned out to be more expensive than I thought. Still, once I have everything then I won't have to spend money on it again, will I?
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Lifestyle Changes
I don't know what lifestyle changes to make, but I need to make some. I'm sick AGAIN. And I had to turn down not only a date tonight, but also an invitation from an old friend who's in town because I'm too sick to go out. I went to Big Lots earlier (they're having a 20% off everything in the store sale) to get a roasting pan, a turkey baster, a 4 pack of tape, and two cooling racks for a total of $25.46, which I'm very pleased with, but that's as much energy as I had to expend today.
Maybe I need some more tea. I sure need something!
Maybe I need some more tea. I sure need something!
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Too busy!!
I've been so insanely busy lately, I don't know which way is up. Classes, homework, work, photography, (re)learning a new language, nightmares, Halloween costumes, painting, and trying to get myself enough downtime to stay sane, not to mention cooking, cleaning and all the chores that are necessary to keep oneself alive and presentable!!
Today, for instance, I got up at 9 am, showered, went grocery shopping, came home, and immediately started cooking! To be sure, I have the game on, and I'm making meals for the week (more about that later), but still, not a lot of chill time. Especially when later today I have Mediterranean homework, MUST work on my mask if I plan on wearing my costume to the local Renaissance fair, I want to get some painting done (trying to create a decent painting to use as a Christmas present...if I could only paint as well as my sister!!! I need to find some drawing classes out here but I haven't yet), German homework, and I was hoping to find a few minutes for my thesis. It's less objectionable when I just dedicate 20 minutes to it at a time, and I feel good for having worked on it, and feel better for not spending a whole day screaming at it.
Grocery shopping was gorgeous today - I found a 20 pound turkey for $11.50!! Frankly, all I wanted to do after that was this:
But I continued shopping, and got enough food for the week (helped out by the $3.70 chicken I already had reposing in my freezer) for a grand total of $39.46, a whole $0.54 under my weekly grocery budget!! I love it when I can do that. That turkey, by the way, is destined for Thanksgiving. I'm having people over, and trying to assemble what I can now (I need a roasting pan, gravy tureen, etc etc) to defray expenses so I won't have to pay out seven zillion dollars all at once come late November.
Right now my chicken is defrosting (if I had the brains of a lizard I would have put it to defrost last night, but I didn't) in a bowl of cold water, and I have butternut soup simmering away on the stove. I'm making evil plans to make a good deal of butternut soup this autumn (so healthy, and so yummy!) but perfecting my own recipe. One day, perhaps I can have my very own recipe book! I'd love to make a few pennies that way. I've been feeling pretty broke lately, but I haven't been paid since June 1st and I don't get paid til October 1st, so I've been living off my savings and praying I can swing it!
I'm going to be good and save the chicken bones for stock (which I will probably make tomorrow after work). That way, next week I can make pork and saffron rice, which I have been CRAVING ever since we had that freak cool spell two weeks ago. Mom says she's made it with brown rice and nobody noticed the difference which is so huge, because I'm trying so hard to be healthy, but I need yummy in my life. Life without yummy is life not worth living!
I also opened a bottle of white wine which turned out to be ghastly (I need to remember some things are on super-sale for a reason) and will turn at least some of it into a white wine sauce tonight, with whole-wheat pasta, ham and green peas. I think I have enough ham for two meals, so I might make a big fat batch (and use all the wine) and get a dinner and two lunches out of it. That way I can save all the roast chicken for this week's dinners, and use the butternut soup as lunch and/or dinner starters, or even a midnight snack.
I also want to start eating more vegetarian, as I grudgingly admit that the way meat is currently farmed is one of the major contributors to global warming (grumble grumble don't want to be a hypocrite grumble grumble) so butternut soup is hitting that trigger too. I will never give up all meat, (or even most, I'm sure) so don't even try!! I am interested in trying my hand at black bean and quinoa meatballs, but that'll be next week at earliest, I think. I need to think of some kind of sauce to use with them. Tomato based, I'm sure, but I don't want to cop out and just do something too simple. I'm kind of thinking I should use the excuse to go to the local farmer's market and get pumpkin and try some sort of pumpkin puree or something...
Seriously want to make mashed potatoes tonight, but I am going to be good and resist so that I don't turn into a hippopotamus. Will make them one night this week when I sautee some of the roast chicken with onions, peas and barbecue sauce. Sounds a little crazy, but it's yummy enough for a tired graduate student.
Okay, going to go make some cornbread now, partially to eat with my soup, partially to practice for Thanksgiving. I've never made it before, and I have real Americans coming over, so I need to get it right!
Today, for instance, I got up at 9 am, showered, went grocery shopping, came home, and immediately started cooking! To be sure, I have the game on, and I'm making meals for the week (more about that later), but still, not a lot of chill time. Especially when later today I have Mediterranean homework, MUST work on my mask if I plan on wearing my costume to the local Renaissance fair, I want to get some painting done (trying to create a decent painting to use as a Christmas present...if I could only paint as well as my sister!!! I need to find some drawing classes out here but I haven't yet), German homework, and I was hoping to find a few minutes for my thesis. It's less objectionable when I just dedicate 20 minutes to it at a time, and I feel good for having worked on it, and feel better for not spending a whole day screaming at it.
Grocery shopping was gorgeous today - I found a 20 pound turkey for $11.50!! Frankly, all I wanted to do after that was this:
But I continued shopping, and got enough food for the week (helped out by the $3.70 chicken I already had reposing in my freezer) for a grand total of $39.46, a whole $0.54 under my weekly grocery budget!! I love it when I can do that. That turkey, by the way, is destined for Thanksgiving. I'm having people over, and trying to assemble what I can now (I need a roasting pan, gravy tureen, etc etc) to defray expenses so I won't have to pay out seven zillion dollars all at once come late November.
Right now my chicken is defrosting (if I had the brains of a lizard I would have put it to defrost last night, but I didn't) in a bowl of cold water, and I have butternut soup simmering away on the stove. I'm making evil plans to make a good deal of butternut soup this autumn (so healthy, and so yummy!) but perfecting my own recipe. One day, perhaps I can have my very own recipe book! I'd love to make a few pennies that way. I've been feeling pretty broke lately, but I haven't been paid since June 1st and I don't get paid til October 1st, so I've been living off my savings and praying I can swing it!
I'm going to be good and save the chicken bones for stock (which I will probably make tomorrow after work). That way, next week I can make pork and saffron rice, which I have been CRAVING ever since we had that freak cool spell two weeks ago. Mom says she's made it with brown rice and nobody noticed the difference which is so huge, because I'm trying so hard to be healthy, but I need yummy in my life. Life without yummy is life not worth living!
I also opened a bottle of white wine which turned out to be ghastly (I need to remember some things are on super-sale for a reason) and will turn at least some of it into a white wine sauce tonight, with whole-wheat pasta, ham and green peas. I think I have enough ham for two meals, so I might make a big fat batch (and use all the wine) and get a dinner and two lunches out of it. That way I can save all the roast chicken for this week's dinners, and use the butternut soup as lunch and/or dinner starters, or even a midnight snack.
I also want to start eating more vegetarian, as I grudgingly admit that the way meat is currently farmed is one of the major contributors to global warming (grumble grumble don't want to be a hypocrite grumble grumble) so butternut soup is hitting that trigger too. I will never give up all meat, (or even most, I'm sure) so don't even try!! I am interested in trying my hand at black bean and quinoa meatballs, but that'll be next week at earliest, I think. I need to think of some kind of sauce to use with them. Tomato based, I'm sure, but I don't want to cop out and just do something too simple. I'm kind of thinking I should use the excuse to go to the local farmer's market and get pumpkin and try some sort of pumpkin puree or something...
Seriously want to make mashed potatoes tonight, but I am going to be good and resist so that I don't turn into a hippopotamus. Will make them one night this week when I sautee some of the roast chicken with onions, peas and barbecue sauce. Sounds a little crazy, but it's yummy enough for a tired graduate student.
Okay, going to go make some cornbread now, partially to eat with my soup, partially to practice for Thanksgiving. I've never made it before, and I have real Americans coming over, so I need to get it right!
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