Househeld

Earth Feet, Loam Feet

2012-02-08T17:36:00.000-08:00

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon. From GRIN (Great Images In NASA).

Sometimes I experience a deep, sudden, terribly urgent and almost panicky desire to be an astronaut. I feel like if I don't walk on another planet before I die, my life might be wasted. On all kinds of other levels, I know that my life won't actually be wasted if I never do this, but it still makes me feel anxious sometimes. Looking at this picture induces that panic. I blame science fiction.

A

[Un]happy weekend!

2012-01-29T18:25:00.000-08:00

Thursday night: Work work work! Grade grade grade! Must finish all the grading!

Friday, 12:45 am: Whew! All the grades are in! Rejoice! Now for some much needed sleep. I wish my back didn't hurt so much right now.

Friday, 7:00 am: BLEEEEEEEEEH WHY DO I FEEL SO AWFUL. Did someone feed me thumbtacks while I was sleeping? Because my throat really hurts...Oh well, I guess I'd better go to my five-hour long meeting.

Friday, 3:00 pm: When did it get so dizzy and hot in here? I'm going to lay on the couch for a while. It's a good thing I took the rest of the afternoon off... And apparently I have a fever. Yay.

Saturday morning (eleven hours of feverish sleep later): Huh. More fever. Also, I need a water trough, stat. I wonder if I have Strep throat...Two of my students had Strep throat a week or two ago... [Web MD search tells me I probably have the plague or terminal cancer.] Hm, well I don't have white spots, so it's probably not Strep throat.

Sunday morning: Huh. White spots. Medicenter time!

Sunday, two and a half hours of waiting room time later: Yay! Strep throat! Boo, not allowed to go back to work until Wednesday. Which means I have to find a sub for Tuesday. Anyone want to go to Temecula??? :(

Dear students: in the future, feel free to give me your essays, but please keep your infectious diseases to yourself. Sincerely, Mrs. B

A

Morning thoughts:

2012-01-26T07:54:00.000-08:00

Sneezing explosively with oatmeal in your mouth is the worst. Almost as bad: cleaning sneezed oatmeal off of your laptop.

Winseln.

2012-01-23T21:20:00.000-08:00

I finished my first Latvian Wedding Sock this weekend. But I can't post pictures because now I need to grade a million papers before Thursday. Ugh. I really hate the end of the semester. Even if I've been relatively responsible with my grading all semester, I still have at least 10-12 solid hours of grading ahead of me that I couldn't have prevented and that I can't pass off to my grader. Darned term papers... And I still have to go to work like normal. So that's like 8 hours in the office to come home to several hours of grading. Whine whine whine.

Okay, I'm done. See you in a week.

A

P. S. Also, today I discovered that chestnuts are disappointingly icky. This week is not starting off well.

Poem

2012-01-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

I.

A poem can be a broken little thing:
An injured insect buzzing with one wing.

...Knitting...

2012-01-03T20:21:00.001-08:00

I have a feeling that I will finish the first sock and not attempt the second one for, oh, say at least a year or so...

A

Exhibit A

2011-12-27T17:56:00.000-08:00

!!!

2011-12-26T15:42:00.000-08:00

Josh and I got a Wacom Bamboo Capture for Christmas from my parents. Let there be internet art.

A

GUYS!

2011-12-21T20:57:00.000-08:00

MY WINNER T-SHIRT CAME. Finally. After a month. YAY!

Also: I am now officially on Christmas break until January 3.

A

NaNoWriMo Captain's Log, Issue 4

2011-12-12T20:40:00.000-08:00

...Because I said I would. Even though it's now a fair bit after the fact. The final installment is below:

Day 24 (Thanksgiving): 38,179 total, 2,124 added. (1,821 behind). Really hard to do anything around the family tonight. Dinner was lovely, and we all put ourselves into turkey-induced food comas, which was not a conducive state for writing. Still got my minimum down, though, so that is good. So many loose ends to wrap up, and just over 10,000 words to do it in. We’ll see how that goes!

Day 25: 41,927 total, 3,748 added. (261 ahead). YAY! Cooking and Second Thanksgiving pretty much all day, but when I got home around 8, I just sat down and wrote. Wonderfully productive. Wrapping up really does take longer than you think. I only have a few thousand left—I hope I can get everything wrapped up by then!

Day 26: 44,081 total, 2,154 added. (748 ahead). Zipping along, zipping along toward that finish line and the glory and sparkling cider and the “winner” t-shirt that await! It’s Thanksgiving in my novel. Gosh, I don’t know where that idea came from…

Day 27: 46,125 total, 2,044 added. (1,125 ahead). Woohoo! So close! Maybe I can finish tomorrow! I am figuring out how to resolve the plot and keep the sense of justice in tact. It needs to feel like a fair resolution in order for my MC to be consistent in character. I think I’ve got it worked out. And less than four thousand words to make it all happen. Let’s do this! (Finished the day by 8:00 pm today, by the way. Going to go watch Inception now with Josh.)

Day 28: 51,300 total. 5,175 added (plus some I forgot to count). I finished my novel in solitude, no online sprints, which felt appropriate. Novel submitted and verified. I win! Boy, what a rush that ending was. Christina and Kevin were over, cheering me on from the other room, and they drank sparkling cider with me in celebration when I hit 50,000. (or 50,090, actually—I didn’t notice when I actually crossed the finish line). (Josh sipped some too, though he was in bed under the influence of NyQuil. He is rather sick at the moment, but kindly gave me permission to wake him when I crossed the finish line.)

But that wasn’t enough. The story wasn’t over, goshdarnit! And even though I’d already written 2,000 words in the last hour, I sat back down and wrapped everything up, copied the three pages of notes that I’d been keeping at the end of the document to a separate document, and still reached more than 1,000 words over the finish line. I couldn’t help smiling when I finally typed “The End” at 51,300 words, knowing that that was really where the story ended. It wasn’t just “good enough.” It was finished. The inevitable ends were reached.

This is momentous. I have a 162-page Word document full of a story that I created. Out of my head. A story that is coherent, and meaningful, and one that I actually like. What a massive endeavor, and what a thrilling ride, and what a bizarre existential experience. I might, maybe, a little bit be hooked on this noveling thing now. Huge shout-out to the NaNoWriMo Staff and the Office of Letters and Light. Send them money. These are really excellent and clever people.

Day 29: Aw. Dang. Post-NaNo Blues. I don’t know what to do with myself now. My fingers are itching to keep typing, but I know I need to do other things. I feel like I am not motivated to do anything except to write. And write some more.

Day 30: GUYS. This sucks. I don’t even feel like a human being right now.

Afterword: Heading back into real life was hard. It wasn't like I had actually left real life either, though. I had done all of the things that I normally would--working in the office, teaching, grading, family stuff, home stuff, holidays, church--plus written a whole novel in a month on top of it all. I had a clear goal and daily objectives and the will to accomplish it all, and then suddenly it was finished. And I had no idea what to do with myself. And it was miserable for a week or so. And now it's mostly back to normal, though I've picked up my other novel again, which is good. But not at quite so hectic a pace. And before anyone asks, no, you can't read the one I finished. I haven't even read it yet, and probably won't at least until after Christmas. And then I'll decide if it's worth editing. And then I'll edit it if it is. And then MAYBE you can read it. I can see now why so many writers advise that you write something every single day, though. Just one month was enough to build a habit, and it was difficult to break it and come back down. If writing is going to be your livelihood, that habit would be one valuable ally.

Here are my final stats for the month:

So. There you have it. One novel. One month. Any suggestions for what I should do next?

A

#help

2011-11-30T22:00:00.000-08:00

HELP. I AM EATING THIS WHOLE THING AND WATCHING POINTLESS TV SHOWS ON HULU BY MYSELF. SOMEONE STOP ME. HELP ME FEEL LIKE A HUMAN AGAIN.

A

True Story:

2011-11-30T08:52:00.000-08:00

I met a distant cousin of mine on Sunday. She's German, but lives in France, and her name is Rainbow.

A

Meh.

2011-11-29T21:46:00.000-08:00

Post-noveling funk: I was not anticipating this.

All my fingers and brain want to do is write and write and write some more. Didn't anyone tell them that they finished yesterday and could stop now? I feel like my brain kicked into high gear this month, and it hasn't figured out how to slow down yet. It just wants to keep going. I think I'm supposed to be doing other things instead, though. Like grading term papers. Or knitting things.

Writing Land is a magical place--a creative garden, prolific with words and ideas. I think I've been more creatively productive in the last month than I have ever been before, and I liked it. Furthermore, my kitchen is clean, and my home is decorated for Christmas. Both are things I tackled over the weekend, when I was also responsible for writing large quantities of words. None of these tasks were neglected, and I still got to hang out with my family and relax, too.

Work awaits tomorrow. I don't want to be dissatisfied with a slowing of pace and the return to normal life, because there's a time and a place for things like NaNoWriMo and surely trying to keep this up all year long would be exhausting. But I also don't want to turn into a big fat time-waster again. Meh.

A

Proudly Announcing...

2011-11-28T23:56:00.001-08:00

At 10:16 pm tonight, I passed 50,000 words. At 11:52 pm, I finished the story, typed "The End," and submitted the novel for verification. Total word count: 51,300. Two days to spare.

I am now, officially, a novelist.

Thanks for reading! (The final installment of the Captain's Log will be posted sometime later this week. Now I need to go read up on the logic lesson I'm supposed to be teaching tomorrow. G'night!)

A

Ha Hah! Take That, Novel!

2011-11-25T23:57:00.000-08:00

...

Guess who is ahead of the writing schedule again! (Total reached just shy of 42,000 words tonight.)

You can track my progress over the next few days using this gadget:

The progress bar will update as I update my count on NaNoWriMo.org

Yay!

A

NaNoWriMo Captain's Log, Issue 3

2011-11-24T00:07:00.000-08:00

Update the third:

Day 18: No words. (8,574 behind). Breaking Dawn. Rage. Way too complicated to go into here, but resolved to write ALL THE BOOKS fixing ALL THE PROBLEMS that Meyer has created in the souls of thousands of teenage girls. I have a theory that Suzanne Collins has already crafted a gripping response to the Twilight Saga, and cleverly, too. But I wanna help.

Day 19: 24,227 total: 2,801 added. (7,439 behind). Chugging along. Not as fluid, and I’m actually a teensy tiny bit nervous about running out of things to say before I hit 50,000. They say that wrapping up takes a lot longer than you think it will, but I’m not sure it’s going to take 20,000 words long. Got a good amount covered today, though.

Day 20: 28,060 total: 3,833 added. (5,273 behind). Almost 4,000 words, mostly thanks to #Nanowordsprints. These people. I like them. They are getting interesting. The characters, that is, not the Word Sprinters. The Sprinters are interesting too, but what I’m trying to say is that I really like my characters and what they are doing and where they are going. All in all, a really good day.

Day 21: 30,494 total, 2,434 added. (4,506 behind). I like these people and (wickedly) I like the problems I’ve created for them. I like watching them be clever and sort out their problems. Less than 20,000 left. I can do this!!!

Day 22: 33,622 total, 3,128 added. (3,044 behind). A 3k day! More #nanowordsprints. Things are running smoothly. Also, I went ahead and purchased this year’s Winner’s shirt as extra incentive. No backing out now! I hereby give you all permission to ridicule me endlessly if I don’t finish this thing.

Day 23: 36,055 total, 2,433 added. (2,278 behind). Hard to focus today. Moved at a snail’s pace. Fingers like bird claws, or something. Ah well. Still moving forward, still have places to go, and tomorrow is the first full day of true Thanksgiving Break. Only one week left. Onward!

[Via Hyperbole and a Half]

Two links

2011-11-21T18:46:00.001-08:00

One:

A compellingly written reason for reading dystopian fiction in general, and The Hunger Games specifically.

Two:

A review of Twilight: Breaking Dawn part 1 that sums up almost everything I have to say about the movie.

Note to self: write blog post about Twilight v. The Hunger Games. I saw Breaking Dawn Part 1 on Friday night--don't ask me why--and I came away utterly enraged. Real fury, people. I'd seen movies 1-3 on DVD with Riff Trax, and it was mostly good mock-worthy fun, but this...this was psychotic and gross.

Back to noveling. Made it to 28,000 words last night, hoping to make it past 30k tonight!

A

NaNoWriMo Captain's Log, Issue 2

2011-11-18T00:04:00.000-08:00

Here's update numero dos:

Day six: 11,879 total. 2891 added (1877 ahead)

Wow, those words just kind of flew out tonight. Building the tension up between characters was a lot of fun, and I knew where the conversations and events all needed to go in order to make two characters really hate each other—and now they do! And now the main plot can begin. Writing is magical.

Day seven: 12,809 total. 930 added (1140 ahead)

Sooooo sleeeeepy. Long day at work, plus cooking a full meal for Josh and myself plus sibs tonight. Can’t go on any further this evening. Need sleep. And braaaaiiiiins. (Note: there are no zombies in this novel.)

Day eight: 13,409 total. 600 added. (73 ahead)

Very tired. Full day teaching from 9-5, plus a few hours grading since first quarter grades are due by midnight on Thursday. Typed for 20 to 30 min, but I can’t devote more time to it tonight. It’s only 10:30, but I need to stop and go get some sleep. The end of Daylight Saving time is really throwing me off right now. Chores are falling to the wayside. Kind of gross.

Day…13: 14,415 total. 1,006 added. (7,251 behind.)

Waaaah. Four days of no progress. Grades were due on the 10^th, and all of my word-resources were directed toward grading student essays rather than creating any words of my own. Was too exhausted Fri. night to do anything, and then was gone from 8 am to 11:30 pm on a trip up to Morro Bay and SLO on Saturday with some friends, so again, no progress. Still exhausted today, and needed to get caught up on laundry, hence the measly increase. At least Thanksgiving Break is coming up next week! I get a whole week off from teaching, and more time to devote to this project. My stat tracker claims that if I keep going at this rate (whatever that means), I will finish on December 18, which is not good. Here’s to cracking the whip!

Day 14: 15,884 total. 1,469 added. (7,454 behind.)

So sleepy. Really going to need Thanksgiving to get caught up.

Day 15: 16,935 total. 1,051 added. (8,064 behind). So exhausted. Falling asleep at keyboard. Almost spelled falling “velling.” Story moving slowly.

Day 16: 19,273 total. 2,338 words added. (7,393 behind). Catch up time! A few slow bits, but mostly moved pretty fluidly. Main character mysteriously obtained a great grandmother in England along the way, but if it works, it works! And now, it’s definitely off to bed.

Day 17: 21,426 total. 2,153 words added. (6,907 behind). NaNoWriMo Word Sprints on Twitter = best resource ever (#NaNoWordSprints). They keep me going when I’m tired. 2,000 words in three hours with snack and internet breaks ain’t too shabby. Story’s going pretty well. Hitting a few rough spots, but I’m told that that is most likely just residual second-week slump since I’m still working on getting caught up. Only one class left to teach this week (Shakespeare, and we’re on Romeo and Juliet), and then I am officially on Thanksgiving Break. Yay! Close that gap!

For reference, here's a copy of my stats page after I logged my words for tonight:

Signing off,

A

NaNoWriMo Captain's Log, Issue 1

2011-11-06T00:26:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Just finished day 5. I'm keeping a Captain's Log of my progress and my thoughts about the whole process, and I thought I'd post updates on the weekends or whenever I'm trying to procrastinate.

So here is issue 1! For reference, the daily goal is to write 1,667 words.

Captain's Log, November 2011

Day one: 2436 total. (769 ahead of the minimum)

Yay! Fun project! Brand new novel! No prior planning! Flying by the seat of my pants! And I’m ahead of my daily minimum!

Day two: 4185 total. 1749 words added (851 ahead)

Yay! I like this still. I like my characters (except for the one you’re not supposed to like). And I like my premise. Still above the minimum (3334), riding the wave of week one success.

Day three: 6028 total. 1843 words added (1027 ahead)

The magic is wearing off a tiny bit, but I’m finding it surprisingly easy to just keep writing. One thing seems to just lead naturally into the next. It’s weirdly convenient, and not really what I was expecting. Hooray?

Day four: 7256 total. 1228 words added (588 ahead)

Herm. Super tired. Only made it a little over a thousand tonight. Still ahead, and really glad for my buffer. Ideas, plot, and character development still flowing freely, but my eyelids are too heavy to allow four hundred more words tonight. G’night!

Day five: 8988 total. 1732 added (653 ahead)

Hm. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s amazing how much stuff you can get done when you are avoiding doing something else. For instance: washing all of the dirty dishes, hemming the curtains, checking all of the internet things, reading half of a short story, going to Trader Joe’s and Petco… I found it difficult to focus while being around my family as I was writing tonight, but the words got written. The characters seem to be developing nicely, though today was a slow plot day. When not typing, I’m mentally picking out the details of the main action, which is fun, but rather difficult. Looking forward to writing that bit when I come to it. Most of it right now is just setup, which is necessary, but not as exciting, I think.

That's all for now!

Happy November!

2011-11-01T22:12:00.001-07:00

Wish me luck!

A

Today:

2011-10-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

That moment when you are walking back up the stairs, but you have absolutely no memory whatsoever of actually going down the stairs in the first place...

Yeah, that moment.

Much Ado

2011-10-18T22:29:00.000-07:00

Prepping simultaneously for The Great Divorce and Much Ado About Nothing. Was wondering why Much Ado ends the way it does, and thought that what I was reading with my students today in GD sheds some light on it.

Benedick: [...] And now tell me, how doth your cousin?

Beatrice: Very ill.

Benedick: And how do you?

Beatrice: Very ill, too.

Benedick: Serve God, love me, and mend.

(V.iii)

Prince:
How dost thou, Benedick, the married man?

Benedick: I'll tell thee what, prince: a college of wit-crackers cannot flout me out of my humor. Dost thou think I care for a satire or an epigram? [...] In brief, since I do purpose to marry, I will think nothing to any purpose that the world can say against it, and therefore never flout at me for what I have said against it. For man is a giddy thing, and this is my conclusion.

[...]

Messenger: [to Prince]
My Lord, your brother John is ta'en in flight,
And brought with armed men back to Messina.

Benedick: [to Prince] Think not on him till tomorrow. I'll devise thee brave punishments for him.--Strike up, pipers!

[Music plays. They dance.]
[They exit.]
Finis.

(V.iv)

"What some people say on Earth is that the final loss of one soul gives the lie to all the joy of those who are saved."

"Ye see it does not."

"I feel in a way that it ought to."

"That sounds very merciful: but see what lurks behind it."

"What?"

"The demand of the loveless and the self-imprisoned that they should be allowed to blackmail the universe: that till they consent to be happy (on their own terms) no one else shall taste joy: that theirs should be the final power; that Hell should be able to veto Heaven."

"I do not know what I want, Sir."

"Son, son, it must be one way or the other. Either the day must come when joy prevails and all the makers of misery are no longer able to infect it: or else for ever and ever the makers of misery can destroy in others the happiness the reject for themselves."

(Great Divorce, Chapter 13)

That's all. G'night!

A

Things that need to go away for a while:

2011-10-13T17:55:00.001-07:00

In order of highest to lowest urgency:

1. Termites.

2. Insufferable heat.

3. Headaches.

4. Grading.

5. That twitchy and achy muscle in my left shoulder.

6. Bad vision.

7. Anxiety.

8. Birthdays.

9. Laundry.

10. Inability to drink alcohol.

11. That plumbing problem that has closed off our primary sidewalk for the last week.

12. Pedometers.

10 Things

2011-08-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

10 things I learned this month:

1. Bears are pastoral, tragicomic catalysts, esp. in The Winter's Tale, That Hideous Strength, and Descent into Hell. I just gave a presentation on this topic to about 60 students/parents a few weeks ago. It went really well. No one fell asleep. Also, Charles Williams really is the bee's knees.

2. It is really really hard to watch people you love try to deal with losing loved ones. There's been a lot of loss among people I know this year. You can't really comfort them, and it's hard to know how to love them best.

3. If recent conversations count for anything, Josh and I will probably have very little trouble naming our future children. (No one jump to any conclusions here. No babies yet. Although I had this dream...)

4. CSA baskets are also the bee's knees.

4b. This is a really great way to eat kale.

5. When you are stressed out beyond belief, hug a kitten. If this doesn't work, cry into your kitten until your husband comes home. If your husband is as awesome as mine, he may even provide you with excellent dark chocolate to help you feel better.

6. I really love road trips with Josh. We have so much fun because we feel 100% free to be as weird as we like with each other. Minnesotan accents for half an hour talking about "bears and goosepoop"? Awkward droopy-handed guttural laughter? Yes please.

7. Weekend vacations are not ruined even if you have to leave over five hours later than you planned.

8. Just a day and a half in the mountains by the lake can almost make up for a summer full of stress. You'll still wish for more than a day-and-a-half in the mountains by the lake, but it might keep you sane.

9. Pageant of the Masters. Tableaux vivant. Kind of impressive. I was engaged the whole time. But I'm unsure about how I feel about the whole thing. Imitations of imitations? The theme this year was really cool, though.

10. I am really really grateful that my family appreciates art and seeks it out. My brother's co-worker/friend pointed out how unusual that actually is while Ben was making me a latte yesterday after church (he makes phenomenal lattes, by the way. With Latte Art.). I really like this about my family. The art thing and the lattes.

Over and out.

A

Questions:

2011-07-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

Why is it that most schools today believe in correct answers and standardized tests, but not truth?

And why are we okay with sending kids to schools that don't have anything like a coherent philosophy of education?

How did our school system become so broken?

A

Work - Play - Life

2011-07-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

Work:

Currently working on overhauling our entire Writing Curriculum, mostly by myself. Other people will be doing the audio recording and visual tech stuff, but I'm responsible for all of the content.
Also, preparing for orientation on August 11,
Running the remedial summer writing program,
Organizing and participating in cultural excursion field trips (#3 of 5 was Mission San Juan Cap on Monday, #4 will be Harry Potter 7.2 next Friday),
And preparing a presentation for our third-years on co-inherence and the doctrine of largesse in Charles Williams' writings. And maybe bears.
Extra Credit (i.e., not during normal work hours): preparing a presentation for a study skills seminar in Sept. where I will be presenting for about an hour on cog psych principles and tricks that aid memory and retention.

Play:

Knitting this! And these! Just started the cowl this week after I finished my HP Gryffindor scarf for the movie premier, and I'm almost finished with one sock. Been working on the socks for a several months, but not very consistently.
I've written almost 6,000 words of a novel over the last few months. (Generally speaking, I don't talk to people about it. Josh doesn't even really know the plot.) It's fun. I've got most of it plotted, I just don't have a lot of time to work on it. When I do sit down to work on it, I've been getting about 1000 words out per sitting, which isn't a bad pace, if I could just manage to squeeze in a bit more time here and there.
Reading SO MANY THINGS. In the last two months, I have read the following for fun: The Time Machine and "The Empire of the Ants" [H.G. Wells]; Whose Body?, Clouds of Witness, Unnatural Death, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, and Strong Poison [Dorothy Sayers]; re-read most of Borders of Infinity [Lois McMaster Bujold]; half of Happily Ever After, which is a collection of over 30 fairy tales retold by contemporary authors like Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke, Holly Black, and many others. Since my last book update, I've also read the entire Earthsea series [Usrula Le Guin] and The Great Gatsby [F. Scott Fitzgerald--duh.], which, for a book about utter ruination and despair, was decent. Still not convinced that it's a great idea to make every high school student read it, though. Josh and I have been read the Series of Unfortunate Events books aloud together [by Lemony Snicket! Which is not his real name, but is fun to say.]. We're almost finished with book 2: The Reptile Room. Also currently re-reading Many Dimensions by Charles Williams. Because I love him. So much. Seriously, if any author were to entice me into pursuing a PhD in Lit, it would probably be Williams.
Hole-in-the-Wall Wednesday has turned into Bad Movie Wednesday for the summer. After work, my coworkers and I collect dinner and our respective significant others and go watch a bad movie at my boss's house in order to relax from work stress (because there is a lot of it right now). Sometimes we watch with Riff Trax, sometimes without. Last time we ended up not watching a bad movie (we were supposed to watch "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra") because the bad-movie-bearer ended up being required to babysit at the last minute. We watched "A Town Called Panic" instead, which is currently on Netflix streaming, and which you should absolutely go watch. It is in French. It is great.

Life:

WHERE DID THE SUMMER GO. Question mark.
The things I want to do most right now: swim in Shaver Lake, lay out on the beach in the sun at Shaver Lake, visit Monica's Thrift Store up in Shaver Lake, ride in the boat on Shaver Lake, sit by the campfire up at Shaver Lake. Do you sense a theme? Of course, if we are able to go, it will only be for a measly 1-2 days since my family decided to go during my orientation week. Trying to figure out if we can leave at the break of dawn that Friday and spend at least a day and a half or so up there. Sadness.
I am covered in bruises right now. I keep running into things: table corners, our bed, open cabinets, etc. This needs to stop.
I keep wanting to do awesome things in our home, but other projects keep getting in the way. Example. I can't hang things on the walls in our room until we figure out if the bed is going to stay where it is or not. We can't figure that out until Josh turns the bed into a four-poster (so awesome!!!!!). Josh hasn't turned the bed into a four-poster yet (though he thinks he has a plan now, which is super great), so I wait.
Speaking of bed, it is time for bed. And The Reptile Room.

Goodnight!

A

Meet Theo [and Related Adventures!]

2011-07-12T18:33:00.001-07:00

If you are not a cat person, maybe skip reading this entry.

This is Theodoric. He goes by Theo most days, because he thinks that Theodoric is a bit too pretentious for daily use. He's a simple young cat, after all. (Other nicknames in frequent use: the previously mentioned "Dork-Dork," "Theosaurus" or "Theodactyl" when he makes impatient dinosaur noises in the morning when I'm trying to feed him, "Theobumpkin" when he's being cute and uncoordinated and running into things, or scaring himself... we are finding that he has a very easily adaptable name.)

Theo likes...

Theo likes people. Not too particular about who they are at this point. He is very different from Ivan in this way.
Theo likes being picked up, held, carried, and cuddled. He is easily pleased, and purrs indiscriminately.
Theo likes sitting on someone's lap. Anyone's lap. You've got a lap? He'll sit on it.
Theo likes computers.

Many times I have been reading blogs, checking Facebook, etc., no kitten in sight. Then, suddenly and without warning, Theo is flying through the air, having launched himself headlong at my laptop screen. When he's not doing that, he's usually persistently attempting to walk on the keyboard (I am batting his feet away now as I type) or rubbing his face on any part of the computer that he can reach. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for the existence of Command+Z. The number of times he has deleted what I've been typing...yikes. He has also managed to destroy one power cord thus far. Kitten teeth are sharp.
Theo likes his Ivan.

Yes. In this picture, Theo is biting Ivan's leg, and Ivan is showing his Very Superior Breeding by Not Doing Anything About It. This is often the way of things. Ivan gets sick of him sometimes, but he also gets really worried when he can't find him.
Theo likes standing/sitting/laying on my feet, especially while I am trying to cook. Last week, this preference of his lead to this:

What is this, you ask? Oh, nothing. Just the result of my crazy mid-air kitchen-knife-catching ninja skills that saved Theo's life last Tuesday. Let me set the scene for you.

- Begin Kitchen Ninja Adventure -

Me: [In the kitchen, preparing a delicious supper of beef curry, which, alas! we were never to taste.]

Theo: [On the floor, laying on my feet.] PURRRRRRRR FOR NO REAL REASON EXCEPT MAYBE BECAUSE YOU HAVE FEET.

Me: [Chop onion. Throw into pan with oil. Foolishly decide to chop beef using the same counter space.]

Counter space: Ha ha! I'm so small! There's, like, no room for anything over here! Tee hee!

Me: [Begin to chop beef and throw into pan with chopped onions in order to create more space on tiny cutting board. Onions are now burning a little. Turn down heat a bit, stir onions and beef with spatula, keep chopping more beef.]

[This is where I become a ninja.]

Evil Spatula of Death: Unaccountably, I am filled with murderous rage, and wish to cause harm to you and all your kin. I will now make trouble for you by diving off of the counter. Ha ha! [spatula swivels inexplicably and falls off the counter.]

Me: Gah! Spatula! [Grab spatula in mid-air, begin to lift it back up to the counter. Feel triumphant for a split second. Notice that the falling spatula has knocked the chef's knife toward the edge of the counter, and that said knife is now also beginning its descent floorward.]

[This is where time stops for a few seconds.]

Kitten is on the floor at my feet, purring, no knowledge of potential danger. Knife is falling off of the counter. I will be traumatized for life if my kitten is skewered by said kitchen knife. For some reason, I didn't think about the fact that in preventing such tragic circumstances, I might, I don't know, lose a finger, die of tetanus, etc. My decision was made.

[Time resumes.]

Me: [Ninja knife-catching skills. Unfortunately, I catch the wrong end.] AH! [...Honestly, it was a single, short yelp.]

Theo: Rawmaow? [Translation: My legs moved without me. How did I end up in the living room? Why is my heart racing?]

Me: [Drop knife on kitten-free floor, away from feet. Turn around and plunge bloody hand under the faucet. Ask Josh to clean up blood from floor so that the cats don't get curious. Ew.]

Josh: [Freak out a little. Clean up blood. Bandage wounded wife. Insist that wounded wife sit down. Throw out half-prepared food. Take wife to Medicenter for after-hours medical attention. Be awesome husband. Tip lady at Rubio's for not locking us out and letting us order food one minute before closing, unlike Baja Fresh, who decided to close early and would not serve us. Not bitter.]

- End Scene -

So. They cleaned and glued me up (no stitches, but they actually probably should have--I've burst the glue open several times this week. TMI?) and sent me home. My rheumatologist gave me a tetanus shot at my appointment yesterday just to be safe. I guess I like my kitten or something.

By the way, for those of you who keep tabs on my medical updates, I'm starting to wean off of the steroids now! Yay! It might take as long as January since it needs to be really gradually decreased, but it means less moon face (it's a steroid reaction--yes, it's really called that, and I currently have it), and maybe losing a few pounds. I'm not overweight (I'm at about average BMI right now), and I was definitely really underweight for several months last fall. Like, below 100 pounds at one point, and struggling to keep my weight as high as it was. I've gained between 20 and 30 pounds over the last few months. So I'm glad to not be Skeletor anymore, but I don't currently feel fit and healthy either, and I'm struggling not to gain more weight at this point. Getting rid of the steroids should help even things out a bit, which would be great, because then more of my clothes would fit me again. Not that I mind buying new clothes...

That's all for now. Over and out.

A

Distension

2011-06-23T22:56:00.000-07:00

Distension

"You, Lord, are my consolation. You are my eternal Father, but I am scattered in times whose order I do not understand." (St. Augustine, Confessions XI.xxix)

When I recited the lines
From the poem I learned
In college, in my mind I retrieved
The buried verses from the creaking
Card catalog drawer where I keep
Such things (next to the pile
Of assorted song lyrics from T.V. shows
I watched when I was six), and squinting
As I held the card at arm's length,
Began to speak someone else's words.
I recalled every word and every line
That followed, marching on the heels
Of the last: disciplined squads of poetry
Issuing from my tongue.

And all the while, pronouncing every
Syllabic combination, my memory pressed
The single image unified--the beginning and the
End and every sound between--upward
Through the murky haze of time
To be illumined briefly, wholly by the light.
To know the end before you reach it, to direct
Each aspiration toward the expectation,
And in the end, to see the expectation
Consumed, the action finished and enfolded
Into memory: This, we are told, is the life
Of a man, and of men, and of poems.

SUMMER!

2011-06-10T13:29:00.001-07:00

It's here! Hooray! I got my grades all entered by 1:15 am this morning, and now I don't have to think about grading until September! Hooray!

In other news, Josh and I went on our first real trip together last weekend. We flew up to Spokane for our dear friend's wedding (Hi Emily and Simeon! You guys are amazing and adorable! We love you!) and we rented a car and everything like real adults. It was a lot of fun, except for all the layovers on the way up. I tried grading term papers in the airports, but didn't get a lot done. (Side note: funniest typo I found this quarter: "doe snot." I think the student meant "does not," but one can never be sure...maybe it's not that funny...I've been grading a LOT OF ESSAYS.) Back to Washington. It was really nice to get out of CA. I realized that I hadn't left the state since Oxford in 2007 (almost driving to Mexico on our honeymoon doesn't count). That's a long time.

In additional other news, we have a new kitten! His name is Theodoric (we call him Theo most of the time, and Dork-Dork the rest of the time). He's probably about two months old. He is black and white, like Ivan, and also came from Biola. Yes, Ivan is still around too. Ivan is terrified of people who are not Josh and myself. He acts mostly like a normal, friendly, sweet-tempered cat when it's just us, although he is a bit jumpy, but bring anyone else over to our place, and his tail is instantly between his legs and he makes a beeline for my bedroom closet or the bathroom. We found out yesterday when we were babysitting our nephew that Ivan is even more terrified of babies than he is of regular people. It's just a little ridiculous. Theo, on the other hand, is very friendly. He most often wants to be with people--laying on their laps, being held and cuddled by them, climbing up their legs, etc. When he's not doing that, he's usually gnawing on Ivan's ears. They get along really well, and often cry for one another during the night if they aren't in the same room, which is really sweet if you don't care about trying to sleep... I don't have pictures to post yet, but I will--give me a break, I graded for about 17 hours straight yesterday. I'll get to it when I've recovered a bit.

Over and out.

A.

Night

2011-05-27T22:17:00.000-07:00

If you've never been to OldPoetry.com, and you like old poetry, you are missing out. Any time I feel like revisiting Chesterton's Ballad of the White Horse (every few months or so) I go there. And I browse. It's really great. I just discovered that they have Charles Williams' poetry there as well. I had been reading it on St. Silas the Martyr (http://www.saintsilas.org.uk/section/126), but this is much, much better. On his gravestone in Holywell cemetery in Oxford, he chose only to be known as "Poet." I don't think very many people read his poetry today, and it is a shame. Here's one of his poems I've been savoring lately:

Night

i. Christmas
Through His first darkness here He sleeps at ease
Happy and still, whose light is the sun's Sun;
And the rising day the portal sees
Whence issue and return the Three-in-One.

ii. Epiphany
Sleep takes Him, but a little His small eyes
Still search the room where the kings but lately were;
Small hands play with the gold; beside Him lies
The dull neglected casket of the myrrh.

iii. Maundy Thursday
Torches and lamps, now that day is done,
Another city than His own makes bright,-
Man's heart of terror: where by clouds the Sun
Is judged, condemned, obscured, and put to night.

iv. Good Friday
Farther than all created things He goes
Through the dim bottom and abyss of shades
Where the black wind of retribution blows;
Lo, peace! lo, joy! lo, 'tis Himself He raids.

v. Easter
Now night of night and Day of day returns
Upon the earth which but their image knew;
Which now in slumber and in waking learns
The double symbols of the only True.

vi. Prayer
Now rests the body and now rests the mind;
But for the soul the stars of heavenly things
Illumine space: a sweet celestial wind
Stirs in the lattice, and the sound of wings.

vii. The Dark Night of the Soul
Naked and stripped of all things but desire
(And even desire to its last sickness drawn)
The forlorn soul, crouched by a dying fire,
Remembers only that there once was dawn.

viii. The Consummation
Now the long day of His creation ends;
In that perfection which at first was willed
Activity its happy speed suspends.
Nothing is lost and nothing unfulfilled.

A

Brief

2011-05-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

Lots of things have happened since the last time I really posted anything, and I just really haven't had the time to update. But for those of you who keep tabs on my medical situation, I figured I'd just write something quick. I went to the rheumatologist again yesterday (I was supposed to go back in early March, but then my grandmother passed away. It took this long to reschedule). My bloodwork from the end of February reported that my SED rate was down to 1. Yes, one. It was at 84 in October, 17 in December. My rheumatologist is ecstatic. He bragged about me to the office staff. But, he says, it's still important to begin the Humira injections in order to help prevent any further damage and to keep working at getting full range of motion back in my joints (for instance, my index fingers still can't quite touch my palm when I make a fist). So boo for home injections, yay recovery. Also, we were really worried about being able to afford this new medication, but it looks like there's a company that will supplement the percentage that our insurance pays for, so it shouldn't end up costing us more than $25 a month. This is a huge answer to prayer, because those things can be really super expensive.

One other huge answer to prayer: after the bad experience we had last year for housing and the rush to find a new place to live, we were a bit wary as May approached this year. I've seen a few eviction notices in our complex as it looks like many condo owners who are renting have decided to sell their units, and I kept thinking "what if that happens to us?" Josh was feeling a bit nervous about it all too, so we decided to be proactive about it and start talking to our landlord about renewing our lease agreement early so that we would have as much warning as we could in case there were any surprises. And there weren't. He likes us, he wants us to stay, rent stays the same. Hooray! I think I was hesitant to get too settled here this year in case something happened like last year, so we actually haven't hung anything on the walls yet. I'm going to start doing that. Maybe this week. It's really good to know we'll be here for at least another year. We like it here.

Over and out.

A

Responsible

2011-03-31T17:45:00.000-07:00

That's me.

Grades: entered. It's not even 6 o'clock yet. I'm gonna go eat another fudgesicle and cuddle my poor wasp-stung kitty cat.

A

Poetry and Words

2011-03-01T15:01:00.000-08:00

We went to a Billy Collins reading last night at USC. Had I been affiliated with USC in any way, I would have felt pretty embarrassed about the event, and I would probably write him an apology letter. It seemed under-advertised and under-attended, and the introduction felt like an explanation or review of Collins' poetry delivered to an audience not expected to be familiar with his work. And the question and answer portion was abysmal.

A word of advice: don't pretend to have a question so that you can read a poem you just wrote five minutes ago on a napkin to a former poet laureate at his reading. This is not okay. Also, we are not impressed that you rhymed "you are my hero" with "Robert De Niro."

I might write Collins a note apologizing on behalf of California. Do students in other states have to be reminded not to text during poetry readings?

Seriously, though, the man was wonderfully gracious. He skillfully handled being accused of cowardice for using irony to cover up his mommy issues, and being requested to "also comment on Hip Hop Poems and The Twitter." Poor man. He looked so tired.

He has a new collection coming out next month that sounds really promising, and from the pieces he read, seems to be less depressingly focused on divorce.

Also, my tenth graders are starting poetry this week, which is excellent. Tenth graders, meet Eliot. Eliot, tenth graders. They got a VERY RAPID overview of poetic feet, meter, rhyme, etc. today, and they practiced scanning some lines. We'll start talking about content on Thurs. They'll hit Four Quartets next week, at which point their brains will be overloaded with beauty, and all shall be well, and / All manner of thing shall be well.

The result of all of the above: I've had poetry and words on the brain a lot lately. When this happens, I sometimes find words running through my head. Sometimes they are other people's words; sometimes I'm not sure if they are mine or someone else's (I know a few other people who have this problem). Today my brain was chewing on the phrase "histrionic casualty." I ran a Google search, and it doesn't seem to belong to anyone else. I'm not even sure what it would mean. I like the idea of "histrionic casualness" better (I like to think of the sort of things one might say "with a certain histrionic casualness"), but the cadence of the original is more appealing, though the meaning is more obfuscated and maybe morbid.

What is a histrionic casualty?

1. Perhaps an event so unbelievably coincidental that it seems it must have been staged (but really is coincidental)?
2. Someone with a martyr complex who dies as a result of some unfortunate tragedy?
3. Someone who is hopelessly melodramatic?

What do you think? (And does this ever happen to you?)

A

Time for another episode of...

2011-02-08T16:32:00.000-08:00

...Updating because I haven't done it in a while and feel guilty!

Yay!

HitWW has been going smoothly. No food poisoning to speak of yet, and we are often forced to try things that wouldn't have been our first choices from the menu. Some of them are unpronounceable. Some of them don't have English translations. We thrive on the unknown.
Teaching is going really well. When I emailed a student today to see if she would be willing to meet with our staff once a week for an extra 20 or 30 minutes to help her plan and write her next term paper, her response was, and I quote, "Oh! Wow! That sounds like a GREAT idea! I'd LOVE to do that! That would be such a big help!!!!" (Excessive exclamation marks and capitalization hers.) She's a tenth grader. She wants to give up some of her free time to work ahead on her term paper with us. Seriously, we have the best students. Also, I'm current on all of my grading. My guilt quota is normally spent on not returning papers in a timely manner, so I guess it gets spent here when I'm on top of things. Heh.
I have been knitting LIKE A FIEND. Hats, scarves, gloves, slippers, lacework, you name it.
Similarly, did you know how easy pillowcases are to make (I'm talking throw pillow covers)? I didn't until last weekend! It took less than ten minutes to sew one. I'm embroidering it too, so the project isn't done yet. But when it is, I will post pictures.
Culinary endeavors: I highly recommend this recipe from Alpineberry if you have any extra meyer lemons sitting around. Hubs doesn't like cake, but he even said these were a major win. Also, roasted root vegetables: so delicious, so easy. Can I have them every night, please?
In other news, Ivan managed to rip a curtain rod wall mount from the wall today. There weren't even any curtains up. It was screwed into the wall by three screws 7 or 8 feet from the ground. Figure that one out.
I have been reading, and not just for classes, which is really super great. I mean, revisiting Dante, Aquinas, Boethius, Lewis, Sayers, Eliot, etc. is great, but it's really nice to read some new things of my own choosing. Finished in the last two months:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Jonathan Safran Foer) [startling, sad, gripping]
Re-read the Hunger Games series (Suzanne Collins) [love me some good YA]
Paper Towns (John Green) [see above]
Save the Cat! The last book on screenwriting you'll ever need (Blake Snyder) [basic in a lot of ways, but really good at talking about marketability and practical ways to improve your story]

Currently reading: Canticle for Liebowitz (Walter Miller) [Guys, this book is seriously awesome. Monks preserving literacy in a post-nuclear world. What more could you want?], In the Company of Others (Julie Czerneda) [not sure I'll finish this one. been working on it for several months. over halfway through, and I'm still not hooked.], Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (Annie Dillard) [Like drinking a cool glass of water from that well you drank from as a child.].
Next on the list: The Great Gatsby. Never read it before (everyone else read it in high school. My high school made me read Hobbes, Montesquieu, and Tocqueville instead). Looking forward to it.

Yay! No longer feeling guilty! Until next week, or whenever I fall behind on grading!

A

Hole-in-the-wall Wednesday, Installment 1

2011-01-06T22:25:00.000-08:00

Guess what I found!!!

Not the camera cord, actually, but a memory card reader! Yay pictures!

So.

HitwW began this week. We went to El Pescador, and it was delicious. I had the Molcajete, and Josh had the Fajitas, and boy were they good. Both required Josh and I to eat shrimp (something we never order), and we both actually liked it, even if they do look like bugs. Win.

Bean week is going well. Tuesday was french bread with sliced tomato and mozzarella cheese. Today Josh brought home leftover pizza from his parents' fridge, and I made chocolate chip cookies. I'm thinking we may have to get a little extra creative tomorrow.

Look! Here's our Christmas tree this year! We're about to take it down now since Epiphany is over and it's getting crispy, but it was lovely while it lasted.

I love Christmas...trees...

And no, we didn't have a tree topper. I couldn't find one I liked this year. Last year we just tied bow on top. This year we got lazy. But we got these guys:

Raccoon and Fox.

More posts to come when I've finished downloading and sorting through SEVERAL HUNDRED PHOTOS from my memory card...

A

Bean Week

2011-01-03T20:46:00.000-08:00

It's not really as bad as Bean Day, but it felt a little like it at first.

Josh and I are trying something this week. In an attempt to be a little extra frugal (Christmas is expensive, you know?), we're trying to get by this week on whatever we currently have in our fridge/freezer/pantry. We want to see if we can refrain from spending any money on groceries this week and use up some of the stuff we've had around for a while. The exception will be Wednesday, which is now "Hole-in-the-wall Wednesday"--part of a New Year's resolution to try more new things. There are so many tiny little restaurants in our area that we've never tried, so we'll be heading out each Wednesday to explore them, to ask what's good on the menu, take them at their word, and try new things. We'll be keeping a food journal so we remember which ones are hits and which are misses.

But back to Bean Week. We opened the pantry tonight thinking we'd probably end up eating brown rice and beans, but we actually didn't. We put our heads together and got creative. We still had some produce from last week (tomatoes, sweet peppers, bell peppers, onions, lemons and limes), so we decided to make breakfast burritos with tortillas, eggs, frozen tater-tots, salsa (freshly made by Josh), pepper jack cheese, and sauteed peppers and onions. It was super delicious. I'm sure things will become a bit more...inventive as the week goes on, but I'm hopeful. It must be all those cooking shows we've been watching. Did you know there are 135 episodes of Take Home Chef on Netflix instant watch right now? Hooray for Bean Week!

A

Love time.

2010-12-14T11:50:00.000-08:00

Just want to say: I love our condo. Right now, I specifically love the fact that our 8 foot tall Christmas tree doesn't even come close to scraping any part of our ceilings.

Pictures coming. I've been diligently taking pictures, so as soon as that camera cord decides to stop playing hide-and-seek, there's going to be some Christmas decoration love up here. I've also been ridiculously productive over the last two months in as far as making things goes (knitting projects, gifts, Christmas tree skirt, ornaments, etc.) so I'm planning on posting about that later as well. Seriously, it's been a triumph of domesticity over here. I also wrote an article about Christmas for our journal/newsletter (Thought & Sentiment), which I may repost here. Haven't decided yet.

Classes are done on Thursday, and then it will be Christmas break! Woohoo! We're going to try to approximate a Christmas party on Thursday by everyone eating cookies/drinking tea, coffee, hot chocolate, etc. at their computers during class. Eh. We do what we can. Class devotions for the last week or so have been Advent/Christmas themed. We started low-church with Sufjan Steven's "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" (which all my first-year students loved; a few third-year students didn't care for the banjo, stuffy traditionalists that they are...). We were going to listen to a selection from Handel on Thursday, but we encountered some technical issues that day, so we read some Chesterton Christmas poems instead ("The House of Christmas" and "The Wise Men") and discussed them. This morning my third-years listened to "Adam Lay Ybounden" and discussed the concept of felix culpa and "the blessed fruit" (they just finished Augustine and Boethius and will soon be moving into Aquinas, so it seemed appropriate). I think I'll try some Handel today for my first-years since they are less likely to have encountered it already, and "Adam Lay Ybounden" is a bit above their level at this point (plus, I don't even want to imagine the phone calls I'd get from their parents afterward...). Thursday for both classes is going to be "O Magnum Mysterium." Their heads will explode from all the beauty. It's going to be awesome. Especially for the first-years, who are discussing Abolition of Man right now...I can't wait. I love Christmas!

Time to catch up on my grading. Work now, holiday later.

A

Martha Stewart: FAIL

2010-11-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

Remember that post a while back when I was complaining about the scorching heat and wanting to bake delicious fall dainties? Well, I finally got around to attempting that Boston Scream cake. The result? Anna wins. Martha LOSES LIKE A BIG LOSER.

The plan: delicious chocolate pumpkin cake with cream filling and chocolate glaze for dessert at my family's weekly Saturday dinner.

The execution: So, realizing that I actually don't own round cake pans, I decided that I could probably successfully adjust the recipe in order to make cream filled cupcakes, Ming Makes Cupcakes style. I cut the cake batter recipe in half (since 12 cupcakes would be enough for my family), and adjusted cooking time. The cupcakes turned out fine. Nice and moist.

Then I moved on to the cream. It was supposed to be a spiced pastry cream. What it turned out to be was a lumpy, jiggly, disgusting mess. Twice. That's right, after the first failed attempt, I thought that perhaps I had measured the ingredients incorrectly, or perhaps I had neglected an important step in the cooking process, or maybe the heat was too high. Nope. After carefully measuring each ingredient and obeying each instruction AND turning the heat to low instead of the suggested medium, it still came out lumpy and gross, like someone had dropped some scrambled eggs into thick spiced milk. Not appetizing, and not something you want to put inside cupcakes. I abandoned the recipe and whipped up some spiced whipped cream instead.

"Perhaps someone wrote the recipe wrong on the site," I think to myself, and turn to begin Martha's recipe for the chocolate glaze. My theory, however, is revised shortly after. Once I realize that the proportions the recipe has called for are essentially just producing chocolate milk, I decide that Martha is trying to fool me into making a horrible baked monstrosity filled with evil and topped with soggy. She wants me to fail and to feel inferior and small. I say NO, dump out most of the milk, and continue on and make my own superior ganache, sans recipe.

I topped the cupcakes with the ganache, let it set a bit, and then put a dollop of the spiced whipped cream on top. Came out pretty tasty.

All this to say: I'm on to you, Martha.

A

Once Again

2010-11-11T16:12:00.001-08:00

Why do I always think of so many things I would rather be doing than grading on the night when grades are due? I'm not in bad shape this time around (just 13 one-page essays to grade before midnight--easy peasy), but I still find myself looking around and thinking things like, boy, I should do the dishes. Or straighten up that corner. Or rearrange the library. Or bake pumpkin bread. It's like my brain is out to get me.

Is this some weird procrastination instinct left over from school? I could be done with these essays probably in about two hours, and then I would have the entire evening to myself, but my brain says "No....why would you want that? Don't you love the thrill of being down to the wire? Tired, half-crazed, caffeine making your heart race as you blast through the last few essays just as the clock strikes 12? Isn't pumpkin bread more important to you right now???" And I say to my brain, "No, not really. You don't know me at all." (But my brain is a little bit right. My brain and I have a rocky relationship sometimes.)

I think my responsibility organ might be growing a little, though. Because last time I posted about the things I was going to do, grading was not included among them, and I actually--get this--decided to grade instead of doing all of those other things. Who am I?

Apparently, I'm the girl who's going to finish her grading before seven tonight. That's who.

A

Ear-worms and termites and needles, oh my!

2010-10-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

Sounds like a creepy Halloween post, but it's really not. Just your common everyday random updates. Since it sounded creepy, though, here's a terrifying clown, in case you are disappointed by regular old news:

Aaaahhhh!!!! Run away!!!!! Why does anyone ever think that clowns are a good idea?

Moving on...

I have a pretty good capacity for memorization. (Years of theater will do that to you, I guess.) It often happens that I will read something, and if it strikes me as being particularly beautiful, I often commit it, or my favorite parts of it, to memory--sometimes even unintentionally. This can be really handy (as in, I can still remember the lyrics and melodies of any song I have ever learned, including obscure sixth grade Christmas play songs--"Christmas in Egypt," anyone?). It also can be really awful. I often will have snatches of songs or poems running through my head, and sometimes I only know some of the words because I accidentally learned the words instead of intentionally committing them to memory, which means that my brain goes on a loop with the parts that I do know.

I've had lines from a poem I don't know running through my head since yesterday. The poem is called "Wild Wednesday," and I have lost my copy of the book that contains it, which means that I can't look it up and fill in the gaps that I am missing. To make matters worse, the internet doesn't know that this poem exists, so no help there. I'm going to order another copy today, so hopefully by next week, I'll be able to get rid of this poetic ear-worm beastie. And inform the internet of this poem's existence.

Update on the status of our living space: Good news! Our guest bathroom is all completely decorated and ready for company! It's the one space in our condo currently that is a finished space--no boxes, and we have pretty new towels, a rug, etc. It's nice having one room finished, even if it's the smallest space in the unit (small victories are still victories). I will post pictures when I can find my camera cord again (still no luck there...).

In other horrible disgusting news, we have a termite problem. By which I mean about a hundred termites managed to "fall" through a hole in the window in the library/office and land on the floor. (Ivan: OMG BEST GAME EVER. Nom maim nom.) After kicking the very interested cat out, we sprayed them down with orange oil, which is good at killing them but not fun to clean up (and also not good for your pets or your lungs). The window is covered in tape to patch things temporarily, and the landlord has been notified, but no solution yet. I've relocated my computer and teaching stuff to the living room couch since it's no fun trying to teach class surrounded by dead bugs (or having surprise live ones crawl up your leg while you are trying to talk about Eusebius).

Update on medical condition: Saw the rheumatologist again yesterday for my two-week check up. He was really pleased with how well the steroids seem to be working, and is really hopeful that I will continue to gain more and more mobility back. I actually received a diagnosis, as well, as a result of all the x-rays and blood work from last time. The ruling is that I do have rheumatoid arthritis, but only in my hands at this point. Also, I am apparently in the 30% of people who show no evidence of the disease in their blood work (with the exception of inflammation indicators). The x-rays, though, showed typical rheumatoid like symptoms in my hands, but nowhere else, which means that theoretically my other joints could eventually be back to tip-top shape if the inflammation can be reduced enough since there hasn't been any joint damage yet. Yay! I tested negative for all the other scary diseases that can cause joint pain, so that's also good news.

Bad news is the treatment plan. I'm still on steroids for a while, but he's adding a new medication now that will eventually replace the steroids. It's Methotrexate, a drug that used to be used to treat cancer, and I will be taking six pills once a week (seems weird, but okay...). The warnings for this drug are pretty scary, though. Absolutely no getting pregnant, and no drinking alcohol allowed. Not that we were planning on having babies right now, and not that I drink much alcohol, but it's still a little scary. I'm not allowed to have even a drop of alcohol at least until after I've been on the new meds for eight weeks and we can check and see how my liver is reacting (alcohol with the meds could mean sudden liver failure). Then MAYBE, if my liver is super awesome, I might be allowed to have one or two drinks a month. Maybe. Also the new drug will decrease my levels of Vitamin D, Calcium, and Folic Acid, so I'm on supplements for all of those as well.

And get this: the methotrexate is only being given to me so that I can start an additional treatment probably involving at home injections. INJECTIONS. AT HOME. DO IT YOURSELF STYLE. Can I just say how much I hate needles? I've overcome my cowardice enough to not cry anymore when they want to take my blood (which they've been doing a lot lately, I might add), and have even discovered that sometimes it doesn't really hurt at all--if I don't look when they are putting it in, I am totally fine and not a blubbering baby-woman. Injections, however, have always been painful. It's not a matter of sticking the needle in and letting the blood and physics do their thing; they are sticking new stuff in there, and it doesn't feel good. Not ever. And for some reason, I don't think closing my eyes or looking away while trying to administer my own injection is going to be a viable option. It seems like eyes would be important for that sort of thing. Maybe I can get Josh to do it, but as of right now, he's pretty equally freaked out about it. Mr. I-can't-remember-the-last-time-I-got-a-shot-or-had-blood-work-ordered.

So anyway, fun time adventures ahead. The hope is that all of this will help stop the joint damage, and that my life will be happy and so much less painful (with the exception of the stabby needles). And that seems like a good thing to remember. Boy, God sure does like to stretch us in uncomfortable ways sometimes, doesn't he?

A

Well.

2010-10-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

This last week has been really great. I really mean really great.

Last Monday, after waiting over a month for my appointment and suffering ever increasing physical pain and further loss of mobility in my joints, I got to go in and see a rheumatologist. After reviewing my lab work from last time and sending me for more blood work and over twenty x-rays, he sent me home with a prescription for a low dosage of steroids. I began to feel better in less than a day. I cannot tell you the difference that this has made for my quality of life.

Today, I have taken no pain killers. None. Zip. Last Sunday, and for a month prior, I had been taking 9-12 pills per day just so that I could function at a basic level (and by basic, I am excluding such luxuries as being able to reach and touch the back of my head, or undress myself at night). After just one week of the steroids, I can dress myself, reach all of my hair, my knees have stopped hurting almost completely--I sometimes feel like I want to jog up the stairs--my hands and arms look and feel so much better, I've stopped dropping things so often...I want to write a sonnet to steroids. Or maybe to my rheumatologist. Or both.

And did I mention how much more energy I have? I've actually started wanting to clean in my spare time, and to go out to the store! After so much time being unable to do so many things, the actual desire and ability to accomplish these previously impossible tasks is a miraculous blessing. I feel awake! And energetic! After getting up at 6:30 and working all day in the office!

So that's how the week started. And then Friday was my birthday. A wonderful, joyous, delicious birthday. We got to welcome our brand new nephew into the world, I got to eat all of my favorite foods (thai food, baked apple pancake with cinnamon glaze, braised beef with roasted root veggies, pumpkin pie... oh, there was so much eating...), I watched The Fall with my family, and I hardly hurt at all.

And my husband gets amazing husband points for a perfect birthday gift: Godiva Dark Chocolate Assortment. Heaven. In. Your. Mouth.

I like food. I really like food. Have I mentioned how much I like food before? I am looking forward to lots more delicious food, and the prospect of gaining some weight (one of the potential side effects of the steroids, but one which would be a much needed help).

Prayers are still appreciated, especially for no nasty side effects from the drugs. I'm a teensie bit concerned about my vision being affected, but I'll be going back to the doctor next week for a check up and the latest test results, so I'll see what he says then.

Hooray life and God and doctors and medicine!

A

What?!

2010-10-07T16:04:00.000-07:00

I know. Anyone reading this will probably die right now because this is the SECOND POST IN THE SAME WEEK.

I think I may be developing the urge to post after I teach my classes. It's one of those weird things about teaching online. Last year I had an hour and a half commute with one of my coworkers, so class would let out, we'd chat with students or parents, and then we'd leave and drive for an hour and a half and talk about our classes, or books, or Arrested Development, or other random things. Now, I finish my class, I hang around and answer questions as my students vacate our online classroom, I sign off, take off my headset, and it's me and the cat, who is asleep. There's still an hour and a half left before Josh usually gets home. I can't TALK to anyone. There's no one to debrief to/with. I begin pondering the fact that I physically spent the last two hours alone in a room talking at plastic and metal, and there actually weren't any other people in the room. I know, because if there were, I probably would have brushed my teeth today and changed out of my pajamas. But I didn't. (EWWW.)

I need people. I really, really do. Hence, blog. I get to empty out my thoughts, and someone somewhere will probably read this tonight, and that's enough to tide me over until Josh gets home.

As I have said before, technology is weird.

I will now either find something to clean/decorate for fall, or bake pumpkin bread. I may also brush my teeth. Great weather lately, yes?

A

Worthwhile

2010-10-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

4:39 pm: the sound of rain outside the window; the smell of old books on the shelf; my laptop on the desk with the headset still plugged in; a leftover mug of tea, cold from breakfast; my brown office chair, which despite how comfy it is, cannot seem to keep my back aches away; over four hours today spent talking online to 21 high school students scattered throughout the country about assurance of salvation, faith and works, and what virtue is and how one attains it; I turn now to grade synopses.

In which I ask, with much anguish, WHY?

2010-09-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

Two questions:

1. WHY MUST MARTHA STEWART TEMPT ME WITH DELICIOUS AUTUMNAL BAKED GOODS?

2. WHY MUST IT BE OVER 110 DEGREES IN LATE SEPTEMBER? I guess that not having a working air conditioner is technically our fault, but still. Yesterday was the hottest day ever recorded in LA. Let me repeat: since at least 1877, when they began recording such things, it has never been this hot in LA. Gross.

But seriously, how am I supposed to bake a fall chocolate pumpkin cake with cream filling in this kind of heat? Have some mercy, Martha. I guess I can at least do this one:

Happy Blistering Heat! I mean, Fall!

A.

Lazy and Delightful

2010-08-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

10:46 am: a mug of Irish breakfast; a plate of eggs with havarti, glazed ham, and applesauce; Josh on the couch reading blogs; Ivan perched on the loveseat behind my head; no fan going because the marine layer is thick and the air is cool; all the windows are open; a neighbor plays Mozart exquisitely on the piano; I choose not to read my book.

Take 2

2010-08-17T23:46:00.000-07:00

In case you were unaware, we've moved. Goodbye little green-door apartment, goodbye tiny kitchen, goodbye awkward heater placement on our living room wall, goodbye overbearing management company, goodbye no parking and dark alleyways at night. Hello spacious green-door condo, vaulted ceilings, wood floors, kitchen that needs some love (read: foreign substances caking the drawers and cabinets that smells like bad soy sauce, plus meal bugs devouring ancient crackers in the bottom drawer), dishwasher(!), broken air conditioner, and tall, lovely redwood tree that shades our patio and makes us feel like we live in a treehouse. Also an unfortunate hello to chaos. We moved in June, but from the looks of things around here, you'd probably guess we'd only moved two weeks ago.

Josh and I came to the realization this time around that we are really not very good at moving. We are both procrastinators of one sort or another, but the key difference is that I am of the "I shall take my time and carefully place each item in its group's box, and I shall label the box with its contents, and then I shall indicate the future destination of said box in our new abode, thereby taking 1-2 hours per box, but avoiding chaos" type of procrastinating mover. Josh is more of the "here's an empty box; I'm going to put all of this stuff in it and worry about it later because it all needs to move anyway; did I mention that I packed this entire room in two hours?" kind of procrastinating mover. Because we procrastinate, I get three or four boxes done, and then Josh's method wins out. Thus, in the current state of our new home, I have frequently found myself wandering around teary-eyed with frustration while Josh is out somewhere, muttering under my breath about where the MEASURING CUPS are because I really need to make LITTLE CHOCOLATE CAKES. No, the little chocolate cakes were nowhere near a necessity, and the world would not have ended if I had not found the measuring cups, and yes, this is a lot funnier to me now as I write it, but in the moment these small instances seem gargantuan. I really do have a hard time dealing with disorganization, especially in our home. How can I do the stuff I wanna if I can't FIND it? It! You know, that thing that you saw that one time when we were looking for that other thing that we couldn't find. YES I WILL CRY OVER NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND THE SPATULA.

Things are improving only slowly, due in part to the new position I have at work that demands more of my time in the office, to Josh's work (introvert in an extrovert's job=tired husband), and to my chronic pain and weakness (doctors are doing labwork on my blood, btw, to see if I might have RA); I can only do so much before I need to sit down and not move for a while. It's frustrating (the clutter and chaos), but I'm learning to deal with it better. One bright and shiny light in the darkness is the unexpected joy of being forced to read books I may not have otherwise chosen had I access to our entire wealth of literature. Only the boxes that had spilled over onto the floor were accessible, so I read A Ring of Endless Light just because it was there, and it was a dear and deep delight. It was insightful, moving--made me cry--and gave me a lot to think about in regard to my grandmother, who has severe Alzheimer's. L'Engle was also much kinder as an author than I anticipated she would be, and I think many greener authors (including myself) would have handled the story differently, making it more contrived, and thereby ruining a great deal of the poignancy and sweetness that L'Engle instead produces. I've also finished books I'd only read one or two short stories from, and read others that I'd always meant to read, but kept setting aside for another day. The whole experience is like discovering friends living in my house to whom I had previously been blind. Oh, hi L'Engle. Thanks for being here and changing my life. Pull up a shelf and stay forever. Hey there Byatt. You can be my edgy-mystical-modern friend, just don't send any djinn my way. We can totally have drinks, though, and talk about narratology.

That and camping is pretty much my summer in my nutshell, but add two words: kitty parkour. Yes, Ivan likes our new place too. School starts up again soon, and all my classes are online this year, which promises to be an interesting adventure in new teaching methods for me. I keep needing to remind myself that just because they're online students it doesn't mean that they're not real. Sigh. The internet is weird.

A.

Edit: I posted this, and then thought, "I should include a picture." A few minutes of searching my computer produced the information that I have not uploaded any new pictures since November. I have a bajillion photos on my camera of cool things we did or made in the last year, but they are required to live there for now since--you guessed it--I have no idea where my camera cord is. Don't worry. No tears this time. Instead, here's a Facebook photo I stole from my mom of us camping.

Also, why is it so hot at 1:30 in the morning? It's at least eighty degrees in here! G'night.

Easter Break

2010-04-12T23:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Easter Break,

You were kind of crazy for a while, with all that grading, but you were real real sweet, too. I'm going to miss you.

Love,

Anna

Hey there...

2010-03-04T17:56:00.000-08:00

Um, so, blog fail.

Why did no one warn me that real life was going to be so busy and tiring? Ugh.

Since my last blog, I:

Decorated and undecorated for Christmas.
Cut my hair. (Not because it's the married-woman-thing-to-do, but because I won a free hair cut from a salon, and because some of my students' parents would walk into the classroom and ask me or the students where the tutor was. I decided that something needed to change.)
Was a bridesmaid in my maid of honor's wedding, which was beautiful and sweet, just like her.
Pulled an all-nighter finishing grades at the end of the semester. I had assured myself at graduation that I would never need to lose sleep over reading and papers again. Oops.
Introduced 40 students to Elizabeth Bishop and William Carlos Williams, not to mention iambs, dactyls, trochees, etc.
Cooked some mediocre meals not worth mentioning.
Ate way too much fast food.
Subbed for six Latin classes in the last two weeks.
Remembered waaay more Latin than I thought I knew.
Read The Graveyard Book, re-read Warrior's Apprentice and Cetaganda, read a few Austen-related books, started Good Omens. (This is on top of reading for my classes, which usually amounts to over 1 book/week. This week was Dante's Inferno and Purgatory and various 19-20th century poets; also finishing the last of Robinson Crusoe.)
Joined a fairy-tale reading/viewing/discussion group.
Rediscovered "The Loh-Down on Science" with Sandra Tsing Loh. Yay Podcasts.
Listened to a fair amount of Billy Collins reading his own poetry.
Started a watercolor, but did not finish it (of course).
Started taking Magnesium supplements to see if my joints and muscles will feel any better. Is it weird that my knees feel great when I wear heels, but are in lots of pain otherwise?
Got sick; got better (mostly).
Discovered Vosges Haut-Chocolat. Goji berries, pink Himalayan salt, and deep 41% milk chocolate? Yes please. Next to try: the Calindia bar (green cardamom, walnuts, dried plums, 65% dark chocolate).
Hit our sixth-month anniversary. :)
Wrote a book. It's nine pages long, illustrated, and in Latin, but that still counts, right? Right? Beyond that, other writing amounted to about 3 pages on various fiction projects. Again, no one warned me about that whole life-is-busy thing.
Addition: Watched seasons 1 and 2 of Arrested Development. Waiting for season 3 from Netflix. Two words: chicken impressions.

That's all for now. At least it's something.

Scrumptious Happenings, Chapter 2

2009-11-19T19:21:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to post for a while, and have had several posts mentally prepared for a few weeks, but I lost my camera cord! Josh came to the rescue tonight with a memory card reader, so I was able to retrieve my photos. Yay!

So I had a lot of fun crafting yesterday's supper, and it was pretty tasty too. The main dish was just chicken legs covered in a (store-bought) mango chutney mixed with mustard, and I served green beans on the side for veg. They were okay (not really photo worthy), but the samosas and galettes were the fun part.

For the samosas, I adapted this recipe from RealSimple (is it possible to be in love with a magazine?). I substituted butter for the olive oil, and I made the mashed potatoes myself using golden potatoes and adding plenty of garlic, butter, and salt, and then I grated some Gruyere and added that to the potatoes. After sealing the pastries, I brushed them with butter and grated more Gruyere on top. I also may have used more curry than called for, but I really don't know--I just added until I thought it tasted good. But oh, were they yummy.

Next, for dessert (I love dessert, but don't make it often) I made delicious sweet galettes inspired by this recipe from Homegrown Happy.

Since I'd used only one of the refrigerated pie crusts for the samosas, I used the other one for the galettes. I cut it into quarters and didn't bother to make each into a round--I just used the triangular shape and it seemed to work fine. For the filling, I added powdered sugar to some cream cheese to sweeten it a bit, spread about a tablespoon onto the center of the dough, and then topped it with a mound of frozen berries (two were blueberries, and two were raspberries and blackberries). Fold up the edges in pleats, leaving the center open and pretty. Brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar, then pop them in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes. Delicious! I plan on experimenting some more with this recipe using different sweet and savory fillings. I think my next attempt might be a Brie and mushroom concoction. Mmmm...

Till then!

A.

Autumn

2009-10-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I love pretty much everything about it--leaves changing and crunching underfoot, pumpkins EVERYWHERE, cool[er] air, acorns, pinecones, cinnamon, apples, cider, boots, cardigans, scarves...and of course, it all ends in Christmas, so what's not to like?

Fall also gets me cooking and baking more. (I think it probably has something to do with the temperature dropping enough so that I don't feel like I'm in a sauna every time I use the oven or stove.) As a result, I thought I'd share one of my favorite fall recipes.

Background story: I have these fond childhood memories of going to Oma and Opa's house around Christmas time and sitting up on a stool by the counter and eating the special-Christmastime-only-cookies--the ones that they always bought from the German store when they imported them during the Christmas season. These ones:

I almost gave up trying to find a picture, which should tell you how obscure they are. Thank you random Polish imports site. Behold! Heaven itself. Soft gingerbread cookies with plum filling covered in dark chocolate. Yes, I was a very. spoiled. child. With a well-developed palate, apparently. These delectable treats have since become a bit more readily available, being no longer confined to the Christmas season, but the combination of ginger spice and dark chocolate will always be fondly associated with fall and winter in my mind and mouth. The recipe below is happily reminiscent of all the best tastes of fall.

Gone-So-Fast-I-Couldn't-Get-A-Picture Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

1. Preheat oven to 4oo degrees.

2. Grease muffin tin. I recommend that you not use paper liners, unless you like donating half your muffin to them.

3. In a large bowl, mix together 3/4 cup white sugar (you can substitute some brown sugar if you like a deeper flavor), 1/4 cup vegetable oil or applesauce, and two eggs. Add 1 cup canned pumpkin and 1/4 cup water and mix.

4. In a separate bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/4 tsp. salt. Add lots of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, and also some ground cloves (but don't overdo it with the cloves). I like lots of spice in mine, and I never measure it--I just keep adding until it looks and smells about right.

5. Make a well in the center of the pumpkin mixture and gradually combine wet and dry ingredients.

6. Add in semi-sweet chocolate chips. I always eyeball how much. I guess it's probably around half a bag, or maybe a little under.

7. Pour into muffin tin. Distribute equally between all 12 cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Breath in the irresistible fragrance of fall.

8. Take pictures as soon as you remove them from the tin because they will disappear before you get another chance! (I always manage to forget this step).

Enjoy! And step on a crunchy leaf!

A.

Ivan the Terrible

2009-09-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

No more great home updates that I can post yet (although several have been completed, or nearly completed--bedroom updates, living room rearrangement, new furniture assembled, and that lantern from Anthropologie FINALLY came after being lost in the mail for 3 weeks...thanks UPS...) so I figure I will update about Ivan.

So.

I took Ivan to the vet two weeks ago for a deworming treatment, and found out that he is (according to their best educated guesses--mainly the fact that his molars are coming in) now actually nearing four months old. We had our suspicions, especially since he pretty much doubled in size in only two weeks. We assume that proper nutrition has had something to do with that. His eyesight also improved dramatically in that first week, and he gained a lot of energy.

A LOT of energy.

He will typically spend two-thirds of the day racing around, pouncing on things, and generally tiring himself out so that he can then sleep for the remaining third of the day. I know that this is typical kitten behavior. I understand and appreciate this. However, it becomes far less easy to appreciate at 11:30 pm when I am grading papers and trying to finish reading Beowulf before I go to bed so that I can get up at 6:30 am and teach classes in the morning. Here's how last night went:

Me: [grading papers and recording scores in the living room.]

[Josh: in bed. zzzzzzzzzz...]

Ivan: [running across the backs of the couches at full speed. falls off the back of the couch and lands on top of my stack of papers. scrambles around with a crazed look in his eyes and bites the papers. (forgot to mention that he is currently teething--molars, you know...)]

Me: Ivan, no! [remove Ivan to the floor and bop his nose.]

Ivan: [crazed look. leaps back up onto the couch and lays across my score sheets belly up, claws out.]

Me: Ivan, not a good time. [remove Ivan to the floor again, but not before he gnaws on my hand.] Ivan, no. [bop nose.]

Ivan: [crazed look. takes three laps around the apartment. pounces on yarn ball.]

Me: [resume grading.]

[5 minutes later. noise coming from the blinds by the front window. Ivan has rapidly leapt on top of the computer tower that sits on the floor up to the windowsill, and then up on top of the air conditioning unit which houses three potted plants. he has never been up there before.]

Me: [get up. walk to desk to retrieve cat.] Ivan, no! [retrieve cat. bop nose. set cat on floor. sit back down to grade.]

[immediate repetition of noise by the blinds. Ivan is already back up on the air conditioner.]

Me: Ivan, NO! [attempt to retrieve cat from air conditioner.]

Ivan: [reaches out both front paws to resist. hooks on to "Water Magic" fern plant.]

Plant: Alas! Alack! [falls over onto desk, spilling water all over my school papers.]

Handouts/grading rubrics/folders/resource binders/electronics in the crate on the floor: Sog. [drip.]

Me: [angry silence and disbelief. locate spray bottle. squirt cat in face.] No. [lock cat in bathroom/hallway. begin cleaning up mess.]

Air Conditioner: [turns on.]

Me: You know, you really are not helping right now. [realize I am talking to an inanimate object. turn off air conditioner. clean off desk. scatter papers throughout the room to dry. attempt to dry off wet electronics. finish grading papers. decide it is time to go to bed.]

[end scene.]

Don't get me wrong, he can be extremely cuddly and loveable, especially when he does that face-nuzzle head-butt thing while he's purring... The problem right now seems to be that he's 1) a kitten, and 2) one of the more social cats I've encountered. When I'm done teaching and am home during the day, or even when I'm getting ready to leave in the morning, he follows me around like a shadow. He hates being locked out of any room where people are. He usually cries outside our bedroom door for a few minutes each night (one night, we tried letting him in to sleep with us--EPIC FAIL. Little sleep was had by all.). All of this is very sweet and endearing, but his level of sociality combined with the fact that he is a kitten means that he seems to view most everything that Josh and I do as a game. Cleaning up stuff around the apartment? Game. Walking to his food dish to feed him? Totally a game. Feet were made for pouncing on. Folding laundry? BEST GAME EVER. We are trying to correct his understanding of this (he has learned for the most part that it is not okay to attack our laptops, especially while we are using them) via nose bops and a spray bottle. But it is a long and tiring process.

I really am looking forward to when he is older and a bit less active. And no, he's not really terrible, he's just a kitten. He can't help it much.

In other news, the laundry ghosts have redoubled their efforts. Thus, you will have to wait until we can make some serious headway on that front to see pictures of how awesome our bedroom is now.

Ta.

A.

Our Newest Addition

2009-08-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

Meet Ivan:

He's five weeks old. He was found on campus in one of the dorms, and campus safety was going to call animal control, but a friend of ours offered to take him. She ended up not being able to keep him because of limits in her apartment, so we offered to take him instead. He's super playful and loves people, string, and people food (he desperately wanted to try our waffles, but we didn't let him). When we got him, he had just been litter trained, and he's been amazingly meticulous about it--no accidents so far. He's also eating regular kitten food now and using formula only as a supplement.

(Christina and her roommate Sarah came to visit yesterday, and I promised to post some of the pictures. Hi Steeny and Sarah!)

We think he's pretty much the cutest ever.

A.

Saturday's Steal

2009-08-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

Josh and I just scored a $40 apothecary chest from someone who posted in the University classifieds. Why is this particularly awesome? I don't think I've mentioned our bed on this blog before. Josh built our bed. It is amazingly awesome. It is also very tall. As in, I use a stepping stool to climb into bed. No, I am not kidding.

The added height makes for all kinds of wonderful storage underneath the bed (currently housing boxes that still haven't been unpacked--not very attractive), but as a result, we didn't have a very convenient place to sit down and put our shoes on--until now:

We love the apothecary drawers in the front and the chest in the back--even MORE storage space! Yay! I threw my down comforter on top of it for now as a makeshift cushion since it's way too hot to use it currently:

Yay for hiding ugly storage with MORE storage, and creating a nice space to tie your shoes!

A.

(As a point of reference, when I sit on the chest, my feet comfortably touch the ground. I just measured, and the height of the chest is an inch greater than the seat height of the dining room chairs. The bed is so tall that we use bookcases for nightstands.)

Scrumptious Happenings in the Barber Kitchen

2009-08-19T16:49:00.000-07:00

I view last night's dinner as a success. My proof? Josh took one bite and melted in his seat. The best thing about it was that it was completely thrown together from leftovers and only took about half an hour. Here's the meal:

Stuffed Tomatoes (the real star)
We had a bunch of leftover tomatoes that Josh's sister had grown and given to us, and we needed to use them up. I cut the tops off (though I suppose they might be more stable if you turn them upside-down and cut the bottoms off instead) and scooped out the core and seeds. Then I tossed a piece of bread into the mini food processor, and put the crumbs in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil to brown them. I took leftover Parmesan (in an amount equal to the crumbs) and threw that in the food processor, and then mixed it in with the breadcrumbs in a bowl. I added about 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, some salt and pepper, and enough olive oil so that the mixture would hold together a bit. I spooned the crumb mixture into the tomatoes, put the tops back on, and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. Then I lined a baking sheet with foil, and poured a thin layer of olive oil into the bottom. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes (maybe more if you are using really large tomatoes) at 450 degrees, and then remove and let cool a bit. Consume, and then melt in complete satisfaction.

Super Easy Honey Mustard Chicken
We had leftover grocery-store-roasted-chicken, the kind with some sort of seasoning already on it, so I just carved off pieces of white meat and coated them with a mustard and honey mixture, put them on a foil-lined baking sheet, sprinkled them with brown sugar, and popped them into the oven at 450 for a few minutes until they were warm and the sauce had started to bubble and brown. Tangy, sweet, and delicious.

Add to this some microwave-steamed sugar snap peas (and maybe a little Chardonnay), and you've got yourself a truly scrumptious, truly easy meal.

A.

Wishes

2009-08-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

Home improvements have mostly been put on hold for the time being for various reasons (lack of available funds, my new job starting up, laundry ghosts, exhaustion, etc.). This leaves me frustrated and feeling stagnant. Everything works fine right now in our apartment just the way it is, but I wish it were prettier. There are few places in the apt. right now that I really love being in. I do love the kitchen table when we open the blinds, because the trees in the courtyard below make me feel like we live in a tree house. However, the chairs aren't terribly comfortable and thus are not conducive to long daydreaming sessions over a cup of tea. I really dislike the way our living room is arranged right now, but have to wait to rearrange it when hubby is agreeable to such an endeavor since I (being tiny and weak) can't move it on my own. The bedroom is a mess due to the abovementioned laundry ghosts (We can't get rid of them, no matter how hard we try! They multiply like bunnies!), so it's not a particularly pleasant place to spend time. I do like the bathroom, but it would be odd spending lots of time in there...

Anyway, long story short(er), I am reduced to interwebernets searches and salivation over all the lovely things I hope we can someday own. Like the duvet cover from our registry (Lantana from Bed, Bath, and Beyond):

Which looks strangely more white and gold in the photo, but is actually white and green. And curtains. I would love some curtains.

I did, however, just buy one little thing for the bathroom. They just sent me my Anthro Card number from Anthropologie, so I just snagged this little beauty for $8.53 (including tax--yay free shipping!):

I plan on hanging it in the window. I think it will make our already lovely bathroom even lovelier. I'll update when things start progressing again!

A.

DIY Coasters!

2009-08-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

Hooray! It is the time for the first ever post of the DIY!

Being not very impressed with the available selection of beverage coasters at Target and BB&B, hubs and I decided we could probably do better. I researched a tiny bit online to see what other folks were doing, and found this awesome tutorial, which I adapted a tiny bit. The end product?

Awesomely customized, super easy, and inexpensive coasters that protect our coffee table and match our home decor, including the fridge beautification project (more to come on that later...). Aren't they awesome? Unfortunately, we found out that the sealant that I used over the decoupage is not heat safe, so I need to come up with another way to seal them if we want to use them as trivets as well. Once I figure it out, I'll probably make a new batch--they were so quick and easy! Seriously, probably only ten minutes active time for the whole batch (24 hour drying period required).

Lovely, no?

A.

Hooray for Home!

2009-08-04T08:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome, all! This is a place for my DIY projects, ruminations on being newly married, and whatever else seems fitting to be posted here. Hope you enjoy!

A.