It's a mad, mad world...

OK, so it's been 15 days since my last post. Not exactly consistent, but definitely better than a whole year between posts, no? I'll blame my job (as usual), and my neurotic animal kingdom. I seriously curse the gene that causes me to have the compulsion to rescue and take care of every single needy animal that crosses my path. Thanks to said gene, a huge chunk of my time is now dedicated to caring for Charlie (the unwed teen mom kitty) and her 4 (absolutely adorable) 2 week old kittens. Besides the time, we are also dedicating a considerable amount of money to this little family. N. is not happy about this.

On top of this little newly adopted feline family, we also still have our permanent animal family: The blind-don't-talk-to-me-or-I'll-take-your-leg-off-and-still-look-cute-doing-it dog:

The I-will-eat-anything-and-everything dog:

The I-will-sit-on-anything-and-purr-24-hours-a-day cat:

and last but not least, the try-to-climb-these-stairs-and-I-will-cut-you cat:

To add insult to injury, they all hate each other. The majority of the time, it feels like a mad house. They also all seem to develop these weird, bad habits...at different times. So, just when you think you've solved one behavior... another one begins. I could probably write an entire blog just about their odd behavior, but I won't.  So, I-will-eat-anything-and-everything dog has decided that from now on, she's going to eat the windows and doors. This includes anything around the windows and doors, such as, but not limited to: curtains, blinds, doorjambs, doorknobs, etc. Not only does she have separation anxiety and chews on doors in an attempt to get to us, but she also flips out if she sees other dogs outside. Hence, causing her tear up the windows. We tried to solve this problem by putting decorative window film up. Let's the light in but keeps her from seeing outside. This worked for a while. Until she figured out how to peel it off. It's as if, upon her discovery, she decided to throw herself a celebratory party and proceeded to tornado her way around the living room and dining room. Everyday. For the past two weeks. 

just a little sample of some of her work...

This is her "guilty" pose. She does this when she knows you're mad... I don't understand.

N. usually gets home before I do. I have the pleasure of not only coming home to a mess, but also to a very pissed off girlfriend. I guess as I'm writing this, I'm starting to understand that look she gives me when I try to convince her to let me raise chickens in the backyard. Note to self: Don't mention the chickens for a little while.

So yea... getting home past 6 everyday, then spending about an hour or two cleaning broken crap, dinner, etc. hasn't left much time for blogging. There's the weekend, but we kinda filled these past two up with apple/pumpkin picking, pumpkin carving, visiting Occupy Boston, and visits to the free animal clinic with Charlie and her kitties. I think we should shorten the work week to four days a week. I'm going to make a sign and hold it up at the next Occupy Boston march. I'm just sayin'.

On another note, I actually got out of bed at 8AM this morning.. on a Sunday. For no reason. So I did some yoga. It's been a long time, and it felt awesome. I keep telling myself I'm going to get up earlier and do it every morning. But, that alarm goes off at 5AM and I can't get up! I'm really going to try though. I'm starting to feel very high strung and anxious. I need to....chill. I think I'm going to give myself a spa day. A ghetto spa day of course, because I'm broke. I'm thinking, yummy light food, tea, yoga, incense, DIY mani/pedi, bubble bath, no computer/phone/etc. Sigh... 

Namaste bitches.

The black hole that is Target....and the solution for world peace.

OK, so has anyone been to Target since their new produce/supermarket unveiling? Now, I love me some fresh affordable produce... but Target has always been my kryptonite. I have never in my life been able to walk into Target and buy exactly what I went in there to buy. This is how it usually goes:

Me: Babe, I need to go to Target.
N.: For what?!
(She already knows what this means, so her left eye has just begun to twitch.)

Me: I need a bra.
N.: But, you have like 20 bras.
Me: I know, but none of them fit right and they're all worn out and yucky.
N.: Then why don't you throw them out?
Me: .... Why are you being so mean? Do you want me to walk around being cranky and angry because my bra doesn't fit and is creating craters in my shoulders??? When I'm all doubled over and looking like the hunchback of Notre Dame, it's going to be all your fault. Do you want me to spend the rest of my life resenting you?!

(This is where she hangs her head in defeat, and also realizes that Target may be having a sale on grills, because it's like January O_o)

N.: Now, listen to me. You promised. You get your bra, try it on and then we are done. 20 minutes. That's it!
Me: K...

So, we walk in and I usually spend about 20 minutes in the dollar section, filling my basket with things that would be just PERFECT for my preschool classroom. Finally, N. yells loud enough to convince me that 2 baskets is more than enough crap. Then we have to pass the Women's section on the way to the Intimates section. Usually, N. can manage to physically shove me past it while repetitively chanting, "You're broke. You don't have money." I then spend about an hour picking out the "right" bra, and another half an hour trying on the 20 bras i picked out. I usually walk out empty handed, because of course none of them fit right. This is where I usually notice  that N. has wandered off. (smiles)

I dump my bras and make a beeline to the home decor section. I run through the aisles grabbing things off the shelf, dragging two carts behind me. I ignore the annoying sound of my cell phone going off in my pocket! Nothing is going to get in the way of me and that Zen Buddha fountain!!!! Bwahahaha!

I turn and there she is. Arms crossed, a little stream of smoke coming out of her ears. I wait as she takes in the damage. I try to make my case for every item in my cart.

Me: Look at this waffle maker. It's on sale! It's only 24.99!
N.: No.
Me: OK, but what about this bed in a bag? It's an entire bed set for 40 bucks and it comes in a BAG!
N.: No.
Me: we're out of dishwasher soap. This one was on sale.
N.: Fine.
Me: We need this. We're almost out of laundry detergent and this one is Eco-friendly.
N.: FINE!!!!!

We leave Target, about 3 hours later. The sun has set. I didn't buy a bra. We now owe $120 more on our Target card, and N. is cursing and stomping all the way to the car.

Target is my kryptonite.

But.... now that they've added walls and walls of frozen artery clogging, cheap "crap we shouldn't eat," guess who's yelling at who now?

So, yea... thanks to Target and their new super duper supermarket, this is what we ate for dinner:

We are SO not allowed in Target, ever again.

I guess she felt really guilty the next day, because N. made the most amazing Kale and chorizo stew. OMG. I wish I could insert taste into this post.

::wipes tear:: I am so proud! To think that wen I met her,
the only spices she had in her kitchen were salt, pepper and Adobo...

Now, she's actually out-cooking me. Yea, I said it. I asked her for the recipe, but she's a tornado in the kitchen and can never remember what the heck she puts in a dish. What can I say? She's a culinary artist! :-)

In other news, our adopted stray cat, Charlie, gave birth to four absolutely adorable kittens yesterday morning. They are addictive. We both keep making excuses to go in and just gaze adoringly at them. It's an avalanche of Muppet-paw cuteness. I can't take it.

Just linger here for a minute, and take in the cuteness. I promise, it will brighten your day... and make all well in the world. 

Namaste bitches.

-Dee

Year #2...

So, here I am. Halfway through my second year in Boston. Halfway through my second year of cohabitation with my partner. At the beginning of my second year as a preschool teacher. I'm alive, and things are... good. I won't lie. This past year has been hard. I've gone through my fair share of moments where I've screamed "What am I doing here?!" I don't know what made me think that it was going to be easy. I don't know what made me think that I was going to have the time or even the emotional capacity to write about my first year year! Let me tell you, between being the sole teacher of a classroom full of 10 three to five year olds, maintaining a 3 floored house and yard, managing 4 pets (including a hyperactive plott hound, a blind aggressive dog, a schizophrenic cat and an old sick cat) while attempting to keep a healthy balanced relationship....I'm lucky I've managed to keep my basic needs met.

It has been a roller-coaster ride of a year, but I guess I shouldn't expect any less from Saturn. My relationship has been tested, but we are still here. I'm sure N. has wanted to throw me out on my ass on more than one occasion, and I've thrown my fair share of wine glasses (one of the rooms upstairs has the dent to prove it... come to think of it, there's a dent in the bedroom wall from where I threw one of my paintings. What can I say? I'm a ...thrower.). All in all though, we have come out of this first year alive...bruised and looking like a hot mess, but alive nonetheless. She's my lobster.

 

As for my first year as a preschool teacher.... it sure as hell was an experience. There were days when I was so happy doing what I do that I was a giddy cartwheeling fool. Now, other days? I wanted to quit and toss children from a cliff. Most of the days were of the less violent kind. I learned so much, mostly the hard way. It's been one month of my second year so far. I have 14 kids now, but also gained a co-teacher. I love my job. Honestly, the only downside to my job is that I make peanuts. I work long hours, take my work home with me, work in the evening and sometimes the weekends, and I get paid flippin' peanuts. But, (and I know I'm not supposed to begin a sentence with "but," but wtf is this? English class?) I would much rather be taking home a crappy salary and waking up every morning absolutely loving my job, than making a crap-load of money and being completely miserable. I know, reality is that this situation will have to change soon, especially if we plan on having kids anytime in the near future. I'm working on figuring out a way to make more money without sacrificing my sanity. I'll let you know when I've come up with my master plan. In the meantime, we are clipping coupons, canceling our cable, and walking around with a flashlight (kidding, but we totally should because this electric bill is effin' ridiculous. I'm just sayin'.)

The house is coming along slowly. We've pretty much finished the entire first floor, and made a reasonable improvement to our outdoor space. It feels like there's always something else to do though, because we are crazy and we watch wayyyy too much HGTV. N. is actually going through an "I wanna build stuff out of pallets" phase.  I, however have gotten it in my head that the wall between the kitchen and dining room MUST go. I just need a sledgehammer. N. is not too keen on this idea. She's also not happy about my new obsession with building a chicken coop in our backyard. I should probably add the pregnant stray cat that now resides in our spare room to this list of "shit she's not happy about." Her name is Charlie. She's a calico and shes got extra toes. How can you not love a cat with muppet paws? So yea, she showed up on our porch one day and now she's knocked up. What else was I supposed to do? N. is secretly excited about fostering a bunch of muppet kitties. I've also caught her baby-talking and singing to the cat. O_o

I'm going to end this post here but I can see that I'm trying to catch up and cram all sorts of stuff into one post. N. also just got home from work. I stayed home today so she's being all cave-woman like "Where's my dinner? ROAR!"  I promise promise promise that I'm officially back. Stay tuned.


Before I go, I will leave you all with an amazing drink recipe. My best friend visited a while ago and she's currently obsessed with spicy/cool drink combinations, like cucumber habanero, etc. So, I've created a drink in her honor:

Muddle 4 slices of cucumber with a few mint leaves, 1 tbs of simple syrup and a tiny piece of either habanero or thai chili pepper. Add one tbs of fresh lime juice, 2 tbs of ginger ale or club soda if you don't like ginger flavor. I love it and actually use ginger beer because the flavor is stronger. 1/4 cup of Veev Acai Liquor (look it up, it's amazing) and 1/8 cup vodka (because I'm an alcoholic and 30% alcohol just isn't enough for me). If you don't have any Veev on hand just use vodka. Pour all into a martini shaker. Shake and pour over ice. Garnish with a cucumber slice and a sprig of mint. Enjoy!

Namaste bitches!

Preschool bootcamp

So, here I am. On the Orange line T (Boston's version of a "subway" system), because there aren't enough hours in the day anymore. I swear I'm in preschool teacher bootcamp. I'm lucky enough to work in a brand new school so the hours are crazy and the amount of shit that needs to get done leaves me little time for things like... Breathing. Sleeping. Now eating, is never an issue. My kids got taught to "share" their lunches and snacks with me on day one. Yea I take food from 3 and 4 year olds. A girl's gotta eat.

So yea, I haven't quite figured out how to navigate my new hectic schedule. The house is a disaster area. Cooking has turned into a survival technique as opposed to the enjoyable experience it once was. But, this week is definitely going more smoothly so there's hope. I'm trying my best to find time to keep this blog afloat despite my shitty attempts thus far. So for any of you still out there, don't abondon me!

I'll be back.

Namaste bitches.

-D

Still love me?...

I know, I know. Completely unacceptable. Almost a whole month of no posts. Well, this blog adventure is going rather poorly isn't it. Sigh. I'll apologize again. I didn't do it on purpose. I promised myself that I would not use this blog to complain, mope, and pollute this space with negativity.

So like mama always said, "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all."

I was going through a bit of a funk. I can't really explain it, but it was there... following me around everywhere. I couldn't sleep. I was irritable and over-emotional (yes, more than usual). I had tons to write about.. our trip to Philly and back to NY, our yard sale, new restaurants, etc..

I just didn't feel like talking (or writing, rather) about any of it.

Then when I did finally snap out of it and was all exited about writing again, POOF! it was August 31st and I was starting my brand new job. Let me tell you that I do not know how I am gonna make it through the year at this rate. I feel like I'm on fast forward.. no pause button. I hope it's only because it's my first year in my own classroom. Because if every September is like this, I won't make it past 35.

Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm biting off more than I can chew. I was given a HUGE beautiful plain classroom to do as I wish with. It's like someone gave me a blank canvas and all the paint I could ever want. I'm beside myself. Every 2 minutes, I think of a new "idea".  Parents and kids come in on Thursday for a meet and greet, and my classroom looks nothing like I want it to look. Not to mention, I'm close to a panic attack about the first day anyway.

So, posts are still going to be a bit sporadic for the next week or so, but I'm making a promise to myself that I will make an effort to blog more regularly. Lord knows I'm gonna need it. Namaste bitches...

Oh.. I almost forgot! I bought a bicycle! and a helmet!

More adventures, less food. OK, that's a lie...

I'm still alive people. I hope you all haven't abandoned me due to my shameless lack of attendance in my new blog world. I've had some weird mental block going on and my brain seriously turned to mush last week. I swear. I had to write a bio about myself for my new job, and stared at a blank page for about 3 days. I've just been in a funk lately. My apologies.

N. and I are also having a yard sale this weekend, so I've been drowning in boxes of junk wonderful treasures for the past week and a half. It's the first yard sale for both of us, so I'm not expecting anything to go smoothly. We have quite a bit of cool stuff (not to mention her mom and sister are both setting up tables in our yard as well) so hopefully we'll get a decent crowd and lots of money!

My other excuse for being MIA all week is that N. and I also stayed true to our promise and went walking around JP Pond almost everyday last week. We are both so out of shape that when we get home, all we do is eat dinner, watch an episode or two of True Blood (our new series.. RIP Lost) and pass out. I know none of these are valid excuses, but at least give me brownie points for trying.

MMmmm...brownies.

Speaking of brownies... why is it that eating healthy is so ridiculously expensive. I mean seriously! We completely overhauled our refrigerator and pantry, throwing out all the yummy sugary fatty goodness bad artery clogging diabetes causing stuff. We went to Market Basket armed with a grocery list chock full of veggies and fruits, lean protein and low sugar options. Granted we might have gone a little overboard..

 Disregard the ice cream in the lower left corner.
We came to our senses and put that back.

...but we had no idea the astronomical number that would be displayed on the checkout screen:

If we would have had a cart full of processed, fatty,sugary CRAP (like we usually do) our total would have been HALF that. Then people have the nerve to judge struggling families for eating junk food and allowing their children to eat things like McDonald's (of course, lack of exercise is also a contributing factor... but still!). I mean why wouldn't a struggling mom buy each of her kids an entire meal at Taco Bell for $4, if those same $4 can barely buy TWO avocados in the grocery store?! 

I am so growing avocados in my garden next season because $4 for two avocados is just insanity.

Well, now that we have an entire farm and grocery store in our kitchen, we have no excuse not to be cooking delicious meals every night. Of course, when I say "we" I totally mean "I," since N.'s contribution entails just eating. I've been satisfying our take-out cravings by attempting to recreate them at home. Last night we had Chicken Tikka Masala over curry rice and griddle bread...

And the night before that I made Thai Red Curry Salmon with Pineapple Mango Fried Rice. Amazing, I tell you. N. said it was better than our usual takeout place! Two more brownie points for me. MMmmm brownies. Sorry. I didn't follow a recipe with the salmon, but the recipe for the fried rice is below. It's by By Darlene Schmidt, on About.com.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 38 minutes

Ingredients:

• SERVES 2-4
• 1 small can pineapple chunks, drained, OR 1 whole pineapple (see instructions below) <---I also added mango because I had a yummy Thai yellow mango sitting in my fridge :-)
• 3 cups cooked rice, preferably several days old (Tip: if fresh, leave for an hour or more in the refrigerator uncovered)
• 3-4 Tbsp. vegetable or faux chicken stock for stir-frying (or regular chicken stock if non-vegetarian)
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed
• 1 red or green chili, thinly sliced (reduce or leave out if you prefer very mild fried rice)
• 1 egg (vegans can omit)*
• ½ cup frozen peas
• optional: 1 small carrot, grated (about 1/4 cup)
• ¼ cup raisins or currants
• ½ cup raw unsalted whole cashews     <--I left these out because I didn't want to die
• 3 spring onions finely sliced
• 1/3 cup fresh coriander
• STIR-FRY SAUCE:
• 2 Tbsp vegetarian fish sauce, OR 3 Tbsp. soy sauce (use regular fish sauce if non-vegetarian)
• 2 tsp. curry powder

Preparation:

For a non-vegetarian version of this recipe, see: How to Make Thai Heavenly Pineapple Fried Rice, step by step.

1. Mix 1 Tbsp. oil with the rice, using your fingers to separate any chunks into grains. Set aside.
2. In a cup, stir the soy sauce/fish sauce together with the curry powder.
3. Drizzle 1-2 Tbsp. oil in a wok/large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots, garlic, and chili, stir-frying until fragrant (1 minute). Whenever the wok/pan becomes dry, add a little stock (1/2 to 1 Tbsp. at a time to keep the pan sizzling).
4. Crack egg (if using) into wok and stir quickly to cook (like making scrambled eggs).
5. Add the carrot (if using), peas, cashews. Stir-fry 1 minute in the same way, adding more stock if needed.
6. Now add the rice, pineapple chunks, and currents. Drizzle the fish/soy sauce mixed with curry powder over and gently stir-fry to combine over medium-high to high heat until the rice "dances" (begins to make popping sounds) - about 3 minutes.Tip: Avoid adding any more stock from here on, or your rice will turn out soggy. The wok/pan should be hot and dry.
8. To serve, scoop rice onto a serving platter (or in a carved-out pineapple, if serving at a party - see link at beginning of recipe). Top with spring onions and coriander, and ENJOY!

*Note: Vegans may omit the egg without losing the flavor or nutrients of this great dish (cashews provide the main protein source). 

Let me just tell you, this is absolutely delicious and you need to try making it, if you're into that sort of thing that is. So far, the eating habit change is going well. We're working on making our portions smaller and not be such... hefers. The weekend came along though, and with it, brought Boston's First Annual Food Truck Festival. If you know anything about how N. and I feel about food trucks (and my dismay at the Boston laws practically forbidding them!) then you know we were in there like swim wear!

We weren't that bad though. I swear! We shared a Chicago Dog and munched on a few handfuls of caramel popcorn. Oh and a free sample of some yummy Jamaican chicken. It was actually kind of disappointing. The festival, not the chicken. Food trucks are a New York City staple and one of my favorite things about the city. Boston needs to get with the program! 

The festival was at the SOWA Open market, so we spent most of the time in there perusing the aisles. I found some great Nina Simone records in the vintage market.

We also bought some awesome art pieces and got some cheap-o, but super cute frames at Boomerang's  (check them out! Their proceeds  support the programs and services of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts!) on centre Street in JP. 

I guess our disappointment at the food trucks got the better of us, because somehow we ended up at JP Licks and sinned. We sinned big time. JP Licks now has Belgian Waffles before 2pm, and of course it was 1PM and we were just in time!

Ha! Caught in the act!

**EDIT**  These faces have been changed to cows based on N.'s hissy fit about posting unflattering photos. That is all. You may resume reading.

Oh well. We were good for most of the week. Look, life is short. What if my number was up that day? I would have totally regretted not eating that waffle. And the brownie batter ice cream I topped it with was just as important. 

Namaste bitches!

-D.

No more pancakes? :- (

I'm supposed to be writing a bio about myself for my new teaching job, but obviously that's not what I'm doing. I'm having a mental block. I usually have no problem talking about myself so I don't know what my problem is. I'll try again later, right now I'm going to post, while I sip on this nice glass of Riesling.

So, in my last post I was ranting about my stupid wisdom teeth. I dragged myself to Tufts Dental School, preparing myself for a horrible ordeal, but they were actually pretty awesome. It was the best experience at a dentist I've ever had to be honest.  The student dentist assigned to me was super nice. He explained every little thing he was doing and made me laugh a few times. Even the supervising dentist was a sweetheart. My pleasant visit sure as heck didn't have a pleasant outcome though. Apparently, I have to have all 4 wisdom  teeth pulled out, two of which are partially impacted (which means they basically have to operate to remove them). Lucky me! The two top teeth are $100 per tooth and the bottom two (the impacted ones) are $348 per frikin' tooth! Get your calculators out ladies and gentlemen. Then they have to tack on anesthesia. The "student" dentist said I would be fine with IV sedation, which basically gets you all loopy (but still conscious) and you don't remember a thing.. so he claimed. I believed him. He told me that they wouldn't do it today. they would give me antibiotics for the infection, Advil for the pain, and an appointment to come back and have the 4 teeth pulled. I took my little printout to the front desk and the receptionist starts punching numbers, and then looks at me and says "Wait, you're not getting knocked out for this? Oh, honey, you need to be put out for this procedure." So, she tacks on another $214 for anesthesia.

The total comes to $1,164.

Yep, that's what I said.

And the worst part is, that they have no appointments until October 8th (since the operation is done by an actual surgical dentist, not a student... thank baby Jesus!). So I'm supposed to pray my tooth doesn't start hurting again before then, and that I wont get fired for taking a week off of work one month after I start.

Sigh.

In happier news, our garden is thriving! OK, thriving is a bit of an exaggeration, but it's doing really well for our first attempt at gardening.

we have cherry tomatoes!

jalapeños...

cauliflower (not sure if it's supposed to look like that.. it might be dead.)

ONE cute little eggplant..

and a crap load of kale. Note to self: no kale next year.

Well, with the month of August upon us, N. and I have stayed true to our vow to stop being such major hefers. We both got on the scale this weekend, and that sealed the deal. But of course, it wasn't August yet.. and it was the weekend. We decided to have our last brunch at Sorella's on Saturday morning. 

There's N., looking all consumed by the awareness that this will be the last time 

she eats here for a very long time.

Not even a $3.95 mimosa can make her smile.. so sad.

The mimosa really isn't that small. I just have unnaturally large Sasquatch hands.

And there it is... chocolate chip banana raspberry pancakes. Aren't they beautiful? 

How I will miss these pancakes...

No more bacon.. no more dreamy desserts dripping in chocolate.. no more Sorella's brunches. Well, at least until we get this "roundness" under control. I tell you, N. is lucky I'm a wannabe chef, because this diet could be so much worse for her. This is just an excuse for me to get even more adventurous in my culinary endeavors.

Yesterday N. agreed to go walking around JP pond. I tried to get her to do some light jogging, but she shot me a look of a thousand fiery suns and told me not to push it. So, I shut up and kept walking. Today we have an appointment with Billy Blanks in our living room for some Tae Bo! Yes, we're taking it back. The entire box set was $8 at a yard sale and just because he's not popular anymore doesn't mean we won't still break a sweat, so Tae Bo it is.

Namaste bitches!

-D.