One Way or Another

They're going to count you. I was a good citizen and filled out and mailed our census form yesterday. People get so crazy about it. Either they don't want to fill it out at all or they want to be able to put their entire family tree on the form. I didn't look that closely at the form. I just marked us both as honky and myself as hispanic--mexican. I find it a little funny that people seem so offended by the fact that they have to check the honky box. I'm sorry--Iranian (the latest one I heard) is not a race. When I was little my dad told me that people are either white, black, yellow, aboriginal, or a mix. Those are the races. I've never really understood ethnicities. Most of them are actually nationalities or religions. Well, it doesn't matter. I counted myself so they don't have to send someone to count me.

Challah Back Y'all

I don't think I've made challah since last Summer. Last week I had a vision of challah rolls. On Thursday evening I decided to make them. I used my challah recipe, and shaped the dough into little swirls. I shared with some coworkers and they seemed to like them. Ross and I have been gobbling them up with butter and turbinado sugar. I got tired of making all the little rolls, so I made a few larger knots. Today we are going to make pastrami sandwiches out of those knots. Mmmmm. I think in the back of my mind I also wanted to have a bit of a bread binge before Passover. I'm definitely eating lots of bread, and it is good.

Judgmental Much?

Yes. I am a judgmental bitch. Don't know that state laws aren't made by the congress in D.C.? I have judgments. Can't divide my age by 4? I shake my head. Speak Spanish with a honkey accent? I judge you. Nah, I just laugh. Lately I have become totally insane about inseams. I stare at everyone's pants. It seems there is a highwater epidemic going on. I don't understand it. I've become slightly obsessed with it. I see men and women everywhere showing off their white socks and ugly shoes. Saddest part? 99 percent of these people aren't tall. I mean, if you are tall I feel for you. It is hard to find pants with long inseams (I'm still obsessed with getting 36 inch inseam jeans to wear with heels). If you aren't tall, I don't understand why you can't find pants that are long enough. I guess people don't realize how silly it looks. Maybe they just don't care. Me--I'm obsessed and paranoid that my pants are too short!

Done and Not Really Done

Today I finished the fourth book in Stephen King's series The Dark Tower. Wizard and Glass corresponds to the first book in the graphic novel series. That means I already knew the story. That made it really hard for me to read. Well, I'm finally done. It was a great book (even with the cowboy porn)--and 700 pages! I've read 2,000 pages in paperback so far! I think the last three books might be another 2,000! Finishing the series will be a big accomplishment for me.

Such wonderful writing has inspired me a little. Last year I thought about writing an ode to lemon cake. I never even started. This year I started, but I haven't finished it. The last poem I wrote was a joke. I need to start writing again. I'm still as useless as Henry Fool.

Eternally Obsessed

I saw this bracelet on ebay and was very impressed. I'd never seen a carved bracelet like this. Well, now it's mine. It is just as beautiful in person as it is in the photo. Does it fit? Yes, but it isn't permanently small. Am I happy with it? Yes. Am I going to stop looking? No.

Sparta-blah

We are currently watching the first episode of Spartacus Blood and Sand and I'm very unimpressed. Actually, I don't like it. We need to find our Rome dvds or check them out from the library. I'd much rather finish that series than watch another hour of this one.

My Mom's Boyfriend Hates Me

My mom spends so much time planchando that we call the iron her boyfriend. I introduced myself to him at a very young age. In fact, one of my first memories involves me pressing my palm to the hot plate of the (hot) iron. Ever since I started in with the iron he's been burning me. I'm not good at ironing either. I bring this up because the new pants I bought are not wash and wear (unfortunately.) I decided to iron my pants, and several shirts that have been hanging in the closet forever so that I'd have more things to wear to work. I managed not to burn myself--which is a big deal. My moms boyfriend hates me and I don't like him much either.

Who Put the Ram in Rama Lama Ding Dong

When I read the Netflix blurb of the movie Teeth Ross laughed and said to add it to the instant watch list. Tonight we watched it and I'm not sure what to say really. It was filmed in Texas, and I picked up on that right away. We liked it, but it wasn't a really good movie. You know what I mean? That's the problem with the star ratings--it was probably a one star movie, but we didn't hate it. Actually, it was kind of fun.

Making Bling

A couple of weeks ago my mom sent me loot from the gem and jewelry show in Tucson. She sent me some awesome sparkly beads and spacers. While watching TV tonight I put together some bracelets and even made some earrings. Check out the bling I made:

I'm Done

Yesterday we went to the grocery store and I bought some saltines and a bag of bbq kettle chips.

For dinner I had a turkey sandwich with cheese and a ton of chips. I felt better almost immediately. Then I felt really full cause I ate so many chips. I'm wondering if I was suffering from the no C diet. Life without cheese. It isn't much of a life is it?

Old School

My tummy has been giving me trouble lately, so I decided to try an old school remedy. I decided to make some gripe water. Mexican gripe water is made with bay leaves. Indian gripe water is made with dill. So----I make it with both. I put a pot of water to boil with some bay leaves and a hefty dose of dill. I let it boil for at least 20 minutes, then strained off the tea. I added a little honey, but I don't usually. It went down just fine, but I don't think it helped at all. I ended up getting out of bed last night to heat up my cherry pillow, take a prevacid, and down some mylanta. I was able to sleep, but this morning I'm still not feeling well. I think I've had the stomach bug that has been going around, but I have a very strong constitution, so it hasn't quite put me down. Instead I feel a little crappy, and very tired. Unfortunately this hasn't affected my appetite at all. Instead I'm always looking for something that I can eat or drink that might calm my stomach. I was actually thinking about breaking the no C and no Corn diet to drink a ginger ale last night. Yeah, tonight I might have to try the old school Honkey remedy: ginger ale and saltines. Ha!

Mapu Dofu

I really like mapu dofu. It is so easy to make that I'm surprised I don't make it more often. I made it this weekend with sweet potato leaves to go with it.

Mapu Dofu

1 package ground turkey

minced garlic

1 bunch sliced green onions

1 package firm tofu (not silken), cut into cubes

stir fry sauce (I use House of Tsang)

Brown the turkey and drain off any fat. Add the garlic and green onions and cook for a few minutes. Add the tofu and sauce and stir gently. Cook over low to medium heat just until tofu is hot. Be careful not to stir too much--the tofu will break up.

The sauce has corn starch in it. Corn starch is the hardest corn to avoid. It is in so many things. I don't know how long I'll last on the no C diet. I cheated and had some cheese yesterday. I was dreaming about custard cream this weekend. I cheated again today and had graham crackers. I'll try and hold out through Friday, but I have a feeling that the nightmares are going to start before then.

Slacker!

I have been really bad about putting things where they belong. I download songs when I think about it, and I don't usually get around to actually putting those songs away into the proper folder for a while. Yesterday I did some downloading, and looked into the music download folder. I have 70 songs that I need to rename and move. It has been worse, but I should clean up that folder.

When I download the photos from my camera they all initially go into the same folder. I haven't renamed and organized any photos since I got this computer. The folder has over 300 photos.

I have been just as bad around the house. Yesterday I finally picked up all the clothes that I had left laying all over the house. Lately I don't put anything away where it belongs. I've been such a slacker!

My Milk Comes From Where?

Y'all know I'm a milkaholic. Well, last month, as part of my investigation into how corn is in everything I looked into what dairy cows eat. Most dairy cows are fed corn, and some farmers give them more corn products than others. Well, today I was just cruising the web, procrastinating (I really need to clean house.), and I decided to look at the Wife of a Dairyman's blog again. She had a link to find out where your milk comes from. You just type in a code and the site tells you where the milk came from! You can also look up other dairy products. So--I looked up my organic milk that I buy at Costco. It comes from Colorado! The dairy sells local milk, and when I'm there every week in the Summer I try to buy my natural or organic milk there. The thing is, it costs almost twice as much as Costco milk. I want to support the local dairy farmers, and be good to the environment, but I drink A LOT of milk, and that difference adds up fast.

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It just occurred to me. If I know exactly where my milk comes from, I could find out exactly what my dairy cows eat.

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My milk comes from dairy cows that eat: Alfalfa hay, barley, wheat, coastal grass hay, corn, ensiled forages, native grass, hay, pasture, peanut grass hay, prairie grass hay, soy bean meal, soy hulls,vitamin and mineral supplement.

Also, the cows are able to go outside 365 days a year. That's all cool with me.

Day 5

Today is day five of the No C, corn-free diet. I've had some parmesan cheese, and some caesar dressing, but I don't think I've had any corn. I've also worked out 5 of the last 6 days. The reward: I've lost one pound. Woohoo! Oh yeah, diet plus exercise equals results.

No Big Deal

I was having trouble telling people that I'm a doctor. If I act like it is no big deal, then voila, it isn't a big deal. I've noticed that about a couple of other things too. Problem solved. Still, this doesn't work with discrimination or hateful speech. I can't act like it is no big deal. It is a big deal. I still haven't figured out what to say. I have purposefully been avoiding certain people/situations where I know it would come up. So I am missing out on things. What a drag! I need to figure out what to say. I need to say it calmly and matter-of-factly. I don't want to sound like the crazy person in the conversation. At least I don't have to deal with hateful crap at the office. That would be a real nightmare.

Snow Tubing

This past weekend we went snow tubing. As soon as we got out of the car my legs started to hurt for no reason. I think I was having skiing flashbacks. We joined up with Richard, his sister Tanya, and her husband Jesse. We had a ton of fun racing and trying to make it down to the orange cones at the end of the run. It was snowing, and a bit windy, but I managed to stay out there for almost 2 hours. The lift was interesting. It ran along the side of the snow tubing area. We didn't have to walk back up the hill carrying our snow tubes. Instead, we had to stand on a very slowly moving conveyor belt. Yes, had to. We got in trouble when we tried to walk up the conveyor belt. I would definitely go again. I'm actually trying to work up my courage to go snow boarding. I have sworn off skiing, but I just might try snow boarding before the end of the season.