Today's mission is to procrastinate. I did not know that this was today's mission when I woke up but soon realized that it actually was. Yep, some days you just have to take it for what it's worth and have a good time doing it, whatever it is. Normally, the whole time I'm procrastinating, I'm secretly freaking out in my head and making 18 to do lists with the same five items over and over. On paper, on my phone, in a Word document. To do lists are like drugs. You feel better about how ordered your life and list of things is until the high wears off and you realize you are right where you started and can't mark a thing off the list!
Let me be specific about what it means to be productive in my life at the moment: there are papers that need to be written and another list of actual work for my job that needs to be done, but I'm not getting into it because it's boring.
It all started with the Today show. I can only take their antics and silly stories for so long. In an attempt to accomplish work, I pulled the laptop over and opened it. This huge attempt was followed by checking blogs and email and facebook and blogs and email and facebook. So after an hour passed I realized that I was apparently incapable of being productive. I managed to make myself go to the gym as another way to avoid the work and ran on the treadmill while watching Freedom Writers on the big screen. That was lovely. Another hour...gone. I came home and instead of just eating something out of the fridge, I decided I should make soup. Not out of a can but from scratch. Soup that the "Soup Nazi" from Seinfeld would sell in his soup shop! (I seriously just went back and added quotations around "Soup Nazi" because I feel weird writing Nazi on my blog. I have a problem.) The thermometer on my kitchen window was right at 100 degrees, but soup did sound like a fabulous idea because it would keep me from accomplishing anything on the to do list I was ignoring. So I used this recipe and ended up with the tastiest lunch I've had in a while, even though it did make me sweat.
Two things to note if you try it: 1. I used fat free half and half rather than heavy cream. I'm sure heavy cream would be amazing but seriously there's three days' worth of calories and fat in heavy cream. So, in my book there's no reason to ever use heavy cream because I think it could kill you. 2. The part where you puree it, be careful! An immersion blender slings hot soup at you.
Following lunch, I got back on the laptop to read blogs check email check facebook.
You see how easy it is to procrastinate when you didn't even know that was going to be the plan for the day? Sometimes you just have to embrace it!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
On Being Important.
Yesterday morning on Today, John Mayer performed. Mixed feelings about ol John, but I kind of have this whole theory about people and John Mayer seemed to make it all make sense. Shocking.
In my dealings with people, I've come to tag some as having “self-appointed importance.”
We all have these moments of self-appointed importance. Example: Things are going well at work all because of some amazing project you pulled off, so you appoint yourself to the important squad and go around like people owe you. Going around like people owe you can include any or all of the following:
1. Not saying good morning to people you work with every, single day.
2. Having slightly crazy condescending reactions to people who meant no harm.
3. Expecting to be included in all the goings on about all the goings on.
4. Okay, I can’t think of anymore, but you get the drift.
So for a few days you go about with your self-appointed importance and feeling like the world owes you. The funniest part about this is that when you have deemed yourself a member of the important squad, you think everyone owes you—the people you work with, live with, are friends with, shop with, drive on the road with, etc.
Suddenly though, out of nowhere, something happens to challenge your importance. Examples:
1.Your boss gives you a stink-eye look in a meeting.
2. Your spouse or significant other calls you on how you just yelled about how he or she didn’t put the grapes in the right place in the refrigerator.
3. Your friend hangs up on you when you start using your condescending tone about things she was just hoping to casually chat about.
4. You trip on the stairs and everyone sees what color underoos you are wearing that day.
So what do you do? You go home and after drinking a couple of glasses of wine, you regain your clarity and realize that you in fact are not important. You definitely thought you were important, but it was YOU who decided you were. Solution: You need to take it down a notch on the I’m-so-awesome ladder and just hang with the humble crowd. Humility is good.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this self-appointed importance lately not becasue anything has happened that was terrible, but just because I have been. Over the last year or two I’ve become very attuned to when I appoint myself to the important squad. I don’t usually realize until I have tripped on the stairs, but I’m getting pretty good at recognizing it now, even though sometimes it can be too late. It happens every so often and I feel like crap for a day or so until I realize that I let it happen. Ahhh, the freedom of realizing your choices could have changed everything. So, I have actually kept myself out of the important squad for quite a while because it only takes a few times of getting burned before you start to figure out the formula and grind to a halt before placing your important squad name badge on your chest.
So how does John Mayer play into all this? In response to Matt Lauer’s question about what he’s learned since he’s been in the news for some not so amazing reasons in recent months, he said, “Don’t talk to see if you have something to say.” Oh, see that's sort of a smart line and made me think that maybe just possibly, he gets it (at the moment at least during his TV interview.) See, he appointed himself to the important squad, he wore his badge all proud and out loud, and he did a lot more than trip on the stairs at his place of business. He’s one of those people who talk and talk and talk, hoping to sound brilliant and privileged and above it all. But today, my hope was restored that maybe he’ll turn out right or go back to being the your-body-is-a- wonderland type of guy after all.
So, what have we learned?
1.Take off your important squad badge.
2.Be humble.
3.Be quiet and listen before you talk just to make sure you actually have something worthwhile to say.
All that from John Mayer. Like I said, shocking.
In my dealings with people, I've come to tag some as having “self-appointed importance.”
We all have these moments of self-appointed importance. Example: Things are going well at work all because of some amazing project you pulled off, so you appoint yourself to the important squad and go around like people owe you. Going around like people owe you can include any or all of the following:
1. Not saying good morning to people you work with every, single day.
2. Having slightly crazy condescending reactions to people who meant no harm.
3. Expecting to be included in all the goings on about all the goings on.
4. Okay, I can’t think of anymore, but you get the drift.
So for a few days you go about with your self-appointed importance and feeling like the world owes you. The funniest part about this is that when you have deemed yourself a member of the important squad, you think everyone owes you—the people you work with, live with, are friends with, shop with, drive on the road with, etc.
Suddenly though, out of nowhere, something happens to challenge your importance. Examples:
1.Your boss gives you a stink-eye look in a meeting.
2. Your spouse or significant other calls you on how you just yelled about how he or she didn’t put the grapes in the right place in the refrigerator.
3. Your friend hangs up on you when you start using your condescending tone about things she was just hoping to casually chat about.
4. You trip on the stairs and everyone sees what color underoos you are wearing that day.
So what do you do? You go home and after drinking a couple of glasses of wine, you regain your clarity and realize that you in fact are not important. You definitely thought you were important, but it was YOU who decided you were. Solution: You need to take it down a notch on the I’m-so-awesome ladder and just hang with the humble crowd. Humility is good.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this self-appointed importance lately not becasue anything has happened that was terrible, but just because I have been. Over the last year or two I’ve become very attuned to when I appoint myself to the important squad. I don’t usually realize until I have tripped on the stairs, but I’m getting pretty good at recognizing it now, even though sometimes it can be too late. It happens every so often and I feel like crap for a day or so until I realize that I let it happen. Ahhh, the freedom of realizing your choices could have changed everything. So, I have actually kept myself out of the important squad for quite a while because it only takes a few times of getting burned before you start to figure out the formula and grind to a halt before placing your important squad name badge on your chest.
So how does John Mayer play into all this? In response to Matt Lauer’s question about what he’s learned since he’s been in the news for some not so amazing reasons in recent months, he said, “Don’t talk to see if you have something to say.” Oh, see that's sort of a smart line and made me think that maybe just possibly, he gets it (at the moment at least during his TV interview.) See, he appointed himself to the important squad, he wore his badge all proud and out loud, and he did a lot more than trip on the stairs at his place of business. He’s one of those people who talk and talk and talk, hoping to sound brilliant and privileged and above it all. But today, my hope was restored that maybe he’ll turn out right or go back to being the your-body-is-a- wonderland type of guy after all.
So, what have we learned?
1.Take off your important squad badge.
2.Be humble.
3.Be quiet and listen before you talk just to make sure you actually have something worthwhile to say.
All that from John Mayer. Like I said, shocking.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Quote of the Day
Quote of the day from pal, Abbey: "Can we switch programs and get a PhD in worrying and stress? My data collection pool is e-nor-mous!" Couldn't have said it better myself! This followed a string of text messages about how other people are lazing around all summer in the sun by beautiful pools, on beaches, on boats, while we are staring at computers and stacks of papers.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
There's Always More
Tonight we cooked Tiny. Roasted him. Here he is.
I'm aware this picture looks gross, but in real life he didn't look gross. He just looked like chicken. This was a big moment...eating one of our chickens. He was pretty tasty. To roast him, I did this except I put him in a big pot with the lid. Is it weird to anyone else that I keep referring to the chicken (DINNER) as him? It weirds me out. All day we talked about eating TINY. Strange!
There's always more though. Now we have this guy.
His name is questionable still. I call him Oliver. Will calls him Otis. Eventually, he might just be "O," or maybe he'll just have two names. He gets his mate some time this week. For a girl I'm thinking Francis, Maude, May. Any ideas? Will is currently building these rabbits a mansion that will be in my backyard.
Like I said, there's always more...
I'm aware this picture looks gross, but in real life he didn't look gross. He just looked like chicken. This was a big moment...eating one of our chickens. He was pretty tasty. To roast him, I did this except I put him in a big pot with the lid. Is it weird to anyone else that I keep referring to the chicken (DINNER) as him? It weirds me out. All day we talked about eating TINY. Strange!
There's always more though. Now we have this guy.
His name is questionable still. I call him Oliver. Will calls him Otis. Eventually, he might just be "O," or maybe he'll just have two names. He gets his mate some time this week. For a girl I'm thinking Francis, Maude, May. Any ideas? Will is currently building these rabbits a mansion that will be in my backyard.
Like I said, there's always more...
Saturday, July 17, 2010
We are THOSE people!
Last night, I couldn't sleep. This happens too much, and here's the most ridiculous part. During the day, when you're awake, all your life decisions make sense. It's easy to convince yourself you are doing the right thing, spending your time on the right things, spending all your energy on the right things. Then, suddenly because you can't sleep, everything begins to not make sense. You realize while trying to fall asleep that you shouldn't spend your time doing what you're doing, spend your money on what you're spending it on, spend your energy on such silly things. Why is it that in the middle of the night all of the things you are confident about no longer make any sense at all? And really, if you had to justify why you are doing what you're doing with your life, you are convinced that you couldn't convince anyone that you've made the best decisions. It's exhausting, really.
So that was me last night. During the onslaught of uncertainty, I determined that Will and I might be those people who are well, annoying. Here's why. We have been talking a lot about our backyard adventures--chickens, gardens, a pond with fishies, composting, rabbits that we are either going to breed and sell or just breed and eat, recycling, etc. etc. People who talk about this stuff have really annoyed me in the past. It's the whole living green concept. It can be annoying to hear about. Here's an example. A few years ago, I was sitting on someone's back porch at a cook out. We were discussing the use of bug spray and how at my wedding, I was considering stashing bottles of Off! on every row of chairs so people wouldn't be eaten alive by mosquitoes. This girl responded, "Oh, I don't use Off! Instead, I like to use an environmentally-friendly bug repellent. It uses a mixture of lemon oil, eucalyptus, blah blah blah." I remember the car ride home and making such a scene about how annoying people are when they force green living attempts on people. In reality, this girl was just talking, not forcing. But, I was annoyed. I think I've maybe become that girl. Oh lord. In conversations lately, what I have to talk about pretty much ranges from my dogs to all these backyard adventures which are somewhat greenish. In my head, I'm just talking about it because I really think it's cool. But people might really think this is annoying, like I'm forcing green-ness on them. Hence, the title. We have (maybe quite seriously) become those people who used to really, really annoy me. So this hit me in the middle of the night, and I was in a bit of a panic.
Now that it's day time again, I feel better. I just ate our first two eggs to get my reality check. Here's the other thing...really I'm not sure that what we're doing makes us "green." I think I still do plenty of non-green things. Like...driving my car for instance and using tons of electricity to keep my house cold in July. I've also decided I just need to poll my audience a little rather than expecting people to think chickens and rabbits are cool. In other words, I should just be quiet about what's going on in my backyard and recycling bin unless I'm at least 90% positive that the people I'm talking to would care. Good plan I think, until I try to fall asleep tonight and convince myself otherwise.
So that was me last night. During the onslaught of uncertainty, I determined that Will and I might be those people who are well, annoying. Here's why. We have been talking a lot about our backyard adventures--chickens, gardens, a pond with fishies, composting, rabbits that we are either going to breed and sell or just breed and eat, recycling, etc. etc. People who talk about this stuff have really annoyed me in the past. It's the whole living green concept. It can be annoying to hear about. Here's an example. A few years ago, I was sitting on someone's back porch at a cook out. We were discussing the use of bug spray and how at my wedding, I was considering stashing bottles of Off! on every row of chairs so people wouldn't be eaten alive by mosquitoes. This girl responded, "Oh, I don't use Off! Instead, I like to use an environmentally-friendly bug repellent. It uses a mixture of lemon oil, eucalyptus, blah blah blah." I remember the car ride home and making such a scene about how annoying people are when they force green living attempts on people. In reality, this girl was just talking, not forcing. But, I was annoyed. I think I've maybe become that girl. Oh lord. In conversations lately, what I have to talk about pretty much ranges from my dogs to all these backyard adventures which are somewhat greenish. In my head, I'm just talking about it because I really think it's cool. But people might really think this is annoying, like I'm forcing green-ness on them. Hence, the title. We have (maybe quite seriously) become those people who used to really, really annoy me. So this hit me in the middle of the night, and I was in a bit of a panic.
Now that it's day time again, I feel better. I just ate our first two eggs to get my reality check. Here's the other thing...really I'm not sure that what we're doing makes us "green." I think I still do plenty of non-green things. Like...driving my car for instance and using tons of electricity to keep my house cold in July. I've also decided I just need to poll my audience a little rather than expecting people to think chickens and rabbits are cool. In other words, I should just be quiet about what's going on in my backyard and recycling bin unless I'm at least 90% positive that the people I'm talking to would care. Good plan I think, until I try to fall asleep tonight and convince myself otherwise.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Eggs!
Tonight, I was making cupcakes--white cake, raspberry filling, butter cream icing with pink sprinkles. YAY! But not for me to eat, though I sampled one. I was in the middle of this creative baking session when Will opened the back door to tell me he had a surprise for me. He was in the backyard, so the surprise could have been a bug, a worm, a lizard, a tomato, a single blueberry...many options. So I closed my eyes and held out my hand, and he gave me these two little eggs.
The chickens are laying eggs!!!! I thought it would be November before we saw eggs, so this is very exciting. They are small and will get bigger, but I think it's cool that our chickens are making breakfast for us (though I don't eat eggs for breakfast ever).
The chickens are laying eggs!!!! I thought it would be November before we saw eggs, so this is very exciting. They are small and will get bigger, but I think it's cool that our chickens are making breakfast for us (though I don't eat eggs for breakfast ever).
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Urban Homesteading
I just got back from a trip to DC. While there, I went to a cool bookstore, Kramer Books, and thought I'd bring Will a couple of cool books back. So these were his DC trip prizes: Urban Homestead and Farm City
I knew that this would lead to more projects that would involve turning my suburban backyard into more of a farm. Since I've been home, Will has read both books and has big plans. Rabbits are in our future. More to come on that later. I know you are amazed, right!? A few wabbits never hurt a thing. We shall see!
In other news, we do have one chicken who has turned out to be a rooster. His name is Tiny. He and Will are sort of BFF when it comes to his relationship status. We've known he was a rooster for a few weeks but have been waiting for it to become a problem. Our chickens aren't laying eggs yet, but when they start, we don't need a rooster to fertilize the eggs. Then there's the whole cock-a-doodle-doo problem. So far, we've believed Tiny was a silent rooster. Yesterday, though, I happened to be on the couch by the back door by about 6ish and I heard a little half-hearted attempt at cock-a-doodle-doo-ing. It was Tiny. Then, this morning, Lily the dog, who was bunking with our visiting pal Amanda, was startled by the sound and was barking and growling and making a scene. This brought Will downstairs and he, too, finally heard Tiny. I was asleep and heard none of this nonsense. Sounds like Tiny might become a sandwich this weekend. Sad face and a few tears. BUT apparently this is part of urban homesteading. I guess. So here's a pic of ummmm, dinner?
I knew that this would lead to more projects that would involve turning my suburban backyard into more of a farm. Since I've been home, Will has read both books and has big plans. Rabbits are in our future. More to come on that later. I know you are amazed, right!? A few wabbits never hurt a thing. We shall see!
In other news, we do have one chicken who has turned out to be a rooster. His name is Tiny. He and Will are sort of BFF when it comes to his relationship status. We've known he was a rooster for a few weeks but have been waiting for it to become a problem. Our chickens aren't laying eggs yet, but when they start, we don't need a rooster to fertilize the eggs. Then there's the whole cock-a-doodle-doo problem. So far, we've believed Tiny was a silent rooster. Yesterday, though, I happened to be on the couch by the back door by about 6ish and I heard a little half-hearted attempt at cock-a-doodle-doo-ing. It was Tiny. Then, this morning, Lily the dog, who was bunking with our visiting pal Amanda, was startled by the sound and was barking and growling and making a scene. This brought Will downstairs and he, too, finally heard Tiny. I was asleep and heard none of this nonsense. Sounds like Tiny might become a sandwich this weekend. Sad face and a few tears. BUT apparently this is part of urban homesteading. I guess. So here's a pic of ummmm, dinner?
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