So, cooking is fun when your kitchen is not stocked! I like making cookies. I did it at Mom's place a few times. It was fun because all you had to do was pull out the ingredients, pull open cupboards and drawrs to find the tools you need, drop the tasty little globs on the baking sheet and pop them in the oven. Chewy goodness in less than an hour.
But, I just moved into my own place.
That does not have the fixings for cookies.
So, I bought them. They were expensive, and heavy to carry home. My arms are an inch longer.
Now, I have begun making the cookies. I have the flour, the sugar, the eggs...
I have a bowl. I have a spoon.
I have no juicer, so I just squished my fingers into that orange until its guts came out.
I have no zester, so I cut chunks of the peel off and put them in my hand-held parmesan cheese grater (no explanation as to why I have one of those and no zester). That actually worked okay.
I have no baking sheets, so I bought one of those tin ones at the grocery store, but again, I was carrying everything home, so it bent in the wind. It kind of looks like a hubcap.
I have no measuring spoons. So, my philosophy is, just shake the box of whatever you need, and probably the right amount will come out.
I have no cooling rack, so I'm using my cutting board...this does not work.
Also, does anyone know why cookies come out bready? I wanted chocoalte-chip cookie consistency, not these doughy things.
But they taste damn good.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Rainy blowy dirty
A couple of days of lousy weather hasn't made me the happiest person in the world, but I've gotten a lot done lately. Work ended early on Friday (1130) with a momosa toast with the CEO in the caf. Then I went to the bank, where I opened an RRSP (been meaning to do that), and a savings fund for vacations (it's amazing that most of my life I've been dreaming of going places and never got there, and now I'm planning so many!), I've mailed packages to Mom and Laur and Kev, I've been grocery shopping twice, I finished my holiday gift shopping (a little late, but no one's around till after the holidays anyway!), and I've learned a few things. What have I learned? Well, for one, if you have to buy everything to make cookies from scrath, then cookies are expensive! And also, the makings for cookies are heavy if you're carrying them home. On the upside of that, though, is that soon I should (hopefully) have another recipe or two to add to my collection (I'll publish it here if the prevailing opinion on them is positive). Why am I making cookies? I'm going to go have dinner and watch movies with the Robins tomorrow. So looking forward to that, but there's so much to do! They're picking me up here, which means I definitely have cleaning to do, in case they come up to my apartment. It's not that this place is completely filthy, it's just that it's small enough that even a little mess is really bad looking. And I want my first place to make a good impression. Well, as good an impression as it can make, without curtains (I'll get to that soon). Also there's cookies to make, gifts to wrap, and laundry to do, and I'm dogsitting Eggroll while the brother's in BC, so I have the dog to take care of, which I don't really mind, except that it means we keep having to go out in this horrid weather (eew). Oh well. I'd better get to the cleaning if I'm to have everything ready and presentable tomorrow. Later!
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Busy holiday thought-process blog.
Hello.
I've a feeling that it's been awhile since I last blogged, though I'm a little unsure because there has been at least one blog that I've written and not published, because halfway through writing it I realized it was unbelievably boring.
Which is strange because life lately has not been boring at all. I've been to two book club meetings, once where we all discussed The Secret of Platform 13 and stuffed our faces with Swiss Chalet, and once to spend a surprisingly un-torturous eight hours watching a BBC movie of a Charles Dickens book (Our Mutual Friend). Officially there is another meeting tomorrow evening, to discuss Day of the Triffids and stuff ourselves with Greek food, but I'm going to skip this one in order to spend the evening with Hugh before he takes off to Montreal for the holidays.
I went to Ikea last week and spent an inordinate amount of money, however much of it (most of it) was on curtains, which are kind of essential, so I don't feel too bad about it. The one regret is that as I have no car, I couldn't get everything I'd wanted at once, and thus I am still mirrorless, and my tv continues to rest on an end table that holds it just high enough for me to see half the screen from my bed.
Thursday I went to the mall with a friend, where we lighting-speed shopped for presents and then went to see Happy Feet, which was very good, and made even better by the Harry Potter 5 trailer which preceeded it.
And then friday there was a party at Lisa's new apartment that was quiet but fun, and funny when we realized that of all the people at Lisa's "Christmas Party", she was the only one there who celebrates Christmas.
And the brother was over here today. I gave him his Hanukka presents (well received, I think), and we went out and bought me a showerhead and a toolbox and sticky things with which to hang things on walls, and we bought him a fan for his house and we bought a fuzzy blue toy and pig ears for Eggroll and a ball and some catnip for the cats. Then we came home, inhaled subs for dinner, and got the cats all spaced out on kitty drugs. Even now The Three Legged One is wrigging around my desk chair so I have to be careful not to move anywhere on fear of flattening a tail, and the other one keeps periodically going into frantic searches for the tub of catnip that was formerly left on the bed, until I caught him trying to knaw his way into it.
So, that's the brothers', Eggrolls', and the cats' presents out of the way. I have presents for Mom (to be sent off with the bro on tuesday), but I want to see if I can find more. She's being unusually unhelpful this year with gift ideas, which are always harder to come up with when she's not around. I have part of Lauren's gift, and I know what I want for the rest, I just haven't found it yet. I have books for Kevin, but a) he knows about them, and b) I got them through work, so I'm not sure they count. So, even though I've felt like I'm behind in my shopping lately, I think I'm doing better than I'm giving myself credit for.
But does anyone have any advice on whether I should get something for my bosses, and if so, then what???
I've a feeling that it's been awhile since I last blogged, though I'm a little unsure because there has been at least one blog that I've written and not published, because halfway through writing it I realized it was unbelievably boring.
Which is strange because life lately has not been boring at all. I've been to two book club meetings, once where we all discussed The Secret of Platform 13 and stuffed our faces with Swiss Chalet, and once to spend a surprisingly un-torturous eight hours watching a BBC movie of a Charles Dickens book (Our Mutual Friend). Officially there is another meeting tomorrow evening, to discuss Day of the Triffids and stuff ourselves with Greek food, but I'm going to skip this one in order to spend the evening with Hugh before he takes off to Montreal for the holidays.
I went to Ikea last week and spent an inordinate amount of money, however much of it (most of it) was on curtains, which are kind of essential, so I don't feel too bad about it. The one regret is that as I have no car, I couldn't get everything I'd wanted at once, and thus I am still mirrorless, and my tv continues to rest on an end table that holds it just high enough for me to see half the screen from my bed.
Thursday I went to the mall with a friend, where we lighting-speed shopped for presents and then went to see Happy Feet, which was very good, and made even better by the Harry Potter 5 trailer which preceeded it.
And then friday there was a party at Lisa's new apartment that was quiet but fun, and funny when we realized that of all the people at Lisa's "Christmas Party", she was the only one there who celebrates Christmas.
And the brother was over here today. I gave him his Hanukka presents (well received, I think), and we went out and bought me a showerhead and a toolbox and sticky things with which to hang things on walls, and we bought him a fan for his house and we bought a fuzzy blue toy and pig ears for Eggroll and a ball and some catnip for the cats. Then we came home, inhaled subs for dinner, and got the cats all spaced out on kitty drugs. Even now The Three Legged One is wrigging around my desk chair so I have to be careful not to move anywhere on fear of flattening a tail, and the other one keeps periodically going into frantic searches for the tub of catnip that was formerly left on the bed, until I caught him trying to knaw his way into it.
So, that's the brothers', Eggrolls', and the cats' presents out of the way. I have presents for Mom (to be sent off with the bro on tuesday), but I want to see if I can find more. She's being unusually unhelpful this year with gift ideas, which are always harder to come up with when she's not around. I have part of Lauren's gift, and I know what I want for the rest, I just haven't found it yet. I have books for Kevin, but a) he knows about them, and b) I got them through work, so I'm not sure they count. So, even though I've felt like I'm behind in my shopping lately, I think I'm doing better than I'm giving myself credit for.
But does anyone have any advice on whether I should get something for my bosses, and if so, then what???
Thursday, December 07, 2006
She's BACK!
Oh my god I'm online! It feels like I can breathe again.
Okay, so, first, that was a shitty way to leave off news-wise before my move, but as Mom can attest, the sudden absence of my internet connection was, well...sudden. And earlier than expected. So sorry for the lack of 'goodbye for now' email that I had totally intended to write.
But now I'm here! I'm sitting in my own first apartment, which is unbelievably cool, and I actually have internet and cable and power and heat and all those cool things that real, living-on-their-own people need.
The move was...well, moves are always hard,not to mention that I moved on the same day that Mom left, which, for the record, I don't recommend. Mostly it was hard and exhausting, and by Sunday night I was not the happiest of girls, but Hugh came over (friends are great things) and brought chocolate and popcorn and ice cream (which I am still eating- honestly, if you need calorie-fueled help, Hugh is the man to go to, people. Nothing like a doctor to help you clog your arteries!)
And ever since then I've been slowly setting up my place. First I moved the pile of my junk into the corner, then I moved it to the hallway, then I moved it to the middle of the floor, then I moved it in front of the bookcase, and now it's partly in the kitchen, and partly on the couch. But each time its moved, it's gotten a little smaller, which is good.
So, the place isn't perfect yet, but it's getting there. I still need the blue couch cover (though unearthing the couch from the boxes on top of it first would be best), and yes, I forgot to buy the juice jug I needed, so when I was desperate for lemonade, I mixed it up in an empty ice cream container (a little ghetto, but my undergrad days seem to be kicking in).
I could go on, but at this point I'm probably getting boring (you don't want to hear about me putting that plastic stuff on my window, no matter how proud I am that I did it all on my own, or how I figured out how to hang the chandelier in my bathroom, etc, etc...)
Mom got to the Vic okay. She said her flight was hell- delays, fat businessmen, drunken seatmates and multiple layovers- and when she got to the island it was (ironically) covered in snow. Apparently the once-every-twenty-years snowfall that Victoria gets fell, and the city ground to a halt; no plows, schools and businesses closed, and people wasdering around wondering what to do. I thought it was hilarious- Mom moves to the one place in Canada it's not supposed to snow (she hates winter), and it snows on her. Not to mention, it was unseasonably warm here that week.
...though our heat wave copped out last friday. Having lived in my new place for five days, I decided I wanted a break (not really, I just wanted out of the city awhile), so I went to visit Laur and Kev in Orangeville. Where Lauren bought me my Christmas/Hanukkah present- I got inked! I'm very pleased, even though this thing itches like crazy right now, and I'm going to have to have it touched up cause I think I got a crack (tattoos want to dry out while they're healing; if they do, your skin can split and what you get is a very thin break in the ink of the tat). Oh well- going to Orangeville to see my tat artist is just another good excuse to go visit Kev again...cause by then Lauren will be long gone (cry, cry) to Australia for a whole year. And yes, I should be getting more and more worried/sad/upset that my best friend is taking off to the other side of the world for forever, but honestly, the closer she gets to her trip, the more excited I get for her. I can't wait to hear what she sees and does out there. Have fun, lady!
In Orangeville there was also a blackout and a kick-ass game on Monopoly (and by that I mean Lauren and I got our asses kicked...Kev's scary-good at that game), and I watched Kev in the christmas parade, which was small-town cute.
And there's more...I joined a bookclub and I want to the TSO this week...so much, and I'll write about it all, I promise...but right now I have brand-spankin'-new cable tv callin my name!
Okay, so, first, that was a shitty way to leave off news-wise before my move, but as Mom can attest, the sudden absence of my internet connection was, well...sudden. And earlier than expected. So sorry for the lack of 'goodbye for now' email that I had totally intended to write.
But now I'm here! I'm sitting in my own first apartment, which is unbelievably cool, and I actually have internet and cable and power and heat and all those cool things that real, living-on-their-own people need.
The move was...well, moves are always hard,not to mention that I moved on the same day that Mom left, which, for the record, I don't recommend. Mostly it was hard and exhausting, and by Sunday night I was not the happiest of girls, but Hugh came over (friends are great things) and brought chocolate and popcorn and ice cream (which I am still eating- honestly, if you need calorie-fueled help, Hugh is the man to go to, people. Nothing like a doctor to help you clog your arteries!)
And ever since then I've been slowly setting up my place. First I moved the pile of my junk into the corner, then I moved it to the hallway, then I moved it to the middle of the floor, then I moved it in front of the bookcase, and now it's partly in the kitchen, and partly on the couch. But each time its moved, it's gotten a little smaller, which is good.
So, the place isn't perfect yet, but it's getting there. I still need the blue couch cover (though unearthing the couch from the boxes on top of it first would be best), and yes, I forgot to buy the juice jug I needed, so when I was desperate for lemonade, I mixed it up in an empty ice cream container (a little ghetto, but my undergrad days seem to be kicking in).
I could go on, but at this point I'm probably getting boring (you don't want to hear about me putting that plastic stuff on my window, no matter how proud I am that I did it all on my own, or how I figured out how to hang the chandelier in my bathroom, etc, etc...)
Mom got to the Vic okay. She said her flight was hell- delays, fat businessmen, drunken seatmates and multiple layovers- and when she got to the island it was (ironically) covered in snow. Apparently the once-every-twenty-years snowfall that Victoria gets fell, and the city ground to a halt; no plows, schools and businesses closed, and people wasdering around wondering what to do. I thought it was hilarious- Mom moves to the one place in Canada it's not supposed to snow (she hates winter), and it snows on her. Not to mention, it was unseasonably warm here that week.
...though our heat wave copped out last friday. Having lived in my new place for five days, I decided I wanted a break (not really, I just wanted out of the city awhile), so I went to visit Laur and Kev in Orangeville. Where Lauren bought me my Christmas/Hanukkah present- I got inked! I'm very pleased, even though this thing itches like crazy right now, and I'm going to have to have it touched up cause I think I got a crack (tattoos want to dry out while they're healing; if they do, your skin can split and what you get is a very thin break in the ink of the tat). Oh well- going to Orangeville to see my tat artist is just another good excuse to go visit Kev again...cause by then Lauren will be long gone (cry, cry) to Australia for a whole year. And yes, I should be getting more and more worried/sad/upset that my best friend is taking off to the other side of the world for forever, but honestly, the closer she gets to her trip, the more excited I get for her. I can't wait to hear what she sees and does out there. Have fun, lady!
In Orangeville there was also a blackout and a kick-ass game on Monopoly (and by that I mean Lauren and I got our asses kicked...Kev's scary-good at that game), and I watched Kev in the christmas parade, which was small-town cute.
And there's more...I joined a bookclub and I want to the TSO this week...so much, and I'll write about it all, I promise...but right now I have brand-spankin'-new cable tv callin my name!
Sunday, December 03, 2006
The Calm Post-Storm
(For the record, Lauren did me the HUGE favour of posting this for me. Thanks!)
So, am I okay? That seems to be the question I’ve been getting, from everyone, lately. The proud part of me wants to get angry at the people who keep asking me that. But most of me feels that the question is rather justified. Mom left- she moved away, and I moved to my first place of my own on the same day. For the record, I would not recommend this to others. If you must do these things, do not do them in one day. It is rather difficult.
Not that the move was overly difficult. With a day’s hindsight I can see that, as moves go, it wasn’t one of the more Mission:Impossible-esque ones. I had lots of help- I don’t know what I would have done without Kev and Laur and their wonderful, beautiful car- and the brother and his roommate were both movers extraordinaire on my behalf. Despite the expected (and inevitable) bumps along the way (the wait to sign the lease, the painting not done in my new apartment, the missing storage-locker key), I got myself, my stuff, and my cats into the new place, and by the end of the night even had places for my friends and I to sleep.
Sunday was spent moving stuff around. Really- there was some minimal unpacking, there was great consumption of munchies, there was an interesting diversion figuring out how to work my new ancient stove. But mostly it was just shifting the clutter from place to place- the painting is going to be finished this week, but that means I can’t have stuff in the ‘to be painted’ places. I’ll wait till that’s done before I even TRY to get organized. But the beauty of it is, all the stress of the last month was because everything was on a deadline. Now, no deadlines. I can live in a pile of clutter for as long as I like!
I currently don’t have cable or internet at my new place, so this is being written by me and sent to Lauren, who is publishing them on my behalf (thanks Lauren- friends to my rescue again). It’s a good thing she’s agreed to do this, too; with no blog, not even a computer at home right now, I’m suffering. Seriously- I wrote this letter to my aunt last night that was really random. I should not be allowed to write things while ‘Garden State’ is playing in the background. I think I came off sounding like a spaz. Meh.
Anyways, as usual there’s more to say but I’m word-blocked, and much of it is boring (do you really want to hear about my victorious hunt though box jungle for my umbrella this morning?), so I’m going to leave off here. Best to all!
So, am I okay? That seems to be the question I’ve been getting, from everyone, lately. The proud part of me wants to get angry at the people who keep asking me that. But most of me feels that the question is rather justified. Mom left- she moved away, and I moved to my first place of my own on the same day. For the record, I would not recommend this to others. If you must do these things, do not do them in one day. It is rather difficult.
Not that the move was overly difficult. With a day’s hindsight I can see that, as moves go, it wasn’t one of the more Mission:Impossible-esque ones. I had lots of help- I don’t know what I would have done without Kev and Laur and their wonderful, beautiful car- and the brother and his roommate were both movers extraordinaire on my behalf. Despite the expected (and inevitable) bumps along the way (the wait to sign the lease, the painting not done in my new apartment, the missing storage-locker key), I got myself, my stuff, and my cats into the new place, and by the end of the night even had places for my friends and I to sleep.
Sunday was spent moving stuff around. Really- there was some minimal unpacking, there was great consumption of munchies, there was an interesting diversion figuring out how to work my new ancient stove. But mostly it was just shifting the clutter from place to place- the painting is going to be finished this week, but that means I can’t have stuff in the ‘to be painted’ places. I’ll wait till that’s done before I even TRY to get organized. But the beauty of it is, all the stress of the last month was because everything was on a deadline. Now, no deadlines. I can live in a pile of clutter for as long as I like!
I currently don’t have cable or internet at my new place, so this is being written by me and sent to Lauren, who is publishing them on my behalf (thanks Lauren- friends to my rescue again). It’s a good thing she’s agreed to do this, too; with no blog, not even a computer at home right now, I’m suffering. Seriously- I wrote this letter to my aunt last night that was really random. I should not be allowed to write things while ‘Garden State’ is playing in the background. I think I came off sounding like a spaz. Meh.
Anyways, as usual there’s more to say but I’m word-blocked, and much of it is boring (do you really want to hear about my victorious hunt though box jungle for my umbrella this morning?), so I’m going to leave off here. Best to all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
