I'm feeling much better...got a lot done today and feel much more on top of things, although I wish this blog entry wasn't going to suck as much as it will. Oh well.
My horoscope for this week said something along the lines of "Libra, you are very good at seeing situations from all angles and at convincing yourself that you should want/do something because it's what you think others want. Don't do that. Don't try to anticipate other peoples' reactions, because you will get it wrong and make yourself crazy. Focus on yourself, act from your heart and everything will be A-OK" (only it said it much better than that). It was remarkably useful and appropriate advice. That's EXACTLY what I was doing -I would think of something I could do and then I would become paralyzed with fear that if I did that people would judge/criticize/mock/reject me and I would FAILFAILFAIL. Good times.
Like I said...feeling better now.
That being said, I'm going to stop writing and go to bed. A short entry is better than no entry at all...or so I keep telling myself.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Not very good at multitasking...
Maybe I should rephrase that...not very good at doing more than one project.
Right now I'm feeling somewhat swamped...I'm Immense-ing, trying to keep this up, and I just started work on a story that I am super-excited about. But I can't seem to do all of these things without losing hold on at least one of them. The past couple days I was working on my story -and both this and the Lovely stuff suffered (this sucks, because it's looking like it will be a novel...and novels take time!). Tonight I've been trying to make up for missed Lovely stuff, but that means I didn't work on the story and I'm staying up late to do this. I feel like I suck at this.
But this is the way life is, I keep telling myself. Life isn't "do one thing" then "do another thing." It's "OK, I have five things I need to do...and they all need to get done today. How can I make this work without losing my mind and/or my sleep?"
...this is going to take some figuring out...
Right now I'm feeling somewhat swamped...I'm Immense-ing, trying to keep this up, and I just started work on a story that I am super-excited about. But I can't seem to do all of these things without losing hold on at least one of them. The past couple days I was working on my story -and both this and the Lovely stuff suffered (this sucks, because it's looking like it will be a novel...and novels take time!). Tonight I've been trying to make up for missed Lovely stuff, but that means I didn't work on the story and I'm staying up late to do this. I feel like I suck at this.
But this is the way life is, I keep telling myself. Life isn't "do one thing" then "do another thing." It's "OK, I have five things I need to do...and they all need to get done today. How can I make this work without losing my mind and/or my sleep?"
...this is going to take some figuring out...
Monday, February 9, 2009
Short due to cranky baby...
Little Bear has been unbearably clingy and fussy all day, so this will be short.
I made soup yesterday! A new recipe! It started with the base for roasted red pepper and zucchini soup, but then I added carrots and sweet potato instead...it was AWESOME. Here is the (approximate) recipe:
Olive oil
Several onions, chopped (I think I used 4)
Garlic, minced (I used 4 cloves, but we like our garlic)
2 or 3 carrots, chopped
Thyme to taste
2 cans low sodium broth (I used chicken)
1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 sweet potatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pierce sweet potato skins in several places and bake in oven for about 1 hour. I've noticed that the more holes I make in the potato the better it turns out.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onions and frizzle until soft. Add garlic, thyme, and carrots, and frizzle a bit more (yes, frizzle is a technical term, why do you ask? :-P)
3. Pour in beans and broth (adding water as instructed...I had 2 cans of broth and 1.5 cans of water). Bring to a boil.
4. Cook until carrots are tender and then remove from heat (I did this uncovered because I couldn't find the lid until it was almost done).
5. Add in the "meat" from the sweet potatoes. Let everything cool to room temperature.
6. Puree the entire works with a food processor/blender.
7. Heat and serve. Season as desired with salt and pepper. Oh, and this goes AMAZINGLY with corn chips. I don't know why, but it does. Or with a grilled cheddar cheese and caramelized onion sandwich. YUM.
I made soup yesterday! A new recipe! It started with the base for roasted red pepper and zucchini soup, but then I added carrots and sweet potato instead...it was AWESOME. Here is the (approximate) recipe:
Olive oil
Several onions, chopped (I think I used 4)
Garlic, minced (I used 4 cloves, but we like our garlic)
2 or 3 carrots, chopped
Thyme to taste
2 cans low sodium broth (I used chicken)
1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 sweet potatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pierce sweet potato skins in several places and bake in oven for about 1 hour. I've noticed that the more holes I make in the potato the better it turns out.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onions and frizzle until soft. Add garlic, thyme, and carrots, and frizzle a bit more (yes, frizzle is a technical term, why do you ask? :-P)
3. Pour in beans and broth (adding water as instructed...I had 2 cans of broth and 1.5 cans of water). Bring to a boil.
4. Cook until carrots are tender and then remove from heat (I did this uncovered because I couldn't find the lid until it was almost done).
5. Add in the "meat" from the sweet potatoes. Let everything cool to room temperature.
6. Puree the entire works with a food processor/blender.
7. Heat and serve. Season as desired with salt and pepper. Oh, and this goes AMAZINGLY with corn chips. I don't know why, but it does. Or with a grilled cheddar cheese and caramelized onion sandwich. YUM.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Past my bedtime -which is sad in and of itself, as it's 9pm.
It's been a long and busy day.
Seriously...my email inbox saw more action today than it usually sees in a month! The Beckoning of Lovely cabinet was emailing back and forth all over the place, and then my department members were sending out introduction emails (all completely wonderful, by the way), and then lots of them responded to my responses...and...you get the idea. I don't have an exact count of the emails, but at a guess there were 30. It was AWESOME. I am excited :-)
Oh, and I don't remember if I mentioned this (which is sad, as I posted YESTERDAY), but The Beckoning of Lovely project is still taking submissions. Go here for project background and submission details -the submission info is about 2/3 of the way down the page...look for the brown font.
Some other web.sights that tickled my fancy today:
Help Others (dot) org -a site dedicated to acts of kindness. I especially like their smile card game!
Thing-a-Day 2009 -a collection of people committed to making a thing a day in February. I love this idea, and it's fun to see what people are making!
Neil Gaiman's Twitter -I don't know a lot about Twitter, so I can't keep up with the Tweet-ese...but I get a kick out of Mr. Neil's comments, and it's cool to be able to follow him in real time. In a completely non-creepy-stalker kind of way :-P
OK...bed.
Seriously...my email inbox saw more action today than it usually sees in a month! The Beckoning of Lovely cabinet was emailing back and forth all over the place, and then my department members were sending out introduction emails (all completely wonderful, by the way), and then lots of them responded to my responses...and...you get the idea. I don't have an exact count of the emails, but at a guess there were 30. It was AWESOME. I am excited :-)
Oh, and I don't remember if I mentioned this (which is sad, as I posted YESTERDAY), but The Beckoning of Lovely project is still taking submissions. Go here for project background and submission details -the submission info is about 2/3 of the way down the page...look for the brown font.
Some other web.sights that tickled my fancy today:
Help Others (dot) org -a site dedicated to acts of kindness. I especially like their smile card game!
Thing-a-Day 2009 -a collection of people committed to making a thing a day in February. I love this idea, and it's fun to see what people are making!
Neil Gaiman's Twitter -I don't know a lot about Twitter, so I can't keep up with the Tweet-ese...but I get a kick out of Mr. Neil's comments, and it's cool to be able to follow him in real time. In a completely non-creepy-stalker kind of way :-P
OK...bed.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Oof...tired. But determined to post!
I'm completely exhausted and way too keyed up to sleep. Things are finally moving on the Beckoning of Lovely front, and the email is flying like...something that...flies a lot? You know what I mean.
Today I had a conference call with some of the key cabinet members to share ideas, get a sense of the larger goals and How to Proceed. It was a good meeting, very exciting stuff was discussed, but I have to say...conference calls? Not my favourite medium of communication. Very effective, and it was cool to be on there...but I have a lot of trouble speaking up in a group when I can sense body language, let alone when I can't see anyone! Ah well -it was nice to see things get underway, and the issues I had were totally to do with me and my extreme shyness around strangers, even super-awesome-friendly ones.
Anyway, in other news I have successfully managed to break myself of the parenting-board habit...by going back to the SARK message board:-P And let me demonstrate why I love this place so much:
Here were the first few threads I read:
1. Someone asking for prayers/good vibes for a doctor's visit
2. A meeting of "joy rebel warriors"
3. A collection of beautiful poetry and photos
4. A thread of support for a woman who filed for divorce today
5. A collection of haikus to celebrate the upcoming marriage of a board member
That's it. No debates. No judgment. Just immense outpourings of love and support and creativity. I felt like I was going back home.
Now, I know it's not for everyone -Papa Bear, for one, is far too cynical to enjoy something like this- but it is the perfect place for someone like me. And it makes me very happy to be back!
Anyway, this is a disjointed entry, but it's an hour past my bedtime, so it'll have to do!
Nighty night!
Today I had a conference call with some of the key cabinet members to share ideas, get a sense of the larger goals and How to Proceed. It was a good meeting, very exciting stuff was discussed, but I have to say...conference calls? Not my favourite medium of communication. Very effective, and it was cool to be on there...but I have a lot of trouble speaking up in a group when I can sense body language, let alone when I can't see anyone! Ah well -it was nice to see things get underway, and the issues I had were totally to do with me and my extreme shyness around strangers, even super-awesome-friendly ones.
Anyway, in other news I have successfully managed to break myself of the parenting-board habit...by going back to the SARK message board:-P And let me demonstrate why I love this place so much:
Here were the first few threads I read:
1. Someone asking for prayers/good vibes for a doctor's visit
2. A meeting of "joy rebel warriors"
3. A collection of beautiful poetry and photos
4. A thread of support for a woman who filed for divorce today
5. A collection of haikus to celebrate the upcoming marriage of a board member
That's it. No debates. No judgment. Just immense outpourings of love and support and creativity. I felt like I was going back home.
Now, I know it's not for everyone -Papa Bear, for one, is far too cynical to enjoy something like this- but it is the perfect place for someone like me. And it makes me very happy to be back!
Anyway, this is a disjointed entry, but it's an hour past my bedtime, so it'll have to do!
Nighty night!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Oh..wow...
Check this out:
To Gain The Universe
To rule the state, have a known plan
To win a battle, have an unknown plan
To gain the universe, have no plan at all
Let the universe itself reveal to you its splendor
How do I know this should be so?
Because of this -
The more restrictions, the more poverty
The more weapons, the more fear in the land
The more cleverness, the more strange events
The more laws, the more lawbreakers
Thus the Sages say;
Act with a pure heart and the people will be transformed
Love your own life and the people will be uplifted
Give without conditions and the people will prosper
Want nothing and the people will find everything
Vs. 57
- Lao Tzu
Amy K. just sent that out, and it accords so perfectly with what I've been telling myself lately. So I thought I would share. And because it says it all I'm not going to elaborate. I'll write more tomorrow.
To Gain The Universe
To rule the state, have a known plan
To win a battle, have an unknown plan
To gain the universe, have no plan at all
Let the universe itself reveal to you its splendor
How do I know this should be so?
Because of this -
The more restrictions, the more poverty
The more weapons, the more fear in the land
The more cleverness, the more strange events
The more laws, the more lawbreakers
Thus the Sages say;
Act with a pure heart and the people will be transformed
Love your own life and the people will be uplifted
Give without conditions and the people will prosper
Want nothing and the people will find everything
Vs. 57
- Lao Tzu
Amy K. just sent that out, and it accords so perfectly with what I've been telling myself lately. So I thought I would share. And because it says it all I'm not going to elaborate. I'll write more tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Right some pretty...
Do you ever stop and just marvel at how beautiful the world is?
Because of my newfound internet-drought I actually watched TV during Little Bear's naps today (this was also partly due to the fact that I nursed him to sleep in my lap for both naps -an effort to break the Moby Wrap habit before he reaches 30lbs). Anyway...I put on a Blu-Ray disc of a BBC series called Ganges -a 3-part spin-off of the Planet Earth series that looks at the Ganges river from its numerous sources through to the Delta on the Bay of Bengal.
Damn. I say again, DAMN. The world is a beautiful place. There are so many strange and beautiful animals, so many glorious landscapes. It's amazing.
It was especially fun to watch this today, when we've been having a snow storm ALL DAY LONG. I would look from the TV to the snow falling outside -both scenes were beautiful...but they were so different.
Anyway, that's my thought for the day brought to you in part by HDTV.
Because of my newfound internet-drought I actually watched TV during Little Bear's naps today (this was also partly due to the fact that I nursed him to sleep in my lap for both naps -an effort to break the Moby Wrap habit before he reaches 30lbs). Anyway...I put on a Blu-Ray disc of a BBC series called Ganges -a 3-part spin-off of the Planet Earth series that looks at the Ganges river from its numerous sources through to the Delta on the Bay of Bengal.
Damn. I say again, DAMN. The world is a beautiful place. There are so many strange and beautiful animals, so many glorious landscapes. It's amazing.
It was especially fun to watch this today, when we've been having a snow storm ALL DAY LONG. I would look from the TV to the snow falling outside -both scenes were beautiful...but they were so different.
Anyway, that's my thought for the day brought to you in part by HDTV.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Banned. Effective immediately.
That's it. I'm done.
It occurred to me today (well, over the course of the past several days) that I spend a lot...and I mean a LOT...of time on parenting messageboards. I don't mean that I have specific information or questions in mind and I go there to find the answers, I mean I scroll through multiple forums and read random threads and get emotionally involved in stupid things that have nothing to do with me. This. Must. Stop.
I realized today, as I was reading through a number of threads and either shaking my head incredulously at the original poster or at the people replying, that this kind of activity brings out the worst in me. Not that I go around trolling people or anything. I don't even post anything that could possibly be considered mildly offensive. But I'm angry a lot of the time -either wanting to pick holes in what someone else is saying or wanting everyone to Stop Fighting Already. What a pointless waste of energy!
Don't get me wrong, loyal readers. I am in no way saying that the messageboards in question are pointless OR a waste of energy (and, for the record, yes...messageboardS. As in more than one). When one is looking for support and information then they can be downright useful. But go beyond that and it can get a bit hairy. I find myself worrying that things I write will be taken the wrong way -and this is now extending to other things I write: emails, this blog post, facebook statuses. That's not healthy or cool.
So I am banning myself from said messageboards forthwith. The only exception? OK, there are two: 1. If I have a genuine need for information or support that I can't get elsewhere, and 2. If I'm following a specific topic for my own purposes.
...well...that should free up a lot of time! Good thing I've got Neil Gaiman's Twitter bookmarked!
In other news, today Little Bear said the "ma" sound for the first time! Granted, he was crying and it came out "MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAM" ...but still! My heart melted! He's been saying "dadadadadadadadada" for a while now, so this is a breakthrough. It gave me an idea of how amazingly adorable and wonderful it's going to be when he starts actually talking :-)
It occurred to me today (well, over the course of the past several days) that I spend a lot...and I mean a LOT...of time on parenting messageboards. I don't mean that I have specific information or questions in mind and I go there to find the answers, I mean I scroll through multiple forums and read random threads and get emotionally involved in stupid things that have nothing to do with me. This. Must. Stop.
I realized today, as I was reading through a number of threads and either shaking my head incredulously at the original poster or at the people replying, that this kind of activity brings out the worst in me. Not that I go around trolling people or anything. I don't even post anything that could possibly be considered mildly offensive. But I'm angry a lot of the time -either wanting to pick holes in what someone else is saying or wanting everyone to Stop Fighting Already. What a pointless waste of energy!
Don't get me wrong, loyal readers. I am in no way saying that the messageboards in question are pointless OR a waste of energy (and, for the record, yes...messageboardS. As in more than one). When one is looking for support and information then they can be downright useful. But go beyond that and it can get a bit hairy. I find myself worrying that things I write will be taken the wrong way -and this is now extending to other things I write: emails, this blog post, facebook statuses. That's not healthy or cool.
So I am banning myself from said messageboards forthwith. The only exception? OK, there are two: 1. If I have a genuine need for information or support that I can't get elsewhere, and 2. If I'm following a specific topic for my own purposes.
...well...that should free up a lot of time! Good thing I've got Neil Gaiman's Twitter bookmarked!
In other news, today Little Bear said the "ma" sound for the first time! Granted, he was crying and it came out "MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAM" ...but still! My heart melted! He's been saying "dadadadadadadadada" for a while now, so this is a breakthrough. It gave me an idea of how amazingly adorable and wonderful it's going to be when he starts actually talking :-)
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Cooking up a storm!
My oh my, have I had a productive weekend...in the kitchen.
On Friday I made granola bars! No real recipe, but the ingredients were as follows:
Butter
Oatmeal
Brown sugar
Honey
Cinnamon
Raisins
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Dried cranberries
Dried apricots (chopped)
They came out wonderfully! Our Battlestar Galactica group tried them when they came over and loved them (I didn't find this out until Saturday because I was asleep at the time).
On Saturday I made these squares from Chef at Home. They required 2 pounds of chocolate, 3 cups of peanut butter, a pound of cream cheese, and 4 cups of peanuts. I have to say that they would have turned out better if Chef Michael Smith had specified the SIZE OF PAN REQUIRED instead of just saying "a large baking pan" (he is ALWAYS ChefMichaelSmith to us and not Michael Smith, just to be clear. In fact, it only just occurred to me that his name is Michael Smith. Huh.). See, to me a "large baking pan" is, you know, a 9x13" pan. That's the largest baking pan I've ever used besides cookie sheets, and he definitely didn't mean those! But apparently there exists somewhere some kind of super-massive baking pan that dwarfs my 9x13" one, because what should have been a layer of peanuts-and-brownie 3/4" thick (or thereabouts) ended up being a layer about 2 inches thick instead. Oops!
I have to say, though, apart from that minor issue the squares were excellent. The top two layers were the best, and I plan to use them on top of either my own brownie recipe or cheesecake next time I make them...which won't be for months because I would like to not weigh a million pounds or have a heart attack any time soon.
Today I baked muffins for breakfast -blueberry muffins. They turned out spectacularly well, and you know what the secret was? I had no milk and therefore used whipping cream instead (it was the only liquid dairy I had in the house!). MAN, where they ever good!
And then for lunch I baked this...which was absolutely spectacular. I have no notes, ChefMichaelSmith, no notes at all. Bravo. Papa Bear liked it so much that he's already talking about making it with other things...like ham and cheddar (yum!). Also not something to eat daily, but then again...the entire dish only had 2 eggs and 1 cup of grated cheese...that ain't bad at all!
So...yeah...a culinary weekend to say the least! I still haven't finished all the dishes. That, sadly, is my job tomorrow. But you know what? it was totally worth it.
On Friday I made granola bars! No real recipe, but the ingredients were as follows:
Butter
Oatmeal
Brown sugar
Honey
Cinnamon
Raisins
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Dried cranberries
Dried apricots (chopped)
They came out wonderfully! Our Battlestar Galactica group tried them when they came over and loved them (I didn't find this out until Saturday because I was asleep at the time).
On Saturday I made these squares from Chef at Home. They required 2 pounds of chocolate, 3 cups of peanut butter, a pound of cream cheese, and 4 cups of peanuts. I have to say that they would have turned out better if Chef Michael Smith had specified the SIZE OF PAN REQUIRED instead of just saying "a large baking pan" (he is ALWAYS ChefMichaelSmith to us and not Michael Smith, just to be clear. In fact, it only just occurred to me that his name is Michael Smith. Huh.). See, to me a "large baking pan" is, you know, a 9x13" pan. That's the largest baking pan I've ever used besides cookie sheets, and he definitely didn't mean those! But apparently there exists somewhere some kind of super-massive baking pan that dwarfs my 9x13" one, because what should have been a layer of peanuts-and-brownie 3/4" thick (or thereabouts) ended up being a layer about 2 inches thick instead. Oops!
I have to say, though, apart from that minor issue the squares were excellent. The top two layers were the best, and I plan to use them on top of either my own brownie recipe or cheesecake next time I make them...which won't be for months because I would like to not weigh a million pounds or have a heart attack any time soon.
Today I baked muffins for breakfast -blueberry muffins. They turned out spectacularly well, and you know what the secret was? I had no milk and therefore used whipping cream instead (it was the only liquid dairy I had in the house!). MAN, where they ever good!
And then for lunch I baked this...which was absolutely spectacular. I have no notes, ChefMichaelSmith, no notes at all. Bravo. Papa Bear liked it so much that he's already talking about making it with other things...like ham and cheddar (yum!). Also not something to eat daily, but then again...the entire dish only had 2 eggs and 1 cup of grated cheese...that ain't bad at all!
So...yeah...a culinary weekend to say the least! I still haven't finished all the dishes. That, sadly, is my job tomorrow. But you know what? it was totally worth it.
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