That's what sucks about being an "adult" and living on your own and shit.
I have to cook. EVERY DAY. Unless I want to live on coffee (I view even this as a cooking ordeal. Ryan bought a coffee pot and I swear the thing hates me. It doesn't recognize me as its master and therefore feels free to fuck up my coffee or just somehow malfunction and drip coffee grounds all over the counter. And it hisses at me like a cockroach) and cereal all day every day I have to COOK. For the first two weeks in our apartment Ryan and I (scratch that. just me) were really excited about cooking. I looked up recipes and tried to master techniques. Well now we're in week three and I'm definitely over it.
Last night I made a meatloaf. It's my mom's recipe and it's delicious if you're into meatloaf. I made it for Ryan before he returned to the good ol' South and he loved it. So I made it again, but this time just for me. Now I'm eating meatloaf for the next five days, which is fine because now I don't have to cook for five days. But kind of gross too.
Another thing about being "ADULT" (yeah right) is I go bonkers now if any of the food goes bad because I spent my money on it so now it matters if money is being wasted. So I was going through the fridge making sure all the food was being consumed and I found some two week old carrots. I'm thinking shit, now I have to eat like 8 raw carrots because it's NOT getting wasted. Then I looked at the meatloaf and you knowwww what I put carrots in the meatloaf. Sounds insane but didn't really notice them. It's like those dumb Chef Boyardee commercials about the secret vegetables in that god awful ravioli.
It's always good to teach children early on that vegetables are gross. And ravioli is the only thing you will ever need in your life. Also- don't pay attention to food labels. Just eat it. I think that's a lesson for the masses.
One thing I will say (until I retract it)- making my own salad dressing from now on (until I'm tired and like nope). For some reason the salad dressing I bought at the store has been making me gag lately. I just hate it. But I have to eat it because I BOUGHT IT. Vicious cycle. But I found a dressing recipe online and I could eat this all day long. It's delicious. I got this from The Reluctant Gourmet
Ingredients:
1 glove of garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
5-6 tablespoons oil (vegetable, corn, canola, olive or some combination)
pinch of dried parsley
pinch of dried thyme
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Add the vinegar, garlic, and mustard well. Slowly add the oil while whisking the mixture. Add the herbs and salt and pepper and season to your tastes. I used olive oil and a nice spicy Dijon mustard. Don't make it if you hate mustard, obviously. DELISSHHH.
UPDATE: Ewwwww I just watched that commercial again and how gross is "micro-beef (ravioli)"? Call it lil' bites or something. ANYTHING ELSE
Friday, April 22, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
prairie dogs?
I just had to google that to figure out how you spell "prairie." Ridiculous.
But there are PRAIRIE DOGS on the side of the highway. Running around and jumping in their holes and looking out and holding their little arms against their little prairie chests. They aren't secretive about it either. I get really excited about them when I see them but I guess this is something everyone else here is used to.
I always thought of myself as a bit of a city gal, not really being keen on small towns or places where one has to actively search for a shoe store (and other necessities). When we decided to move here I was feeling very happy about the decision and being able to see Denver from my apartment's little porch. We're on the outskirts, where there's public open space about a mile down the road and views of the foothills. Everything was feeling very idyllic.
And then I drove THROUGH Denver.
I can honestly say I've never been one to get too angry about traffic- I'm generally a very easy going person. Apparently that was a different life because today I found myself pounding my steering wheel until my hands hurt and screaming obscenities that have never before left my mouth (you goddamned cock sucking sheisty little piece of shit and offal) and almost dissolving into tears when I saw the 7 lane highway packed with cars. And I reiterate... WTF. How can 7 LANES BE PACKED AT 2:30 IN THE AFTERNOON ON A WEDNESDAY?!?
I would rather endure the threat of bear attack on a daily basis and dig holes to poop in than find myself crying about traffic. Maybe that's extreme, maybe I'm more of a "mid size town with decent road structures and a Whole Foods a few miles away" type of gal rather than a rugged outdoorsy type or a city dweller.
Denver, that's strike one. You'd better shape up your act or perhaps I'll have to give in to my wanderlust sooner rather than later...
But there are PRAIRIE DOGS on the side of the highway. Running around and jumping in their holes and looking out and holding their little arms against their little prairie chests. They aren't secretive about it either. I get really excited about them when I see them but I guess this is something everyone else here is used to.
I always thought of myself as a bit of a city gal, not really being keen on small towns or places where one has to actively search for a shoe store (and other necessities). When we decided to move here I was feeling very happy about the decision and being able to see Denver from my apartment's little porch. We're on the outskirts, where there's public open space about a mile down the road and views of the foothills. Everything was feeling very idyllic.
And then I drove THROUGH Denver.
I can honestly say I've never been one to get too angry about traffic- I'm generally a very easy going person. Apparently that was a different life because today I found myself pounding my steering wheel until my hands hurt and screaming obscenities that have never before left my mouth (you goddamned cock sucking sheisty little piece of shit and offal) and almost dissolving into tears when I saw the 7 lane highway packed with cars. And I reiterate... WTF. How can 7 LANES BE PACKED AT 2:30 IN THE AFTERNOON ON A WEDNESDAY?!?
I would rather endure the threat of bear attack on a daily basis and dig holes to poop in than find myself crying about traffic. Maybe that's extreme, maybe I'm more of a "mid size town with decent road structures and a Whole Foods a few miles away" type of gal rather than a rugged outdoorsy type or a city dweller.
Denver, that's strike one. You'd better shape up your act or perhaps I'll have to give in to my wanderlust sooner rather than later...
Monday, April 11, 2011
5 things about colorado so far
..where I have recently moved.
1. It is very dry. Very very dry. On the positive side of this, my hair behaves more than when I lived down south. On the downside, I wake up and every day my lips are chapped. I have to put on chap stick ALL THE TIME and I wonder if this will ever end. My nose sometimes bleeds. My skin feels dry and cracked. Will my body get used to the dry, arid air? Will I always feel like a fish that poked its head out of water?
2. People drive terribly. TERRIBLY. They do not follow the speed limit and by this I mean they always go about 10 below the speed limit. They don't change lanes well. Stop signs occasionally cause confusion.
3. On top of this bad driving they have very bad ROAD RAGE and get very, VERY angry about all the terrible driving going on. They seem to be in a very big hurry all the time and need to express how hurried and pissed off they are by screaming, cursing, hand gestures, and last but certainly not least honking. They honk all the damn time. And a small anecdote about the ROAD RAGE mentioned earlier... Ryan and I were making a trip to Walmart for a few items for the apartment our first day moving in. We were exiting the Walmart parking lot and there was a slight misunderstanding about lanes between us and the lady in the turn lane next to us. No big deal, both of us were going about 15 miles per hour and we swerved and they swerved and no harm was done. The lady FREAKED OUT and honked and visibly flicked us off (with both hands) and we could hear her screaming from inside her car. We both started laughing because this was the biggest over reaction either of us had seen in a long time. At the stop light she GOT OUT OF HER CAR, approached our car, and started screaming at us, called us assholes and told us not to laugh because she had kids in the car. Then got in the car and sped off. This is just one example of extreme road rage I have witnessed. What gives? Why is everyone so angry? Perhaps its the vicinity to Denver and just big city attitudes but who knows.
4. Great beer selections available
5. Most the time the sky is so blue...
1. It is very dry. Very very dry. On the positive side of this, my hair behaves more than when I lived down south. On the downside, I wake up and every day my lips are chapped. I have to put on chap stick ALL THE TIME and I wonder if this will ever end. My nose sometimes bleeds. My skin feels dry and cracked. Will my body get used to the dry, arid air? Will I always feel like a fish that poked its head out of water?
2. People drive terribly. TERRIBLY. They do not follow the speed limit and by this I mean they always go about 10 below the speed limit. They don't change lanes well. Stop signs occasionally cause confusion.
3. On top of this bad driving they have very bad ROAD RAGE and get very, VERY angry about all the terrible driving going on. They seem to be in a very big hurry all the time and need to express how hurried and pissed off they are by screaming, cursing, hand gestures, and last but certainly not least honking. They honk all the damn time. And a small anecdote about the ROAD RAGE mentioned earlier... Ryan and I were making a trip to Walmart for a few items for the apartment our first day moving in. We were exiting the Walmart parking lot and there was a slight misunderstanding about lanes between us and the lady in the turn lane next to us. No big deal, both of us were going about 15 miles per hour and we swerved and they swerved and no harm was done. The lady FREAKED OUT and honked and visibly flicked us off (with both hands) and we could hear her screaming from inside her car. We both started laughing because this was the biggest over reaction either of us had seen in a long time. At the stop light she GOT OUT OF HER CAR, approached our car, and started screaming at us, called us assholes and told us not to laugh because she had kids in the car. Then got in the car and sped off. This is just one example of extreme road rage I have witnessed. What gives? Why is everyone so angry? Perhaps its the vicinity to Denver and just big city attitudes but who knows.
4. Great beer selections available
5. Most the time the sky is so blue...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
what I googled
The other day I was thinking about how bad i am about blogging. Also the other day Ryan was saying he was going to blog about the things i google on a daily basis ever since he looked at the history on my phone and found I had googled "how long after a person dies do they poop." It's a legitimate question but unfortunately I was unable to think of a better way to phrase it. And that's pretty much how i use google- i just type in complete sentences or questions and see where it gets me. So in an attempt to be a better blogger and keep a better record of myself so I won't look back in 50 years and wonder what I was doing with my time I'll just talk about what i google.
Today I googled "why do I have tightness in my chest when I breathe deeply." This lead me to google "walking pneumonia." I'm a slight hypochondriac and after convincing myself I have lung cancer I decided i needed to investigate the matter. The jury's still out, as it could be pneumonia, angina, lung clotting, etc etc. Still don't feel convinced enough to go to the doctor so i guess I'll just ignore it for now and avoid "breathing deeply."
Today I googled "why do I have tightness in my chest when I breathe deeply." This lead me to google "walking pneumonia." I'm a slight hypochondriac and after convincing myself I have lung cancer I decided i needed to investigate the matter. The jury's still out, as it could be pneumonia, angina, lung clotting, etc etc. Still don't feel convinced enough to go to the doctor so i guess I'll just ignore it for now and avoid "breathing deeply."
Sunday, July 18, 2010
the post-grad blues, with a heap of self-loathing
I wrote this whole long blog entry about my dog Peanut dying and sobbed the whole time. After writing, reflected, and deleted entry. There were too many gory details that for now will stay put in my noggin. Suffice to say he died and while it was difficult and upsetting, it was also peaceful and quick. And I miss him, almost three weeks later.
I start work on Monday as a 'telebanking associate," AKA that person you call and scream at when your bank screws something up. That faceless, emotionless, dulcet-toned bank droid you berate for 20 minutes for not completing some seemingly simple task and then shake your head as you hang up, saying something about how scary it is that such idiots handle all your financial information.
That'll be me, ladies and gents. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I know how lucky I am to have scored a job at all in the current market. I don't know- it's getting a little hard to stomach all those tight faced looks when people congratulate me on graduating with my very impressive Russian degree, and what am I doing now? Oh working at a bank? Oh how nice.... Cue rolling eyes for my stupid fanciful degree that will get me nowhere special. Probably should've spent my time studying something useful, like accounting or management or computer shit. My degree doesn't count until I mosey on over to Moscow to teach English to Russian schoolchildren, as if that was my whole goal in life. It doesn't seem fair- my friends with "sensible" degrees are in the same boat I am. I don't know where everyone gets this idea that getting a degree means you're suddenly an expert in everything in that subject. If I would ask my management major friends a question about economics they'd give me a vague answer and say something like, "shit I don't remember- that was 2 years ago." At least these friends with practical majors don't have to get the look from people. Like I've failed somehow because I didn't board a plane after graduation and move to Russia. Like I'm a phony because I'm not working for the State Department.
And now I sound like a whiner. But I have GOALS. I'm not ready for the rest of my life to happen. I want the little stuff- to move to a cool, fun place with beautiful scenery. On the West Coast. To become the type of person that hikes and bikes on the weekend and revels in nature. To get an apartment or rent a house or something. To get a job that maybe isn't groundbreaking or life affirming but that is a job that I enjoy, that makes enough money to enjoy life and not be panicky. That's all I want right now- and maybe the world traveler groundbreaking adventurer life-saving shit will come later. Maybe Russian will play a role in that and maybe it won't- it was fun as hell to study and I'm glad I did. I'm glad I didn't drag myself to econ classes that I didn't give a shit about. I learned a freaking language! I'm not fluent or native or anything but I can and did speak it and was understood and understood and made jokes with it and lived on it. I traveled with it, I saw things and experienced things that people here don't really care about. I joined the small club of people who love Russia for all its quirks, who chuckle over the things most Americans get ENRAGED over! It's taught me to be patient, to accept that things don't always go as planned, that you have to fend for yourself when no one else will. Would I have learned these things in an econ class?
Alright people? People who I'm addressing and who will never see this? Keep your expectations and tight faced looks with your spastic eye rolls and smug sense of knowing to yourselves. I'm not interested in your ideas, only my own.
I start work on Monday as a 'telebanking associate," AKA that person you call and scream at when your bank screws something up. That faceless, emotionless, dulcet-toned bank droid you berate for 20 minutes for not completing some seemingly simple task and then shake your head as you hang up, saying something about how scary it is that such idiots handle all your financial information.
That'll be me, ladies and gents. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I know how lucky I am to have scored a job at all in the current market. I don't know- it's getting a little hard to stomach all those tight faced looks when people congratulate me on graduating with my very impressive Russian degree, and what am I doing now? Oh working at a bank? Oh how nice.... Cue rolling eyes for my stupid fanciful degree that will get me nowhere special. Probably should've spent my time studying something useful, like accounting or management or computer shit. My degree doesn't count until I mosey on over to Moscow to teach English to Russian schoolchildren, as if that was my whole goal in life. It doesn't seem fair- my friends with "sensible" degrees are in the same boat I am. I don't know where everyone gets this idea that getting a degree means you're suddenly an expert in everything in that subject. If I would ask my management major friends a question about economics they'd give me a vague answer and say something like, "shit I don't remember- that was 2 years ago." At least these friends with practical majors don't have to get the look from people. Like I've failed somehow because I didn't board a plane after graduation and move to Russia. Like I'm a phony because I'm not working for the State Department.
And now I sound like a whiner. But I have GOALS. I'm not ready for the rest of my life to happen. I want the little stuff- to move to a cool, fun place with beautiful scenery. On the West Coast. To become the type of person that hikes and bikes on the weekend and revels in nature. To get an apartment or rent a house or something. To get a job that maybe isn't groundbreaking or life affirming but that is a job that I enjoy, that makes enough money to enjoy life and not be panicky. That's all I want right now- and maybe the world traveler groundbreaking adventurer life-saving shit will come later. Maybe Russian will play a role in that and maybe it won't- it was fun as hell to study and I'm glad I did. I'm glad I didn't drag myself to econ classes that I didn't give a shit about. I learned a freaking language! I'm not fluent or native or anything but I can and did speak it and was understood and understood and made jokes with it and lived on it. I traveled with it, I saw things and experienced things that people here don't really care about. I joined the small club of people who love Russia for all its quirks, who chuckle over the things most Americans get ENRAGED over! It's taught me to be patient, to accept that things don't always go as planned, that you have to fend for yourself when no one else will. Would I have learned these things in an econ class?
Alright people? People who I'm addressing and who will never see this? Keep your expectations and tight faced looks with your spastic eye rolls and smug sense of knowing to yourselves. I'm not interested in your ideas, only my own.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
I like...
You. And this song:
The beginning of my last semester of school EVER (maybe unless I go to grad school somedayyyy) begins WEDNESDAY. NO NO NO. But unfortunately yes. Someone want to give me a job and or prospects? No? Starbucks it is.
Just kidding I hope. I'm searching. And hoping the universe gives me a break. However I've gotten a lot of breaks in my life already so I'm probably just about due for a swift kick in the pants
The beginning of my last semester of school EVER (maybe unless I go to grad school somedayyyy) begins WEDNESDAY. NO NO NO. But unfortunately yes. Someone want to give me a job and or prospects? No? Starbucks it is.
Just kidding I hope. I'm searching. And hoping the universe gives me a break. However I've gotten a lot of breaks in my life already so I'm probably just about due for a swift kick in the pants
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