So the little bugger that's growing inside me has finally decided to spill out of my pelvis and make its presence known to all those who cast gaze down on my lower abdomen. I am most decidedly pregnant. Or just really fat in a funny sort of way.
The morning sickness has finally started to subside althought the gestational fatigue is still going strong. Thank heaven for working at home and naps.
Ugh, morning sickness really sucks. Big time. The memory forgetting hormone has not yet kicked in for me so I'm not sure I ever want to go through that again. Really-Really-Sucks.
I have yet to have that etheral joyful "I'm pregnant!" moment yet. Mostly just meloncholy about the whole thing so far. Being terribly sick probably doesn't help.
It struck me the other day that I'm really, really sad about the woman that I will no longer be. The independent, risk-taking, fearless women that I am. I mourn her soon demise. I'm sure the woman I will become will be awesome - a mother, care-giver, a molder of tender minds (frightening) - but I haven't met her yet. So for now, all I can do is miss the woman that I am so familiar and comfortable with. The woman I'm so happy to be.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
CSA 2010
What, it's been like a year since I last posted me think. Anyhoo, another year another CSA. This year, John and I signed up for the Chubby Bunny CSA. We'll be picking up our seasonal veggies at the church down the street. Lets hope we don't have a repeat of the zucchini incident of 2006. No one needs 20 lbs of zucchini. There is only so much zucchini bread one can make.
And the puppy now officially weighs 26 lbs. That's 8 lbs gained in 8 weeks. At this rate she's headed for 50 lb territory before her first birthday. We're hoping the growth slows down soon. Oh and we hope she stops peeing in the apartment as well.
It's almost memorial day weekend. We all know what that means! The first batch of strawberry rhubarb jam will be made and put up this weekend! Joy!
And the puppy now officially weighs 26 lbs. That's 8 lbs gained in 8 weeks. At this rate she's headed for 50 lb territory before her first birthday. We're hoping the growth slows down soon. Oh and we hope she stops peeing in the apartment as well.
It's almost memorial day weekend. We all know what that means! The first batch of strawberry rhubarb jam will be made and put up this weekend! Joy!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Ripley's Believe It or Not
Yup, the rumors are true. For those who haven't heard. We're getting hitched.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The Year in Review…About 2 months too late.
NYC Marathon 2008 - Around Mile 17
So it should be a sign of the times that this little review of the past 12 months is a few months old. 2008! What can I say, you have been a dousy. Where to even begin. How about January?January
The year started off quietly but didn’t stay that way for long
Flew to Dallas to run a gigantic conference with 300 attendees and a $600K budget. Aw the days of endless project budgets!
Gave my notice to the firm. Got a great job (I thought at the time) to be the Director of Diversity for the 2nd largest utility in the US. My mistake.
February
Last day at the firm.
Two week vacation in Argentina with the boy. BEST VACATION EVER!
Two words – Glacier Hiking!
Two more words – Fuzzy Armadillos!
Five more words – Don’t cry for me Argentina!
Started new job at the grid.
Realized my horrible mistake after day three.
Desperately trying to figure escape route
Additional Travel: Boston
March
Still trying to figure out escape route
Start speaking to contractors to gut renovate the bathroom.
Additional Travel: Boston
April
Still POW
Select a contractor and begin the lengthy co-op approval process
Additional Travel: Boston May
Land awesome gig with the association.
Said goodbye to the grid.
Start with the association and realize I am MUCH MUCH Happier
Quick trip to San Francisco while J attends an EP conference out there. Meet his father and sister. Lovely people. Tall.
Run into all sorts of renovation approval snafus
Additional travel: Chicago
June
Get notification, I’m in the 2009 NYC Marathon! Yipeee! Hope my knee holds out this year.
Travel down to attend the wedding celebration’s of dear college mate El and M! Third times the charm! Celebration, not marriage.
Additional travel: Washington DC, Boston, and LA
July
J and I begin cohabitation. Oh what surprises await us!
Ran the NYC Half-Marathon in about 2.5 hrs. Knee holds up splendidly.
Additional travel: none!
August
Attend Wedding in Chicago/Michigan for dear college friend N and M! And it only took them 10 years and two engagements!
Flew out to Jackson Hole, WY for a little vacation and my sister’s wedding! I have a brother in-law.
Got my sexy, sexy new toy. Nikon D300.
Wow! Lots of weddings. But no pressure…you know.
J falls out of the boat while white water rafting…and hilarity ensued.
Ran first 16 mile training run for the marathon.
September
A relatively quiet month personally but quite busy professionally. Traveled just about every week. Chicago, Philly, a week in Atlanta, and rounding out the month in DC.
Got to see the fabulous S in the ATL. Haven’t seen her in like 8 years! I love S!
Ran my first 20 mile training run. Why do I do this to myself?
October
My birthday! 33!
And J and I celebrated year numero duos!
Spent a week in London working with a client who also happens to be a former employer.
Caught up with the slick kid E whilst in London.
Tapering down training for the big marathon.
Additional travel: Boston
November
Ran the 2008 ING NYC Marathon – AND FINISHED in about 5 Hrs 20 minutes! Not to shabby considering that my knee had been out of commission for nearly 18 months.
Spent thanksgiving with J’s mom in Mississippi. I’ve decided I never want to live in Mississippi. The above picture is from a parking lot in Mississippi. I don’t think I need to explain myself further about Mississippi.
I think J and I are finally starting to figure out this whole living together thing.
Started volunteering at the International Center as a career coach. Fun!
Obama wins! The world rejoices! I never did really drink the kool-aid though.
Additional travel: Boston
December
Christmas with the family and post-Christmas with J’s dad and sister in San Francisco.
The fourth annual Christmas Cookie Party with the girls! Hosted by the lovely L. I made ginger-lemon crème cookies. We each ended up with about 9 dozen cookies. J was a very happy man.
Saw longwave in concert at the Bowery Ballroom.
J and I made about 200 mandoos on Dec. 31st. It’s a Korean thing…plus I’m incapable of making food for less than a small crowd.
Went to Alvin Ailey at the City Center. Beautiful as always.
Additional travel: Chicago, and San Francisco (twice in one month)
So yeah, 2008 was a big year of lots of changes, lots of accomplishments, and lots of jobs.
2009 should be another exciting year.
Don’t know what’s in my future but I have a few ideas:
I want to take a pottery class…just cause.
I have my eyes set on the 2009 Reykjavik Marathon in August. Come and join us. It should be fun. We’ll look for gnomes.
J and I also decided we didn't go see enough live music last year. Must remedy that!
And maybe a trip to Greece and Turkey!
2009 has been off to a running start. And no, my bathroom is still not renovated. Sad. :(
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Man Up!
I hate that phrase...hate it, hate it, hate it.
What the f*ck does it even mean?
Here's what I suppose people (meaning men) are trying to convey when using the term 'Man Up!'
"Stop being such a wuss. Don't you realize that as a man it is your duty to never show emotion, never show vulnerability, and never, ever admit that you have feelings. It is your duty to act brutish, barbaric, and testosterone laced. Beat your girlfriend, drive drunk, terrorize your children, and buy a sawed off shot gun."
I almost hate 'Man Up!' as much as I hate 'That's so gay.' and 'Do you.'
Can we just strike all three from the American lexicon?
What the f*ck does it even mean?
Here's what I suppose people (meaning men) are trying to convey when using the term 'Man Up!'
"Stop being such a wuss. Don't you realize that as a man it is your duty to never show emotion, never show vulnerability, and never, ever admit that you have feelings. It is your duty to act brutish, barbaric, and testosterone laced. Beat your girlfriend, drive drunk, terrorize your children, and buy a sawed off shot gun."
I almost hate 'Man Up!' as much as I hate 'That's so gay.' and 'Do you.'
Can we just strike all three from the American lexicon?
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Best Granola Recipe in the World*
*At least in my opinion
I love granola but I dislike store bought granola - lots of oats with little to no nuts or fruit, and utterly flavorless. After far too many boxes of disappointing store granola (have you ever seen the fat content on some brands!) I finally tried my hand at making my own and discovered that granola is basically impossible to screw up**. Armed with a fairly simple recipe from Mark Bittman's most excellent cookbook How to Cook Everything I started experimenting and after many tries finally landed on the recipe below. Everything is approximate and I'm constantly making tweaks based on what I have on hand.
Bo's awesome peanut buttery granola
- Approximately 8 cups of old fashioned oats (not the quick cooking kind) - I just use an entire 16 oz drum of oats
- 1 envelope of powdered milk
- Between 1 - 2 cups of sweetened dried coconut flakes
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 2 Tbs cinnamon (or more to your taste)
- 2 Tbs powdered vanilla (not necessary but nice to add if you have some on hand)
- Approximately 1 cup each whole almonds, walnuts, peanuts, macadamia nuts, or any nut of your choice. I usually shot for 4 cups of nuts but you can add less or more according to your taste
- 2 Tbs butter
- Between 1/2 - 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
- 2 Tbs vanilla
- 1 16 oz jar of natural peanut butter (creamy or chunky - but make sure it's the natural stuff i.e. the nut oil seperates out) You can also use any other nut butter you like, just make sure it is natural
- Apple juice
- Approximately 3 cups of mixed dried fruit. Whatever you like. I usually use some combination of dried blueberries, dried strawberries, dried cherries, dried Turkish figs (chopped), and dried apricots (sulfate free and chopped)
Mix the first seven ingredients (from the oats to the nuts) in a big bowl. Set aside.
In a heavy, high sided pot (make sure it is heavy and high sided - you're going to make a caramel) combine the butter and sugar. Bring the combination to a boil and allow to boil for anywhere from 2-5 minutes. Stoves are different and some are a lot hotter than others. You want to bring the mixture to the point where it smells richly of caramel but isn't burnt. Once you get to the caramel stage pour in the entire jar of peanut butter and stir vigorously to combine. It will become very thick. Add enough apple juice to the peanut-caramel mixture to create a very thick sauce - about the consistency of a pourable yogurt. Add the vanilla and stir.
Allow the sauce to cool slightly (not too much or it will be too thick to combine - if this happens reheat and add a little more apple juice). Pour half of the mixture into the oat mixture and using your hands, begin to combine. I've broken many a mixing spoon during this stage - best to stick with your hands. After a couple of minutes of mixing, gather together the oats that don't seem to have any sauce on them and pour the remaining sauce on top. Combine everything together and make sure all the oats are well coated with the caramel-peanut sauce. The mixture will be coarse and you'll have lots of lumps of various size. Lumps are good. They add texture.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line two baking pans with either parchment paper or aluminum foil. Evenly spread out the granola onto the pans but make sure not to break up all the lumps. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Stir the granola after 20 minutes and return the pans to the oven for another 10 - 20 minutes depending on how dark you like your granola. Towards the end of the baking time check the granola frequently to prevent burning. It goes from being perfect to burnt in a matter of minutes. Makes about 16 cups. Enough to last me about two weeks.
I love granola but I dislike store bought granola - lots of oats with little to no nuts or fruit, and utterly flavorless. After far too many boxes of disappointing store granola (have you ever seen the fat content on some brands!) I finally tried my hand at making my own and discovered that granola is basically impossible to screw up**. Armed with a fairly simple recipe from Mark Bittman's most excellent cookbook How to Cook Everything I started experimenting and after many tries finally landed on the recipe below. Everything is approximate and I'm constantly making tweaks based on what I have on hand.
Bo's awesome peanut buttery granola
- Approximately 8 cups of old fashioned oats (not the quick cooking kind) - I just use an entire 16 oz drum of oats
- 1 envelope of powdered milk
- Between 1 - 2 cups of sweetened dried coconut flakes
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 2 Tbs cinnamon (or more to your taste)
- 2 Tbs powdered vanilla (not necessary but nice to add if you have some on hand)
- Approximately 1 cup each whole almonds, walnuts, peanuts, macadamia nuts, or any nut of your choice. I usually shot for 4 cups of nuts but you can add less or more according to your taste
- 2 Tbs butter
- Between 1/2 - 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
- 2 Tbs vanilla
- 1 16 oz jar of natural peanut butter (creamy or chunky - but make sure it's the natural stuff i.e. the nut oil seperates out) You can also use any other nut butter you like, just make sure it is natural
- Apple juice
- Approximately 3 cups of mixed dried fruit. Whatever you like. I usually use some combination of dried blueberries, dried strawberries, dried cherries, dried Turkish figs (chopped), and dried apricots (sulfate free and chopped)
Mix the first seven ingredients (from the oats to the nuts) in a big bowl. Set aside.
In a heavy, high sided pot (make sure it is heavy and high sided - you're going to make a caramel) combine the butter and sugar. Bring the combination to a boil and allow to boil for anywhere from 2-5 minutes. Stoves are different and some are a lot hotter than others. You want to bring the mixture to the point where it smells richly of caramel but isn't burnt. Once you get to the caramel stage pour in the entire jar of peanut butter and stir vigorously to combine. It will become very thick. Add enough apple juice to the peanut-caramel mixture to create a very thick sauce - about the consistency of a pourable yogurt. Add the vanilla and stir.
Allow the sauce to cool slightly (not too much or it will be too thick to combine - if this happens reheat and add a little more apple juice). Pour half of the mixture into the oat mixture and using your hands, begin to combine. I've broken many a mixing spoon during this stage - best to stick with your hands. After a couple of minutes of mixing, gather together the oats that don't seem to have any sauce on them and pour the remaining sauce on top. Combine everything together and make sure all the oats are well coated with the caramel-peanut sauce. The mixture will be coarse and you'll have lots of lumps of various size. Lumps are good. They add texture.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees F. Line two baking pans with either parchment paper or aluminum foil. Evenly spread out the granola onto the pans but make sure not to break up all the lumps. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Stir the granola after 20 minutes and return the pans to the oven for another 10 - 20 minutes depending on how dark you like your granola. Towards the end of the baking time check the granola frequently to prevent burning. It goes from being perfect to burnt in a matter of minutes. Makes about 16 cups. Enough to last me about two weeks.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Annual Wrap Up - 2007 Edition
It's that time of year to write some of the happens in 07.
January
- Went skiing at Mont Tremblont in Canada. Discovered that I STILL have a terrifying fear of skiing. But I am queen of the bunny hill!
- Dinner party with friends. I made TWO kinds of lasagna.
- Saw M. Ward at Town Hall
- Travel: Boston, Montreal
February
- Went ice climbing for the first time. Very fun. J gets a little frostbite in his fingers. Doesn't get proper sensation back in the tips of his fingers for three more months.
- Went skiing again - in the Adirondacks. This time with a trained ski instructor. Have another near panic attack on the green runs. Decide that J is trying to kill me.
- Took J to get a couples massage for Valentines Day. Highly recommended!
- Diagnosed with a bad knee. Started going to PT.
- Travel: Adirondacks, Chicago
March
- Saw The Shins perform at MSG.
- Still going to PT
Travel: San Francisco
April
- Still going to PT
- No travel
May
- Wrapped up PT. Knee supposedly good as new.
- Travel: Virginia, Los Angeles
June
- Began running again after 6 months of 0 miles. PAINFUL.
- Vaction in Portugal with J!
- Travel: Portugal
July
- Question why I run. So painful.
- Decide to opt out of the NYC Triathlon. Not in proper condition. Would have likely drowned.
- Travel: Dallas
August
- Ran the NYC Half-Marathon. Actually finished without having to walk. Time: 2 Hr. 18 minutes.
- Travel: Dallas (Again), Chicago
September
- Went rock climbing with J and friends around Lake Placid. Very fun. Did my first multi-pitch climb. Nearly peed my pants several times.
- Ran an 18 mile long training run for the NYC Marathon. Knee hurts like a b*tch for several days after. Not a good sign.
- Travel: Dallas (AGAIN!!!), San Francisco
October
- Saw Arcade Fire on Randall's Island, Billy Bragg at SEC, and Margaret Cho at the Zipper Club.
- Celebrated one year anniversary with J!
- Turned 32!
- Went apple picking with Sloane.
- Made the decision to drop out of the NYC Marathon - knee giving me all sorts of trouble. :(
- Travel: Dallas (Last time this year)
November
- Travel: Atlanta, Houston (I can't get away from TX)
December
- My sister gets engaged!
- Third annual Christmas cookie party with the girls!
- Travel: Boston, Chicago
Ah...it was a very full year! A good year overall. These are just some highlights.
2008 is shaping up to be an exciting year. Many changes in the works, another shot at the NYC Marathon, a century planned for May, and Argentina with J in February!
I hope you all (or one) are having a great end of year! And Happy New Year!
January
- Went skiing at Mont Tremblont in Canada. Discovered that I STILL have a terrifying fear of skiing. But I am queen of the bunny hill!
- Dinner party with friends. I made TWO kinds of lasagna.
- Saw M. Ward at Town Hall
- Travel: Boston, Montreal
February
- Went ice climbing for the first time. Very fun. J gets a little frostbite in his fingers. Doesn't get proper sensation back in the tips of his fingers for three more months.
- Went skiing again - in the Adirondacks. This time with a trained ski instructor. Have another near panic attack on the green runs. Decide that J is trying to kill me.
- Took J to get a couples massage for Valentines Day. Highly recommended!
- Diagnosed with a bad knee. Started going to PT.
- Travel: Adirondacks, Chicago
March
- Saw The Shins perform at MSG.
- Still going to PT
Travel: San Francisco
April
- Still going to PT
- No travel
May
- Wrapped up PT. Knee supposedly good as new.
- Travel: Virginia, Los Angeles
June
- Began running again after 6 months of 0 miles. PAINFUL.
- Vaction in Portugal with J!
- Travel: Portugal
July
- Question why I run. So painful.
- Decide to opt out of the NYC Triathlon. Not in proper condition. Would have likely drowned.
- Travel: Dallas
August
- Ran the NYC Half-Marathon. Actually finished without having to walk. Time: 2 Hr. 18 minutes.
- Travel: Dallas (Again), Chicago
September
- Went rock climbing with J and friends around Lake Placid. Very fun. Did my first multi-pitch climb. Nearly peed my pants several times.
- Ran an 18 mile long training run for the NYC Marathon. Knee hurts like a b*tch for several days after. Not a good sign.
- Travel: Dallas (AGAIN!!!), San Francisco
October
- Saw Arcade Fire on Randall's Island, Billy Bragg at SEC, and Margaret Cho at the Zipper Club.
- Celebrated one year anniversary with J!
- Turned 32!
- Went apple picking with Sloane.
- Made the decision to drop out of the NYC Marathon - knee giving me all sorts of trouble. :(
- Travel: Dallas (Last time this year)
November
- Travel: Atlanta, Houston (I can't get away from TX)
December
- My sister gets engaged!
- Third annual Christmas cookie party with the girls!
- Travel: Boston, Chicago
Ah...it was a very full year! A good year overall. These are just some highlights.
2008 is shaping up to be an exciting year. Many changes in the works, another shot at the NYC Marathon, a century planned for May, and Argentina with J in February!
I hope you all (or one) are having a great end of year! And Happy New Year!
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