procrastination & preparation

It’s almost October, which means it’s almost November… which means I need to start preparing for NanoWriMo. I wanted to try it last year, but I ended up procrastinating a ton, and then a bunch of work stuff (two jobs will do that to you) burnt me out before I even got a chance to get going. I didn’t really have a direction for my story though, and just kinda started writing. Boy was that frustrating(!) a mistake.

Now that I know I have more free evenings this time around I think I’m going to try working on developing my plot and characters, and all my ideas and such beforehand, so I can at least have something to work with come November. I’d better make a schedule so I don’t forget. Hm, maybe next week will be characters.

so i don’t understand smokers

What is it with people who are sick, but continue to smoke?

Hm. That doesn’t make much sense, so let me give you an example.

As I was arriving at the gym this morning, I saw a man outside the building lighting a cigarette. While I don’t like the smell of smoke, and prolonged exposure makes my eyes start to water, people who smoke generally don’t bother me. In fact, I know a lot of really nice people who are smokers. I just wouldn’t kiss them. Anyway, back to the man outside my office.

So he’s already puffing away as I’m coming up the steps to the front door, and he starts coughing. And we’re not talking about a little cough here. He sounded like he was hacking up a lung, it was so violent! I asked him if he was okay, and the following conversation ensued:

Guy : Nah, not really. I’ve had a horrible chest cold for almost a month now.
(He takes another puff and hacks some more)
Me : Oh. That doesn’t sound good.
Guy : Yeah, my doctor told me I’ve got a bacteria buildup in my lungs or something. But I don’t think it’s that bad. (he coughs again) Said I should probably stop smoking until it passes.
Me : I see. So –
Guy : Yep, still smoking. (He starts to laugh, then it turns into a lovely phlegmy cough…)

At that point I just tried to smile at him and went inside. I was confused and a little disgusted with the phlegmy…ness, and I also didn’t want to reek of smoke, because lets face it, it ain’t a pleasant scent. Also when I’m around it for too long my eyes start to feel funny.

So why do that to yourself? And right after you’ve been working out at the gym, or god forbid, before?! (He was wearing trackpants and an Addidas top while holding what appeared to be a gymbag so it could be safe to assume…) Smoking is not exactly the healthiest pastime, why would you want to make your lungs worse when you’re already sick? Is this normal smoking behaviour, or was that weird man I met a crazy exception? Blech.

On a healthier note, my yoga class this morning was fantastic. I’m just sad because I might have to start going to a different one in the evenings because I might be starting work earlier for the next little while… sigh. The ones on the weekend just aren’t as challenging.

note to self:

Never again will I reach blindly into the fridge for juice.

At three o’clock in the morning after a random (but fun!) night out on the town, anything remotely orange in a plastic jug will look like my old breakfast favourite, oj. But carrot juice, unfortunately is not orange juice, and even more unfortunate that it is not Gatorade (for a split second I almost thought it was), even though it is orange, and it tastes even worse than regular, solid, a little on the grainy side carrots… which might be fine when you’re sober, but not when your mouth is dry and you’re tired, and thirsty, and cranky because your feet are sore, your hair is smokey, and all you want is a little sip of juice. Ah, the joys of living with health aficionados such as my dad.

Now I know I won’t be able to sleep… that carrot juice must have been expired or something. Which possibly might explain why it tasted like ASS, and not simply yucky carrots as one would presume. And thus I’ve had to amuse myself writing this little anecdote down for posterity. Also so that I should remember to go for plain old water next time. You can’t mess that up.

/end note

arg!!

I realise that lately I’ve been preoccupied with posting about food (and/or kitchen products and appliances). But so be it! We STILL don’t have a freakin’ microwave. What gives people??!

still no microwave

So we’ve had this fancy new microwave for a few days now which, under normal circumstances, is all well and good… but I  have yet to use it. In fact, no one has. It’s still in the box! Turns out that Sears sells the same model my Mom picked up the other day (she found it at Canadian Tire) for $20 more, but if something were to go wrong with it, you could take it to Sears and let them repair it for free so she wants that one instead. Says it would be “more convenient”. Nevermind the fact that the one we have has something called a warranty.

Suffice to say, I am one extra cranky person in the mornings. You can only have cereal and yogurt so many times.

trying my hand at “curry”

I got to make dinner tonight, and was told to have it ready by 7pm when most people would be home. I’m done around 6:45 and hungry… but I decided to be kind and wait up for my Mom who was running a number of errands after work, but I didn’t realise just how long that would take. I was ravenous, and a little (actually, a lot) on the cranky side when she came home sometime after eight, but she brought back a microwave (yay!) so all was forgiven. I made some ‘curried’ chicken from a recipe I saw in a Chatelaine magazine; it called for bananas, which I thought was a little odd, but I thought what the hey.

And I say “curried” the way I do because it was not very spicy, or curry-like at all. It looked like curry, and smelled a bit like it too, but it had a really mild, sweet flavour thanks to the banana that must have overpowered all the other spices I added. And to top it off, the rice I randomly picked out of the pantry to go with the chicken was basmati rice, a rice which I later discovered has a somewhat sweet taste to it. I just thought it sounded fancy, and more exciting than plain old white rice so I threw it into the pot. Don’t get me wrong, dinner still tasted good, and no one complained (to me anyway). Not even my little brother who usually groans when he finds out that I made dinner. I’m not sure I would make it again though; next time I’ll try “regular” curry sans fruity ingredients.

I am quite proud of myself though, I made that dinner with no supervision whatsoever. You should all be proud.

microwave oatmeal

I  broke the microwave.Don’t ask me how, it just happened. There I was, a bowl of cold oats and milk at the ready, my hand on the microwave door. I put my oatmeal-to-be inside, closed it and pushed the one minute button, and then it makes a sort of cracking noise, then shuts off.

Worst part of it was, no one else was home at the time, so I had to cook that oatmeal ye olde fashioned way: on the stove. In a pot that is now coated with charred oats and burnt milk I can’t seem to scrape off no matter how hard I scrub. How long are you supposed to cook oatmeal on the stove anyway? I think I’m just going to leave that pot in the sink, and then disappear out of the house when the others come home and discover it. After all that, the oatmeal was only so-so and probably not worth the trouble. (Don’t tell anyone).

more birthday food

I bought a box of these cute little things from a little kiosk at my local mall (called Purdy’s Chocolates) as a part of my Mom’s birthday gift. They’re sugar-free, hazelnut truffle-filled hedgehogs. The woman at the shop let me try a small one before I bought it, and it was surprisingly tasty, for being sugar-free. I could have sworn I was eating a regular chocolate. In fact, it tasted almost exactly like those chocolates you buy at the airport – unfortunately the name escapes me right now –  that are packaged to look like gold bars. I know they’re Swiss though. At least I think so anyway. I just hope Mom will like her little sugar-free hedgehogs, or at least appreciate the thought, because I know she’s on a “diet”. And more importantly, they’re tasty.

Happy Birthday Mama!