friiiiiiiiiiday

we did the boot at lunch.
because we are awesome like that.

Is there a craig-anon?

hi. my name is mandy. and my boyfriend is addicted to free craigslist.

>>hi mandy<<

we have a plastic soaking tub that we will never use, audi car seats that he is installing in his toyota truck and a LOT of firewood in our basement. in fact, he isnt at work yet because he saw an ad for MORE free firewood.

inhale.... exhale... inhale... exhale....

we can all use a little reminding.

very expensive dreams.

ok, heres the deal. i love baking. LOVE it. so every now and then i google culinary here in the city. i always stumble across the same program which would require me to quit my job and really invest the time. not going to do it.

so here i am plugging away on a deadline and an ad on fb catches my eye. so i start my research again. and this time i have one of those online "live chats" with a representative. turns out theres an evening course resulting in a "diploma" - of what im not sure yet. the associate program is a day course and thus unlikely.

but this evening course.

and now im excited. its 12 months. 36 credit hours. labs and the like. oh, and its also $17000.

>>>screeching halt<<<

$17000 for tuition. then there are lab fees. and a $1250 "starter kit" that i am actually a little excited about- i think it means nice knives and the silly chef outfit. that said, the same starter kit and knife skills could be achieved for a lot less. when all is said and done i would be into it for about $20000. thats an expensive hobby.

i wonder if there is some sort of grant or financial assistance (that isnt a loan).

sigh... why do dreams always cost so much?

58008

saturday i noticed a sore spot between my right breast and my armpit. it felt like a bruise but there wasnt anything visible. i felt around. everything felt normal. no lumps out of the ordinary. i decided i should still have i checked out.

yesterday i went to the dr. she felt around. she found a bump. she thinks its a cyst and being so young, i have the luxury of waiting through a menstrual (huh- apparently that word has a u in it) cycle to see if it goes away. shes not alarmed- says it seems totally normal. but she applauded me for noticing a change and seeing a dr about it.

im not all that freaked out about it. im relieved i had it looked at and im crossing my fingers it goes away.

but its important and i just wanted to kick it your way, ladies. check em. hell, make a show of it. its a win win that way.

oops

i forgot to write yesterday.

so ill write ABOUT yesterday.

ive been pretty stressed out at work lately so ive really been looking forward to the weekends. normally we sleep in and hang out with our laptops in bed well into the late morning. then we get moving, often to do nothing more than bum around on the couch and watch episode after episode of law and order.

yesterday we got a morning visit from ms crame in desperate search of the chapstick she left the last time she was over. that got us up and chatty. and then luke was ready to get moving. i was not. at all. and for some reason the hopes of a relaxed mellow saturday went out the window. i was bummed. hell bent on pouting about it i crawled back in bed.

luke went to work in the basement and came upstairs a little while later. hewanted to end my pity party. so he suggested an "ideal day." ill try to remember verbatim...

"first we need to have a morning visitor and then a good cry in the dark. then what i think we need to do is drive out to kirkland and get blizzards. this should probably be followed by a trip to chipotle. after that, maybe we will head over to best buy to look at stereos for the car, and since we are there it will only make sense if we head upstairs to target and- you know- just wander. after that we will probably be ready to come home, so maybe we can build the frame for our poster. and after that, maybe we can make some prosciutto and arugula pizza...

...or, you know, we can just keep crying in the dark."

and we did just that with a side of friends and bar b que with the pizza. it made everything better.

god, i love that man.

indian chicken.

youre welcome.

Spicy Indian Grilled Chicken

From: Recipezaar

Prep Time: 15 minutes plus marinating time (up to overnight); Cook Time: 15 minutes

Serves 4

4 chicken breasts, raw and cut into pieces

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon paprika

½ tsp cayenne pepper or chipotle pepper

1 tablespoon garam masala

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp oregano

1 ¼ tsp salt

1 garlic clove, minced

3 tablespoons of vegetable oil (I use about 1 tablespoon)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons plain yogurt

Combine all marinade ingredients well. Coat chicken pieces in marinade paste. Marinate from 1 hour up to overnight in the refrigerator.

Grill over medium coals until browned, about 15 minutes on each side.

paired with:

Moroccan Lamb Kabobs

From: Food Network

Prep Time: 20 minutes; Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes; Cook Time: 6 minutes

Serves 12 to 15 servings

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground nutmeg

3 pounds boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1-inch pieces

Mint-Parsley Yogurt Sauce, recipe follows

Special Equipment: 1 package wooden skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Combine all spices and seasoning in a small bowl. Place lamb cubes in a shallow baking dish or large bowl. Rub spice mixture into lamb with hands. Thread lamb cubes onto skewers, about 3 per skewer.

Preheat a grill or grill pan to high heat. Grill kabobs for 3 minutes per side, or until cooked to desired doneness. Transfer to a serving platter and serve with Mint-Parsley Yogurt Sauce for dipping.

and the yogurt sauce they mention:

Mint-Parsley Yogurt Sauce

1 cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, pressed

Salt

Ground pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Stir together the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and garlic in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the chopped fresh herbs and gently stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

what did YOU do at work today?

thanks to danielle, i learned all about the difference between and yam and a sweet potato.







http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/sweetpotato.html

everything but the kitchen sink.

my mom joined some facebook group "the really awkward moment where you dont know whether or not to hug someone."

heh.

so, speaking of awkward moments...
backstory: our friends are taking a whirlwind honeymoon tour and will be gone for about a year. in the meantime they have put most of their stuff in storage, leaving a few items behind for us to babysit. we find this awesome. luke got some tools to borrow. i got some cookbooks and some spices. i asked about the pots and pans too. my thinking was if i can use fancy pots and pans i can create a NEED for them when i have to return them and then i can justify buying my own. so we agreed we would store the pots and pans too.

ok this is where it gets awkward.

so some time had passed and the garage was filling up with tools. the cookbooks were packed neatly in boxes.

"did you still want me to store your pots and pans?"
pause
"ooh, yes, but i need to do some inventory for the trip first."

so last night they stopped over for the last time to pick up some things and drop off some other things and still no pots and pans. im totally fine not storing/using them. i can see how there might be hesitation bc they are nice. i am not offended at all by that decision... BUT... i want to go back to the second conversation we had. i didnt realize it might have been awkward at the time. and i kind of wish they felt comfortable enough saying something about it. and now i have this unresolved question.

or they could have just found it easier to put them in storage in the end and i am crazy. both are possible. both are awkward.

its a deal.

a new post everyday, no matter how bland.

4/20. woot?

god, remember when 420 was akin to st patricks day? i would skip class and plan special parties... i would drink in the early afternoon. it was always warm out (at least thats how i remember it). there would be some sort of bar-b-que, followed by pizza later- probably from adris... i was stoned from morning to night.

i dont miss those days. AT ALL.

dream blog

i had a dream the other night that there was something i wanted to blog about. i started dream drafting it in my head. and when i finally dream sat down to dream type it i dreamed (wow, dreamt isnt a word? huh.) that the people reading my dream blog would be dream offended.

i have no idea what i was supposed to dream blog about. but i figured it might as well write about something. i mean, if im thinking about doing it in my sleep, might as well do it in real life too. though this makes me worried next im going to show up at work naked and all my teeth will fall out.

things have been a little hectic round these parts lately. work has been retarded. ive been so stressed out with my endless to-dos that my eye has developed a twitch. the rest of my body has reacted in a similar fashion subjecting me to a variety of very sad symptoms. i will spare you details. but at the end of the day all i want to do is curl up and sleep. thats actually not different than any other day come to think of it.

the house is slowly getting there. emphasis on the slow part, less so on the getting there part. i think luke is feeling overwhelmed by all the projects. especially because weve started one in almost every room but have yet to finish one of them. now weve come to the time of year where we want to work on the yard. is it poor form to build a fence when you cant host a dinner party because your dining room is "temporarily" your living room? tv trays are retro right? i keep trying to tell him we dont have a deadline. its sort of true. i do want countertops before i want a baby. but thats a while away.

i signed up to run a triathalon sprint. 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, 3 mile run. all totally doable on their own. should be a decent challenge all together. im pretty excited about it but i need to get into the training thing again. at least the weather is nice...

we've started our whirlwind travel planning for the year. this is whats coming up:
may:
work retreat in portland. this is incredibly more fun than it sounds.
memorial day in austin. we hear talk of good margaritas and tubing on the river.
june:
ariana visits to see a very round kj and a still young me :)
lukes parents visit (time still tbd)
long weekend in sf to see lisa! her boyfriend has been calling me to plan. i find tis incredibly adorable.
july:
birthday blowout roadtrip. glacier nat'l park-->his parents place in eastern montana-->I TURN 30-->wall, sd-->badlands-->mt rushmore-->black hills-->yellowstone
november:
we are hosting the bird again this year
december:
off to my parents place in aiken, with some time in the ATL to visit friends.

its no hawaii, alaska, st john, florida keys year but its still pretty decent. sometime in there we might manage to work on the house too. at least the yard!

kjtashi...

...will be eating the pizza shown here to celebrate her 30th. happy 3-0 kj! lots of love!

i feel crazy

my eye has been twitching for 5 days now.