An RSS feed on my Google sidebar came up with an article that linked to this blog post about prettiness . It's a subject I've thought about for a long time. I love the way she puts it--'Prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked "female".' And she says the opposite, too--"You don't owe UN-prettiness to feminism..."
She's talking about the idea that as a woman, we're "expected to" or "supposed to" be pretty. I remember reading comments in fashion or similar types of articles where men said things like, "I felt cheated when I saw a woman with long hair and a good body, but when I saw her face, she was old." Or one who was offended by fat women who wear shorts. I never could express my anger at the idea that I was somehow shirking my duty if I didn't conform to their expectations. I've rebelled against that idea my whole life. I've never liked the idea that I was on display, just because I'm female. I don't think it's my duty to fuel some random stranger's sexual fantasies. It's my duty to be happy with myself and how I look.
Yet, thanks to my shallow, vain mother and a shallow, vain culture, it's really hard to get past that idea. Although, in my last paragraph, I mentioned men, I think it's the women in our lives that make the "rule" most personal. I sometimes wonder if part of the reason I've had issues with my weight aren't related to that rebellion against being defined by how I look. But being fat dosen't prevent me from being defined that way. It exacerbates it. I've known people who think I'm not "good enough" to be friends with because of my weight. Their loss, not mine. It doesn't bother me because they weren't people I have enough in common with to want to socialize with anyway, but it does bother me that people think it's a valid way to choose friends.
I'm not sure that there's a solution to this problem, since it's in part inborn. We're drawn to more attractive people in order to keep the human race going. We all want healthy babies and our biology goes for the most healthy people, which we assume attractive people are.
But I also think that the technology we have has skewed our perspective. It allows us to see people from all over the world, to be able to compare ourselves (usually negatively) with the few who look "right", even if those looks are the result of makeup, dress, hairstyling and a lot of Photoshopping. We see the ideal, and don't see the parade of normal people around us. For an eye-opening experience, look at the portfolio from a professional retoucher: Glen Ferron. Roll your mouse over the ads to see what the models looked like before the retouching. And remmember, the "after" pictures are the ones held up as being "ideal", even though they're complete fakes. The actual models don't even look like that.
I've often thought that we fool ourselves when we talk about losing weight "for our health". It's the "acceptable" reason to want to lose weight because, while our culture puts its stock in appearance, we all know that's a shallow value. And so we pretend not to care so much about it. Yet, even though our health may be affected by our weight, we don't usually look to health improvement as a measure of our success. We look at numbers on the scale, measuring tape around our middles, clothes sizes and what we see in the mirror. When our health does improve, we often think we're still failing because we haven't "lost enough" weight, which is usually defined by how we look.
This post rambles a bit, because it's kind of my random thoughts on various aspects of the subject. I've been facing issues that may or may not be weight-related, so I've been exploring in my mind my attitudes towards food, weight, appearance, health and all of that stuff. I really don't have any conclusions, but it's important to me to figure this out. I was just told that my favorite aunt died last night. She had complications of diabetes and she's the one I seem to take after the most, genetically. I don't have symptoms, but she didn't either--until she was in her 60s. I see a potentially ticking time bomb, even though I've lived a generally healthier lifestyle than she did. And the diabetes is not in a direct line (parent or sibling) to me, but my grandfather had it, so the possibility is there.
Lest this seem like my aunt's death is about me, it's not. I don't grieve in public. And my grief isn't the topic of this post. I will miss her very much. She was the one I talked cooking with. And she was the musical one. We had a lot in common. But I don't want to follow her into an early grave. I hope that doesn't make me seem cold. It's just that I'm not done with life, yet.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Doomed!
Apparently I'm doomed to write in spurts. I have time here and there, but not consistently. Part of that is the nature of both my job and my main hobby. When it's concert time, I have no time. When it's not, I have a bit of time. So, that's something I have to deal with in terms of all of the things I want to do in my life. And this week is a concert week at work. But I hate to skip so much time between posts because when I do that, the few people who care about this blog stop reading because it wastes their time to come here and not have a new post. A dilemma that most bloggers face in some form or other. I'm going to keep trying to post more regularly, though. I enjoy doing it.
I'm gradually getting the house more in shape. As soon as my husband and I get over the cold we both caught, I'm going to unpack the books onto our bookshelves. We've known that getting our stuff out of boxes has to be a priority because looking for stuff is a real time-waster. So, I decided that's my priority around the house and my deadline is when school starts next quarter.
So, I'm mainly working and unpacking these days. Writing and school are still on hold, mainly because the furniture we needed was on back order until after the busy holiday season started. Playing catch up, as usual. It's back to that baby step thing. I have to keep up with it by doing a little bit when I have a few minutes. Those minutes add up. I think my personality gets in my own way, but I also think I can learn to work with it.
I'm gradually getting the house more in shape. As soon as my husband and I get over the cold we both caught, I'm going to unpack the books onto our bookshelves. We've known that getting our stuff out of boxes has to be a priority because looking for stuff is a real time-waster. So, I decided that's my priority around the house and my deadline is when school starts next quarter.
So, I'm mainly working and unpacking these days. Writing and school are still on hold, mainly because the furniture we needed was on back order until after the busy holiday season started. Playing catch up, as usual. It's back to that baby step thing. I have to keep up with it by doing a little bit when I have a few minutes. Those minutes add up. I think my personality gets in my own way, but I also think I can learn to work with it.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Baby Steps
The term "baby steps" has been bugging me lately. I think it's because it's absolutely everywhere. The concept is a good one. Break large tasks, projects, and so on into chunks you can easily manage. But "baby steps"? Can't we figure out some grownup thing to call it?
Probably not. It seems that if we call it something grownup, it will end up sounding like work. "Work?"-choke, as Maynard G. Krebs used to say. (OK--how many of you know who that guy is? lol He was a character on a very old TV show, Dobie Gillis. The guy, Bob Denver, who eventually became super-famous for being Gilligan on Gilligan's Island played the character. I was too young to watch it, but I got to see the reruns when Nickelodeon started running really old TV shows. Great show!!)
Back to "baby steps". I can't think of a better term for it. I'm thinking that my problem with it isn't really what it's called, but that I don't seem to be able to do it. My brain sees the whole project and wants to get there--NOW!! I can break things down into little chunks, but I can't seem to do "today's chunk" and be happy with that. I want to do all the rest of them, too. Thus, my problem with doing habit-changing projects. Their nature is "baby steps" because they don't have a time when they're "done".
Our houses will always have something that needs cleaning. We will always have to exercise. We will always have to make food choices. We will always have to deal with that kind of thing, whatever our particular thing is. And the nature of that bugs me. I like being "done".
Life doesn't work that way. Many projects are never done. So, it's something I have to deal with. And many projects don't get done fast. Many, like writing a novel, making a movie, writing a symphony, and so on, by their nature, take months or even years of small steps to complete. But we can finish the small steps. If I plan to polish my sink, as the Fly Lady suggests for her first day's baby step, and I do it, I've finished something and it doesn't matter if I didn't do other things that weren't one of today's baby steps.
It's so easy to only see what didn't get done and not realize what did. We're all too prone to beating ourselves up because we didn't blah, blah, blah. But do we give ourselves credit for what we did get done? Rarely. That's why most systems of habit-changing suggest we reward ourselves. Or at the very least, pat ourselves on the back. Notice when we do what we want to do, instead of whatever thing we used to do that got us in the mess we're in. Paying attention to the good stuff, instead of the bad stuff is a powerful tool to help us make changes in our lives.
One of my new baby steps is to note in my journal when I do those baby steps. And to stop complaining when I don't do them. I think good planning is the key to being able to do what I want to do. And paying attention to when I follow the plan will make me more likely to keep doing it. I tend to get too hard on myself, like a lot of people do.
Anyway, baby steps, for lack of a better term, do work. If I don't plan more than I can reasonably expect to do and pay attention to the successes, I should make progress. And progress is all anyone can hope for. None of us can ever be perfect and trying to achieve some mental picture of perfection guarantees failure.
Probably not. It seems that if we call it something grownup, it will end up sounding like work. "Work?"-choke, as Maynard G. Krebs used to say. (OK--how many of you know who that guy is? lol He was a character on a very old TV show, Dobie Gillis. The guy, Bob Denver, who eventually became super-famous for being Gilligan on Gilligan's Island played the character. I was too young to watch it, but I got to see the reruns when Nickelodeon started running really old TV shows. Great show!!)
Back to "baby steps". I can't think of a better term for it. I'm thinking that my problem with it isn't really what it's called, but that I don't seem to be able to do it. My brain sees the whole project and wants to get there--NOW!! I can break things down into little chunks, but I can't seem to do "today's chunk" and be happy with that. I want to do all the rest of them, too. Thus, my problem with doing habit-changing projects. Their nature is "baby steps" because they don't have a time when they're "done".
Our houses will always have something that needs cleaning. We will always have to exercise. We will always have to make food choices. We will always have to deal with that kind of thing, whatever our particular thing is. And the nature of that bugs me. I like being "done".
Life doesn't work that way. Many projects are never done. So, it's something I have to deal with. And many projects don't get done fast. Many, like writing a novel, making a movie, writing a symphony, and so on, by their nature, take months or even years of small steps to complete. But we can finish the small steps. If I plan to polish my sink, as the Fly Lady suggests for her first day's baby step, and I do it, I've finished something and it doesn't matter if I didn't do other things that weren't one of today's baby steps.
It's so easy to only see what didn't get done and not realize what did. We're all too prone to beating ourselves up because we didn't blah, blah, blah. But do we give ourselves credit for what we did get done? Rarely. That's why most systems of habit-changing suggest we reward ourselves. Or at the very least, pat ourselves on the back. Notice when we do what we want to do, instead of whatever thing we used to do that got us in the mess we're in. Paying attention to the good stuff, instead of the bad stuff is a powerful tool to help us make changes in our lives.
One of my new baby steps is to note in my journal when I do those baby steps. And to stop complaining when I don't do them. I think good planning is the key to being able to do what I want to do. And paying attention to when I follow the plan will make me more likely to keep doing it. I tend to get too hard on myself, like a lot of people do.
Anyway, baby steps, for lack of a better term, do work. If I don't plan more than I can reasonably expect to do and pay attention to the successes, I should make progress. And progress is all anyone can hope for. None of us can ever be perfect and trying to achieve some mental picture of perfection guarantees failure.
Friday, November 30, 2007
More about the Fly Lady & Other Stuff
The emails from the Fly Lady are mostly working now. So I'm getting a better handle on how the system works. It was bothering me that I haven't been doing it much. Then I got some that I couldn't do because they were already done. YAY! I realized that I was letting that perfectionism she talks about get to me. After all, I cannot do some of the things because of circumstances beyond my control.
For example, I can get rid of the paper that needs recycling or shredding. Bag it up and dump it down the recycle chute. But I cannot file or put away paper because the filing cabinets that are the legs for my desk, and part of the desktops, won't be here until Tuesday. I need to be happy with what I can do. And the house actually looks pretty good, in terms of cleanliness.
I have piles of books hanging out on my dining room table and in a box and one pile on the floor. It sounds like a lot, but I had to take them out of my small bookcases so I could move them. Then I had to do other things in my life, so they're hanging out for a few days. I'll use Fly Lady's slogan--You can do anything in 15 minutes. Set a timer and get it put away.
Next week, after our computer table gets here and we get it set up, we'll measure the walls and head to Ikea for bookcases. I can actually imagine a day when I don't have boxes lining my walls. YAY!
In other news--we're hitting the busiest concert season of the year. I already did one concert. We have three more, plus I have an additional concert, in the next two weeks. Along with that, we have two more to attend. Plus Christmas Eve service to sing at church. It sounds hectic, and it is. But it's also fun and January can be a bit of a letdown.
I finished off the last of the turkey today. I made a pasta dish with a white sauce. It didn't resemble any of the Turkey Tetrazzini recipes that seem to be in every food magazine after Thanksgiving every year. It was good. I can't give you the recipe, though, and I'll never make it again. It was one of those recipes created by tossing in everything that needed to be cooked or it was going to have to be trashed. I had a great time in the kitchen.
For example, I can get rid of the paper that needs recycling or shredding. Bag it up and dump it down the recycle chute. But I cannot file or put away paper because the filing cabinets that are the legs for my desk, and part of the desktops, won't be here until Tuesday. I need to be happy with what I can do. And the house actually looks pretty good, in terms of cleanliness.
I have piles of books hanging out on my dining room table and in a box and one pile on the floor. It sounds like a lot, but I had to take them out of my small bookcases so I could move them. Then I had to do other things in my life, so they're hanging out for a few days. I'll use Fly Lady's slogan--You can do anything in 15 minutes. Set a timer and get it put away.
Next week, after our computer table gets here and we get it set up, we'll measure the walls and head to Ikea for bookcases. I can actually imagine a day when I don't have boxes lining my walls. YAY!
In other news--we're hitting the busiest concert season of the year. I already did one concert. We have three more, plus I have an additional concert, in the next two weeks. Along with that, we have two more to attend. Plus Christmas Eve service to sing at church. It sounds hectic, and it is. But it's also fun and January can be a bit of a letdown.
I finished off the last of the turkey today. I made a pasta dish with a white sauce. It didn't resemble any of the Turkey Tetrazzini recipes that seem to be in every food magazine after Thanksgiving every year. It was good. I can't give you the recipe, though, and I'll never make it again. It was one of those recipes created by tossing in everything that needed to be cooked or it was going to have to be trashed. I had a great time in the kitchen.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
November
I was shocked at how few posts I've done this month. I expected to keep up, since I started building the habit of posting again. But I haven't been home. I'm on a forensic science list for writers and I have over 40 digests I haven't read yet. It's an active group and regularly has at least two digests daily, so it's not 40 days worth, thankfully. So, I guess I need to catch up for those who actually come here every so often and read this little blog.
NaNo is halfway a bust. It's a bust because I'm not going to finish it. It's not a bust because I discovered I have little bits of time in which I can write. I also discovered that I really didn't want to start a new novel. I really want to finish the one I'm in the middle of. I started NaNo with a different novel because the rules are that you have to do something new. I decided to put my effort where my muse wants to go--on 50 Ways.
It's not happening soon, though. We've had a small inheritance and have been using some of it for things we desperately needed to replace--old, worn out things or things that disappeared or were ruined while we lived at my mom's. The biggie is our Mazda 3 5-door, to replace our over 20-year-old Oldsmobile. We couldn't justify putting more money into the Olds, which was just wearing out. We love the Mazda. So far, we haven't found anything we want to carry that won't fit in it. It handles all the driving we normally do. And it gets decent mileage. Besides that, it's a really pretty dark blue, with a hint of green, and a metallic undercoat so it's nice and SHINY in the sun. What more could you ask for in a car?
Our computer desk and filing cabinets are trickling in. Some of it was backordered, so was shipped separately. Currently, we have one proper cabinet and 2 boxes topped by some of my cookbooks holding up the desktop. It gets the desktop computer off the dining room table. I still have to use the laptop there, but that's easy to move so we can eat. The rest of the modular system is en route. It shipped last weekend and I expect the holiday weekend to extend the waiting time by a day or two.
Our TV died the other day. We can live without a TV. But we'd planned to get a new one for Christmas. We knew it was going, but were hoping to replace it a bit later than this. We dithered around about it and finally decided to go ahead. We ended up with the same TV our oldest son has. He's trying to talk us into buying a Playstation 3, so we can play Blu-ray discs and I can start collecting Final Fantasy video games. It's a video game series we both enjoy. That's not happening. If so much of our stuff didn't need replacing, maybe we could justify spending the extra money. But we have to be mostly practical.
We had to replace our waterbed. It was not going to survive one more move. Then my youngest son used some of the wood for shelves, which sealed its fate. Our current bed is gradually getting off the floor. We'd started with an Aerobed. Then the box springs came and we had the aerobed on top of the box springs. The mattress got here about a week ago. So, we crushed the Aerobed and have the mattress and box springs. The bed itself is on backorder. It's supposed to be shipped on or before Dec. 10. So, maybe by Christmas we'll have a whole bed.
We found a small pantry online. We're planning to move as much of the food that's in our built-in pantry into it. Then we can use the built-in pantry for large pans, small appliances, and large bowls. All the stuff that doesn't fit in the regular kitchen cupboards. Then my kitchen will me much easier to keep clean. It will never be a convenient kitchen. A lot of the shelves need a step stool to reach and a lot are deep, so you have to move stuff to get to other stuff. I try to put the stuff I don't use as much in the back, but nothing is never used, so I expect to be moving stuff a lot.
I have almost all my bathroom stuff unpacked. This apartment has a good-sized bathroom with a decent amount of storage. I love that. I also love not feeling cramped in there.
So, that leaves the rest of the books, music, keepsakes, projects, photos, and misc. stuff that doesn't have a home yet. I expect a trip to Ikea for bookcases and a trip to the storage place for appropriate storage containers will take care of that. Maybe I can meet my goal of having all the boxes unpacked by Christmas. It's costing us a fortune. I expect mainly it seems that way because we had to pretty much start from scratch, like 20-year-old newlyweds or something. At that age, you'd have hand-me-downs from the family and accumulate a lot of this stuff the way we originally did--gradually. But at our age, there are no family hand-me-downs. We already handed them down to our kids.
OK--so, along with doing all the unpacking and shopping for stuff so I can unpack, and working at my job, I've been doing a ton of music. Plus some volunteer work. That's why I haven't been home so I could write posts.
We've done the first of our concerts since fall rehearsals started. Ladyesong had a great concert of works by local composers. Man, these people write wonderful music. But challenging! And totally fun.
We had the first of three Thanksgiving dinners at my church last Saturday. Two of us cooked turkeys, stuffing, and gravy. The third woman in our group took care of table decorations. We shared the shopping chores. A bunch of other people helped with set up and clean up. The guests brought the rest of the food. It was terrific, fun, and a lot of work. We're already discussing next year.
Tomorrow my youngest son, husband and I have been invited to a friend's for dinner. I'm bringing the cranberry relish. My friend moved to a new place a bit before we did. I'm looking forward to seeing it.
Saturday, my family is coming to my house for Thanksgiving dinner number three. My married son is at his in-law's tomorrow. So we decided to take a day between turkey dinners and do our family holiday Saturday. My fridge is stuffed. I wish I had a bigger fridge, but it's an improvement over the ones they used to put in apartments. And I have a gas stove. It's wonderful to cook on. I'm looking forward to cooking my family's favorites, since I haven't really been able to do that for a few years. They all requested apple pie. It's wonderful to be able to make the apple pie and NOT feel forced to make pumpkin, too, just because you're "supposed to" have pumpkin. No one really likes pumpkin that much and no one wants two desserts, anyway.
Next week is my birthday. My hubby gave me a budget and I spent most of it on replacing my food processor (one of the casualties of the leaky, damp storage shed where my stuff was for the almost 4 years we lived at my mother's), and got the mini-prep Cuisanart for free, thanks to a coupon at the store where I bought it. I bought several expensive cookbooks I've been eying. There's one I'm still searching for. I could buy it online, but I'm in bookstores often enough. I'll run across it, eventually. Then he's taking me out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants on my birthday. It's special because I went for all that time not really cooking at all. It's a super treat to rebuild a decent kitchen and cook the good, healthy food I love to make.
I haven't forgotten the Fly Lady, either. I've talked about her emails. She's had trouble with the software not sending them consistently. It seems to be fixed. Anyway, I'm reading them and seeing how it works. I've also noticed that as I get useable storage and get my stuff unpacked, it's easier to keep the clutter down. When I get the filing cabinets and actually have a place to put all that paper, maybe I can keep it under control. I didn't have that problem when I had my big rolltop desk with places to put everything.
The Fly Lady's thing is to start with a shiny sink. I think it's kind of ironic that tonight everything in my kitchen shines except the sink. I had too many dishes for the dishwasher, so it will get cleaned tomorrow. I'm not staying up late to do another load of dishes and I'm not stacking dirty dishes on my clean counters, so I can shine my sink.
NaNo is halfway a bust. It's a bust because I'm not going to finish it. It's not a bust because I discovered I have little bits of time in which I can write. I also discovered that I really didn't want to start a new novel. I really want to finish the one I'm in the middle of. I started NaNo with a different novel because the rules are that you have to do something new. I decided to put my effort where my muse wants to go--on 50 Ways.
It's not happening soon, though. We've had a small inheritance and have been using some of it for things we desperately needed to replace--old, worn out things or things that disappeared or were ruined while we lived at my mom's. The biggie is our Mazda 3 5-door, to replace our over 20-year-old Oldsmobile. We couldn't justify putting more money into the Olds, which was just wearing out. We love the Mazda. So far, we haven't found anything we want to carry that won't fit in it. It handles all the driving we normally do. And it gets decent mileage. Besides that, it's a really pretty dark blue, with a hint of green, and a metallic undercoat so it's nice and SHINY in the sun. What more could you ask for in a car?
Our computer desk and filing cabinets are trickling in. Some of it was backordered, so was shipped separately. Currently, we have one proper cabinet and 2 boxes topped by some of my cookbooks holding up the desktop. It gets the desktop computer off the dining room table. I still have to use the laptop there, but that's easy to move so we can eat. The rest of the modular system is en route. It shipped last weekend and I expect the holiday weekend to extend the waiting time by a day or two.
Our TV died the other day. We can live without a TV. But we'd planned to get a new one for Christmas. We knew it was going, but were hoping to replace it a bit later than this. We dithered around about it and finally decided to go ahead. We ended up with the same TV our oldest son has. He's trying to talk us into buying a Playstation 3, so we can play Blu-ray discs and I can start collecting Final Fantasy video games. It's a video game series we both enjoy. That's not happening. If so much of our stuff didn't need replacing, maybe we could justify spending the extra money. But we have to be mostly practical.
We had to replace our waterbed. It was not going to survive one more move. Then my youngest son used some of the wood for shelves, which sealed its fate. Our current bed is gradually getting off the floor. We'd started with an Aerobed. Then the box springs came and we had the aerobed on top of the box springs. The mattress got here about a week ago. So, we crushed the Aerobed and have the mattress and box springs. The bed itself is on backorder. It's supposed to be shipped on or before Dec. 10. So, maybe by Christmas we'll have a whole bed.
We found a small pantry online. We're planning to move as much of the food that's in our built-in pantry into it. Then we can use the built-in pantry for large pans, small appliances, and large bowls. All the stuff that doesn't fit in the regular kitchen cupboards. Then my kitchen will me much easier to keep clean. It will never be a convenient kitchen. A lot of the shelves need a step stool to reach and a lot are deep, so you have to move stuff to get to other stuff. I try to put the stuff I don't use as much in the back, but nothing is never used, so I expect to be moving stuff a lot.
I have almost all my bathroom stuff unpacked. This apartment has a good-sized bathroom with a decent amount of storage. I love that. I also love not feeling cramped in there.
So, that leaves the rest of the books, music, keepsakes, projects, photos, and misc. stuff that doesn't have a home yet. I expect a trip to Ikea for bookcases and a trip to the storage place for appropriate storage containers will take care of that. Maybe I can meet my goal of having all the boxes unpacked by Christmas. It's costing us a fortune. I expect mainly it seems that way because we had to pretty much start from scratch, like 20-year-old newlyweds or something. At that age, you'd have hand-me-downs from the family and accumulate a lot of this stuff the way we originally did--gradually. But at our age, there are no family hand-me-downs. We already handed them down to our kids.
OK--so, along with doing all the unpacking and shopping for stuff so I can unpack, and working at my job, I've been doing a ton of music. Plus some volunteer work. That's why I haven't been home so I could write posts.
We've done the first of our concerts since fall rehearsals started. Ladyesong had a great concert of works by local composers. Man, these people write wonderful music. But challenging! And totally fun.
We had the first of three Thanksgiving dinners at my church last Saturday. Two of us cooked turkeys, stuffing, and gravy. The third woman in our group took care of table decorations. We shared the shopping chores. A bunch of other people helped with set up and clean up. The guests brought the rest of the food. It was terrific, fun, and a lot of work. We're already discussing next year.
Tomorrow my youngest son, husband and I have been invited to a friend's for dinner. I'm bringing the cranberry relish. My friend moved to a new place a bit before we did. I'm looking forward to seeing it.
Saturday, my family is coming to my house for Thanksgiving dinner number three. My married son is at his in-law's tomorrow. So we decided to take a day between turkey dinners and do our family holiday Saturday. My fridge is stuffed. I wish I had a bigger fridge, but it's an improvement over the ones they used to put in apartments. And I have a gas stove. It's wonderful to cook on. I'm looking forward to cooking my family's favorites, since I haven't really been able to do that for a few years. They all requested apple pie. It's wonderful to be able to make the apple pie and NOT feel forced to make pumpkin, too, just because you're "supposed to" have pumpkin. No one really likes pumpkin that much and no one wants two desserts, anyway.
Next week is my birthday. My hubby gave me a budget and I spent most of it on replacing my food processor (one of the casualties of the leaky, damp storage shed where my stuff was for the almost 4 years we lived at my mother's), and got the mini-prep Cuisanart for free, thanks to a coupon at the store where I bought it. I bought several expensive cookbooks I've been eying. There's one I'm still searching for. I could buy it online, but I'm in bookstores often enough. I'll run across it, eventually. Then he's taking me out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants on my birthday. It's special because I went for all that time not really cooking at all. It's a super treat to rebuild a decent kitchen and cook the good, healthy food I love to make.
I haven't forgotten the Fly Lady, either. I've talked about her emails. She's had trouble with the software not sending them consistently. It seems to be fixed. Anyway, I'm reading them and seeing how it works. I've also noticed that as I get useable storage and get my stuff unpacked, it's easier to keep the clutter down. When I get the filing cabinets and actually have a place to put all that paper, maybe I can keep it under control. I didn't have that problem when I had my big rolltop desk with places to put everything.
The Fly Lady's thing is to start with a shiny sink. I think it's kind of ironic that tonight everything in my kitchen shines except the sink. I had too many dishes for the dishwasher, so it will get cleaned tomorrow. I'm not staying up late to do another load of dishes and I'm not stacking dirty dishes on my clean counters, so I can shine my sink.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
NaNo--Days 3: 162 & 6: 375
My current total is a mere 1,421. I didn't write Sunday or yesterday, but I plan to write more words after Dr. Who and Torchwood. I know. I should write now, but Dr. Who is a two-parter and I just have to know how it turns out. After Dr. Who I have to cut up all the veggies for salads. Cutting them after I go to the store makes it simpler to make salads for lunch and dinner.
That chore is done and I have about 15 minutes, which I'm going to use to write a bit. But that will have to do for today. I'll have more time tomorrow. Today was emergency errand day because we didn't have time to go grocery shopping and do errands for about a week and a half. A quick trip to the local Safeway to pick up a few things was not going to be enough.
As you can see, I did manage 375 words today for a new total of 1796. Not bad, considering how swamped it's been. I'll need a marathon to catch up, I bet, but the next FM marathon will be when I'm cooking Thanksgiving turkey for our church dinner. I guess I'll have to do my own marathon, on those mythical two days when I don't have a lot to do.
I knew going in that I have a busy month. I'll keep chipping away at that word count and maybe I'll manage it. If not, I will have accomplished two things-whatever words I get on a story I'm having a lot of fun with. And established some kind of writing routine, which I want to continue after NaNo.
That chore is done and I have about 15 minutes, which I'm going to use to write a bit. But that will have to do for today. I'll have more time tomorrow. Today was emergency errand day because we didn't have time to go grocery shopping and do errands for about a week and a half. A quick trip to the local Safeway to pick up a few things was not going to be enough.
As you can see, I did manage 375 words today for a new total of 1796. Not bad, considering how swamped it's been. I'll need a marathon to catch up, I bet, but the next FM marathon will be when I'm cooking Thanksgiving turkey for our church dinner. I guess I'll have to do my own marathon, on those mythical two days when I don't have a lot to do.
I knew going in that I have a busy month. I'll keep chipping away at that word count and maybe I'll manage it. If not, I will have accomplished two things-whatever words I get on a story I'm having a lot of fun with. And established some kind of writing routine, which I want to continue after NaNo.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
NaNo--Day 2: 498
So, yesterday I was not home. I managed 498. I figure every word I get before next week is a winner, since November 1-4 were not going to have long writing sessions, no matter what I did. I knew before I started NaNo that they'd be busy days. I'm going to try to get some words in before we leave for the weekend. And some when we get back. I'm not taking my computer, so I won't be posting any word counts until Sunday or Monday. Anyway, the story is going well. The writing stinks, but there's stuff to work with in revising, should I like this enough to do something with it after NaNo is over.
Friday, November 02, 2007
NaNo--Day 1: 761
My first day's NaNo count is: 761. Yeah, it's not the magic 1667, but I had a ton of stuff to do yesterday and wasn't home. I will be writing this morning. If my son doesn't need a ride to take care of paperwork for his new job, I'll write this afternoon, too. Tonight, my other son needs a ride to do an errand and we have an errand to run, too, so no writing after dinner.
(Funny how our children, neither of whom has a driver's license yet, suddenly need rides. Ya think it has anything to do with our spiffy new vehicle?)
I'm going to be out-of-town this weekend and I'm not taking the laptop. I don't expect to have time to write. I'll do my best to do a bit more on the days I can write in order to make up for the days I can't. Like next Sunday, when I have a concert. And Saturday the 17th when I'm cooking for the church Thanksgiving feast. And whatever day I end up doing the family Thanksgiving. It looks like I'm going to need 2053 words a day on the days I can write in order to make 50K.
My current plan on work days, since most of what I'm doing is pretty tedious computer input stuff, is alternate the two things. Use the work time to plot the novel, write a bit, then go back to the work stuff. We'll see how it goes.
So far, it's going great. I figured out what my protagonist wants more than anything. It's cool to see story developing where I had a void for a whole month.
Re: my Halloween Hangman link:
In the comments, Kristy Shreve Powers noted that it's a great NaNo procrastinator. Yeah, it is. I have another of those, if anyone wants to do a bit of charity and procrastinate on their NaNo novel: Free Rice. It's a vocabulary quiz, which someone posted on Forward Motion. For every word you get right, they donate one grain of rice, through a UN food program. You can rack up a lot of rice in a short time. Anyway, it's a cool way to while away some time, learn some new words, do some good, and have fun. Cool beans -- uh--maybe I should say--cool rice!
(Funny how our children, neither of whom has a driver's license yet, suddenly need rides. Ya think it has anything to do with our spiffy new vehicle?)
I'm going to be out-of-town this weekend and I'm not taking the laptop. I don't expect to have time to write. I'll do my best to do a bit more on the days I can write in order to make up for the days I can't. Like next Sunday, when I have a concert. And Saturday the 17th when I'm cooking for the church Thanksgiving feast. And whatever day I end up doing the family Thanksgiving. It looks like I'm going to need 2053 words a day on the days I can write in order to make 50K.
My current plan on work days, since most of what I'm doing is pretty tedious computer input stuff, is alternate the two things. Use the work time to plot the novel, write a bit, then go back to the work stuff. We'll see how it goes.
So far, it's going great. I figured out what my protagonist wants more than anything. It's cool to see story developing where I had a void for a whole month.
Re: my Halloween Hangman link:
In the comments, Kristy Shreve Powers noted that it's a great NaNo procrastinator. Yeah, it is. I have another of those, if anyone wants to do a bit of charity and procrastinate on their NaNo novel: Free Rice. It's a vocabulary quiz, which someone posted on Forward Motion. For every word you get right, they donate one grain of rice, through a UN food program. You can rack up a lot of rice in a short time. Anyway, it's a cool way to while away some time, learn some new words, do some good, and have fun. Cool beans -- uh--maybe I should say--cool rice!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Halloween Fun
I know Halloween is almost over for this year, but I couldn't resist sharing this bit of addictive fun.
Set a timer. It's easy to keep going and going and going...
Set a timer. It's easy to keep going and going and going...
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Cooking and Life
Last Sunday Paul and I had a new experience. Our church has a cadre of volunteers that cooks at the San Jose Family Shelter several times a year. The shelter looks for volunteers to cook on the weekends when the regular staff is off duty. Our head chef, Andrea, is a super-organized lady, which is why it all works. Someone joked that she's a slave driver, but she isn't. She doesn't need to be because she posts a list of what has to be done and the time schedule, so it's easy for us to choose the next most important task and get it done.
After we madly slice, dice, and cook, we serve the food to the families. It's a lot of fun. I see I'm going to have to get coached to revive my high school Spanish. I could almost, but not quite, remember how to ask the Hispanic people what they wanted. Then we get to eat. However, we had more people than they ever had before and we ran out of chicken. Everyone got some, but we ended up trying small bits of what was left and eating later. Andrea brings good recipies.
It was a fun day and we're all signed up for the next one. Our church's turn comes up about four times a year. It's yet another way I can thank God for one of the gifts he's given me, since cooking is one of my greatest pleasures. And it's much more fun and rewarding to cook for other people, no matter who they are--friends, family, or strangers.
In a couple of weeks, I get to do more cooking. Our church hosts a Thanksgiving dinner a week before Thanksgiving. Three of us are gathering to cook the turkeys and dressing. Everyone is bringing the sides as pot luck. We did this last year for the first time and it was a blast. We decided to make it an annual event.
In other parts of my life--before we do the Thanksgiving dinner, my women's group, Ladyesong, is singing our fall concert. It's called "California Connections" and all of the music has been composed by California composers. Some of them will be attending the concert. We're also having Dan Levitan playing the harp and Michael Touchi on flute. It's going to be a good concert. And I get to cook some more. I'm bringing 2 dozen cookies for the reception afterward. I think I'm going to make these to-die-for fudgy chocolate cookies that are rolled in powdered sugar before you bake them. If anyone living in or near the SF Bay Area is interested, the concert is November 11 at 7 pm at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Saratoga. And it's free. The Thanksgiving dinner I mentioned is also at Prince of Peace on November 17. I don't remember the time, so I'll have to post that later.
Paul and I got a new car yesterday. We retired the old brown Olds and got a Phantom Blue Mica Mazda 3 5-door hatchback. We got a good deal because I fell in love with this color that no one wants. It's a beautiful dark blue green with a metallic undercoat, but it looks really green and kind of ugly on the Mazda web site. When I saw it in the dealer, it looked totally different and really pretty.
We decided to get a new car since, we were looking at putting at least 5 grand into repairs on the Olds and that's way more than the car was worth. The dealer gave us 50 bucks to take it off our hands. lol If only we could have gotten it to fail the California smog test. Then we could have sold it to the state, as part of their gross polluter program, for one thousand dollars.
Paul's phone interview last week went well. The interviewer wants him to come in for an in-person interview. We're waiting to hear the details for that from HR. We hope that will happen soon and that he gets this job. He'd really like the work and it's a good fit for his skills. We're also, of course, hoping it pays enough to cover the bills. A lot of technician jobs these days don't, just because housing is so expensive here. I guess almost everyone who lives in California complains about the cost of housing.
We'd be willing to move to a cheaper location, if companies would give him a chance, but he rarely gets interviews when he applies out of the area. The couple of job offers he's had over the years wanted him to start at entry-level jobs and pay, even though he had 20 or more years of experience. What's up with that? I can't believe they really think someone with that kind of experience would move hundreds of miles to take the bottom job in his field.
On the whole, though, things are looking up here. And I'm hoping for a bit of stability, at least for a while. I really, really like our new apartment and the money we saved on the car is paying for a bed and computer table and filing cabinets and other furniture we need so we're not sleeping on the floor and can unpack the rest of our stuff. It would be a great Christmas present to me if I could have an apartment not decorated with boxes lining every available wall, and half of the main closet.
After we madly slice, dice, and cook, we serve the food to the families. It's a lot of fun. I see I'm going to have to get coached to revive my high school Spanish. I could almost, but not quite, remember how to ask the Hispanic people what they wanted. Then we get to eat. However, we had more people than they ever had before and we ran out of chicken. Everyone got some, but we ended up trying small bits of what was left and eating later. Andrea brings good recipies.
It was a fun day and we're all signed up for the next one. Our church's turn comes up about four times a year. It's yet another way I can thank God for one of the gifts he's given me, since cooking is one of my greatest pleasures. And it's much more fun and rewarding to cook for other people, no matter who they are--friends, family, or strangers.
In a couple of weeks, I get to do more cooking. Our church hosts a Thanksgiving dinner a week before Thanksgiving. Three of us are gathering to cook the turkeys and dressing. Everyone is bringing the sides as pot luck. We did this last year for the first time and it was a blast. We decided to make it an annual event.
In other parts of my life--before we do the Thanksgiving dinner, my women's group, Ladyesong, is singing our fall concert. It's called "California Connections" and all of the music has been composed by California composers. Some of them will be attending the concert. We're also having Dan Levitan playing the harp and Michael Touchi on flute. It's going to be a good concert. And I get to cook some more. I'm bringing 2 dozen cookies for the reception afterward. I think I'm going to make these to-die-for fudgy chocolate cookies that are rolled in powdered sugar before you bake them. If anyone living in or near the SF Bay Area is interested, the concert is November 11 at 7 pm at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Saratoga. And it's free. The Thanksgiving dinner I mentioned is also at Prince of Peace on November 17. I don't remember the time, so I'll have to post that later.
Paul and I got a new car yesterday. We retired the old brown Olds and got a Phantom Blue Mica Mazda 3 5-door hatchback. We got a good deal because I fell in love with this color that no one wants. It's a beautiful dark blue green with a metallic undercoat, but it looks really green and kind of ugly on the Mazda web site. When I saw it in the dealer, it looked totally different and really pretty.
We decided to get a new car since, we were looking at putting at least 5 grand into repairs on the Olds and that's way more than the car was worth. The dealer gave us 50 bucks to take it off our hands. lol If only we could have gotten it to fail the California smog test. Then we could have sold it to the state, as part of their gross polluter program, for one thousand dollars.
Paul's phone interview last week went well. The interviewer wants him to come in for an in-person interview. We're waiting to hear the details for that from HR. We hope that will happen soon and that he gets this job. He'd really like the work and it's a good fit for his skills. We're also, of course, hoping it pays enough to cover the bills. A lot of technician jobs these days don't, just because housing is so expensive here. I guess almost everyone who lives in California complains about the cost of housing.
We'd be willing to move to a cheaper location, if companies would give him a chance, but he rarely gets interviews when he applies out of the area. The couple of job offers he's had over the years wanted him to start at entry-level jobs and pay, even though he had 20 or more years of experience. What's up with that? I can't believe they really think someone with that kind of experience would move hundreds of miles to take the bottom job in his field.
On the whole, though, things are looking up here. And I'm hoping for a bit of stability, at least for a while. I really, really like our new apartment and the money we saved on the car is paying for a bed and computer table and filing cabinets and other furniture we need so we're not sleeping on the floor and can unpack the rest of our stuff. It would be a great Christmas present to me if I could have an apartment not decorated with boxes lining every available wall, and half of the main closet.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Habits
Since I subscribed to the Fly Lady emails, I've been a lot more aware of habits. I've started to notice the domino effect of the habits in my life. The effective habits I have make other things much easier. The ineffective habits do the opposite. That seems like a no-brainer, especiall if you're one of the naturally organized folks. What Fly Lady, with her baby steps, is trying to get us to do is change one ineffective habit at a time into an effective habit. Effective habits have their domino effect, too. I think it's easier to make the changes when you really see how it all fits together. Having a positive domino effect is great motivation to change one habit. And move on from there.
I decided to go back to school and finish that web development degree I started before we moved to Salinas. I pulled the information from their web site and now I have to decide what to take. I also want to work on general drawing and design skills. What I love is designing web sites, but I'm not a skilled artist. I do fine with page layout, but I really want to create the graphics I'm using, as well. So, I'm planning to take classes that aren't required, but will help me reach my personal goals. Since I only have one or two GE classes left to take, I have room in my schedule to take classes that will improve the skills I'm weak in. But, if I'm going to continue to do the things I'm doing now--work, sing in my ensembles, take care of the stuff everyone has to do--I need to build better habits. I have the holiday season and NaNo month in which to do it before school starts. That's a good motivation for me. Heck, I to build effective habits just to get through NaNo and the holidays.
I've often tried to create effective habits, and have succeeded in some areas. But I've never before really understood the relationship doing one thing has on everything else. I always thought I had to change everything all at once or I'd be stuck with things the way they are. But I don't. I only need to change one thing. After I see what effect making that change has, I'll be able to see where I'm being ineffective and choose what the next one change should be. I may not make changes in the same order as the Fly Lady suggests, but that's not the important thing. What's important is that I develop habits that make the life I'm leading work for me in a way that's less stressful than it is now.
I decided to go back to school and finish that web development degree I started before we moved to Salinas. I pulled the information from their web site and now I have to decide what to take. I also want to work on general drawing and design skills. What I love is designing web sites, but I'm not a skilled artist. I do fine with page layout, but I really want to create the graphics I'm using, as well. So, I'm planning to take classes that aren't required, but will help me reach my personal goals. Since I only have one or two GE classes left to take, I have room in my schedule to take classes that will improve the skills I'm weak in. But, if I'm going to continue to do the things I'm doing now--work, sing in my ensembles, take care of the stuff everyone has to do--I need to build better habits. I have the holiday season and NaNo month in which to do it before school starts. That's a good motivation for me. Heck, I to build effective habits just to get through NaNo and the holidays.
I've often tried to create effective habits, and have succeeded in some areas. But I've never before really understood the relationship doing one thing has on everything else. I always thought I had to change everything all at once or I'd be stuck with things the way they are. But I don't. I only need to change one thing. After I see what effect making that change has, I'll be able to see where I'm being ineffective and choose what the next one change should be. I may not make changes in the same order as the Fly Lady suggests, but that's not the important thing. What's important is that I develop habits that make the life I'm leading work for me in a way that's less stressful than it is now.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
A Quick Post on NaNo
I'm not preparing anything other than a character and the essence of who she is for NaNo. It's not that I don't want to know more, it's that every time I try to do background stuff, what comes out is story. Writing story before November 1 is against the rules. My husband says I should just wait for NaNo and start writing.
That's a scary proposal for me because I've tried to write about this character before. She's really interesting to me. But I got stuck because I cannot figure out what the main problem she's facing is. I feel like I ought to have that, at least, before I start writing. But it's not happening.
I suspect what I'll end up doing is follow her around her normal day and see what happens. Something interesting is bound to happen because my imagination hates being bored. Start with the alarm clock going off and soon she'll be up to her neck in trouble, or at least talking to someone else up to his neck in trouble--and she'll want to help.
We'll see what happens when NaNo gets here. I'm determined to do something with it.
That's a scary proposal for me because I've tried to write about this character before. She's really interesting to me. But I got stuck because I cannot figure out what the main problem she's facing is. I feel like I ought to have that, at least, before I start writing. But it's not happening.
I suspect what I'll end up doing is follow her around her normal day and see what happens. Something interesting is bound to happen because my imagination hates being bored. Start with the alarm clock going off and soon she'll be up to her neck in trouble, or at least talking to someone else up to his neck in trouble--and she'll want to help.
We'll see what happens when NaNo gets here. I'm determined to do something with it.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Fusion Food
Sometimes fusion food is nothing more than a technique borrowed from one cuisine used to create a dish using ingredients from another. Take my last night's "Fried Rice". It's just a veggie sauté with rice added in. I needed a simple dish to go with baked trout. Here's what I came up with:
Veggie Fried Rice
Toasted nuts
Olive oil
Frozen veggies--thawed and drained well
1-2 slices cooked bacon--diced
Garlic
Shallots or onion
Cooked rice
salt & pepper
The amounts you need will depend on how many veggies you're cooking. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add veggies and onion. Sauté until the veggies are almost done. Add the garlic and bacon. Sauté a minute or so. Add rice. If your pan isn't nonstick--the rice will stick a little no matter how much oil you use, however, adding a bit more oil before adding the rice helps keep sticking to a minimum. Sauté to heat the rice through. Stir in the toasted nuts. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Note: This is one of those basic technique recipes you can use to create a lot of different dishes. Different vegetable combinations would go with different combinations of herbs and spices. You could melt in some grated cheese right before you serve it. I'd recommend adding the salt after the cheese, since cheese can be salty, so your dish could end up too salty if you do the salt before the cheese. You could use fresh veggies and prepare them the way you would for a stir-fry. After all, a stir-fry is simply the Asian version of the French sauté.
Mangia!
Veggie Fried Rice
Toasted nuts
Olive oil
Frozen veggies--thawed and drained well
1-2 slices cooked bacon--diced
Garlic
Shallots or onion
Cooked rice
salt & pepper
The amounts you need will depend on how many veggies you're cooking. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add veggies and onion. Sauté until the veggies are almost done. Add the garlic and bacon. Sauté a minute or so. Add rice. If your pan isn't nonstick--the rice will stick a little no matter how much oil you use, however, adding a bit more oil before adding the rice helps keep sticking to a minimum. Sauté to heat the rice through. Stir in the toasted nuts. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Note: This is one of those basic technique recipes you can use to create a lot of different dishes. Different vegetable combinations would go with different combinations of herbs and spices. You could melt in some grated cheese right before you serve it. I'd recommend adding the salt after the cheese, since cheese can be salty, so your dish could end up too salty if you do the salt before the cheese. You could use fresh veggies and prepare them the way you would for a stir-fry. After all, a stir-fry is simply the Asian version of the French sauté.
Mangia!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Changes
I had an interesting revelation this week while reading the emails from the Fly Lady site. I thought I was adaptable and accepted the inevitability of change, a "go with the flow" person. I realized that I do expect change and I am "go with the flow", but only in certain situations, those I'm fairly comfortable with or have faced successfully before. Or those I have no control over.
What I also realized is that I'm spontaneous, so I don't cling to my routines so much that I end up with a boring life with no fun in it. I realized that I'm a good problem-solver, so I often can come up with good solutions to the problems that arise in life. But when those solutions mean I have to make drastic changes, I resist. Changing makes me feel uncomfortable, as it does for most people.
I realized that one of the important things in dealing with this quirk is knowing why I'm uncomfortable in a situation. I need to know that the benefits that result from my being uncomfortable, but doing it anyway, are something I really want. I need to know that the discomfort will only last until the new thing becomes the comfortable old friend our habits eventually become. If I have those things, I can live with the discomfort and change my habits.
I also remembered that I need to take time to understand what I'm supposed to do before I actually start doing it. So, I'm not being ornery in not doing what's in the emails from day one. I'm being myself. I plan to start doing day one next week, after I understand the first week. I think I'm more likely to be successful if I use my natural approach, rather than push myself to act totally against my personality.
What I also realized is that I'm spontaneous, so I don't cling to my routines so much that I end up with a boring life with no fun in it. I realized that I'm a good problem-solver, so I often can come up with good solutions to the problems that arise in life. But when those solutions mean I have to make drastic changes, I resist. Changing makes me feel uncomfortable, as it does for most people.
I realized that one of the important things in dealing with this quirk is knowing why I'm uncomfortable in a situation. I need to know that the benefits that result from my being uncomfortable, but doing it anyway, are something I really want. I need to know that the discomfort will only last until the new thing becomes the comfortable old friend our habits eventually become. If I have those things, I can live with the discomfort and change my habits.
I also remembered that I need to take time to understand what I'm supposed to do before I actually start doing it. So, I'm not being ornery in not doing what's in the emails from day one. I'm being myself. I plan to start doing day one next week, after I understand the first week. I think I'm more likely to be successful if I use my natural approach, rather than push myself to act totally against my personality.
Monday, October 08, 2007
The Fly Lady & Being a "Scanner"
The Fly Lady site is about organization for the genetically disorganized. She broke down the system developed by Pam Young and Peggy Jones, the "Sidetracked Home Executives" or "SHE", into baby steps. Her approach filled in some of what was missing in the original system. Pam and Peggy invented the system and the Fly Lady figured out how to implement it successfully.
I've tried using Pam and Peggy's system ever since I first found the original book. I never was able to stick with it. My current situation is not nearly as bad as it has been in the past. I don't have as much clutter to get rid of. Just about a hundred boxes to unpack and nowhere to unpack them to. That sounds like we have a lot of stuff we could get rid of, but every time we move we weed out anything we don't want badly enough to schlep it around. For this stuff, we need bookshelves and appropriate storage containers, but that will have to wait until the job hunt is over.
I have to let that aspect of things go, even though it bugs me to have all these boxes stacked up around the walls. At least I can cook a meal, do laundry, sleep, and get my work done. Most of the books I really want access to are unpacked onto the bookshelves my son gave us. (Bless him! I don't know what I would have done if every book I own had to stay packed in boxes.) And we found some really small, cheap bookshelves at a local drugstore during back-to-school that I've been able to unpack most of the cookbooks I use the most onto.
But my challenge in this new place is establishing routines that will keep it clean. I don't want to go back to the way it used to be in other places we've lived. I think my problem in the past was my usual pattern of trying to fix everything all at once. The Fly Lady's contribution to this is that you don't do that. You fix one small thing and build on it, bit by bit. Each "bit" is a baby step.
Now for the "Scanner" part. Barbara Sher has written a book called Refuse to Choose. It's directed at people like me who want to learn about everything and do tons of interesting projects, which contributes to the clutter, for one thing. For another, although she doesn't discuss housework specifically, it explains to me, at least, part of why housework is such a challenge for "scanners". We have more interesting things to do besides clean. The problem is that often the chaos around me keeps me from doing the projects I want to do. I end up trying to get control of that and neither the chaos gets fixed nor the projects get done. I end up feeling overwhelmed and depressed.
I hope that as I use the tools provided by the Fly Lady, the SHE developers, and Barbara Sher, adapting them to fit my own life, I can figure out how to balance my life so I don't keep going from one extreme to the other. I'd really like to find that elusive middle ground because when I've been in that place, which has happened on occasion, I've been so much more content with my life. Barbara Sher makes the point that Scanners can't be happy unless they do the projects they want to do. I know she's right about that and I'm finally in a place where I'm ready to get back to working on those things that matter to me.
I've tried using Pam and Peggy's system ever since I first found the original book. I never was able to stick with it. My current situation is not nearly as bad as it has been in the past. I don't have as much clutter to get rid of. Just about a hundred boxes to unpack and nowhere to unpack them to. That sounds like we have a lot of stuff we could get rid of, but every time we move we weed out anything we don't want badly enough to schlep it around. For this stuff, we need bookshelves and appropriate storage containers, but that will have to wait until the job hunt is over.
I have to let that aspect of things go, even though it bugs me to have all these boxes stacked up around the walls. At least I can cook a meal, do laundry, sleep, and get my work done. Most of the books I really want access to are unpacked onto the bookshelves my son gave us. (Bless him! I don't know what I would have done if every book I own had to stay packed in boxes.) And we found some really small, cheap bookshelves at a local drugstore during back-to-school that I've been able to unpack most of the cookbooks I use the most onto.
But my challenge in this new place is establishing routines that will keep it clean. I don't want to go back to the way it used to be in other places we've lived. I think my problem in the past was my usual pattern of trying to fix everything all at once. The Fly Lady's contribution to this is that you don't do that. You fix one small thing and build on it, bit by bit. Each "bit" is a baby step.
Now for the "Scanner" part. Barbara Sher has written a book called Refuse to Choose. It's directed at people like me who want to learn about everything and do tons of interesting projects, which contributes to the clutter, for one thing. For another, although she doesn't discuss housework specifically, it explains to me, at least, part of why housework is such a challenge for "scanners". We have more interesting things to do besides clean. The problem is that often the chaos around me keeps me from doing the projects I want to do. I end up trying to get control of that and neither the chaos gets fixed nor the projects get done. I end up feeling overwhelmed and depressed.
I hope that as I use the tools provided by the Fly Lady, the SHE developers, and Barbara Sher, adapting them to fit my own life, I can figure out how to balance my life so I don't keep going from one extreme to the other. I'd really like to find that elusive middle ground because when I've been in that place, which has happened on occasion, I've been so much more content with my life. Barbara Sher makes the point that Scanners can't be happy unless they do the projects they want to do. I know she's right about that and I'm finally in a place where I'm ready to get back to working on those things that matter to me.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Blog Archives
I've been reading through the archives of blogs my friends posted. My friends write interesting blogs. Anyway, I found this little quiz on Tambo's blog and can't figure out why I didn't do it before. It's so me. (lol)
So, are any of you great cooks?
You Are an Excellent Cook |
 You're a top cook, but you weren't born that way. It's taken a lot of practice, a lot of experimenting, and a lot of learning. It's likely that you have what it takes to be a top chef, should you have the desire... |
So, are any of you great cooks?
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Fruit & Veggie Salads, Plus a Veggie Eggs Benedict
I have a couple of simple recipes I wanted to share. They're for fruit salads, even though avocados and cucumbers are usually thought of as veggies.
The first one is as Strawberry and Cucumber Salad. You peel and slice a cucumber. You slice strawberries. How many depends on how many people you're serving and how big your plates are. You have to make this one on individual salad plates. You start at the outer edge and layer alternating, concentric circles of cucumber and strawberry. I like to put a srawberry half in the middle, so I try to end up with cucumber in the center and the strawberry on top. It looks prettier that way. Sprinkle either champagne vinegar or raspberry champagne vinegar and ground white pepper over the top. That's it.
DON'T try to take a shortcut and make this in a bowl. The strawberry juice makes the cucumber turn the most ghastly gray you've ever seen. Hmmm. . .might be appropriate for a gross Halloween food, but try it at your own risk. (grin)
Tonight, Paul tried a variation. We had some strawberries, papaya, and avocadoes that needed to be eaten. He cut them into a bowl. I sprinkled some raspberry champagne vinegar and white pepper, and voila! A great, healthy fruit salad. It was really good.
It would be perfect with that veggie Eggs Benedict I made a couple of weeks ago. I roasted a portobello mushroom cap and slices of tomato. I put the portobello upside down on the plate. I put the tomato slices inside the mushroom. I wilted a few spinach leaves and put them on top. A poached egg topped the vegetables. Then a spoonful or two of freshly-made hollandaise went over the whole thing.
Mangia!
The first one is as Strawberry and Cucumber Salad. You peel and slice a cucumber. You slice strawberries. How many depends on how many people you're serving and how big your plates are. You have to make this one on individual salad plates. You start at the outer edge and layer alternating, concentric circles of cucumber and strawberry. I like to put a srawberry half in the middle, so I try to end up with cucumber in the center and the strawberry on top. It looks prettier that way. Sprinkle either champagne vinegar or raspberry champagne vinegar and ground white pepper over the top. That's it.
DON'T try to take a shortcut and make this in a bowl. The strawberry juice makes the cucumber turn the most ghastly gray you've ever seen. Hmmm. . .might be appropriate for a gross Halloween food, but try it at your own risk. (grin)
Tonight, Paul tried a variation. We had some strawberries, papaya, and avocadoes that needed to be eaten. He cut them into a bowl. I sprinkled some raspberry champagne vinegar and white pepper, and voila! A great, healthy fruit salad. It was really good.
It would be perfect with that veggie Eggs Benedict I made a couple of weeks ago. I roasted a portobello mushroom cap and slices of tomato. I put the portobello upside down on the plate. I put the tomato slices inside the mushroom. I wilted a few spinach leaves and put them on top. A poached egg topped the vegetables. Then a spoonful or two of freshly-made hollandaise went over the whole thing.
Mangia!
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
NaNoWriMo
I went and signed up for NaNoWriMo yesterday. I'd thought at one time that I'd never do that again. I thought I'd gotten out of it what I needed to get out of that writing madness.
Perhaps I'd better explain NaNo, as it's affectionately called. Well, "affectionately" depends on when in November it is and how many words you've written. Because NaNo is all about word count. The idea is to write a 50K novel starting on November 1 and finishing on or before November 30. You only have to write 1667 words every day for the whole 30 days to win. That can be done in a couple of hours, if you just write the story, no editing, no worrying about the quality of this very rough draft. The NaNoWriMo (which stands for "National Novel Writing Month") official web site can be found here, in case you'd like to join several hundred thousand mad folks from all over the world.
Anyway, I signed up. I've beaten NaNo. I know I can put that many words on the page, if I want to. So, why do it? Especially since I may not be able to finish. I've got a much busier life than I had the year I beat NaNo. So, why do it? Because I want to play with words. I want to just have fun with writing. I've forgotten that part because so much of my life has been about money, as it tends to be when your income is as uncertain as ours has been for the past ten years, but particularly the past three, almost four years. And even though I'm not sure I can get that couple of hours every day, I signed up officially. I'll push myself harder if it's official, than if I decide in advance to lose, which is what I'd be telling myself if I just said I was doing it "unofficially".
I'm going to play with some ideas this month and see which one screams, "Write ME!" Then I'll pick that one and start and see what I get. Maybe I'll put up a progress bar for NaNo. Maybe I won't, since, for me, it's about having fun with other people having fun with writing a story, not about whether I win or lose. We'll see when I get closer to NaNo. My competitive spirit may stick up for itself and insist on keeping careful track of the word count. I'm feeling ambivalent about it because I really just want to rebuild the habit of writing.
Perhaps I'd better explain NaNo, as it's affectionately called. Well, "affectionately" depends on when in November it is and how many words you've written. Because NaNo is all about word count. The idea is to write a 50K novel starting on November 1 and finishing on or before November 30. You only have to write 1667 words every day for the whole 30 days to win. That can be done in a couple of hours, if you just write the story, no editing, no worrying about the quality of this very rough draft. The NaNoWriMo (which stands for "National Novel Writing Month") official web site can be found here, in case you'd like to join several hundred thousand mad folks from all over the world.
Anyway, I signed up. I've beaten NaNo. I know I can put that many words on the page, if I want to. So, why do it? Especially since I may not be able to finish. I've got a much busier life than I had the year I beat NaNo. So, why do it? Because I want to play with words. I want to just have fun with writing. I've forgotten that part because so much of my life has been about money, as it tends to be when your income is as uncertain as ours has been for the past ten years, but particularly the past three, almost four years. And even though I'm not sure I can get that couple of hours every day, I signed up officially. I'll push myself harder if it's official, than if I decide in advance to lose, which is what I'd be telling myself if I just said I was doing it "unofficially".
I'm going to play with some ideas this month and see which one screams, "Write ME!" Then I'll pick that one and start and see what I get. Maybe I'll put up a progress bar for NaNo. Maybe I won't, since, for me, it's about having fun with other people having fun with writing a story, not about whether I win or lose. We'll see when I get closer to NaNo. My competitive spirit may stick up for itself and insist on keeping careful track of the word count. I'm feeling ambivalent about it because I really just want to rebuild the habit of writing.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Books
My friend, Margaret Fisk, has a blog she occasionally posts in. She set up a mailing list so people who are interested can read it when she posts and not be frustrated by how long it is in between posts. Anyway, her most recent post, which you can read at Stray Thoughts of Margaret Fisk, is about her reading list. She's asking for help in choosing what she should read next. I wasn't too helpful, having only read one of the books on her list.
But, it led me to writing about what I'm reading now. That got to be really long, so I decided to post it here. I'm reading Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series. I read Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic several years ago. Due to our financial situation, I only recently acquired the remaining books that are out in paperback--Bitten, Stolen, Haunted, and Broken. She has one more out, No Humans Involved, but it's hardcover, so I have to wait for the mass market version before I can read that one.
What makes this all interesting is how I don't like werewolves, vampires, etc., etc., etc. Really, I don't. Or--maybe--I didn't? I love these books. I can't put them down. I'm reading when I should be doing something else. A friend, knowing my taste, said I probably wouldn't like the werewolf books. Most likely because of the violence. But the violence made so much sense with the world she created and the characters in the world, that it wasn't a problem. I probably would have liked them less if the violence wasn't in there because it would have felt like she'd held back from her true imagination.
And then there's Buffy. I refused to watch it when it was on. I didn't get it, and I understand why. I didn't see it from the beginning. I came into a random episode and had no clue what was going on. Then my son shoved it into my hands and made me watch season one. I was hooked. I've watched it all the way through three times since then. He mentioned he and his wife are watching them again and it's made me feel like it's time to go for a fourth go-round, at least with my favorite episodes.
And then there's Lynn Viehl's Darkyn series. I love her writing, but I'm way behind her output. I have at least one StarDoc and two Darkyn books on my shelf. I mention them, though, because the Darkyn are her version of the vampire myth and I love it.
So, what's the point of this seemingly rambling post? I learned, yet again, not to discount a genre, a type of book, or other any general category, just because I've had one or two bad experiences with it. What makes a good story is the combination of writer and subject matter. Different writers will deal with the same subject in totally unique ways. So, while Laurel K. Hamilton or Anne Rice's take on vampires don't thrill me, Kelley Armstrong and Lynn Viehl's do.
I think, in general, people do themselves a disservice when they stick to only one genre, or only a few favorite authors. One thing I used to do, that I don't do as much anymore, is pull books off the bookshelves at random and see if they look interesting. That's how I found a lot of the authors that are now my favorites. But when the money got tighter and tighter, I started sticking to trying to keep up with my favorite writer's books. I think I want to alternate or something. I think it's important for a reader to branch out. And even more important for me, as a writer, to go beyond what I usually read and am most comfortable with.
But, it led me to writing about what I'm reading now. That got to be really long, so I decided to post it here. I'm reading Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series. I read Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic several years ago. Due to our financial situation, I only recently acquired the remaining books that are out in paperback--Bitten, Stolen, Haunted, and Broken. She has one more out, No Humans Involved, but it's hardcover, so I have to wait for the mass market version before I can read that one.
What makes this all interesting is how I don't like werewolves, vampires, etc., etc., etc. Really, I don't. Or--maybe--I didn't? I love these books. I can't put them down. I'm reading when I should be doing something else. A friend, knowing my taste, said I probably wouldn't like the werewolf books. Most likely because of the violence. But the violence made so much sense with the world she created and the characters in the world, that it wasn't a problem. I probably would have liked them less if the violence wasn't in there because it would have felt like she'd held back from her true imagination.
And then there's Buffy. I refused to watch it when it was on. I didn't get it, and I understand why. I didn't see it from the beginning. I came into a random episode and had no clue what was going on. Then my son shoved it into my hands and made me watch season one. I was hooked. I've watched it all the way through three times since then. He mentioned he and his wife are watching them again and it's made me feel like it's time to go for a fourth go-round, at least with my favorite episodes.
And then there's Lynn Viehl's Darkyn series. I love her writing, but I'm way behind her output. I have at least one StarDoc and two Darkyn books on my shelf. I mention them, though, because the Darkyn are her version of the vampire myth and I love it.
So, what's the point of this seemingly rambling post? I learned, yet again, not to discount a genre, a type of book, or other any general category, just because I've had one or two bad experiences with it. What makes a good story is the combination of writer and subject matter. Different writers will deal with the same subject in totally unique ways. So, while Laurel K. Hamilton or Anne Rice's take on vampires don't thrill me, Kelley Armstrong and Lynn Viehl's do.
I think, in general, people do themselves a disservice when they stick to only one genre, or only a few favorite authors. One thing I used to do, that I don't do as much anymore, is pull books off the bookshelves at random and see if they look interesting. That's how I found a lot of the authors that are now my favorites. But when the money got tighter and tighter, I started sticking to trying to keep up with my favorite writer's books. I think I want to alternate or something. I think it's important for a reader to branch out. And even more important for me, as a writer, to go beyond what I usually read and am most comfortable with.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Music
We had such a great musical day on Sunday. Dr. David Cheriwen, is a Cantor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis and conductor of the National Lutheran Choir. He visited one of our local Methodist churches for a Hymn Festival/Concert. The choir members of the local churches were invited, so Paul and I took advantage. It was amazing.
He did mini organ solos to introduce each hymn. Then we sang the hymns. In between, members of the church read reflections on living a godly life. It was set up kind of like an old-fashioned English lessons and carols service. We brought the house down with Every Time I Feel the Spirit. It was so much fun.
Then on Sunday night, we were invited to join one of our fellow choir members and her husband for a piano concert hosted by the local Steinway Society. The pianist was Joyce Yang, 2005 Silver Medalist in the Van Cliburn competition. It was amazing. I'm always astounded by excellent pianists, probably because I can't even come close to doing what they do. I can play the notes, in correct rhythm, if the piece is simple enough. But I was never taught good technique, so, for example, I don't know how to bring out one line, with the rest as accompaniment.
I love days like that. They're definitely worth writing about.
He did mini organ solos to introduce each hymn. Then we sang the hymns. In between, members of the church read reflections on living a godly life. It was set up kind of like an old-fashioned English lessons and carols service. We brought the house down with Every Time I Feel the Spirit. It was so much fun.
Then on Sunday night, we were invited to join one of our fellow choir members and her husband for a piano concert hosted by the local Steinway Society. The pianist was Joyce Yang, 2005 Silver Medalist in the Van Cliburn competition. It was amazing. I'm always astounded by excellent pianists, probably because I can't even come close to doing what they do. I can play the notes, in correct rhythm, if the piece is simple enough. But I was never taught good technique, so, for example, I don't know how to bring out one line, with the rest as accompaniment.
I love days like that. They're definitely worth writing about.
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