life from the belly of the beast

Four Foods on (early Sunday Morning) Friday #96

2009-11-22T05:35:43Z

Hi all!

Here’s this week’s questions. Thanksgiving is almost here. To learn more about Four Foods Friday, visit Val's kitchen.

1. Pumpkin pie. Do you make it yourself or buy one already made?
2. Where are you eating Thanksgiving dinner this year?
3. Turkey. Do you like white meat or dark meat?
4. What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food?

1. I love homemade pie; unfortunately, I am not good at making it. I usually eat and enjoy others; sometimes I buy homemade pie from strangers to feed my craving.

2. My Partner and I are eating Thanksgiving in MD with my family.

3. Neither

4. It is hard to pick just one; my favorites are-- green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and stuffing.

A Weekend Without a Spouse

2009-11-22T04:19:05Z

Partner left early today for a conference in San Antonio and does not return until Monday night. Since I do not know many people in this area, I thought that I would be bored or lonely. Turns out that the day went by really quickly. I spent a lot of time on the phone, took a long nap, watched way too much television. I did manage to squeeze in a workout.

Unfortunately, I was not as productive as I would have liked, so tomorrow I have an ambiguous list of things to do. Among the items is trying to put together a book shelf from IKEA. I am constantly amazed at how long it takes to assemble furniture and how humbling it can be to try to follow directions.

As much as I love Partner, I am enjoying my alone time. For the last three years of our relationship, we were long distance that was broken up by two weekends a month. Now I am so thankful that our togetherness is interrupted by a few days away.

Friday Fill-In #151

2009-11-21T00:18:47Z

And...here we go!

1. We need good health care reform.
2. I saw my friend Joe's last name in a novel and it made me smile.
3. If you want to make a change, start small.
4. I love Partner because he makes me feel good about myself.
5. Massachusetts has a proposed 5% sales tax on elective cosmetic surgery; I think that may be one way to generate revenue.
6. Relaxation and fun makes for a happy holiday.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to making homemade black bean burgers, tomorrow my plans include watching some chic flicks and Sunday, I want to prepare for the week ahead!

Winter Plans

2009-11-20T02:19:41Z

I am terrified about experiencing my New England winter; I am nervous about constantly being cold and breaking something when I fall. A few weeks ago, we lost power for two hours during a heavy rainstorm. Partner started freaking out and telling me to put on more layers. Last winter, he lost power for a week during an ice storm. Since he grew up in Buffalo, New York, his fear of the impending winter does not make me feel good about my chances of thriving.

Fortunately, our local city government sent a notice in the mail with their plan for handling the winter weather ahead. It included instructions for how the city prepares for snow fall and then removes the snow. The more I read, the calmer I felt. Who would have thought that a city's plan would make me feel much better about facing winter?

Simple Things

2009-11-19T00:45:00Z

Today, I had lunch with one of the women from the book club that I started in town. She works near Back Bay station, so it was relatively easy for me to get to her from my internship location. Over lunch I was complaining that I do not have enough work to do at one of my internships; I spend so much time surfing the Internet that I feel like I am running out of things to do/look at and that makes me feel miserable. She commiserated. When I got back from lunch, I had a meeting with one of the attorneys who had been on vacation when I started. My plan was to ask him how he got to the department and what projects he works on; I was going to offer to help and then smile politely when he told me that he had nothing for me to do. Instead in the first few minutes of our conversation, he said that he had thought of a few things that may be of interest to me. I listened to the project ideas and then felt EXCITED! We set up a time to meet again on Monday, so that I can have more of road map. A supervisor who wants to check in with you about a project is really such a simple thing, but I have come to realize that the simplest things really can make a difference in the quality of an experience.

Figuring Out Aspirations

2009-11-17T23:00:00Z

During my bridal shower in MD, one of the games we played was a "who knows the bride best." I had been given questions prior to the party and the guests had to guess my response. One of the questions was "When I was little what did I want to be when I grew up?" When I was answering the question, I could only remember when I was in day care and I went around declaring that I was going to be president. I also remembered my mother teasing me about how I was busier than the president in high school. When the question was asked, the responses reminded me of who I had aspired to be so long ago. I felt excited at how well people remembered my aspirations and a little sad at how quickly I had forgotten what I once I aspired to become.

Some of the answers were teacher, social worker, lawyer, and writer. One funny person said that I wanted to be Partner's wife which made everyone laugh. While I did become a lawyer (almost), I found myself wondering what my life would be like if I had chosen one of the other career paths. When I was talking with Sonja the other night, she asked if it was hard for me to give up being a writer or becoming an English teacher. I told her that it was not hard because in college I did not do well in my classes and I found public health which was a career I did not even know about until I started exploring more. While I sometimes wish that I was making my living by doing creative writing, I am slowly coming to realize that I may be all the things I once thought about becoming. As a lawyer, I do hope to be a force for good and work towards social justice. Part of the way I intend to do that is to teach my clients about the law and how to navigate the legal system or to change the legal system to make it more user friendly. In order to accomplish those things, I will be doing some writing.

I finally figured out that I want to be a lawyer which is exciting! I only hope that the MPRE and future bar results second that motion.

Welcoming the Round French Oven Into Our Kitchen

2009-11-17T00:27:00Z

I have had a long day which I think lead me to create a very long post for this entry. Over the weekend, I cranked out 15 thank you notes! We have a rule that we can only use a gift once the thank you note has been written. For the most part we have honored this request; however, I realized after I started cooking that I did not write a thank you for our fancy and beautiful Le Creuset 3 1/2 quart French Oven. Looks like I know which thank you note will be written first in the next round.

For the first meal in our lovely new addition, I decided to make Michael Symon's Spicy Tomato Soup. It is simmering right now and I have to say that I love seeing this fancy, red pot on my stove. As strange as I sound, I feel like the kitchen belongs to someone else. The smallest details can make such a difference. Even though I know this and I also know that nothing has to be permanent, I find that I am so timid with assigning homes to items and also in using lovely new things. Even though I complain about them profusely, I still reach for some of Partner's old stuff. I figure if I mess them up or accidently destroy them, nothing is lost. However, I have a weird sense of pressure with our new items. What if I somehow do irrevocable damage? In order for me to address this issue, I need to just take things slow and be patient even if I know that I am being silly.

What about you, do you feel hesitant to use new tools or do you love jumping right in?

***Update***

The soup turned out incredibly well! It was so yummy that I scarfed down to helpings in one sitting and then finished the rest the next night. Poor Partner did not really get much at all.

New Shades

2009-11-16T00:31:13Z

I spent most of the day running errands to get things for our place. This morning, the blanket we had been using as a curtain fell which we took as a sign that TODAY was the perfect time to purchase our new curtains. I found myself at the store with gift cards and coupon, but no idea what I was doing. With the assistance of a good salesperson, I purchased, curtains, rods, and rings with which to put up curtains. Since our room is bright blue, I went with eggshell curtains. The whole process took longer than expected. As we are making more decisions about our house, I am realizing that I get nervous about doing it wrong. With so many options, I feel like it is easy to pick the wrong thing. One nice thing about being a homeowner is the ability to make changes. With limited time and motivation, the changes are not as easy to implement as they are to articulate.

Four Foods on (Saturday) Friday #95

2009-11-15T02:38:34Z

It is a cold and rainy night here in MA. I am staying warm by doing laundry, selecting pictures from our wedding photographer, and thank you notes. It has been a little while since I have participated in Four Foods Friday, but I thought I would jump back into the game. For more information or to participate, please visit Val's Kitchen.

1. Chicken soup. Regular or creamy?
2. Do you have a stew recipe?
3. What’s your favorite hot comfort food?
4. Do you like chicken fried steak?

1. Regular, although I now make mine with *fake* chicken.

2. I do not have a stew recipe, but here is a good one for Black Bean and Pumpkin Chili.

3. Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup.

4. Nope, I do not like Chicken Fried Steak.

Friday Fill-In #150

2009-11-13T16:32:01Z

1. The last band I saw live was Over the Rhine.
2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is the food! (if you don't celebrate thanksgiving, insert your favorite holiday)
3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is going to be more creative this year, than in the past.
4. Thoughts of sleep, bar exam, and finding fulfilling work fill my head.
5. I wish I could wear a smaller clothing size.
6. Bagpipes sound majestic.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to vegging out, tomorrow my plans include watching a movie and Sunday, I want to cook something amazing!