Inane Chatter

Mom commented about Eleanor & Park, which reminded me of Eleanor & Park, and I think that’s why all of a sudden I can’t read my current book (detective mystery/science fiction Kiln People by David Brin).  I’m usually a fast reader – I think I skim over the words and take in the meaning and move on.  (I’m not sure how I actually read – it’s not something I can analyze.  It’s like thinking about breathing.  If you think about it, you’re doing it manually.  You can’t think about breathing and continue to breathe automatically.  I can’t think about reading and just do it.)  Just now, I found myself reading every word individually, as if I were reading them all out loud, but I wasn’t taking in anything.  I have no idea what I just read.  Why can’t I read normally?  Am I distracted?  Have I gone off this book?  I’m enjoying it, but maybe it’s not what I feel like reading right now.  That’s not going to change anything.  I know myself – I’m not going to put this book down and go read something else.  I might put it down and go DO something else.  Actually, I did that to come here.  Maybe this was enough.

Can I tell you something?  I really liked Eleanor & Park.  It’s probably not a book I’ll re-read, but I was completely immersed in it.  Then I had to pick my next book.  I wanted it to be something else I’ll really enjoy.  Like, really like.  I have two Robin McKinley books just waiting for me.  But I want to be reading something I really like on my birthday.  If I start something now (or Friday, when I was going through this thought process), I’ll be done with it by then, and what are the odds I’ll pick two books in a row I feel that good about?  So I picked up this one, knowing I’d probably like it fine (true so far) and that I’ll be done with it in time to start something else (something I’m fairly certain I’ll love) before my birthday.  There are a whole lot more books I like than books I love – I’m trying to plan ahead here.  But I’m probably over-thinking this.

I like Stark Raving Red. Stark Raving White, on the other hand, is NOT good. Sharp, maybe bitter, and I don’t remember what else it tasted like because I stopped drinking it.  Don’t buy it.

I did a lot of crying today, all over one book.  I only cried three times, but my eyes still feel tearful and my nose is stuffed up (I think that started before the crying, though).  The thing is, it wasn’t a sad book.  There are sad things in it, but it wasn’t about sadness.  And when I cried the first two times, it was in reaction to someone doing a good thing.  The third time was in relief (I think) at the very end.  Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell.  Good book.

I have NO idea what I’m going to read next.

So, yeah, it snowed.  A lot (we got between 13 and 16 inches).  I’m having a hard time getting too excited about it.  Can spring just get here already?

And here’s a video of Riley in the snow (proof that I’ve gone over the edge):

Today was sunny. Cold, but sunny. It was so odd to watch the craziness mount on the internet as the snow crept closer and then look outside to see the most innocuous weather. The blue sky was all, “What? Me? Rain down buckets of ice on Atlanta and dump massive amounts of snow on you? I would never do that.” But as the day went on, the Capital Weather Gang’s forecasts got more and more ominous and the warnings (“Be where you’re planning to stay by 7 or 8pm tonight”) were downright scary. Never mind the clear skies outside – the clear skies are a LIE.  I’ve got one coworker who thinks the whole thing is going to disappear, that we might get a dusting at most.  One the one hand, that might be okay with me.  No wet snow everywhere, no shoveling.  On the other hand, NO!  I want to work from home all cozy inside with a fire.  We shall see (but my money’s on snow).

I don’t recommend Campbell’s Spicy Chicken Quesadilla Soup. I’ve had it for lunch two days in a row now (yes, you heard right – I BROUGHT my lunch two days in a row, go me), and I’m completely over it. It tastes okay, but 1) it’s not thick enough, 2) it’s not chunky enough, and 3) I don’t feel so great after I eat it. I really wanted it to be good, but no. #3 there is very important. It hasn’t turned me off soup, though. I’m making chicken corn chowder tonight, and I’m making DOUBLE the recipe. Lots of really thick, creamy, cheesy soup for us. And I bought hot sauce today so I can spice mine up as much as I want. We’re going to need all that soup if the crazy amounts of snow they’re predicting actually arrive.

Actual recipe for Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder is here.

How I make it (no spicy stuff and way less prep):

Chicken Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

• 1 rotisserie chicken

• ½ cup chopped onion

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 3 tbsp butter

• 1 cup chicken broth

• ¾ tsp ground cumin

• 2 cups half and half

• 2 cups shredded cheese (Monterey Jack or Mexican blend)

• 2 cans creamed corn (14.75 oz each)

Directions:

1. Tear apart the rotisserie chicken so you end up with heaps of shredded chicken.

2. In pot, brown onion and garlic in butter.  Add chicken.

3. Pour chicken broth in pot, season with cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Stir in cream, cheese, and corn. Cook, stirring frequently, until the cheese is melted.

I don’t want to do the whole cliché “I hate Mondays” thing, like Garfield or that song by that one guy where the girl kills herself (I almost typed “where the girl girls herself” – I have no idea what that could mean), and NO, I don’t have a case of the Mondays, but ugh.  Mondays, you know?  (I really mean this, but I’m finding it hard not to smile at the ridiculousness of writing about it – ooh, solution!)  They wouldn’t be so bad if we had a day off in the middle of every week.  No work on Wednesdays!  That’s my battle-cry.  Or it will be.  My focus is entirely on lunch right now – more specifically, putting off lunch.  I’m hungry NOW, but I’m going grocery shopping after work today, which means dinner will be later, which means I’ll be hungry while I shop, which is bad.  So.  Eat lunch a little later, make it through grocery shopping without buying everything in sight because I’m the hungry hungry caterpillar.  I can do it.  I can make it to 1pm.  I can.

While I’m watching the clock, let’s talk about something completely different: it is fundamentally funny to overhear developers having serious conversations about clobs and blobs.  Yes, I work in IT, and yes, I know what they are (in the most general way – for the curious, they refer to different methods of storing data in a database.  Those of you who know better: how wrong am I?  No, wait – you don’t have to tell me), but that doesn’t make the words less silly.  The visuals are fun, though.  Maybe the world on the other side of my cube’s wall is animated.  It’s a childishly-drawn cartoon where clobs and blobs have faces and personalities and need to be readily identified by others.  You know, maybe.

I don’t think time runs the same way on Sundays as it does the rest of the week.  I just don’t believe it’s after 5 already.  I don’t know where the time went, so it must not have happened the usual way.  Sunday time = magic.  Dark magic.  I need to find the other white hats so we can band together and fight it.  In unrelated news, I just watched a bunch of clips from Jay Leno’s last Tonight Show on YouTube, and I can safely say I don’t regret never having watched a single show of his in 22 years.  He wasn’t funny.  I suppose that assumes that his last monologue was representative – maybe it wasn’t.  Still, no regrets.  Now, I’m off to find some time wizards to get our Sunday hours back.  Oh my god – time wizards.  Timelords!  Duh.  Doctor, where are you when I need you?

It’s been two weeks (three? no, two) since I got my new phone, and I’m FINALLY setting it up the way I want it.  I’ve been trying out one of the new cases for about a week (they were here when we got back from Mom and Dad’s), and I like it, but it’s a wallet-type case, which means the screen is covered most of the time, and I’m not sure I’m crazy about that.  Today, I finally pulled the protective stickers off and put the clear screen protector on (yes, I’ve been reading my screen THROUGH the text on the sticker that came on it because I didn’t want to get my screen all dirty while I waited for the protectors – irritating, but worth it), and now I’m trying out a regular case (no cover over the screen).  So far, I really like this one.  I might go back and forth between the two, depending on where I’m going.  I have completely rejected the Cruzerlite wallet case because the case part digs in too much at the corners and created bubbles under the screen protector almost immediately.  I might have to add a review.

Screen protectors and cases aside, I finally added my ringtones and music, and my text and voicemail notification sounds are back.  Feels like my phone again.  Hello, phone.

This morning:

WHY is “Bad Moon Rising” in my head?  I don’t particularly like it, and I’m fairly certain I haven’t heard it recently (certainly not this morning or last night).  Where do those things come from?  I mean, certain phrases trigger songs for me all the time, but I just don’t remember hearing any lyrics from THAT song – where’s the trigger?  And how can I make it go away?

Several hours later:

You know how it goes away?  You wait a couple of hours only to find it replaced by “Hallelujah”.  I think that’s the right version.  Either way, it’s not a huge improvement.  That song is overused, overplayed, over-sentimentalized.  At least I know where it came from – we heard it on an episode of Scrubs last night (the one where Mrs. Landingham dies).

Now:

And now it’s the matchmaker song from Fiddler.  Thanks, Mom.

You know when there are things you want to talk about but you’re just not ready to?  They’re not necessarily bad things, but maybe there’s been too much discussion already, and even though you want to tell someone, you’re also tired of talking and thinking about it?  I feel kind of like that about the house, the (non-existent) job search, and Riley.  There aren’t really any updates about the house and the (non-existent) job search, but I still feel like they’re both talked out.  Still uppermost in my mind, but talked into the ground.  And Riley – maybe tomorrow.  Today, I’m really tired.  Early bedtime tonight.

I should love February.  It’s got a three-day weekend in it, it’s short (a plus in winter), and oh, yeah – it’s got my birthday in it.  If anything would be make like this month, that should do it.  But it’s DREARY.  Winter is still here and the sky is always gray and it’s still cold and just yuck.   Yuck and ew.  My birthday only helps for a couple of days.  It doesn’t make me stop wishing February would just end already and let spring get here faster.  Of course, then I’ll be disappointed by early March.  I’ll be all, “Yo, March!  What’s up with this cold weather?  Don’t you know it’s supposed to get warm as soon as you get here?  What’s wrong with you?  WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME?”

A solution: move south.  Or west.  Likelihood?  Very very very very UNlikely.  Besides, I don’t hate winter.  It’s just not my favorite season.  I like it in small doses.  I like it when I’m warm and dry and cozy inside and looking out on the nasty and wet cold weather.  Fires in fireplaces are nice – I wouldn’t get that if I moved somewhere without winter (well, I wouldn’t appreciate them as much).  And snow is pretty, until it gets gray and slushy.  I can pretend I’m a tracker when I see rabbit footprints in the snow.  Snow makes me wonder what a real tracker would make of Riley’s footprints now that he’s missing a foot and has an odd gait.  I don’t find myself pretending or wondering those things when there’s only mud or sand outside.  Maybe I would in sand, but it would be about birds, not rabbits, and they’re not as cute.

There – I can be positive about winter.  Was that convincing?  Maybe I need a daily mantra.

Winter’s not so bad.  Winter’s not so bad.

No, I need it to be more positive.

The sun’ll come out tomorrow.

Nope.  Too positive.  Also untrue.  Also also, no need to burst into song.  That could get awkward, especially at work.

Turn that frown upside down!  Turn that frown upside down!

Psychotic.

This might not work for me.  I just googled daily positive affirmations, and oy.  So not me.  Maybe the bursting into song thing is better for me.  I could go with Oklahoma (Oh, what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day) or Mr. Rogers (It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood) or Sesame Street (Sunny days, sweeping the clouds away).  Or Dean Martin (Good morning, life).

Whoa – as I was typing this, the sun came out.  Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up.  (Okay, sure I could, but that would be cheap, and I will not stoop so low.) Aaannnd it’s gone.  But hey, it was there for a few seconds.

Dinner tonight was going to be salad from Panera until I decided to go to the store on the way home.  Then, grilled cheese sandwiches.  With tomato (for John).  And bacon (for both of us).  Because yum.  So now bacon is cooking and the house smells delicious.  I probably won’t think so when I still smell bacon two days from now, but that’s Future Me’s problem.  For now, I can look forward to bacon on my grilled cheese sandwich, bacon on my turkey sandwich for lunch tomorrow, and bacon for Riley as a treat.  If there’s any to spare.  Then I might take a break from bacon.  Despite what the internet has been saying for some time now, it is possible to overdo bacon.

I am all about stress-free travel. Delays? No problem. (As long as we get home the same day.)  Of course, it would have been nice if the airline had figured out the extent of the delay before we left the house. Instead, our delay came in increments of 15 minutes.  Never enough at any one time to justify leaving the airport, but overall our flight was two and a half hours late.  You know what, though? We just called the pet sitter and arranged for another visit, bought some Starbucks, and read our books. Not exactly comfy-cozy (airport chairs), but relatively quiet and interruption-free. Neither of us has gotten much dedicated reading time lately, so this was a gift.  And now we’re home and SO ready for bed.

I’ve been trying really hard to be a caring manager and a good boss, create a fun working environment, all that sort of thing, but I keep almost screwing up birthdays. (Hey, celebrating team birthdays is fun.)  I have everyone’s birthday on my work calendar, so I know when they’re coming up.

Incident #1: My calendar showed one for a new team member for last Tuesday (the 21^st) and another one for last Friday (the 24^th), so Tuesday morning, I went to Wegmans and picked up some balloons (we know how to party around here) and another coworker picked up cupcakes.  Well, Tuesday was the day the snow started midmorning and we all headed home early.  Coworker #1 (whose birthday it was) checked in with me because she wanted to avoid the commute altogether and work from home.  Whoops.  So much for her birthday stuff.  I emailed her back and wished her a happy birthday.  She responded with confusion.  Turns out her birthday was the following Monday – I was just completely wrong.  Nice.  The rest of us couldn’t let the cupcakes go to waste (or wait overnight), so we divvied them up and took them home.  J  She doesn’t know that.  And since Coworker #2’s birthday still really was Friday and he wasn’t coming in at all that day (Tuesday) because of the snow (so he wouldn’t know) AND he was going to be out on the actual day of his birthday, I moved the balloons over to his desk.  Recycling.  We had cake for him on Thursday.

Incident #2: The following Monday, Coworker #1’s ACTUAL birthday, I had planned to pick up a cookie cake and balloons on my way in.  TOTALLY forgot.  Thankfully, I get in almost an hour before she does, so I went racing back out to the store.  Back no more than a minute before she got in, but it totally counts.  She doesn’t have to know that, either.

I think I’ve wandered from the point.  What is my point?  Oh.  I’m trying really hard, guys, and still can barely get birthdays right.  It’s a wonder I ever get the real work right.

I’ve been really irritated with Amazon this week.  It’s probably (almost certainly) not their fault, but that doesn’t change how I’ve felt (and how I feel now – there’s no need to be rational).  I got my new phone last Saturday (which you already know).  The Sprint store didn’t have any accessories for it, so the first thing I did when I got home that night was go to Amazon and order a screen protector and a case (three, actually – I can’t decide until I see them in person).  Unfortunately, nothing I ordered was being fulfilled by Amazon directly – they were all coming from the sellers.  My order status was “Preparing for Shipment” starting Saturday night all the way until last night, when the stuff finally shipped.  That might have been okay, but the estimated delivery dates were Jan 31^st to Feb 4^th the entire time, and there was a message about the status that said the delivery dates wouldn’t be affected.  I’m going to have to call bullshit on that.  If you don’t ship until late Wednesday night, there’s no way the package is going to be delivered by Friday (short of using some sort of express shipment method, which I did not pay for and was not expecting).  So why not adjust the delivery dates?  That’s totally something Amazon controls.  Yes, I’ll probably still have it by the time I get back, but all week I’ve been hoping to have that stuff before we leave for the weekend and now my hopes are dashed.  Dashed!  Manage my expectations, Amazon!  It would have been so easy to set me up for mild disappointment that I wouldn’t have my stuff in time instead of irritation that you jerked me around.  I’m running around with a phone that doesn’t have a screen protector and has NO case whatsoever and now I have to travel with it that way.  Disappointment is acceptable.  Irritation is, well, irritating.  Too bad I don’t go to yoga anymore – maybe yoga would help me transform my irritation into acceptance.

Why haven’t I learned this lesson yet?

It’s never a good idea to go to work on the day you’re going to travel.

I should get that tattooed on my arm.  This was not a normal Friday.  They’re usually pretty slow, pretty easy.  Today should have been typical – my schedule was wide open. I should have had plenty of time to do the things I needed to do before leaving.  Did that happen?  Of course not!  Today’s the day everyone needed something.  I did end up getting the big things done and postponing the rest, but I spent the morning in a frenzy of activity.  Not the good kind of frenzy.

Frenzy is SUCH a weird word.

Now let’s hope I can get the last-minute packing details done before the cab comes.  I hate it when the cab arrives before I’m ready.  Of course, I hate it more when the cab is late.

This has been the longest day.  It started too early (4:45 alarm so John could get up for the Tuesday/Thursday boxing class), and I got in to work before 8.  At 10:20, I was ready for lunch.  We’re going away this weekend, and all I want to pay attention to is getting ready for that.  I’ve got laundry to finish (one more load to go, and I don’t actually need anything in it – I just want it done), and….rather than keep going, I’m going to make a list.  It’ll be more useful to me.

• Laundry – last load – get it through washer and dryer tonight when I get home from work
• Clean my bathroom
• Pick up all over house
• ·         Cash for cab to airport (if we’re taking a cab…)
• Decide if we’re taking a cab
  • If we are, call and arrange it
  • Get cash – some of them (most of them) take credit cards, but it’s kind of a pain
• Print notes for the pet sitter
• Check in for flight
• Pack
  • 3 nights, 3 days
  • Not even going to pretend I might exercise
  • Won’t be that cold – regular coat, not super-duper warm one (that takes up more space)
  • Aaaannnnddd I’m not going to bore you with the rest of my packing details

If I’m this distracted today, I don’t know how I’m going to get through tomorrow.

I went to my normal Wednesday night zumba class only to discover that another zumba instructor was coming in to do a class right after ours.  Surprise double zumba!  So of course I stayed.  And it was fun.  But I only just got home, I’m achy and tired and hungry (I didn’t eat dinner) and whiny, apparently.  I’m eating a piece of toast with peanut butter and going directly to bed.  John’s getting up stupid-early tomorrow morning to go to boxing, and I get to decide if I’m getting up to go to the gym when he gets up.  On the one hand, I put in over two and half hours of exercise today (counting this morning) – take a day off.  On the other hand, I’m taking Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off, so go.  Go, go.  If I leave it up to Future Me to decide, it’s almost certain I won’t get out of bed.  But it will kind of depend on the state of my aches.  Which will it be?  Tune in tomorrow to find out.

I found a new yummy wine!  Check out Stark Raving Red ($8.99 at Total Wine).

Love the label

It’s a red blend, and I think it’s very similar to Apothic Red ($7.97 at Total Wine)…

Apothic White is pretty good, too. Mildly sweet – like a pinot grigio.

…and Sexy Wine Bomb ($10.99 at Total Wine).

Of course, for all I know they’re actually very different, but I’ve never tried them back to back.  The point is that I like them all.  I want to try one called Once Upon a Vine.  Soon.

Check out the bottom of the label

Soon.