a bottle of red... a bottle of white...

This was me after spending my evening cooking:


Rockin out to some Wake Me Up (Before You Go-Go) and some Tom Jones while swigging not-so-cheap boxed wine (it was a lot cheaper before it became "trendy") and creating a culinary masterpiece.

Do you ever bite down in something soft and feel something hard and wonder what it is? I've been doing that a lot lately and it happened again tonight. I had the sense to grab the hard object out of my mouth and I'd SWEAR it's part of a tooth - it's white and really hard and a little shiny on the outside. I didn't eat anything that was hard and white today, so I don't think it's food. The funny thing is, none of my teeth hurt and I can't feel where any of them have broken off. Odd.

I tried eggs for the second time this year when I made 2 egg whites as part of breakfast. Not so bad with some Texas Pete and ketchup. Not bad at all. Good progress.

Last night I took a relatively unnecessary trip to Trash Mart. Sure, I needed to get some things, but I really didn't need to spend $50. On the other hand, they had some kind of milk that I had never seen before. It's skim milk but it supposedly doesn't taste like skim (and it's not "Super Skim" or "Ultra Skim"). I bought a regular carton and a chocolate carton since it sounded good. I had the chocolate this morning and while it doesn't taste as watery as regular skim, it tasted oddly almost like 8th continent lite chocolate soy milk (though the ingredients said that it was not soy milk). It was kind of weird. Not bad, necessarily, but not quite what I expected.

I'm also super excited because I bought something I've never bought before: seeds! Not the kind you eat, but the kind you plant! I bought 4 packets - butter lettuce, scallions, baby carrots (they're cute - they only grow to about 4 inches!), and broccoli. I always look forward to spring, but now I'm REALLY excited because I'll get to plant something. I have no idea where I'm going to put my little garden, but I'm psyched nonetheless. :)

Before I headed to the gym today, I decided to head over to Bed Bath & Beyond, followed by Half Price Books. At BB&B I used some new-homeowner gift cards to purchase The Biggest Loser food scale (which I totally played around with tonight), and at HPB I purchased a few magazines for $1.50 and 2 books that I've heard a lot about but never thought I'd want to read: Eat, Pray, Love (only $1) and The Memory Keeper's Daughter (only $2). Unfortunately, they didn't have the magazines and books that I really wanted - I've had my eye on possibly getting a Women's Health subscription (I found them online for $9.95/year) and the second book of the Shopaholic series (Shopaholic Takes Manhattan). I'm not normally much of a "fluff" reader and in the past I've really kind of hated "girly" books, but I want to see the movie and I always like to try reading the books before the movies whenever possible (and my mom gave me her copy on the cruise since she didn't like it). Well, I really liked it (and sadly, I identified with it a LOT), and after only a few days, I finished it last night. That's fast for me, considering I usually only read a chapter or two a night. Anyways, hopefully my new purchases will keep me entertained until the library comes through with the Shopaholic books.

Oh, and apparently I'm bringin sexy back, roadside. Last night on the way home from Trash Mart, I was stopped at a stop light on Ardmore and this car full of guys pulled up beside me and started honking the horn. I looked over and they were all looking at me, smiling and nodding their heads (what IS that?! is that some new flirting technique?). When I got home, I checked my car in case something was on it, or if maybe my trunk was open, but nope. They apparently were honking at me... and then coming home from the gym today, in broad daylight, 3 guys in a Penske truck did the same thing. THE SAME EXACT THING. I don't know if they were the same guys (though that'd be quite a weird coincidence) or if I'm just oozing hotness in my Trash Mart gear and post-workout messiness. I'm gonna go with the option that says I'm awesome.

So on to the events of this evening! I had planned to make homemade split pea soup and I totally pulled through. Here you can see the ingredients that went into my fabu-stew:


Soaked split peas (duh)...


TJ's crushed garlic (I'm lazy when it comes to garlic), black pepper, bay leaves, Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle (for some extra flav-a), carrots, fresh parsley, celery, diced ham, and chopped onions. I split my finger pretty deep while I was trying to cut the carrots. Ouch.

Here it is as it's cooking, pre-blending:



And finally, after I blended (erm, "liquefied") about half of it to make it thicker:



As I was cooking, I sipped on this:


(see, I started out with a glass...)

Since I let my soup cook for a long time, I got kinda hungry (all that crazy kitchen dancing will do that to ya!), so I ate part one of dinner - part 2 was a pretty big bowl of my awesome creation.



Above is a slice of Japaleno Cheddar bread from Trash Mart (half-off bakery goods are the greatest things ever!) dipped in tomato basil spaghetti sauce. Mmm!
Followed soon after by...



Believe it or not, this is just one sweet potato sliced into sticks and baked (yummy homemade sweet potato fries!)... it seemed to make a LOT of fries, but I totally scarfed them down. In fact, I tried them in a new combination:



Yup, I went there. I dipped my sweet potato fries in greek yogurt. And you know what? It really wasn't too scary. In fact, it was kinda good. I think I made my fries a little too spicy (too much Mrs. Dash. She's a wicked one.), so the yogurt was a nice complement to the spiciness. I was pretty proud of myself for branching out a bit!

As for my homemade split pea soup, yeah, it was pretty awesome - as expected. Next time I make it, I might omit sea salt since there's ham in it. I mean, this batch is just about incredible, but it might have just a weeeee bit too much salt. Still, yum!

My parents are potentially coming to visit tomorrow, so yay! Free dinner! Also, I'm pretty stoked to have my mom try my soup - she's never tried split pea before. My dad's a lost cause; he'll say it's disgusting because it's almost all veggies. But I'm totally making my mom try it, whether she wants to or not. Yep, I'm gonna force-feed. :)

It's about time for bed (I can't believe I've been writing this for an hour!)... peace.

in the navy... you can sail the seven seas!

let me just say that people are real jerks. i was in a relatively good mood and feeling pretty good, and then i left the house. it all went downhill from there.

picture it: you just got off the phone with a walmart about 30 minutes away. yes, they DO have a wii in stock. sorry, they can't hold it for you. that's ok, you think, and scramble to put a coat and shoes on. you drive as fast as possible in the limited-visibility haze and you make it to walmart (ahem, trashmart) unscathed. you all but get yourself killed in the pedestrian crosswalk and haul it back to the electronics. you search frantically for the video game consoles and you think all hope is lost... and then you see it, the sole white box in a dark display, bright and shiny as though a gift from the heavens. you patiently get in line behind 2 people who look like they've never even heard of a wii and await your turn with the saleswoman. but wait!! here comes a mother and 2 spoiled brat children, eyeing up YOUR WII! "they have it!!" the brat boy screams. you turn to see what all the fuss is about, but you don't even need to look. you know they want your wii. and so you gently, patiently, oh-so-nicely inform them that you are waiting your turn in line for the wii. after all, you were there first. the mother, looking exasperated now, says "but theirs isn't working and they have all these games!" you keep your mouth shut and smile apologetically. no way you're letting this jag deprive you of the wonderful world of wii. she appears to give up and disappears for a moment. you relax slightly and it's almost your turn. the anticipation mounts. you're picturing yourself standing on one foot, testing your balance. you're intrigued by this concept of your "wii fit age." you're giddy thinking about doing wii fit yoga on your non-gym days. saliva builds in your mouth, a precursor to the sweet taste of mario kart victory. it will be mine, you think. it will. be. mine. but suddenly another trashmart employee shows up behind the register. he's talking to the saleswoman and pointing at a man... but where is this man? oh, he's right in front of YOUR WII. this man obviously does not work in the electronics department since he's asking the saleswoman to help the wii-man and he's wearing non-grunt-wear (i.e., khakis and a button-down with only a nametag and no trashmart smock). you're stunned, absolutely floored as this man, presumably a manager, takes the display keys from the saleswoman you've been waiting in line nearly 10 minutes to see and gives the wii to the jagoff who had the gall to poach a higher authority. but what's more awe-inspiring is that as the jag is heading towards the closed register with the manager, the wii-ogling woman and children from a few minutes ago have reappeared and are smiling. that's right, they're buying a wii. their husband/father is buying YOUR WII. because one wasn't enough for them. they can't let anyone else have fun, not even someone who was planning on blowing half of their paycheck, not eating for a few weeks to recoup the cash and arrived first. no, these are people who can afford to buy multiple wiis and who probably drove it home in their benz or their new audi and hooked it up in their several-thousand-dollar surround-sound living room nestled all snug and cozy in their million-dollar house. these people are scum of the earth in my opinion, and for some reason, i let these same kinds of people continually steal my faith in humanity.

i realize that yeah, it's just a wii. and really, right now, it's not even about the wii. i'd feel just as indignant, outraged and disgusted if it was a bottle of shampoo or the last sunday paper. it was the way in which these people went about doing it. the fact that the woman looked smug as she was waiting for her husband and wii #2.  just the shadiness of the entire situation. 

so i do not have a wii and i don't know if i'll ever get one. to be honest, there's another, bigger issue on my plate. one that involves selling the house and moving far, far away and doing something completely different. something that i've been thinking about for a long while, ever since i was in high school, but have never had the guts to do: i'm strongly considering joining the service. 

no joke. i've kicked around the thought for years, but i've always been either lazy or scared (boot camp!), or it was just not the right time. but i have a 20-something (21? 22? 19?) uncle (ryan) who's in the navy and while i was entertaining people and marveling at mark's wii, my family was meeting my ryan and his mother at a cracker barrel to catch up. you see, for the short version of a long story, my mom's dad left them and married someone else and strangely enough, it took my grandfather's death a few years ago to bring my mom & our local family back into contact with my grandfather's family (ryan and his mom). anyways, there's been communication over the past year or so, but i don't think my family has seen him or his mom in years (like, 15 years or so). 

to get back to the point, ryan's currently in the navy. while they were at dinner, ryan told everyone all about ship-life... and from what they relayed back to me, it sounds really nice. not like 4 seasons hotel-nice, but something i could totally do. (ha, and they have wiis and playstations and xboxes on the ship for the down-time!) even my mom said i should look into it (i don't think anyone knows how long i've been considering it). i think everyone would be ok as long as i were in the coast guard or the navy - as long as i wouldn't be deployed to iraq or afghanistan. 

still wary of boot camp, but intrigued about a different career path (and TRAVEL!!!), i did some research today. turns out, to pass the physical fitness exam, you only need to be able to run 1.5 miles (and do sit-ups and push-ups, of course). holy poo, i was afraid of that?! i do that and more every time i go to the gym!! so now this possibility is closer. and i tried to reason with myself, trying to make myself fess up that this is just another whim and that nothing will ever come of it... but the strangest thing happened - as i was trying to face the realization of staying where i am, in this house, in this job, with these feelings of hopelessness and failure, i actually felt sick and started crying. i'm no psychologist, but i'm pretty sure that that's a sign that something's not right. something needs to change. and as comfortable (job-wise) as i am now, i know i can't handle much more of this. and then of course my mind turned to more practical matters, such as selling the house and having enough money from the government to pay off my pitt and nyu loans. the idea of doing those things felt like such a huge weight lifting off of me. it's like going to boot camp is so much easier than owning this house and paying these ridiculous, useless student loans. that sounds weird, i know, but i've felt so bogged down by everything since about last april or so. and at this rate, there's no end in sight. i'm confused and anxious and once again, i just want someone to tell me what to do.

so i'm done rambling and ranting. apparently i've been writing this for an hour (whoa!) and it's way longer than i intended it to be. so if you hung (hanged?) in there, thanks. if not, i don't blame you. i guess this is what a blog's for...