Camping Fun

My first camping weekend went really well! We chose a campground out in western MA - my old stomping grounds from my Umass days. The weather actually wasn't too bad. Saturday was the worst day - high humidity and high temps plus rain at night. Oh, fun fact, sometimes you just need a $12 tent for a weekend camping trip. It is also odd that marshmallows only taste good in smores.


Also, fellow English lit geeks, do you know that Edith Wharton's home, The Mount, will be closing to the public in October? It's all due to lack of funds. So, start writing letters and talking up your millionaire friends! That house is an absolute dream. I had two favorite rooms - the gallery and the dining room. The garden is amazing.

A weird side effect from the camping weekend was that sleeping on a mattress was really tough last night. It actually hurt my back! So, I wound up trying to make my bed more ground-like by taking away pillows. I slept like a baby in my tent all weekend. The months of sleep problems suddenly disappeared. Maybe it was the fresh air, the rhythm of nature, or I was pooped enough?

Next camping trip will hopefully be in September - woohoo!

The Afterschool Special: Fighting Ignorance

Yesterday, while dropping off my cousin, his 13 year old sister was complaining about a summer job. Her parents had already yelled at her several times. I was having a farewell cup of tea across from her at the kitchen table. After every minute, she dug herself deeper about not doing this summer job. Then she whipped out this final complaint, "He won't even pay me, he's such a Jew!" Immediately, her parents yelled at her again.

I felt a lot of things at once. First, I was sad that I was related to someone who could even think, let alone say, something like that. Secondly, I regretted bringing a present for her since I just spent an entire day with her brother. Thirdly, I made a choice. I would be offended and use this as an opportunity to teach.

So I let her know that I am Jewish. I asked her if she had Jewish friends and how would her friends feel if they heard her say something like that? She had no idea what being "such a Jew" meant. So I told her about the history of Jews an money lending. I wound up spending another hour as I chatted with my aunt and uncle about my conversion. It was actually pretty cool! They asked really good questions in front of their kids so I hope that would result in no more anti-Semitic from the cousin.

Memory Contagion

Why is it when you blank on a name/title/author that the people you're with also automatically blank out as well? It's pretty hilarious and happens all the time to me. If you see a group of people saying, "Umm...", snapping their fingers, scratching their heads, and going through the alphabet, I am probably right in the group.

It also seems to be proximity based. For example, a while ago at a party I was talking to a couple and I blanked on a movie name, the couple couldn't remember either. It was driving us nuts throughout our conversation. We couldn't follow each others' trains of thought because in the back of our heads, we were shuffling through movie names we did know. Fed up, we announced our search for the movie name in the next room and completely stopped everyone in the midst of talking. About 3 people knew the title. The universal reaction: "THANK you", hitting your own head and shaking it in disbelief.

Stuff and Updates

I have been pretty busy lately - sorry for neglecting my blog! Anyways, I have a good back-up job gig in case my two upcoming potential jobs don't pan out. I would be a financial analyst consultant. Full bennies, long assignments, and good pay. Again, if the two potentials fall through...

The French Women Don't Get Fat eating plan has been going well. I feel pretty healthy and I am eating a ton more fruits and veggies. So long scurvy! Plus, it has gotten me into cooking more regularly. Since the eating plan has a pretty long name, here is what I will be using in the future: FWDGF.

This weekend I am going camping for the first time in my life. I am excited! The cool thing about camping is that it's pretty cheap and can encompass a wide variety of activities. This time around, I will be learning the ropes. Next time, I'd probably hike or use bird/plant guides for fun. Also, for the budget conscious like me, Ocean State Job Lot has a ton of camping supplies. I stupidly got the rest of the supplies I need at Dick's. Holy sticker shock! Also, why do they put swiss army knives next to the guns? I guess if you throw the cork screw side, it could be a lethal weapon...

The other day, I decided to make a family day. I have 22 cousins and the way it breaks down is that there are different age group bunches. I was the first and after me there were about 6 kids in a row each year or sometimes twice in a year. The middle batch started a couple years later with a new cohort. The final bunch of cousins started with my 15 year old cousin and then 5 more cousins ending at age 8. So, I took my 15 year old cousin out to lunch and we hung out for most of the day. I'm not old enough to be boring and I have a lot of high school memories so we had a lot to talk about. I also know how it is being an oldest and I would have given my left arm to have someone give me some advice/stories about their experiences when I was younger (someone who wasn't a parent of course). It is important to share not only advice on what you should do, you should share screw up stories. I told him how I never studies in high school and that really bit me on the ass in college. For example, I had no idea what a highlighter was for. We also talked about school subjects and I had forgotten how much I loved science classes. So, it was good learning day for me too.

To Sleep, Not to Dream

All my life, I've had trouble sleeping. It started when I hit puberty and seemed to get better in my mid-twenties but now I'm back to the same insomnia issues. I bet I could sleep in my mid-twenties because I was exhausted all the time; working full-time and going to school at night.

In my college years, I tried a glass of wine to calm me down to sleep. Now, I've tried all the varied advice out there. Warm milk, get up and stay up until you're tired, and baths. The last couple of weeks I resorted to medication. I'm a little wary of sleeping pills since they usually work so well for me that I'm useless the next day. Plus, the habit forming side freaks me out. But I found a dissolving tablet that is just pure melatonin. How easy is that? You don't even need to get up and get water. You just roll over, pop a tablet in your mouth, and are out like a light within an hour. Luckily, it doesn't leave me too hazy the next day.

Yet it did become a habit. My night-time routine was watch daily "Without a Trace" episodes on TNT and pop a tablet at some point so I would fall asleep before the episode ended. It's okay not to know the resolution since the show is absolute crap and predictable.


Of course, my sleeping habits will get better once I have a job. BTW, I have 3 prospects in the fire and all of them happened yesterday! Riding that wave of possibility, I was actually able to fall asleep on my own last night. Hopefully, this is a new habit that I can build upon since I have 3 interviews next week.

Best Darn Ratatouille Ever

3lb eggplant
3lb tomatoes
3lb zucchini
12 garlic cloves
fresh parsley
salt and pepper
olive oil

In a stock pot/dutch oven layer thick slices of vegetables starting with eggplant, then tomato and finally zucchini. Season between layers with garlic, salt, and pepper.

Cook on low for 2 to 2.5 hours or until vegetables are tender.

Cool for 20 minutes. Serve and season to taste.

Makes 12 servings


You can also grilled the leftover vegetables for a side or use the veggies for a pizza topping.

YUM!

Just Call Me Leeky

Inspired by "French Women Don't Get Fat", I am on day 2 of the leek broth cleansing phase. Luckily, it's only a two day phase so tonight I can have a nice healthy dinner. What you do is boil 2 lbs of leaks and for two days live off the broth and/or stewed leeks. The theory behind it is that leeks are diuretics so basically you get rid of all the crap you have put into your body so you can start fresh on a new eating regimen. You should do this over a weekend since lack of food might make you worthless at work. I went to a party Saturday so that's why I bumped up my weekend. My last hurrah.

Yesterday was pretty tough with the hunger pangs but I had two coping techniques: water and sugar-free gum. Today, I am just a space case with a headache. The broth itself isn't too bad - it just tastes like very weak soup broth. The stewed leeks are disgusting. Tonight, I'm having griled salmon fillet and steamed veggies. Mmmm... Oh yeah, reading recipes while you're hungry, is horrible.

No Job For Me

Okay, I'm pissed. That postponed final interview has been canceled because the company filled the position internally. I'm not an HR expert but why the hell would you waste time and effort interviewing external candidates when you haven't even looked internally? Additionally, why the hell would you hire a staffing agency?

So, here is the timeline of frustration and pissiness: May 8 phone screen, May 15 second phone screen, May 23 in person interview, June 3 final interview scheduled, May 30 got postponement notice. June 11 got the big F you never mind news. God, I hate the job hunt!

Seven Years

Today has been pretty ho hum until a couple minutes ago when I noticed the date. I am so happy and proud of myself that today wasn't a big deal. Seven years ago I had a stroke. Sometimes I still can't believe it. What have I been doing the past seven years besides recovering?

1. Living on my own in 2 different apartments

2. Holding down four different jobs

3. Becoming a Jew

4. Receiving an MBA

5. Becoming a cat owner

6. Learning Tae Kwon Do up to orange belt level

7. Losing 6 dress sizes and gaining most of it back

8. Being happy, confident, and at home with who I am

In a twisted way, I am a bit grateful that I had a stroke. I never knew how strong or loved I was before it. Plus, it helped weed out a lot of unhealthiness in my life. I hope that surviving a stroke has made me more patient and empathetic. Plus, on my list of 8, the majority are really positive steps! Hopefully the next seven years will double my list with a bunch more happy/positive accomplishments. Also, having a stroke gives you a good perspective on life. When bad things happen to me, I weigh them on the horrible stuff that has happened to me spectrum. Nothing has even come within the realm of having a stroke bad.

The Heat Will Be Gone

Hello all, I am writing from the air conditioned back half of my apartment - the area where I have been spending most of my time for the past couple of days. Today, I tried to run errands in the morning and that was atrocious. Our first heat wave and it's not even summer!

I feel pretty bad for my cat. He's long haired and has to spend his time in the air conditioned rooms or he'd completely dehydrate from panting. It took him about a day to understand that outside the kitchen door is an inferno that will leave him roasting. In that 24 hours of restless meowing to be let out and sheer boredom, at some point he chewed through my laptop power cord. I didn't notice it until late Sunday when I realized that my computer battery was really low for being plugged in. I got a replacement cord today. $80 - ouch! Rasputin, that's coming out of your allowance... This is the first cord he has ever gnawed on.

I've spent the hot days applying for jobs, watching crappy tv, napping, and doing laundry. Of course ice cream and water are musts in this kind of weather. My favorite ice cream is the Swiss orange sherbet from Edys. Hannaford is having a good sale on Aquafina water. After a month of bad reactions to the Crystal Light to go packets, my mom helped me figure out what the problem is so I have been enjoying their teas. My favorite is green tea. The fruit Crystal Light packets have some additive in them to keep them sweet that makes me feel ill. The tea is all good because it doesn't have to be so sweet.

I can't wait for the temperatures to drop basically because we'll be getting thunderstorms. There's nothing better than after days of sweating to death, to get drenched in a big rain storm that brings in a cold front. I've been getting nostalgic about summers lately. When I was little, summer meant swinging until summertime listening to the heat bugs. It also meant iodine on stubbed toes. When I was a kid, we didn't have spray on painless antibiotic. Stinging, smelly yellow iodine gave us character! Also, we didn't constantly have sunscreen on. I remember the smell and feeling of Noxema cream soothing a sunburn Aloe Vera is for whiny babies.

Broadway in Boston 2008-9 WTF?

I got the new program for Broadway in Boston's new season and it is so horrible, I'm only going to get tickets to one show. Here's the lineup:

- A Chorus Line: I'm not nostalgic enough to see this
- Brigadoon: did it in high school so I would be constantly distracted
- Legally Blonde: you must be kidding me...
- Nice Work if You Can Get It: yeah, I'm not getting roped into yet another pre-Broadway engagement
- Frost Nixon: sounds interesting but it's before my time so I don't get the drama
- Dirty Dancing: my God no
- A Bronx Tale: didn't like the movie. Why see it on-stage?
- Spring Awakening: I'm definitely going. NPR did a great piece on this show.

My other gripe about the upcoming season is that only one show is at the Opera House, everything else is at the Colonial. The colonial has the most uncomfortable seats in existence so the only way I can endure a show in that venue is to be completely transported and enraptured. Yeah, that' ain't going to happen a lot this coming year!

Ninety Degrees, Really?

Thanks to our intrepid weathermen, I am going to be installing my air conditioner this weekend with the help of my father and his Makita drill. And yet today, I am snuggled up in a comforter on my sofa. The temperature jumping 30 degrees in 24 hours is going to be painful! Also, if it actually isn't hot this weekend, Dick Albert's head will be the first on my pike. Nothing is more fun than breaking your back installing an air conditioner.

Postponement and Oxygen

Well, my big final interview scheduled for today has been postponed indefinitely. I have no idea what the delay is due to (I'm guessing scheduling issues). It was so annoying to get this news. Then again, the annoyance is due to one large assumption: that this could be the end of my job search/unemployment days. If I ignore that assumption, I can shrug the delay off.

It was actually really lucky that my interview wasn't today because HOLY POLLEN! My seasonal allergies have completely wiped me out today. I feel like I can't take a deep breath because I'll wind up with a vicious coughing fit (the same fit that kept me up most of the night). Luckily, Rasputin seems to get the whole allergy lethargy today. He hasn't been bugging me to go out at all, he has just been napping all day. This is why I look forward to rainy weather: low pollen count and lower temperatures.