Mission Complete!

Yesterday, I found shoes to replace my sad Vans that finally died this past week. It was a mission. An epic quest for foot comfort and style. After scouring the town, I ended up with a pair of Simple Shoes. Brown with elastic "ties" instead of shoelaces. The L: I haz it. They are incredibly comfy, but were more than I really planned on spending. It's so hard for me to find shoes that fit, so I end up having to sacrifice one of my three requirements (comfort, fit, price). Oh, well. I'm happy with my purchase. I'm also pleased with the fact that they're green and eco-friendly and all that jazz. They're even vegan and the soles are made from recycled tires! I'm not vegan, and I wasn't really aiming for fancy shoes with old tires for soles, but it all ends up being bonus points.

I made pear cobbler this morning and lasagna for dinner. They were both very tasty. I also scrubbed the kitchen counters and the stove top this morning. Much more effort than I generally put into life on a Sunday. Usually Sundays are my leave-me-alone-and-let-me-die-before-monday days. It's not that I hate my job, it's just that I hate Mondays. I always walk into a shitstorm from the weekend with people wanting shit NOWNOWNOW, despite the fact that they didn't bother to mention the project to me until Sunday night. This is utterly useless to me because I do NOT check my work email over the weekend, and now that I have a handle on my job, I do NOT work weekends unless I absolutely have to... Anyway, I plan to make fish tacos Wednesday night, turkey burgers Thursday, and baked chicken that may or may not be stuffed with cheesy goodness on Friday night. Yum. I was thinking about making cheesecake sometime this week, but I feel like I might be too L to bother with it...

e Sheets to the Wind (or 2.71828 Sheets to the WInd)

I got Flogging Molly tickets for my birthday! YAY! I absolutely love Flogging Molly. Easily in my top three favorite bands... Speaking of concerts, I'm thinking about getting J Chili Cook Off tickets this year for his birthday. Chevelle and Papa Roach are the main headliners this year, and J loves Chevelle. I just can't decide if he'd rather have gadgets or go to the concert. Gadgets would go better with his apocalypse preparation, but dude... Concerts win all in my opinion.

Tonight's beer is Delirium Tremens. It is mighty tasty. There is ZERO bitter aftertaste, and it is almost sweet, but not quite there. It was excellent with our baked chicken with taco seasoning and spicy corn. The bottle is pretty cool looking also. It looks like ceramic pottery and has brightly coloured animals dancing around on the label. J is drinking Ommegang Abbey Ale again. It's tasty, but I really wanted to try something new tonight... We also have a single of Ommegang Three Philosophers in the fridge. I'm assuming we'll split that one tomorrow night. 

One of the ladies I work with lent me her current library book. It's the Sookie Stackhouse short stories. I'm halfway through it, and am actually enjoying it more than I enjoyed the last Sookie book I read. Sookie Stackhouse books irritate me because I can't stand the writing style, but I always enjoy the plots... I also splurged and bought the new Kim Harrison book, which I will be reading next. Hooray! I love her Rachel Morgan books for some reason. I get so sucked into those books that I can't read them on a work night otherwise I'm reading until 3am. I still find it hilarious that my great aunt (Mormon and somewhere around 80 years old now) introduced me to those books. She also introduced me to all of my very favorite trashy books.

(This is a Parenthetical Blog Post)

As the steroid dosage starts tapering off (it was one of those things where you start out with a mega high dose for the first day and then it drops down by about 4mg every day until you're down to nothing), I'm noticing a few things. 1) I do not do happy highs like I used to. I am just cranky and bitchy like an old lady with too many cats and no one to clean the cat boxes. 2) My hands have not hurt since Friday (arthritis), 3) my knee has not hurt since Friday (except for when I stood up too fast and the damned thing buckled on me), and 4) I've not had any of my usual daily mild asthma issues. J thinks I need to be on a low dose of this stuff at all times. I'd almost agree with him if it didn't make me so high and weaken my already weak immune system, but on the other hand... Besides the creeping crud and the still slightly itchy skin (this was one HELL of an allergic reaction), I haven't been this pain free since high school.

I just stuck a peach cobbler in the oven. I used canned peaches that we've had for a couple of years... J is convinced that there will be an apocalypse of some kind "soon". Whether it be zombies, nuuuu-cleeee-aaaar wessles (name that movie!), biological or chemical warfare, global thermonuclear war (name this other movie!), a natural disaster, or even simply a sharp drop in the iq of the people of earth (wait a minute.....), J is ready for it. We have costco sized bags of flour, sugar, and rice, canned goods up the ass, MREs, and a stockpile of tea (well, the tea just came from my inability to not buy tea when I see it, but I'll blame it on J anyway). We could seriously eat well for a month just on the stockpiled food. Unfortunately, this stockpiled food needs to be rotated out and eaten before it expires. So. I am trying to use up canned peaches (which I don't like unless they're home-canned), canned green beans (the smell squicks me out, but they're ok once boiled to death), and canned diced tomatoes (I don't eat tomatoes unless they are cooked to a sauce or a ketchup, and there are only so many times I can stand to make tomato sauce myself). What do I do with all of this? If this cobbler turns out well, I've got the peach situation settled, but green beans and tomatoes? I guess I could make a quick soup at some point (quick soup = broth from a cube, noodles, canned veggies, leftover meat, and whatever spices are needed to cover up the taste), but what the hell else can I use this stuff for? I don't like green bean casseroles. I could use the tomatoes for chili if I weren't too lazy to make chili...

I've only knit about 5 rows of anything in the last 2 weeks. I failed at finishing J's scarf before it got warm. I failed at finishing my sweater vest before it got warm. I failed at finishing any of the shawls before it got warm. FAIL. I've also noticed that I completely failed at baby blanket knitting also. All of the friends who were supposed to get baby blankets no longer have babies. They have toddlers wreaking havoc on everything. I am now stuck with..... 3 (?) different half finished baby blankets. There are also a couple of half finished baby sweaters and hats. Finishing shit fail...

(It seems that I love parenthetical statements today)

I was trying to put some pictures up today, but I can't find the only working SD card reader in the apartment. Figures. The one day I have time to weed through the crap and actually want to weed through the crap happens to be the one day I can't find the card reader.

My birthday is in three days. I have to work that day, but it's pay day. What should I get myself for my birthday? I'm on a yarn diet (gift yarn does not count! *rubs face on the beautiful red Malabrigo lace J's mom got me for an early birthday gift*). I desperately need work clothes and nicer shoes, but that does not make a good birthday gift... I could get that new-to-me sewing machine serviced and cleaned! Then I could treat myself to some sewing time (do not tell me to treat myself with new fabric.... yarn diet also = fabric diet)! I could maybe finish that quilt that's been ready to put together for.... two years now? Or maybe finish that bag that's been pinned together for..... three years? Possibly cut up some of those t-shirts into a comfy skirt or a t-shirt bag? Mmmm.... *shivers with anticipation* I see more unfinished projects in my future.

Oh! Beer! I tried two new beers this week. I had a bottle of Chimay blue label and a can of Blue Mountain Full Nelson (local beer from Afton!). The Chimay was very good, but way too strong for my sick body to handle. The Blue Mountain wasn't too bad as far as pale ales go. I'm not a huge fan of pale ales though...

Kill It!!

I am going to claw my face off. On top of being sick for the last week and a half, I also had an allergic reaction to something last night. Hydro-cortisone cream did nothing. Benadryl did nothing. I went to bed with hives on my face and woke up this morning with hives on my face, neck, scalp, chest, and back. Excellent. I went to the doctor this morning and they gave me stuff for the creeping crud and some sort of steroid pills for the reaction. The combination of it all has made me so high that the walls are waving at me. Seriously. They go "Hello! SPARKLES!" at me when I look at them. The drugs also gave me a horrible headache. Needless to say, I'm taking another day off today. I was out sick on Tuesday also. My body is trying to kill me.

I need to keep my hands busy so I don't claw my skin off, but I'm too high to knit or really do anything. Typing is ridiculously hard to do. Bleh.

I'm Boring.

I have come to the conclusion that I drink way too much beer. I wanted beer and eggs for breakfast this morning, but we were out of eggs so I settled for just beer... But hey! At least it's good beer! We still have some Four + Rype beer (which was ok, but not great), half a case of Dogfish Head Indian Brown (this one is.... I don't know. I'm not a huge fan, but J likes it a lot), and I got a case of Smuttynose Winter Ale yesterday. The Smutty is awesome. Much tastier than their Summer Ale... Last weekend we tried Corsendonk Abbey Ale (I liked it, J didn't), Abita Purple Haze (meh...), Strongbow Cider (tasty!), Belhaven Scottish Pub Ale (can't remember...), Breckenridge Vanilla Porter (tasty!), Dogfish Head Palo Santo (gave us both seriously bad heartburn), Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre (tasty!), and Dogfish Head Midas Touch (I love it, but it makes my stomach hurt every single time I drink it). I am quickly becoming a beer snob.

I haven't been able to knit lately because my hands and fingers have been killing me when I get home from work. Typing all day is evil... I'm almost done with Hilja, almost done with J's scarf that has taken forever to finish because it's boring, and I need to cast on for the second zombie sock. I'm hoping to finish Hilja this weekend so I can wear it next week. It's possible that J's scarf will be done in time for him to wear it at least once, but it's not looking like that will happen...

I'm craving a strange mixture of Japanese food and Basque food today. I want Basque stew, but I also want sushi. Pfft. So I settle for oatmeal... Which has now made me want chocolate malt-o-meal. Damn.

Idiots in the Snow

Sometimes the stress really isn't worth the paycheck. The last week has been absolute torture, and I am really sick of being treated like shit. I don't sit around the office all day with my thumb up my ass just waiting on the next last minute project that you forgot to get to me.

I hate the snow, but I hate it even more when it's snowing sideways.

This is my hell. Welcome.

Despite being snowed in, today has been the Monday from hell. After not sleeping last night (finally got to sleep just in time to be scared shitless by exploding manhole covers... never got back to sleep after that), battling my work laptop all day, orchids trying to commit suicide by diving off of their perching spot (yes, orchids perch on things when it's too cold on the windowsill for them), the cat flipping out and trying to attack me from behind my work laptop, and trying to read my boss's mind all day, I decided to play some STO and blow some shit up . So I turned my PC on and heard the clickety-clack of death from my hard drive. Nice. Now I get to buy a new hard drive, back everything up, change it all out, and hope that all of my programs and files make it this time. Oh, but I can't afford to even think about doing that until my next payday, which is in another week and a half. Awesome. Thumbs up. Let's just add in all of my ex's, a yappy dog, moth chewed yarn, and some balut. Welcome to my own personal hell!