Wednesday, October 31, 2007

I'm always sick on Hallowe'en!

So, I haven't blogged in a while, and here's the reasons:
First, I had one hell of a busy week, which started out with a totally fun trip to St Lawrence Market, from which I came home laden with the most wonderful things, including veggies, prosciutto, balsamic mustard, pasta sauce, lavender, and various other lovely sundries.
Then I had one Sunday to get everything I needed for the next week done, because from the first minute of my Monday, there was no stopping for over a week. From book club to pottery class, birthdays and bridal showers, the only time I was at home that week was to sleep and shower.

I guess it's no wonder that the week after, I came down with a wicked cold. I tried to take it easier last week, and this past weekend I literally stayed in- didn't leave the apartment once- trying to get this virus dealt with and gone, but unfortunately things don't really work that way.
I'm getting better now, but it's been a struggle to find the right decongestant so I can keep functioning at the office (mom keeps telling me to take a day off, but I'm too stubborn for that).

So, that's where I am now, though I'm in the middle of another busy week at the moment, having spent Monday evening with my aunt Laura, pottery class again, dinner with some of my girls tonight, and a mini family reunion this weekend. Add on to that the continued busyness of my job, and things are a little stressed- right now I should not be blogging, I have work I've brought home that I should be working on. But, I wanted to check in before I disappear again. I'll try to blog again this weekend, after seeing the fam. Until then, I wish you all a Happy Hallowe'en, and I'll finish with a joke I got off of a piece of Hallowe'en candy at the office today:

Which is faster, hot or cold?
Hot, of course, anyone can catch a cold!

Ha ha ha...seriously, I wish you all good health (at least, better than mine, lately!)

Monday, October 22, 2007

Anonymity restored

Wanna know what I just did? I just spent an hour going through old blogs to change a name. Happy little brother???

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Effectively kuglish

So, thanksgiving was this past weekend, and the brother and I made our own turkey dinner with all the usual trimmings on our own for the first time (with Mom's help in printed-out-email form). It went rather well, I think- the turkey was moist and not pink in the middle, the stuffing tasted the way I like, and the kugle was effectively kuglish. Extra kudos to the bro for choosing brussel sprouts (good call), volunteering his kitchen, and running out for last minute supplies.
Other than the fact that it was 33 degrees on Monday (and after watching An Inconvenient Truth with him, that was doubly as uncomfortable than it would normally be), it was a great weekend.
The week, though, has finally learned its manners and turned into a decent autumn- I even got to wear my orange sweater today. It went very well with my nails, which I had to cut off because of the pottery class I'm taking, and to make myself feel better about losing all my lovely long nails, I bought new nail polish and painted them dark chocolate brown, and that made me very happy.
And I voted today, the way I wanted to, which wasn't actually the smart way (as Lauren says, some people say there are only two parties in Canada, and it's better to vote for the one you dislike least), but I can't do that. As I told her, I'd rather cast my vote into the obscurity I approve of than give the little power I have to someone I don't truly believe in. And that's all I have to say about that.
After voting, I stopped at the grocery store to grab ingredients to make my own Asian Chicken Soup (recipe to follow), and Colin Mochrie was in my grocery store (click the title of this entry if you don't know who he is). He smiled at me, and that was kind of cool, but then I had to walk home in the rain, and my hair got all puffy, and then I made soup.

Bethany's Loaded Asian Chicken Soup

2 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
tons of chicken broth (I used about 11 cups, plus one of water)
ginger
garlic
sesame oil
soy sauce
green onions
red pepper
bok choy (I used baby)
sugar snap peas (or snow peas)
bamboo shoots
water chestnuts
carrots
mushrooms

Cook the chicken in the sesame oil and soy sauce until it's not pink in the middle (duh), while you gently boil the broth and water with the ginger and garlic (don't cut up the cloves or ginger chunks, so you can take them out later). Cool the chicken while you cut up all the veg. Put the veg in the soup and simmer it while you cut the chicken. Add the chicken and taste the broth, adjusting it as necessary (ie., add salt, soy sauce, lemon or lime juice, red pepper flakes for some kick...whatever you think it could use). Enjoy!

P.S. I found a blog you should go to. It's http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Thursday, October 04, 2007

The continued piled-on-edness of my days

I’ve been having a pretty good week. Last week was tough; work really got me down, I was having some serious issues with my job, and then someone gave me a reason to really question whether I wanted to stay in my job (yes, I’m being deliberately vague). But this weekend was particularly effective for stress relief, as Kev came into town and spent a couple of days hanging out with Hugh and I, and as it was Hugh’s birthday, we went out Saturday night with him and his med-student crowd and had a great time. By Sunday I was calm once more, thinking a lot more clearly, and knew that I couldn’t leave my job just yet. I still have stuff to do there.
Which is even more true this week, as my long-term projects list continues to grow, making my to-do list (which usually covers a couple of days at a time) huge- right now I know what I’m doing at work well into the new year.
But, despite the continued piled-on-edness of my days, the week’s been good. I’m taking a pottery class with a friend that started on Tuesday, and I’m so excited about it. The class is all female, and not heavily octogenarian, which I’d worried about. The teacher seems to know his stuff (he’s maybe a little rambly, but that’s okay), and the class has great supplies to work with, which is good, because all my experience comes from high school, where we had all of three glazes to work with (unimpressive). This class has more slips and glazes and other things that I’d never heard of than I can count, and it makes me super excited to get my hands into the mud. The first class, I make a set of sake cups. Regardless of the fact that I don’t drink sake.
And I’m totally looking forward to this weekend. The brother and I are going to try and do our own Thanksgiving (wish us luck), and then Sunday we’re hanging out with the Robins, who are moving into yet another new temporary place on Friday. And Monday I think I’m being made to groom Eggroll (the brother’s dog), since I stupidly did a really good job on him last time, and now the brother has decided that I’m going to be the one to do that from now on. Oh well- I have yet to tell him what I charge!